Pizza My Heart

Remember that really crappy ABC Family original movie? Yeah, me neither.

Anyway, made pizza with my roommates the other day. Mine turned out pretty good!

Just got some pizza dough from Trader Joe's and added toppings. Roasted garlic tomato sauce, mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, mushrooms, and basil.

Yum!

2009 Wrap-Up

It's the end of a year, a decade, and really, a whole era. Tomorrow, I'm getting ready for New Years Eve with a cute outfit, delicious hors d'oeuvres, champagne, and resolutions I'll abandon by February. But first, the year in review.

Some of my favorite albums released this year. This list is by no means a critic's review of the albums - they're just the albums I've enjoyed listening to most. In no particular order...

1. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone This might just be my favorite Neko Case album. I could've done without the nearly 30 minutes of white noise on the Marais la Nuit track, but everything else is just wonderful. For the uninitiated, Neko Case shares the lead vocals with A.C. Newman and Dan Bejar in The New Pornographers. A.C. Newman has had his own solo act for several years now. His first album The Slow Wonder was pretty good, but his second and most recent album Get Guilty (released in 2009) just didn't cut it. Neko Case definitely has the vocal upper hand here.

2. Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

3. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

4. The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love I actually had some issues with this album at first, but it definitely grew on me. The new female vocal additions really add some depth and variety. This is definitely a more mature sound from The Decemberists. Still, not my favorite album from them, but fair game for 2009.

5. Taken By Trees - East of Eden

6. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Some things I hope will go out of style when the clock strikes 12. So, to you I say good riddance.

1. Leggings as pants - Can we all agree to end this? I can maybe see how this could be cute, but it's overdone and often styled horribly. Note that just because your leggings are black, it doesn't mean that they're not sheer and I can't see your zebra print underwear underneath them. Also, cameltoe. EDIT: I think this is acceptable if you have a long tunic or some kind of top that covers your derrière, otherwise, put on some real pants.

2. Cougars - By now, the novelty has worn off. Age difference isn't so much of a shock nowadays. Thank Demi Moore and Anna Nicole Smith for that. I don't really have a problem with the idea or the term, just the prevalence of it. Making a whole TV show about it is just too much for me.

3. Frozen Yogurt - I'll be the first to say that I like frozen yogurt, but I don't think we need a Pinkberry, a Red Mango, and a Cherry on Top all in the same block.

4. Tyra Banks - It seems my wish has already come true! No more Tyra show. Of course, this just means that she's going to set her sights on something bigger and more annoying, but until then, Arrivederci!

5. Useless Eyewear - Kanye West and Lady Gaga, you have created a nightmare. The shuttershades and nonfunctional "sunglasses" have unfortunately taken the world by storm. I just can't take someone seriously when they're wearing a pair of 2 for $8 shuttershades they bought at Venice Beach.

[via AntiDuckFace]

6. Pouty Faces - When did this become a thing? My first instinct would be to blame the Olsens. This is a disgusting and fascinating phenomenon. The face doesn't appear in real life, only in pictures. And apparently, when you throw up peace signs and middle fingers, it somehow ups your coolness by around 14%.

And now my favorite films of the year. Again, in no order...

Tarantino and his Basterds.

[Credit: Brigitte Lacombe, Vanity Fair]

1. The September Issue - They may have portrayed the "real" Anna Wintour (Vogue's Editor-in-chief) as a hard-working misunderstood woman, but I'll still bet money that she's an icy bitch.

2. Inglourious Basterds

3. Star Trek

4. Coraline

5. I Love You, Man

6. Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos) - Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz are like the new Spielberg/Hanks duo or the Scorsese/DiCaprio pair. I haven't encountered an Almodovar film that I haven't liked yet. He has a great way of really telling a story and developing his characters. It's just been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This is Almodovar's third nomination in the same category. Volver was up against Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (another Spanish film) and Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima (winner) in 2006.

So keep in mind that this list isn't exactly comprehensive. I still haven't seen some biggies of the year since I'm a poor college student that needs groceries. I have yet to see A Single Man, Where the Wild Things Are, The Road, Precious, and Nine (among others).

Time to get ready for a Beatles Rock Band Party, complete with themed foods. Thanks for reading, kids.

Cooking through winter break

Remember when I updated my blog? Well I'm back from the hellish depths of the fall semester - scarred, but alive. Now all I make time for is friends, family, cooking, guitars, and Jersey Shore.

Aside from the Newport Harbor Christmas boat parade and La Posada, I've been cooking. Meatballs, tamales, offensive Christmas cookies, and crêpes.

I spent the past couple of days making and attempting to perfect these crêpes. I had the golden opportunity to learn from a master - a Thai crêpe chef from Bangkok. So I didn't actually make the ingredients that go into these crêpes so much as assemble everything, but here's the picture anyway, along with pictures from other holiday festivities thus far.

Some bubbling issues, but it all turned out well.

Ta-da!

Our dear friend Norman enjoying tamales before he was injured.

200+ tamales later

Twilight cookies. I have no comment other than that I love my friends.

The Beauty of the News

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
CNN Leaves It There
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

And we'll leave it there.

Mad About Mad Men

If you haven't seen AMC's original series Mad Men, immediately add it to your Netflix queue. Then, lock yourself away until you catch up to the new season. Season 3 premiered last week to rave reviews. If you missed it, you can watch the episode on the AMC website.

It's 1963 - there's more drama, sex, smoking, lies, and absolutely fabulous clothing. The men of Sterling Cooper are back with impeccably tailored suits while the women show off their hourglass figures in silhouettes that are back in fashion today. If you're looking for that Mad Men-esque look, head over to Banana Republic. They've partnered with the show to bring 1960s inspired styles to your own closet.

The premiere in a nutshell: Don Draper continues in his existential crisis with more notches on the bedpost, Sal Romano takes a dainty step out of the closet, and a somewhat subtle battle between Pete and Ken surfaces on their way up the corporate ladder.

Season 2 really got me interested in the character of Betty Draper. She's often overlooked as a complicated character as everyone focuses on Don Draper's mysterious past. January Jones, who portrays Betty, gives the audience some insight into the mind of a 1960s housewife while channeling the charm and elegance of Grace Kelly. I'm eager to see if she'll play a larger role in the series, but I'm not holding my breath. The drama inside Sterling Cooper is too hot to be billed below Betty Draper - you'll just as soon see a pucker in one of Don's suits.

The next episode airs tomorrow night at 10pm on AMC. Also, be sure to check out the Don & Betty's Paradise Lost spread in Vanity Fair shot by Annie Leibovitz, featuring January Jones and Jon Hamm, for more Mad Men fashions.

Designers for Payless

Remember when people bitched about Christian Siriano designing shoes and accessories for Payless? Well a few other designers realized that the economy is failing and people want cheap shit so they cried, "Me too!"

Abaeté, Alice + Olivia, and Lela Rose just launched their limited edition discount summer shoes and accessories lines for Payless. They're now available online for under $40. It's a little pricey for Payless, but keep in mind that these designers sell their ready-to-wear clothes for several hundred dollars.

Christian Siriano, an apparent fan of the cone heel, also has his fall line of shoes out.

It's probably not real leather, but if you're only going to wear them for a season, why not buy them cheap?

Gap Jeans Get a Face-Lift

If you happen to live in a cave, you probably haven't heard of Gap's new line of premium jeans, "1969". Gap just recently unleashed new and fashionable styles for men and women that compete with that of higher-end denim companies, but with a more attractive price tag.

Gap used to be a respectable jeans retailer that sold pretty good quality jeans...in 1996. But over the past several years, their jeans progressively became less stylish and cheaper in quality. Gap has been working to rebrand itself as a high quality retailer and finally, their time is here. Just in time for the company's 40th anniversary, 1969 came in to pull Gap out of it's self-dug grave. The company has certainly invested a lot of money into 1969 by whoring itself out with expensive ad placements in magazines, malls, and online and new store openings. They even opened a store on Robertson Blvd as probably the cheapest retailer there. Fortunately, the jeans have been flying off the shelves - many of their stores are already out of stock of the most popular styles and sizes.

Yesterday was the ideal time to buy yourself a pair. All Gap stores were throwing themselves a 40th birthday party by offering $20 off every pair of 1969 jeans, 2 for 1 sweaters and t-shirts, and an additional 15% off your entire purchase between 7 and 9pm. Every store even had local bands come in to play live acoustic sets while you shopped.

I went to a Gap at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. There was a mediocre indie band selling out while shoppers and employees rushed around the crowded store. I scored 2 pairs of skinny jeans for $34 each (originally $59.50) and a v-neck pullover sweater for $14 (originally $39.50). If you missed the in-store sale, you can still get 20% your entire purchase through August 23rd on gap.com with promo code "FALL".

Barneys New York Warehouse Sale

Prada, Givenchy, and Manolos, Oh my! It's time for the semi-annual Barneys New York Warehouse Sale! LA and NY shoppers and discount-fashionistas have two weeks to scour the racks for deals on designer duds.

This time around, LA's host site moved from Santa Monica's Barker Hangar to the uncool LA Convention Center. Reasons why this is bad: Parking at the convention center is $12 (Free in Santa Monica!). The convention center has creepy abandoned hallways - the perfect setting for a perfect crime. The South Hall in the convention center is much smaller than the hangar in Santa Monica.

Beside the mistake in location, this place was paradise for anyone looking for designer products at a fraction of the cost. It's just like shopping at Barneys, except the clothes are on plastic hangers, bitches are using giant plastic bags to carry their shit, there's more security, and you strip in front of everyone in a communal dressing room.

[Photo credit: Racked LA]

I went yesterday, the first day of the sale. I arrived at a leisurely hour while some stood in line a few hours before the flood gates opened. I mean, look at those bitches run! I have to say that this whole fiasco was a lot more civil than I had imagined. This was my first time attending, but I was expecting cat fights and screaming. Of course, there were some nasty glares exchanged and swift hands greedily swiping up shoes while other hands were reaching in the same direction. This was a good place to people-watch, if anything.

[Photo credit: Racked LA]

The selection of designer clothing was pretty good. Me being the poor college student, I could only look, contemplating how long I'd be in debt if I actually bought everything I wanted. Designer dresses were around $400-800, but I guess you can say it's a deal from the original cost of thousands. There was a ready-to-wear, more affordable, lower tier designer section with clothes from Theory, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and DvF to name a few. You have to pick carefully through the items though because you may chance upon a $79 Madras dress. The jeans table was pretty ok too. JBrand, Seven, and Citizens were there for $59-89. Curious, I checked out the men's suits too. Armani, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, etc. were all marked down like crazy! And nothing was wrong with them. They even had on-sight tailors there to help you get the perfect fit.

As far as accessories go, it was non-existent. I heard there was a purse table, but it seemed to be gone by the time I got there in the afternoon. Besides, Racked LA reports that it was a lot of damaged goods with a laughable "discount". Overheard: "There are better, non-damaged, cheaper bags on sale at a regular Saks store." Noted.

And then...

[Photo credit: Racked LA]

Shoes. Omgshoes. I took Kelly's advice and totally got some shoes. I would never have an occasion to wear (let alone afford) Manolo Blahnik jeweled heels, Prada pumps, or Fendi sandals. I opted for the last pair of red leather Barneys CO-OP flat ankle boots. Originally $440, I got them for $125. Believe me, I was probably the most conservative shopper there. Overheard:

Rich Bitch: "Hey, which one do you think I should get? The Pradas are only $425 and the Manolos are $600."

Daddy's Girl: "Wow, I mean, both are SO cute and they're marked down so much!!"

Rich Bitch: "I KNOW! I was thinking about the Balenciaga heels too, but I should really limit myself."

Daddy's Girl: "I guess....Haha, we ARE buying a lot of clothes. But it's like we're getting $6,000 worth of clothes for only $2,000. So I think it's worth it."

Rich Bitch: "Yeah...okay so which shoes? ....Do you think I should get both?"

Daddy's Girl: "Well, you know you're going to buy shoes later and right now, you could get 2 pairs for like the price of 1 pair of shoes later. You know?"

Rich Bitch: "You're so right!"

Tip: There will be a few major overnight markdowns throughout the sale period. If you want the best deals, go on the last few days, but you'll probably have a skimpier selection.

New York, I Love You. But will I love your movie?

From the producer of Paris, Je T'aime comes another love story anthology. New York, I Love You has been named as one of the most anticipated films of the year. Natalie Portman returns as part of the cast of the second "I Love You" film and will make her directing debut in the film.

This time around, the love stories are set in New York City with an even more randomly star-studded cast than Paris Je T'aime. Blake Lively, Bradley Cooper, Cloris Leachman, and Christina Ricci? Click here for full credits and watch the trailer below. Thoughts?

The sketchiest purchase of my life

While in New York, I made a visit to Chinatown with Nicole, the fake purse purchasing expert. Apparently, these illegal operations have become much more covert nowadays to avoid notice from law enforcement. 

Most "vendors" have old Chinese women stand on street corners with grocery bags like they're just shopping. They usually approach you asking, "You want purse? Dee-sigh-nah!" You follow them, making sure not to trail too closely behind. You are led to a sketchy-ass mini-van with black tinted windows. A Chinese man slides open the rear passenger door and sneakily whispers, "What you want?" Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Prada, Gucci, Coach, you name it - they've got it. 

I ended up with a black quilted "Chanel" with a gold chain for the attractive price of $32 (with a bit of haggling). I have no shame.