snOwMG (part deux)

more snow madness has arrived just in time at my breaking point of cabin fever. GET ME OUTTA HERE.

so if you're homebound like moi, and can't get into the city, or want to with all that slush, why not just make a little nyc yourself. or at least buy one and hang it on your wall, cause let's be serious, that's way too much work and you may cut your dainty fingers.

from famille summerbelle, fun to watch:



buy one yourself in one of several colors. nyc, paris and london- all very cute and available to add some cheer to that white apartment wall.

essentials for the arctic zone.

given that we are fierce fashionistas and ladiez with exxxtreme style, no trip would be complete without analyzing el haute couture of the local culture. in continuation of our love/hate relationship with NORWAY, we bring you a new segment to *~*:

****+****sTyLe MuStS oF sCaNdInAvIa****+****

get yo head gear right: when you're 200 miles away from the arctic circle, you can expect some cold weather. during those long, long nights of searching for the northern lights, you want to make sure your head is covered tight. as pictured to the left, you can go little red riding hood style and look like an asshole OR get hats in classy animal prints. the locals tended to go for the "i've just been skiing look" with nylon head wear, but for the record rocking peruvian style llamasutra (oh yes i did) shiz also works.

a fierce bag: because scandinavia is no where to take fashion lightly (hello? h&m, ikea, jens lekman, etc.), you're going to need a real statement piece. for the ladies, this is normally a "do want" bag or fancy footwear. with eight feet of snow, how to do the latter will be covered l8r, so for now you should def consider this "moods of norway" shoulder bag. it conveniently comes in black to convey your anger at the prices and your general mood with four hours of daylight.

show your feet some love: let's get this straight, do not bring any of the following foot wear to n'way:

a.) boots with holes and/or broken heals
b.) leather shoes
c.) k swiss sports show

DO CONSIDER:

a.) water proof hiking boots
b.) winter boots.
c.) rain boots

as you can see here, choice c on the "do consider" section was purchased as a result of packing b and c on the "do not bring" section. make it something to remember by hiking your kilt socks up over your skinny jeans because you wanted to avoid spending an extra 100 kronner on taller boots. be jealous, norway.

o hai neck: finally, a good scarf that will protect you from rain, sleet, and snow will do you wonders up north. when it's below 0 outside, you will feel like you're warm enough to cook some s'mores inside your jacket and feel an ultimate sense of love.

FUN FACT: do NOT try to steal aka claim a scarf that is not yours from the lost and found in oslo airport. they will scan your passport and you will be banned from the country if they find out you iz lying.

in honor of national cupcake day.

everyday in the world of *~* is national cupcake day. so in honor of delicious sponge cake with cream plastered on top, we give you a list of our top three favorite places to indulge in nyc:

1.) burgers & cupcakes - this gem is located by my former place of employment on 9th ave ave at 36th st. the cake itself is alright, but the butter cream frosting is like a dream.

2.) crumbs - massive, massive, massive. and delicious.

3.) amy's bread - so to be perrrfectly honest i actually prefer their cake to their cupcakes, but none the less you can't leave without an epic win. the frosting is delicious like michael jordan on a sunday night.

there you have it. if you need to indulge in some frosting and cake, try these places and loosen your belt a little, bitches.

1111111111111111111111111111

HAPPY BURFDAY TO WE!
*~* is officially 1 years old. like every other 1 year old we want a well fabulous party with tons of presents, cake in our face and mad attention.

we've come a long way in this past year. we hope you've grown with us. if everyone in the world could just give us $1 all our dreams could come true. kthxbai.

stay tuned. wez iz legit.

tru romance

paris is the city of lights, new york is the city that never sleeps - both truly romantic destinations for valentine's day. which is why i went to atlanta. after delaying the trip by a day because of snOMGizzle, we finally made it to hotlanta for some mac n cheese, AND SNOW. seriously, wtf?

anyways, when i wasn't eating biscuits or hitting up the surprisingly respectable vintage scene, i was getting totally romanced by my bf (can't spell romance without _ _ _ _ _).

question: what better way to spend lover's day than watching your bf play in a poker tournament at vortex?
answer: having a photo shoot at margaret mitchell's house (fierce beast) with your gf and picking up some sweet post its (DON'T CALL ME SUGAR). for all you uneducated ragamuffins out there, she wrote gone with the wind.
on a sadder note, margaret crushed my hipsterly romantic dreams of writing a novel on an old typewriter. waaaay to hard and there is no gchat on that thing.

p.s. to be fair, our significant others did throw down some $$ billz for some fierce jewelry (did i hear turquoise?) and presented it a la dick in a box. <3

notes from the homeland.

traveling well is an art form. determining what kind of traveler you are, choosing where to go, and getting a day-to-day game plan together are all key for a successful trip. with that in mind, my recent sojourn across borders should have been a disaster, but instead proved to be insightful and endearing (and somewhat infuriating) adventure. in what shall be a multi-post exploration of the world's highest ranking place on the human development index and 2007's most peaceful country in the world, i bring you a look at *~*NORWAY*~*

after returning from my birth place (okay one of four), i realized i am a shoestring (aka cheap ass, does not like to spend $$$, frugal, thrifty, annoyling bargain) traveler. with this in mind, going to a place that is on average 30 percent more expensive than the united states proved to be a test of strengths, temper, and tantrums. in honor of $5 cokes and $4 to board a bus, i bring you my top five favorite meals (and their cost):

1.) oslo airport food: first off, if you're coming into oslo from an international flight, EAT UP DUTY FREE. the alcohol is a third of the price from supermarkets and the cocaine is half.

now to my main point, the meal above (a bottle of water, a piece of bread, and jam) will push you back $8. i swear i heard some viking scream at the cash register "welcome to norway, SUCKERS!"

2.) coffee & tea: on average, the cost of a coffee in norway is about $5 and anything beyond cup o' joe will pile on at least two more dolla dolla billz. a personal best was paying $7 for tea, which ended up tasting like shit.

3.) breakfast: okay, so an all you can eat buffet should've cost around $13, but the suckers at the hotel didn't know this gangster from the yay area i sly like a fox so i got that for F-R-E-E. suck it scandinavia!!!!

4.) chain restaurants: like any true romantic, no valentine's day meal should be without feeling like you're about to suffer from explosive diarrhea -- this is why burger king is always a perfect place to take your honey bunny when cupid sings. as pictured here, a chicken burger, whopper, two fries, and two drinks added up to a cool $31. the ketchup was free.

5.) finally, my favorite meal was where it all began: oslo international airport. for 49 norwegian kroner (NOK) [~$8], you can get the following: a baguette, fruit juice, apple, YATZE, a deck of cards, and a pen hollering at oslo!!!! this proved to be a great time until a card game turned nasty, but at least dinner was cheap.

all in all, it's a sad state in the world when one enters a uk supermarket and is relieved to be paying in pounds. none the less, this adventure in cuisine culture shock have left a profound impact and great memories. i still love you, norway.

snOwMG

i try to avoid cable news panic attacks at all costs, but fell prey to check on the weather, excuse me, SNOWPOCALYPSE/SNOWMAGGEDON that was heading our direction. i only cared because i was on my way out. at least that's what i thought. blizzard 2010 had another plan for me.

i narrowly escaped blizzard 2009 right before christmas, as i was probably one of the last flights out of jfk, praise be to luck/jetblue/no one in the airport. but this time i wasn't so lucky. the crazy linguistic exaggerations of cnn turned out to be true and rather than sipping champagne in hotlanta with nene and sheree, i'm drinking wine in the dirty jerz and watching bear grylls aka man v. wild aka HUGE CRUSH conquer urban survival. not bad, but i would've rather boarded the plane today.

all wasn't lost though, at least i had today off and got to partake in a retro snowball fight. watch out for this maniac in a park near you.


pray to any celestial being that my flight tomorrow isn't cancelled so all is not lost and i can continue the non-stop dream vacation/valentine's love fest eating buttermilk biscuits down south.

new york in black and white.

hello. you have been asked to participate in a small survey that will take less than two minutes of your time:

1.) do you like decent japanese food, most of which could be set on fire?
2.) do you enjoy black?
3.) is dining in a cave something you've always dreamed of?
4.) do you like magic tricks?
5.) would you be open to sharing stories of how you lost your virginity?

if the answer is "yes" to any of these, then ninja new york is for you! set in the terrible neighborhood of tribeca, this gem of a restaurant will move and groove you. the food is pretty standard (though as our waiter pointed out, we were more of a drinking crowd anyways) with sushi rolls ranging from $8-$12. there are other prix-fixe options available for $38-$88, but as mentioned this place isn't really about the dining, but rather the experience. mixed drinks aren't too bad at $12, $47 bottles of champagne, and $3 beer. oh, and there's a magic show by a ninja who will do mind blowing tricks and then ask for tips. the servers also do little cameos in and out of different dining rooms as well as slap you with towels when you least expect it.

overall, it was the perfect place to spend a final night in new york city. i would def say this is a group place as the people who were on dates kind of got caught in a weird aisle table situation. it's overpriced, but worth the experience.

help me find it!

as we all know by now teal is the color of the year. via someone on tumblr with very good taste, we found the fiercest dress ever, my dream dress! but who is it by? how can i find this amazing piece of apparel? someone help if you know who designed this!

DO NEED

a playlist for the end.

while tonight will involve ninjas, animal masks, and $30/all you can drink specials, what i'm really hoping for is the playlist of my dreams (circa february 2010) to come true. if my last night in new york city could have any track list, these songs would be heavily rotated in some trashy dance club in the lower east side:

1. passion pit - sleepy head
2. dirty projectors - stillness is the move
3. lady gaga - bad romance
4. animal collective - my girls
5. heartless bastards - the mountain
6. phoenix - lisztomania
7. grizzly bear - while you wait for others
8. lcd soundsystem - someone great
9. la roux - bullet proof
10. mariah carey - fantasy
11. anything girl talk
12. noah and the whale - blue skies (twelves remix)
13. florence and the machine -rabbit heart (raise up)
14. marina and the diamonds - i am not a robot
15. the killers - all these things that i've done

let's get C-R-U-N-K!

spa castle/inspa world/heaven

Recently a few friends and I decided to venture out to Queens (brownie points for the borough) to try Spa Castle, and it was as ridiculous as it sounds. Run by Koreans, it's 4 floors of heavenly madness.

Bad news first:
-It's a little pricy on the weekend ($45) so I'll skip out of work and try a weekday next time.
-For a $45 entrance fee, you don't get towels, but hey, you can rent basically everything else including old lady bathing suits with skirts. Or buy. Still regretting not getting the $5 Princess Leia bun head towel, such a bargain!
-There are kids running around everywhere. We were so relaxed we didn't care too much except in the saunas where the little monsters kept coming in and out and letting out all my heat.

Good news second:
-It's super relaxing and kind of kitsch, in a good way. You can spend the whole day here without feeling bored, rotating between massages, facials, pools, relaxing rooms, saunas, food and hey, you can even sleep right on the hardwood floor in the "sleep section" next to the cafeteria. SO comfy.
-THE WATCHES! As animals that just stepped out of the jungle we've apparently been deprived of fancy technology. When you check in they give you a watch with a number and don't tell you at all what to do with it, except pay $50 if you lose it. Not only does it get you into your separate shoe and clothing lockers, but it also buys everything you want- food, apparel, massages without really seeing a price or anything in English at all. Perk after getting the massage, no money/tip handling and it makes the whole experience feel less awkward and more free. (Just wait for the sticker shock @ check out time.)
-It's super clean. No footwear of any kind anywhere or you are outta there buddy.
-Pool bar and upstairs bar with lounging couches. 'Nuff said.

Somewhere in between:
-We were not prepared for the cult-like atmosphere due to the uniforms. When you go into your appropriate locker room, you see a bunch of naked women (or men) and then are handed a uniform and a toothbrush (kinda like prison I guess). Ladies in orange tops and pick bottoms like a creamsicle, and gents in blue bottoms and grayish tops. The hellions wear all yellow for easy identification. Amusing and liberating to look crappy like everyone else (o hai communism) but a little unnerving and semi-cultish (this is AMERIKA I will sue for my individuality!!!!!).
-Couples massages are fun, especially when it's with your friend and the massueses think you're together/too dumb to take your shirt on/off yourself. So sometimes they giggle and dress you. Not always bad things. Depending on your definition of "bases," you may feel like you've hit a home run with the way they get on top of you. But damn my back felt good after.
-Facials are also great and leave your skin looking fresh and new. However, don't you DARE get the 30 minute facial or the facialist will ridicule you because only teenagers get that one and tell you your skin is so bad you better come back as soon as possible for the 1 hour serious woman facial. She will also keep reiterating both of those things for that short time of 30 minutes and tell you what clogged pores and how many blackheads you have. How dare you inconvenience her. Then she will sell you $63 facial products and you will leave scared/happy/confused at what just happened.

So, keep a sense of humor about a lot of things, grab some friends/lovers and go out there during the week. (I think there's a shuttle but just make your friend/lover drive you.) I promise it will be some kind of experience.

red mango: i can feel your soul.

in a week of goodbyes, it's time to pay official homage to a part of new york that has kept *~* fed and in love the past year: red mango.

claiming to be healthy (icallbullshit.com) and probiotic, what we really love about red mango is the perfect flavor (not too sweet, not too tart) and selection of toppings. as pictured here, my favorite combination is blueberries, mochi, and crushed graham cracker crust, though you be the master of your own universe. current flavors include original, cocoa (which is disgusto), tangomonium (disgusto #2), and pomegranate. i'm still praying to the mango gods that green tea will return, but it seems unlikely before saturday, february 6th.

the good news is that this isn't just a new york treat. in fact, red mango started in la and can now be found all up in the yay, so the world is your oyster. if you're in the city though, i recommend hitting up the location on 6th and 14th: it's spacious, always playing tacky music, and urban outfitters is right across the street. epic win for all.