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.