Cicero and Friends

Along the lines of the previous post: I BEG of you, fellow post-grads, do not throw away your friendships! Over the next few months you will see your friend pool shrink, almost vanish, because we are all so caught up in our own daily dramas that we don't have time to invest in the people we say we love. If there's one thing my Dad taught me, it's that "relationships are everything." No man is an island. We are nothing without our support systems. How many times have people jammed the word "networking" down our throats? Well here's another word: Love. Love people. Love people and watch your life get better.

I got this quote by Cicero out of Kelly Cutrone's book Normal Gets You Nowhere. There's a lot that I disagree with her about, but she makes some VERY good points as well. This reference, I thought, was spot on:

"What can be more delightful than to have someone to whom you can say everything with the same absolute confidence as to yourself? Is not prosperity robbed of half its value if you have no one to share your joy? On the other hand, misfortunes would be hard to bear if there were not someone to feel them even more acutely than yourself...Such friendship enhances prosperity, and relieves adversity of its burden by halving and sharing it. And great and numerous as are the blessings of friendship, this certainly is the sovereign one, that it gives us bright hopes for the future and forbids weakness and despair. In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a second self. So that where his friend is he is; if his friend be rich, he is not poor; though he be weak, his friend's strength is his; and in his friend's life he enjoys a second life after his own is finished."

Yes, friends will let you down. Usually over and over and just as many times as you let them down. But for heaven's sake, don't just give up on people because it's the easy way out! That is the way to an empty life. Carry each others' burdens. May God bless us all with friendships like this.

Now umm...let me lighten things up a bit...see more food pictures below:

Yum :)

The Post-Graduate Oath

Last night I had another post-graduate breakdown; sobbing on my little air mattress in NYC and bemoaning the fact that I have no clue what I'm doing, where I'm going, whether or not I'm going to "make it" and what that even means in the first place. In my despair, I called up another post-graduate friend and found out that he was feeling the same way. And all of his friends were feeling the same way too. So after I dried my eyes and pulled myself together, I decided (very heroically I might add) that I was NOT going to let uncertainty and unemployment get me down. Instead, I vowed the following, and I hope that all my other floundering post-grad friends will find encouragement in this oath and sign on to keep their life afloat this way as well.

Side note: Hunting for a job is not listed because this is assuming that you are already looking for a job with all of your might and finding it an extremely disheartening process.

THE POST-GRADUATE OATH

During this stage of uncertainty, while I am faced with doubts, confusion and loss on the one hand and supposed endless possibilities on the other, I vow to not succumb to self-destructive emotions but instead, rise above them and make every day count. I swear to:

1. Not self-medicate with chocolate, ice cream or alcohol.

2. Find at least one thing I can do each day to propel myself forward.

3. Take time to see beauty in little things.

4. Learn something new every day.

5. Surround myself with art and expand my cultural horizons.

6. Make new friends who both motivate and inspire me.

7. Seek the advice of my elders and others who have been where I am and survived.

8. Study the lives of great people in my desired profession and take inspiration from their accomplishments.

9. Read books instead of watching TV shows that three months ago I wouldn't be caught dead watching.

10. Pray every day and trust that God has a plan for my life. (This may not be your particular cup of tea, but it's made a HUGE difference in my life so if Jesus is knocking, I suggest you see if He has something interesting to say)

11. NEVER EVER EVER EVER give up. Ever. Period. End of story. KEEP FIGHTING.

My love and encouragement goes out to all of you, my fellow floundering grads. We never thought this would be us. Well now it is. Let's all get through this together!

GENART IS BACK

Let me first say how THRILLED I am that GenArt is back up and running again! For those of you who don't know, GenArt is a national nonprofit organization focused on promoting up and coming talent in the film, fashion, art and music worlds. After closing their doors just a little over a year ago, GenArt is back in motion with fantastic new leadership and an upcoming year of exciting events.

Last week I was lucky enough to participate in their first big event since the relaunch, the GenArt Film Festival. Tweeting from the red carpet six nights out of the seven night festival, I got to meet some incredibly talented people, watch some fresh, moving and thought provoking films (shout out to the programmer Aaron Levine - the selection was brilliant), and of course attend a ridiculous after party at a different venue every night! Baby event planner's dream? Um definitely!

It's crazy to think that I worked my first GenArt event just a little over two years ago at the Box8 fashion show during LA Fashion Week in March of 2009. I remember standing in the back after all the chaos of seating people had died down and watching the models charge the runway, the flashing lights, the pounding beats, for the very first time...that event helped shape my career. And now here I am in New York City and GenArt is still helping shape my experiences and my dreams. Thanks so much to the leadership, staff, and volunteers - you're changing lives you don't even know about. Keep it up!

Below is a quick recap of the festival. Many many apologies to the films shown on the second night - I wasn't in attendance so I can't really comment...

Night One: Opening night at the Zeigfeld Theatre. Gorgeous venue.

Highlight: hanging out with Jennifer Vineyard of NY Mag waiting for Harvey Keitel to appear.
Film: A Beginers Guide to Endings - a fun romp with spot on casting and just enough unbelievably ridiculous situations to make you feel like a kid again but enough borderline humor to make you remember you're a grown up, albeit one with an imagination. I left the theater laughing and rolling my eyes. Not a bad first night.
 Afterparty: Vermilion. Two floors and great floor to ceiling windows. I just wish it hadn't been so insanely crowded...

Night Three: Screenings held at the SVA Theatre on 333 23rd St where they stayed for the rest of the week. With all the chips served as favors a thorough vacuum job must have been done because I never once saw crumbs lying around.

Highlight: meeting the fabulous Alex and Emil on the red carpet. Well, on the press side of the red carpet. What exactly do you call that?
Film: Norman. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I cried again. I kept waiting for this coming of age film to get pretentious (as indie films dealing with subjects like, oh I don't know, suicide and cancer tend to do), but it never crossed the line. Brilliant, spot on acting jobs by Dan Byrd and Emily VanCamp. Def my favorite film of the week and a total surprise.
Afterparty: LAVO. This was a good night.

Red carpet at the SVA - that's the child star of Henley, that night's short film.

Little blurry pic of the GenArt team and Norman director Jonathan Segal (third from left) and star Dan Byrd (second from right)

Night Four: Back at the SVA.

 Highlight: Getting my tweeting camera to actually focus.
Film: Gould's Gold. Quirky documentary about an eccentric's quest for gold in the earth revealed by Alaska's melting glaciers. The characters were great but I think the most interesting part of this film was the insane amount of effort it must have taken to shoot the footage itself. Plus, add sweeping Alaskan landscapes and everything looks amazing.
Afterparty: Le Poisson Rouge. Not my favorite venue. Not the best crowd. I tweeted a few photos and then peaced. (Also ended up getting lost that night and ending up outside of a friend's apartment in the rain with no idea how I got there...)

Crew of Gould's Gold. That's Gould himself on the far right.

Lea Mathiesen - director of that night's short film, the Renovation. Super sweet girl, great style and a supporter of one of my fave Scandinavian designers, Henrik Vibskov.

Highlight/Embarrassment: My boss Aurora putting my name in the "networking" game sponsored by dating organization HowAboutWe...and then tweeting my progress for the world to see.
Film: The Pill. Smart, witty, and (as the boys told me) "terrifyingly relateable," this film about...well...the morning after, was a nice escape into a lighthearted depiction of what makes the New York dating scene such a wild ride. Plus the director, J. C. Khoury, is a great guy.
Afterparty: The Chelsea Room. Many interesting encounters via HowAboutWe and I had a very entertaining time. Let's just leave it at that.


Night Six:

Highlight: Having a good half hour conversation with J.C. Khoury about film and his love for New York City; meeting the gracious and gorgeous Aine who still owes me a dinner date.
Film: American Animal. By far the most controversial film of the festival, this peek into the life of a terminally ill, white privileged sociopath sparked in depth, philosophical conversations deep into the night. In my own opinion, it was a poignant, brash, and almost offensive slice of the truth about a generation of instant gratification, few consequences and self-centered living. 
Afterparty: Avenue. One of my favorite venues by far. Great crowd, great conversation, pretty fantastic night.

 

Writer, director, and star of American Animal, Matt D'Ella is either visionary or insane. Or both.

Closing Night:

Highlight: Being with the GenArt family on the last night of a really great festival.
Film: Salvation Boulevard. Ok, I was really worried I was going to hate this movie. A comedy about Christian fanatics and an ex-Grateful Dead follower? The caricatures of ignorance and prejudice could have easily been too much for me. Hello? I'm a Christian, love Jesus and am NOT a fan of ignorance or prejudice, thank you very much! But instead of hating this movie, I actually quite enjoyed it. The humor was tasteful and rollicking and, in more cases than I care to admit, hit very close to home in its surprisingly accurate depiction of the suburban mega-church.
Afterparty: Hiro. Great night, great people, great dancing, great last night of the festival. Yay!!

Jeff Abramson. Co-founder of GenArt and all around great guy.

It was closing night so I had to get some LCS in...

(we match!!)

Disclaimer: yes, I did steal the movie poster/logo stuff off the GenArt website. They were good pictures...visit www.genart.org - get involved in this fantastic organization!

NYC up to but not quite including GenArt extravagance

More adventures!

 Proof that finding a job in NYC can be a scary adventure: This picture was taken in the corner of an office in a building under construction on a dirty street in Chinatown. Up a seven story walk-up. I thought I was going to die. Then of course, I turned the corner and ended up in a showroom full of thousands upon thousands of dollars of gorgeous clothing. Definition of a downtown brand.

 Headed back to California for a weekend to see my darling Bri graduate...pretty much the best weekend ever.

 Central Park. Be jealous.

Also, got a chance to get a sneak peak inside the new Hyatt48Lex before it officially opens. I love peeking into construction site - everything is full of so much possibility! ..and it reminds me of the months I spent sleeping in a tent when my parents were remodeling the house...

 

 The hotel restaurant...in progress...

 The view from the penthouse is pretty much the best thing ever.

Summertime means summer FOOD! Hooray! See below for some of my life staples:

SALSA

My family's salsa recipe varies with whatever we can find in the grocery store and usually ends up a kind of salsa/bruchetta mix. Which makes sense seeing as we're from Italy and we live right by Mexico. I threw together a batch for a BBQ with friends on Roosevelt Island this last weekend.

 And obviously I took the leftovers home for dinner. Chicken-cheddar-whole wheat quesadillas...yum!

A couple pics by my lovely friend Desi :)

 Sunscreen, high-waisted shorts and LCS...yeah, nothing's changed. (Sidenote: I actually managed to spill this purple beer/fruit juice thing on my lovely shorts, staining them forever. However, this now lends the perfect opportunity to turn them into a cool ink-blot kind of print that I've been dying to try. Will update with results.)

 This is what BBQs in New York look like.

Ramen is a full meal. Or three.

 

 Yup. I've officially managed to turn Ramen into three full meals per pack. Just add more water and as many vegetables as you possibly can. Plus eggs for an Asian egg-drop/dumpling effect. Plus extra salt and pepper for flavor.

Summer's perfect breakfast. Bliss.

Catching Up (Photodiary SoCal to NYC)

Last weekend in California - NYC First Impressions

 

Padres vs Phillies at PetCo Park, San Diego - more Brindsey-Derek

Easter at Benvenuto

...And then to New York...

Calvin Klein. Summer want.

AllSaints Art Deco. Yes.

Pretty much the coolest jacket ever.

I'm a big fan of bookshelves and knick-knacks...

Masculinity in a couch. Ralph Lauren.

Setting up for BoxNYC. Huge event, completely amazing, definitely a growing experience. You try wrangling a boxing commissioner and see where that gets you...

Attempting to steam my Opening Ceremony dress for the Box NYC event. Something about that dress hanging in the shoddy Brooklyn sublet bathroom struck me as noteworthy.

Sunset from my new home on 171st.

Gorgeous interiors of some exclusive townhouse featured on Selling New York through an event with CORE Realty.

If I have a big, mahogany study someday, this bird will be in it.

FAO Schwarz love.

Bloggers in line for the Fashion 140 conference at Lincoln Center.

Strangely grass-like rug in the foyer of JS2 Communications...

City flora. LCS does flower arrangements!

The one on the right, please.


This is cinnamon flavored ice cream on a DIVINE waffle from a food cart parked out around the southeast corner of Central Park. I've seen it there twice. This is a food splurge worth repeating again and again and again.