*Pisshhhh* Rain... no problem.

Hi there ladies! NYC is going well right now. I just had a visit from Lora. She approved of NYC, which was a huge weight off my shoulders. Moving was my decision to make but, it somehow made it complete knowing my mother approved and was proud of me. She cried you guys. Seriously cried. She said she was so proud to see me living life for me. Sheesh…. double W much? Worrier and weeper. At least I know where I got it from :/ Anyhoo, we had a great time. And by the way Haley, she thought Chris was awesome. “He’s so mature” she said. “It comes with the whole “Bout 40” territory” I told her.  She just stared at me and said“Ohhh I see. Well good for Haley. She has always had an old soul.” I’m getting him a t-shirt for Christmas that says “Moms like you choose Chris”.

My last day working on the Al Pacino movie was last week. I was looking forward to kicking back and relaxing plus getting started with all my acting craziness (the agent search, open auditions etc.). I got a call on my last week of work from the costume designer that worked on the film. She was starting a new independent movie and wanted to know if I would like to intern. I was out of my mind excited. She said it was a small project which would allow her to teach me a lot on set. They only shoot for 10 days. So, on Nov 8^th, I will be interning in Costume design!! On top of that, I also received a call that week from another production that needed a clerk, I told them about the internship and they said that I could leave to do it and possibly get to come back after! The film is a Sci-Fi space flick staring the guy from “District 9”. I started yesterday. So things are going great, great and more great. No seriously… more great is not even the word. Today I got another call from a girl who also worked on the Al Pacino movie. She is a stylist and has a photo shoot coming up soon. She wanted to know if I would be her assistant. It is for 2 days over the weekend so, I said yes!!!  Through all these amazing things, I can’t help but to feel a little guilty that I am slacking on the acting work. But, opportunities are being thrown my way and, I feel that they can do nothing but benefit me. I have to see where this path is going, ya know?

Lets see… ahh yes. I told you before that I am transitioning from relaxed to natural hair. That means no more perms!! I am currently 3 month post relaxer and I can already see my hair changing. What happens during the transition process is that you grow your hair naturally and when it gets to the length you desire, you cut of the relaxed(straight ends). I am going to try to transition for a long, long while. Here’s a picture to describe what I mean.

The curly part is her natural hair. She grew out her relaxed hair (which are the straight ends). When it gets to where she wants it, She'll cut off the straight ends and her hair will be all natural.

Right now while my hair is growing, I have to treat it as if it’s already all natural. So, I deep condition and detangle my hair once a week and grow it out. I have to style it without using heat. And, I have to make the straight ends look like my naturally curly hair while doing this process (or else I will look like quite a fool). Here’s what it looks like right now!

Sorry about the blurry. In a couple of years, I hope to be awesome like this badass lion girl:

Alrighty ladies, thats whats goin on with me right now. I can't wait to see you girls over the holiday! As you can probably tell from my email happy typing, I am so excited to hang with 502. Love ya lots!

a little outta place

(the title reading "outta" instead of "out of" should give some clue where i'm going with this)

ahh los angeles, land of the short skirt + uggs - panties. seriously girls (clearly not ladies), over covering one body part does not make up for lack of coverage on another.

some odd number days ago was the premiere of machine gun preacher. i walked my 1st red carpet (that's my head sticking out on the left of tiffs' 3rd pic. i'm actually trying to see the silna fam waiting on the other end, not staring at my "famous" friend). 3rd on the right i wore my less tight go to dress i'd bought for the sag awards after party months ago.  need i say that tiffs' dress was more in keeping with the standard for the evening. i looked like a jehovahs witness next to her.

now i suppose i could have opted for the tighter lbd i got last year but, i just started working out again and it was not fitting in the ways i needed it to. on top of that, i'm not a tight fitting dress kind of girl. aside from the fact that it hides nothing, it doesn't quite fit my natural body shape. and here begins the difference between the east and west.

on the west coast, it's not about dressing for your body type, keeping certain parts covered or being able to manuver effortlessly around a party. the west coast embraces anything a kardashian wears (seriously, bandage dress? i remember when bandages were for sprained ankles and mummies), heels so high and thin your legs wobble when you walk (i'm starting to believe lohan isn't drunk, it's the shoes) and constantly adjusting your dress when transitioning from seated to standing.

(now, while i am not in favor of leaving your panties at home but i can tell you the curbs in la are stupidly high. getting out of a sedan requires stepping up and even i dread wearing an open bottom. however, you should have learned after the 1st time so, put some panties on)

as i sat at our outside table at the fabulous chateau marmont, i people watched more than anything. there was tiff in that queen of heart dress, her friend tammy (like the movie, hand to god) in a tiny silver sequin one shoulder boob shelf dress and about 20 other girls in some variation of the same. as i see these prom dress meets club wear girls flitting about, i notice the sheer effort it is taking to stay looking..umm...polished? tugging down here, pulling up there, twisting back in place, trying not to get a heel stuck in the cobblestone walkway all the while trying to hold on to that cocktail whose ice is rapidly melting and dripping down your dress. it must be exhausting. if only they knew what we east coasters do.

one of the great advantages of a slip and panty hose is they slide against each other, putting your dress right without all the tugging. it is not attractive to be tugging at yourself and in most cases makes you look like you bought the dress a size too small hoping it would fit one day, today is not that day. who cares if you're a size 8 and want to say you're a size 6, cut the tag out, no one will know. buy a dress that fits. same goes for the boney little model things with only side nipple showing, tape em in honey!

look ahead where you're walking. the brain is an amazing thing. ever been in a room with a floor covered in mess carrying a box? one look at the room and your brain remembers where the empty patches of carpet are for you to step on. look out for those cracks in the cobblestone, and if you can't, don't buy 6" louboutins. a man would rather you walk a straight line than be sky high and wobbly. and besides, nothing is more disrespectful to a designer than wearing their designs poorly. i'm looking at you lindsay.

lord knows these la girls can't drink. i mean how much can you possibly drink after only eating half a grapefruit all day. order a cocktail with more mixers than booze and don't try to make it last all night. also, grab a napkin. if the waitress forgets, you ask for one cause chances are that drip down the side is landing right in your crotch area, how attractive.

so after first feeling like the weed in the rose garden, i was able to happily judge others and feel a little better about myself. i'm not so concerned being outta place, looking more debutante than celebutane, especially when my date prefers the way i dress anyways.

yes, the east coast girls are classier then the west coast girls, but the west can be a little more entertaining. bless their hearts, they only have reality stars to look up to, we have the upper east side.

My Mother Would NOT Approve.....

Yes! Irene has passed and the city is back to its original chaotic state. I swear, the east coast is a natural disaster party palace right now. How are you ladies? Anything interesting happening in your neighborhoods?
 
Well, as you guys know, I went out on a date recently. I’ve come to tell you the tale. His name is Stephen Hanley (I call him Hanley or cutie) and we met on a NYC website called OK Cupid. He called me the Saturday morning before last and we talked all day. He asked me to meet him for a drink that night. I almost said no but, I figured “why not… give this dating thing a try”. I met him in Union Square at 11pm. I was mega nervous. Ya know, hoping that he wouldn’t be disappointed with the reality. Haley decided to go see a movie at the theater around the corner from our date, just in case I wanted to bail or he was being an asshole. Hehe, I have amazing friends J.  He’s cute. I don’t really know how to describe him so, here’s a picture. 

We went to a bar nearby and he was a perfect gentlemen. We talked for a while and he even reached across the table and held my hands for a while. I told him not to get fresh because I had a friend around the corner that would be here in a heartbeat if I called her. He thought it was sweet that I had great friends. Val texted me several times because she was worried. I told him about the text and he agreed to let me take a picture of him to send to Val… ya know, for the police if needed. He even made a what he called “The Super Creepy Rape Face”. We talked more and he told me to call my buddy and have her come out for a drink. Probably because I talked about 502 a lot. Sweet guy. Haley came over and said hello. We walked out with her and then said goodnight to the Powell. I gave her the “I’m Ok” sign as opposed to the usual 502 X.

Stephen and I walked around to find another bar. I stopped at the movie theater to look at a poster for a movie I wanted to see. While I was explaining the plot, he shut me up with a kiss. Its been a while since I was kissed… especially a long kiss. After he was done he apologized for interrupting me. I was a bit embarrassed because people were walking all around us. From that moment on, every time he saw a dark corner, I found myself pressed into the wall and kissed. We made out all over the Village. He held my hand and when we went in a bar, he would put his arm around me. I haven’t felt that “couplely feeling” in a long time. Finally at 4am, we decided to end the date. He refused to let me take the train home. Seriously, he said “either you’re going home in a cab or you’re coming home with me in a cab”. He paid for the cab to talk me home.

So, I know what you are thinking but, you shouldn’t get to giddy. Stephen is a nice guy but, he has made it perfectly clear to me that he doesn’t want a relationship, just the physical privileges. So, I had a decision to make. I decided, why not have a casual friend. I’ve never really done that before. I know I don’t have feelings for him. He just isn’t a guy that I can see myself being with. But, I can see myself making out with him. I don’t need a relationship right now. Upon his invitation, I went to stay with Hanley last Friday night. He promised we didn’t have to do anything, he just wanted to spend time alone with me. He knows I am not ready to have sex with him and he’s ok with that, for now. I will have to cross that bridge when I come to it. So, I went over to his place, with my “slut bag” in tow… we ate dinner, fooled around (a lot), watched the Mets game and went to bed.

Well, that’s the whole story. I don’t know what gonna happen but, I feel kinda, I don’t know... grown up. I’m the one calling the shots in this thing and he’s ok with that. I don’t have to worry about the emotional stuff right now and that’s good. I have enough going on right now.

Talk to you ladies soon!

Love, Love and more Love ,

             -Kiki

To Steal or Not to Steal

Ok ladies. Here it is. Something I’ve been pondering for weeks. And I have to make a decision tomorrow. It comes down to…..  to steal. Or not to steal.

Let’s start with the back story. On my first day of The Dictator I was shown around the office and when we entered the kitchen I was informed this was a very environmentally friendly office. “Right on.” I thought doing my best impersonation of Chop’s Brad in my head. My enthusiasm, however, was quickly diminished when I realized this meant they had no disposable cups. Only some sketchy mugs in a cabinet. Communal mugs. That a bunch of scary New Yorkers drink out of. And underpaid, overworked office PAs are paid to clean. Gross. But as I grew steadily more parched I kicked myself in the pants, thought of Al Gore and went to the cabinet, scrubbed a mug and claimed it as my own. For the day. The next day I came to work and aha! There was my mug! In the back of the cabinet looking enticingly like no one had touched it since I had. Quickly I snatched the mug, filled it with Brita filtered water (this office doesn’t have water bottles. Odd, no?) and sat down smugly at my desk. The next morning I swaggered up the cabinet, confidently popped open the cabinet and… What the hell!?! My mug is missing!! Son of a bitch. So I have to claim some other skanky mug for the day. (That was my first surly say at work.) The next day my mug was smiling at me from the cabinet and I’ve kept it at my desk ever since.

And this mug is pretty freakin cute too. Not only is it a funky, nifty shape, but it has a cutie patootie bird on it with leaves and sticks PLUS they’re green. Stinkin cute. 

So my dilemma is this: tomorrow is my last day on The Dictator. Should I steal this mug and make it part of my kitchen collection permenantly? What if it belongs to someone? Should I ask around and see? I mean, look at this thing. Doesn’t it look like it wants to be in my home and have Piper shove her face in it??? Oi.

As I sit here peck peck pecking away, I’m listening to the Naked & Famous. Kiki and I saw them in concert a couple of weekends ago at the Brooklyn Bowl and they were bona fide bitchin. (Leigh, I really think you’ll dig them if you haven’t already checked them out. Especially the super cutie female singer.) I also have to just mention (in case you didn’t know already) that I’m really into Oh Minnows as well. Of course I’m incredibly biased, but I genuinely think it’s an amazing album.

http://www.thenakedandfamous.com/?c=7

http://ohminnows.com/

And finally we um… oh yeah.. had an earthquake up here today. WTF?? I know Wilmington had some tremors as well. Jen, aren’t you supposed to be the one writing about this mess?? I take that back. I don’t want  you to have to write about earthquakes.

That's right. Showing this bad boy again.

The Dating Game

Hello ladies! I miss us so much. I've read Jen's blog about 15 times just because she writes how she talks :). Big hugs and kisses.

So ladies it's come to this. I am no officially on Match.com. I've had such bad luck with dating and since I was moving, starting fresh, entering a new stage of my life, whatever you wanna call it... I thought it was time to explore different avenues of meeting men. So, I created a profile, uploaded some hopefully un-dorky pictures of me and clicked submit.

Creating a profile for marketing yourself to the opposite sex is mega hardballs. What do you say? How do you make yourself sound amazing? Um hi, I'm Kiki...long walks on the beach much? Yuck, don't wanna sound cliche or like a super tramp. I know from experience that reading a profile can make or break your opinion. For example: A guys named 69stunner1993 ( What's up ladies! I'm dat #1 jank dat you want. I likes my ho's real. Lookin' for a shawty to gets up in mine. I hold it down in the BK wit da crew. Yaw know how it do. I'll be romantic witcha if you know how to do dat thang.) Are you going to answer this guy? Don't say yes Haley! Sadly, I did not make that guy up. *Sigh* He sent me a message last week :/.

I put down a short and simply message hopefully describing myself accurately. Hehe, I feel like Diane Lane in "Must Love Dogs". I've gotten a couple of bites but nothing wonderful. The guys that are interested in me seem to go from "How's it going" to "What's your bra size" in 0-2 messages. After that they get to know the power of the block button on the right hand side of the screen. I have actually got up to texting with one guy but that turned really sour pretty fast. It was due to a horrible sentense involving the words "protien shake". You don't want to know.

Maybe i'm too picky, I don't know. Its still pretty fun. Meeting guys, flirting with them. I am alot more charming when typing or texting it seems. All the nerves are check. I can just be me without the first date jitters. We shall see what happens. If anything, they will make for funny blog entries to my best friends. One just popped up. His name is Nate. He's from Boston (hmmm long distance...sheesh). Shaggy hair, stubble . His message says "I'm Nate, your profile popped up and I had to say hello." Ohhh boy. I'll keep you guys posted on this one :).

xoxo (noo not Gossip Girl)
     Kiki

it's my face, only better

i was going to blog about food, but then while in san diego we passed a bruggers bagel and i got enough bagels and veggie cream cheese for a week so, how about some beauty?

i admit my job borders between a little and a lot boring/slow on most days right now since i have no projects filming. there's a lot of time spent online. somehow i've gotten very into beauty products, probably b/c my job no longer requires me to schlep hand trucks full of crafty, so i have incentive to spend a little more time on my face/hair in the morning. (and let's be honest, i'm about to be 25 for the 5th time, i should start looking like a semi-adult)

living in the humidity free world that is los angeles, i found myself hating bare minerals for the first time in 5 years. (leigh, can you believe it's been 5 years since we bought out ulta?) why you ask, because with out humidity adding that extra special moisture like only the east coast can dish out, my face was dry, dull and starting to feel like sandpaper. so after 7-ish months of "i'm not buying anything until this runs out, i paid enough for it," i caved. i began searching for something new. i'm not sure how i stumbled upon it, perhapse i may have googled "jennifer aniston make-up,'" come on, she's 40 and looks hot!

but better yet, at premiers she didn't have that damn jane jetson face mask look that was so popular in the early 90s. now i was just going to go in and try it out in the store for a day but, the flawless face kit was just too good to pass up. primer, tinted moisturizer, concealer and tools all in one handy little case. (kiki i'm sorry, i'm not sure the kit would work you your lovely skin tone, but they do have some sold seperately for you) damn you sephora iphone app with your handy suggestions and exclusive deals!

here's the kit:

step 1 - primer, thought this was a joke. i'd gotten so tarina tarantino as a sample, holy glitter face batman. it was supposed to give you the "dewy" look, which i personally believe is a term created by make up artists and stylists to try and hide the fact that their stars are actually sweating. primer a la mercier is awesome and clear. one of my biggest complaints with powder foundation is that it had all fallen off by the end of the day. primer is meant to help the make up stay put, and stay put it does. primer also smoothes out the skin and fills in lines to give an even appearence. being young enough to not have that many wrinkles, i can only that many reviewers word for it.

step 2 - tinted moisturizer, this stuff is awesome! i do put on face cream after getting out of the shower every morning, but my skin is sure dry. the primer adds a little more moisture, but mostly softens. the tinted moisturizer is pretty sheer but not so sheer that you don't get some coverage. i've been using the kit version on the weekends for minimal look and the oil free for the weekdays when i need a bit more. comes with a sponger to apply for smoother finish, but fingers work too. bonus, it has spf that doesn't smell weird or sting. drove 3 hours with the top down, shoulders burnt, face, perfect.

step 3 - concealer, this was a little harder to figure out. yes, it goes on over the tinted moisturizer, i thought that was weird but, whatev. there's 2, a dry light shade and a creamy darker shade. light hides the red spots, darker erases the dark circles under the eyes. there's also setting power to brush over once applied. bummer that this little "under cover pot" as they call the combo only comes in this kit, it's damn handy.

step 4 - set. there's an awesome little puff, sprinkle the setting powder one, rub into the puff and then press on to face. pressing the powder in gives a more matte finish. there's also a pressed version of the loose powder for sale, i keep it in my purse for afternoon touch ups. also available to buy is a fan brush, for a less matte look.

it lasts a seriously long time. i ordered it at thanksgiving and only had to buy a new primer last week, still have plenty of the concealers left. also, word on the google is princess catherine used these products for her wedding day face, and anything that stays on that long, under those lights, looking that gorgeous gets a place at my dressing table.

sounds like a lot to do but it's actually pretty quick to apply. plus, it doesn't look like a paint by numbers face, it's you, just looking your best.

one last awesome product before i go, argon oil. read about a $$$$ on on the bergdorf blog but found a $$ one at sephora. this stuff has seriously changed my skin. i bought the large bottle, the small bottle is online only, and it seems like it'll last a while. i use it at night after washing my face instead of moistureizer. it's amazing, my face is so soft in the morning and it's taking care of the little smile lines under my eyes. plus, it's totally natural. i also put a little in my hair after a shower, adds shine and helps with the split ends. i did try switching it with my morning cream, but it takes a bit longer to soak in so i have to do it as soon as i get out of the shower. it hasn't made my skin oily or caused breakouts, supposedly it helps rebalance your skin.

so there's my morning face, a few more steps than before, but totally worth it.

Zucchini Bread... who knew?

This past weekend was pretty exciting for me. I spent most of Saturday cooking and preparing food for a picnic Chris and I would have on Sunday for his birthday. As I was merrily baking zucchini bread and zesting lemon into a pasta salad, I got a message from my cousin who is about 3 years younger than me. We swapped weekend plans and as I wiped flour off of my pants, she told me she was going to her first rave that night. Boy did I feel old for a moment as I added feta cheese to the pasta. (But not too much! Low cholesterol was the key word for this picnic.)


The feeling old passed quickly though and the next day, while she was inevitably hungover... or perhaps still drunk, I was spreading a blanket on the ground of Prospect Park and sharing marzipan with someone I deeply care about. The rest of the the birthday passed in a whirlwind of more food (Ethiopian was next), Chris' friends from out of town and a showing of Tree of Life at the BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Rose Cinema. 
Through all of this, I kept feeling a special sense of accomplishment over my zucchini bread. I was so proud of that adorable little loaf of bread. (I didn't even use self rising flour!) I wish I'd taken pictures, but I can add the link for the recipe. 


http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Zucchini-Cornbread-366395


It tastes a lot like sweet cornbread but my domestic side really enjoyed making it. 


Here's the tree where we had our picnic in Prospect Park. It's a weeping white mulberry.


And of course the Ethiopian restaurant, Ghenet. What an experience to share a giant plate of food with 5 people while eating it with your hands. (This is something I would not recommend to germophobes... but we all know I'm not so squeamish about these things.)

This is what our food looked like:

The inside of the place. The metal screens were gorgeous.



I actually found the above picture on an architecture website called The Architect's Newspaper.


Getting the marzipan was another feat all on it's own. I had to trek to the nether regions of Brooklyn to find it (and I'm not even a marzipan fan!) but it was supposed to be the best in the city. I gotta say, after eating this delicious almond confection from Villabate Alba, I'm a convert. 





I mean look at this stuff!! YUM!


(I'm getting the feeling my posts are going to be the ones about food.....)