You don't know this, but I've been having an identity crisis with FashionMista because I created the name on a whim one day while working. Sometimes words just pop into my mind and I don't know why, but I like them and keep them. So, the name FashionMista was born.
But I've been trying to figure out what Mista meant, and why I did it. Originally, a friend of mine had created a blog called New York City Mouse. My other friend had a similar mouse-like name for her online identity, so in my mind, to hang with them in mouse-land, Mista meant mouse, but in German (my version of German anyway). Well, years later, I looked it up, and it turns out I made that up and was totally wrong. Hehe.
Long time followers of this blog may also remember that sometimes I try to do redesigns of the blog, since it is a template after all, and I am a website designer/developer, so wouldn't it be fitting if my own blog was custom designed? But then I design it in circles and can never follow what I'm doing. Why? Because there has been no identity.
THEN, for the past few years, I've wanted to graduate this blog into a blog shop - yeah that's right, where you buy from this blog because I do love featuring other designers. Haven't done it for a while because all of that type of energy goes to promoting people on Collective-E in new and exciting ways, but I'm getting back to my roots over here to drum it up again. So I've been trying to pin down the name - do I keep it? What would it change to? What the heck does Mista mean?
Google searches tell me that "fashionmista" is now associated with a male fashionista. And I'm not a boy, so I wonder if this giant sign that says "Male Fashionista" for all of this girly stuff is a bad thing? But I loved nicknaming people So and So Mista, and I just love the word Mista.
Then yesterday, I was having a co-birthday lunch with my best girl Dental Mista from Chicago, and we were down in Soho having lunch in an Italian restaurant on Thomson Street, and voila! Right there on the menu in the Insalata section was: "Insalata Mista".
Rejoice! When I went to Italy my Junior year of college, Insalata Mista was what I always ordered to follow every pasta meal! So it means "mixed salad", (and wikipedia backs me up here, and even Google is going there) and Mista, I guess, would mean "mixed".
So...FashionMista basically means "Mixed Fashion", which I kind of like! This blog has always been about curious forms of art and design, among other things like beauty and personal. A big mix.
Question is: Should I keep it on, even though it has been meaning Male Fashionista, or should I delve into an old pen name that my College of Charleston Mistas will remember: Dear Trudy, which was my love advice column. I can see how a shopping blog could work under a title of Dear Trudy and I could make it J Peterman like...thoughts??? Or I could make Dear Trudy a series on it with special worldy finds, kind of like Conversations with Emerging Designers was a series. Hmm. Please comment! I really need your help on this one!
The Gazpacho Shake Recipe
I think every summer I pull out the gazpacho fixings, but really, it's
for any time. Here is a great, mini-version of the gazpacho that is
great brain food at any time of the day - breakfast, lunch, fresh
snack...
Use the Rocket Blender. We got it for our wedding. AmAzing.
Slice half a carrot. Put it in the blender cup.
Slice a quarter green pepper. Put it in the blender cup.
Slice a quarter cucumber. Put it... Right.
Slice half or quarter tomatto. Put it in the blender cup.
Opptional: put some fresh spinach in there for extra brain power for
women.
Cut a lemon in half and squeeze it into the cup. If you have one of
those lemon or orange squeezers, use that. Lemons are also good for
your skin and ph balance if you've had too much coffee.
Dash some salt on the top.
Pour about a teaspoon of olive oil. Good for your shiny hair.
Drizzle a bit of white wine vinigar or white wine vinigar in top. If
you like it really tart, than use more. I just use a little to accent
the flavor (too much of it makes me flushed in the face).
Screw the top on of your Rocket Blender.
Blend that sucker. Shake it up and down a few times to help the
carrots get blended.
Let it blend for about 2 minutes.
Put it into a pretty juice glass, and you've got a gazpacho shake that
you can drink!
I Just Wrote in a Journal
And what's even more shocking, is that when I went to get to this blog, I typed in www.facebook.com. Ahhh! And I really don't even spend that much time in there. I just go to play Farm Town anymore and harvest my crops and make fake money at market when I sell my crops. And say hi to people every now and then. And see what they're doing quick. And click that I 'like' what they just said. And maybe comment. Stop.
When I got the hankering to write in the journal, actually write with a pen with ink, I lamented the fact that I didn't have one. I mean, I actually do have one, and it's a nice leather bound journal I bought on sale at my favorite neighborhood art supply store on Columbia's campus, but I use it as a master todo list system. And then I remembered, the read leather bound journal tucked away on my bookshelf with my special books from authors like Isabelle Allende and the first Harry Potter book I ever bought (the mass market edition). The last entry was a dream and it was from 2007.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is, when most of what you do is type, I think the brain begins to be...very front. You're looking at pixels, that are glowing, your mind is traveling in a million places at once because you get so many ideas at once, and you know how to execute them, but then you have to eat lunch or walk your dog or answer an email quick or look at something else or go to your online banking to make sure everything is ok....and so on.
The point is...I'm not sure what my point is anymore because I've gotten distracted by my burger from the Abby Pub which is slowly going cold, and the digital glow in a dark living room may be sapping my brain. And if I'm all about getting back to my roots, I may not want to be sapped. I guess the point is: I wrote in a journal, with a pen that has ink. When I started the blog, I feared that I would stop writing, like, physically not typing. And I like typing, a lot. Don't get me wrong. But something is going on with all of this digital twitter status email pinging everything, that I just wanted paper inside of leather that goes nowhere. Yes, spoken by a girl who is about to trademark the words Socialness and Tweetworking and is about to "twurl this" blog post. :)
When I got the hankering to write in the journal, actually write with a pen with ink, I lamented the fact that I didn't have one. I mean, I actually do have one, and it's a nice leather bound journal I bought on sale at my favorite neighborhood art supply store on Columbia's campus, but I use it as a master todo list system. And then I remembered, the read leather bound journal tucked away on my bookshelf with my special books from authors like Isabelle Allende and the first Harry Potter book I ever bought (the mass market edition). The last entry was a dream and it was from 2007.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is, when most of what you do is type, I think the brain begins to be...very front. You're looking at pixels, that are glowing, your mind is traveling in a million places at once because you get so many ideas at once, and you know how to execute them, but then you have to eat lunch or walk your dog or answer an email quick or look at something else or go to your online banking to make sure everything is ok....and so on.
The point is...I'm not sure what my point is anymore because I've gotten distracted by my burger from the Abby Pub which is slowly going cold, and the digital glow in a dark living room may be sapping my brain. And if I'm all about getting back to my roots, I may not want to be sapped. I guess the point is: I wrote in a journal, with a pen that has ink. When I started the blog, I feared that I would stop writing, like, physically not typing. And I like typing, a lot. Don't get me wrong. But something is going on with all of this digital twitter status email pinging everything, that I just wanted paper inside of leather that goes nowhere. Yes, spoken by a girl who is about to trademark the words Socialness and Tweetworking and is about to "twurl this" blog post. :)
Hybrid Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie Popper Recipe
Since my random foray into cookie making this afternoon prompted such a delicious response on Facebook, with requests for the recipe, I will deliver.First of all, there is an emotion to this baking. Kind of like in Like Water for Chocolate. I don't know what prompted me to make these cookies in the middle of a busy work day, but I did. And sometimes that motivation makes a difference. Favorite parts about making cookies:
1. I get to mix them in our new ice blue wedding KitchenAid. I like adding ingredients. I don't measure anything, but do follow a recipe. So be careful.
2. I like the batter. I get a hankering for batter, and make the chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes an entire day can go by without me tasting the finished product.
But you really want the recipe for the hybrid banana chocolate chip cookie poppers. Here it is. In my language:
INGREDIENTS
2 sticks of butter (1 cup) - room temperature (Yes, do this 2-3 hrs before. Do not microwave it.)
2 eggs
1 overripe banana (brown on all sides, almost ready for trash)
3/4 cups white granulated sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla (a generous tsp)
2ish cups flour
1 tsp dashes of baking soda
several dashes of salt
1/2 or 3/4 bag of 11.5oz chocolate chips
muffin tin
DIRECTIONS
Several hours before you are ready to mix the ingredients, take the butter out of the fridge and let it get to room temperature. It is advised to do this with the eggs as well, but if you have a tendency to forget to make this recipe in time, then leave the eggs in the fridge. The banana should be already overripe ie several days old.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree F.
In a bowl of appropriate size, combine the flower, baking soda and salt.
In a mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the banana. If you're not already beating on slow, turn your beater or mixer onto a slower speed. Not the slowest, but slower. Gradually pour in the flour mixture. Make sure all of the batter gets mixed and is not stuck inside the whisks. Use a rubber spatula to gingerly push the batter down the sides of the bowl, if it has been pushed up. Beat for about 1.5 minutes. Do not over-beat (it might encourage the cookies to be flat).
HINT: If the batter has gathered in the center of the spinning whisks, lift the whisks out of the batter (but not out of the bowl) and the batter will spin off, back into the bowl.
Let sit for 2 minutes. Do the dishes in the meantime. Or lightly grease the muffin tin with butter. You'll need to grease the muffin tins even if they are teflon.
Take your rubber spatula and/or a spoon and drop dollops of batter into each muffin tin. Fill a little less than 75%.
Cook for 10 minutes or until just after you smell the best smell of chocolate chip banana bread coming out of the oven. Not right as the good smell happens, but right after.
Please let us know how they turned out! And if you have your own twist to the recipe, please share.
Just. Be. Nice. In Social Networks, and Your Life.
This is your social networking captain speaking. As you may know, I do a little advising of it for a living. It's basically unspoken rules in how to be polite online, how to not pester but get a message across, that sort of thing. Here's the deal people. In today's world, everything is connected. If you are a teenager, or just having come out as an adult, your social networks need to be cleaned up. I don't care what you say, and I hear you saying it: "But I won't accept any friends who are bosses, so I don't care! I'll put that beer mug in my profile picture if I want to! I'll swear to my friends! I'll do anything I want!"
Fine. You do that, but I warn you: You will be found out.
Let's focus on Facebook. If you don't accept your mom, or your uncle, or your boss, you may have accepted a friend of theirs, who can see everything that you do. Every little comment you leave on a friend's trail of photos. Every slanderous statement you make about a friend behind their back to your other friends. Every snarky little comment you make, every permiscuous comment, it is very, very possible for it to get to the person you are not intending. Whether you have blocked non-friends from seeing it in your Privacy settings, you still have accepted some friend, somewhere, who will read it, and verbally report back, or second-hand see a comment because they are a direct friend.
As for current adults on Facebook, people can speak behind people's backs, and possibly feel safe. They can revert back to childhood, and say mean things about people. Unfortunately, in moments of nostalgia, friends who may not have been friends with people in childhood will find each other in Facebook and run through fields of green, into each other's arms, and click "Accept" when it comes to acecpting new friendship with each other.
Trouble is, these friends are all connected on the internet, so they see every little dribble of words you intend to be private. Heck, even Twitter makes mistakes, flakes out, and publishes DMs (direct messages) every now and then. Oops. So when friends are indirectly connected with each other, word travels fast. Conversations you never had directly with someone can be known to them in an instant. Pieces of the puzzle can be fit together and revelations made and questions created.
Facebook is a scary place in that regard. If you're going to be mean. If you are going to have a sliver of mean-ness, and if you care about that, it is possible that all of the wrong people see that. It is possible that Google sees it and now your information is floating all over search results. Do you remember when I blogged about that celebrity without asking his permission? And how fast he learned? And how fast his laywers sent me a scary PDF?
That's right. Be nice people. Be nice. If you are not nice, the Facebook Santa will find out, and he will bring you coal.
Fine. You do that, but I warn you: You will be found out.
Let's focus on Facebook. If you don't accept your mom, or your uncle, or your boss, you may have accepted a friend of theirs, who can see everything that you do. Every little comment you leave on a friend's trail of photos. Every slanderous statement you make about a friend behind their back to your other friends. Every snarky little comment you make, every permiscuous comment, it is very, very possible for it to get to the person you are not intending. Whether you have blocked non-friends from seeing it in your Privacy settings, you still have accepted some friend, somewhere, who will read it, and verbally report back, or second-hand see a comment because they are a direct friend.
As for current adults on Facebook, people can speak behind people's backs, and possibly feel safe. They can revert back to childhood, and say mean things about people. Unfortunately, in moments of nostalgia, friends who may not have been friends with people in childhood will find each other in Facebook and run through fields of green, into each other's arms, and click "Accept" when it comes to acecpting new friendship with each other.
Trouble is, these friends are all connected on the internet, so they see every little dribble of words you intend to be private. Heck, even Twitter makes mistakes, flakes out, and publishes DMs (direct messages) every now and then. Oops. So when friends are indirectly connected with each other, word travels fast. Conversations you never had directly with someone can be known to them in an instant. Pieces of the puzzle can be fit together and revelations made and questions created.
Facebook is a scary place in that regard. If you're going to be mean. If you are going to have a sliver of mean-ness, and if you care about that, it is possible that all of the wrong people see that. It is possible that Google sees it and now your information is floating all over search results. Do you remember when I blogged about that celebrity without asking his permission? And how fast he learned? And how fast his laywers sent me a scary PDF?
That's right. Be nice people. Be nice. If you are not nice, the Facebook Santa will find out, and he will bring you coal.
Paula Patton Wears Andrew Gn @ Cannes Film Festival
s: Scriptgirl/TFS and Style
Paula attends the Cannes premier of "Precious" based on the novel Push by Sapphire.
As beautiful as Paula is, I don't always love her clothing choices but she looks spectacular here. I love the neckline. I'm glad she opted for color instead playing it safe with a black evening gown.
I cannot wait to see this movie!
Zoe Saldana Covers Latina Magazine (and Other Titles)
Latina magazine has been diversifying its cover subjects lately and included more Afro-Latinas in the mix. Sessilee Lopez graced the March 2009 cover.
I rarely get to the movies but I am intrigued by the new Star Trek installment. I had a few other actresses in mind to play Uhura when I first heard about the film but from what I've heard, Zoe does a pretty good job in the role.
Did any of you see the flick last weekend? Was it worth the effort?
ETA: Women's Health and Entertainment Weekly covers.
Tyra's Hair @ The White House Correspondents Dinner
She will never abandon her lace-fronts but the darker color really suits her. With all the comments online about Tyra and her wigs I'm surprised that she (to the best of my knowledge) hasn't done a show about the topic. I mean, the woman got her breasts screened on TV to prove that they are real. I'm dying to know what's underneath her wig cap.
What do you think of this new look?
ETA: Naturally Sophia provided this link about the show. Jezebel discussion on the show here.
s: lipstickalley
Arlenis Sosa Peña - Vogue Italia - "Glitter" editorial
Photographed splendidly by Michelangelo Di Battista.
Just gorgeous. So many of these bring vintage Hollywood film noir movie stills to mind...in the full dazzling color that has become one of Di Battista's trademarks.
s: Diciassette (17)/TFS
Jourdan Dunn - Italian Vogue - "The Now Smash of Style"
Photographed by Craig McDean for 5/2009 Italian Vogue.
I love these. It's not very often that black models get photographed in such an avant-garde style. It's a nice break from the jumping and laughing type shoot that one finds month after month in American Vogue.
á la Balenciaga (a reader at The Fashion Spot) dreamed up this imaginary cover featuring the best photo from the editorial:
I'm biased but I do like it much better than the actual May cover:
What do you think?
s: Diciassette(17),BLACKLAB,TFS
Model Face-Off: Arlenis vs. Jourdan in Alberta Ferretti
s: Marpessa
Arlenis Sosa donned the same Alberta Ferretti look that Jourdan wore on the runway last night at the Met Gala. Which model sold the look?
Round 2: Jourdan vs. Oluchi in Oscar de la Renta
Beyonce - Marie Claire - June 2009
Cute dress. Slightly odd expression.
I remember a time almost ten years ago when Marie Claire was my favorite magazine. The stories were interesting, the celebrity pieces weren't quite so fluffy, the models and "real women" used on its pages were diverse* and it actually had a point of view that seemed larger than "buy this stuff it will make you happy." Nowadays I only subscribe to the magazine because it only cost me $5 for two years. On average, it takes about five minutes to flip through it before it gets dumped into the recycle bin.
That said, this issue wasn't a complete bust. I found a few books in the "Radar" section that are now on my wishlist: Monica Ali's "In the Kitchen" and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck." It also reminded me to Tivo Jada Pinkett-Smith's new TNT drama HawthoRNe. Lastly, I entered a contest for a chance to win "Beyonce's Luxe HoD Wardrobe," which I know will make a showstopper at my son's next preschool mixer.
*I have to add that last month's issue contained two great spreads featuring models Alyssah Ali and Atong Arjok.
The Costume Insitute Gala 2009: The Model as Muse
Sadly, there was no Naomi this year because of the Azzedine Alaïa boycott but there were still plenty of pretty brown folk in attendance.
Alek Wek was a stunner in her brightly colored cocktail dress and Iman was glamourous as usual (even though I feel like I've seen this style of dress on her a hundred times before.) Ciara went the demure route which was fine (but a bit dull in my opinion.) Tyra's hair reminds me of a cinnamon roll, Kanye and Amber were all smiles and while I generally love her look, I think her dress looks a little too snug. Meanwhile post-Chris Rihanna bit Janelle Monae's look hard. Andre Leon Talley? Well he and his massive tunic were there too.
I'm still looking for pics of Joy Bryant, Kerry Washington, Liya Kebede, Arlenis Sosa, and Halle Berry.
ETA: Joy, Rachel Roy, Kerry Washington, Karen Alexander, Liya, Sessilee Lopez, and Arlenis added!
ETA2: Jourdan Dunn
s: Lipstick Alley, TFS, Filmmagic, Getty
Sabina guest blogs katies Headshot Day
Hey Mistas!
It's Sabina, Katies partner at Collective-E. It's Headshot day and
Katie is looking fierce and working on sustaining the same smile she's
been wearing since 11 am!
We r lucky to have amazing photographer Tanzie Johnson behind the
camera - www.tanziephoto.com.
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