GD2 BLOG

JAUARY 10, 2015 "New Year New You" 

         As the new year kicks off in a blur of boozy brunches and stale holiday cookies that were so 2014, I can’t help but start planning a personal refresh, vowing to get on track for the new year with plenty of vacations included. Typically, I have least one all consuming adventure, and this year a two week trek to The Orient will serve me a break from the taco life (Hello ramen and dashi bingeing) and western culture.  Of course, there will be shorter escapes and the ever popular three day weekend where I cram all  that I can into 72 hours- I never fail to seize the opportunity! But, alas, for January and February, prime resort time, I am wed to my job, with what seems like endless days and glazed nights. The solution, of course is to make my "weekend" work for me, until I can get to the airport,train or boat of course. If you're stuck in the winter doldrums and ho hum’s, bring the resort to you!

December 11, 2014 "Best Decorated" 

           It’s that time of year when all of your LBD’s (and LED’s)come out of the closet. They do the Party and Gala rounds, imbibe on snacks and drinks until, let's face it, they are about to pop. We all  want to put out our best look but, being busy people, we often do what’s easy and safe and add some bling.   But, all we need to do is look to any Couture house,Chanel or Valentino, to find the inspiration behind our festive favorites below. From the breathtaking to the sublime to the OMG I WOULD wear that, we offer you OUR selections for BEST DRESSED holiday!--GD2PRGirl

     

November 9, 2014 "I'll [not] be Home for Christmas"

            Halloween for me marks the end of the best month of the year (coincidentally October) and another 365 days to start planning next years costume and annual New Orleans pilgrimage. However, for every Paper Source and Papyrus, retail store, and bakery, it marks the official shotgun start of the holidays and sealed fate in bonuses due to revenue spikes. November first echoes with pre-mature jingle bells and television commercials laced with fantasy snow and velvet red ribbons advertising various holiday sales- nearly condoning you for not having started nor completed your shopping for the next two months worth of festivities. While all of the sights, sounds and eats flood into our souls and onto our waistline, I think the holidays for most people can be summed up in two simple words: Tradition and Stress.

My family has seamlessly mastered both. A tradition of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner in our gorgeous 50’s style ranch home in Los Angeles with our modest guest count of nine- if we’re lucky, prefaced by Christmas Eve take-out from Hu’s Szechwan and a triple threat of long days involving movies, board games, shopping (or “walks” as my mother and I gregariously refer to it as to avoid judgment and escape the madness) and endless eating and drinking. While festive, delicious and cloyingly predictable, past holidays have been somewhat of a sore spot for us and it is magnified every year by the pressure of execution and clean-up, which for the most part only consists of myself, my mother and father, and her best friend. This brings me to Tradition #2- a more recent yet highly effective one of a glass of 18y Scotch and ginger snaps- a nod to my late grandfather who would have gladly sat up with me all night indulging.

After a decade and a half of traditions and its sidekick stress, my mother just simply refused another year of party planning and suggested we pack our bags and head North for Thanksgiving and South for Christmas. While at first this “suggestion” (but really more of a motherly demand) created the meltdown of a century within the family, we stuck to our guns and insisted on Thanksgiving in Palo Alto, hosted by my grandmother, and Christmas in Palm Springs, hosted in an X- Howard Hughes vacation rental nestled into the canyon walls and overlooking the vast desert- both allowing us all a change of scenery and wardrobe. For the first year ever, my parents threw down the holiday gauntlet and cast tradition to the winter wind, and with that, perhaps created a new tradition of being un-traditional and absolving our family of stress while keeping things interesting. As my mother wisely remarks in times of trial “The one thing you can always be sure of is change.” So perhaps when you and your family find yourselves in times of stress consumed by eggnog and perfect pumpkin pies, throw a little change into your traditions- just don’t forget the scotch.--GD2PRGirl

Photo Courtesy Slim Aarons

October 17, 2014 "Costumes to Die For"

For the past two years, and soon to be my third, I’ve spent the two spirited days leading up to Halloween- and of course the actual holiday itself, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A special and charismatic city of the south even on its’ off days, the month of October seems to awaken an unearthly liveliness in the [French] quarter that rattles through the narrow alleys and echoes into the deep suburbs of the ninth ward. With a haunted history dating back to 1718, there’s no wonder as to why this bayou town fills with a national crowd dripping in runway-worthy costumes; filling themselves with hand-grenades and hurricanes as if they were going out fashion. Year after year, many of these costumes are nothing short of couture; handcrafted from inseam to feather, thoughtfully designed and neatly executed.

With such an element of creativity and each a unique fashion statement, I ponder over a glass of Abita Pecan Harvest if these garments could actually be pulled off in the fashion-clad streets of New York and inspire a new wave of trends and a shopping splurge of must-haves. With replicas of nostalgic characters brought to life with a unique creativity, the store-bought, pre- packaged costumes of Party City and Spirit stores (although, not to be completely written off for accessories and décor) are the equivalent to the processed and preservative filled meats in an era of sustainable and ecologically responsible food- and could not be any further from the catwalk.

Upon my recent visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of the Arts and while attempting to execute a Halloween costume of my own for this years southern festivities, I explored the fascinating exhibit a la mode Hollywood Costume- curated by Deborah Nadoolman Landis who brilliantly highlighted the couture craftsmanship and importance of the clothes behind the character. In a seemingly endless maze of some of the silver screens most revered and tremendous threads from The Dude to Marie Antoinette, Dracula to Dorothy, Marilyn Monroe to Captain America- it was unmistakable that the clothes make the character. The motionless garments clinging to lifeless mannequins whilst still possessing such a strongly spirited identity is truly electrifying. After all, Dr. Jones sans his fedora, dark khakis and un-tucked softened oxford would just be soulless. Whether it’s trendsetting or character building, costumes are to never be underestimated or neglected- even on All Hallows Eve. As Landis herself confessed “ Costumes are so much more than clothes- costumes embody the psychological, social and emotional condition of the character”. Below, a few Halloween costumes inspired by some of the most beloved and unique characters at the exhibit that we can all relate to- and maybe even embody for a night on the town. --GD2PRGirl