Million Dollar View

I gotta say, my picture-taking skills are getting pretty darn good. I say "picture-taking" rather than "photography" so as not to insult any photographers out there who make this skill their profession. Also, shout out to Daisy for taking such awesome pictures. Couldn't have done it without you.

More importantly, these photos were taken from the window in my dorm room. I absolutely love where I live, and I realize that people in this city pay thousands of dollars to have a view like this.

 I'm know I'm one of the lucky ones.

Homemade Butternut Squash and Apple Soup Recipe & Family Dinner, Secret Santa Edition

I realize I spilled a little when I took this picture. So what if it's not perfect? If it was, it would be very unlike myself anyways.

....What an elaborate blog post title. Sorry. So you may or may not remember this from one of my very very early posts, but my friends and I LOVE being all cute and fancy and having a "Family Dinner" where we all (or most of us) cook and bring something for dinner at someone's house. This family dinner edition was for our Secret Santa exchange, and my task for dinner was to make some sort of appetizer. I think. Actually, I'm pretty sure I just volunteered myself to make a Butternut Squash and Apple soup because a) it's my absolute favorite soup in the dining hall at school and b) I've been dying to make it myself for the past 3 months. Taking the opportunity, I slaved over a hot stove (totally exaggerating) for a couple of hours and actually came out with a successful soup! I'm pretty proud of it, considering it was my first time and I sort of winged the recipe, in the sense that I combined 3 or 4 different recipes and sort of came up with my own. Either way, the soup was a total success and everyone was apart of the Clean Plate Club. I was thoroughly pleased. Hit the jump for the recipe and more pictures of our lovely Family Dinner, Secret Santa Edition.

Amanda Lear in Vogue FR

"The real face of Amanda. Inspiration of Salvador Dali, fiancée of David Bowie, disco-queen of millions of albums, today the muse of Riccardo Tisci, Amanda Lear defends herself from being an icon. Very much in line with "live" successes, the challenge of the present is bright. Then, what a triumph of the theater, meeting with the Queen Lear".

I could translate this quote too, but I'm in the middle of Season 1 of American Horror Story and feeling a weird mixture of pure intrigue and absolute terror and I can't seem to look away.

So update for the world and a brief intro for this post: Brian got me an iPad mini for Christmas. A freaking iPad mini (from which I am posting this). I obviously lost it, practically almost cried, and kept saying "Oh my God, why?!" because I like being dramatic. While I was playing with my iPad literally all night -- ironically, i pulled my first all-nighter all semester -- I went app-crazy and downloaded at least 30 apps, among them being the Vogue France magazine app.

Hence, where I found this sweet article on and interview with Amanda Lear.

 

I'll be honest though, I've never actually heard of Amanda Lear before reading this article (as well as her wiki page), but from this interview I've learned that she's lived quite a life. Fun fact: her "birth name" is A. Trapp. Whatever that means. From being a muse for multiple artists, to collaborating with Givenchy, to authoring a book, Amanda Lear makes her life sound so unbelievably interesting, her interview makes me realize how unbelievably uninteresting my life actually is. The artwork and photography in this article (or how it looks on the iPad app, not really sure) is amazing and totally makes me appreciate this beautiful Christmas gift, and the fact that I can download and read Vogue France whenever I want makes me appreciate the fact that I can read French. So if you can too, grab a copy/download the app and read the article!

Also, the last line intro to the article alludes to Shakespeare's King Lear. As a Shakespeare nerd, it was unfair to any other article in the magazine. I mean come on, French and Shakespeare? Slight bias? Yes.

 

Posted on iPad

WWIWT: What Would I Wear Today?

ModCloth Who Dozen Dress - SALE $41.99
TOPSHOP Petite Sleeveless Denim Jacket - $70
Michael Kors Lena Lace Up Booties - SALE $206.99 
Juliet & Company Long Pearl Wrap Necklace - $36
Sequin Skinny Zebra Bangle - $25
Sequin White Enamel Shrimp Bangle - $30
Fendi Two-Tone Bangle - $525 (lol.)

So I know I don't post a lot of pictures of myself on here (although I did start posting my own looks to my LOOKBOOK...check it out on the right sidebar!), so I'm sure its hard to imagine what my "urban-chic" style is. I've done this kind of a post before using ShopStyle's "Create A Look", which I think has now just been shortened to "Looks", but this time I'm posting more of an outfit that I would wear on today or any given day when it isn't freezing like it is currently in NYC. I'd like to think of this as my "If I had everything I wanted at hand right in my closet" outfit. Pretty much sums up my fashion taste (urbany, vintagey, sorta preppy but i can also do boho...?), but I'll make sure to keep this up and give you a better idea of my kind of style.

Song of the Day: Backseat Freestyle

In honor of Kendrick Lamar's debut LP good kid m.A.A.d going gold yesterday (&deka^lk%sdf 500k, omg), today's Song of the Day is not only a song from the album, but easily my favorite song on it. I'm almost certain countless people around campus have seen me either mouth the words to the song in a fairly aggressive manner, do a kind of hand & head-moving-combo dance move thing, or an awkward combination of both. Regardless, this song makes me feel like I can just go out and fight someone and win...which is probably not very true. I don't feel the need to go into detail about what the song is about or "what it means" because there's like a million stories all over the internet about it. Listen to it and enjoy it; don't try and pick it apart. I'm sure that's what K Dot would want out of your experience anyways.

Oh, and the ultimate best part about the song its sample. Well, one of its samples. Easily the most random and unsuspecting thing I've ever heard. I usually tell you to just jump to the part of the sample the song comes from, but I highly suggest letting it play through. It makes the experience that much better.

Also, how hysterical is this thumbnail?

Just in Time for Christmastime

Where did you think I get all my sass? 

My mother, the model. My boyfriend, the other model.

And without further ado, The FancyClown is back from its semester long hiatus!!! First of all, no one told me how ridiculous junior year is and I'm upset at everyone who did not warn me because quite honestly, I was not ready for this. I was so stressed and tired so often, I practically forgot I had a blog. As you guys can see, I totally redid the site because TFC kind of needed a bit of a makeover Also, shoutout to my lovely friend Stacy for designing the new TFC banner. Isn't she awesome?

Anyways, this semester took a serious toll on me but I'm happy to say I'm almost done and I have definitely survived!! I've got 2 more finals to go but I miss this blog too much to stay away any longer!! To avoid anymore hiatuses and whatnots, TFC will be on a new updating schedule where a new post will be up every Wednesday and Sunday...and most likely other days when I really just want to say or show you something. I'm instilling some sort of stability in my life starting now and I really appreciate y'all bearing with me through all this nonsense.

So how does one come back from such a longterm disappearance, you ask? Well, if you know anything about me at all, you know that I am a little (unhealthily) obsessed with Christmas. I'm actually listening to my favorite Christmas CD as I write this post and study for my statistics final simultaneously. Not ashamed to add that it's N*SYNC's Home for Christmas. You know you have it either hard copy or on iTunes -- don't kid yourself. Anywho, I always help my mom decorate the house and tree when I come home for Thanksgiving break and ever since I've been with Brian, he comes over to help out too. This year was no different, and you can clearly see the over excitement all over my face about decorating. I hope these pics put you in the holiday spirit and for those of you who are like me and have a few more finals to get through...we got this. Happy Holidays!!!

Song of the Day: Free Lemonade for Everyone

Besides it being a beautiful, 63 degree, autumn feeling Tuesday in the city, turns out an unreleased song called "Lemonade" by Blu has pretty much made my morning nothing short of awesome. It seems as though no one really knows whether or not this song that was uploaded to YouTube this morning was uploaded by Blu and his people, but no one really cares. Lyrically, Blu does what Blu does best and kills the track, and with classic scratches and some dope drum breaks, well this is an instant put-on-repeat-all-day kind of jam. Plus, I love lemonade. So I was already biased towards this song from the jump. 

NYFW: Public School SS '13 Presentation

Backstage! 

The Set-Up 

The Presentation!

Nick Wooster

Dao-Yi Chow and Nick Wooster

Success!

Remember that time I worked a presentation at New York Fashion Week? And that time I met fashion icon Nick Wooster and Public School designer Dao-Yi Chow? Yea, that was yesterday. I'm actually still shocked that I got to experience all of it -- the absolute madness going on backstage, the stress of the 5 minutes before the doors open to the public (well the public allowed into the building), and the tons of bloggers, stylists, and big-time fashion icons walking around admiring the very same presentation I was working. One of the girls I was working with told me Victoria Beckham was in the building. I still can't believe it. I'm thankful my job was to walk around and take pictures with my iPhone for the hour long presentation, or else I would just be blogging about how much I loved being there. And that's just boring.

But more importantly, Public School. The collection was inspired by the concept of "structure", while the garments featured clean lines, strong form, and what seemed to be some asymmetry in some of the pieces. From their creation of worn-in looks to double breasted suits, Public School design duo Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell perfectly combined hard edged fashion with a softer side. The sounds of popped corks from champagne bottles marked the end of a very successful presentation and I got to personally thank Dao-Yi for a great show. All in all, my first experience of Fashion Week could not have gone any better, and I have Williamson PR and Showroom to thank for that. 

Song of the Day: Joey and the DOOM

In my opinion, anyone who has the courage to take on a DOOM beat deserves to be heard, at the least. Now anyone who takes on a DOOM beat and kills it? They deserve respect. I think I've listened to this song at least 12 times in the past 2 days and it definitely got me through some rough patches during the move in to my new dorm room (pictures to come, once everything is in order). I realized that the name of the song has something to do with the intro...Pinky and the Brain? Take over the world? It took me a little longer than it really should have, I'll admit. But seriously, take my advice: give it a listen, give it a play, and realize that good music is still out there somewhere not too far away (I didn't mean for it to rhyme or sound cheesy when I first typed this. I actually thought think it was clever, so I'm sticking with it). 

Note: I saw this comment on youtube: 

Joey Bada$$ + MF DOOM = 

JOEY BADOOM. 

I love it. 

Healthy Eggplant Lasagna Recipe

I actually waited for Daisy this time.

I gotta say, I'm on a roll with this homemade recipe stuff. Here's another recipe I kind of created on my own, based on the cheese mixture recipe I used for the Turkey Casserole I posted a few days ago: No-noodle Eggplant Lasagna. It's 100% PN friendly and so unbelievably good (I have no problem tooting my own horn. It was that good). Who knew cottage cheese could actually not taste like the throw up it resembles? I used my parents as guinea pigs since this was the first time I made this, and turns out they thought it was amazing. I plan on adding more veggies to the tomato sauce next time I make this, like spinach and onions. They tried to eat the whole thing but I needed leftovers for lunch today...totally reasonable. Hit the jump for the recipe and more pics!

FNO '12 Preview

Granted, I'm a little late on posting this, but would I be me if I wasn't? Anywho, Fashion's Night Out events are up!! My friends and I have already started planning on where we're going. So far on the list? BCBG (duh), alice + olivia, Lord & Taylor, Saks, and Cole Haan. Looks like we've got a lot of walking to do. This is all of our first time at FNO so be on the look out for a future post on the night!

Defying Gravity: Phillipe Ramette

I love this artist. His work is absolutely ridiculous. It kind of reminds me of those insane Hugo Boss advertisements, except these are actually physically impossible. What got me was that his work isn't even Photoshopped -- he has hidden metal supports he calls "sculpture-structures". I may love him even more because he's French, which kind of makes me biased. But I don't care. 

Check out his 2009 interview with The Guardian here!

Homemade Ground Turkey Casserole with Recipe!

Obviously, taken with my iPhone. I was too excited to eat to wait for Daisy.

That's better.

Finally, a food post with a recipe of my own. Well, almost of my own. This summer, Brian and I started a new eating lifestyle (sounds so much better than diet) called the Precision Nutrition System and I legitimately swear by it because it actually works. We got the Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook which had a Turkey Sausage Casserole recipe that caught my attention. Here's where the whole "my recipe" thing comes in: the recipe calls for zucchini, mushrooms, and 2 whole cups of cottage cheese but since I actually hate all of those things, I improvised a little and the outcome was ridiculously good. Hit the jump for my improvised recipe!

Where in the World...

...did I go? I feel like I've written this post 1000 times. Apologizing after disappearing for a couple of weeks but not really having much of an excuse for it. Well...okay I'm not going to say I've had some miraculous epiphany and I have vowed to change my ways. Chances are I'm probably going to do it again in the future. At least for now I can say I've been gone for the followng reasons:

1. As mentioned in the post immediately following (or preceding, depending on how you look at it) this one, Brian's birthday weekend was a little hectic (3 music events + dinner) but I will be sure to update you all on that.

2. I may have forgotten to release this interesting news but I broke my pinky last month/ got surgery on it and I just got my hand cast off last week. The freedom was a little overwhelming.

3. I went home for the weekend and pretty much vegetated and let my mom do my laundry for me like any other 20 year old college student does.

4. I live in New York City. It's hard to keep up man!


All in all, I apologize for yet another absence of posting on here. I (actually) plan on recording these last few days of my summer in the city, as well as my thoughts and feelings about...stuff. If you haven't forgiven me yet, here's a picture of two puppies playing in grass.

YAY for puppies and forgiveness!

Song of the Day: The Big You-Know-What

Contrary to popular belief, this dis to former Slum Village group member Proof was made before he actually died. 

I suppose this is an appropriate #tbt post (for those of you not in the know, that means 'throwback thrusday') and well, just an all around appropriate post. I mean come on, it's Elzhi. Being the wonderful girlfriend that I am, I'm taking Brian to one of the dopest concerts of this entire summer: Elzhi at S.O.B's. If you ask me,"The Big F.U" is easily top 5 of any Elzhi song. Maybe if we're lucky enough, he'll play this jam tonight. Then again, he's never had a bad song ever so whatever he plays is going to be amazing. Look out for a post reviewing the concert!

Blue Hair, Don't Care

The best part about seeing an old friend at The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival? Seeing her in a ridiculously cute and totally blog-worthy outfit. Oh yea, and with a lovely streak of blue hair.

Everyone, meet Nakita. 

It Don’t Get No Better: The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival ‘12

I have to admit, I was still a little bummed that the Rock the Bells line-up was so unbelievably disappointing this year that I swore not to go. I was only bummed because last year’s experience at my first hip hop festival went above and beyond any expectations I had set for it. Luckily last Sunday, Soundkick (which is THE best iPhone app ever...you’ll see why shortly) reminded me that The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival was going on this entire week --- not to mention that one of my new favorite groups Clear Soul Forces would be opening for headliner Busta Rhymes and his ‘Friends’ on the final day of the festival. I’ll try and describe what I saw this past weekend to the best of my ability, but I already know words won’t do it any sort of justice. What will be waiting for you after the jump: pictures, a ridiculously high-quality video thanks to Daisy and Brian the videographer, and pictures of the ‘Friends’ Busta brought with him. ’Twas an interesting Scenario.

For the record, my title is not gramatically incorrect. Hit the jump to see why...

Excursions: Cupcake Cravings at Magnolia

The only reason I find it odd that I haven’t blogged about Magnolia Bakery in the West Village until right now is because back during my first semester of freshman year, my friends and I trekked down to
Bleeker St. just for these perfect cupcakes 3 weekends in a row. Granted, I haven’t been back there until yesterday...so I guess it makes sense that I haven’t blogged about it until now. Fun fact: this particular Magnolia’s is apparently famous and always has a line out the door and around the corner. I always thought it was because of how small a space it was. Whoops. Hit the jump for more pics of delicious cupcakes and such!

Song of the Day: Queens-bound "Loco-motive"

HE IS BACK.

Excursions: Digging Day

As I've mentioned in the past, I love digging for records and I think record collecting is one of the best hobbies out there. Some of the best record stores I've ever come across reside in Brooklyn, New York (I'm aware that I've been spending a bit of time in BK) and the ones I went to on Monday were no different. Although Brian, my friend Alex, and I ventured to a total of 3 record stores, Dope Jams is unfortunately closed on Mondays, meaning we awkwardly stood outside of the locked door staring inside. However, the ones we actually made it to -- Academy Records and Fool's Gold -- made the trip totally worth it.