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June 27, 2007
I found a job in New York...
New York New York Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, that is! Finally after two nerve-wracking, soul-testing weeks of endless job searching (I got my car on the 9th and it already has 500 miles), I have landed me a job. I am America Restaurant's new fantabulous hostess (with the mostest, of course*). It may not seem like much to y'all, but considering I've been unemployed for almost two months, believe me, I am more than relieved. No more thinking negative thoughts about my talent and all that crap. I will finally have the money to buy an awesome sewing machine (my heavy upholstery vynil has been yearning to be used for a long time now).
I feel happy. Very.
* For millenia much discussion has been debated about what are hostesses the mostest of. Ancient scholars believe it is attitude, others allude it to resourcefulness... Me? I think it's HOTAWESOMENESS.
Posted by starmagn at 02:03 AM | Comments (2)
June 26, 2007
So I cut my hair...
And dare I say it does not look as repulsive as my reasoning tried to convince me over and over while the rusty scissors dangled nervously above my head. Luckily, the low humidity of this fantastic city keeps it all in place, unlike the horrible humidity of Georgia where a stunt of this magnitude would've been laughed at. Especially during the Summer. *shudders* I'm so glad I'm not in Savannah right now.
I am slowly adapting to life in Las Vegas after what seemed like five years of chilaxing in a hammock by the beach (Savannah, GA). This place is insane and it is HOT. You gotta be careful with where you lay your hands. Still fantastically unemployed. Sadly, I sold my sewing machine right before leaving, but I have kept myself a little busy with a few projects, as seen below. I need to buy SS and GF chains for some jewelry that I've designed.
More silly pictures under the cut!
I've been obsessed with cooking and trying out new recipes. I've never made a smoothie before. Mmmm strawberries
Pretty little fake flower
Mmmm baked corn!
TEH WIN!11one!!!1
My room at my brother's house. Totally not my style but it sure as heck feels nice to be sleeping in a bed.
Slightly emo picture.
Posted by starmagn at 02:02 AM | Comments (2)
June 16, 2007
Holy crap. Did I just... figure it all out?
Boredom brings awesomness. Clippings from Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Domino, and a Swedish rug company catalog. Just trying to Amyfy this bedroom.
You know what I really want to do? Other than be at the beach and get silly drunk with my friends. Or be at an awesome concert. Or making out with a sweet, sweet boy. Probably at said concert.
No no. Y'all know that I co-founded and co-organized the Mutation Craft Fair for about two years back in Savannah. It was, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best experiences in my entire life. We met so many wonderful people and we are grateful they were a part of my life, even if for just a few hours. The energy emitting from their lovely selves and from their talent is enough to power ten solar systems. Ten solar systems of crafty HOTAWESOMENESS.
Well, I really, really liked organizing this event with Meghan and later Elizabeth. Personally, I found a profound joy in helping these artists create bridges of their own, to get their work across, to meet other fellow crafters, to shop for unique gifts and to immerse themselves in such a nurturing artistic community. It was great to watch back (whenever I wasn't running around making sure everything was running swimmingly) at this constant... weaving of creativity, of kind words, of suggestions, of positive thoughts, of happiness, laughter, wonderment. As if we were all part of an eternal knitting of this Universe.
Or crocheting. Or spinning. Or whatever your choice of craft is.
Despite the numbing stress that comes from organizing an event with just a few pair of hands, I would do it again in a second.
I know my fancy schmancy BFA is in photography, I honestly have no real desires to be a famous fashion photographer (though very deep down inside I wish I had the balls to be a war photographer), or to.. I don't know. Shoot wedding after wedding. Then shoot a set of perfumes. It's all fine and dandy, but not where my real passion lies. (and I do LOOOOOVE to take pictures of beautiful, frilly, tulle-heavy gowns in very poetic settings, ahhhh love)
I think my real passion comes in... spreading the word about these fantastic people and their art. Art in general, actually. It hurts to see how America continues to be ignorant about the human necessity for art, especially among our young. I know we need our sciences (I was a science-oriented girl way before I became an artist), but... if we direct our limited educational budget to our children's left side of the brain, what would become of the human culture in a century or two? Technological advances will progress at an amazing rate... but, I fear we'd become drones and zombies (please zombie-enthusiasts, put down your shovels and ray-guns, the time will come for you to zap zombies back to the dark ages. Just not now. Not like this. Thank you).
I'm rambling, I know. But see how I get worked up talking about this issue? I don't do this with photography. Or anything else. Maybe cupcakes. And Star Wars. But that's it. I'm unsure where would I start with this, seeing as I just relocated here. But I will definitely make my rounds around the small arts district and make my desires known. I am dead sure I'm not alone in this. Dunno, maybe work at a non-profit that promotes the arts. Do anything in it. From the actual photography, to recruiting artists, or sponsors, to being their art director... or gosh, anything. It's my one little contribution to this world (other than my sexy latin moves).
Now, don't go thinking I want to be a grade school teacher. F that. I cannot deal with other people's kids. I just want them to be artistic. lol.
But yeah. That's what I want to do.
See, Amy, that wasn't so hard.
More pics:
Love that dress. And the shoes. And the rug.
Oh my look at that picture with the model in the green dress. And the armoire in the bottom left. And the couch. Can I have million dollars? Thank you.
Posted by starmagn at 11:54 PM | Comments (2)
June 15, 2007
Cooking and self-portraits
Yeap. Amy Nieto cooked all that. Has she ever cooked a potato salad before? Don't be silly, of course not! Or baked vegetables? Did she even know what a yellow squash is? No, no. Cooking is one of those activities, along with fashion and make-up (see post below), I've taken an interest in since I hit... adulthood. Or something. The lemon-peppered baked chicken was exquisite! mmmm I spent the last month staying at a fantastic chef's apartment and I got the cooking bug from him. So here's to more strange recipes!
This is me getting a beer from what appears to be a celestial fridge. How awesome would that be. Kinda like how in Star Trek you have the food replicators... but in this case, God hands you beers. Miller, even. That's my idea of heaven.
For sometime now I've been wanting to snap daily self-portraits, you know, like how all the emo kids are doing it. As I attempted with last year's short-lived 12 Hour Project, I like photographs that seem to collect things, as if you were cataloguing life, hoping to find some sort of pattern in the fabric of yourself.
love this cardigan - 6/13/07
This one y'all already saw - 6/12/07
Posted by starmagn at 01:36 AM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2007
I am here.
I have been living out of a suitcase for the past month and a half, with my clothes on the floor and one foot on the door, shily testing far away waters. Waters that move far too fast for me to stand on with my baggage. So I had to free myself of all that used to be me, make one last prayer and let that Ocean carry me to wherever it needed to.
"So many roads to choose, we started walking and learned to run" -- The Carpenters.
So here I am in Las Vegas, Nevada, after much deliberation, thinking and jumping from decisions to decisions. I can't say yet if I've made the right move, as I've only been here four days or so. But already a handful of great things have happened (which I cannot divulge yet).
One of the things I've enjoyed so far is the LOW HUMIDITY! I'll be studying closely how this dry weather will affect my skin and hair, but OMG, NO FRIZZINESS! As evidenced below. This is lovely little me after spending an entire day outside, running errands like a bull. Notice the hair. Every single strand in its place (I have naturally wavy hair). Outstanding.
I attempted to carry on with my 12 Hour Photo Project, but honestly, I've been waaaay too distracted (by heavy traffic jams and pretty lights) to do so. Only managed to snap just a few ones.
I have my own bathroom yay! (I'm staying at my brother's, btw)
I've focused my concentration (a very difficult task by itself) on finding a job, calling all hotels, restaurants and walking and dropping off resumes. But it's rather easy to get distracted when you've got Anthropologie on your left and Forever 21 on your right (okay both stores are not in the same complex, just humor me). OMG Anthropologie. Where do I start. I have been a fan of this company, I visit the website regularly and collect the paper catalogs. I am in love with their photography and their use of print fabrics. It is all like a Summerside dream. I left the store and began to jot down ideas and ideas and ideas. Sadly, I got rid of my sewing machine before flying out here, so the sewing ideas will have to chill for a bit. But aahh!!
While at Forever 21 I tried on several outfits, because I was bored. And my legs hurt like heck. For a while now I have tried to be a little more creative with my fashion. I was always the tomboy and I could care less about fashion, make up and girly things like that. But now I am fascinated by it all (gosh I'm getting old). So here I am fashioning different pieces, layering and what not.
Yeah I liked that red-orange number there. And that brown dress, I think, looks quite smashing on me. Of course, add a few flamboyant earring or necklaces that I am so known for and, voila, awesome outfit!..... if I had had the money to purchase them. Which I didn't, of course, because I should've been looking for a freakin job instead of playing dress up!!
Other Vegas pics:
Paris Hotel. Oh! Someday I shall actually gaze upon the real thing.
Urban Outfitters and Sephora, side by side. What more can a grown-up tomboy ask for. Oh yeah, cupcakes. AND A FREAKIN JOB!
I lost my prescription sunglasses (a $200 value) right before I left for Vegas. Bought this cheap-arse pair at Target and wear them over my glasses while I drive. Hot? Not nearly enough.
Posted by starmagn at 11:01 PM | Comments (1)
June 06, 2007
Bubblewrap and Vegas!
In just a few minutes I will embark on a life-changing journey to Office Max to buy...BUBBLEWRAP!!! The large kind. The one that pops realy loud. Oh yeah.
What for? To pad the BILLION THOUSAND boxes I need to mail to to Vegas because I sold my rickety car and I am flying out there...
Oh did I say flying? Why, Yes! Thank you Delta for actually answering your bloody phones! Am leaving on Saturday at 6:00am (anybody wanna give me a ride, I hate taxi cab drivers at that time of the day... they have a crazy eye).
I'm sure the reality of this will sink in once I mail all my (heavy) belongings. In the meantime, I shall share pictures! Of Vegas! Of me! Of the desert! Of me AND the desert! (mmmm dessert.....)
hi Vegas!
Towards Red Rock Canyon, I will live just 3 minutes from here!
New York, New York (soon, my child, soon)
Aww the Stardust Hotel... it was imploded just a few months ago.
Giant M&M store... flashyyy
The Luxor... that tip up there? That's a GIANT lightbulb, seen from anywhere in the city. Follow it, and you'll come across the Strip.
The Freemont Experience in Old Vegas (or "Downtown")
I already have several of these call cards printed, will put them up as soon as I get there.... er....
ZMOG!
The view from Hoover Dam. That thing is HUGE. Like... HUGE. no no no you don't understand, it's HUGE.
YAY SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! okay so we only spent 15 minutes out there 'cause it was FREEEEEEZING. Like, I had layers upon layers of heavy fabrics on me (I had 4 jackets, I swear) and my hands were still freezing. But.. it was fun. Then I said, fuck this snow shit, let's go watch CSI.
Posted by starmagn at 01:12 PM | Comments (3)
June 04, 2007
I am still in Savannah.
It's overwhelming when God is trying to tell you something but you are not listening. Or cannot decode the message or just simply refuse to understand why can't things work out your damn way. As I was telling my good friend Tamara a few days ago, I wish God would send us a memo every now and then about what exactly He has planned out for us. Just a few pointers, they can be vague. Anything, anything to smooth out these wrinkled long-term to-do lists that I find myself writing every few months, or every life existential catastrophe.
My mom and my aunt are on to me. They keep wondering why I have delayed my departure to Las Vegas for so long (more than a month now). And I honestly don't know why.
I decided to write a little timeline to explain (mostly to myself) (and because it's 3:30am and am bored and not sleepy) how I got to this point (I remember dates VERY well, so I apologize for being so precise.
Monday, July 2nd, 2002, 10:10am-ish - I am offered a prestigious full scholarship to SCAD after I had abandoned the dream of ever studying in the US. I pack my bags and head on to...whatever this was going to bring me.
Saturday, February 24th, 2006, 2:00pmish- Have long dreamy talk with Tamara about... both operating a little bright studio where we'd create fantastic things and sell them in the storefront.
March, 2006- I stop being such a sissy and decide to move to New York (as I have been dreaming of since I was 13) once I finish school later that year. 
Spring Quarter 2006- Come close to having a mental breakdown as I killed a huge spider at 7:30am in the bathroom right before going to work. Had the worst school quarter of my entire life. Did not feel like even continuing school, but I was so close to graduating.
July 2006- While watching Episode 3 of Season 1 of Lost, Mom calls me to tell me how I should not waste the $5000 she gave me from grandpa's inheritance by moving to New York. I should invest them, or save them for...whatever.
July 2006- Having built quite a niche for myself with the Mutation Craft Fair, I muse the idea of opening a boutique in Savannah selling handmade art and crafts by local, national and international artists. Realized how passionate about this I am. Even more so than my photography.
Thursday, August 24th, 2006- I have finished college. 
September - December 2006- Post college life is not what I had imagined it to be. Have never felt so pointless and lost in my entire life. I rarely touch my fabrics or my brand new expensive professional camera. Feel untalented and inferior. Working two crummy jobs.
Friday, November 11, 2006- Tamara and I take a day trip to Charleston where a lady at a local boutique, without knowing my career path or ambitions, told me I should just pack up and move to NYC. My forehead hurt from all these signs hurled at me. 
Late December, at work, 2006- Unable to have a fit at work, I force myself to snap out of it and stop complaining about the lack of... anything in my life. I find myself again.
Very early January, 2007- I ponder the idea of moving to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Saturday, January 13, 2007, Zunzis, 2:00pm- Meet a boy. Seems like a nice guy.
Friday, February 2nd, 2007, at Krogers, Superbowl weekend- Boy hurts me.
Sunday, February 11, 2007- After a week of crying like an idiot (he was nowhere near worth my tears), I go back to my Raleigh plan. So I drive up there. I must have looked like the star in a Lifetime Movie of the Week... costarring Lindsay Wagner. For reals. That same night, I decide to move to Las Vegas. Mom is very happy. My brother lives out there (this is a very important fact to add here) 
Friday, March 30th, 2007- After a three week cleansing vacation in Puerto Rico with family and friends (and wedding!!), I come back to Savannah where I quickly begin to pack and throw crap away. Money situation with roommates getting worse and worse, it's bringing me down.
Friday, April 13, 2007- Receive a rather unexpected call from a national magazine in regards to an email I had sent them last Summer. They want me to write an article about Savannah for them. I quickly say yes, even though I'm quite aware it'll keep me in Savannah for a week or two longer.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2007- The day I had planned to drive out to Las Vegas. Instead I had started booking interviews for the article.
Sometime late April, 2007- My dear cousin Agmar tells me she has to sublease her Brooklyn apartment. She offers it to me and this sends me into flights of fancy. Hours later I realize it's stupid to move up there with the money I have (or don't have) and that I should be a responsible adult and not make hasty decisions in the span of 3.2 seconds.
Saturday, April 28th, 2007- Last day at work.
May 1st, 2007- Having been asked for a rewrite, I have to stay a bit longer. I leave my dreaded apartment and stay with Brandon and Ness for just one week, no more.
Second week of May, 2007- Still doing rewrites, Brandon and Ness tell me it's okay if I need to stay a little bit longer.
Second week of May, 2007- Am feeling... weird. As in.. happier. Not as negative about Savannah. Having a great time at Brandon and Ness' apt.
Thursday, May 10, 2007- Meet a really nice boy. Here we go again.
Friday, May 10th, 2007, at Back in the Day Bakery- I finally confess my... second thoughts to Rafa. Though I do not dare call them that, because it's stupid. I already sold half my stuff. He tells me has no idea why I'm even moving to Las Vegas in the first place, you have it all there, you have a craft fair, lots of networks, etc, etc. Running out of money.
Sunday, May 13, 2007, wee hours of the morning- HA!
Friday, May 18th, 2007- Car dies. Thank you. Thank you very bloody much. Then realized if I had left weeks earlier this would have happened probably somewhere in Texas. Past Amarillo. Where there isn't a single soul for more than 500 miles. And I would've shit my pants. I also feel like crap that I've stayed this long at Brandon and Ness' place, when I had originally intended to lodge here for only ONE week. I hate doing this
Sunday, May 20th, 2007 (or was it Saturday)- I decide to stay in Savannah, don't think Vegas is the right place for me. I think the situation with my ex-roommates was so suffocating, I was willing to move to an entirely different time zone to just get away from it all. Many people are very excited to hear these news, such as my great friend Mariola who reminds me how much this place inspires me. I get eager to start organizing for the next Mutation Craft Fair, opening my online shop by Xmas time. I prep up my resume and incredibly finish my online photography portfolio, of which I am FINALLY proud of. I drop off resumes and applications. Start realizing things slow down in Savannah during the Summer....
Wednesday, May 23, 2007- Mother once again reminds me of my dreams and how I will find the money in Las Vegas, not in Savannah. It doesn't matter if it's the right place for you, you'll only be there to make money and THEN you'll go to the place where you're meant to be, she says. Go to your brother because he will take care of you.
Sunday, May 27th, 2007- I realize how pointless it is to stay here and make up my ridiculous mind. I make arrangements to fix the car, because brother told me he doesn't want me there without proper transportation.....except it doesn't, and I spend the ENTIRE business week dealing with mechanics and their prices. $50 left in my bank account. Miss Cheryl at the Bakery playfully says, I think somehow you're meant to stay in Savannah...
Friday, June 1st, 2007- Not only have I spent a MONTH at Brandon and Ness' (and feel so uncomfortable in the situation), mechanic #3 informs me it'll be $982 to fix the car, after I had just spent $400 at Honda and $180 on towing charges. My brother says, sell the bloody car for $500 and fly out here and we'll figure it out. I say okay.
And that's where I am right now. I feel.. I feel like I am waiting for something great to happen that will make leaving to Vegas absolutely unnecessary. But I haven't found it. Or maybe I have and I'm just waiting for a few words of reaffirmation. God is saying something and I don't know what it is. I know this whole post seems as if my mom, my aunt and my brother are the leaders in my decisions... and maybe they are. They are worried about me. They want me to succeed. I feel like a little child who does not know where to walk to.
Honestly, I just want to be SOMEWHERE. I don't care where, just somewhere where I can set up my sewing machine and sew the night away. And I want to do that here. But I don't have ANY money left to my name, and if I go to Vegas, all will be taken care of.
This is bloody ridiculous. Bloody, bloody ridiculous. And it's getting tiring. I have set a date for flight departure for Saturday.
Posted by starmagn at 04:44 AM | Comments (0)