November 2010 Archives

We saw Burlesque yesterday!

IT WAS AWESOME.

It's been getting fairly bad reviews, but I loved everything about it from start to finish. The dancing, the singing, Christina, all of it. It was awesome and I wanted to see it again when it was over.

Here are some observations about the movie:
1) Not enough tattoos. Only one girl in the burlesque club in the movie had tattoos, and it was to show that she was the "bad girl."
2) Only one "tease" routine. Most of the numbers in the movie were straight up song and dance numbers--our burlesque shows more skin.
3) In Cher's big ballad moment, the tech guy asks if the wants a spotlight, and it shows him shining it on her, but when it shows her, she's in a blue light and lit from behind. There was no gel on the spot, nor was the spot on her. I don't know why that bugged me so much.
4) The choreography was really good.

The movie made me really excited to get back in rehearsals for my show!

This time of year is a rough one for me. Thanksgiving was the last holiday that we shared with my father just three years ago. So much has happened in those three years, and things are still so hard and mom is still so sick that I find myself today having a hard time thinking of things that I am thankful for. Instead, I just feel grumpy and worn out.

This morning Fuzzy and I ran 5 miles in the Austin, TX Turkey Trot. I am really glad that we did it--it was a lot of fun, and although it was really hard, we kept going and didn't give up. We finished in about an hour.

Hmm, I think that is a good metaphor to keep in mind. I really want to give up--I feel like I can't handle any more of anything, but I guess I just have to keep going.  I want to rest and take a breather from the stress and pain, but I have to push through and keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other.

When we left the downtown area, we heard Alice's Restaurant on the radio, and it made me feel connected to my parents again. It was a really nice feeling. I hadn't felt it in a while. I miss it.

I do know that I have a lot to be thankful for: my family, my friends, my incredible husband, a good job, my health, etc. I just need to keep my head up and keep going.



Reid Family Thanksgiving 2007

The ANTM finale is next week! Hooray!

I love this season of Top Model. Someone must have realized how stupid the show had gotten and they got a new publicist or something, cause it is a lot shinier and no nonsense this season, like how it used to be back in Seasons 1 & 2. It's been a great season.

Ann has to win it. Come on--she's stunning and takes amazing photos! Sure she might be an alien and she has a creepy weird man voice, but doesn't that make her more endearing? Don't you love how everytime they want to show what an outsider she is, they show that same photo of her eating a bacon sandwich?

I know that Chelsey is way more commercial, but I think they've really shot themselves in the foot with this whole Cover Girl contract AND Italian vogue thing. It should be one or the other. Fuzzy thinks that they signed a 10 season deal or something with Cover Girl and then couldn't get out of it when they got Italian Vogue. I think Chelsey is gorgeous and is a great model, but Ann has to win it. She is really going to be a superstar model. Everyone loves her, and Andre Leon Talley wants to take her to a party.

Sidenote: remember when they wanted Danielle to close up her gap and she said no? And this year they made Chelsey's gap larger? I don't really have a comment about it--just wanted to point it out.

We are traveling tonight for the holiday, and won't be able to watch the finale until later, so please, I beg of you--no spoilers!

Update: I agree with this post. We even made the same points! Also, more about Ann here and here.

Fuzzy and I cooked all day from start to finish, and aside from a massive slice in my thumb from a butcher knife (I know! Didn't I learn anything from the knife skills class I took?!), it was a success! Here is what we made:

Pumpkin Bread with homemade pumpkin puree
Egg scramble with spinach, tomatoes, onion and cheese
Black Bean Pumpkin Soup with Ham
Weird Green soup (kind of like broccoli cheddar potato, but with lettuce instead of broccoli)
An attempt at Viennetta (remember Viennetta?!?! Heaven!)
Eggnog (yes, Fz made homemade nog!)
Eggnog Martinis
Cookie Dough (with pasteurized eggs, so it is safe to eat raw--also used in the nog)
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pan Fried Catfish with Black Bean Soup Sauce and Watercress

I am so proud of us! Now to have a thumb that doesn't bleed and someone to do our dishes...

My mom will be happy about this one.

I read my fair share of fashion magazines, and one thing that's been standing out to me lately has been the "red lip." I've been afraid of red lipstick my whole life. I would wear it for dance shows, but never had the confidence to pull it off in real life. Once, when Erica, Andrew and I went to Florida to visit Topher, we went to a club, and I wore a short Hawaiian print red dress and Topher gave me a red lip. I think I was 20, and it was a bold step. I love the pics from that night, but that was the last my face had seen of a red lip for a decade.  I've been more of a "oh, is she wearing lipstick?" kind of girl. Neutrals and light pinks. Once I bought a new lipstick (that I love and still wear) and when a friend said "let me see how it looks" she didn't know I was already wearing it.  But then I see photos of myself and I realize how pale I am.

Again, I am trying to hold my own in a sea of sexy burlesque ladies these days, so I thought it was time to take the plunge. Last Friday I found myself at the MAC counter at Macy's. I went in just wanting to look around (but planning on buying) and of course I was pounced on by an adorable sales clerk the second my big toe landed inside the MAC perimeter. She showed me some lipstick options and then gave me the most gorgeous bold red lip I've ever seen. I loved it. Of course, it wasn't just a lipstick--oh no, it was lipstick, liner and gloss. She showed me a day look and an evening look. It was out there.  I bought all three.  Also, since I've been doing some modeling here and there, I decided I should learn how to apply makeup, so I signed up to take a class this Friday that will teach me how to do a smoky eye, a clean lip and a flawless complexion. Yes, please!

Outcome: Successful!
While I've only ventured out in public a few times with the red lip, I've loved the times that I have. I've felt totally confident. Last Friday I decided to remove the color after I left Macy's--I was on my way to therapy, and I didn't think it was appropriate to go in with a sexy bold lip color. Also, it is hard to apply a bright bold lip color in the morning when you are half asleep and know that you are going to a) drink coffee soon and b) not see anyone all day. So I look forward to going out a little more at night so that I can wear it more and more and get more comfortable with it.

 

My hair is short, and it grows very fast. I know that short hair requires more frequent trims, but that can be expensive, plus I don't have a regular stylist right now. Typically, I just make do with my hair when it grows out and then one day it starts to drive me nuts--it is too long on my neck, it lays weird, etc--and then I want it cut immediately! Every time it grows out, however, it looks exactly the same.

I had been thinking that I wanted a new style. I was thinking maybe the trendy shaved side spiky look or maybe what I was calling "the pixiest pixie" meaning the shortest hair out there. I feel weird, though, telling a hair stylist what I want, cause what do I know about hair? I usually let them decide what they think will look best, with my one caveat being that it is short.

I went to a salon I had never been to on Friday, and was introduced to a really sweet stylist who I liked a lot. The salon was very quiet and reminded me a lot of the cute independent businesses in Mississippi. The stylist's main focus is ready-to-wear no hassle hair; hair that doesn't take long to style and looks good even if it's been under a hat. I am all for that idea. She wanted to keep my hair a little longer on my neck, and said she was giving me a Judi Dench in Casino Royale haircut. That didn't appeal to me at first, and when she was done with the cut I asked her to take more off--I like my hair short. She cut another inch and a half off and showed me a couple different ways to style it.

At first it felt like the same old same old, but as the day went on, I realized that it was very wearable. I've been spiking it up the middle, in a feminine faux hawk, which is what I was wanting anyways, and it looks good. Definitely more edgy than the typical lady hair.  Later in the day yesterday, at a make-up counter (another experiment) the woman said something like "you need a [thing I was buying] with cool hair like that." Sweet!

Outcome: Successful, but ongoing
Overall, I like it.  We'll see how it does over the next couple days. I just need to make sure I take a second in the morning to style it a little.  Plus, most of the time this season I'll be wearing a bunch of hats, so we'll see how it bounces back from that. And I'll need to maintain it a little better.

Lately I've been suffering from some low self esteem and low confidence. For example, I went to an art show opening last week that featured some of Victor Skrebneski photos, so I got all dressed up and thought I looked cute, until a long walk in the cold made my outfit super wrinkled and my face red and my makeup funky. Once we got there I realized that I had nothing to talk about with anyone there and I felt out of place. Also, since I am going to be working more and more in the burlesque world, I am going to constantly be around gorgeous women who have so much style, glam and confidence. I'll need to keep up with them, or at least feel like I can hold my own and stand out in a room with them. Working mainly by myself, I rarely have a reason to dress up or even put on makeup (especially after the kidney stone). I've become kind of a schlub.

For the most part, I like who I am, but I feel like I need to find again what it is that makes me special. I think I used to have "it" but it's been gone for a while.  It is time to start taking control back of my life and becoming more of a presence in it. I've decided, at 31, that I am going to try to start to find it, by being more edgy, more unique, and more fashionable. Essentially, I want to see if exterior changes in my appearance will add to my inner confidence. We'll see where it goes.

On the Edge Part 1:  Tattoos
I have 4 tattoos. I got my first one when I was 22--a multicolored nautical star on my back. I got it with Erica, who has a similar star on her back representing friends and where we were in our lives then.  My second tattoo is for my dad. I got it at 25, after he had his colostomy. It is a pink star on my abdomen where his stoma was.
My third tattoo was gotten in April of last year, for my 30th birthday--the birds that I wanted for 8 years. Getting this tattoo changed my life. I felt more confident, I felt cool, I felt beautiful. In the summertime when I can wear tank tops, I get compliments on it at least twice a week. My grandmother told me earlier this year, "You know, Erica, I don't like tattoos, but I have to say that yours is really pretty."  After getting such a visible tattoo, I decided I wanted one that I could see all the time, all year round. Thus, tattoo number four, which I got a month ago and just posted about. I absolutely adore it. Love love love it. It makes me happy, it makes me feel pretty, it gives me a boost of cool. I think it is bold and unique, and it is personal and special. I think that I will be ok for a while without any new tattoos (though it is true that they are addictive...very addictive...). Even when I have this tattoo under a coat or long sleeve shirt, I can just pull back my sleeve to see that beautiful blue, and it makes me smile.

Outcome: Successful
Though I had these tattoos when the insecurity hit most recently, I made sure to wear sleeveless shirts in my high anxiety situations this week (at the art opening, at rehearsal) so that I could see them and they could be seen. It definitely gave me a boost.

Don't Spit the Water has had a couple of offshoots over the years--one in North Carolina and one in New Zealand. Here's a compilation of some of the NZ'z characters and spits, including our friend Steven.

Don't Spit the Water - New Zealand from Blewt! Productions on Vimeo.

Hoooooo! Can I just tell you how much I LOVE the fact that it's November 11 and I have the patio door open at work and I am wearing a tank top? This weather is amazing!

We don't yet have any super great photos of my gorgeous new tattoo, but I hope to soon. I love love love it.

Here is part of it:

 

 

And some behind the scenes shots at Esther's studio, courtesy of Fuzzy.

Watercolor flowers by Esther

 

The final art.

Colorful ink.

Loving every second of it.

 

Here's a sneak peek photo from my new show, Kiss Kiss Cabaret. I am so excited to be working on it--it is going to be out of this world! Check out the early press here.

UPDATE: Here is our Metromix Listing and Facebook Page!

As if Hawaii wasn't amazing enough, they had to go and have amazing food. And you know we Reid Gerdeses love our food.

Many an incredible meal was had. Here are some of them.

Our first poke (tuna) of the trip. It was good, but we had a lot better later.

Beautiful rainbow seafood salad

Hawaii has lots of food trucks, which we love.

This was weird. It was crunchy rice wrapped in thin sliced pork. It was kept cold in a cooler and then microwaved. not very exciting or good, but we were hungry. It was a tide-us-over til we got to a restaurant.

Leonard's Bakery, where we had amazing malasadas.

Malasadas. They were all warm, one had cinnamon, one had sugar, one had a salty sugar, one was filled with chocolate and one was filled with coconut. Oh. My. God.

Fuzzy's pork and cabbage from a shrimp truck

My pineapple lava shrimp. My mouth waters everytime I look at this photo.

More food truck food.

This was one of my favorite meals of the trip. Spicy poke and chicken teryaki.

Dole Whip. A non-dairy pineapple frozen treat.

Fuzzy's fish tacos at Sweet Home Waimanalo.

My BBQ pork. This was another of my favorite meals of the trip. Can anyone guess why?

Lava flow. Pina Colada with strawberry puree. I drank 2 of these in about 10 minutes.

We went to a cook-your-own-steak place. We got the Kona crusted filet. DELISH!

Lucky for me, I had just taken a steakhouse cooking class!

The night we tried to go to the fishmarket that was closed, we ended up going to a ramen place. (Don't tell Fuzzy, but I didn't like it.)

Enjoying some sake.

Pork lau lau and poke from the market near our Kauai hotel. Sadly, I was sick when Fuzzy had this and didn't get to try it. Luckily, by our last day there, I was able to eat again and I got to try the poke and pork with cabbage. Super yums!

OK. So now it is time to talk about something important.

Hawaiian Shave Ice.
It is no secret that I am addicted to SnoBiz. Those of us lucky enough to be raised in Mississippi probably grew up eating it, or at least went there a lot when they were in high school college and beyond. For a while, I knew of every SnoBiz location in the Vicksburg/Clinton/Jackson Metro area. I can eat more SnoBiz than anyone probably should. For years Fuzzy has compared it to a snocone, which was a stalemate argument in our house for years.

Then we go to Hawaii. Where that sort of concoction was born. Where there is a shave ice stand on EVERY CORNER.

I was in Heaven.

The first place we had it in Hawaii was at Matsumoto Shave Ice on the North Shore of Oahu. The condensed milk was flowing. The line was long. The ice was....incredible.

I refer to that shave ice as "The Best Thing I've Ever Eaten Ever." Seriously.
It was literally The Best Thing I've Ever Eaten Ever.
We don't have any photos of it. Only the one of me with the kittens out back. But I see it every day in my dreams...

We had many others after that, and most of them were good. I tried to get some different flavors, but you just can't beat strawberry and vanilla with a ton of sweetened condensed milk. Why mess with perfection?

(Not the best ice, but it is a good photo)

If you look closely at this photo, I am wearing a tanktop from Matsumoto Shave ice at this (non-matsumoto) shave ice place. Yeah. Hardqore.

I mean, come on. The most gorgeous place in the world AND shave ice? I really don't know why we haven't moved there yet.

You can't just get a dinky shave ice machine. You have to go big. Like one of these dudes. Don't think we haven't considered buying one and opening a business. Or buying one for personal home use...

Last Shave Ice of the trip at Ono Ono shave ice.

PERFECTION. (the blue is vanilla)

This photo pretty much sums it all up.

Lydgate Park. Final day in Hawaii!

Feeding a bird

Back at the Koi pond: Fish Mouth

Blurry pic at the silly hula show!

FIRE!

A very patient frog.

Whew! And those are just the photos we posted online!

Here is Vogue UK's list of their favorite Gap-Toothed Beauties.

As much as I wish that Will and Jada would just let their kids be kids, and even though Willow references pulling up in a car even though she isn't able to drive for 7 more years, this song as a really catchy hook and a fun video:

And if you have 35 minutes and aren't at work, here is Kanye's new film "Runaway," which is both extremely beautiful and ridiculous.

Or at least just watch this part:

Sometimes I pretend I am this:

But really, I am this:

I'm ok with that. :)

Parker and Latte both went as Don Draper for Halloween. Awkward...

(thanks for Fuzzy for the photo composite. I wish the 2 girls could coexist like this.)
(also, I should be a cat wrangler for movies)