Pinups and Pastries

I'm currently still in the planning stages for Austin Fashion Week, however, I'm thrilled to share some exciting developments for the event I'll be hosting with JR Salon. I'll post a Facebook event very very soon, but in the meantime here's the basics:

What: Pinups and Pastries Austin Fashion Week Event
Where: JR Salon (4800 Burnet Rd.)
When: Sunday, August 15th 5-8pm
Why: There's free cupcakes and cocktails in it for you if you come. If that's not enough incentive, I promise to make some fabulous jewelry/eye candy that'll make it worth your while. For the event, the salon will primp a few models ala Bettie Page to showcase their fierce (yes, I just said fierce) hair styling and mad makeup artist skills. To round out the look, these lovelies will be donning corsets and some rockin DGAJ jewelry.

So what about that exciting news, you say?

Kuhmillion Lingerie and The Cupcake Bar will be sponsoring our event to make it an especially stellar night.
Kuhmillion is an Austin-based lingerie company that is part classy, part retro and sells their satin and lace at prices even yours truly could afford. And that's saying something. Even if Vargas pinups aren't your thing, the variety in styles is vast enough to suit any taste. Our models will be sporting some fabulous pin-up stockings from the Kuhmillion boutique so you can see in person just how great their wares are. In the meantime, check them out here.
For those of you who've been living under a rock in Austin for the past few years, The Cupcake Bar is a cupcakes only catering service that combines unconventional flavors with even more unconventional toppings (nerds, gumballs, pop rocks, pixie sticks just to name a few) that are custom-made to your specs (hence the "Bar" part of the name) to make something that is not only insanely delicious but also super fun. If you want to see what I mean, check them out here.

The salon and I are brainstorming party favor ideas in the form of raffles and goodie bags; believe me when I say I'll keep you updated on this. All the same, hope to see as many of you there as possible!

Action Jackson out.

Currently Listening: The Island by Le Tigre

In Love with Lucite

Because I am a self proclaimed magpie, it may or may not come as a surprise to you that I love all things lucite in decor and design. I can't articulate what this stems from, but I'd be willing to guess that my lucite love is a kind of evolution/adult version of my 13-year old self that wanted to have a house filled with nothing but inflatable furniture (and who wouldn't? Think how easy moving would be).
Though this multipurpose material was first produced in the 1930s and first used for mass production for machinery components in World War II, lucite wasn't incorporated into design until the 1960s when the space age aesthetic was all the rage (personally, I can't blame them). Luckily for me, this trend hasn't died off, and Apartment Therapy's frequent posts and pics (the top three shown here) on the subject are proof of just that.
If money was no object, I would go crazy decorating my apartment with the pristine plastic. However, the lucite decor that's out there (a la Philippe Starck ghost chairs, above, that are a heartbreaker to yours truly) tends to be on the pricey side. So, if you're like me and love lucite and pinch pennies, have no fear, Apartment Therapy is here. Last September, they posted this DIY project on how to make your own lucite chandelier.
The flawlessly elegant aesthetic that lucite achieves in interior design is maintained in its translation in jewelry, whether through faceted gem-like beads or carved nouveau pieces. Tarina Tarantino is no stranger to this medium and typically incorporates it into over-the-top pieces like her Over the Rainbow Necklace (shown above) from the My Pretty Collection. Personally, I love working lucite filigree into my jewelry, but I haven't explored all the beading possibilities. So, what do you think about this pretty plastic? Would you take the plunge like me and decorate a room completely in lucite?

Action Jackson out.

Currently Listening: Let Love In by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Apartment Therapy for Me

As a few of you know, I will be moving in a little less than a month. I am both excited and terrified ala Jessie Spano. I've been spending a generous amounts of time on Apartment Therapy, Ikea, and various design blogs as a kind of pep talk because I'd be kidding to say moving isn't daunting. The excitement is undeniable as I will be leaving behind an apartment complex where the management company has received 10 1-star ratings on Yelp, a 20ft aluminum drain pipe has fallen on my boyfriend, and my fridge was left broken for a week (among many other mishaps).

At the same time that I'm sad not to call Hyde Park home anymore, part of me feels like moving can't start soon enough because I will be living here next year. I'm sure granite countertops, lap pools, and stainless steel appliances might make some of you cringe, but I draw the line for dingy apartments being fun and boho chic when they have a side effect of concussive damage. Hopefully, newer will equate to better in my spiffy soon-to-be digs, and maybe I'll be lucky enough to be surrounded by tenants who work (as opposed to UT students).
Perhaps excitement and terror are like love and marriage (you can't have one without the other?)...or perhaps it's just that way for me and every self-proclaimed member of Neurotics Anonymous. I've moved once a year for the past five years, and moving has only become harder with each year- progressively dwindling numbers for able-bodied people to help move and ever-growing mounds of stuff in my apartment couldn't amount to moving being easier.

My beau and I will be moving in together in a little over a month, which means meshing the odds and ends of our possessions together and seeing if the sum is greater than all the parts. My current roomie and I have lived together for the past five years, and I'm dreading finding out how much of the kitchen wares are hers (I'm guessing a lot).








Add downsizing square footage and trying to make a space that is less college/post-college aesthetics on a budget and more adult (definitely for lack of a better word), and you have one seriously stressed neurotic. Not only are the furniture and decor pieces I'm lusting after out of the budget (when added up), but it's completely impractical to try to plan how they'd fit into the new space before I'm there. This is something that my plan everything months in advance self is not liking and will just have to come terms with.

In the meantime, I'm trying to decide whether or not to get movers (which are not an appetizing item for my budget), when to pack, how many days off from work I should take for the move (moving in one weekend's time last year was not the fun times), how to get the number of boxes I need, how to budget for deposit and misc. costs, how to arrange to get a couch from Ft Worth to here, a solution for washer and dryer (we have connections in the new place, but who can afford those), etc.

When I'm not thinking about that, I'm dreaming of having my own workspace for jewelry and trading in my plastic dilapidated rolling cart for efficient functioning organization pieces...and also the fact that the complex will paint two walls for us (gray is the winner for an accent in the living room and bedroom). So, it's not all bad- just a mind bender for the next month. Part of me is desperately trying to push it out of my mind and think about when I'll use my vacation days (I've got 14 built up, but who's counting?). What's your experience with downgrading in size? Designing for a grown up space? Movers vs. no movers?

Action Jackson out.

Currently Listening: Debut by Bjork, Blind by The Sundays