Tattoos: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I got a new tattoo yesterday with my best friend Dan at True Blue Tattoo which was done by a good friend of mine, Benny Smalls. I’ve had tattoo fever since I was 13, but now that I have an arm tattoo I have pretty much sealed my bare arms’ fate into being covered eventually. Well at least one of them anyway. I thought I would share some photos of fake, real, bad, good tattoos:

1. Will Ferrell as Elf

2. Scarlett Johansson

3. Josh Hartnett (I’m sorry, but he’s nasty)

4. Jack Black

5. Jennifer Love Hewitt

6. Eve

7. Antonio Banderas and Nasty McGee

8. Rihanna

9. Jessica Alba

10. This print is actually hanging up in True Blue’s shop.

11. Tattoo angel chick

12. Last but not least, my friendship tattoo! It says “DK” in the banner. And yeah, it’s a shitty Photobooth picture from my Mac…

~Kiki

Pie and Two Dimes

UrbanDaddy just uplifted my day, once again:

SATURDAY PIE
Pie Lounge
Late nights in the East Village just got a little homier with this tiny hole-in-the-wall dishing out beer, wine and, most importantly, peach and pumpkin pies (among others) until 2am on weekends, so you can finally have the drunken pie fight you’ve been dreaming of.
411: Soft-opening Nov 15, full opening Nov 21, 131 7th St (between Ave A and Ave B), 646-594-3180

SUNDAY DIMES
20-Cent Breakfast at Casa Havana
You’ve probably never stopped by this Chelsea Cuban spot, but we’re putting it on your radar just in case: two eggs, bacon and coffee for 20 cents. We recommend tipping at least a quarter.
411: Available every day, 7-11am, 190 8th Ave (between 19th and 20th St), 212-243-9421

Even though I have to be in a bikini in 11 days (Holy shit… I can’t believe how soon that is), it’s hard for me to pass up booze and free pie… so you’ll most likely find me there tomorrow night. Well, in all actuality you probably won’t, since I try to hang out in Manhattan as little as possible.

~Kiki

Local Exchange Trading Systems

With the global economy going to crap, we’ve been wondering: What is money, anyways? Turns out, it is just a piece of paper that two or more people have agreed has a value. That’s it. Totally arbitrary.

Problem is, when people start to lose faith in its value… economies tumble. So what do we do? Start our own currency! No, seriously, start our own currency.

Japan has an electronic currency called LOVE which you receive every time you volunteer in the community. You can spend LOVE credits at local stores, kind of like to food stamps. In Brazil, you can earn bus tokens by separating trash from recycling. In the UK, you can pay your rent by looking after someone’s kids (its called the LET’S program).

So what’s stopping us? Think of it: Blowjobs-for-Bagels! Mixtapes-for-Metrocards! Because, frankly, the Dow Jones is SO 2007.

— As written by MeanRed Productions

Those Japanese man… how do they get cooler everyday?!

~Kiki

Mast Brothers Chocolate

I don’t know why, but this email I received from Tasting Table, really, really excites me:

The status of high-end microbatch chocolate is quickly catching up to its cult coffee counterparts: Mass production is out; single-origin beans and small-batch roasting are in. Leading this movement in New York is Mast Brothers Chocolate, launched last year by barbate brothers Rick and Michael (33 and 29, respectively), who turn hand-sourced beans from small farms in Madagascar, Venezuela and Ecuador into beautiful, deeply complex chocolate bars.

The Masts start with hulking burlap bags full of cocoa beans and process them in a Greenpoint warehouse, then wrap the bars in a motley collection of vintage paper from Florence and London. Their chocolates are sold mainly at outposts in Brooklyn ($7 to $10), though online ordering is coming soon. They also sell sacks of excellent chocolate bark ($12), heavily loaded with dried cranberries, nuts and pumpkinseeds.

Soon, we’ll all be able to witness their bean-to-bar operation firsthand: Next month, the brothers plan to open their long-awaited factory and retail store in Williamsburg.

Mast Brothers Chocolates are currently sold at Marlow & Sons, Spuyten Duyvil, Urban Rustic, the Brooklyn Flea and the Artists & Fleas Market. mastbrotherschocolate.com

It also helps that they’re quite strapping, young gentleman:

Oh wait, now I remember why that email excites me so much: Men in suits with beards who can shower me in chocolate… Pretty much equals perfection. I can’t wait to visit their store when it opens! It will be a harrowing test of restraint… Chocolate and hot men in suits. With beards. Plus, the fact that they seem kind of Amish is sort of a turn-on. Yum.

~Kiki

Greenhouse Opens Tonight

This is pretty much amazing. Straight from UrbanDaddy:

Let’s get this out of the way: Greenhouse is a nightclub first, environmental savior second. Sure, there are bamboo walls, eco-friendly banquettes, waterless urinals, Brad Pitt-endorsed Kiehl’s products in the bathroom and the whole place is “LEED-registered”, but you’ll be a bit more preoccupied with the more literal greenness—preserved leaves lining the ceiling, faux grass discs on the wall, animal topiary encased in glass cube tables…basically everything you need to feel like you’re in a boozy dance party in the middle of Central Park.

And by checking out the Greenhouse site it can be inferred that they have more locations opening in Paris, Cannes, Park City and Toronto very soon. Damn. I’m surprised there is no mention of who’s behind this huge venture… I’m assuming Brad Pitt has a little something to do with it, but who else?

Greenhouse, opens tonight, 150 Varick St (near Vandam), 212-807-7000

Meatloaf on my mind

Don’t ask why, because I honestly have no answer, but I’ve had Meatloaf on the brain lately. And no, not the food. I’m talking about the man, Meatloaf, who haunted us with his ridiculous music videos in the 90s. I have a love/hate relationship with this man. On the love side- I absolutely love the fact that he has man-boobs in Fight Club.

I found this commercial and had to share it with you (and yes, it’s the extended version):

Which is a spinoff of Meatloaf’s Paradise by a Dashboard Light, which I can, and can’t, believe he actually agreed to do.

And this, ladies and gentleman, is by far my favorite Meatloaf song and video:

Oh, and I just figured out why I have Meatloaf on the brain. I’m doing a training guide on building websites and came across a site that features examples of flash, and this is one of them. *If you don’t at least chuckle at how ridiculous this video is, then you must have no sense of humor at all… or you think I’m completely retarded.

… and just to throw some more in there because I haven’t mentioned it enough in this post: Meatloaf, Meatloaf, Meatloaf.

~Kiki

Paul Rudd on The Daily Show

If you didn’t love Paul Rudd before, you sure as hell will after this video clip:

Click on the picture to watch the video.

Oh, and p.s.- I totally want to bang both of these men. Though not necessarily at  the same time. But honestly, you wouldn’t have to ask me twice.

via Music Snobbery

~Kiki

Did you forget about us?

Hello darlings! Hopefully you didn’t forget about your two favorite girls with great taste…. I know, I know. We’ve been on hiatus, but I am back… for a little while at least, Suz still has some grad school applications to take care of. I have been caught up in a whirlwind of parties, vacation, fabulous friends and love affairs that resulted in 1) a slightly more damaged liver (yeah, and who thought that could happen?), 2) more confidence in flirtation, 3) a friendship tattoo, and last, but not least 4) a Thanksgiving trip to St. Croix.

That’s right, I’m going to the Caribbean for Thanksgiving.

I’m still pinching myself in disbelief, and also astonished that my pasty ass is going to have to get in a bikini in two weeks.

So how did this whole trip come to be?

Well… While my fabulous friend Russel was in town from Dallas (who’s NYC cherry I officially popped)… Hmm, bad way to start this… So backstory: One of my best friends, Russel, whom is one of the most individual characters on this planet and I hold very dearly to my heart, came to visit me and NYC about two weeks ago and stayed for a week. He had never been here before and we crammed as many touristy, and locals-only, things as possible into his trip. One day before Russel had to leave we had a day full of shopping and sightseeing and we had planned a wine & cheese night for later that evening at my house with the guests being Suz, Dan and a friend of Russel’s, Trish.

We stop in at one of my two neighborhood bars, Kings County. Probably the best decision I made all day considering what happened as a result of it. I gave a gentleman, who happens to live in St. Croix (but is originally from Iowa) but was just visiting, my phone number and the rest is history. We spent the few days he had left in New York together and he invited me to the Virgin Islands for Thanksgiving. So I bought a ticket, and now I’m going.

Jealous much?

Hope you’re all having a great Wednesday, and keep checking back in for more updates spawned from my boredom at work.

❤ Kiki

morning-after

merci beaucoup blake