This show was set up a month ago but with the sad news of an unexpected passing of the only son of 2 of the socialites winning an award it was canceled and then rescheduled and put on a smaller scale last week at the Westgate Hotel in San Diego.
It was decided in accordance with the smaller scale festivities and somber news of the death that the models would donate their paychecks to the charities benefiting.
"Interesting side note: This was also the show that last year (see blog) at the Spreckles Theater I fell off the stage into the orchestra pit - thus injuring myself that a good 3 months of recuperating needed.
I modeled with some younger models (outside of Nadia and Feben in their early 30s, all the rest were 16-19) and was clearly the mother of the show since our normal group of runway girls understandably couldn't make the trip from LA for no paycheck.
The designers for the most part were new for me to model for and wonderfully talented with plans to show their lines in NYC next year. And yes, Leonard, our producer, did put the boys in gold lamet hot pants with fur coats - BAM!
I had to post a picture from last weekend of one of my 4 nieces whose soccer team is in first place in the regionals and still going on to the Finals. The team they played last weekend was HUGE in comparison - - but my niece scored the 2 last winning goals probably because as you see here PUSHING the big girl in the gutt she is so small and quick that she slid underneath, past and between the competition. Thus, joining her 2 big brothers as yet another champion soccer player in my brothers' family. Just like their dad was back in the day... :)
Last Spring I was cast in a short film, "The Last Conversation" for a lovely and courageous young director, Amelia Zandi.
At the time I was intrigued as it was a very heavy script, based on the true story of an 18 year old Iranian girl who was executed for her beliefs in the Ba'hai religion.
Many of you know that in my modeling and acting career I am considered 'ethnically ambiguous' and that I can certainly pass for a Middle Eastern woman. I wanted the challenge of playing another ethnicity but to play an Iranian mother and bring her to life without offending anyone (I am Hispanic and Catholic, and do not have my own children) - - certainly had its challenges for me as an actress.
I remember shooting the 6 minute film - it took us 1 day. I had a terrible migraine afterwards from the sheer heaviness of the subject and the emotional toll it took upon me. But I was grateful to my director for being 'color blind' and taking a chance casting me.
Likewise, the actress who played my daughter, Mona Mossayab, is about 30, and had her own set of challenges as an actress to play a teenager. That said, she is already of the Ba'hai religion which only helped bring a trueness and dignity to her character that, for my part, I had to dig up from other life experiences.
Alas our director decided to submit to a film festival and got in - - even better it was screened in San Diego this year (last year was Switzerland) - - so I went last week with my husband to the show and also did a Q&A with my director after the screening.
Watching myself on that screen I remarked later to my husband that there was nothing pretty about me or that performance at all. A far cry from what I usually do in modeling and acting. I was ugly, furrowed, tear-stained -- and I am very proud to have been a part of it. To hear the quiet sobs and sniffles from the audience around us was gratifying - not that we wanted it to be a tear-jerker - and it wasn't. But many in that room knew the story and as I commented later to the audience, "I was just appreciative that they accepted our work so well."
Many thanks to Amelia Zandi, the promoters and selection staff of the Dawn Breakers International Film Festival and to my co-star and crew.
I never did get all my photos up from our quick sojourn to Ireland the first week of October. You saw me put up videos previously on this blog and my youtube channel. The trip was quiet, beautiful weather (sun!) and uneventful but just fine.
Do you remember writing papers with that title in grade school? Well, it's been a doozy of a last few days with getting soaked at work in the rain over the weekend, then going to see my friends in a drag show at Bourbon Street on Saturday evening with my husband and my go-to-girl Richele. Will blog on that later when I get a couple photos from Patrick who shot that night.
I spent 2 days painting Ciara's bedroom a Barbie Doll lavender. And I informed her that in 2 years she can't get all 'emo' on me and want it repainted black. Cus I ain't gonna do it!!! It's staying Barbie Doll pretty-girl color until she goes to college - which it will then be promptly turned into my yoga/meditation chamber - hehehe.
I have spent all day today in bed with a flu bug - but at least I am getting some photography worked on for here and my Flickr site!
But the biggest event this vacation was Sunday late afternoon when Patrick and I rescued a kitten!
We had just done a little photography excursion in the car and were in line for gas at CostCo in the ghetto. Even with the running cars and windows rolled up I could hear a kitten squawking in distress.
I still can't believe no one else heard her. Not even P. When I finally pointed it out to him he said, "It's a dying bird". Then he somehow caught a glimpse of her orange tabby face caught in the side of the parking lot, above a wall where there was an extremely thick and prickly hedge made of thorny twigs and sticks separating the CostCo parking lot to the minimall on the other side.
Well, I immediately jumped out of the car, jumped up the wall and searched for her - - she was crying loudly and caught in the thick mess. P, meanwhile, got his gas and pulled over to park the car. But he didn't get out - thinking I would get her out quickly or give up. Neither occurred.
It was so dense and prickly, I scraped my arms and hands trying to break pieces off so I could make a tunnel big enough for my hand to reach her. She is the size of my tiny hand by the way. I guesstimate about 6 weeks old, tops.
She was terrified and panicking, of course, as I tried to get to her which made her even more caught int he branches. She even sliced open the soft pad on her back foot on those horrible thin branches.
Not a single person asked to help me or even asked what I was doing. I am sure it was quite a sight seeing me up on that wall and digging into a hedge at sunset. I was praying to Jesus to help me get her out because I had no doubt in my mind that she would not have survived the night stuck in there. She would have succumbed to exhaustion, dehydration and exposure easily.
At one point I made the decision that I'd have to drive all the way home to pick up cutters to get into that hedge and that I'd be back in about 45 minutes. I felt guilty, but jumped down to the ground. She started screaming.... SCREAMING! It was as if she knew that she was going to be left alone. It broke my heart.
So I jumped up again to try and got as far as being able to touch her nose softly. Finally after about 40 minutes my husband came out to help - and with his help we were able to get her.
Of course we took her straight home. She was covered with fleas and dirt and trembling from fear and shock for the first half hour. But settled into my warm, fuzzy vest which is now dubbed 'the cat jacket' or 'her mom' since it is lined with a faux fur.
She is very young. We looked for her mama and any siblings but it was clear she was abandoned in there on purpose. Also, her demeanour makes it seem like she wasn't a Ferrel kitten - she was scared and in shock, no doubt, but she had to have been around humans before.
We now have 2 cats and 2 dogs - and I already suffer over our animals and their well-being so, believe me, I wasn't going to be getting a new cat until Jordy passed on (he is about 10 years old and still has plenty of time). Also breaking her into how things are done around here and with the dogs takes time. Like I have that right now ;)
Here I am just getting up pictures of events and modeling shows that I worked earlier this year. It's been a decent year of runway - and here is from August 26, 2010 at FLUXX club downtown where I modeled again for Project Runway alum Gordana Gelhausen. It was for her Goga line, Spring 2011.
I first modeled for her in November 2009 (see blog here) and since have had the pleasure of walking in several more shows for her. She even invited me to model in New York and LA Fashion Week in September and October but the timing was really bad what with NYC happening the week of Patrick and mine 1rst Year Anniversary/Wedding Reception party. Then LA Fashion Week went up whilst we were returning from Ireland. So I did neither one. I am very grateful to her for her support - - doing those shows at the age of 38 is INSANELY gratifying when most of the other girls are between 17-22.
That said here was a precursor show to workshop her Spring 2011 line. I haven't done a show in a club in over 5 years and now I remember why -- the wait was horrible -- with us not going on for hours and standing around getting exhausted, dehydrated and hot in high heels backstage. There should be video of the show eventually and it's been hard for me to track down more pics but here are some as well as me getting my hair curled by Gianina of Como, Italy -- with whom I had a lovely conversation of the beauties of Northern Italy.
Here is another example of my talented husband's fine photography that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. This is a shot he took from his IPhone, for Pete's sake.
We were at Thai dinner and there was a lovely orchid (his favorite flower) at our table and he composed in the low-light this shot without me even knowing he was shooting. (I was undoubtedly looking around observing the scene and people-watching as I often do).
Obviously he added a sloppy frame to the pic in post-production to frame it up nicely, but one cannot deny it's a pretty darn cool pic - - and just proves what a good eye for composition can produce(!)
I recently found a treasure's chest of photos taken by my husband on his computer. It will be a slow process but there are 4 years' worth of modeling, family, camping and Ireland pics that I need to 'steal' so I can put them on my blog. See...he shoots all the time but I probably see only about 20% of his pictures. He takes months to work on a select few pictures and then posts them on his Flickr photography website, but he doesn't post blogs with photo albums to document memories the way I do. So I pretty much have no clue what he has shot or how things turned out.
Here is an example: GREAT photos of the usually camera-shy Ciara posing as a punk for Halloween (just like her daddy back in 80s Ireland). She is even wearing one of his original punk t-shirts of the Sex Pistols - - ORIGINAL - - we are talking 1983 and in worn, but great condition - - definitely worth posting!
My husband and I spent the day in the sun working on our new fence and yard and then quickly I had to throw a costume together for... HALLOWEEN!
I was "Shnarf" from the "Thundercats" cartoon back in the 80s - - and those who know me know that I do the shnarf meow all the time to cats and dogs who shnarf back. I even Shnarf "I love you" to my husband. I am holding a miniscule package of candy-corn --the only candy I was interested in taking from the kids...!
We went to trick or treat and have dinner at my brother Gabe's house and uber-cool neighborhood in Point Loma. My nieces and nephews along with Ciara looked great - but of course by the time I took a picture they had taken off parts of their costumes and were only interested in checking out their loot.
Even my sister in law, and big sister wore costumes! My brothers were also decked out in 70s garb (Ben's afro looked great - I always praise what a good weave, wig or head of hair can do for you) and (of course, being a sci-fi Trekkie and Comic Con Fool) Gabe was Darth Vader. My tired husband and dad were left behind and were falling asleep on the couch while we were out getting candy....
For whatever reason, uploading my 2010 Ireland video snippets to my blog somehow makes them very slow and uneven to watch. However, if you go on my actual youtube website above you can watch them easily,in quicker real time.
Medieval Town of Carlingford - P actually admitted if we moved back to Northern Ireland that he'd prefer to live here than in County Down (!) Shocker to me...
Visiting the famous 3000BC (that is before the Pyramids, ya'll...) prehistoric burial chamber (not good for those of us who get a little claustrophobic - -
So after our whirlwind summer of fixing up the condo, buying a new house, starting work on it as well, planning and having our wedding reception celebration/1 year anniversary - - we then immediately left for Northern Ireland to see P's parents.
Unfortunately, my mother-in-law had a difficult summer with 2 strokes and we felt an extra push to get there to see her.
It was a quick trip - I was there for only 7 days and all 3 of us were suffering badly for whatever reasons the jet-lag. It seemed we were up every night and wanting to sleep during the day - just painful, really.
This trip - my 3rd to Ireland - was a little uneventful as we were there specifically to spend time with Nana Ann. Too bad we weren't able to do one of our big road trips as the weather was absolutely amazing - brisk but full of sunshine - only an hour of rain during one afternoon. I always expect it to be freezing and wet and I was unprepared for such cooperation from Mother Nature!
As usual, I just turned my Olympus Pen EP-2 to video recorder every so often so that my loved ones can get a feel of Patrick's Ireland.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I went to "The Field" - the Irish bar downtown which seemed to be the only bar showing the All-Ireland Gaelic football champion game. It was 7am, early, on a Sunday but we weren't the only ones there braving the $20 entry (ouch!) and drinking Guinness and eating a traditional Irish breakfast "fry".
The big deal was that P's County Down made the finals for the first time since the early 1990s so there was no way he was going to miss this. He even made his Da' send him a shirt with the Down colors and emblem.
Well, we were highly outnumbered by the Corks (the southerners) and P tricked me into trying "Black Pudding" - which he later told me was made out of coagulated blood. Oh...my...gawd. I guess I am on Team Edward now. Gaelic football is extremely interesting. They can use their hands as well so it's somewhat like soccer but quicker-paced with more scoring. Also, worth noting is that these are not professionals but athletes actually from the Counties themselves. Such as "Number 7 is a dentist in Newry" - - they are really just lads from your county neighborhoods so it lends a huge pride to have them represent in the All-Ireland.
Sad to say, after leading the first half the North lost by a couple points. But 'twas still a great time hearing all the Irish accents, the cheers and sitting next to the Catholic priest....
We came in from Ireland last week to have me home just in time for my 20-year high school reunion on Saturday. I was jet-lagged and my back hurt from an earlier day of modeling runway (my lower back hurts more and more from wearing uber high-heels). But I took off all my crazy runway makeup and brushed out my hair and took a quick nap so that I could somehow get through the evening without crashing.
My always-dependable high school beau Joey picked me up so we could chat driving downtown. We both left our spouses at home. The truth is, although my Patrick initially wanted to go to see an American high school reunion, spouses are - for the most part- bored out of their minds at these things. So I made the executive decision that at $80 a ticket he could stay home. :)
Well, it was a WONDERFUL time - - it really amazes me how it's been 20 years since some of my peers and I have seen each other. Some I saw at the 10-year but there were a handful that didn't make that one. This party blew the other away. And I love that it was organized by 4 sweet, nerdy school pals. They really threw a great party! Everyone agreed it was very successful. And so much fun to see everyone!
Some fun moments? I did see a couple new enhanced gals working it out, I got hit on by the newly single star athlete who came out 10 years ago - I kept insisting I wasn't drinking and she kept insisting she wanted to buy me a drink. Heck, I didn't even let her get me a water for fear of her slipping a roofie in it. (I am kidding - sort of).
I was apologized to by my single biggest bully from 7-10th grade - until I got very recognized for my singing talent and just didn't care anymore about her and she stopped. That was nice to hear her say, "You know--- I wasn't really nice to you for a while there, was I, Elsa? I'm sorry - - I'm not like that anymore.." That makes 2 people who as adults apologized for hurting my feelings and saying awful things there for a while when we were kids. Not too shabby. Other interesting moments? Well, Brian's very blond wife drank so much that a foot away from me as I was approaching him to say hi she went down - - Hard. Blacked out for almost 10 minutes, they had EMTs on the floor with her. I am just surprised at this age that people don't know their limits. It really was an unsettling scene there for a bit. And I never did get to talk to Brian after that.
A great highlight was our idea to shoot a picture of those of us from Ella B. Allen School (elementary). To think I've known those kids since kindergarten about 30 years ago and played at their houses just blows my mind! I am so proud of all of us and so thrilled to spread the Allen-School Love.
Other highlights are unmentionable - just worth noting that it's interesting to be the only one sober there and hear some of the things said to me by not-so-sober peers. I may have the Gift to Gab but I don't divulge things said by others that may be regretted. :)
Lastly, is it worth mentioning how I am in the absolute minority not having kids and just barely getting married??? I had a lot of quick conversations with a some peers on marriage number 2 and telling me of their kids in Jr High and some - even HIGH SCHOOL already!! HOLY FRIJOLES!!! Everyone thought my life is so neat and spontaneous - and it is - - but I felt compelled to tell them that I gave up having a normal life, husband, money and kids because of my pursuing an artistic career. I guess they feel the 'grass is greener'.
To the few who are not with us anymore - - my heart and prayers go out to them, their families, their kids - - it saddens me that they passed away so young. I will say it again: we are so blessed to be alive and have our health. Truly blessed.
Many, many cheers to Beth, Kelila, Mike and Ron for throwing a radical party! I was so jetlagged that my eyes were burning and my legs were shaking but I had such a special time. Enjoy the slideshow below!
Did I get your attention??? This was a very colorful Under-The-Sea-themed runway show for a big charity party benefitting the San Diego Blood Bank back in June at a mansion in Torrey Pines. All photos courtesy of Gates Photography - gracias!
Feel free to click on the slideshow below for more -
I am now a step-mom, wife and home-owner - - too busy for blogging as my readers can see! This summer has been full of moving to our new home, working on our condo, and planning for our First Anniversary/wedding reception bash last weekend.
September 21 marked my First Anniversary with my loved husband. Since we eloped last year we felt that we would throw a reception so that family and close friends could celebrate.
Here is just a hint of some of the pictures from our photographer and friend Heidi Lee. More to come when I get all the pictures but first we are off to see the in-laws and lads in Norn' Ireland..
Thank you all, for coming to San Diego to share our special day - - we felt very loved and surrounded by goodness.
My blessed best friend was one of my 3 college roomies and 3 closest cousins who had babies this year. It's all a miracle to me!
Here we were at an impromptu dinner at an Irish pub last week with our husbands. As usual my husband always has a camera and shoots (this is just the Hipstomatic app on his Iphone but he still takes an amazing photo) - - I am so happy for these times!
This show was set up a month ago but with the sad news of an unexpected passing of the only son of 2 of the socialites winning an award it was canceled and then rescheduled and put on a smaller scale last week at the Westgate Hotel in San Diego.
And yes, Leonard, our producer, did put the boys in gold lamet hot pants with fur coats - BAM!
