Keep On Keepin' On

This past weekend a few friends and I bundled up in a rented Jeep and made our way upstate to the beautiful Catskills. We airbnbd (verb?) a little house smack dab in the woods and did our best to pretend we didn't live in the most populated city in the United States that also happens to have recently come down with a slight touch of Ebola. I decided to take a little footage and make a short film because you're not really truly in nature unless you have a camera strapped around your neck, right? Isn't that what Thoreau said? Also because I think this will be funny to watch in 30 years.

Sidenote: I actually had the surreal experience of interviewing First Aid Kit last week, and I think being in their magical presence was what prompted this little endeavor. So as we stomp through the forest to their sweet sibling harmonies, pretend we're Swedish and everything will be 100x better.

And here are the beautiful ladies behind the soundtrack ("Stay Gold" was a close second but it's a little dark so "My Silver Lining" it was):
      

   A photo posted by chantal strasburger (@chantagold) on Oct 10, 2014 at 11:17am PDT

Oh, and on the way back we made a pitstop to the Vanderbilt mansion because why not?

Selfie Journalism

Guess what! I wrote an article for Teen Vogue about living my life as a YoPro in the big apple. Pretty cool, huh? Check it out here for some tips and advice on everything from where to eat on the cheap to how to decorate your apt. 

Starlight Express

My friend Grant was in town the other week, and the first thing he requested to do? "Roller disco". More specifically, the "Crazy Legs Skate Club" roller disco.  Located inside a Salvation Army in Brooklyn, this spectacle happens every Wednesday night with a live DJ.

The three block radius of this building is completely dead, so we heard the music blaring from the gymnasium before we even turned the corner. If we hadn't been about to enter a rollerblading disco party, I might have feared for my life. The street was dark and there was no one in sight, but slowly, one by one, people started to roll up. Literally. Out of the shadows, people came skating up to the door in their roller blades. They meant business. My care-free attitude about the night's events quickly turned into an, "Oh My God I am so in over my head." As we walked in, people were standing around in their skates, socializing with drinks and snacks in the entry room. It was a mixture of young hipsters in high-waisted mom jeans and older, die-hard locals in un-irconically high-waisted mom jeans. We paid our $15 (steep!) and sat down to put on our skates.

On our way over, Ariella had been confessing her anxiety about getting back on skates for the first time since the '90s. While I was in the same boat, I had this idea in my head that rollerblading is one of those things that, even if you were terrible the last time you attempted, the power of time and maturity would magically have enhanced your skills. I would pop into those bad boys and skate away like Nancy Kerrigan pre-Tanya Harding. Fun fact: Nope. I refused to stand for the first 10 minutes, terrified out of my mind. These weren't inline skates, mind you. These were those terrible, old-school kind with the "brake" in the front. But the "brake" is actually impossible to use so you have to adopt a kind of pizza-wedge technique I typically reserve for skiing. And while Grant and Michael swore they hadn't skated in years, they zipped away like the graceful water nymph and child of an ex-Rollerblade employee (true story) that they are.

My second mistake of the night: "Oh, a disco-themed roller rink? What fun! Let me just throw on my most obnoxious '70s gear and tease me hair! I'll blend in with everyone else and look fabulous at the same time!" Apparently, "disco" refers solely to the type of music played and not the dress code. All of a sudden my furry coat, patterned pants and gold sequin top became my worst enemy. I turned into a shining beacon of light, slowly orbiting the gym in such a pronounced way that when people started lapping me (which they did. over and over again) they knew. They were well aware. No blending in for this gal! Every time Michael or Grant whizzed past me, I'd get a tender, encouraging touch on my upper back and a supportive wink. Sometimes these intimate gestures came from other people. I think that's part of the skating culture(???).

By some great act of God, I never fell. I must say, however, that when you're going at a snail's pace, it enables you to really take in the endearing details of Crazy Legs Roller Club. For example, the way star crossed-lovers skate arm-in-arm, backwards, with their eyes closed while you claw along the wall like a leper from Jesus Christ Super Star (honestly, that's the only comparison I could think of at the time). And while people skate laps around the dimly lit gymnasium, center court is reserved for the break-dancers. Yes, break-dancing in roller blades is a thing, and these guys are good. The majority of them are middle-aged men and I found it fascinating that this is obviously their Wednesday night, every Wednesday night. One man took pity on us as we encircled the seasoned pros and gawked at their talents. He tried to teach us some moves, and Michael was dedicated enough to actually get on the ground and bust a few. Grant, being a naturally elegant swan, didn't need any lessons and floated away.

Michael attempted to convince the DJ to play Beyoncé's Blow, because, duh, but the DJ stuck with B-list disco songs (except for when he played Lorde's Royals...?). But once our back sweat had thoroughly soaked through our paisley button downs and fur, we decided it was time to turn in. And like the true Brooklyn-dwelling, disco-skating bohemians that we are, we Uber-ed back to our warm beds and called it a night. While I can assure you that Michael and Grant will be back for more, I will probably opt out for a new, slightly less death-defying adventure. Canoeing down the toxic Gowanus canal, anyone?

getting our blades on.

Photo cred: Michael Offerman. See, I wasn't kidding about the shining beacon of light. Or the being in pain thing.

xx

The Secret Correlation Between Plants and Adulthood

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love my apartment more than anything. The Williamsburg location, the four story walk up (jokes) and my wonderfully talented roommate. But lately I've been feeling as though I'm missing some key element that will take my apartment from pleasant to sophisticated, and yesterday I realized the answer: plants. 

Now that I've landed a J-O-B (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), having living things in your apartment feels like a natural transition into the next stage of proving that you are a responsible adult capable of taking care of others. Plants will eventually be replaced by an animal of sorts (chinchilla? sugar glider? a cheetoh?) and then, finally, fingerscrossedIgetmarried, small humans. But for now house plants will have to do. 

We must take baby steps when entering new phases of life, however, and I'm not sure I'm quite ready for the challenge of watering plants per se, so I've contently settled on some adorable succulents (read: can survive in the desert). Ariella bought me the most beautiful terrarium for Christmas from a local store called Sprout, so I took a trip down to Grand Street (they also have a Chicago location!) because yesterday was perfect plant-buying weather. I would highly recommend Sprout's extensive selection of make-your-own terrarium ingredients (plastic dinosaurs included), floral arrangements and abundance of moss. I settled on three little fleshy Echeverias (only $3.50 each! BUY ALL THE ECHEVERIAS!) and re-potted them into some Anthropologie glass jars I had lying about (below).

 I put them on the windowsill next to my bed, and this morning the sunlight was streaming in and I felt very positive about life.  I must say, it was the loveliest sight to wake up to. So do yourself a favor today, and go buys some succulents. xx

BYOB(runch)

This post is about brunch. "Brunching" is a thing I did not do enough in college (the amount of mornings I wasn't eating at Half and Half or Winslow's is my biggest regret in life) and I still don't do enough of today. The concept of sleeping in on a lazy Sunday and then rolling up with friends to New York's hottest restaurant to discuss the previous night's cacophony over mimosas and pancakes for hours sounds like all I've ever wanted in life. But when it comes down to it, it takes quite a bit of organization and, more importantly, MONEY. Adding brunch to your list of hobbies and activities can set you back a significant amount each week. So it's something I'm going to aspire to.

 In conclusion, I am job-searching so that I can brunch.

As a solution, I found a temporary substitute: The BYOB.

My good friends Jacob and Sarah were visiting NYC last weekend and obviously wanted to max out their socializing, but trying to meet up with 10 people for brunch in Williamsburg is like trying to get a reservation at the Dorsia in American Psycho. So Ariella and I had the genius decision to host the brunch at our apartment! However, we decide this the night before and didn't have enough time to shop for a full-out brunch. So to make it as easy as possible, we ended up doing a Bring Your Own Brunch. Instead of worrying about cooking for everyone or even bringing a dish large enough for everyone, you just worry about yourself! This is especially convenient when you have gluten-free (and fabulous) or vegetarian friends. Our BYOB still ended up being a little pot-luckish though because I have generous friends who are willing to pick up a dozen donuts and bagels and (my favorite, thanks Hillary!) macarons. It was a lovely get together and I would fully recommend the concept when you're feeling lazy or poor or selfish and don't want to share your food.

I promise Jacob and Steven are having more fun then they're letting on. 

Friday Night Tracks Yo

I've recently been listening to these songs on repeat and they're great to pump you up to be social and get out of the house on a Friday night and make friends and talk to people and not sit on the couch and read a book and drink tea (not that I have this issue myself... #secretlyintroverted) That said, two wonderful friends of mine, Jacob and Sarah, are visiting the city this weekend, so cheers to that!

Sam Smith. Money On My Mind.

Selina showed me this Brit. He's the voice on Disclosure's Latch and I think he has an eerily beautiful falsetto:

Twin Shadow. Old Love/New Love.

Okay, okay so apparently everyone already knows this song (looking at you Elise+ everyone else), but that doesn't mean it's any less good! Amiright?

Mapei. Don't Wait.

Not sure if this Stockholm-based girl is supposed to be "the next big thing" or not but she is awesome. (Also diggin' this Kingdom remix)

St. Lucia. All Eyes On You.

Why they don't have a music video for this baffles me.

        

Natalia Kills. Saturday Night.

Her eyebrows. That sequin dress. This is a nice angsty/teen-anthem guilty pleasure.

Foxes. Let Go for Tonight.

Similar to above. Mostly just a fresh of breath air because she's not Miley. I think these guys are on the rise. 

And last but OBVIOUSLY not least.

Beyoncé. Drunk in Love ft JAY Z.

I've watched this video everyday at the gym for the past two weeks. Great motivation. It just kills me how they're just like, "Yeah, we're married and we're amazing and we know it and all of you are jealous and you will never have this. Look how cool we are. " Bye.

How-To: Repurpose New Year's Eve Decorations

Hello! Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday full of food, family, and resolutions just waiting to be broken! Just kidding. I have complete faith in you all. One of my resolutions this year is to read more books and watch less TV. So guess what I did last night? I read a book while watching a movie! Baby steps, right? (I started "Hotel Rwanda" but then I was like WAIT WHAT AM I DOING so before I lost all hope in humanity I switched to the "First Wive's Club" and paged through "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" by Maria Semple. Blissful ignorance prevails!! How great is this scene from the movie, though? It had me dancing around my apartment and wishing I was a middle aged divorcée.)

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I wanted to revisit New Year's Eve because that is one of my highest rated holidays. Why? GOLD. Gold everywhere. And sequins. Gold sequins are practically the uniform of New Year's Eve and people will give you the stink eye if you choose not to participate. Therefore my roommate and I decided to throw a party. However, throwing a New Year's Eve party is tricky. There's a lot of pressure for NYE. Everyone has this vision of being at the perfect party in the perfect party dress and receiving the perfect midnight kiss. So everyone kind of waits around for an invitation to said party, but no one is throwing one because they assume everyone else already has plans. So until one brave friend steps up to the plate and bites the bullet (thanks Julia!) there aren't many house parties on NYE (but if you're looking for club parties, New York City is a goldmine).

In light of that, we decided to do the logical thing and host a New Year's Eve Eve party on the 30th. And it was a hit! It was titled "Penultimate: A Beer In Review". We ran out of food and alcohol so that's a sure sign it was well attended, right? Either that or we are terrible party planners. My sister Selina was visiting from Singapore so she, Ariella and I made the trip over to Party City and stared in awe at the millions of options for decorations. Literally some of the most inane things can be sold if you slap "Happy New Years!" on it. We decided to stick with a more modest selection of gold tinsel and gold solo cups  (see below) which should replace the red ones at all college parties in my humble opinion.

After a wonderful night with close friends and even closer strangers, we awoke to an apartment that looked like King Midas had projectile vomited on. (For clarification, that is not a negative description). But, alas, one cannot live in such a state. So what were we to do? Throw out all the gold decorations? What a waste! I decided to find a way to recycle them. My bedroom door was in need of a little sprucing up, so I took the gold tinsel and did a little Sweet Nothing number to it. See below for my DIY on re-loving your New Year's decorations. 

Gift Guide Part IV: For Your Friends Who Are So Wide Ranging And Diverse, You Don't Really Know How To Sum Them Up In A Few Phrases.

1. Tattly One Year Subscription $60 Because these are the best temporary tattoos ever and to receive 8 of them in the mail every month would be like Christmas once a month.
2. Anthropologie Tiled Fado Guitar $3,600. If there was ever a Tiled Fado Guitar to spend $3,600 on, this would be it.
3. Topman White Canvas Backpack $100 For your stylin' guy friends. Or for your stylin' girlfriends. This is pretty unisex, I think. I'd wear it.
4. Duncan Shotten Rainbow Pencils $Kickstarter For your artsy friends. Because then at the end of a long drawing session you can have little rainbows spread all around and it will bring joy and happiness.
5. Mudpuppy Ceramic Skull Planter $42 I would tell you who I'd give this to, but then I'd have to kill you. #secrets
6. Free People Galloon Lace Halter Bra $38 For your friends that don't wear real bras.
7. Darling Magazine Subscription $20 The most perfect magazine for the most perfect friends.
8. West Elm Square Lacquer Tray $24 Can't go wrong with gold monogrammed things amiright?
9. Tina Zellmer Asia Map This beautiful map for your Southeast Asia-wanderlusting friends.
10. Marc by Marc Jacobs Eye Stud Earrings $48 Precious and (again) *designer*.
11. J. Crew Back Up Battery for iPhone $40 Because New York City drains iPhone batteries like it's its job.
12. Dwell Studio Draper Stripe Major Throw $198 For your friends who have long commutes and an obssesion with stripes.
13. Rothshank Wheel Thrown Beyonce Mug $39 No explanation needed for this one. But bonus points if you accompany it with her new visual album (duh).
14. Natural Quilts $50. These hand block printed and natural dyed quilts will brighten up any room.
15. Diptyque Orange Chai Candle $32 Because orange is a happy color and chais are yummy.
16. Wolfum Floral Pop Teepee $325 Who wouldn't want this in their apartment??

ACL Style or Lack Thereof

 As I mentioned in a previous post, I was home for Austin City Limits last weekend. I had a fantastic time romping about with old friends, eating Chi'Lantro tacos (THE BEST), checking out new bands and reminiscing with old favorites (cough cough Okkervil River). But this year I also went armed with a camera in the effort of trying to get some good style shots of the blithe and sunburnt festival-goers (try being the operative word here).

 I'm ashamed to admit that it was an incredibly difficult endeavor. I figured running off between sets to snap a few pics would be a slice of cake but instead I missed half of Lissie trying to hunt people down. Yo Austin: Step. Up. Your. Game. People go to Coachella PURELY to be photographed for style blogs and probably don't even realize it's a music festival. Sure, ACL is about the music, but lets have some pride in our style, shall we? What happened to Keeping Austin Weird? 

Below are the few shining stars I came across, but next year, let's do better hm?

(P.S. Anyone beg to differ with me on this? Maybe all the Glamazons were trolling about while I was at Grimes. Who was killer btw.)

I cheated on this one because she's my friend Lauren but she's also super stylish so bonus points. Hi Lauren.

She also took my picture for her atx style blog. (Ha! Please ignore awkward stance.)

She was so sweet. Great texture/print mixing.

This girl was on every ACL style blog post. Way to be.

        

Crop tops for daysssss.

 

That low-V. Daring.

 

mmmm GoodPop.

Oh and here's a little collage of some atmosphere pics from the weekend taken by both myself and my dear friend Skinney after he gently commandeered my camera. Look out for him, he's a NatGeoPho in the making (I just made that term up, I think).

Annnnd the half of the Strasburger tribe that could make it <3