Wine Tasting With Andy Milonakis

andy milonakis be my boyfriend

Wanna Party?

These tights are funny and festive... I like

they are currently sold out but click HERE to check em' out!

photo credit: polyvore

Unforgettable - Nat King Cole

Getting into the holiday spirit...

You Stepped Out Of A Cloud

NY Times T Style Magazine Winter 2011
Photography: Miles Aldridge
Model: Ruby Aldridge
Styling: Bill Mullen
Hair: Rolando Beauchamp for Bumble and Bumble
Makeup: Dotti for Nars Cosmetics

photo credit: the-electric

[quote]

"Goodbyes always make my throat hurt... I need more hellos."

-- Charlie Brown

photo credit: the-electric

My Night With Eddie Redmayne

I saw My Week With Marilyn last night and I ab so lu te ly loved it. I think that portraying someone as iconic as Marilyn Monroe is no easy feat and I think that Michelle Williams was the right woman to fill these shoes. The movie was so romantic and beautiful, and WOW Eddie Redmayne is my ideal man! So Irish looking and handsome... it was actually really distracting to look at him.

(the soundtrack was amazing)

 here is a quote from Marilyn Monroe that I find encompasses the movie as a whole:

"It's often enough just to be with someone. I don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone."

-- Marilyn Monroe

go see this movie y'all

photo credit: onlinemovieshut

And What Else Is There

Some lovely photos from the blog And What Else Is There that I just stumbled upon for the first time.

click HERE to check out more photos 

photo credit: andwhatelseisthere

A.Y. Not Dead

Summer 2012 lookbook

These clothes rock I want them all

photo credit: the-electric

Movie To Watch [GIANT]

I recently emailed my family asking them to send me a list of their favorite movies of all time, so that I could make my own list of all the films I want to watch. 

So far I have watched Giant (James Deans last film) starring Elizabeth Taylor, (who is so beautiful it hurts) Rock Hudson, and James Dean. It was super beautiful but man, it was long! (3 hours and a half)

I was talking to my roommate about the main reason I find older movies like Giant to be so different from newer movies and I've come to the conclusion that I find newer movies to have a much clearer message being conveyed to the audience. Not in all cases of course, but I find that to be true for many more recent movies. I found that Giant had a lot of different messages being conveyed, but not one major statement that the audience is supposed to leave with. Maybe I'm totally off but it's just something I have been thinking about.

Giant is streaming on Netflix right now and I highly suggest watching it if you haven't already. 

If only because a young Dennis Hopper is in it and is smokin!



photo credit: theselvedgeyard

Fluorescent Adolescent - Artic Monkeys

I saw the Arctic Monkey's this past summer and they were really really good live. This song reminds me of simpler times

The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash (Live-'69)

my mom sent me this video and it's siiiiiick

An Anthropological Introduction To YouTube

 I was asked to watch this video for my Rhetoric class and I wanted to share it with all of you because I found it both fascinating and interesting. It is a video breaking down YouTube from the beginning, specifically talking about how media has changed human relationships as well as how YouTube has brought communities together.

Movies To See [50/50, Martha Marcy May Marlene]

Recently I've been on quite the movie roll (also quite the McEnroll). In the last week I have seen 50/50 and Martha Marcy May Marlene ( I'm sorry but whoever came up with this title needs to be shot point blank) and I highly recommend both films.

I just found out that 50/50 is actually inspired by a true story about Will Reiser who was diagnosed with cancer in his twenties. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Will in the movie and Seth Rogen plays his best friend. I just found out that Joseph Gordon-Levitt signed on to the movie two weeks before shooting (originally James McAvoy was said to play Will but had to drop out for personal reasons) and I thought he did a really great job especially given the last minute circumstances. In real life, Seth Rogen actually helped Will Reiser cope with his cancer diagnosis and convinced him to write a screen play while still in their 20's telling his story. This made me like the movie even more which I didn't think was possible. 50/50  overall was an amazing blend of dark humor, drama, as well as a touch of romance, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen were a deadly duo together. I loved it.

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a psychological thriller starring Elizabeth Olsen that really was incredible. Overall the movie as a whole was probably the most stressful experience of my life, but was worth seeing if not for how fantastic Olsen's acting was in the movie. All I will say is that the movie is highly disturbing (at least I found that it was) so know that you have been warned. Otherwise it was beautifully and artistically shot.

photo credit: IMDB

I Should Be Laughing - Patty Smyth

[quote]

"Why would you want to limit the spectrum of beauty to an “ideal” when you, as a popular womens magazine, have the opportunity to expand it? I don’t think any woman should have to feel as if she needs to shove herself into an “ideal” to be beautiful. Beauty should be something that is celebrated and something that is enjoyable, not something that people should feel uncomfortable about achieving. Most of the women, and certainly most of the adolescent girls, in the United States do not feel completely secure with themselves, especially with their appearance; is insecurity something you want to advocate? As American women, we don’t need discouragement, but inspiration."

Zooey Deschanel
Los Angeles, CA

[A letter sent by Zooey Deschanel at age 17]






photo credit: localgod 

Interview [Indigo Sunday]

I got the pleasure of being interviewed by fellow blogger Akosua Adasi who writes the blog Indigo Sunday (click HERE to check it out it rocks)

Here is the interview:

I really like your blog. Why did you start writing it?

 Well, for starters thank you for taking interest in my blog. It seems like forever ago that I first started Magenta Lightning, and I recently found out that I actually started it on April 8, 2009, which is a pretty long time ago! I initially started writing it my senior year of high school for a school project. I went to a high school in New York City called Trevor Day School that was amazing and super progressive, so for my second semester senior year when most (and by most of mean everyone) people completely slack off, my school offered an alternative option called Bridge Semester. While taking Bridge Semester my school offered an array of different projects, dances, art pieces etc that you could work on, and my friends and I came up with the idea that making a blog could be a great project to work on. Initially we named our blog “The High School Survival Guide;” which looking back was totally lame (did I mention I came up with the name of it?) but it was a cool way for all of us to write about whatever we wanted. Mainly focusing on trends and fashion, but really being open to whatever we wanted to say. Anyways, after we graduated my friends started posting less and I kept posting, so a little bit later it turned into just my blog. But it’s still really cool for me to go a couple years back and look at the transformation of when I first started posting versus now.

I remember you saying, “My life is not like Gossip Girl. Stilettos

are too much for day time.” Do you still “stand” by that?

    Man you have a great memory! Yes, unfortunately I did say that BUT for the record Teen Vogue definitely twisted my words around because I did not say that verbatim. However, I do agree with this statement overall. When interviewed for Teen Vogue, my interviewer was specifically asking me about wearing high heels in school, and I responded saying that a lot of girls at my school would came dressed so uncomfortably in 6 inch heels and I have always been a huge fan of comfort over everything else. Overall I think that wearing heels during the daytime otherwise is totally acceptable, I just don’t do it that much. For the record it’s REALLY hard to walk in heels in San Francisco so I don’t do it much. You have been warned. 

 

Do you feel like your style has changed since you were in Teen Vogue?

    It’s funny because when people ask me about being in that article in Teen Vogue I always tell them about a funny encounter I had with the stylists working on the shoot. So, doing this shoot was actually so much fun and the people working for Teen Vogue made me super comfortable and played music that I liked which rocked. Unfortunately the Anna Sui snake skin pumps I wore were like two sizes to small but they were so cute! I also loved the white dress that they put me in, it was totally glamorous and vintage looking. Anyways, I had gotten to the shoot early, so once most of the people helping out had arrived I was already trying on clothes. Once the shoot was over I put on the outfit that I wore there, (this was a long time ago but it was something along the lines of black skinny jeans and converse) and I had a funny interaction with the stylist working the shoot because once I put my regular clothes back on she goes “OH, so this is your style!” Meaning that I guess they had gone into the shoot with a very different  (I would say more along the lines of feminine and trendy) idea of my style sense.

Some of your favorite things

    Hmm I’m not sure where to begin with all of my favorite things because there are just so many but I will take a stab at it. I love coffee. A lot. I love movies, especially double features. I love animals especially my own animals (I have two dogs Pickle and Lu Lu and a cat named Wallace). I excuse my French, fucking love my friends. They are my family and mean the world to me. I love spending this time of my life living in San Francisco. It’s such a young awesome city filled with so much energy and culture and it totally rocks. I could go on and on about things that I like but these are just a look into some my likes.

I always feel like to be “original” you just do whatever. Like what you like, do what you want to do. What’s your view on originality?

       I am the number one advocator for being original. I really find that people spend so much of their time and energy trying to look and act like someone else and I just don’t understand why. I think it’s really important to dress how you want to and not how you are supposed to want to. Going back to my friends, the greatest thing about the people that I have in my life is that they are the most unbelievable individuals I know. All of my friends are completely different in terms of style and personality and that is just so cool. I think more people should be original!

There are some people who have fame without talent (reality stars) and then there are those who have extraordinary talent but aren’t as recognized. Are there some underground things you like?

       I’m not really sure what you are asking specifically but if you are referring to less known artists/actors or things of that nature I would say I do have some underground things that I like. In terms of music recently all I have been listening to are oldies and blues (Sam Cooke, Etta James etc…) so I’m not really up to date on a lot of the new music going on. In terms of movies, I honestly have such a wide range of taste in movies that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I can honestly go into any movie and see some good in what they have accomplished, whether it is the soundtrack, the acting, cinematography etc… but not a lot is coming to mind in terms of underground cinema. 

You must have traveled to a few places. What are some of your favorite places and why? Do you ever draw inspiration from those

places? 

       I am really lucky because I have had the opportunity to travel a good amount for only being twenty years old. Since I was little I have traveled with my family, most memorably to places like Africa, Venice, Croatia, Paris, London etc… and I have learned and grown so much from these experiences. When I graduated from high school my best friend Blair and I went on a kind of “coming of age” trip to Europe and that was probably one of my most inspirational trips I have ever been on. Blair and I went around Europe to London, Ireland, Scotland, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Paris and honestly had the time of our lives. There were many reasons why this trip was so inspirational and honestly I could write a novel listing all of them. I think a lot had to do with the timing of when we went. It was such an amazing look into our future independence and going to all of these places together without our families was a real look into the adults we were becoming.

       I actually also just came back from another one of the most inspirational trips of my life (I mentioned it on my blog- I’m not sure if you read it) but I was lucky enough to be invited by very close family friends to go to on a Polar Bear exhibition in a town called Churchill, Manitoba also known as the Polar Bear capital of the world. It was really funny explaining to people that I was going on this trip because literally everyone that I know thought that I was lying… and it makes sense why because this trip is so totally crazy and out there. Anyways, I wrote a longer excerpt on my blog about this trip here:

       There aren't enough words to describe the magic of being in the same place as polar bears and I know fully that these memories will carry me for years to come and that I will never forget them. 

      To give some background, the town of Churchill has a population of about 800 and is unlike anywhere I have ever been and most likely will ever go. I was told upon arrival that everyone in the town keeps their car and front doors open so that in the event that a polar bear is walking around the town (which is highly probable) you can easily protect yourself from the bear by getting inside a house or a car. 

       Growing up in a place like New York City, the idea of keeping my front door unlocked is a concept that is unheard of to me. I have had it drilled into my head from a young age that no matter what, the door stays locked at all times. End of story. To be in a place where the the main threat of the town is getting attacked/eaten by a Polar Bear, the other problems (burglary, robbers etc...) just seemed to fade away. 

       I am so lucky to be able to have had this experience and if there is anything that I took away from this trip- it is how insignificant the little things in life are, and how important it is to take a step back and really appreciate the bigger and better things.

Magenta Lightning. There has to be a story behind the name.

     Well as I mentioned earlier my blog was originally called “The High School Survival Guide;” which I didn’t put much thought into because when I came to college I had to change it to “The College Survival Guide.” I guess when I first started posting I wasn’t thinking that I was going to be posting on it long term, so the blog title didn’t really have much precedence. I based the name “Magenta Lightning” off of the first tattoo I got when I was 18. I got a small tattoo on my wrist that is a crescent moon with a bow shooting through it with magenta lightning bolts and a purple star. I remember the day I was thinking of a new name for my blog I was looking down at my wrist and I started playing around with the idea of Pink Lightning (which I think was already taken) and then I came up with Magenta Lightning because I thought it had a nice ring to it and was really different from other blog names I’ve heard. 

I know you’ve said your life isn’t like Gossip Girl but is there a

character you find is similar to yourself?

       Ab so lu te ly not. When I tell people that I’m from New York City especially when Gossip Girl was doing super well and everyone was watching it, people would ALWAYS ask me if my life was like the show and I always said that it definitely was not. Gossip Girl just like most television shows is highly dramatized and completely over the top and gives a really unrealistic look into growing up in New York City. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely kids that went to prep schools that I knew (of, not personally) that would tramp around the Upper West Side in floor length fur coats and go out every weekend ordering bottle service at the lamest clubs, but those were most certainly not the kids that I surrounded myself with. 

I watched this Lifetime movie called Fatal trust, about this lady and a creepy doctor who killed people really randomly. Do you like any of the lifetime movies?

       Honestly I don’t watch many Lifetime movies but my mom was in one a couple years back called Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal that I really liked.

I’m trying not to ask about your mom but do you think you’d follow her path as an actress or are you carving your path?

       The question of the hour being twenty years old is definitely what career path I am thinking of taking, and honestly I wish that I knew more clearly what I wanted to do but right now I am not really sure. I am a very passionate person so I have a lot of likes, but I haven’t focused in primarily on one career path that I am going to take. I have always loved film and been very interested on the subject, but I’m not sure if I could take the cruelty of the industry, I’m just too emotional! Since I have grown up around it, I have a good idea about how hard it is and I am going to take my time figuring out if I am going to go in that direction. Right now I love putting time into my blog, so maybe one day the time and effort I have put into it will lead me to something else.

I’ve always like clothes and style, but I never really understood fashion until recently. I like how fashion is supposed to be like an expression. So there’s no need to worry if your trendy or not. What about you?

       In the same way that I think being an individual is incredibly important, I think that style is an artistic expression just like anything else. I love waking up in the morning and being excited about what I am going to wear that day. My style is very all over the place, and I like that because I really just wear what I want, and that changes on a given day. I wouldn’t say I the biggest fan of the word “trendy” because I really don’t like following trends for the most part. It’s the worst when you start wearing a pair of boots (or any article of clothing, really) and you walk down the street and see five people wearing the exact same ones. I’d rather be the only person wearing the boots.

Favorite book? Music? Designers?

       Right now I am reading a memoir that my friend Claire got for me about Cherie Currie from the band The Runaways called “Neon Angel: The Cherrie Currie Story,” that I am totally obsessed with. I am not done with it but so far I find it fascinating.

       As I mentioned before, I am a big Sam Cooke fan but my music taste is SO broad.

       If I had to say my favorite designer I would say Alexander Wang because there are very few things that he makes that I wouldn’t wear. I find his clothes to be tailored so perfectly, and among everything else they are beyond comfortable. Otherwise I love vintage clothes, and of course I steal all of my mom’s clothes.

Style icon

       I have a lot of style icons but one that immediately comes to mind is Erin Wasson. She is just so cool. If you wanna talk about being an individual, Erin Wasson is the ultimate choice. Her style is so laid back and cool, and I love that she doesn’t spend hours doing her hair and makeup, she goes for much more of a natural look. I have always believed that you wear your clothes not that your clothes wear you, and I think that Erin Wasson is the perfect example of this. I honestly think she could wear anything and make it cool, and that’s because she wears them with confidence. Other people that come to mind: Alexa Chung, Daisy Lowe.

Belated Birthday

I have been SO busy with work that I didn't get a chance to wish my best friend Blair a very happy birthday on my blog! 

I love you more than the earth the moon the sun and the stars miss thing, can't wait for all the birthdays ahead. you're the best, ever.

Belated I Ate Your Halloween Candy

I know I'm late in adding this but I couldn't not post it... I mean this is too funny. And the two boys are the end are HILARIOUS! 

you sneaaaaaky mom! 

The Cat's Meow

Kitten covers!! 

photo credit: thekittencovers

Kim's Divorce Special

This is the most genius thing I've seen in a long time.

Baby Model Wang

I think I just died and went to heaven. Meet Alexander Wang's niece Alia (please note that she is wearing all Alexander Wang).

photo credit: thetrashedfashion

Brenton Wood - Oogum Boogum

I was trying to figure out for the longest time what movie this song was in and it just came to me, Almost Famous! One of my fav movies.

Paris Vs. New York

 Illustrations by Vahram Muratyan

I love this

photo credit: stylecaster 

The Last Dogs Of Winter

 

To give a little background - this movie was made by the incredibly talented Caleb Ross (who I got the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with on my trip to Canada) who made this documentary "The Last Dogs of Winter” detailing Brian Ladoon’s devotion to preserving the endangered Qimmiq, Canada’s indigenous Eskimo dog. 



I also got the pleasure of meeting Brian Landoon who has single handedly saved this species. I was lucky enough to watch the entirety of this documentary and it was absolutely fascinating and brought tears to me eyes. 



I hope that you all get the pleasure of seeing this documentary in hopes of realizing  that Polar Bears are not the only species in the artic that are in danger of becoming extinct.



 

If I Knew The Way I Would Take You Home

The photos on this blog are so rad

photo credit: zaramirkin