Nobody's Perfect

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Please tell me you know what Hannah Montana song I'm trying to reference. Anyway, nobody really is perfect. As much as I'd like to be a perfectionist, and strive to be one, I always occasionally fuck up. Earlier this week, a street artist that had done a wall down in Coney had contacted me about taking a picture in front of it, so I assumed that it was with the rest of the art walls. From checking out his Instagram pictures, his murals were all in black and white. There were only two black and white walls, so I took pictures with both of them just to be safe.

Turns out, neither of those were his mural. What I think happened was that I read his message too fast and overlooked the address. He said he had done a wall in Coney, and the only place with art walls is the Coney Island Art Walls. HIS WALL IS BY AN AUTO BODY REPAIR SHOP. So now I'm stuck with pictures in front of the wrong wall, and don't have a picture to send to the artist. I feel so awful. He recently sent me a DM asking if I had even taken it and I had to explain what happened. He never even replied. I guess it serves me right. It was just an honest mistake. I can either blame it on my lack of attention at the moment, or the fact I've had too much to do, either way, it still comes down to me. It's difficult being one person with such an eventful life. I'm the daughter, assistant manager, friend, blogger, occasional "model," and have to juggle between so many conversations a day. Sometimes I low-key want to hire my own intern because I have so much to do. Especially now that I'm working overtime due to a situation at work. I just finished working an 11 hour shift today. As much as I'd love to be in a deep sleep somewhere in Neverland at the moment, I can't sleep on the dream. I have no intern. I am the intern. My blog isn't going to update itself. The store can't run as well without me there every day. It goes on. I have to go on.

Earlier today, I got a visit from my friend Zack, who knew how long my day was going to be. He offered a Red Bull or coffee, but I politely decline. (I'm really not one for caffeine, I really don't know what people love about it.) "So what keeps you going?" he asked, "ambition," I replied. We both grin. I spend the rest of my night folding down the rest of the store, balancing between ringing up, helping customers, and trying not to think about how I spent an entire week without going to the arcade to play skeeball. I love my business-before-pleasure life, where it really just feels like business 24/7. Birthday vacation, where you atttttttt.

If you can't already tell, I'm a little exhausted at the moment; both physically and mentally. Right now I could use nap time, an allowance, and home packed lunches. WHAT I WOULD DO TO BE ABLE TO SEE MORE DAYLIGHT. Play more skeeball. Have time to shop in store without being disturbed by questions, texts, or phone calls. Not have to work to pay bills. Being an adult sucks. I'm currently thinking of the summers as a kid where I would go to baseball camp with my friends and come home to go swimming in our pool, and then back inside to the AC and watch the Nicktoons Summer Beach House. Those were the days. What I would do to have them again...

Outfit deets: basically everything I'm pretty much wearing is from Forever 21 except my hat. The entire outfit was only $70! From the hat to the Rocket Dog platforms.Pictures were taken by my girl Kieran, who came down to Coney for the morning to shoot me. Hope you enjoyed my ranting and look! If you can relate or want to drop some inspo, drop it lowwwww. For now, I'm off to sleep.

brand collabs

So Underrated

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

If thats you, then you definitely want to check out Underrated Clothing. Founded by Shelly Salzbrunn at only 19, she wanted to represent all the talented, yet underrated people out there. As her business began to develop, she thought about all the people that she would need to hire: professional photographers, stylists, models, etc. Then it occurred to her that she actually knew all these people. Yeah they weren't considered "highly paid," or "professionals," but she wanted to help them get there. When I spoke to Shelly, she said, "what better way to incorporate all the artist out there who are just trying to make it, then to have them get the experience they need with us? These people are underrated. They deserve some sort of recognition, even if it's just from an online clothing business like ours." YESSSS GIRL. I love that she decided to do this. A true entrepreneur really thinks of all possible ways to make their vision come to life, and Shelly was no exception. It was a creative, on the spot idea that proved to be effective. Take a look at the site yourself, can you really tell that it wasn't done by a "professional?" If I didn't tell you, you wouldn't have even known.

This top picture above is the Emily. Out of the 3 pieces I shot with that day, it was by far my favorite. I loved how extremely flattering it was, and how comfortably it fit.I'm not one for super girly pieces or lace, but the lace trim was a nice touch. It's the perfect summer top because it's hella cute, lightweight, and you won't feel like your dying while wearing it in the intense heat. I definitely will be wearing this one a lot and I'm not going to apologize about it.

Okay I lied. This one was my favorite. When I was looking at the website it said trendy and affordable clothing, and it didn't lie.(Unlike what I just did.) This jacket was only $60! Thinking about it, the clothes remind me exactly of LF. Stylish yet AFFORDABLE, unlike at LF how a pair of shorts can cost as low as $298. ANYWAY, normally oversized jackets just feel big and bulky, but the Shelly jacket was just the right amount of oversized. It's not something I can describe, but definitely something you can feel once you wear it. You won't feel like your drowning in denim, or feel like your lost in your own silhouette either. For a denim jacket, it was actually extremely comfortable! It didn't have that itchy feel to it and just 10/10 would recommend. (Insider tip, can be worn in 80 degree weather.) Another insider tip, I actually wore in in 80 degree weather haha.

Lastly, the Courtney top. I wish I had loved you as much as the other two, but I just wasn't physically blessed enough to wear you the way I liked. I'd highly recommend to wear with a bralette, but if you're feeling a little bold, just wear it alone! This one would accessorize really well with jewelry or a hat. Overall, I really did love the three pieces I got. Thank you Shelly for the opportunity to work with you, and I wish you and the company much success. I highly encourage you all to go and check out Underrated Clothing here, and if you purchase anything, drop a comment on why you got it and how you plan to wear it :)

brand collabs

Surf & Stillwell

Monday, June 19, 2017

No, not the avenues, the shop! Surf & Stillwell hands down has the coolest Coney Island merch. If you've ever been to Coney, which most of you have, you probably overlooked it while speed walking your way up the boardwalk and to the beach, and that's where you made a mistake. You passed the gem.

Surf & Stilwell is designed right here in Coney Island! I was so excited when I found out. The product selection isn't your generic tourist merch either. It's creative and fun, and everything will remind you of my home. From tank tops with mermaids, to printed tote bags with little graphics of seagulls and the parachute jump, and even beach blankets; the shops got you covered whether your down in Coney for the weekend, or any other time for that matter.

These pieces in the photo's are a few of my top picks, but I highly encourage you all to go and visit the store at 3018 Stillwell Avenue. If you aren't good with numbers or directions, (like myself), it's right next door to It's Sugar. So stop on by and meet the designer/ shop owner Yaniv.

Photo's taken by Kieran Bammann.

Do you like feet?

Thursday, June 8, 2017

"Feet aren't really my thing," says Smithshell J, photographer behind the Instagram account @royal.youths. This instantly gave me a flashback of a moment that I had with my sister several years ago. So powerful how one word took me back to that. My sister and me, we aren't exactly the dynamic duo types like the Olsen twins or anything like that, but what I do remember is how much she really hated feet. She would even physically cringe by just hearing the word.

Just to be the annoying sibling, I remember a specific time when I had just gotten home and sat on the couch with her. I took my shoes off, and could already feel the heat coming from my socks. I could feel her looking at me through her peripheral vision. So what I do next is slowly take my socks off, and place the ball of my foot on her thighs. "Don't you dare," she says. I obviously did dare. If you're that person that picks truth all the time at the party, just know you won't ever be invited to the next one. Don't be that person. Take a little risk.
So I put both of my feet on her and she starts freaking the fuck out. Like the initial instinct of any Spanish woman, she grabs the nearest item closest to her and begins to hit me. No, it was not a chancla.

It may sound like a completely odd question to ask a complete stranger on your initial first meet. But whichever way you decided to take it, let your imagination roam free at the idea. Who am I to stop you. (inserts the emoji of the three little stars or glitter pieces here, you know which one I'm talking about. The one that's gold.)Anyway, the question was about my shoes. I needed a close up. At least one shot before I almost broke an ankle by jumping off the lifeguard chair, completely forgetting about the thick rainbow striped platforms on my feet and the uneven sandy surface that was the ground.

Todays shoot was the earliest I've ever done. 9:30 AM. Needless to say it was nice and quiet, but ya girl needs her beauty sleep. Regardless, Smithshell captured the beauty in my tired state. And my Quay sunglasses hid my dark eyebags. You know that saying, "the bags under my eyes are designer?" Well mine aren't. They would be more mass market tbh.

Outfit deets: Top from the Ragged Priest which you can find on ASOS or Dollskill, bell bottoms from Brandy Melville, chunky rainbow platforms from Rocketdog, sunglasses from Quay Australia, and earrings from Forever 21.

About Friday Night

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Catching up with your girls and going to a tattoo party sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? At least that's what I thought. So here's what went down.

The NYC famous tattoo artist Jonboy had posted a picture to his Instagram account about having a tattoo party in LES. I've had my eye on him for four years, and always wanted a tattoo. He's known for his fine line, ultimately minimalistic tattoo's. So I sent a few friends a text about it, and some other friends hit me up about it, and we decided to go. SO we get there early...like 6 hours early.

For the first time in my life I was first on line for something, NOBODY ELSE WAS THERE. It was really odd. We decide to grab mojitos at a spot nearby as they were advertised for $6. The waiter confirms that they are indeed $6, so we get three and they sucked. They were warm and didn't taste right. Comes the bill and THEY HAD CROSSED OUT $6 AND WROTE $9. ON TOP OF THE ORIGINAL 6. Hold up. At least give a completely new check if you're trying to pull a quick one... like at least get that much right. How fucking stupid. Whatever. We then call the manager over and tell her about the terrible drinks and price hike. She tries to justify that it's a Mexican restaurant, and that they make mojitos with tequila and not rum. That still doesn't explain what you did miss. Long story short, if you want 3 mojitos for $6, go visit El Maguey y La Tuna in LES.

Already pissed, my friend Ari suggested that we go to Dunkin Donuts, as it was free donut day, and that she would give me her donut because I live for sweets and who can be in a terrible mood with sweets around? As we were walking, the guys behind us start cat calling my friend and making comments about how nice her ass looked in her shorts. At this point I was livid, so I turn around and give the ultimate bitch face and say: "how about you shut the fuck up." Cat call man loses his shit and starts cursing at me while calling me an ugly bitch and what not. It takes A LOT for me to talk back to someone. The fact that I was even able to do this without awkwardly stuttering has me mentally clapping in my head screaming "YAS GURL." But back to Friday night, what happens next? Dunkin Donuts runs out of donuts. If there was ever the perfect moment for Gretchen Weiners to pop out and say : "and none for Soni Solano," this would be it.

We walk back to the event location to met up with another friend, and there's still no line. So I open the club door and ask the guy if the party is happening. He. slams. the. door. in. my. face. FUCK YOU TOO DOORMAN. People start showing up and Jonboy arrives. Turns out that we're both wearing the same Classic Slip Ons in black/white checkerboard. (Fun fact I worked at Vans for 3 years. I can name you every shoe and color code.) He makes an Instagram story showing all the people that were waiting on the line just to get a tattoo by him. Mind you we were fifth on line that was going down and around the block.

Kelly Osbourne and her friends show up. They were the only lucky people to end up getting into the event and everyone else was sent home. We almost got hit by a cab driver who gave no fucks. Almost got stopped by the cops on the drive back home and it was just beautiful. My virgin skin went home well...virgin. And those hours of my life I can never get back, but it made for a decent story to share with you all.

Outfit details: Star Wool hat from Zara, crop top from Dollskill, fringe jeans from Topshop, platforms from Pull & Bear, and tote bag from Surf and Stilwell. Photo's from my talented and humble friend, Matt DeFrenza. Congrats on graduating and can't wait to see where your photography and talent will take you next.

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