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Bananas!

Photos: The New York Times

I have an obsession that I want to share with you. I just can't get enough of the Bravo docudrama, The Rachel Zoe Project.

The series follows the life of celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe and her attempts to balance her professional life with her personal life while dealing with her fighting assistants and her husband-partner Rodger Berman. The Rachel Zoe Project also features Zoe's longtime assistant Taylor Jacobsen and Brad Goreski, Jacobsen's newly hired assistant who clash due to conflicting personalities. [source]

Admittedly, I watched every minute of every single episode last season. Rachel Zoe herself, is a tiny, tanned woman with long blonde locks, carefully styled to look carefree. She usually has ropes of gold chains around her neck, stacks of diamond bangles on her wrists and enormous sunglasses nearly obscuring her face. Even wearing high heels, she is short and stick-thin, but Zoe does not seem fragile. The masses of jewelry, the sunglasses, the whole noisy, ’70s-inspired look adds up to a hectic, ostentatious, theatrical sort of glamour. It’s the look she has duplicated on her clients, making the so-called "Zoe-bots" paparazzi favourites, as well as walking ads for top designers. A cross-pollinator of the worlds of Hollywood celebrities, high fashion and tabloid magazines, Rachel Zoe has become a powerful image broker, a conduit to the ever-more lucrative intersection of commerce, style and fame. She's incredible. If only she would hire me to work for her. I could totally shut it down.

Photo: The Frisky

Zoe's sultry style is grounded in 1970s sex appeal -- part biker chick, part disco denizen. During the day, she favors super-skinny jeans, sky-high studded or python stilettos by Gucci or Alexander McQueen, cropped Chanel jackets, and gold chains with shark-tooth charms from Kaviar and Kind. For evening, Zoe goes for drapey goddess gowns -- vintage Chloe or Yves Saint Laurent, and always clingy.

Photo: DayLife

Though she may be something of a lightning rod for controversy, I must tell you that I love, love, love her and her Zoe-isms. Seriously, I die. This woman is talented as hell, works her ass off and lives a fabulous life.

I think that seeing Rachel interact with fashion's darling designers on her show — Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Giles Mendel — gives her more credibility. Though the season came to a close with Rachel "shutting it down" at the Oscars, my favourite episodes were when she attended New York Fashion Week. I thought my schedule was crazy!

Photo: Altamira

Zoe was spotted during Paris Fashion Week 2009, being followed by a TV crew filming footage for Season 2, which is scheduled to start airing on the Bravo network in the fall.

Frankette Stagette Etc.

I haven't had much time to document life as it's been happening lately, so instead I will briefly bring you up to speed with the Coles Notes version. Some highlights from the last couple weeks:

• A road trip to Vancouver Island with Alfie. Mission: sell, sell, sell! So many of my favourite faces in the industry are over there. Plus we had sunshiney, beautiful weather the entire time, which was lovely.
  

• Canuck playoff action, which included pulling out the brooms to sweep the St. Louis Blues in the first round [fist pump]. I'm crushing on Burrows harder than ever.

• Two nights of debauchery in Whistler for the beautiful Danio's stagette. We had an absolute blast: shopping, drinking, dancing, watching hockey, hanging out with firefighters, swimming and jumping fences. So many classic moments. We missed our little Lani lots, but she was there in spirit (and provided us with adorable tees, which we photographed each other in- a lot!) I love my ladies so much and can't wait for Danielle and Tom's big day next month. One thing is for sure- it's going to be a massive party! (Side note: the Moms were totally wild party animals. They even busted out their old wedding dresses and danced around to "Going To The Chapel"... it was beyond adorable!)

Score, Score, Score!

Since I really don't want to say anything that might jinx it, all I'm going to say is GO CANUCKS GO! After a weekend of debauchery in Whistler, I happily collapsed on the couch at my Mom and Dad's place this afternoon to watch the Canucks take down the St. Louis Blues in game three of the first round of the playoffs, putting them up 3-0 in the series. Nice work, boys!
(Sadly, I can't say the same for my other team.)

In the words of Rod Bruno via Twitter, "Bow to the whale!"

I wish I could say that the reason for the lack of updates this week is that I've been laying on a hot beach somewhere fabulous. Unfortunately, that's not the case. It's because I've been busy selling my little heart out- which, I suppose, is also a good thing. Stay tuned. Regular posting should resume in the next week or so.

Up In Smoke

By now I'm sure you've all heard about the drama that ensued at the Britney Spears concert last night at GM Place in Vancouver.

Brit took the stage, performed three songs, disappeared for a costume change, and didn't return for what seemed like forever. We sat there for ten minutes wondering if she'd hurt herself and hoping that everything was okay. Then a female voice spoke to the crowd, “The building is awfully smoky. It is uncomfortable for everyone on stage, including Ms. Spears. Please extinguish all cigarettes – this is a non-smoking building and the show will resume when the smoke on the stage is cleared.”


The funny thing is, Di and I both commented that the building seemed smoky when we walked in. We joked that they must have been testing out the smoke machines before the show started. It seemed like that kind of smoke- not cigarette smoke. I also have to say, I didn't see anybody physically smoking- weed, or otherwise. I've been to more than my share of concerts in that venue, many of which, a majority of the crowd was smoking something. This is the first time that I've been conscious of the air. I think it must have been some kind of ventilation issue that the building was having, as there certainly wasn't more people smoking last night than there ever is at shows of this nature. I really didn't think that she was being a diva- it seemed to me to be more of a technical issue with the ventilation than anything else.


A little more than half an hour from the time the lights went dark, Britney was back on stage. Had it been any longer, I'm quite sure that a riot would have broken out. The crowd was pissed. At that point, I really didn't think that she'd be able to recover and finish the show well, considering all the negative energy brought about by the extended pause in the show. However, to my surprise, she made it happen. The circus-themed extravaganza, played out across an adventurous three-ring set, featuring clowns, acrobats and jugglers was elaborate. This may not have been the best of the four shows that I've seen Ms. Spears perform over the years, but I still had a blast. Yes, she only actually sang one song ("Everytime,") but with her blonde extensions blowing in the artificial wind and her hips grinding, Britney completely owned the stage. The show was hot. Her dancing was completely on point (even if not quite as tight as it was in her prime)–it definitely was nothing like the lethargic disaster of VMAs 07. Many of Brit’s critics question her choice to lip-sync through almost the entire show. To them I say: do you really want to hear our girl huffing and puffing through “Toxic”? I don’t think so. Britney’s strength was never in her girly pipes, but in her pull as an all-around entertainer.

Britney exited amidst a flurry of sparkly confetti, waving goodnight, telling Vancouver to drive safely, not to smoke weed and to "rock out with [our] cocks out"...then retreating out of the stadium skipping like a little girl. I found myself skipping out of the venue after the show as well, and obviously, I headed home to mimic her dance moves in my apartment.

You can check out the rest of my photos from last night's show here.

Baby, It's Real

Okay kids, it's time for another style spotlight. Today it's all about triple threat actress, singer and style icon, Mandy Moore. She's 5'10" and just has this glow about her. She seems to epitomize goodness in the "I want to be best friends with her" kind of way. I'm a big fan of her simple and understated style, as I find that it's very wearable. I can relate to it, but it's not dull. She mixes simple pieces with edgier ones, embraces trends and always looks effortlessly hip, no matter where she is or what she's doing.

When Mandy Moore first came onto the scene, she appeared to be just another blonde poptart. As it turns out, that wasn't the case, and she has ended up surprising everyone with an impressive and lasting career in film. Somehow she's been able to emerge unscathed from the muck of teen culture. After taking a hiatus from the recording industry, she will release a new album this Spring. Her new record Amanda Leigh, described as a “collection of personal reflections and insights about life and love,” is set to be released May 26. Stoked.


Besides her wardrobe choices, Mandy also always manages to look natural, healthy, and happy. She has experimented with nearly every hair colour and style, and has not only pulled off, but looked beautiful with every one.


**Photos are not property of Work In Progress. They have been taken from various websites. If your photo has not been credited and you would like it to be, please e-mail me.*

Help UGM Brighten Things Up

On April 10, over 3,500 people in need all across Metro Vancouver will be served a delicious Easter Dinner at UGM - and given a fresh orange at the end of the meal. They call it Orange Day.

via UGM

Here's how it works:

1. Enjoy the Outdoors: Between March 27 - April 10, get out of your house, enjoy the outdoors and participate in the free parks & attractions in Vancouver. But don’t spend any money!
2. Help the Homeless: See how much you can squeeze to donate to UGM instead, whether it’s $0.32 (the price of an orange), $32.90 (10 full meals from UGM) or $329 (if you had spent the day at Whistler)
3. Share Your Stories: Tell Vancouver about your Orange Day experiences: take photos, shoot video, blog or Tweet about it. If you tag your content with #orangeday, it’ll be automatically displayed right here.

via UGM's blog

...why all this talk about oranges? Well oranges are fresh, bright, fun, and juicy (the list could go on). But most importantly every one of UGM’s Easter Dinner guests gets an orange at the end of their meal. It is usually received with a smile. It’s a tangible reminder that its never too late for a fresh start. No matter how much time has passed on the streets or in an addiction, UGM’s doors are always open. With your help, fresh starts can be made this Easter.

As part of Orange Day, Wallblank.com is selling limited-edition prints of a photo called Hastings Street taken by my beautiful and talented friend, Leah Gregg. All of the proceeds go to UGM (and if the photo sells out, that means $5,625).

via Wallblank.com

Photo Description: The day is breaking on Hastings Street. It's cold. It's rainy. You wake up on the pavement, your pillow made of concrete. It feels like every door has been slammed in your face. But there is a light. An open door. Union Gospel Mission’s Vancouver Drop-in Centre is open. This photo was taken at dawn on the busiest street in Canada’s poorest neighborhood just steps away from Union Gospel Mission’s Vancouver Drop-in where people were finding help, solace and love.

This is a No Profit Print. Each 8” x 12” print sold will buy 6 meals & each 12” x 18” print will buy 20 meals for the homeless on Orange Day – Friday, April 10th.

Please consider feeding the homeless by acquiring some incredible artwork for your home : http://www.wallblank.com/products/hastings. Help UGM make this Easter special for every one of the guests they serve.

Friday Morning Love List

I got up extra early this morning so that I'd have time to hit the gym before my work day started. Turned out, I had a little time to spare, so I decided to share a few things that I'm loving at the moment with all of you...

• Boyfriend jeans. I'm late to get on board with this one and I swore that I never would, but the fact is, they look incredibly comfortable and the casual, slouchy, laid back look is really growing on me. I'm considering investing in a pair from Current/Elliot.
  

• Whitney's gold DvF top. I want it.
  

• Pink and purple for Spring 09 from Balmain.

• I saw Duplicity the other night. Besides lusting after Clive Owen, I also can't stop thinking about how much I want the Marc Jacobs Blake bag that Julia Roberts carries in the film. It's so classic.

• MAC Fast Response Eye Cream: it's like a shot of espresso for sleepy eyes. Trust me, I need it these days.

• The fact that I get to see BRITNEY live in concert in less than a week.

• My Dolce Vita boots. I can't believe how much I've worn these babies. They're the perfect flat black boots.
  

Oh Hi

It's Wednesday. I'm checking in from the road. Another day closer to home. I ask myself what I want. I ask myself what I'm doing. I let my mind wander a few more miles. A little encouragement goes a long way, really.

I did something this evening after my last showing of the day that I have never done before. I had a massage therapy treatment at the spa. I swear, I haven't been as relaxed in my entire life as I was for that hour. It was absolute bliss. I've always known that there are tremendous benefits to be achieved through massage therapy, it's just not something that I've ever indulged in. I was so in need of a moment of relaxation tonight. It reduced my muscle tension and gave me relief from my back and hip pain. I know they tell you that therapeutic massage can enhance your overall sense of emotional and physical well-being as well as your quality of life, but I had no idea how right they were until tonight.


"I believe that reality is a sublime comedy staged for my education and amusement, and that there is a benevolent conspiracy to liberate me from my ignorance and help transform me into the unique masterpiece I was born to be."

My horoscope told me that I should repeat that over and over again.