I put the sad face because I was really sad to go home after such an awesome trip. I had so much fun! I swam with sharks, ate the best food, saw some beautiful sites, and stayed at a wonderful hotel. I guess I'll write about my trip in order, so I can keep my thoughts organized.
Day 1 Wed 7/9
Since I didn't sleep the night before, I decided to take a sleeping aid before I left my house. I slept through the whole flight. I didn't even drink or go to the restroom. I hate flying, so I was happy that I was so out of it during the flight.
We got a convertible for this trip- cute red mustang. I think they were trying to convince us to get a corvette, but the mustang barely had enough space for all my luggage.
I stayed at the beautiful Halekulani in Waikiki. The lobby was nice and open. The hotel is very has a very understated elegance to it. It's beautiful without feeling too made up. It has a comfortable island feel without the tackiness you'd see in a lot of island decor. The room wasn't going to be ready for a while so we went to the pool restaurant House Without a Key and I ordered a cocktail and a delicious crab cob salad. The pool is pretty bright blue with an orchid mosaic at the bottom. The pool area is a few steps away from the beach and there was a nice view of diamond head from wear I was enjoying my cocktail.
When I finally got to my room, I was extremely happy with the breathtaking view.

<fresh papaya, bananas, a box of chocolates, and a nice greeting card .
<quick snaps of the bathroom before I crowded it  with all my crap toiletries. Yeah, I look sloppy. Hey, I just got off the plane.
After settling in, I headed down to Spa Halekulani for my massage appointment. It's always great to get a massage after a long flight. The masseuse did a really great job. After the massage, they let you relax on the terrace where I enjoyed complimentary green tea mochi and some yummy iced tea.
After I relaxed for a while, I got ready for my first dinner. We made reservations at Halekulani's fine dining restaurant, La Mer. It is Hawaii's only 5 diamond restaurant and it is the only restaurant to have held this honor statewide for 19 years!
<I wasn't sunburned or anything. I don't know why I look so stiff in this picture. I think I was about to put my hands on my hips. haha.
La Mer is a really pretty restaurant with a gorgeous view of the ocean.

<From our seat we also had a nice view of the nightly show that they put on at the Halekulani. The Hawaiian music was softly playing and there was a nice warm breeze. I was in heaven. =)

This is what I had...
MENU DEGUSTATION
Gastronomical Tour
through the Award-Winning Cuisine of “La Mer”

The Muse

Small Lobster Soup Served Cold
with Effingham Oyster from Victoria Island and Aquitaine Caviar
Soupette de Homard Froide à l’Huître “Effingham”
de l’Île Victoria et au Caviar d’Aquitaine
<The lobster soup was creamy and tasty, but not too rich. The oyster was fucking delicious. God my mouth is watering for it.

Baby Artichokes Barigoule Style
Accented with Fresh Truffle Oil
Jeunes Artichauts cuit dans leurs Jus façon “Barigoule”
Parfumés à l’Huile de Truffe Fraîche
<Nice delicate flavor.

Scallop, Eggplant and Tomato Napoleon
with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Aubergine et Tomate Confite à l’Huile d’Olive Extra Vierge
en Corolle de Saint-Jacques
<Absolutely delicious. Well balanced flavors.
 

Scottish Salmon
with Fresh Watercress Mousse and Sauce Dauphinoise
Dos de Saumon d’Écosse mi-cuit à l’unilatéral,
Mousse de Cresson Frais, Sauce Dauphinoise
<This melted in my mouth. The flavor was amazing.

Passion Fruit Glazed Sautéed Foie Gras
with Caramelized Apples
Foie Gras de Canard Sauté et Glacé aux Fruits de la Passion
et aux Pommes Caramélisées

<Again, I love Foie Gras. The tart passion fruit glaze added a delicious and interesting touch. The apples went really well with it. This dish was put together really well. Yum! I'd give up a daily masturbatory session for this dish!

Blood Orange Sorbet
Sorbet d’Orange Sanguine
<Pretty standard for a palette cleanser. They maybe could've used a little more imagination, but that's just me nit-picking. It was good.

Lamb Loin with Tarragon and
Polenta Provençale Style
Noisettes d’Agneau à la Fleur d’Estragon
et Polenta aux Senteurs de Provence
<The lamb was really tender. It melted in my mouth. So GoooD!

Selection of French Cheeses
Sélection de Fromages Français

<I had a choice of 3. I especially liked the roquefort combo cheese on the left. I love sharp, tangy cheeses.

Dessert Variation “La Mer”
<The chocolate dessert and the tropical one on the bottom right were yummy the strawberry one was alright.

<Okay, I look cross-eyed here. This was the cocktail I stuck with for the dinner. It's the ultimate blossom. It consisted of La Mer's signature champagne, fresh strawberry puree and I think vodka. The strawberry was really fragrant and delicious. I had 3. =)
<After dinner treats. =)

i just painted my nails (in the middle of packing, like a regular Einstein) so now I'm stuck here waiting for them to dry a bit. I know I won't wait long enough and they'll just get jacked up once I start packing again. oh well. my flight leaves at 9am so I'm going to head to the airport at 6:45. I figure, I might as well just stay up till I get on the plane. I usually go to bed at 8am anyhow. I'm pretty excited to get the hell out of here and head over to paradise. I really needed a break, I've been so stressed out.

I don't really have much to write about. Actually, I have too much to write about. I just don't have enough time to get into shit. I just realized I didn't even write about my last trip to Hawaii in January. I had some funny stories about that trip, too. Oh well...

Hmm...I called the Ritz in San Francisco earlier to see what kind of pillow tops they use on their mattresses because they are so comfy, and I was planning on getting one as a gift for someone, but they only know the mattress name. The guy told me they just use 'regular' feather beds on top of the sealy posturepedic doodads. Does anyone know of any good feather tops? I've been looking online at bed bath and beyond, neiman's bloomy's (hehe), and other sites. I'm having a hard time deciding. I guess I should just get something else. Eh I'll worry about it later, like when it's too late.

so i finally got a finished copy of my book. It is so fucking dope! It came out really nice. I'm so happy with it. I'm just a bit nervous because the rest of the copies are going to be delivered like 3 days before the comic con, so if anything goes wrong and i don't get the books in time, i'm going to throw a bitch fit. Here are some quick pics i took of myself flossing my new book. =)

These were taking real quick with my mac so they are kinda shitty and i guess it's like a mirror image so everything is flipped the wrong way. I was just excited and wanted to take a few quick pics of it before i headed out. =)

<the cover. The full title is Living Dolls A Photo-Poetic Paper Doll Project. Yeah it's a long title. =)

<The back of the book. This is Ranila's background room. That cat in the frame is her darling, Starlite.
<Nikki's doll and room
<Melissa's doll.  The dolls are nice and big. The pages are really thick.  I love it!
yay!

it's been a while since i've updated. i've just been so busy and just not really in the mood to blog. I do have lots that I want to write about, but when i think of how much time it would take, i just feel overwhelmed and tell myself, "fuck it." I've been feeling quite lethargic and possibly depressed lately.

On a side note, I was sober for about a month until I had my first drink last week. I thought it was going to feel like taking a sip of liquid heaven and that I'd totally binge on it after that, but I've definitely been taking it easy. I haven't drank nearly as much as I used to in one evening...no blacking out or anything.

My book will be out soon... actually not soon enough. We should be receiving all copies of the book only a few days before the San Diego Comic con which makes me a bit nervous. I really want them to be out for sure by then. We will have a booth at the comic con and I will have some of my models there to sign books and trading cards that I've put together. I guess the book will be priced at $9.95, which I think is a bit cheap considering how much god damned work I put into the thing. I didn't make the decision on the price, but whatever. I guess it will be easier to sell. Like I mentioned before, I put together some uncut limited edition trading cards that I will also be selling at the comic con. Not sure how much I'll price them at. I spent about $800 printing them out, so I wanted to put a price on them to get some of my money back. I'll probably throw in a few free cards for people who actually buy the book. Each card has 2 girls from the book with one extra outfit for each lady.

< Here's a sample of what the cards look like. This is Ranila and Sunshine. Ranila is going to be at the San Diego Comic Con with me and a few other models to sign books/cards.
I believe inkpenmutations will also be throwing a book party for my book and 2 of their other books in August. I'll write more details about it when I find out more.
We're going to be wearing super hot outfits. Hotter than what we wore at the comic con the other year. =) I'll be hitting up trashy to get us some gear. I think one of the days we can wear on of our actual outfits from the book. Not sure yet , though. I really want us to stand out in the huge crowds at the comic con. =)
Next month, I'll be going back to Hawaii from the 9th-14th. I'll be staying at the Halekulani in Waikiki. We'll be in an ocean front lanai, which should be pretty nice. I'm very excited. I fucking love Hawaii. I already made dinner reservations for Nobu, Alan Wong, La Mer (at my hotel). I also booked a Sunday brunch at my hotel because it had great reviews. Of course I'll also be hitting up my favorite shrimp truck, Macky's. It's better than Giovanni's and less crowded. =)
I was thinking about booking a horseback riding tour at kualoa ranch or maybe some helicopter tour. We'll see. I can't wait to go to hawaii. I'll get nice and tanned for the comic con. =)
I guess that's all I'll be writing about for now.

I just wanted to finally write a more detailed post about my new book. I'm so excited about it, especially with the San Diego Comic convention around the corner.

 I kept the basic concept of my book a secret for the longest time because I have not seen a book like it yet. It's a paper doll book that I made of actual photos of real girls. They do have paper doll books that feature women who do exist (Marilyn Monroe, Betty Page, etc.), but they are all illustrations. I used my camera and photoshop to put the dolls and their outfits together. =)

"Living Dolls" has 14 di fferent dolls that have 4 different looks (base outfit being underwear/lingerie/bikini). If you don't know how paper dolls work, you basically cut out the doll and her different outfits. The outfits have tabs on them so you can get them to stay on the doll's body. I also hand drew different cartoon-like backgrounds for each girl.

This book isn't just about showing off hot ladies in their underwear. My main vision was to somehow combine art and fashion.  I tried to get a variety girls in my book because I did  want to find a way to artistically celebrate  the diversity that I see in women and fashion today. Since I actually know the lovely ladies that I used for my book, each background is actually personalized to match what I know of the girls' different lifestyles and personalities.

Living Dolls also features fine poetry. Mother, from inkpenmutations press, hand picked 14 popular street poets to write poems for each girl.

I absolutely adored playing with Barbie paper dolls as a child. I loved
how I could easily design my own outfits for Barbie just by tracing
over the basic shape of her body. Making this book was actually an extremely enjoyable process. I love how it all came together. I truly believe that this book will appeal to a wide variety of people. I hope that paper doll fanatics, art lovers, collectors of unusual books, poetry enthusiasts, and connoisseurs of beautiful women will enjoy owning this book as much as I've enjoyed creating it.

<The girls featured in Living Dolls. Top Row (from left): Autumn, Casimir, Kalamity J, Ranila... Middle Row: Me, Sunshine, Melissa, Tiffany, Sphynx... Bottom Row: Nikki, Lina, Laura, Vima, Ave Rose

< An actual page from the book. This is my doll. =)

The book has been printed and will be available soon at inkpenmutations.com and at the San Diego Comic-Con. If you go to the comic con, we will have a booth, so come check us out. I'll will be having some of my dolls there to sign copies of the book, and other goodies that I will have for sale. I'm so excited about it. =D

 

I just wanted to post more from our shoot...

Ok, finished my Zankou chicken. =)

Before I forget, I'd like to mention that I went to Nobu in Malibu a few weeks ago. I was extremely disappointed with the food. I don't even know how they can be a part of the same chain as the Nobu in New York. The quality of the food was definitely down by many notches in Malibu. I guess the Toro was alright, but everything else wasn't very outstanding.

I went to Dan Tana's in West Hollywood 2 weeks ago, and the food there is really great. They give you large portions and the dishes are very flavorful. They don't really have a great cocktail selection, but the food is so yummy, it doesn't matter. I saw Kelly Carlson from that Nip Tuck show at the table across from us and a few days later I saw her again hamming it up at Mr. Chow's. She's totally stalking us. haha. Mr. Chow's is actually pretty good.  I like how I didn't have to think too much about what to order. The captain picked a lot of great items for us. It's a nice stress-free way to dine. All we had to do was accept the food and eat it. =)

On Saturday, we decided to try out Melisse, since my sister said it was really good, and it's supposedly one of the top restaurants in LA. I have to say, it was decent, but not outstanding like the restaurants in San Francisco or New York. It's funny because my date had just finished saying, "I guess we have to travel 300 miles to get a good meal...." then the chef came up from behind and asked us how we like our meal. I was hoping he didn't here the rude comment. haha. Melisse wasn't horrible, but when you spend about $300 for a meal you expect it to be outstanding and Melisse was just decent. I don't know if we picked the wrong items, but the meal just didn't do it for me. Also, we were there for so long, we started ragging on the horrible decor and setup of the restaurant. Poor Melisse, I guess we just got spoiled going to the best restaurants in the country. Melisse was alright. Some of the dishes were good, some weren't. I wouldn't call it the best restaurant in LA.

I had a photo shoot on Monday with the adorable Brenda. Okay, so we got a bit tipsy during this shoot which went from 10pm til about 3am. haha. I had lots of fun, but when I got home I had the challenge of actually going through all 600 of the photos to choose which ones to edit. I'm a very indecisive person at times, so it's taking me forever to go through these photos. We didn't just do 3 outfits for this shoot. She had about 11 different looks for this shoot and it's driving me bananas trying to choose the best of the batch.

Here are a few finished images.

<5'8'' with curves that make me jealous. =) Geeks around the world fantasize about Amazonian women like her keeping them captive. . . "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised. " -Zap Brannigan haha

I love my girl. =) I'll post more when I have time.

I've been pretty busy and stressed out lately. I have been researching plastic surgeons and surgery options lately, which is so fucking time consuming and tedious. I'm thinking I might get silicone, but I'll wait to make the decision after I actually go to some consultations. Man...
So I don't think I really posted photos from the shoot I did with Cobb a few months back. He's an editor for inkpenmutations.com . He's quite the character. I could have actually had a lot more fun during this shoot, but I was pretty sick that day. I had a bad cough and all, but since he traveled a long distance for the shoot, I wasn't going to flake. I just didn't say much and kept my face covered most of the time.

okay my food just arrived, so I'm going to write more later.

Well, back to my SF trip. I'll try to make it quick since I might see a movie today before a dinner date.

First, we went to Yank Sing for our reservations for dim sum. It was alright. The service was friendly, but they didn't have some of the sauces that I usually like, so I had to make my own. The green beans were good. After dim sum we grab some coffee to prepare for shopping.

The third day in SF, I did lots of dress shopping! First, I went to Haight/Ashbury. They have really cheap dresses there. It's kind of funny because I was wondering why a lot of places totally reeked of pot on haight and I realized that it was 4/20. =P I got 2 dresses from Positively Haight again. I think they were $47-70. I also got about 4 dresses from xgeneration again. Their dresses are super cheap, they fit well, and they are pretty cute. I think one was actually $20. The others were $30-40. I got 4 dresses for the price of one at that store. =)  I looked around at lots of other places in that area, but couldn't really find anything I liked. So we hit up the shopping mall near our hotel. I got a few dresses from Guess and Bebe, then headed back to our room to get ready for dinner at Michael Mina.

I actually ended up scoring 17 dresses while shopping in SF! I still don't know how it happened, but I don't think I'll need anymore dresses for a while. haha.

<clockwise from top left- xgeneration*4, bebe*3, max studio, bcbg max azria

<clockwise  from top left- guess*3, Susan Monaco,  Juicy, Positively Haight, Guess, Positively Haight

Michael Mina was pretty great. I think it would have tied aqua in my book, but the service was a bit slow, and boring, and they didn't have palate cleansers. haha. The food was extremely good though. I had the tasting menu with wine pairing. Here's what I had. (Copied and pasted from their site)
 
 SEASONAL TASTING MENU      135
 
                               
Spanish Mackerel Tartare
• Pickled Nante Carrots, Tellicherry Lavash, Fermented Garlic
 
HEYMANN-LÖWENSTEIN RIESLING ‘SCHIEFERTERRASSEN’, MOSEL, GERMANY 2005
 
Crispy Skin Branzino
• Sweet Pepper Confit, Sherry Vinegar Gastrique, Romesco Sauce
 
BODEGAS NAIA NAIA DES (VERDEJO), RUEDA, SPAIN 2005
 
Pan Seared Tolinas Farm Quail Breast
• Fava Beans, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Spigarello
 
VOUGERAIE GEVREY CHAMBERTIN ‘JUSTICE’, BURGUNDY, FRANCE 2002
 
American Kobe Beef Rib-Eye
• Black Trumpet Bread Pudding, Asparagus, Nettle Hollandaise
 
SIRITA CABERNET SAUVIGNON, NAPA VALLEY 2003 
 
Grilled Elysian Fields Farm Lamb T-Bone
• Deer Tongue Lettuce, Meyer Lemon Compote, Marcona Almonds
 
QUPÉ SYRAH CUVÉE MICHAEL MINA, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY 2006
 
 
Apple Tarte Tatin
• Burnt Cinnamon Ice Cream, Sable Breton, Mulled Cider
            
DISZNÓKÓ TOKAJI 4 PUTTONYOS, HUNGARY 2001
 
 
TASTING MENUS PREPARED FOR THE ENTIRE TABLE
WINE PAIRING OFFERED FOR 90 PER PERSON
VEGETARIAN TASTING MENU AVAILABLE
 
Here are photos of some of our dishes. No particular order. He had different items since he's a pesce-whatchamacallit. He doesn't eat meat. haha.

 
<Teaser

<Their version of soup and salad. Really good.

<my favorite dish. The quail.

<Second fave, the lamb.
<i loved this dessert. I was full when I got it, but I ate almost all of it. =)

After dinner, we headed to Mitchell Bros for one last evening. Since it was Sunday, there weren't too many girls, so we didn't stay very long.

The next morning, I had a massage schedule early at the Ritz's spa. I was a bit disappointed, because the spa was too cold, which really ruined it for me. I can't be comfortable in a cold spa room. I think we were the first people there, but when you think of how accomodating the Ritz is, you totally wouldn't expect the spa to be cold, no mater what time it is. Well, the massage was decent. I just wish they would've turned the heat up. I had a massage from the same girl on my last trip and she does give a great massage.

We headed to china town for a few souveniers and a then we went to the airport. I was sad thinking about having to leave.

I plan an awesome trip. Great food. Lots of fun. =)

Today was so hot, even for me. For some reason, every year when it starts getting hot, I lose my voice completely. I'm going through that bullshit right now, which sucks because I have lots of appointments set up this week. Oh... today I got my business cards. These are just novelty cards that I'll be passing out at the San Diego comic-con. I didn't put my number on it or anything. haha. here's what it looks like.

<back- matte finish in case i need to jot my number down for real business.

<glossy side.
The printed cards came out really nice. They look much better in person. I ordered them last week from http://www.overnightprints.com/ and I think they did a pretty good job. Well, I'm gonna head to wholefoods so I can get some fruit and snacks. I'll write more about SF later.