Why yes, Ragazzi, of course you did! I have missed myself…between launching my studio, dealing with family drama, dating…yes, ummm…dating! and cleaning the space, I have been a busy girl! But one day I cannot wait to tell ya all that is happening…oh, the stories that I will tell you, meine suisse!

I have a deadline of May 6th to complete the build-out of the space and I am running out of money, patience, and TIME…remember that old drab studio space?? Well, I have have 90% white walls and thanks my new found guise as an expert garbage picker, and a lot of help from my friends, I will have a lot of cool details to share…oh….what would I do without my friends???? They volunteer to help me…feed me…love me…and are just fashionable and FABulous!

One more week to go!!! Countdown to a magnificent studio space! Until then, I will take an excerpt from superblogger, Oneita Jackson on tips how to make your blog successful…

Tip number 5 – KEEP EM HOOKED

What’s she going to say next? That’s what you want them thinking. Keep ‘em fiending for your blog.Post frequently. They can be short posts, like postcards, my colleague Susan Ager says. Or they can have more depth. If you have updates, post them: “In general, not surpisingly, the news blogs that are updated most frequently…get the most visitors and page views,” says Rich Meislin of the New York Times.

Just in case my five readers has dwindled down to three,here is a lil postcard for ya! 

AND I still love YOU!

Until then Ragazzi – xo

Well, although I am not fully back in blog mode, I am in build mode……It is all about the build, build, build AND I have to do this for cheap! #1 I have called in an army of friends that are helping me to get this space in order. Darlin Mikki and Sweet Jakki came over on Friday and painted and wallpapered their lil hearts out.  #2.  I have been looking for castaways on garbage day. Yes..I am digging in the garbage….which honestly, has been quite fun and relaxing! Go figure.

My dream is to do the build-out of my new space for $200, and to have the after appear in ReadyMade or something like that…. After spending money mostly on paint, I am already up to $143.44!!!! Oh dear! What WAS I thinking??? WHY do I always take on so much, and WHAT is my problem???? Arghgghhghg….Ok, sari!  I am back! Here is some photo inspiration for the space that I will create. Do you think that I can do this???? Come on!!!! Of course you do! Here is a little photo inspiration for ya from Lenny Kravitz’s villa! YES Ragazzi! I think that I am a rock star and want my studio to have a rock and roll type of vibe AND I have become obsessed with white interiors!!!!! Love this!!!!

Photos courtesy of Antoine Booth via www.shelterpop.com

So hang on Ragazzi…my dear, lovely, AND ever sooooo patient Ragazzi! One day soon, I will get back into blog mode….back into sharing my adventures in the D….sigh…the paint fumes must be going to me head!

Love Me -You know that you do….even if I dont blog on the regular!…please..:-)

OMG Ragazzi! We just had  our 80’s style photo shoot shot by the uber talented (don’t kill me Tafari!) Myron Watkins.http://www.themrpicture.com/ This young cat is SUPERtalented…..It was a great and fun shoot as we are rebranding  the event, and remixing the event flyer. I cannot wait to show you the images and to tell you ALL about it!!! I cant really release all of them yet because they are being posted on other sites, AND I am planning an obnoxious facebook campaign where I tag, tag, and tag EVERYONE. I am going to build the event virtually. Maybe I will tag YOU!

Stay tuned! You wont be disappointed!!!

Big shout out to Myron Watkins for the awesome photos. Amber and Stephanie of Luigi Bruni Capelli Moderni for the hair and make-up http://luigibruni.com/. My favs, Chris Jeanotte and Luigi Bruni. Ragazzi, I suggest that you head down to Rachel’s Place http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/rachelsplace120109.aspx NOW to get your best 80′s outfit and to Luigi to complete your look. I want you to look FABulous…not more fab than me…tee hee hee!!!!

LoveMe Ragazzi!

Ok, so what is up with all of the Detroit Love you say? Give me a break already…sure….I can do that, but first I really need to tell you what is up with all of the Luvvvvv….So Ragazzi, usually I am a pretty chipper person. As you are well aware, I love my city and have aspirations of truly launching my event studio here….Let me be frank with you – Detroit is a tough place to be somedays…..For some reason, I was so discouraged recently about starting my studio, and actually physically being here. I started to develop a plan to try out Portland, Seatle, or Colorodo. Ragazzi. Seriously, I planned to visit these states in March as a back-plan if things were’nt working out with the studio by September.

 Most days I am filled with luv, but also I have a lot of anxiety, fears, and doubts….There is a quiet voice that whispers, “Can you really do it here?? Can you really do this? Why do you want to do this here…WHY???” And sometimes this city can beat you down….you look around and see the blight, the lack of people on the streets, the lack of basic services inherent in a “world class city.”…some days it can be quite depressing being here…BUT then, in walks the trio of faith, hope, and encouragement…..There are some days that I need to be reminded of WHY I truly want to be here. And you see that there are others here also trying to make it happen. You turn the corner and there are places filled with people….(people on a ordinary Tuesday night watching cool videos created by the talented Joe Posch) People talking about their dreams and luv for the city. People making IT happen.(I made a couple of new friends last night too!)

I stay here because of my hope and desire to create something that seems so impossible. To see a vision come to life….that is always the blueprint of my life….to see visions become reality….I could talk for hours on that subject, but I will say that yesterday was a great freakin day in the D!

So Ragazzi, I would love to sit down with you over a milch café to tell you how awesome February 16^th 2010 was, and why it was so pivotal in my life……but I will just say this – the city just embraced me. I truly felt the love from Detroit as I took steps to making my dreams become a reality… I felt so much love and encouragement yesterday….February 16^th 2010 was a  great day! And Ragazzi, everything is going to be alright. Everything!

LoveMe Ragazzi!

LoveMe

 So Ragazzi, I am truly obsessed with the 80’s..ok, I know that I have been talking about the 80’s a bunch and I even got defriended off of facebook because of all of my rants and obnoxious postings, tja! When I am designing but I don’t care about too much else. Just as a actor gets into character, I really, really get into it. I live and breathe my designs…. So on facebook a few days ago, Rachel posted this on facebook. WOW! Go Rachel. Finally something really positive and inspiring from all of the press that the D has had lately.

Can Detroiters rekindle the entrepreneurial spirit?

Yes we can!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/35171122#35171122

Really this feature is great. Did you know that Microsoft was started in a depression. THIS is the spirit of the D. Finding work around here is tough and now is the time to begin…NOW. As our former disgraced mayor would say, Right Here and Right NOW! Amazing things are happening in the D. I too hope to be able to share with you my story of success one day for establishing a successful business in the D….While I have been unable to find employment, I am working diligently on my dream to establish my event design studio in the D.I have been lucky to have inspired by some many other successful entrepreneurs based in the D, and I feel like I want my piece of the pie. Because so many people have left the city, what’s great about the D is that there is hardly ANY competition here. Weirdly, this is the perfect time to. Oh, and BTW, Rachel hooked me up with the cutest little dress for the 80’s jam and I scored some other props for the party…..look! 

So Tafari was too kind to send over these pictures today. All I can say is WOW!, and I know that you will too. Whenever I have a bad day, his work lifts my spirits, as well as his quick wit.

So thank you Tafari for your amazing work, and for keeping me laughing ALL of the time!

Bravo – SeeMe Ragazzi.

-Having travelled and lived all over the world, my favorite city in the world is still Detroit. Detroit takes the cake!  But, Berlin, Barcelona, and Marrakesh, and Palermo rock too. Detroit is such an underground city with the underground ugly/sexy/cool vibe of Berlin. Detroit reveals itself one layer at a time.

- I love my city and wish for it to rise….rise like the phoenix. I  cannot stand all of the negative press and hard knocks that the city gets- especially lately in the news. One thing that you must know is that this city is resilient. There is an intangible energy that lives inside the city and if you aren’t careful it will intoxicate your senses….  

-Trained as an architect, I never fully became an official architect, but use my architectural skills to design cool, ephemeral events that showcase the hidden treasures of the city. I love bringing a diverse group of people together and for me this is ephemeral architecture at its best. I remember like it was yesterday sitting in the lecture hall at the University of Michigan in Kent Kleinman’s class – understanding Architecture 101, when I became fascinated by ephemeral architecture. I have been in love ever since with designing ephemeral environments that showcase the amazing individuals and stories of the D.

Ragazzi, it is cold in the D!!!!! So cold in fact that I did not want to go out last Friday. The Charlies had a “high-rollers” night planned. We were going to paint the town green with all of the money that we would win at the Greektown casino….no, really we were just going to play the penny (reminds me of that Lional Richie song..penny lover wont you stop on by…but I digress!) slots and end up at our local bar for a nightcap pontificating about life (as usual) and figuring out what the heck were were going to do without Charlie Sanko. (This will be one of her last weekends in the D) Unfortunately I have been totally immersed in my studio creating really cool things for a fundraiser for Arts and Scraps that I am donating to next week, AND I had already seen the Charlies twice that week and had to make another appearance on Saturday for Charlie Sankos big moving sale/please take my stuff giveaway…..

The only reason why I went out is because for the last week I promised to rain spitballs on my boy BJ Hammerstein as he worked as a guest bartender for the event Cocktails for a Cause http://site.cocktailsforacausedetroit.com/. His shift was at 11pm. So at 10:45, he texted me and asked why was’nt I there. I was almost ready and I dashed down to the bar. The bar – ah yes – Bookies http://www.bookiesbar.com/. It’s a cool place, but there isn’t anything necessarily anything unique or amazing about this bar (the music DJ Carl the Invisible Man http://www.djinvisible.com/of Café Mahogany fame and Xzibit, was amazing however), I was just there to support my friend BJ and his crew as they always have supported me.

My mother always says that “honey, who do you expect to meet out in the streets…uh…I dunno Mutti. I dunno.” I had no expectations of meeting anyone fabulous. Then in walks the 31D duo. A friend mentioned that she knew them because of a recent clothing line that they started. I am always curious to meet creative and new people, and promptly went and introduced myself. Whoooaaaaaa! Number one, I really liked their shirts. Number two, they were some of the most coolest guys that I met in a long time. Currently students at the University of Detroit, they launched their clothing line promoting their love for the D! Men of the world, they are well travelled and educated, and grew up in the suburbs of the D. Hailing from the suburbs of the D, booo hiss, right! Wrong! They currently live and operate their studio on the east side… There is more to this duo than meets the eye, and we spent the next hour and a half trading stories and our hopes and dreams for the city – Detroit, the city that we all love and choose to be. These guys are totally brilliant and did I mention adorably cute too! I have been sworn to secrecy, but I cannot wait to show you what they have in store next!

Ragazzi, you can expect great things from these two, and get one of their cool shirts/hoodies/Detroit-inspired paraphenlia. For more info www.31Dclothing.com

No matter where you are from, there you are!

DetroitMe, Ragazzi!

What I have so far is that THE amazing Tafari will be showing some of his work this Saturday at the Bean and Leaf Cafe in Royal Joke.

Let me say this. There are some people that I like in this city, and then there are some people that I am crazy about!!!! Tafari is one of them. He truly has an amazing eye and such a great personality. Ragazzi, I cannot wait to show you some of his work! He has shot my events for the past 3 years and has never disappointed me.

Without him and his lense, I would be nothing…..cue to a Whitney Houston song insert melodramtic music here….

SeeMe – Detroit