Showing posts with label los angeles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label los angeles. Show all posts

Friday, June 5, 2015

Double Lives

We all experience change in our lives, all in varying degrees and at different times, things are always going and continuously evolving.  In my opinion, its the best thing.. and the worst.  The most reliable variable about change is that you can always expect it to throw you for a loop if you're not ready for it.

For any of you who may not already know, aside from making jewelry, I am also a stylist and costume designer / costumer. The latter is my bread and butter, my first love, and second passion.  Okay, I may have a few first loves..but it's definitely up there at the top.  Of course, I would love it if Garage Gypsy could be my bread and butter, too, but that's what I'm here working on :).  Due to the nature of the film industry, having spent 4 years building relationships in LA, and having been in NY for less then a year working mostly on jewelry and a few editorial shoots..I end up back in in LA quite a bit for work.  Since being gone, I can't quite say I love LA more than ever, but it's a bloody close call!  I spent the entire month of May working on the west coast, and officially feel like I live a double life.  It's weird.  Super weird.  Mostly because my life and lifestyle does a 180 degree flip when I go from the east coast to the west and vice versa.  

In NYC, I usually start my mornings by walking around the corner to AP cafe in Bushwick for my morning flat white and croissant or lemon poppyseed scone, where I work on my computer until about noon or 1pm.  Then I either head to my studio to work on some jewelry or I'm running errands/picking up or dropping off in mid-town's jewelry district.  Before having dinner I muster the courage to hit the gym finalllly (after swearing to myself the night before that I would go first thing in the morning).  That's basically the routine, if I ever have one.  NYC also consists of yoga and brunch on Saturdays with my friend, Otmane from London (via Paris and Morocco), lots of Aussie style coffee, walking, reading, and street art admiration.  Oh, and freezing my bootie off..!

Now take me to LA and all of a sudden my life becomes a book of multitasking, driving, and rays of sunshine.  The day usually starts with either a juice from Lassan's or a coconut cardamom smoothie from Nature Well (because I'm obsessed) - if it's the weekend I'm probably eating pear pancakes at The Kitchen.  Then I'm off to work, either pulling at Universal or Warner Brothers, headhunting for clothing at the Americana/Galleria or something of the like, or all of the above.  If I have time to breath, I get lunch, otherwise I go until the day's to-dos are crossed of the list.  Sometimes, I'm painting creepy faces onto masks or sewing things.  And, if it's not a prep day, then I'm either on set for 12 hours or finishing a job with a day of wrapping and returns.  All the moments in between are usually spent squeezing in dates with friends - my super favourite part to being back in LA.  Luckily being on set also aids in seeing/hanging with my favourite people, as there just never is enough time.   This last month was a little extra crazy, as at one point I worked 36 hours straight without sleeping (due to some work hiccups).  The next night I had the chills, was nauseous and shaking so badly that I went to the ER.  After finding out I had an infection, some muscles relaxers, antibiotics and a couple hours sleep later I was back on set working with my body feeling like it had been run over by a semi.  It kind of sucked (especially at the time) but I get such a rush of adrenaline with my job that I kind of feel like I can do anything, and I can't help but to admit liking that.  All in all it was a bit of an exhausting month, but I'm quite a bit sad it's over.   

Now I'm back in NYC, trying to adapt back to life here.  It's weird.  It's also my last month in New York, pretty soon I'll be starting my little adventure in London.  So while I'm missing on LA, I'm massively distracted by the fact that I have only 25 days to live up the rest of NYC.  Yikes!

On that note; I'll head to the photo diary of last month in LA.. bc why not..  :)

 

Friday, February 15, 2013

Pay It Forward

Hi there! How's your 2013 going so far?  One thing I decided I HAVE to do in 2013 is travel to Europe.  It's one thing I've been wanting to do for years, but year after year I put off because of work, money, and all those other little things in life that just seem to cut in line before my dream of traveling the world.  Maybe you can relate?  Not this year though, I put my foot down so the career, money, everything that kept me from going have to take the backseat at least for a bit.  I figured if I move out of my place in Los Angeles, sell some of my stuff (I also plan to move to New York this year) and store my car with some of my things at my parents house then I could manage to backpack through Europe for a month or so.  So that became the plan, the big plan for 2013.  

Rigggght until I heard about My Destination's Biggest Baddest Bucket List Competion where the winner will get to travel the world for six whole months! The opportunity to travel the world is one of my wildest dreams and deepest of desires in life.  So I decided to up the ante on my travel plans, the new goal being to enter the travel competition and well, win! Yeah, I know the concept of winning this is probably beyond ambitious, but then again ambitious is my middle name, well right after Nicole (my real middle name).  I'm not sure how its going to happen, but I'm trying to be optimistic.  So far I have 40 votes thats only like 2421 votes shy of being in the lead.  So my 37 followers, if you're reading this its your time to shine.  Yes, I need YOUR help and your magic social media skills :) In order to increase my votes I need people to share my video on facebook, Tweet it, Google +1 it, Stumble it, and Pin it to Pinterest.  Each click counts as a new vote! And you can do it at http://www.mydestination.com/users/natashanicole/bbb#tab 

I'm going to need to reach people way outside of my network and hopefully convince them share it with their network.  Reaching this insane goal starts with you. You are the first tier in expanding my reach.  Its simple to do, but that may not be a good enough reason for you to help me, I know.  I'm hoping that you'll do it out of the kindness of your heart, maybe you just believe in paying forward.. I can promise if you pay it forward to my by voting and encouraging your friends to do the same that I make the extra effort to support those working hard spread the word about their cause (be it about a blog, business, opportunity, whatever it may be) I want to help others, travel, inspire those around me and make a positive impact in the world.  If you have any advice for me I'd love to hear it :) Thanks for reading and for being a friend. You can watch the video I made below and CLICK HERE TO SHARE/VOTE YAY!



“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.”

- Eleanor Roosevelt

[xo] the garage gypsy

Thursday, October 25, 2012

2012 F/W LOOKBOOK VIDEOOOO!

Guess what?! It's HERRRE! Garage Gypsy's new lookbook video for Fall/Winter 2012 has left the editing room and been released into the wild!  We've been anxiously waiting its release since we shot it in late July, and to sum it all up - we just hope you enjoy it! 

I'm extremely thankful to everyone that had a hand in bringing this project to life and to LES APACHES for letting GG use their awesome new song "Little Rabbit".

Shop the new collection HERE & check out our website HERE
Don't forget to leave a comment and let us know what you think :)


[xo] the garage gypsy

Sunday, August 26, 2012

my return to the blogosphere.

Holy Moly! My last post was in January?! Boy, does time fly, especially when you're having fun and working so much you don't even have time to sleep.  All in a good way though, it's true what they say you know- if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.  I know thats easier said than done, as I've worked a lot of jobs (in the short nine years of hustling in the real world) and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have sacrificed my sleep for any of them other than making jewelry, doing something creative/art related or being on set.  That being said, I thought I would get back to blogging.

I hope you've enjoyed your summer and managed to squeeze in some awesomely fun things.  Here's a recap on a portion of the summer for garage gypsy :)

  • Designed some new pieces for summer..

Thursday, October 20, 2011

los angeles fashion week round 2.

Another night on the town at Downtown LA's Vibiana!  Here's look number two for LA fashion week, rocking my obvious fall obsession for nudes and black..and faux fur staple. Dress from Topshop, jewelry from Garage Gypsy.
Here's a little montage video I stitched together with some of the footage I filmed from last night's runway show for Alternative Apparel's Spring 2012 Collection.
From behind the runway..
..to Alternative Apparel's S/S Collection for 2012

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

week of fashion.

After a long, exausting but wonderful week & weekend of work, it was time to get in on some of the happenings for LA's Fashion Week.  Last night I tagged along with my friend Vanessa, writer for V is for Olive and Joonbug who scored me an extra press pass and front row tickets for the both of us.  I'm still reminded constantly at how small this world is after running into several people I know through the previous jewelry events I've done, and then later realizing that the one of the lines going down the runway was my friend Kunal's line, Kareena's Trends.  I don't know how the world manages to pull us into the right places at the right time, but it sure has a funny way of making things happen.  And I'm so incredibly thankful for it.  Unfortunately my phone died after the first show, so my pictures are minimal, but its only the first night of a few more to come :))  To see the line up of events check out FASHION WEEK LA

Friday, October 7, 2011

the photobooth.

Okayyy, I just wanted to share a few more photos from the Dripped Event that were sent my way. To view the rest of the gallery, visit Rony's Photobooth !! & If you ever need a photographer for your event, hit up Rony, he ROCKS!! You can check out all his previous event work at http://ronysphotobooth.com/

Myself, the garage gypsy, on the right with writer/blogger, Olive, V is for Olive.

 

YEAH YAAAA!!!

[xo] the garage gypsy

Monday, October 3, 2011

Last Friday's Dripped Fashion Soiree & Trunk Show

Last Friday, GG got a last minute invitation to participate in a little event called Dripped at the Pop tART Gallery in k.town.  It was filled with an array fashion pioneers, funky tunes, yummy drinks, fabulous clothing, jewelry -you name it fun!  Here's a few photo's I managed to snap, followed by some featured on http://www.thestreetsarecalling.com/photography/ptart/ (there's more at their website, too).




Garage Gypsy's Mission Choker

Photos covering the event from THE STREETS ARE CALLING

^my shoes ^

If you can't get enough, there's even MORE photos and coverage on  the V is for Olive Blog !!

[xo] the garage gypsy

Monday, September 26, 2011