NO NEWS: june preview.

for more in the way of SUMMER SOUNDTRACKS, sign up to get in on June's edition of No News is Good News (and check out May's HERE)!

whole lotta hoagie.

 
it's a Led Zeppelin kind of Summer.

greatest author photo of all time? I SAY YES.

NO NEWS: june preview.

8th grade BICTH'S. 

Part of my collection of HILARIOUS KID-GRAFFITI (my substitute teaching years were not without their perks), you'll see the above again in the June EDISH of No News is Good News - sign up HERE for the good word (and guaranteed Monday delivery).

summer reading list.

 MUGSHOT by Chris Chen.

Thanks so much to Brittany Martin and Refinery29 DC for including me in today's Summer Reading feature - I'm in some seriously great company over there (and my own Summer reading list has just swelled exponentially), so please! Do check it out.

hair did.

TEAM TEEPEE (myself and Andrew Herndon). photo Onomonomedia, via BYT.

Post TEEPEE-ACHIEVEMENT and pre-Zou Bisou Bisou, I had about an hour to get home, shower, and get back to the Embassy for a final walkthrough - in the interest of keeping my look QUICK I went for a Lydia Dietz-meets-Loretta Lynn (by way of Helena Bonham Carter) bouffant imitation. HAIR IDOLS, all three.
BONUS/RELATED: this Rookie BEEHIVE HOW-TO is good stuff.

NO NEWS: june preview.

illustration by Bryan Minnich. 

June's NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS mails out Monday - are you IN?

TEEPEE TIME.

instagram by Amy Vong, via BYT.

So. It turns out I'd been waiting my whole life for someone to ask me how I'd ideally decorate the Embassy of France, and I can't thank Brightest Young Things and St~Germain for allowing me to not only answer that question with LACE TEEPEES, but for affording me to opportunity to make them a reality at Saturday night's Zou Bisou Bisou party.

While the day was long - three, twelve foot teepees do not raise themselves, my friends - the night was as DREAMY and as MAGICAL as my fingers were crossed that it would be, and the St~Germain cocktails tasted especially delicious inside a vintage lace tent (and under a chandelier of paper flowers). It is at this point I will tell you that Saturday was ALSO my husband's 31st birthday, and I assure you that many glasses were raised to him having spent the entirety of his Very Special Day helping create ENCHANTMENT on French soil. I truly cannot count the ways in which I have lucked out.

Please - head over to Brightest Young Things for a huge photo set (and lots of teepee pics) of the evening, and thank you again to BYT, St~Germain, and La Maison Française for their generosity, to Andrew Herndon and Mitchell West for their indispensable help day of, to the Flower-Fluffing Committee for helping make it all happen, and to Kat Bangs and Svetlana Legetic for lending legitimacy to my glitter + glue goings on. And hey, you - call me if you want one of these things for your backyard, k?

one, two, three.

one two three: a look back at the week. HOT FRENCH ACTION pic via BYT.

one. We put out a Magazine - did you hear? As LAUNCH WEEK winds down (and yes - we are back to regularly scheduled programming next week. Thanks for letting a sister roll), I just wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all our amazing contributors, to Erik and Kate, to Nilay, and to my husband Mitchell West. This issue is testament to the hard work and sheer talent of all the aforementioned; that I have somehow managed to work my way into their collective good graces makes me feel all GOOD-CRAZY, and also a little like this.

two. We've been blown away by the generous local reception to the Magazine - thanks especially to Holly E. Thomas of Refinery 29 DC, Jonathon L. Fischer of the Washington City Paper, and our friends at BYT for the WELCOME BACKs (to say nothing of those of you who tweeted or emailed or FBed or otherwise just read this thing. Thank you all). 

three. Please join us IN CELEBRATION of Issue 6/the Summer/OUR LIVES tomorrow evening at BYT's Zou Bisou Bisou at the French Embassy (and hang out with me in a magically enchanted teepee garden); tickets are available here (but probably not for long, so make moves) and a little outfit inspiration, via the Mag's Kate Greene, can be found at Brightest Young Things.

hands across the water.

The Hands Across the Water video came about after having monkeyed around with a stop motion format for a couple of different projects; having always worked in iMovie (in which the fastest my version will run stills at is 5 per second) I was surprised (read: FRIGHTENED) to find out that FOR REAL stop motions run at a speed of about 30 frames per second. The hours I spent editing over ELEVEN HUNDRED individual frames were all totally worth it when I saw the finished product, and it made it all the more sweet that I finally got to collaborate on something with my friend Phil Carluzzo. He's an unbelievably talented musician and composer, and his rendition of the "Hands Across the Water" part of Paul McCartney's Admiral Halsey fit the imagery so well that it felt like we worked on our parts side by side (we didn't - Phil hit the road for NYC a while back and the project came together over a series of increasingly hilarious emails).
Also - I shot the main images (of Panda Mag's Kate Greene) with makeup artist Lauren Gildner; not only can she work MAGICS with real product but the bulk of what she used for the video was actually WATERCOLOR. And and and - Lauren did my makeup for my wedding, and Liz Gorman PHOTOGRAPHED my wedding, and Liz let me mine her photo galleries for any/all flower pics I might want to use. If you look closely at the final frames you'll see not only my wedding bouquet, but also roses from our April Brunch Newsletter feature.

cover story.

 circa 2009, a lawson/hungerford FACEBOOK GEM.

We've waxed a little poetic already about Nilay Lawson's cover for Issue 6, but we haven't waxed nearly enough about HER. An uber-talented visual artist, Nilay's been a partner in crime for the last seven years and a big big part of Panda Head - both before and after she was the official ARTS EDITOR for Issues 3-4-5. We're siked to have her a) back in the States and b) in FULL EFFECT for Issue 7!

flickr friday.

from the flickr. photo by C. Freeman. 

A (MESSY) little behind the scenes look at our Issue 6 Preview Dinner.

enchanting.

 teepee times/instagram.

BYT's Zou Bisou Bisou is in T-MINUS two days, and the vintage lace teepee'd, handmade flower-ed, MAGICAL ENCHANTED WONDERLAND* I'm working on for the garden of the French Embassy is coming together like, well, MAGIC.**
*re: ENCHANTED, this wonderland will also be overflowing with St~Germain cocktails!
**in this case, MAGIC has involved several vintage lace-sourcing trips, some time spent at the Home Depot, an afternoon of good old fashioned teepee-raising, a lot of twine, and some fairy dust.***
***wait I think I meant angel dust. My bad, guys!

donut.

photo by Victoria F. Gaitán.

We've long been MASSIVELY HUGE fans of Victoria F. Gaitán (both of her work and of the woman herself), and it knocks our collective socks off that she's part of Issue 6. Upon receipt of our "Spring/Summer/Playboy/pastels" spiel, re: the Issue's inspiration board, she offered up the amazingly staged, beautifully visceral, flat-out PRETTY "Donut" series, to which we replied/sighed, OH YES. OH YES, PLEASE.

Donut.

from Panda Head Magazine: Issue 6

photographs by Victoria F. Gaitán.

avon pl.

Panda Mag designer/partner Erik Loften is RENOWNED for his video/animation skills (check check check), so when he had the idea for an Abbey Rd. tribute video - LIVE ACTION, nonetheless - for Issue 6, I was terribly excited to see what he came up with. I was also blissfully unaware of what to expect of the completed piece, as every time he attempted to explain the concept to me and Kate Greene we would just kind of cock our heads and offer him a variety of WE'RE CONFUSED faces. Styled by Kate and featuring some lovely John, Paul, George, and Ringo stand-ins, our Issue 6 intern Alicia Farina documented our shoot day HERE, and the final video - which is so good that I nearly laid down for a forever-nap after watching it - is HERE. 

Avon Pl.

from Panda Head Magazine: Issue 6

video: Erik Loften

styling: Kate Greene

featuring Lucy Novick, Danielle Theroux, 

Ilene Tsui, and Tamika Wilkins.

centerfolds.

 photo/illustration by Lauren Friedman.

When we first got in touch with illustrator Lauren Friedman about putting her spin on a 60s/70s Playboy/groupie-inspired CENTERFOLDS spread for Issue 6, CLEARLY we knew (like, CLEARLY clearly) we were going to love whatever it was she came up with - but the sexy, t-shirt-ed, LIVE NUDE GIRLS that appeared a couple of weeks later managed to top even OUR wildest, fashion-y, rock-n-roll-cool dreams. We're thrilled to have her as part of Issue 6, and I mean it - if you're not familiar with her work (or with HER; she RULES) - I bid SAYONARA to your afternoon productivity as you make your way through those links.

Centerfolds

from Panda Head Magazine: Issue 6

illustrations and photographs: Lauren Friedman

let's get real.

photo by Victoria Milko. 

Let's get real (and thank you for letting me do so) - yesterday's launch of Panda Head Magazine: Issue 6 has me feeling a little like a Middle School SCIENCE FAIR winner (if Middle School Science Fairs were judged on the sheer spectacle of the experiments your ultra-talented classmates had a go at; also, if Erik Loften had a hand in TRI-FOLD DISPLAY BOARD design then Middle School Science Fairs might be one of the most aesthetically pleasing places on earth, no?). It should come as no surprise then, that the rest of the week is devoted to all things THIS ISSUE.
While a ton of space has been devoted to our "Spanish Steps" chapter already, let it be known that Panda Mag's Kate Greene spent weeks on her VISION for the Treasury Vintage-filled spread, and that Victoria Milko knocked it out of the park when it came time to shoot. And a little backstory on the text featured within the chapter: they're excerpts from a novel by writer Marie Beatriz Gauthiez - who, it just so happens, was also our model.

Spanish Steps

photographs: Victoria Milko; styling: Kate Greene

text excerpts by Marie Beatriz Gauthiez

hair: Cortney Peguese; makeup: Lauren Gildner

design: Erik Loften

featuring Marie Beatriz Gauthiez

and pieces from Treasury Vintage

WE HAVE GO.

cover slice by our gal Nilay Lawson. 

It is with an equal mix of ABSOLUTE EXCITEMENT and IMMENSE PRIDE that we announce Issue 6 of Panda Head Magazine to be ONLINE and ALIVE at www.PandaHeadMag.com!

Our Spring/Summer Issue features work and contributions from:

Phil Carluzzo

Lauren Friedman

Victoria F. Gaitán

Marie Beatriz Gauthiez

Lauren Gildner

Liz Gorman

Kate Greene

Nilay Lawson

Erik Loften

Victoria Milko

Lucy Novick

Cortney Peguese

Ilene Tsui

Treasury Vintage

Morgan Hungerford West 

and Tamika Wilkins

The Spring/Summer Issue was conceived and staffed by partner/stylist Kate Greene, our intern Alicia Farina, and - as always - both myself and designer Erik Loften. And look -  REAL TALK - I couldn't be any more proud of this issue than if I'd forged it with my own two hands (which, as you can see from that above/incredible list of DC talents, I did NOT). I sincerely hope you get a chance to check it out today or tomorrow or the next day or the day after that - I can say with complete certainty that it is - and was - worth every second. And please - come celebrate with us this Saturday at the Embassy!

LIFESTYLING at BYT.

 instagram by Kate Greene; click click for BYT.

Oh man - thanks so much to our friends at Brightest Young Things for asking us to put together a little list of LIFESTYLE COMMANDMENTS in anticipation of this week's Issue 6 launch (and, of course, in anticipation of Saturday's Zou Bisou Bisou at the French Embassy)! We're mere HOURS away from the former and can't wait to celebrate with you ALL at the latter - click HERE for BYT and Panda Head Mag: Sneak Peek + Rules to Live By!

WE'RE GETTING THERE.

our cover (!!!) by Nilay Lawson.
Things are TAKING SHAPE over at the Panda Mag site - and to test the theory that a little (more) delayed gratification never hurt anybody, let's consider our Issue 6 launch to be SO IMPENDING THAT IT ALMOST KIND OF HURTS AND OMG SO SOON SO SOON SO SOON like TOMOROW OR THE NEXT DAY, shall we? Because the internet is hard, and we are SOFT (but very, very determined).

one, two, three.

one, two, three: a look back at the week.

one.  Brenton Wood's The Oogum Boogum Song is giving me ALL the SUMMERTIME VIBES.

two.  I'm digging the finished product of the the mint-green furniture revamp at Lyle Style; this led to KNOB RESEARCH, which inevitably lent to my spending maybe TOO LONG on the Anthropologie site, as I'm now trying to figure out what non-vital organ I'm going to have to sell in order to afford the largest size of the Agadir Rug.

three. OK, BILL MURRAY. A+ OK. (via NYMag)

flickr friday.

flickr friday: Floyd's foot; backyard antics.

666 florida avenue.

un deux trois quatre (SEIS)!

Issue 6 of Panda Head Magazine is ALIVE on Monday, May 21 - but that isn't the only thing on next week's agenda of EXCITEMENT: Saturday night (May 26th) we'll be celebrating the BLESSED EVENT* in a garden of MAGICAL ENCHANTMENT (of our own design) at BYT + La Maison Française's Zou Bisou Bisou at the French Embassy! Tickets are available here - I'd love to see you there! 

*TWO blessed events, actually - our Issue 6 launch AND my husband's 31st birthday!

spanish steps shoot (take 2).

instagrams by Kate Greene. 

Another take on - and some PREVIEW DESCRIPTIONS of the looks from - last weekend's Spanish Steps fashion spread. Shot by Victoria Milko for Issue 6 of the Mag; the upcoming spread not only features Marie Beatriz Gauthiez as a model, but will feature text from her novel-in-progress. 

All words by our Issue 6 intern, Alicia Farina:

 The Spanish Steps of DuPont Circle were home to a Parisian affair last Sunday as our elegant French model, Marie, donned nostalgic pieces from Treasury Vintage. The weather was warm, the wind calm, and foot traffic just enough around the steps to garner some eager onlookers.
The first look indulged in two of Panda Head’s favorite spring trends – mint and Peter Pan collars. The pants and jewelry exhibited the cool color while a Peter Pan collar completed a cream top. An intricately beaded hat and red quilted bag added pops of color. A coral and blush turban brought an exotic flair to the second look and a set of flowers nestled in the model’s bedhead bob added playfulness to the third look. Miami-sport met Parisian street-style with accents of gold and hints of pink. Looking timeless and ethereal in a vintage swimsuit, the fourth look was shot against a weathered brick wall; vines and branches shadowing the space. An explosion of azaleas set the fifth look on fire, a cap of bright pink flowers and a party dress in green and blue coupled with a city garden display. Marie transformed into a child of the earth in the sixth look, nestled into the arms of a tree, barefoot in a floor length lace Edwardian dress.
The Spanish Steps shoot was an adventure in attitudes, moods and styles, exploring the many sides of the modern lady.

styled by Kate Greene, with pieces from Treasury Vintage; hair by Cortney Peguese and makeup by Lauren Gildner. top to bottom: LOOKS; Marie and Cortney; Victoria and Erik hang between shots; Lauren showing off some cheek jazz; ACCESSORIES; a sneak peek at look number 5.

apartamento.

Our friends Cathy and Josh were so generous as to hostess-gift me the most recent issue of apartamento on Saturday night; I'm having to PHYSICALLY RESTRAIN myself from ripping out every other page and thumbtacking them to any/all eye-level wall surfaces.
apartamento (alongside Wilder Quarterly, The Gentlewoman, and The Runcible Spoon [who, it just so happens, is celebrating their Summer Issue release TODAY]) is available locally at Treasury.

new issue/new look/NEW YOU.

one last mag preview: photo/etc me; makeup Lauren Gildner; featuring Kate Greene.

We play fast and loose around here with the term THIS WEEK, but hey! On the very, very, very PLUS SIDE - we have an official date for Panda Head Magazine's Issue 6 launch, and it's this coming MONDAY, MAY 21! And SPOILER ALERT (this actually spoils nothing; we couldn't spoil this if we tried): our upcoming issue features work from local talents Victoria F. Gaitán, Lauren Freidman, Phil Carluzzo, Liz Gorman, Marie Beatriz Gauthiez, Victoria Milko, and MORE - as well as from our very own Erik Loften, Kate Greene, Nilay Lawson, and myself.
Lastly (and speaking of MYSELF), welcome to Panda Head Blog's NEW Summer LOOOOK. Inspired by the above still (from a stop motion video I put together for the Mag), with so much going on this month it just felt like a good time to REFRESH. Breathe in, breathe out; FENG SHUI that mind-furniture. You GOT this.

the dishes are done, man.

decor; kate + brittany; erik, matt, + ilene; me + liz; an issue 6 SPARKLER CANDLE!

all photos by C. Freeman.

While the bulk of my weekend was spent getting things in line for this week's PANDA MAG launch (read: I am dangerously close to becoming ONE with my laptop), Saturday night's Issue 6 Preview Dinner was a magical little reprieve from all things .jpg/.psd/.nerdalert. The guest list consisted of a truly stellar group of people (we invited all our Issue 6 contributors, as well as a few friends - both new and from way back - that we've met along the line) and Erik, Kate and I were thrilled to break bread with such a talented and generous and funny and smart cast of characters. TEARS. LITERAL TEARS. IN MY EYES.
Also giving me tears: my husband, for carrying our living room furniture up and down the stairs of our apartment (sometimes twice) last week; both my oven and dishwasher (the former for successfully baking 7 dishes of enchiladas at once without ceasing to exist, and the latter for simply existing); and photographer C. Freeman, for documenting the night so beautifully. All photos from the evening can be viewed HERE - so please, everyone - immediately go see how good these people look in our apartment.
PS: keep your eyes peeled, re: decor - those flowers may or may not be a little peek at what's in store at the French Embassy later this month!

one, two, three.

one, two, three: a look back at the week. all photos NYMag.

one. BLAH BLAH BLAH (Met Gala) BLAH BLAH BLAH.

two. "In Miller's view, the peacock's tail, the nightingale's song, the bowerbird's nest...and the first three Led Zeppelin albums are all forms of romantic excess. They advertise good health and good genes (and the prospect of good sex) by throwing effort away as conspicuously as possible." -The Artistic Animal, via this, via that. 

three. Whoa. That Newsletter post yesterday was my [cue robot voice] ONE THOUSANDTH BLOG POST. PLEASE MARK SAID MONUMENTAL EVENT BY CLICKING ON MY ENTITIES, [robot arms flail dramatically] FOR THERE IS NO HOPE; THERE IS ONLY SOCIAL MEEEEDIIIAAAA [powers down; spits out screw; fixes hair; makes kissy-face in mirror]. Thanks!

flickr friday.

Panda Head Magazine: Issue 6 goes LIVE next week, and amidst all my excitement lurks (LURKS IN A GOOD WAY) some serious nostalgia for issues past. As such, this week's Flickr Friday includes a video BONUS ROUND - both from our Kinks-covering, 4-DC-band-inclusive, Issue 5 mountain-top camping trip. 

photo: Dakota Fine

video: Chris Keener, Philippe Chetrit, and Ryan Wakeman.  

both from Panda Head Magazine: Issue 5

featuring Meredith Chamberlain, Philippe Chetrit, Josh Cogan, Libby Ellsworth-Kasch, Dakota Fine, Fffever, Ashley Fulwiler, Kate Greene, Morgan Hungerford West, Chris Keener, Carolyn Lamond, The Laughing Man, New Rock Church of Fire, Nilay Lawson, Erik Loften, Chloé Maratta, Kelley McNutt, Lexie Moreland, Luke Morrison, Roxanne Turpen, Ryan Wakeman, U.S. Royalty.

Issue 5 was funded in part by a grant from the DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities.

from the newsletter.

the grodiest of the grody.
get yr May newsletter on HERE, and get in on June's HERE, won't you?

evil eyes...

...all OVER my notebooks.

nilay's bag.

a Sao Paulo souvenir.

summer stoned.

this ring might be my SPIRIT ANIMAL.

the king.

two takes on HAWAIIAN Elvis: at top, a thrift store find (that we were practically tripping over ourselves to pay 24 bucks for); below, a project-in-progress by my friend Andrew Herndon. I think the HOT DOG is an excellent touch.

gnocchi underground.

Our friends Dave and Brittany came over for dinner last week, and they brought the most amazing, MADE-FROM-TOTAL-SCRATCH gnocchi (in a dill-asparagus-cream sauce) along with them. Also in tow? Cards Against Humanity - the evening, in its entirety, was one of the more HILARIOUS our dining room table had seen in a MINUTE.

issue 6/SPANISH STEPS.

A little preview of a fashion spread we shot yesterday at the Spanish Steps; photographed by Victoria Milko and styled by Panda Mag's Kate Greene with pieces from Treasury Vintage, our awesome Issue 6 intern Alicia will have the FULL STORY a little later in the week. And hey - get excited (won't you, please?): we're just A WEEK away from an ONLINE and FULLY ALIVE Panda Head Mag!

top to bottom: Kate farmer's market-ed some pre-shoot sustenance for THE LADIES; makeup artist Lauren Gildner's lil box of tricks; my sister Cortney Peguese and Lauren work hair/makeup magic on Marie Gauthiez; Kate adjusts a Treasury TREASURE; PANDA HEADS Nilay Lawson and Erik Loften google the origin of "Spanish Steps" and are no more informed afterwards than they were before; GROUP SHOT; my niece Aurora MEAN-MUGS my camera/proves yet again that babies are a brilliant addition to any photo shoot.