Dogs

Guest post written by Rolf Tate

We recently logged onto http://www.satellitestarinternet.com/hughes-net/mississippi/g/greenville/ and decided to get satellite internet. I have really enjoyed using it because I am trying to find exactly what type of new puppy to get my kids. I have said “NO” to a dog for years, just because I knew that I would be the one who would be taking care of the pup. I think that it is finally time that my kids had a dog. I had a dog growing up that I absolutely loved. We we lost her, I really had a hard time, I think that it part of the reason that I didn’t want to get a dog too. I have decided on a smaller breed, but I don’t want a “yappy” dog . I want a dog that can run and play with the kids, but is also comfortable relaxing in the house. I really like beagles for their size and playfulness, but a lot of them are baaaaddd and do a lot of howling. Another dog that I am considering getting the kids is a Boykin Spaniel. I think that they are so pretty. I really like their size too. I have heard that they are bad puppies. I still need to do some more research.

Getting Ready for Studying Abroad in Paris

Guest post written by Ellen Black

I'm not really sure what made me fall in love with the idea, but since I was a little girl I thought that it would be a really great opportunity to go to Paris. I've read all kinds of books, seen all kinds of movies about it and have even taken French in school with the hope of going to France one day and putting it to good use. Well, I'm so excited that next semester I'm actually going to go study abroad there!

I've looked through all kinds of websites about what to go and visit in France. While I was looking through some of those sites about a week ago, I ran across some information on internet packages. After I looked through them I found some more information here and switched over my apartment service to it.

I'm a little worried because I haven't met any of the people I'll be living with in Paris, but I'm supposed to meet them soon. I'm sure that they'll be as adventurous as I am in playing tourist and exploring the city.

September 11th....I'll never forget....

A decade ago on this very day of September 11th, I was blissfully unaware of what was happening in the world. I was on a flight headed to Seoul, Korea to fulfill a 3 month modeling contract. Once I landed, I was picked up by my manager and taken to the apartment I would share with him and another model, Phillipe, who was from France. We had a nice, traditional Korean meal that night then I went to bed.

The next morning when I woke up I could hear the TV on in the living room. I thought nothing of it, went to shower, organized my new room and lackadaisically made it out to greet my flatmates. The minute I walked into the living room I noticed what looked to be footage of the Twin Towers with smoke billowing out from them. The news coverage was in Korean, I had no idea what to make of it...to be honest, I assumed it was a clip from a film, or some hoax, just not the actual Twin Towers being attacked & destroyed. My manager was looking at me with his eyes and mouth wide open. At this point Phillipe walked out of his room and also stared at the TV confusedly. I started asking my manager what was going on and he frantically started changing channels until he found the BBC. We sat in silence for what seemed like hours watching and listening. My skin was crawling, my heart was in my stomach, and yet I could still not fully wrap my brain around this being real. Everything that happened the rest of that day seemed like slow motion to me....I remember going to the phone and trying to call my family in LA and my boyfriend in Portland....and I wasn't able to get through to anyone. Phone lines were busy. I remember emailing my friends living in NY at the time. I remember just being stunned.

Over the course of the next few days I was able to get through to family and friends and heard that everyone I knew in NY was safe. I heard about how somber the mood was on all of the streets of every city in the US. Yet there seemed to be a new found sense of camaraderie and patriotism that arose from this devastation. I felt terrible for being so far away from my country during a time like this.



After fulfilling the jobs I had booked prior to arriving, I made the decision along with my North American manager, that it would be best and safest for me to go home early. After 2 weeks in Seoul I went home...I remember seeing armed guards not only in the airport in Seoul but also even in Portland which before this time was unthinkable. I arrived back to an America where everyone had a US flag on their car...something that in my lifetime I had never seen before. We were UNITED.

A year later I was in NY for a booking and went to Ground Zero. The energy surrounding the place was heavy. The pictures, candles and flowers on the fence around the church right by gripped my heart and brought tears to my eyes. So many people lost...fathers, mothers. children, grandparents....Tragic does not begin to describe this....To this day it is difficult to wrap my brain around what happened.

I will never forget the devastation of September 11th. I won't forget where I was, what it felt like to hear the news, and never will I forget the lives lost on that darkest day in our history. I pray none of us ever do.

Name Droppings....Better Than Bird Droppings?

I'm not a fan of name dropping...it induces in me a irresistible desire to roll my eyes and walk away from the name dropper as quickly as my wee feet can carry me....However, I just realized the other day that I have forgotten many of the *ahem* well known people I spent time with during my days of Peacocks on Leashes.

My drop dead stunning cousin, Christie, was in town recently after touring with Disney/Pixar working PR for the Cars 2 movie. My kids, husband and I had a blast showing her around town and hearing about the movie, her work and seeing pictures from behind the scenes. At lunch she asked me who some of the famous people were that I had met, partied with, conversed with or just graced with my presence (bahahahaaaaa!) and I sat there over my stuffed Portobello mushroom drawing a blank...so...in case Alzheimer's hits me a little prematurely, I've decided to write this list down for posterity.

Here goes:

P.Diddy (on a yacht in Monte Carlo and at his house in Miami)
Naomi Campbell (Monte Carlo)
Tyson Beckford (Miami)
Ice Cube (Miami)
Sugar Hill Gang (Miami)
Emelio Estevez (LA)
Prince Albert of Monaco (Monte Carlo)
Princess Victoria of Sweden (Monte Carlo)
Karolina Kurkova (Miami)
Art Alexakis (Portland)
Stephen Dorff (Miami)
Salt & Peppa ( Miami)
Billy Corgan (Miami)
two of the Backstreet Boys (can't remember their names...lol) ( Milan)
Liam Neeson (Milan)
Julia Stiles (Milan)
Tony Hawk (Miami)
Lenny Kravitz (Miami)
Stephen Baldwin (Miami)
Steven Seagal (Miami)
Robin Leach ( Miami)
Eva Longoria (Portland)
Justin Timberlake (Tokyo)
Coco Lee (Taipei)
Carson Daley (Miami)
Ed Kowalczyk and Chad Gracey of the band LIVE (Miami & Portland)
Pauly Shore (Miami)
Angelina Jolie (did a student film with her in high school in LA WAAAAAAY back)
Chad Allen (LA)
Steve Allen (LA)
LeBron James (Portland)
The Dandy Warhols (Portland)
The Counting Crows (Milan)
Liz Phair (LA)
Lil Bow Wow (LA)
Lil Kim (Miami)
Enrique Iglesias (Miami)
Julio Iglesias, Jr. (Miami)
Rod Stewart (Miami)
Sting (Miami)
Kid Rock (Miami)
Rachel Hunter (Miami)
May Andersen (Miami)



OMG, I know there are many, many more...but here I go...losing those memories faster than I'm harvesting gray hairs! I'll be sure to add to the list as I think of more....and if any of my friends reading this remember any please let me know who I'm missing! ;)

Now back to cooking mac and cheese for the ragamuffins....

Oh Home Sweet Secure Home

Since I'm no longer on the road, I love keeping up my friends who are so that I can live by them vicariously. This is why I am addicted to Facebook, ahem, yep...I am one of "those". ;) I guess I could have worse addictions...actually I know I could, so Facebook and my reality shows via Localtv-Satellite.com are just a little source of sanity in what has turned into a pretty mundane lifestyle compared to Leashing Peacocks. LOL!

So, anyways, where was I going with this? Ah yes...on Facebook yesterday I was reading about a friend who was having issues with disappearing items from her models' apartment. Apparently one of her roomies was making off with everything from food items, to cosmetics and even a bra. A bra? Ugh! Reminds me of my BFF's roommate in Milan who would take her underwear from the drying rack, use them and them leave them balled up all over the apartment floors when she was done with them. Like I've said before, pretty don't mean clean...or sane.

I really lucked out that in all the years I traveled I only had one item ever go missing. It was my favorite pair of workout shorts (by Everlast and they were so darned cute!) that I know one of my Brazilian flatmates in Hong Kong made off with...sigh....I bet her ass looked better in it than mine anyways. =P

What I think I take for granted now is that I live in my own space..well, I share it with a husband and two kids, but you get what I mean. No one can just walk off with my stuff and by installing a home security anaconda that will virtually hunt down and swallow a burglar whole (ok, maybe not really, but that would be pretty funny) I feel extra comfortable with leaving my stuff out. It's hard to believe that there was a point in my life where it was normal to not unpack for months at a time because of all the stories you'd hear of other models stealing stuff. Like, I said, I was lucky, but I kept my stuff in my suitcase and clearly marked. Nice to not have to do that anymore...although maybe that was just a tiny little price to pay for a very wonderful time in my life. And maybe I wouldn't mind having to do that again....for a few days. =)

Bloggity Blog Blog

Just a little heads up....once in a while you'll see a completely random blog post on here, but never fear! I have not been hacked! LOL! I do write sponsored posts for select clients on my blogs here and there. Momma likes the extra pocket change. ;)

Ok, back to business.

xoxo

Changing Pace

Ok, that's it....I just can't seem to stay chronological anymore with this travel shite. I'll be adding in some of my last journal entries, perhaps some more pictures of raging insouciance and hot (hahaha) fashions and then I'll be turning this blog into a current day view into my life as a model with some random posts where I "look back" with certain bouts of melancholy and deep sighs at what my life as a model once was....on the road.....

So keep checking back in for a new & improved Peacocks on Leashes...this new format will have me posting far more regularly. Woot woot! =)

Oh the Insouciance of It All (aka Obese Prostitutes in Milan)

Oh...this little picture comes with an interesting back story, I am sure....but all I can really remember other than I had a great time with my boys is that we were all invited to a private party at a random club in a part of Milan that we normally never frequented. At this party we were all crowded into a tiny elevator that closed its doors and then refused to open and then just sat there. I am normally not claustrophobic but that night I was sweating and had something of a panic attack. Luckily, after several attempts the doors were pried open and we made way out to our table where drinks were awaiting. My other memories of that night were that the table we were at sat precariously by a swimming pool and I remember praying that I wouldn't end up falling in it, I also recall that on the way out there was an enormously obese prostitute sitting on a recliner on the corner of the street beckoning to my buddies, and that Daryl ended up walking me home like the perfect gentleman that he was while half of my other friends stayed at the party and the other half got into a car with some random girls and wound up waking up in that same car next to a lake somewhere outside of Milan the next morning. God, what a night.....lol! That was life back then....insouciance. Loved it. Never a single dull moment......

Venice the Redoux

Sometime after Kari and I got done with our weekend in Monaco, she took off to travel Europe by rail and I went back to Milan. My castings, bookings and parties commenced and it was life as usual. At one point I was out on a Friday night at Gasoline with the boys and Josh brought up the idea of going to Venice the next day. By that time it was past midnight and we would be taking the morning train out. Early. I have a vague recollection of getting home, washing up, going to bed for a couple of hours and then racing over to the train station to meet up with everyone. Everyone ended up being Josh, Isaak, Ryan, Daryl and I.

Once on the train everyone passed out promptly except for Ryan and I. I remember having this great, three hour long conversation with him. For some reason we also ended up having these really interesting conversations at the most random places! Our convo was interrupted only once by Isaak who after waking up to go the the bathroom discovered that his enormous yellow sunglasses had gone missing. We searched high and low, and since we were the only ones in the train compartment, and those sunglasses were HUGE, it was really perplexing that they had just literally disappeared into thin air. This started Isaak off on a story about how he was sure that this was part of a curse that a model in London had put on him prior to arriving in Milan. To be honest, it was hard not to believe him because normally things don't just got *poof* and disappear. However, Isaak is amazing with the stories he tells...soo.....ya never know. ;)

Once in Venice, we walked, ate, talked, acted the part of the tourists we were and got back on the train later that day to go home. This time in Venice was completely normal and uneventful compared to the first trip I took the year prior with my motley crew. No naked bridge jumping, no drunkeness, no arrests, no hairy trannys....just me and my boys who I miss so much.

My boys in front of some excellent grafitti.




Blue Steel in Venice



I love this city....the Rialto Bridge is in the background...that is the very same bridge that a year prior saw my friends jumping off of it sans clothing in the middle of the night....model history. ;)

Monaco Grand Birthday Party

So, the trip to Monaco....

Well, once we were packed we got picked up by the driver of one of Neil's friends who we later found out was a big deal Spanish dignitary. We drove to Monte Carlo and had a nice trip talking, laughing, taking in the views, and napping. Once we made it to the Monte Carlo city limits the driver pulled over and let us get out to see the view. It was jawdropping. Amazing. Cerulean blue waters with red tiled roofed villas cascading down the promontory we were on and surrounded by gardens that would have been at home in heaven. After taking in this breathtaking scenery we got back into the car and drove down to the marina and found Neil's yacht. We would be spending all of our waking hours on the boat and since it was berthed so close to the race course we would be able to watch the Grand Prix from the deck. Perfection. In the evenings we'd take a small wooden motorboat over to where we would be sleeping which was in a nearby villa that was owned by Neils' brother and sister-in-law. The villa was to die for and someday I hope to spend more time in one just like it...in Tuscany. ;)

After a few hours of hanging out on the yacht with Neil and his friends, one of which happened to be Princess Katherine of Denmark (who, btw, dubbed Neil's yacht "the prettiest in the marina") we decided to go walk the streets of Monte Carlo. Let me tell you that no city I have ever been in, and I have been in many, screams M O N E Y like Monte Carlo does. It was beautiful but at the same time I felt out of place. It was such a strange feeling because I have always assimialted to every place I have been in right away....but Monte Carlo was like some uber hyped rap video on steroids. Bentleys, Maseratis, Lambourghinis, Ferraris, you name it...and I probably just butchered the spelling of those cars...but I'm tired and a mom and totally entitled, eh? ;) The women were all dressed and Botoxed to the nines, it was a spectacle...and almost overwhelming to take all that glitz in.

Just being there made me feel like I should have bathed in gold prior to setting foot in those pristine streets. My Hungarian noble blood ran screaming away from me and I felt that little girl who grew up on government cheese come running right towards me. I was amazed at the beauty of the place, but very much uncomfortable at the same time.

The first night there we all had dinner at a seaside restaurant...outdoors of course. I can still remember the freshness of that food. Good lord...delicious. And I also remember Neil and another member of the party talking about a castle we could see high up on the hill and whether or not one or the other should put in an offer to purchase it. Have mercy.....to have just a fraction of that money! LOL!

The next day was my birthday...Yes! I got to spend my birthday on a millionaire's yacht in Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix!! I have to say that to this day that has to be one of the biggest highlights of my life. Neil was so lovely that he had his head chef make me a special cake and dinner on the yacht that night. I will never forget his graciousness and generosity. I will also never forgot how wonderful his brother and sister-in-law were for letting Kari and I sleep in their villa and treat us as if we were family. Those are the things that made our weekend in Monaco unforgettable. Sure, partying with P.Diddy, Naomi Campbell and Prince Albert on an Arabian prince's yacht was nice too....but it was Neil and his family that were the absolute most wonderful part of the trip.

Oh and I just can't forget to add one more memorable moment...one tht Kari and I laugh about every time we talk about it....our last night there everyone went out to party but we were tired and wanted to head back to the villa. Rather than take the boat as usual, Neil had his driver take us in his convertible Bentley. With the top down we whipped through the narrow streets where everyone was out reveling and we literally had everyone peering and turning their heads to see if we were anyone worth looking at, two famous chicks perhaps? Nope...it was just us...with rat's nests for hair and tired eyes! But it was certainly nice to get a little feeling for what it must be like to be a celebrity with all eyes on you....in a Bentley. LOL!

Kari and I have lost touch with Neil, which is sad and hopefully someday we'll cross paths again. I pray he and his family are well.

Pictures from our trip...I have many, many more but I am too tired and this scanner is ancient so these will have to suffice for now! =)

Views....





Happy Birthday to me!! =)





The villa where we slumbered. =)



Classic rich perv with roving eyes....nast.




And yes that is P. Diddy. =)

Picture Me....Back in Milan

Wow....I am watching the documentary by Sarah Ziff called Picture Me which is about the ins and outs of the modeling world....very real and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about this life....Needless to say it makes me want to write even more! ;)

Ok, so now that I want to catch myself and whoever is reading this up to date...I have to get back to Milan (2nd season). Besides a lot of parties, castings, eating, bookings, and other random modelhood moments, there really wasn't too much earthshaking that went on. I did end up having my apartment to myself for a glorious three weeks when my roommate left for Germany. After three weeks a sweet Estonian girl named Olga Shipilova moved in, and one again I had lucked out in the awesome roomie department. She was young but had that mature quality that so many European girls have compared to their American counterparts. She was fluent in English and intelligent and loved gelato as much as I did. Another match made in roomie heaven.

My jobs that season consisted of editorials for "teen" magazines, catalogs, more work for La Rinascente, more short hair beauty stories, and a month of showroom for Byblos. It was just another season surround by great friends, and doing what I loved. Besides a pretty normal season I had one momentous occasion that I will never forget.....about 6 weeks into the season I got a call from my friend Neil inviting Kari and myself to spend a long weekend in Monte Carlo on his yacht for the Monaco Grand Prix. It would be the weekend of my birthday.....and without hesitation, I booked out with my agency and started prepping for a few days of complete and total celebrity treatment.

More to come on that amazing moment in my life....but for now, a few shots from Della Bass taken in a park outside of Milan, natural light, no retouching...the way it used to be.

A Little Model Internet Shopping

I gotta say, I can only imagine how much more work there is available now for models then there was when I was traveling. When I was living out of my suitcase and hitting up the different markets for work, we worked strictly for print and commercials. Now there are all kinds of crossover bookings like video lookbooks and internet catalogs. Those didn't exist in my day. God, I feel like a dinosaur admitting to that, but there it is.

Luckily, I have gotten to book some internet catalogs up here in Portland for the likes of Reebok and Nike, but can you imagine the castings in Milan or Tokyo for these jobs? Have mercy...I cannot imagine the number of castings growing that much more...what...from 15 castings to 30 in a day? Must be good to be a baby model and out in the world right about now. ;)

Speaking of these internet catalogs and video lookbooks, I stumbled upon some gorgeous little numbers from marc by marc jacobs on Bluefly.com the other day that made me wish I was still working full time. Marc by Marc Jacobs has some delicious tops, skirts and a leather wallet that is to die for out right now. Marc Jacobs always does an amazing job at creating classic pieces that have just enough edge to them to make them work for women of all ages, and looking at his latest collection was definitely drool worthy.

And you don't even get me started on the marc jacobs handbags which are divine, for lack of a better word. The woven fringe hobo and the metallic "Little Stam" are on my wish list for sure. Just gorgeous.

Oh boy, I am just gonna have to sit here and daydream a little about these gorgeous fashion confections. One of these days I'll get myself back to a market where there is actual money to be made, and I will be treating myself to a little somethin' from Marc Jacobs. Yep, I think I will!

Empty Promises & Google Maps

I am almost embarrassed at the fact that I have hopped on here sporadically the past year and half or so and promised to get my bum back on the blogging wagon...and failed. Is there a 12 step for that? *Sigh* Motherhood, general insanity, freelance writing-hood and the like have left me in a vegetable like state during all of those free moments that I should've been spending on here....pouring my memories into these posts, scanning in pictures...you know...

I did have an epiphany reading part of my friend, Ned's, blog Mr. Mister (http://nedshatzer.blogspot.com/) that I needed to get back to Leashing my Peacocks so that I can eventually actually write the play by play of my life as a Middel Model TODAY, in the moment, ahora.

My 2nd epiphany came when my other friend, Jeremy, emailed me with a link from Google Maps of where he thought he used to live in Milan. We were both scratching our heads over this link for a week or so until we figured out that we were looking at a building several blocks up Via Fiamma from where he actually lived. Before we figured this out it was something of an Inception moment...seeing things on the computer screen that were NOTHING like what I had in my mind's eye. The streets, apartments, shops, piazzas and cafes were totally different then what I so vividly remembered....what was going on here? Was I remembering something that never existed? This was Milan, after all, and unlike so many American cities, it wasn't like the Milanese were tearing down historical buildings to make way for the new Target Supercenter or anything like that.....so yeah....luckily we figured out that we were looking at the wrong building....I was uncomfortable thinking that perhaps I was so vino addled during my time there that I had created a whole other parallel reality then what actually existed and still exists in that fine Italian metropolis...

So thanks to Ned and Jeremy I have become re-inspired to continue on this blogging voyage and eventually bring you all up to date on what Middle Modelhood is all about....

Ready, Steady, GO!!!!