I Need My Fashion TV!!!

And now I have to rant a little...random...and I promise to get back to my adventures in Milan...but...

I had a friend on Facebook post that he wondered why Fashion TV is not readily available in the United States, yet you can watch it pretty much anywhere and everywhere else in the world. His post made realize that, not only was he right, but also that I too missed watching FTV. I wanted to make sure I hadn't just "missed" it on my TV listings and that my cable service was indeed pumping this goodness into my house...but nope. No Fashion TV channel to be seen...

If you haven't watched Fashion TV in the past, it is a channel dedicated to airing fashion shows from around the globe 24/7. With great music pumping, you are exposed to all of the hottest trends, models and designers...an education in fashion akin to sitting and reading a pile of Italian Vogues. For models, the channel is great as a tool for learning what walks are expected on the runway for the season. What can I say...I heart FTV. And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm getting even more uber nostalgic about my traveling days than I normally am! Would my cable company know what I was talking about if I called and asked for my fashion show channel to be hooked up? And why, pray God, is this channel not offered as a normal part of any package? Fashion is good!! I want to watch runway shows, not porn or fishing. I get the fishing channel on my TV....but no fashion. Hmmm. This could be one reason why Europeans think we are so ass backwards when it comes to couture.

Or maybe it's just a coastal thing....I do remember that in Miami all of the condos I lived in had FTV....and NY too....Do we need to demand Comcast and TWC on the West Coast to give us runways, trance music, gorgeous people and f a s h i o n 24 hours a day?? I think yes. Give me that hedonistic pleasure, please. All the flannels and Birkenstocks around me are making me a sad girl.

Euros, Gold Coins and Scoliosis

I have to clarify....when I was working in Europe the Euro was still kind of trying to make its way into the banking system...so I would get paid in whatever the currency of the country I was in was at the time. And while traveling around for pleasure or direct bookings, I would have to change over my money at Forex stations. At the time, it was fine...I didn't know better, but I would have killed to have just used the Euro! One currency no matter where I went....talk about simplifying things. Also, I'm sure I would have had a happier bank account had I been paid in Euros as opposed to, say, lira. Euros would have been as welcome a form of payment to me as a nice pile of gold.

The economy was a bit better when I was traveling for work...not GREAT, but better....I still managed to make a nice living for taking pictures and wandering the earth. I didn't need to be paid my weight in gold coins (cue the model/waif jokes) to ensure that my bills at home were being paid as well as my stomach was being filled and I could shop if I so wanted...and yes of course, I wanted.

The thought of looking into alternate currency or investments never crossed my mind then, like they do now. I find myself listening to CNN's financial advisors and wondering if I need to convert all of my dollars into gold bullion or talk to my bookers in town about which client will be willing to pay me out in a big fat gold coin rather than the customary payroll check. It's crazy. I miss my carefree money days...even if I did have to carry a bag full of foreign coins heavy enough to give me the scoliosis I am pretty sure I have now.

And if you have no idea what all this talk of gold is about, there are plenty of websites that can inform you about what a great investment gold is. Sites like GoldCoinsAgain.com are great for keeping you updated on the value of gold, the trading trends, as well as can tell you what exactly bullion is....which is a good thing. You don't want to walk around telling people you are making an awesome crockpot creation using bullion.....yeah....

All this talk of gold coins, Euros and money in general is reminding me that I need to start getting all of my receipts and tax schtuff in order....almost that time of year. I am a Qualified Performing Artist after all! ;)

No, I Don't Get Free Clothes (aka I Heart Diesel)

The economy being what it is, I've decided to accept some offers to write about websites that I love on Peacocks. Mind you, I'm being very picky and only accepting clients that I already know, use and trust. I just wanted to give you all the heads up in case you find yourselves wondering how I went from whining about my craptastic models' apartment to couture underwear. To be honest, I love couture underwear and I do not love living like a sardine. I also love a little cash in hand...and who doesn't? ;) So...consider yourself warned and don't love me any less (or more, depending on who you are...).

As a model, people have asked me ad nauseum if I ever get free clothes, shoes, etc. from my shoots or fashion shows. The answer is a resounding "NO!". Actually, if I really think back....I got a free pair of socks from Adidas for a commercial I did for them once, and a track suit from a NIKE shoot...the art director was amazing. I have worked for trade and gotten sweet items from Portland designer, Sofada , but that's about it. So, like the rest of y'all, I have to SHOP for my duds.

One of my all time favorite websites for great deals on shoes and even greater customer service is Zappos. They not only carry insanely great, to the minute hot shoes, but also clothes and now...yes...even underwear. Diesel underwear. I heart Diesel underwear....to be honest, I heart anything by Diesel. I used to spend countless hours and dollars ahem...Lire) at the Diesel store at Piazza San Babila in Milan. Had I had a boyfriend at the time I would have had to insist he wear the Diesel boxers too....have mercy. Why didn't I get a pair for myself?? Anyways, back to what I was saying....you don't have to live in a cosmopolitan center of fashion to buy the latest from Diesel....Zappos.com has your Diesel wish list ready to mail out....and you know that Diesel underwear is on the top of that list. Admit it.

Moving My Model Self Back to Milan

After my last stint in Taipei I hightailed it back to Milan. All of my friends and roomies had left Taiwan so I was ready to head back to Europe and re-surround myself with my crew. Returning to Milan was nothing short of a homecoming. I was going to be represented by my old agency, they had bookings already lined up for me and one of my besties from Miami was going to be there for the first time, the bellisimma Marissa Juliette! This was bound to be an amazing trip!

The minute I got off of the plane, boarded the express to Cadorna and disembarked in the city center with all of my luggage I felt fit to burst with excitement and anticipation of another amazing season in one of my favorite cities. I got my cell phone charged (Omnitel baby!) and headed for the agency. Everything seemed the same once I walked in except for my favorite booker, Giorgia, was missing....and no one would say why. Then I was told that the apartments were all overbooked and that I would be living with 7 other girls and to please take a cab to the apartment right away to wash up and get ready for castings.

That was the first red flag...a taxi? My previous season I had been driven by the agency driver in the agency car (yes, emblazoned with Eye for I on the side) and graciously helped with my luggage up the three flights of marble stairs to my apartment. Hmmmm. The second red flag was that I would be living with 7 girls rather than the 1 or 2 from the season before. SEVEN girls in a tiny Milanese apartment.

Ok, I'm not a picky girl....I could handle it. I took the cab and got to the apartment. Once there, I Quasimodo'd my suitcases up the stairs (the lift was broken) and met my roomates. The first one I met was a drop dead gorgeous redhead named, Judith Bedard. We bonded as she was another half Cuban like me. I liked her right away, she had a no nonsense thing about her that was refreshing. She then showed me the only open bed in the place...it was a little bed in the living room of the apartment that had a sagging mattress because it was missing 4 slats right in the middle of the bed. Nice. Then I saw the kitchen, where every shelf and countertop was covered with food, and lastly the bathroom...the single bathroom for SEVEN models. SEVEN. And to make it all the better the shower only ran a piss warm, shoelace sized stream of water. Luxury.

After washing up and meeting a few photographers, I was dead tired. I grabbed a panino and a bottle of water from the paninoteca downstairs and made a beeline for my cot. It must have been around 9pm and after eating I was ready to pass out...jet lag from Asia to Europe is a bitch. But, since my bed was in the living room, the idea of privacy or getting any sleep at all was going to prove less realistic than a two headed unicorn showing up in the foyer. As I was getting comfortable in my saggy bed, a sweet little girl from Alabama came in with her Canadian boytoy and after two seconds of introductions, they started making out and then watched a movie on the TV. I started to feel a little homicidal at that point.


This was NOT starting off how I had imagined or expected it to.

Go to the START!!

LOL! For all of you new visitors....I just want to make sure you start this story from the top....

Just go into my archives and find my very first post and go from there...makes much more sense that way! :)

YES!

I found my journal and another box of modeling pictures. This week I'll be indulging you, ok, myself...with the rest of my adventures in modelhood.....

and on that note, I want to welcome my cousin, Christine Perez, to my world! She has been offered a contract by a top Miami agency. Her career is about to take off and you better believe I'll be living vicariously through her when she's on the road!!


Ciao tutti! Be back on Tuesday!!!

Back from the Dead

Good lord.....it's almost Halloween and I just realized that Peacocks on Leashes has been pretty much left to rot. In time for the ghoulish holiday, I am bringing this blog BACK TO LIFE. Muahahahahahaa!! It's been too long, and I still have stories to tell....I want to get all of my adventures onto this page and bring you all up to date on what my life has morphed into...still modeling, but somehow juggling two kids, a husband and the real world. See you SOON! :)

FINALLY!!!!!!! The Taiwanese Tearsheets!!!

I should be ashamed of myself, I know...for making everyone wait so long to see these beauts. I am also beyond ashamed that I cannot find the catalogs tears of me posing in various, divine polyester blend outfits on inflatable furniture....the stuff Versace could have only dreamed of, may he rest in peace.

To make up for some of this (and I will be self flagellating a la old school religion, if that helps any) here are some of the tearsheets I scrounged up from my last season in Taipei....lots of work but I dug it. Workaholic that I am. ;)

Yes, this was a wig, and YES I LOVED IT!



Taiwan was great for my magazine cover repertoire....I was the Teen Cheese Smile Champ on the Isle of Formosa:



(I may have posted this one before...I can't remember which season I got this cover in...but it fits in with the afore mentioned title...)



And from the teen queen look I would go directly to the Ladies Fashion genre....







And throw in some ad campaigns with the super HOT bowl cut:



As well as some more ad campainage in which I stare adoringly at a pair of miniscule mules....



I have to say that one thing I adored about working in Taipei is that I never knew what I was going to end up looking like at the end of a job. Sometimes I looked 15 and sometimes 35, sometimes I would look like Anime, and other times I would look like an starstruck Liz Hurley....but it was all good. I played dress up a lot as a little girl...so I guess I had a lot of practice when it came time to start W O R K I N!

WTF????

Oh, my good lord....I just realized that I have all but abandoned this blog. TWO MONTHS since my last post? Now that is just scandalous. I must admit that life has been insane, busy, immune system impairing....but I was just digging through box of old modeling pics for a career day presentation at my son's preschool and then remembered that I left you all hanging with a promise of pics from my last stint in Taipei. Well....wait no longer. Tomorrow will deliver those hot as hell shots to ya!

Muah!

The Perfect Cup of Tea

Ok, I just had to post about this great cup of tea I just made myself. I am a little bit in awe because ever since the last time I was in Asia which was several years ago, I have been trying to emulate the kind of milky tea that I would always binge on in Asian bakeries from Tokyo to Taipei. The first time I had this kind of tea was with my Brazilian roommate in Osaka in a bakery where I got asked if I wanted tea with lemon or "hotto milku tea". I love my tea with cream and sugar so I went for the latter and loved every drop of it.....And after years of trying to get that mix right and failing every time....this morning I did it. I swear that first mouthful took me straight back to the bakery in Shinsaibashi.....sigh......

I Know I Promised....

I know I'm supposed to have some terribly embarrassing shots of me on here from my season in Taipei....and some pretty good ones too! LOL! I've been caught red handed in busy-ville as well as have started a new blog to ride alongside this one called
"Model Mom Diaries" which you can check out at:

http://modelmomdiaries.blogspot.com

Give me till the end of the week to scan in the pictures I promised....They really will show up on here! ;)

Hello and Welcome!

LOL! Seriously though....I have had some new readers come through and I want to make sure you all know to go to the very beginning of this blog...archives are on the right hand side.....so that this all makes more sense! Peacocks on Leashes is a memoir of my experiences so nothing is current, yet....someday I hope to get up to what is happening LIVE! ;)

Channeling Jack Kerouac

This has to be one of the best journal entries to describe how I felt every time I left a market and moved on to another for season....judging from the date on this entry it was written probably in the limo ride to the airport as I was leaving Taipei:


Maybe it's a curse of my Gemini nature, my Cuban blood, my impetuosity that makes me fall so easily in love with the places that temporarily become my home and the people that for a brief instance in time become my world. And maybe it is a blessing....making my life a mad existance...but I wouldn't have it any other way.

(It's pretty apropo that I would have then gone on to quote Jack Kerouac...)

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?--it's the too huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."
-J. Kerouac "On the Road"

No better quote had ever been written to describe my life at the time. Reading it now still gives me the chills and makes me ache for the road....

On Leaving Taipei

Another peek into my travel journal at the end of season in Taipei.....

4/30

...so here I am again...on the verge of moving on once more. I leave Taipei, Taiwan tomorrow. I served my time here and survived. 8 weeks of madness and I've lived to tell the tale. Although I came here searching for what I always like to call my proverbial pot of gold, I can say that the memories I Take from this place & the people I have met are absolutely priceless.

Taipei...so often dubbed the infernal metropolis by many a model that has suffered through its endless castings, 200 cut days, and the infamous, pose, pose, pose routines....is actually a city I quite love. I have spent, in accumulation of my trips, 5 months in this city with its mad, confused, labyrinthine streets, its neverending din of traffic and human voices, its aliveness in extreme. I have found the people here to be genuine, the food (which is everywhere) good enough to merit my abandoning all ambitions towards waifdom, the culture so rich, so haunting...and all of this has become completely familiar to me now.

I have learned to speak & understand more Mandarin than I ever would have dreamt possible, have rubbed elbows with Taiwanese, celebs and mafiosos...all colorful characters, all enriching my life in one way or antoher, and have made friends that I hope to keep...such as my boys from the Westside that I came to meet in Taipei and my 5 new girls. Together my girls and I bonded in our estrogen enhanced mood swings...never have so many boxes of Kleenex been gone through or more McDonald's meals been consumed in such a short period of time. And now it's all over. Just like that.

The good times I have had here definitely outweigh the bad. So...now it's time to move on and start all over somewhere else. In my case, Milan.

No more fearing for my life every time I get in a taxi & commence the wild ride to castings or bookings dodging stray dogs, children and entire families on mopeds at speedracer velocity. No more enduring the incessant bombardment of N'Sync and Backstreet Boys at every internet cafe, convenience store and fast food joint. No more late night runs to 7-11 for hot dogs and tuna triangles. No more bubble milk tea. The things I am going to be missed, soon to be replaced but not forgotten by, wild nights at Hollywood, Gasoline and Old Fashion Cafe, lazy days in the sun at Parco Sempione, late night runs to the 24 hour panini stands, and endless miles to be tread on dirt encrusted feet to castings. La vita e veramente bella!

And it's good-bye to Taipei....and I thank this city and all I've met here for adding to my lessons learned in the school of life.

Being Fierce With Blow-Up Accesories

I've gotten my scanner reconfigured so I can scan some new and ever delicious tearsheets from my second season in Taipei. I have some truly classic ones too....everything from more cheesy teen couture to getting fierce in polyester ladies' fashion while posing on blow-up furniture to downright scary goth punk. You name it, I did it that season.....all in the name of modeling, fashion and the good ol' dinero. Stay tuned....

Find the Cuban Girl...

I never realized how much tanner I was than the rest of my fellow models in Taipei until I developed this picture....



I guess this is why clients and my bookers were so concerned with my skin tone being too dark for the Chinese market....fortunately, I booked a few jobs specifically because of my tan because at the time the Brazilians were storming the market, and I mean, who didn't find Giselle's toasty skin totally hot?!

We Make Party, Yes?

There's nothing like looking back at old party pics of my girls and I in various global locations to put an enormous smile on my face and a little blush on my cheeks.

Prefunking in Taipei with Smirnoff and OJ that we bought at the 7-11 across the street from our hotel always made for some interesting pictures.....and some very good times....

Charlie's Angels?



Apparently I was going through a J. Lo phase with the white bandanna.....



The Taiwanese know how to pimp out disco balls....and I know how to make myself invisible....camoflauge is hot!



Getting a VIP spanking at Room 18...

Laura Leaves and a Roach Moves In

About a month into season in Taipei, things started to slow down workwise for all of us. The agency cryptically kept mentioning the economy with a shrug of their shoulders and we just kept hoping to get busy again. At this point, Laura decided she would rather be home than wasting her time abroad, and who could blame her?

We had been rooming in a tiny room, sharing a double bed and a fridge the size of a milk carton for 4 weeks. We were being promised a proper room by the hotel every other day....castings were dropping off, she had a boyfriend waiting for her at home...it was time to head back to the great white North. So, there I was saying good-bye to my friend once again. The day after she left, I found myself hanging out with Taya and Jennifer and we decided that in order to save money, I could move into their room and we'd split the rent three ways and I wouldn't be all by myself on the opposite end of the hotel. The hotel arranged to have a roll-in bed moved into a corner of their room for me to sleep in and I dragged all my crap two floors to become the third roomie.

Quarters were tight, but I was used to that, even though Taya had to climb over my bed to get out of her bed and into the bathroom. We got along famously and would laugh ourselves to sleep at night talking about castings we'd had that day or the outrageous jobs we'd just gotten done with. Everything was great until one afternoon when Taya and Jen were both working andI was home early. I was hanging out on my bed watching Chinese music videos when I noticed something move above my head out of the corner of my eye. When I looked up there was a gargantuan cockroach dangling from the AC grate, legs wiggling and trying to get back up and into the opening. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a severe roach phobia, so this was enough to put me in a panic. I called the front desk to get someone to help and no one answered so I ran down to get aide with sweat poring down my face and my heart beating at a frenetic pace. Thank God someone was there.

The desk clerk had a cleaning lady run up with me (who spoke no English) so with a bunch of arm and hand motions and eyes filled with dread I was able to tell her that there was a roach on the ceiling above my bed. She looked at me and the roach bemusedly. Laughed a little (she must've thought I was one hell of a wimpy American) and shrugged her shoulders while miming that it would go away. She started to leave and I grabbed her and basically pleaded that she removed the offender. With not a little hint of annoyance, she slowly ambled into the bathroom, grabbed some toilet paper, climbed up on my bed and nonchalantly grabbed the roach, showed it to me with its legs and feelers flailing, laughed and walked out with it. What happened to that roach after she left with it, I'll never know, nor do I care. What I am glad about is that I never again saw one of those buggers in our room again....although from that point on I had to do a full room and bed check every night before going to sleep. Paranoia.....

I Can Spell M-O-D-E-L.

Ok, ok.....so I am going to up and apologize now for any and all type-o's I have made or may make. I am normally posting with one hand while creating detailed Play-Doh sculptures with the other hand for my preschooler, and while bouncing my toddler up and down on my knees. So, I truly can spell....and really well at that. My problem here is the multitasking aspect of things.

I remember when multitasking entailed pouring a glass of vodka and cran in the VIP of some club or another while smiling brilliantly......sigh.....

Model Tourists

When you model abroad you are usually too busy doing castings and working to actually get to be a tourist. Although I always did a lot of on location bookings, I never really got to enjoy my surroundings in an exploratory way. Just kind of got to look out van windows or peer around doorways into courtyards and alleyways in between hair and make-up changes, but that was it. Meeting Jeffrey and his friends in Taipei made it so that we got to enjoy the perks of being tourists which really opened our eyes to the beauty of Taiwan beyond the bustling Taipei city limits.

On a Sunday during season that we all had booking-free, Jeffrey and Marcus talked us into taking a train out to the coastal town of Tamshui. It was a beautiful, peaceful hamlet where we got to eat the freshest seafood I had ever had to date, and where every female had to rush up and stop us to take pictures with Jeffrey. I have a shot somewhere of all of us posing with a group of about 8 or 9 teens as giddy as all get out. It was rad.

So....here we are in Tamshui....eating and blowing bubbles. The only things worth doing in life, eh? ;)