Hey Glamazons! Whew...what a tumultuous past couple of weeks I've had! I promise I haven't been ignoring you guys (or friends either...sorry if I haven't called you back or forgot to make an appearance at your recent parties lol).

I was scrambling to try and find a place to live. If you don't know by now, one of the hardest things to do in NY (besides finding your dream job and a cute, straight man with money) is finding a place to live. And, even more ubiquitous to me, is finding your very own place to live....which I did! Hallelujah!

Even before I moved to NY, visions of Carrie Bradshaw's cute studio apartment were floating in my head. I just knew that once I moved to NY that I would not only find my very own place to live (just like hers in fact!) but that I would also land my dream job as a magazine editor. Well, fast forward a couple of years, and things didn't quite work out as I had planned. Not only could I not even afford my own place to live (we're talking starting rates of $1,500/month...which to me was like saying $1 million a month!) but I also ended up working in retail hell a little bit longer than I had planned (so glad I got out of that one! whew!)

As I sit and bask in the glow of my cute new studio apartment, I'd like to take a moment and just reflect on my long, hard housing journey in NY with you:

1. From the very beginning, craigslist.com has always been my friend. I found my first apartment on this site in Harlem while still in Texas. The ad posted for the apartment said that the tenant was looking to sublet her place (I remember reading it and actually having to look up the word sublet because I had no idea what that meant) while she toured with her acting company. The price was $800/month, included furniture, another roommate and a washer and dryer. I was sold! With no clue as to how it looked or felt, I moved in. Well, I spent the last of my savings to pay the first months rent and deposit (a total of $1,600) and had nothing left when I got there. My room was spacious, but the view was of a hulled out building next door. The neighborhood was sketchy once the sun went down, I was always starving and survived on my roommates vegetarian dishes and PB&J sandwiches. Then, my roommate decided she didn't want to renew the lease, so I had to find a new place to live.

2. While working in retail hell, I made a friend who said I could move into his extra bedroom at his apartment in Jersey City. So, I moved to Jersey City. I might also mention that my "bedroom" was the size of a tennis shoe box (I've seen office cubes that were bigger!) and my full size bed took up all of that room. (Side note: the girl I was subletting from gave me the bed and I was so happy! I still have it...it's one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept on.) However, the rent was super cheap, so I made do.

3. Once the lease was up there, my friend and I got a place in the city...so back to Harlem I went. By then I had gotten out of retail hell (he was still in it), was starting to make more friends and was actually able to afford something else to eat besides PB&J sandwiches! Things were looking up...until I got an eviction notice. Unknown to me, my roommate was not making enough money to pay the rent. We had to go to housing court...it was a big 'ole mess!

4. Back to craigslist I went and then found a place in Brooklyn. This was great because most of my newly made friends lived there and I'd be able to see them more. Plus, I had heard that the summers in BK were amazing and I couldn't wait to find out more for myself. The apartment had 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms...so I had 3 roommates and stole one of the bathrooms for myself (lol). Everything was cool until one of the roommates decided to move in their significant other without asking...and the significant other was not exactly a nice person. Soon my apartment began to feel more like a college dorm and I was logging in some long hours at my great new magazine job. The last thing I wanted to do was to come home to all of those people, so time to leave again!

5. This time, I hooked up with two other friends determined to find a place. Unfortunately, things didn't work out at the last minute and I had to be out of my old place. Panic! Thank goodness that I have a big mouth and told everyone I could about my housing situation ("Um, I'm about to be homeless...does anyone need a roommate or know of any place?!" was my plea.)

Luckily it paid off because I found an affordable place uptown through a former co-worker...with NO roommates! I immediately did a jig...and, fast forward to now, that's where I am.

Living with me, myself and I. It's such a great feeling! I relish every second of it. What I don't relish is all those boxes around me that still need to be unpacked...sigh. But, here I am! A single gal living in the city in her very own apartment! Oh, what a dream come true! I'm one more step closer to getting to Carrie Bradshaw status! Now if only I could get a book deal and find my Mr. Big =)

xoxo

Ferocia

Hey Glamazons,While 2009 was the year of affordable designer collaborations and tough-luxe style, it also brought us hammer pants, nipple pasties and designs from Lindsey Lohan (scary!!).Now that the year has come to a close, we're nominating the Top Five Fashion Fails of 2009 that MUST be left behind. All disobedient readers of this post won't make it past the end of January. Yes, that is a threat.FASHION FAIL #1 - Skinny Jeans for MenYes - baggy jeans died with gangster rap in the 90's but that shouldn't mean that men can parade around in stretch jeans with 5% lycra. There's no valid reason that your jeans should be tighter than a Kim Kardashian dress.A fitted look (not too baggy, not too tight) is ideal. Here's the test: If you can't get into your jeans without shimmying or sitting on the bed to pull yourself in, you have failed at life.Besides the obvious hygiene issue (I mean isn't breathability a necessity for you guys?), it's unfair for me to have to pretend like you don't notice me noticing the unsightly bulge threatening to bust through all that lycra for a breath of fresh air.And if skinny jeans for women look best with stilettos---because they make your feet appear smaller, how do you think you look with the boat-sized, giant shoes you pair with your skinnies? Disaster.com. Please do better. FAIL.FASHION FAIL #2 - Harem PantsWearing harem pants didn't make you look exotic, fashion-forward or sensual. You looked like you had an adult diaper sewn into the seat of your pants and wore them with a purse and stilettos.We tried to give you advice, but you wouldn't listen. We clearly said: look for harem pants that aren't super baggy. Never did we suggest to have extra material flowing in the wind like a Tyra weave. But the bigger the pants, the more you liked them.Unwieldy and just unflattering, these pants were nothing short of hideous and just wouldn't go away for the better part of 2009. Try as we might, we couldn't feel sorry for the otherwise beautiful people that put on an upside down parachute and Louboutins as though it was attractive.If Hammer wore them and lost all his money, and they made Beyonce look crazy, why would you think they'd work for us normal folks? FAIL.FASHION FAIL #3 - LeotardPlease don't hate me for saying this, but putting on a leotard won't magically make your legs appear like Beyonce's or Amber Rose's.Those dimples that were there before---but thankfully hidden under jeans---will be free for everyone to see in your leotard and boots. And if your legs look like toothpicks, a leotard will make it appear like you're walking on stilts. Just not okay.Besides the fact that unless you're coming off the stage from a (real) Fosse performance or walking down Hunter's point, there's no acceptable reason to be out in a leotard and hooker boots in public. Since when is it okay to come out before you finished getting dressed?Please do better next year. FAIL.FASHION FAIL #4 - Ed HardyWhen Ed Hardy the designer won't even wear Ed Hardy, you know you have a problem. At one point, the trendy, edgy, tattooed designs were selling like Susan Boyle. Now they're collecting dust in the stores along with Rihanna's CD (I kid!).Truthfully, once the crop of cool, bad kids stopped wearing Ed Hardy designs, and the Snookies and Situations of the world started buying them in bulk, there was nothing anyone could do to help. They were banished to No-Man's land where old Fubu, Mecca and Iceberg garments go to die.Ed Hardy, get a new Creative Director, makeover, celebrity spokesperson and maybe you can return (a la Phat Farm). If not, FAIL.FASHION FAIL #5 - SpandexPlease Lord let my days of seeing liquid leggings stuffed to the brim with thigh meat be far behind. I cannot, in good faith, endure the sight of women in black liquid leggings that, as some guy on Twitter said, look like walking oil spills.And Nicki Minaj, camel toe is a vicious, evil, ungodly vision---and one of many signs that you need to pry yourself out of the leggings (we know they took forever to get on) and do away with them for 2010.Other signs? Repeat trips to the gyno (as again, breathability is essential to health!). When the waistband and seams leave a red imprint on your stomach and legs (Yes, this happens. It's like you held your legs in a chokehold all day. That's gotta leave a bruise). FAIL.What do you think Glamazons? Am I wrong to curse the day that Ed Hardy and Unisex Skinny Jeans became a trend? What Fashion Fails did I miss? Speak now...so we don't have to suffer through another decade of bad fashion.Kisses,Coutura