1. A guy makes you listen to his own CD over and over while he is singing along…
2. A guy does a lap-dance, shakes his ass in your face…(Did I mention it is on a first date?)
3. A guy leaves you three voice messages saying “if you get this message before 11:30pm, call me…(What’d happen if I call at 11:35pm?)
4. A guy says about 20 times that he is “god” and likes to be the center of attention…
5. A guy orders a customized dinner, where each single ingredient is a substitute and then says “I’m not picky, I just know what I want and I watch what I eat…” (hmm, does it mean that I don’t?)
6. A guys sends you 10 emails with pictures of his dog…and on each picture the dog is dressed up…
7. A guy takes you to a restaurant and refuses to eat bread…A guy takes you to a movie and tells you that he is protesting a 5-dollar popcorn and a $3 candy…
8. A guy takes you out and the next day, everyone, including a cleaning lady, Starbucks barista and a vet knows about you…
9. A man tells you “relationships are scary to me”…(Did I mention that he is 38?)
10. You go on a blind date and in 5 minutes both of you realize that not only you have met before, but you have also had sex…
About: Alisa
A breed of a uniquely opposite-attracted people, a scientist “into the wild� and a humanitarian cosmo girl, I can officially call myself a perfect mud. I’m a “product� of two intellectuals who shared both practical and romantic genes with me. I grew up in Europe, traveling around with my scientist dad and I've lived in USA for half of my life. And even though USA is my home, I'm more European than an American, going back to the roots of Catherine the Great and Christianity eras. I have studied graphic design, business, public relations and journalism. Having traveled to and lived in more than 14 countries, I’ve always been a sucker for culture and nature. I live by new experiences and challenges. I would read anything from Dostoyevsky (in original, I must add) to US Magazine. I walk and breathe with passion for life and people. Little things can make me happy. I see the leaves change – and I’m happy. I see Tuscany blooming – and I’m happy. I smell my grandma's homemade pies – and I’m happy. Ok, you get the point. I speak Russian, German and a little bit of French. I have worked in fashion, advertising, marketing, publishing, film production and public relations. And it does not end here.
- There are more yoga places than Chinese restaurants in China town
- No parking except for valet parking
- Great choice of very healthy restaurants
- Waiters actually suggest substitutes for your meal to make it even more healthy
- There are more organic food stores than meters on the street
- There are no apartments cheaper than $2,000
- Bikers actually do exist in this neighborhood
- There are open air Pilates classes in nearby parks
- It’s all about keds and Bermudas…and of course – the aviator sunglasses
- All men look very good…for other men
- Men…or should I say, gay men dominate the feminine population in the area
- It’s all about Rich & Skinny jeans and espadrilles
- Street newsstands have Vogue USA, Vogue UK, Vogue Paris, Vogue Italy, Vogue Russia and Vogue Australia…the selection that hardly can be found at even specialty book stores
- Cheap food grabs at local cafes actually do taste better than at $$$ restaurants
- Only here the Starbucks cafe can coexist with the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cafe on the same block…and still make profit
[Read more →] - If you don’t have a car.
- If you doubt your confidence.
- If you are easily influenced.
- If you are obsessed with celebrities.
- If you are not selective with who you want to be friends with and who you do not want to be friends with.
- If you do not know how Los Angeles is “landscaped”.
- If you do not know ANYONE in Los Angeles.
Dating in Tinseltown: 20 Ways to Know It’s Going No Where!
February 6th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · No Comments
→ No CommentsTags: Editorials · Lifestyle · Living
Dating in Tinseltown: 20 Ways to Know It’s Going No Where!
February 6th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · No Comments
1. A guy makes you listen to his own CD over and over while he is singing along…
2. A guy does a lap-dance, shakes his ass in your face…(Did I mention it is on a first date?)
3. A guy leaves you three voice messages saying “if you get this message before 11:30pm, call me…(What’d happen if I call at 11:35pm?)
4. A guy says about 20 times that he is “god” and likes to be the center of attention…
5. A guy orders a customized dinner, where each single ingredient is a substitute and then says “I’m not picky, I just know what I want and I watch what I eat…” (hmm, does it mean that I don’t?)
6. A guys sends you 10 emails with pictures of his dog…and on each picture the dog is dressed up…
7. A guy takes you to a restaurant and refuses to eat bread…A guy takes you to a movie and tells you that he is protesting a 5-dollar popcorn and a $3 candy…
8. A guy takes you out and the next day, everyone, including a cleaning lady, Starbucks barista and a vet knows about you…
9. A man tells you “relationships are scary to me”…(Did I mention that he is 38?)
10. You go on a blind date and in 5 minutes both of you realize that not only you have met before, but you have also had sex…
→ No CommentsTags: Editorials · Lifestyle · Living
LA obsession with Detox - Truth about Detoxing on Internet
February 1st, 2008 Written by: Alisa · No Comments
I’d like to share a funny story with you so that you don’t fall for the false information on the web, which happens more often that you’d think. Internet became a spider-web for the ones who know it little, and it became a golden mine for the ones who know it very well: from hikers to bloggers. Most of us, especially if we were born after 1970, have a pretty good idea about the Internet. We use it for work, school and personal entertainment. It’s an addiction, really. MySpace, Facebook – we all have accounts. In-person interaction has almost become obsolete – we order movie and airfare tickets online, we listen to radio and watch movies on the Internet, we read periodicals and even books online, we do banking and fresh food shopping online, we bargain on eBay and we read book reviews on Amazon and we even date online.
Not all of us hardly think, or double guess, if a source of information might be false and some of us fall into the trap of ordering weird things online and signing up for strange promotions. It happens to the best of us (there is no doubt.) I’ve just recently come across a very strange website with the information that shocked and disguised me. I was so nauseous from what I’ve seen and read that I immediately had to know the truth and called my dad who is a biologist.
→ No CommentsTags: Editorials · Health
Each Day is a Holiday…or Another Good Reason to Have a Martini
January 31st, 2008 Written by: Alisa · 1 Comment
It is bizarre to realize that there are so many holidays and “special” days each month (especially when I only have Christmas, Labor and Fourth of July days off?) Usually we do not feel the effect of the holidays in our 9-to-6 workday with a 10-day vacation. Perhaps that is why The Civil War broke down in 1861 - the Yankees wanted to do work without slaves and the Southerners wanted to work half as much but with slaves. Even our favorite people recognized the importance of a drink, from Plato to Hommer Simpson; they all had their own philosophy.
Here is a little taste of some amazing drinking quotes:
Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. –Ernest Hemmingway
Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me. –Winston Churchill
He was a wise man who invented beer. –Plato
Sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your drink. –Lady Astor to Winston Churchill
Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it. –His reply
→ 1 CommentTags: Editorials · Living
“Forbidden Fruit” Effect: What is the appeal of an unavailable woman or man?
January 31st, 2008 Written by: Alisa · 1 Comment
For a long time I was trying to understand what attracts a man or a woman to a person who is involved with someone else. According to Oscar Wilde, “There is nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman. It is a thing no married man knows anything about.” Is this why single men pursue married women, the appeal of their devotion to another man? A married or an involved woman is known to possess unexplained sexuality: a sparkle in her eyes, a dreamy look, a satisfied smile. Once a man told me, single women sometimes scare guys because they have a desperate look. I asked him, “How can you tell? What is this look?” “It’s all in the eyes” – he said.
→ 1 CommentTags: Environment · Internet · Lifestyle · Living
Beauty Tricks to Feeling Sexy When You Are Not - Thai Massage
January 30th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · 1 Comment
If you’re in the mood to pamper yourself my advice is to take it all the way and make your body feel as catered to and the rest of your life. What I’m telling you is – get yourself a freakin’ good Thai massage; omit the happy ending.
I could never find a place satisfying enough (I like it hard and rough, otherwise I can do massage myself) nor could I find a place where I wouldn’t leave half of my weekly salary. A local friend of mine (she is my guru into LA food and beauty places) suggested I go to Chiang Mai Thai Massage on Hollywood Boulevard. I panicked, what good massage can be found on Hollywood Boulevard? Who goes to Hollywood Boulevard after you move to LA?
→ 1 CommentTags: Health
You know you are in West Hollywood when:
January 29th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · No Comments
→ No CommentsTags: Local LA
Beauty Tricks to Feel Sexy When You Don’t – Alternatives to Bottox
January 29th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · 1 Comment
Botox and alternatives to Botox just scream LA. In the city where it is rude to be old and not pretty, with saggy breasts and double chin, bad hair and naturally yellow teeth, everyone would feel inferior to pretty, skinny and young. LA is the place where plastic surgeons co-exists with Chinese take out and, spa and tanning salons. We spend our weekends at a bookstore not reading history and science books, but tabloids. We spend nights not watching CNN and PBS, but E! Entertainment and The Insider and we religiously seek out the gyms with a wide selection of elliptical machines and treadmills and diet alternatives at vitamin shops.
If you can’t afford gyms or feel intimidated by beautiful people next to you on a treadmill (yes, I remember my workouts at Equinox in New York, when I felt the only girl who weighted more than 90 pounds and had a flat, but no ripped stomach) there are still solutions. So don’t give up.
→ 1 CommentTags: Editorials · Health
Beauty Tricks to Feel Sexy When You Don’t – Alternatives to Bottox
January 29th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · 1 Comment
Botox and alternatives to Botox just scream LA. In the city where it is rude to be old and not pretty, with saggy breasts and double chin, bad hair and naturally yellow teeth, everyone would feel inferior to pretty, skinny and young. LA is the place where plastic surgeons co-exists with Chinese take out and, spa and tanning salons. We spend our weekends at a bookstore not reading history and science books, but tabloids. We spend nights not watching CNN and PBS, but E! Entertainment and The Insider and we religiously seek out the gyms with a wide selection of elliptical machines and treadmills and diet alternatives at vitamin shops.
If you can’t afford gyms or feel intimidated by beautiful people next to you on a treadmill (yes, I remember my workouts at Equinox in New York, when I felt the only girl who weighted more than 90 pounds and had a flat, but no ripped stomach) there are still solutions. So don’t give up.
→ 1 CommentTags: Editorials · Health
LA Diets: Bon Appetite Alert…or the Agony of longing, deprivation, and unfulfilled desire.
January 29th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · 2 Comments
If I had to choose between food and writing, air and writing, or, for that matter, between sex and writing - I would go with the latter. There are many subject matters that are not addressed by those hundreds and hundreds of magazines on the bookshelves at my favorite Barnes and Noble bookstore. Perhaps they are too domestic? The authors want us to see the bigger picture of a problem rather than to see what is under our nose: every day, every minute and every second.
We are lost in ideas, choices, emotions, physical appearances, sicknesses, weaknesses…lost to define our mission in this life, because the stakes and pressure are just too high to act on. You are not allowed to be politically incorrect, even in your own shower. You are not allowed to be weak, not even by nature of a human being. But you are allowed to have a shrink. Even a shrink has a shrink. But you are not allowed to talk to your family and friends about problems. You are not allowed to enjoy food, because it is a sign of future obesity (that is what we are unconsciously pressured to believe).
→ 2 CommentsTags: Health
Pinkberry arrives to West Hollywood
January 28th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · No Comments
Pinkberry at dusk and down, before an espresso and after a gym. It is all about the newcomer who became West Hollywood best friend, popular with kids and adults, on a date and during a family randevous.
It’s an ice-cream, but it also tastes like a yogurt, a souffle or a smoothie. It has a universal appeal and a thousand of flavors and toppings to choose from. From coco pebbles to Cap n Crunch. Don’t know what I’m talking about, visit the site or better - come for a live experience to a store near you.
868 Huntley Dr at Santa Monica - Map
Need to prep yourself before a trip to the Pinkberry parlor (study the terminology and pick the location?) visit the cheat site: www.pinkberry.com
→ No CommentsTags: Restaurants
Cityzine List: Don’t Move to Los Angeles IF…
January 28th, 2008 Written by: Alisa · 1 Comment
Don’t Move to Los Angeles IF:
→ 1 CommentTags: Editorials · LA Backdrop · Local LA
