ALBUQUERQUE, NM LIVIN' ON THE WESTSIDE

ALBUQUERQUE

 

So much has happened since 2013; I left Long Beach, CA for Albuquerque, NM to be with my sister who you will meet as this blog goes on.  Long Beach proved to be a mistake and we will not bash Long Beach, suffice it to say, we could have chosen a 101 places better, my health deteriorated while in Long Beach, I never left the Apartment for the pain from my Peripheral Neuropathy, alas, we moved to Albuquerque, NM to be nearer my sister who does not seem to be in the best of health either, and since this is the only family I have left, I thought it important to make this move.

As you all know, I left New York City a hefty 233 pounds well, since moving to The Land of Enchantment I am down to 193 lbs.  When leaving NYC I donated all my designer clothes, but I saved my belts in hopes that one day, one day, I will be able to get in them once again, and well, that time has come I can fit all my designer belts save my Louis Vuitton, therefore, more weight must be lost.  The apartment complex I moved into which happens to be the nicest we have ever had since being together, Bay Ridge was cute but this place is much bigger and offers us a washer and dryer in the unit, dishwasher, two bathrooms and an office, bedroom as well and all very spacious, Habibi says I did a good job!  Albuquerque is a lot, well not a lot, like Long Beach in that one needs to drive while living here, therefore we have bought a Ford Focus, our bucket to get us around until we become completely and firmly planted her in ABQ.  Albuquerque is a down to earth kind of place where labels do not mean too much, but I do see girls pooching with their Michal Kors bags, or Coach.  BUT WE DO HAVEAN H&M here, I have not checked it out yet as I am not of the weight to be going in asking anything with my fat ass.  I am seriously working on this weight and will have it down and must order my clothe on line as there are not any High End store but Dillards here and even that has become a joke, but it beats MACY’s oh gawd, there are only two Macy’s Herald Square in NYC and the one in San Fran, these other things popping up all over the place are like a glorified JCPenny, and I am not knocking JCPenny at all. One walks into Macy’s here and you swear you had walked into Salvatore Ferragamo minus the comp Champagne at the door, it is the attitude, these folks act like they are the poo!  I do not throw shade, I mean this is ABQ I let them throw shade at me, because they are not knowing, my belt cost more than their entire get up and I smile and give them the awright!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

It has just dawned on me, I have never wished you my followers a proper HAPPY NEW YEAR…we go through so much in a year.  Accomplishments, promotions, and things we have never done or think that we would do, and alas we have Illness and deaths around this time of the year which makes us think “what is God thinking.”  It is not up to us to even try to think what God is thinking…oh it gets better, you still think of those who dearly departed, but not in a sad way but rather a joyous way, there are many who are suffering this brand new year let the creator comfort them.

For those who suffer the New Year’s holiday, it would be presumptuous of me to say; I know what you are going through, because I do not, and never will, but know, there is a big plan for you this season, big plans, just hold on tight and let the Universe, God, Allah, whatever you call God, let it have its way with you and enjoy…oh let this day be a day of happiness and of new possibilities, let this year be the year we cast all negative energy aside and start anew, let this year be great.

My fashionistas, hold tight your dreams, never let them fade and press on, press one when everybody is telling you no, press on, and if they are telling you no for your own good, you might want to listen, just sayin’.

Nevertheless, my wish is to wish you a very happy new year and may it be enlightening and prosperous.

 

Love

Hamilton

APRIL STAR DAVIS

 

April Star Davis is what she calls a Blue Collar Jewelry designer, she never creates for a season, nor does she follow trends.  April states she is inspired by “everything”, she has designed jewelry for many high profile individuals and her jewelry has been featured in many top Fashion Magazines.  Fashion stylist often uses her jewelry for their Fashion shoots.

April Star’s jewelry is eclectic many with a spiritual and new age bent.  I am particularly fond of her Crystal Bullets…for more on April Star Davis visit,

www.aprilstardavis.com

April is also what is called a Philanthropic Designer before the term came into vogue, she has just received her 501c3 nonprofit status with the hopes of starting Designing4Africa, which currently a portion of all her income is going to build an Orphanage for kid in the South Sudan called Little Stars.

Give her website a look and please, order something, help out Little Stars!

 

 

NEW DIGS IN CALIFORNIA

UPDATE:  we were to move in November 1^st  but then the management found that the bathroom had floor rot and decided it must be fixed before we moved in so they moved the date to December 1^st instead, they said it would take two weeks to fix, well as of date no work has been done on the bathroom, so it does not look like we will be moving in till after December, December what I have no idea, management said they would prorate the rent which is good, stressful but good.

Moving to California, I weighed a hefty 233 pounds and in three weeks I have lost seven pounds, this weight gain of mine is proving to be most taxing, I have never in my life weighed this much, I have been a wisp of a waif all my life and then moving to NYC I just blew up, I hope this move to California will prove healthful as far as my weight is concerned.  I have not been able to shop as I would like as my weight has gone up exponentially since moving back to NYC four years ago. 

The move back to NYC proved helpful in the fact I know why I left NYC in the first place, lol and it was the weather then as it is the weather again, this time it is the heat and humidity of the Summer, the last time it was the bone chilling cold, the winters were fine it was just the Summers that I could not deal with, and when my Doctor said a move to Arizona or Southern California would do my health some good, well seeing that I hate Arizona, my only choice would be back to sunny Southern California where I lived for 18 years, as it appears, California seems to be *home*.   I look forward to my legendary parties here in California, Birthday, Celebration of Life, and my Super Bowl parities and all the little get togethers in between.

ORLANDO DUGI

34 year old Orlando Dugi who is originally from Arizona, but now resides in Santa Fe is the newest member of Santa Fe Fashion Week.  Orlando has been designing women’s evening wear now for three years, this self taught designer received his first sewing class in middle school home economics class, and this was the catalyst for this designer who began by sewing dresses for his sister.

Orlando admits he is inspired by European Haute Couture and began to hand sew his creations just recently he began to use a sewing machine for his evening gowns, but says he still employs hand sewing for many parts of his designs.  Orlando asserts that it can take months to create one gown.  His last collection was called Opulence.

 

 

DEFY MI

 

Cody is the creative director of Defy Mi and is the newest designer to join onto the Santa Fe Fashion Week team, the 36 year old Phoenix, Arizona designer is Native American from the Navajo Nation, before designing clothes Cody was a Mathematics teacher for seven years.

Self taught designer of Defy Mi has learned much by working with other local designers and as a seamstress and alteration specialist she has a keen eye for detail, which she has obtained from Couture sewing,  Defy Mi also works with their clients for individual designs.

Defy Mi will be presenting their new collection this year which will consist of tailored pieces and easy separates with classic shapes with a contemporary twist

CREENISGAA DESIGNS

Linda Lavallee is the creative director of Creenisgaa designs, newest designer for Santa Fe Fashion Week, at 47 she has been designing hand crafted foot wear for 29 years, the product of three generation of manufacturing Foot Wear.  Linda is originally from Timber Bay, Saskatchewan Canada.

She was taught the fine art of boot making by the best of her elders and she also attended the Shoe School in Port Townsend, Washington.

The collection she is designing for SFFW will be based upon the Native American traditions of the Cree and Nisgaa Nations.  I look forward to seeing these designs at Santa Fe Fashion Week in November.