danapop

In December, James Wolcott wrote an incredible piece for Vanity Fair about the dumbing down of American culture due to the influx of reality television.

That article got me thinking of the Andy Warhol quote; “in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” So, here we are in 2010, with the MTV, CW, VH1, and E!, lineup of what television executives should be calling 15-minutes-of-fame programming.

The reality in my life is this; I’m the wife of a television and film writer and producer, and I’m about to get on my soapbox about the state of television in America. I’ve come up with this notion … reality TV is the new television “reel”-the new stepping stone for any sort of career in entertainment. Reality TV standouts parlay these vixens, airheads, and otherwise nobodies into other jobs-Kendra Wilkinson, Melissa Rycroft, Kyle Brandt, Lauren Conrad-line them up.

Because what we do know is that Kendra starred on Girls Next Door and it catapulted her into a spin-off show, a husband and a baby; Melissa went from being “blindsided” on The Bachelor’s “After the Rose” ceremony to a gig not just Dancing with the Stars, but as a special correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and 20/20. Go a few years back to when The Real World was in Chicago and Kyle was on it, he then got a reoccurring role on Days of our Lives. And who could forget LC, who starred on Laguna Hills as a mere 17-year-old high school senior, wham bam, now she’s a New York Times bestseller and clothing designer.

It’s as if it’s all a sociology experiment of he who puts themselves out there the most gets a bigger deal, to the nth degree. But, isn’t life kind of like that? He who wows the interviewer, get the job? He who writes the most niche/compelling blog, gets the book deal, then lands at HGTV…hi there Dooce. Or he who competes in a reality cooking show gets a three-show deal on that same network, then a hosting job on NBC this spring … fist pump Guy Fieri and your meal-ticket, Food Network.

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Kelli Fletcher & Allison Beale of George PR

A good publicist can be a journalist’s best friend. A bad one, my worst nightmare.

I “met” Allison Beale last year while trying to get an interview with a company she represented for danapop. She coordinated that interview, and then many others to follow. So, after many emails, interviews and a few music suggestions later … we’ve struck up a bit of friendship all without having ever met each other in person.

And for the record, she’s just about the furthest thing from a nightmare I’ve ever “met.” Her company, George PR turns 5 this month, so in honor of that and all the great things she and her sister Kelli do, here’s a little Q&A with the girls from George in which we talk Skype, sisters, cities, and of course, spin…

George PR, may this be your best year yet!

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As many Facebookers so eloquently put it-not every brunette looks like Kate Beckinsale. Natch.

A couple of weeks back Facebook decided to make it Doppelgänger week. Grr. I didn’t participate.

Reason? I always get frustrated with these sorts of things because my girlfriends and sisters get compared to really gorgeous celebrities.

Like these:

And, me? Well, here’s who I’ve been told I look like:

So, lemme get this straight … an 8-year old precocious tomboy with the old-lady name of Ramona, a celebrity who often looks as if she just finished sucking on a lemon, and the mousy daughter on Life Goes On.

Awesome.

But, celebrity analysis always wants to put me in a different category (err nationality) all together with these as my top matches.

I give you Lucy Lui and Lisa Ling … um gorge, but I’m not Chinese-American. Although, admittedly I get mistaken for other nationalities often–Chinese being the most common, as well as, anywhere in the Pacific Island region. Post beach vacation I apparently look like a native from Guam.

My twin sister did a fellowship in China several years back and when she showed her flatmates a picture of our family the first response was her friend pointing at me saying, “She one of us.” Screw you Scottish ancestry. You ask, “Am I Chinese?”  “Why yes, yes, I am.” But apparently one with a penchant for tart citrus and 10-speed bicycles.

Ah the art of Savoir-Faire.  Does it really come down to a good haircut and good champagne? Maybe.

Merriam Webster’s definition of the French noun is this:

sa⋅voir-faire

Capacity for appropriate action; especially: a polished sureness in social behavior.

I find it funny right now, in this economy, I’ve gotten a part-time job to fill in some holes with my freelance work while my husband and I both search for full-time work again post his layoff. Oh right, the funny (ironic) part–the 20 hours a week I am working at a gourmet retail store called Bella Cucina Artful Food is the best 20 hours a week I spend. What does that say? I adore it. I love my coworkers, love the product, love our customers and honestly cannot believe I get paid to chat about food all day. That’s interesting to me, considering I’ve spend the better part of my adult life getting the good degree, landing the coveted position at top companies–and for what? To find out I adore retail (or maybe it’s the chatting about luxurious foods all day part)?

At any rate, I don’t think Mireille Guiliano (the queen of Savoir Faire) would be all that surprised. See, she was CEO of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne and took it to 25% share of the market while she was at the helm (she was there from 1984 until her retirement in 2007). And she’s recently written a fabulous business book called Women, Work & The Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility.

This little gem is one part business book, one part style and etiquette. The perfect read in today’s corporate culture.

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In keeping with tradition, it’s time for the annual playlist fitting of all the turkey and tension your family can handle. This year’s list combines all the components of both food and family dysfunction with a side of past relationship awkwardness. The whole mess equals a true symbol of going home for the holidays in music form.

Here’s to not taking our issues, others, or ourselves too seriously this season. Oink oink, my good man!
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I was at an event a while back and one of the main topics of discussion was the definition of a hipster. Folks, these are not brain surgery conversations. No one is splayed out across an operating table.

The word actually originated in the 1940s, used to describe those on the fringe of society (first used to define the Jazz subculture). But, for argument’s sake, here are a few things that I’ve come up with; all based on my own observations as to what truly defines the modern day hipster (which, by the way, isn’t considered outskirts any longer). Any combination of these items matter and not a whole lot changes the scope with gender (except for noted facial hair).

1.    Occupation
2.    Attire
3.    Overall Appearance
4.    Hobbies
5.    Ride
6.    Family

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Co-ops and collectives are nothing new. Forms of them date back to the both the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries. But, lately, there’s been a bit of resurgence,  and I’m not complaining.

I like the idea of a joint venture of like-minded folks and ideas. Particularly in this economy, the business model has morphed, and if you haven’t changed with it, you just might be folding. My friend, Amy Leavell Bransford of New Moon Skincare so gets that.

Amy is a lot of things (wife, momma of two adorable sons, daughter of the great environmentalist and musician Chuck Leavell … yes, that Chuck Leavell – the Rolling Stones keyboardist and of the Mother Nature Network). But, one of the things I admire most about her is her business sense. She is one the best estheticians in Atlanta and is the only Dr. Hauschka trained and certified person in the state of Georgia. Recently she launched Aviary, her idea of a beauty collective … this little house of creative, organic beauty has some very busy birds…
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Surf Diva Head Instructor, Crystal Simpson | Photo by Moses Slovatizki | Property of Surf Diva

The word diva has gotten a bad rap. Maybe it’s from the press getting their hands on Mariah Carey’s tour rider or some D-list reality “star” traveling with a 10 + entourage complete with an assistant and a hair extension team. All I know is you generally don’t want to be called one.

But, this was not always the case. The origins of the word come from the Latin word for goddess, or the feminine of god. See, no bad connotation there.

Twin sisters Izzy and Coco are divas, but of the best kind … of the surf. I’ve been a fan of their company, Surf Diva for years and every so often I’ll email my sisters with pleas of heading to one of its two locales for a full week of surfing–with outlets in Costa Rica and California, honestly, it’s hard to choose…

As you read this, I’m packing for a trip to Santa Cruz with my sisters, where I’m hoping surfing is in order. Until then, an interview with the Surf Divas themselves will have to suffice–we talk fashion, fitness, family, and the surf culture.

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I’ve practiced yoga just shy of a decade now. One of the things I love most about it is that my practice is always evolving and changing. Since it’s become pretty engrained into my being, words like om have unfortunately lost their significance on me. So, I’m always appreciative when something comes along to remind me.

Enter Asha Patel Designs, which just launched a new collection called Threads. I am not a huge fan of buying things just to have them, so when items fall more into the want category than the need, I want to have a deeper reason for getting them. Asha combines my need for yoga with my want for a well-designed piece of jewelry. This creative guru juggles her design work with a full time job, a husband and role as a mother, and yet somehow manages to find balance in it all.

Our Q&A covers everything from creative inspiration as a soccer mom  (err mum) to cross-culture living and the new direction in her work. Namaste.
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When I launched danapop I had no idea that there would actually be someone with the name or a similar name. I mean, you do all the searches for domain stuff, you try to come up with something that’s brandable, and reflective of you … and danapop fit and I had no idea about this Dana Poplawski. A.k.a–Dana Pop (as her friends and coworkers, as best as I can gather, like to call her).

In short, I get hit often with email invites to parties and requests to join groups–she sounds like she has a pretty fabulous life, in all honesty. It reminds me of that Friends episode where Monica’s credit card gets stolen and the person who stole it is having a much better time than she is.

It got me thinking–what about those people who have the unfortunate names of someone else.

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Photo Courtesy marthastewart.com

At our house, summer events are in full force, which means our weekends are loaded with travel and good times. From weddings, graduations, baby showers, and engagement parties to less formal functions like barbecues, reunions, and restaurant openings – you name it; our iCal is reminding us to be there.

Whenever I look at the stack of invites, my first thought generally doesn’t go to, “what do we want to attend” but more along the lines of, “what will I wear?” So, here’s some of the cutest stuff I’ve got my eye on. Hopefully, you’ll find something here that’ll work, whatever the occasion.

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An ode to the season of heat…the ultimate road trippin’ summer set playlist loaded with lots of oldies and some new goodies, perfect for parties or long rides on the open highway…

Load up the iPod, gather your friends, get out the map, throw caution and inhibitions into the wind…Jack Kerouac would be so proud.

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I’ve always been drawn to glass. From my ridiculous collection of wine goblets and barware to blown glass home accessories and sculptures bursting with vivid pops of color. So what better way to nourish my glass obsession than wearing it?

Kathleen Plate may not be a household name, but her work, Smart Glass, is. This remarkable jewelry line was way ahead of its eco time. She’s cutting edge, creative, and yes, very, very smart.

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Photo illustration courtesy of The Economist

I wonder what William Randolph Hearst would think about the notion of blogging. Would Ernest Hemingway have traded his typewriter for a laptop with a super fast wireless connection to update his loyal readers with his latest musings…

Went to the cellar. Drank three liters of wine. I lost all track of time. Stopped by Sloppy Joe’s. Had a conversation with some guy, called himself Danny. He showed me the contents of his knapsack. They included an elephant tusk, British pounds, swatches of fabric woven from the Incas and a withered photograph of him as a young boy, sitting in the front seat of his father’s Hudson Hornet. After that, I headed home to pet the cats.

I’ve been thinking about journalism a lot lately. I guess you could say that I’ve been a part of the industry since birth – my father was a print journalist – a reporter in the Army and later a public affairs officer. I loved hearing him talk about covering 1967’s Six- Day War or transporting high-profile prisoners to Ft. Leavenworth. I just knew that I would eventually follow suit. And I did. I graduated in 2000 with my B.S. in Broadcast from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas (on the six-year plan).

I remember my father saying how broadcast was the next step in the industry (it sounds archaic to even say less than a decade later). So, in theory, print bred broadcast (TV and radio), which bred online, which bred blogs. And so it goes.

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Everything old is new again, and so it goes. Maybe it’s the economy, maybe it’s the fact that formulaic “reality” television has run its course as a source of entertainment. But, suddenly, I’m seeing everything in retro with a resurgence in all things mid-twentieth century, and women taking up knitting, sewing and the iconic Potluck supper.

Here are the trends making the retro rounds…
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