Category Archives: Travel

I was in Reims, France with the lovely Veuve Clicquot team to learn every little thing about champagne and learn about their latest creation, CLICQUOT RICH. We began our trip at the exclusive Hotel Du Marc. It’s a luxurious house turned private estate owned by the Veuve Clicquot family, and only used to host parties and invited guests. Talk about one very special experience.

But let’s start from the beginning. “Veuve” means widow in French and it was Madame Clicquot who took over the family champagne business when her husband died unexpectedly, leaving her widowed at a young age. The company then became called Veuve Clicquot and we believe it was their daughter Clementine who was the inspiration for the iconic yellow seen on the label. Madame Clicquot had some major girl power. Back in the day, women weren’t ones running businesses, but Madame Clicquot is what I like to call a GIRL BOSS. She wanted to continue the family business, perfect the production of her wine, and build the luxurious Veuve Clicquot brand.

Now let me take you back to Hotel Du Marc. This extremely chic hotel has a brilliant library, a dining room unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and a stunning lavender staircase, inspired by the rich hues of the grapes used in each wine. On the second floor are rooms that each represent a different country. I fell in love with the seafoam green walls of the guest bedroom representing France, and the extra large pink kimono draping along the wall of the Japanese room. Each part of this hotel was breathtaking. It was only a short drive from the Veuve Clicquot cellars… where the wine is made, left to age for years, before being distributed and enjoyed all around the world.

I am so excited to introduce you to Veuve Clicquot Rich. Rich is inspired by mixology, and that’s why we call it CLICQUOLOGY. Clicquot Rich is a bit more sweet due to its higher concentration of sugar. It’s meant for drinking in a large wine glass, served over ice, and accompanied with fresh ingredients including pineapple, celery, tea, pepper, cucumber, or grapefruit. For me, I personally love adding in the green and red bell peppers. The spice gives it all a little kick! It’s delicious and refreshing. It’s totally my summer rooftop drink. My friends are going to be obsessed. And it’s nice going to champagne for a change, over a wine or a classic cocktail. I love this new, innovative take on mixology and champagne.

CLICQUOLOGY took a while to perfect. Finding the right amount of sweetness. Finding the right fruits and veggies that complement the champagne well. But it was worth the wait!

Here is a little insight on what goes into producing champagne. This process takes 4 years!

1. The grapes are harvested by hand in September in the vineyards of Reims, France.

2. Gentle press to a juice, then it becomes base wine and goes through fermentation.

3. It’s blended and bottled in February to sit for 3 years.

4. The second fermentation. Yeast and sugar are added and natural carbon dioxide.

5. Open the bottle, remove the years, and add alcohol.

6. Last step is dosage. This determines if you are making something sweet or dry, or something really potent, like a dessert wine. The Clicquot Rich is in between. It’s not a vintage. It’s a bit more sweet and made to be mixed with fruits or vegetables to enhance the champagne’s flavor.

So now you know a bit about champagne, straight from the city of Reims! See you at the NYC polo match this weekend.

// Finders Keepers top, Milly pants, AGAIN Collection fringed dress, Jocelyn fur coat, Dear Frances mules, Ax + Apple jewelry, Dannijo earrings //

TAGS: Clicquology, France, Reims, veuve clicquot

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

32 Comments

HOW TO SURVIVE A FESTIVAL WHEN ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS PASS OUT

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Style, Travel

Team Suarez has so far survived SXSW in Austin, Texas and we just tackled Coachella in Indio, California with our Reef Girls crew. Where to next? Can you say…BONNAROOOOOOO! This one may be the craziest festival of the bunch. There’s a lot more body paint, hoola hoops, and some of the best music all in one sweaty field. Yes, our hashtag is #justpassingthrough but there have been times when we were literally #justpassingOUT. I love Tennessee. The accents. Those Southern dishes. Walking around with a beer belly. I just remember the whole camping experience at Bonnaroo last year and boy, did I learn a lot about the best festival survival tips.

Tip #1: Don’t sleep in your car.

Unless there are BUGS in your tent. I’d just seen the midnight show of Billy Joel and headed back to our tent to find a gigantic spider right by the head of my pillow. Screaming, I grabbed my blanket and sweared the whole way to our SUV. Yes, I was the girl in the driver’s seat only to wake up with a really bad neck cramp. The next nights I sucked it up and slept on my cot with my wet towel as a blanket. At least I was laying flat.

Tip #2: Do take a shower.

Babywiping is acceptable for day 1. But after that, nobody wants to come near you.

Tip #3: Do sleep in.

You don’t want to go hard in the morning, and realize by 2pm that you’ve fallen asleep in the middle of the grass only to be woken up with a bad face burn. Oh, and you just got stomped on by a bunch of topless teenagers in booty shorts.

Tip #4: Pack snacks and always have a bottle of water on you.

Healthy snacks! Like grapes, nuts, and Cliff bars. Eating the festival’s pizza or Chinese noodles daily combined with your beer belly is not cute when wearing your tiny high waisted shorts. Plus, you’ll for sure be hungry at 2am when all the food stands are closed and you’re stuck crying to your friend for food.

Tip #5: Dry shampoo and deodorant are key.

They’re easy. You won’t look like a total bum. And you can still wave your arms up and dance like a long haired hippie to Florence and the Machine.

Tip #6: Bring a jacket.

Because if someone breaks into your tent and steals all of your things, you’ll have your jacket as a blanket to sleep with that night. Trust me, it can get freezing at night.

Tip #7: Dance.

Embrace your sweaty surroundings and let your freak flag fly.

Tip #8: Take a lot of photos so your friends get really jealous.

Even though half the time you’re crying in your tent wishing the band would stop playing at 4 am while you’re trying to sleep and you’re calling Mom to pick you up.

The beauty of festival season is getting a really bad sun burn, mosquito bites, and still trying to look fly for your Instagram pics. Happy Festival surviving everyone. See you at Bonnaroo.

– CAMP tee, Intermix leather shorts, Liebeskind backpack

– Roe + May white mini dress, Perverse red sunglasses

– Haute Hippie fringed leather skirt

– Reef sandals

TAGS: Coachella, Festival Seaon, Tips

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

26 Comments

SOFT HEARTS CLUB

Monday, May 9, 2016

Style, Travel

“Having a soft heart in a cruel world is courage, not weakness.”

I’ll tell you a little secret. I started reading my horoscope daily because I got a bit into tuning in with what the stars are trying to tell me. More so now than ever has life’s just pure crazy. Non-stop. Nuts! My calendar never stops growing, but I really love tackling project after project. My mind thrives off of creativity. People always stop me and go “how are you still on? how are you still awake?” My energy levels have been at an all time high. But it’s a New Moon…a time to kind of stop and think and reflect a bit. I think I read my horoscope not as guidance or telling the future or how I should go about my day. It’s pretty entertaining, but I find it as a fun way to sort of pause and rethink the decisions I make daily more carefully, and finding balance in all aspects of my life. It’s like Chinese feng shui. I grew up with feng shui thanks to my heritage, and yes, I still freak out if my bed isn’t in the right place, or if there’s a cluttered corner. New Moon for me brings a fresh start.

These images were shot by Dylana this past month back home in LA and it’s the exact spot we would shoot back in 2009. She always captures me in my most natural state and I’m lucky we get to work together every single day. Can you believe it’s been 7 whole years? 7 years since Dylana picked up our dad’s old Canon SLR in the backyard and starting shooting my outfits after a day of model castings and post them to the Interweb, only to find that thousands of people were watching. We’d sneak into the back of the local church just to catch magic hour through the basketball fences. We were just teenagers, finding fuel in documenting our coming-of-age. Growing up in our work, our visions, running our own businesses, and in our wardrobes. Making our own lookbooks, our own story boards, our own songs, our own voice. Yep, I still would wear those old combat boots and denim mini skirts to this day! My style hasn’t changed much and neither has the little kid inside of us. We were learning to finally love ourselves, our bodies, and embracing what made us unique. Embracing our heritage and where we came from. Embracing why we didn’t look, think, or act like all the kids down the block. Embracing our weirdness. If I wasn’t so bored of normalcy and inspired to do things differently, none of this would of happened. I’m pretty excited to share my journey this coming weekend at Westfield Garden State Plaza with WhoWhatWear (see the #BOSSNOTES invite on Saturday, May 14th 12-2pm here). I just advise to go with your gut, do what you love, plan, organize, work hard, and love yourself and love those around you. But boy did I not know that NATALIE OFF DUTY’s cult following would bring my modeling work to NYC, let alone that writing, photography, and digital branding would be a full-time career. Everyday brings something new. And you know you love doing something when you can’t see yourself NOT doing it. All of this…you and me is therapeutic.

By the way, is it too soon to think of getting another house in California? I’ve already started looking. Which brings me back to this beautiful grassy hill. An empty lot with views of the mountains. A brand new dress with nowhere to where it. Turkeys and peacocks roaming around the trees. My heart finally full.

// The Jet Set Diaries dress, Samantha Wills cuff and ring //

TAGS: california, home, LA, new beginnings

Monday, May 9, 2016

35 Comments

CITY OF CHAMPAGNE | REIMS

Monday, May 2, 2016

Style, Travel

We had just landed in Paris for our Veuve Clicquot adventure in the beautiful city of champagne: Reims, France. I’ve got a full rundown coming soon for you and I can’t wait to fill you in on all things CHAMPAGNE and take you on a private tour of the exclusive Hotel Du Marc. Talk about one magical, magical trip. From Paris we took a 1.5 hour drive to Reims and arrived just during magic hour. It was a sleepy Sunday afternoon, and I had to cure my jetlag with a good cup of coffee. Quiet little cafes and empty roads. Just the sounds of birds chirping by the ferris wheel. But it was just what we needed before what turned out to be a wild few days of literally popping bottles…but you know, with a certain je ne sais quoi. Our team of editors and photographers were in high spirits despite the fact that we all flew the longest flights into France from around the world. But all was okay as soon as we walked around Reims, for the sunlight in France somehow always bounces off the pale buildings into a gold hue that I just go gah-gah for and makes you forget any sort of jet lag that may me overtaking us. Bonjour!