Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Rocking Your Curves is HAUTE!

No matter where I travel in the world, I represent the women who are thicker than super models, but just as beautiful.

My butt is bigger than most unless you live in the ATL... where thicker girls with hour glass figures rule! And that’s alright with me. I would often hide my assets with clothes that conceal but one day a man who made my heart smile asked, “Why do you hide it under a dress?” So when this guy who is super haute, sexy and smart encouraged me to let my curves outI did! I figured if he was cosigning… I’m all over it!


Southern girls with killer curves, ample thighs, full lips and hips that sway know that the secret to being a confident woman starts with the mind. We also know that for those who walk behind us… we inspire curiosity and acceptance. But for those who can’t get past our apple bottoms (two words) don’t hate!

 


As I travel the globe, I’m rocking my curves… whether in New York City, London, Paris or the Caribbean. I hope to represent girls like me who once thought that containing our best asset was the best way to be taken seriously because you want men to look at you (above the neck) when you’re talking. But as I’ve learned it’s all about how you present the total package… be unapologetically the best you possible. So go ahead be a bombshell with brains! Rock your curves, celebrate what makes you different and watch the world take notice.

Disclaimer: This post was inspired by a Nike ad…

In this photo I'm wearing a Gottex Katalist Shoulder Swimsuit courtesy of InStyle Swimwear at the exclusive Half Moon Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. To order visit

Use this discount code HauteTravels15 to receive 15% off you entire order from Instyle Swimwear!

Half Moon Resort http://halfmoon.rockresorts.com/default.asp

What's your best asset?

HK Bird Market

The bird market in Hong Kong was one of my favorite pieces of the city. One quiet street in the midst of all the city traffic is dedicated to birds. The colorful birds fill dozens of beautiful cages, and next door is bird accessory heaven. The chirping on this street is never-ending. You'd think it would be annoying (especially if you've ever had a pesky pet bird), but when coming from all directions, it was beautiful and harmonious.  One woman who was feeding her parrot was clapping her hands and talking to the bird with a big smile on her face as if the bird was a kid (photo below). It was nice to see the birds getting treated well.

I saw a post on the blog of Cherry Blossom Girl (one of my favorite places to get photography eye candy) about her visit to the Hong Kong bird market a while back and was so giddy that I had the opportunity to go as well. I loved it.

- Julia


The Cat

 DAISY (V.O.)
My name is Daisy and this is the
story of Christmas Carole and how
she changed our lives. It begins right  
here in Sherman Oaks, California, 
where I was born and raised. 

This is the first piece of dialog in my new spec script, Christmas Carole which I finished last week. So far I have 5 places who are "interested". And being interested doesn't mean any them will buy it.

I hope they will.

The odds are in my corner, if one wanted to entertain that thought. After all, I did The Town the Christmas Forgot in 2010 and it played a several times from November thru to December. As you know, it got a 3.7 mil viewership and the company who made it proudly advertises it in it's inhouse credits.

And they have a few dozen credits for movies so being at the head (or second head), is a nice thing. Better than not being last. 

If you're wondering why I quoted "Daisy" above,  it's because Daisy isn't who you think she is. Or what she is.

And if you think there was a glut of Christmas movies last year, well, wait till this year. And the damndest thing is - people watch them. That much of an audience would have grossed over $30 million. Which means at a cost of $1 million, the studio/network would have a tidy sum.

And if it had Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman in it, it would have grossed $50 million.

But it didn't. It barely will make back it's cost of the original $1 million budget. Because times have changed and now the big 3, Hallmark, Lifetime and ABC Family dictate what they can pay. Ratings for TV have mostly gone down.

Too many damn channels.

Commercial rates are dependent on ratings so the less ratings, the less it costs to advertise. Except that Superbowl thing. And American Idol. AI gets around 21 million viewers on an average.

And speaking of advertising,  if this was a theatrical movie that $30 million would barely cover the cost of the $1 million movie and around $25 million to advertise it. Which means about a $5 million profit.

Okay, enough of the figures, some of you have left to check your tweets. But there's a reason for my rambling, as they say.

Yes, I do have a better chance at selling my script than most of the writers out there. But you never know what they like or don't like.

And that's where Daisy comes in.

The story of Christmas Carole started with the title. I had no story, just a really good title that, amazingly, nobody's ever used. It's registered now so I have a little bit of security.

The logline is this: Unemployed lawyer gets stuck with juvenile delinquent over Christmas. 

Simple. Easy to see. Maybe not as good as someone else might describe it. But good enough.

The rest of the story is a bit more complicated, conflict comes from a tragic past for both people (women, incidentally, they watch  more Hallmark movies), confrontation with major life changes and the consequences of being afraid of life and loneliness.

So now it's a bit "fatter" as a D-Girl I knew used to say to describe the major element of any screenplay. Conflict.

Except that I added a fresh element.

Daisy.

You see, Daisy isn't human. Daisy is a cat.

And I don't know why I added her to the cast. I was about 2/3rds of the way through the screenplay when something flashed in my mind. Daisy was there from the beginning, but she was not talking. In fact she just meowed a lot.

Then that god of weird ideas struck me.

Daisy should talk. She should tell the story.

And I'm not talking about all the way through. Just in the beginning and a few lines here and there and finally at the end.

I wish I could say it was brilliance on my part but it wasn't.

Years ago (and I'm talking 50's) I saw a movie that was somewhat like this, don't even remember the title, but I remember the cat. It spoke. Then there was the Francis the Talking Mule  movies. Don't ask.

Somehow it all collided in my hard drive of a brain, and reconnected with several other movies and anything to do with cats (I have hosted cats several times in my life) and it spit out Daisy, the name of which incidentally is from a real cat who lives in San Clemente. According to quantum physics experts, putting random ideas together is something computers can't do, nor will they ever.

And when I sent out the screenplay on Sunday to a producer, I wrote "the cat says in the picture". And when he asked why, I simply added something that he could not deny...

Imagine who would be Daisy's voice?

Betty White? Julie Newmar (the original Catwoman)?

Get my drift?  They could get a name actor for almost nothing to do the voice of Daisy. And they would put that name prominently in the titles. You know, "and Betty White as Daisy".
I just use Betty as an example. There would be at least 50 or more actresses who would love the job.

As Gweneth Paltrow tells the aspiring country singer anxious to overtake her in Country Strong "that's how it's done, sweetheart".

(Thurs: Daisy demands an agent)

Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

No blog today, will resume Tuesday May 31. Enjoy the holiday, remember what it's about.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

HK Flower Market

If you've been following for awhile you know we spent Christmas Day in Hong Kong because we posted a little snip-it of our Christmas a while back. It was rather lonely without our family and friends, especially when I remembered that my family was all together having dinner and opening presents. I pitied myself a little bit. We had no Christmas tree and no presents. To make up for it, we decided to treat ourselves to a Starbucks coffee on Christmas morning (which was strictly forbidden on our travels since we have it at home in Seattle).

After our Starbucks treat, we headed to the Hong Kong Flower Market and the Bird Market. That's when I decided our Christmas was probably a whole lot cooler than anyone's back home. This was probably my favorite part of our Hong Kong visit.

The flower market had plants of every variety-- potted plants, fresh cut bouquets, barely sprouting bulbs, little trees, bamboo plants, and peculiar little figurines that live on the soil in potted plants. I saw more orchids than I've ever seen in one place. Everything was so beautiful, fragrant, and full of life-- hard to believe that this was in December (the dead of winter back home).

We'll share the Bird Market in the next few days--  it was even better than the Flower Market.

- Julia

P.S.

We got interviewed! And you can read it on the cool travel blog, From India With Love. Kay is a  girl who is living in India for a year and blogging about it.