Apocalipstick and the Boys

Apocalipstick with the girls...our fave! Even Sandy Dog is a girl.

These are fan appreciation shows where we all hang out, eat cupcakes, drink beer, and whatever you want.  We’re here because of you, so you tell us what to do!  Do you wanna see how we write songs, request your favorite ‘lipstick ditty, ask us to learn a cover, get a first listen to new, unreleased songs, etc?  We do special fan love things like this last show where Wendy Shadow customized each friend-fan’s Apocalipstick tee with their own stage name.  We also played Lipstick Trivia where the winner got a cd and we’ll keep mixing it up with more fun surprises!

From The Front

Backside

And of course we do appreciate donations to support “Lipstick and Music” which is also the title of one of our new songs.  You’ll get to hear our new songs before anyone else does so email, facebook, or text us so you can be invited to the next Secret Show.  See you there!

What’s Your Valentine’s Day Style? 

Click on the pictures below to shop the look.

Lover of Love…

Sealed With A Kiss Dress

Pretty Pin Up…

Pure Seduction…

X-Factor Dress

Vintage…

Greece Is The Word Dress

Coy:

Making Me Blush Dress

Single…You Wish!

Come Hither Romantic…

Charlestown Dress

Here’s to celebrating all love, not just for couples but also friends, family and especially yourself!  And to show you customers love, here’s a 10% off COUPON CODE valid now until the end of February: Love2012

Remember, there’s always FREE SHIPPING!  Please share with your friends on Facebook and support indie business.  <3 to my customers!

via coolmaterial.com

Remember those New Year’s Resolutions you created back here?  Maybe you’re well on your way, haven’t even started, or already failed.  No matter where you are here are tips on keeping organized so you can meet those goals.  Plus, today is Chinese New Year so no matter where you are or whether you get red envelopes, you can start off fresh again!

First off, why organize your life?  Happiness of course!  It sucks spending time looking for misplaced things, feeling frazzled, disorganized and lost (been there!) or looking bad when you’re late or forgot an appointment.  Instead, there’s nothing like the feeling of being on top of it all, reaching your goals, and spending time on the things in life that truly make you alive and fulfilled.  What are the things you really enjoy that being organized would make time for?  Keep that in mind while we go through the (kind of dry) mechanics of how to. Now onward! 

Big Picture.  Yearly.

via Pink Circus Shop

Grab that list of goals or New Years Resolutions you’ve made.  If you haven’t made any go here since the point of being organized is getting what you want in life.  Then add all your big dates like birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, work or school deadlines etc.   Use a paper or electronic planner.

Plan Next Week This Week

What you’ll accomplish in a year is pretty big so break it down into a workable size called weekly planning.  Choose some time Sunday or Monday morning to plan the upcoming week.  Look at your calendar and what you already have scheduled.  If there’s any preparation to do for any of those appointments, schedule time to do that.  For example, (this example seems silly but I swear it helps) if I have an event like a gig or somewhere I want to make sure I look cute, I schedule time to plan (or shop or make) my outfit so when event time comes it’s a snap.  Scheduling prep time also works for homework assignments, meetings or projects. 

Then look at your goals or New Year’s Resolutions list and areas of life you want to make a difference in this week.  List what you want to work on, actions to take to fulfill on them, a measure for that goal, a reward (optional but fun to do), then schedule it all in your planner.  It’s easier than it sounds.

Here’s a page outta my book, literally.

Get creative with actions that will fulfill what you’re looking to accomplish and your rewards.  Rewards can be something small and fun to help motivate you to reach your measure.  For big tasks or projects  you can give yourself big rewards like a weekend out or a splurge buy. Mine are usually small and easy so they don’t involve a lot of time or money but they’re still something I look forward to.

via A Beautiful Mess

For big areas that you could write 100’s of to do’s for, keep a giant list in your phone or notebook of all your ideas toward that goal.  For example, I have a huge list of blog topics to write on but I don’t list those every time in my weekly planning.  Just pick a realistic number of priority actions from that giant list to tackle that week.

Photo Credit

Also make sure you’ve scheduled time for yourself, friends, family, fun, and other areas of life that are important to you in case they aren’t already covered in your above goals.  This step is really important to keep balanced and happy.  Once you have your weekly planning list, “time activate” (aka schedule it in your planner) the time and tasks to work on them this week.

Daily Planning

via Fred Flare

If you’ve taken the time to plan your week, you’ll just need 5 minutes at the beginning and end of the day for daily planning.  It seems like extra work but trust me you’ll save more time, stress and be more productive this way.  Whenever I don’t review my to do list at the end of the day, I just end up stressing and spending more time in the morning.  Plus, I heard (don’t know how true it is but it’s worth a shot) when you look at your to do list the night before you work out solutions in your sleep.

Photo Credit

In the morning, take 5 minutes to look over what you have scheduled that day.  It should be filled with appointments and also the actions you added from your weekly planning.  Add anything else you can think of, then prioritize your list by what’s most important to do first, second, etc.  Even if you don’t finish your list, you would have done the most important things first.

Before you go to sleep, take 5 minutes to take a look at your day and move anything you didn’t finish to the next day or a later time you can do it.  Look at the rest of the week and see what else needs to be moved or changed.  Be ok with what you ended up accomplishing today and give yourself a fresh start tomorrow.   Make sure you have those rewards scheduled in too!

Now that you’re organized and accomplished, might as well do it in style.  Click the pictures of planners throughout this post and below for the link:

A Kitty Shaped Hello Kitty Planner?! Yes, please!

Kitties Gossiping

 

Be A Man

 

 

I Do Love The Portability and Ease of a Phone Calendar

 

Ladies of Apocalipstick, The Dollyrots and The Cosmeticators

Arizona or Bust!

Gear on the suburb streets

 

Chloe wants to go on tour

 All caffeinated up, we pack up the tour van while band mascot, Chloe Blush gives us the puppy dog “Can I come too?”eyes.

Those Prices Include A Happy Ending?

Wendy Shadow is a real massage therapist

Taking my Asian Tourist Picture

 With 5 girls in a van we made lots of pit stops.  One random truck stop had a gas station, mini mart, and a Tokyo Massage!??  Especially funny for Wendy Shadow who is a real masseuse.

Kelly of The Dollyrots and Apocalipstick

With so many stops we make it just in time to ROCK Friday night at The Hut in downtown Tucson.   We met The Cosmeticators with two co-front women and we got their cute syringe pen merch.  High Horse was hilarious and had awesome vinyl records.  And of course we danced our butts off for headliners, The Dollyrots and were super stoked Kelly Dollyrot got our t shirt!

Post show silliness

The Flamingo in Tucson

Outside our hotel room

Rockin' Sisters

After the show we crashed at our hotel at The Flamingo in Tucson.  We’ve stayed at some pretty nasty motels that smell like “dirty hamster” before so this one was awesome!  Jenna Blush and I are sisters and must have some genetically disposed insane love of breakfast gene. No matter how tired we were the next morning we woke up for the free hotel breakfast and snuck it back to the sleepyheads.  No ghetto continental breakfast for us. We brought back waffles, oatmeal, cheesey eggs, and pastries.  Mmmm…

A million thanks to our crew, Roadie Alan and Mama Shadow!  They made the weekend happen! 

Coffee Break

Jeannette Gloss trying on sunglasses

Abby Lipstick and Wendy Shadow modeling veiled hats

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the raddest bassist...

When in a new town with time to kill between shows, there’s nothing better than exploring the local shopping.  We hung out at cute coffee houses, art gallerties, and of course ended up at this fun vintage store.  We tried everything on.  Abby bought ugly Christmas sweaters, Jenna bought a leopard bracelet, Jeannette got new sunnies since hers broke in the van ride over, and Wendy got a giant NKOTB button.

NKOTB fo' life

So happy!

But too close to the steampunk trashcan. Dun dun dun...

Must get it back...

Just kidding, Wendy Shadow didn’t have to fish her button out of the trashcan.  It was just such a cool trashcan we had to take a picture of it.

Pre Gig Burgers

Bear Thing In Front Of The Restaurant

Before the next gig we fueled up with some burgers at a restaurant with a giant bear outside?  Then back to rocking out!

Our Saturday night gig at Red Owl in Tempe was even better than the night before!  We stayed for all the bands, made new friends, then had a 2 AM breakfast at Waffle House.  Yum!  So glad they don’t have those in California or we’d be there all the time.  Then the crazy rockstars we are, drove back home, almost ran out of gas, and were back in the OC Bubble by 9 AM Sunday morning. 

The kids and their pillow pets

Chloe Missed Us

With our jammies, pillow pets, and booze we made it back home.  Chloe came to greet us and we said bye to the tour van.  Thanks to Desert  Sounds Productions for sending us to Arizona to party with them, The Dollyrots,  High Horse, and The Cosmeticators. Can’t wait to come back!

 Hope you had fun on our picture tour of our weekend tour.  I’ll post more of our daily band shenanigans soon!

Kissable New Years Eve Make-Up  by Kandee Johnson

Kandee is one of my favorite makeup artists with the best name too.  She’s so fun and positive!   I love that she makes this look kissable with a nude lip.  Genius!  And how helpful of her to show higher end along with affordable products so it’s accessible to all of us.

Midnight Kiss by Michelle Phan

Michelle Phan is probably the biggest YouTube makeup guru in the world, and she has a knack for creating makeup tutorials as exciting as watching a movie. Talk about fancy, high production value for this Midnight Kiss tutorial!  Gorgeous!

Glitz & Glamour New Years Eve Look by Stacey Brennan

And if you need even more purple and glitter drama here is Stacey Brennan’s smokey purple with disco ball silver glitter look.  Stacy and her real life and YouTube bestie Casey have done great tutorials with Apocalipstick Cosmetics too!  Also check out Stacey’s video for Apocalipstick duochrome shadow and Casey’s videos for Apocalipstick blush, and eye safe glitter.   

Glittery and Glamorous Makeup For New Years by Makeup Geek

And just when you thought you couldn’t handle more glitter, let’s add rhinestones too!   My inner gay man is excitedly doing jazz hands while dancing in glitter confetti right now.   Plus, Marlena of Makeup Geek TV is such a sweetie and I swear is talking to me in her videos like I’m her best friend. 

Easy Glitter Nails for New Years Eve by Queen of Blending

Of course you’ll need disco ball nails to match too!

Modern Metallic 1920s / 30s Party by Pixiwoo

And if you couldn’t take rhinestones on top of glitter, how about cascading beads? This look, complete with the glittery beads would be amazing for New Year’s!  I hope you do your own version of this cause I’d love to see it.  If I wore this on New Year’s I’d do this same look with tiny, sheer pastel beads in hearts and stars with overly matchy match shadow and glitter eyes…and probably matching wig too.  My next tutorial, perhaps? 

Strawberry Frosting Tutorial by ApocalipstickTV

You know I had to add my own tutorial to this list, right?  It’s not a New Year’s Eve specific one but this oldie but goodie, shimmer non glitter, and kissable look would be perfect!  Like Kandee’s tutorial, this has a simple nude lip.  I suggest using your favorite flavored lip balm for a yummy, non sticky midnight kiss.   Plus, if you want shimmer without having to use chunky eye glitter, this is the look for you.

Hope you enjoy creating a fun, party look for New Year’s Eve even if partying means hot cocoa in your fuzzy slippers and fuzzier kitty.  That may be me too if this darn cold doesn’t let up!  I’d love to see your looks so comment or email me at abby@hauterepublic.com.

It’s that time of year again when we think we should finally start that diet, start dating again or get the kind of relationship we really want but don’t think is possible.  Forget all these goals you start but don’t finish or are too scared to even write down.  No more!  This coming year, we’re making your goals happen and your New Year’s Resolutions stick!

How?  I can’t say I’m the expert, but I’ve created 5 easy steps below to accomplish your goals and will personally join you in this journey.  Looking back at 2011, I did create some awesome things like having my band Apocalipstick play two mini tours. One was across Cali and another in Arizona with our favorite band, The Dollyrots.  I also launched my online boutique, Haute Republic, got engaged to my soulmate, started leading introductions to personal development seminars, and have a new comp plan and position at my day job.  Not without setbacks, but also not too shabby for one year.  But I wanna blow 2012 out so let’s do this… 

                                                      via three days three ways

 Step 1:  Complete The Past Year

Before you can even begin creating what your New Year will be, you gotta clear out and get complete with this past year.  What happened in 2011 or before that you didn’t like? Who did you wish you didn’t date? What mistakes did you make? What failures did you have? Do you not like your job, your school, your relationship, your family, your hair?  Answer all these questions and more honestly.  Then just get it. 

You don’t need to get depressed about it, just really get it.  Be with everything the year was and wasn’t.  Is there any other way the past could be?  Will it do you any good to dwell on the past that you can’t change? Exactly!  You’re human so forgive yourself!  Forgive others and the universe.  Everything is and was just the way it’s supposed to be.  Might as well since there’s no other way for it to be, right?  So OWN IT!  Don’t blame yourself but own you made that mistake, own your responsibility in a failed relationship or project, own your current weight, your current job, and your life.  If there was a relationship that wasn’t great, make a phone call and complete what happened to move on.  Just let them say everything they need to in order to be complete and you do the same and forgive.   Now that the crap from last year is cleared out, you’ve made room to start on step 2.

                                                       via Little Miss Momma

Step 2:   Brainstorm Your Perfect New Year

Go big and crazy with thinking up your perfect New Year!  If you can’t even let yourself go to that happy place then go back to step  1.  Always feel free to email me if you need help with that or any of these steps.  It’s just brainstorming and dreaming so anything goes!  Think bigger than you’ve ever thought before!  What’s your dream career, dreamboat, dream charities, and dream projects?  What are things you’d love to accomplish? What are things you’d love to do daily, weekly, or monthly in the New Year?  Really tell that negative little voice in your head that says “you can’t do that” to shove it and let yourself dream BIG!  When you stand in December next year and look back, what do you want to see you’ve accomplished?  What results do you want?  Who do you want to be?

                                                         via papernstitchblog

Step 3:  Edit and Create Measureable Goals

Now that you have a picture of your big life next year, break them down into actual goals.  Make sure these goals are challenging and still realistic.  For example, if you want to be a big rockstar but don’t even know how to play an instrument, make a goal that will lead you in that direction.  Try goals like “take drum lessons” or “start a band” instead of “millionaire rockstar in 2012.” 

                                                      via Rockett St George

Step 4:  Create a structure to Make It Happen

Hooray!  You’ve created awesome goals you care about and with measures to gauge your success!  But after this point is where most New Year’s Resolutions fail.  Sure you can make these goals, and be gung ho for the first week, but somehow it dies off.  By February you’re all “resolution what?” and cancelling your gym membership to save money, your other resolution.  I know. I’ve done it too. 

So what can you do to keep your commitments for the New Year alive?  Let’s go ahead and create a structure to make it happen!  Take your first goal and brainstorm ways you can make sure you accomplish it.  If it’s a big goal, break it down into little goals and schedule it out for the year.  For example, if your goal is to be healthy and fit and your measure is to be a certain weight and have run a marathon then make and schedule mini goals towards that.  Mark dates you want to accomplish getting a trainer, a workout buddy, and running a half marathon.  Then brainstorm how to acheive these mini goals and carve out time in your calendar when you’ll exercise habitually, make healthy food, and read up on the latest nutrition and exercise information. 

                                                               via polyvore

The best way to see your goals along with your milestone dates is to create a vision board.  I’m not talking about a cheezy board with inspirational pictures and quotes although there’s nothing wrong with that.  I’m talking about a cheezy board with inspirational pictures and quotes that really speaks to you and has your measurable mini goals and dates to accomplish them written down!  You can always change and adjust these milestones, but it’s good to see your big goal in an inspiring way that helps keep you on track and shows you honestly where you’re at.

                                                           photo credit

The best structure you can give yourself is an accountability buddy.  Choose a friend who also has New Year’s Resolutions to keep or a mentor who’s already successful doing something similar to what you want to accomplish.  Let your buddy know your big goal and why it’s important to you.  Then make a structure with this person or persons, like a daily or weekly phone call where you let them know your mini goals, measures, and whether you’ve accomplished them or not.  No guilt here, just a way to keep yourself accountable to someone besides yourself.  We’re always the first ones to sellout on ourselves.  This is the same reasoning with having a gym buddy.  When your alarm clock rings at 5 AM for your morning run you’d hit snooze five more times if it wasn’t for your buddy waiting outside, coffee in hand ready to workout. 

Having a structure to share with your accountability buddy and/or mentor is great!  But don’t stop there.  Keep sharing your goals and commitments with everyone and anyone who will listen.  When  I decided to start my online boutique I told everyone, asked for ideas and opinions, took photoshoots etc.  I told so many people that when life was getting busy as it always does and I pushed my goals to the side, I had tons of people asking me when my shop will be up.  It was like a helpful, unofficial accountability reminder.  Apocalipstick’s bassist and fellow successful lady, Wendy, texts daily affirmations to a group of friends.   The more you share, the more real it gets for you and in the world.

                                                        via designworklife

Step 5:  Keep Going!

You have amazing, measurable commitments and a structure to make them happen.  But life happens too.  Days you don’t feel motivated, your buddy can remind you who you are, a big person with a big life!  Anytime a commitment feels like a chore, look at your vision board and remind yourself of who and what you wanted to see standing there December next year.  Get deeply connected with why you made that commitment in the first place.  It’s not going to always be easy, but when you’re connected to who you are, well it’s easy to be yourself.  In fact, you’re already there.  Now just keep going!

I’d love to hear some of your New Year’s Resolutions and structures for making it happen!  Please email me (abby@hauterepublic.com) or comment below.  I’ll definitely be posting some of my goals, structures and journey through the New Year.  Whatever we end up accomplishing or not is perfect.   It’s the journey that counts and who we get to be while we strive for our goals.  Plus, we’re already further ahead than last year’s forgotten resolutions =)

This is me as a toddler.  I couldn’t say Santa Claus so I called the jolly, fat and apparently evil man, “Sac.”  I hope this ends up in awkward family photos =)  Anyways, onward to cute Christmas diy projects…

 Here’s a tutorial along with video from one of my favorite bloggers, Elsie of A Beautiful Mess.  Make a mod pillow for your sunny, stylish girlfriend.

She also did a cute Loose Leaf Tea Tutorial for the tea lover in your life.

For your wino, I mean wine lover friend and if you aren’t particularly crafty…try a premade wine bag kit.

 Make a bowtie for your boyfriend, brother, dad, or fabulous bestie.  Martha Stewart always knows what’s up.

Give the gift of sweet memories to all your friends with these tiny gift boxes stuffed with mini iphone prints by Pugly Pixel.

Wreath and tea holder

For your festive friend who decorates for every holiday, Apartment Therapy has 8 diy holiday wreaths.

via I Spy DIY

Scarves as gifts are so overdone, but not when you mix textures and create this handmade denim pocket scarf by I Spy DIY.

And If you have 30 minutes here’s an easy, no sew lace scarf, again by A Beautiful Mess.

For a unique gift try this Rock Ring Tutorial by diy guru and scene queen Audrey Kitching.

Rudolph leads the pack

What’s the holidays without some yummy desserts!?!? No wonder this is my favorite time of the year!  I’ve been loving cake pops even more after my friend gave me Bakerella’s cake pop book for my birthday.  Get the how to on her blog here. 

Board Game Jewelry Box

Socktopus

Catnip Cocktails

 And if you still need 15 more diy ideas, ReadyMade has come to the rescue with fun projects like a kitschy jewelry box, Sock Monkey Octopus, and Catnip Cocktails.  I’ll need to make the cocktails for my party animals, Chuck and Baxter.

Versatile Felt Flower Clip Gift Topper

Now you need to add a special handmade touch to wrapping presents too! My high school friend, Ilene (AKA come on, ilene) has a super cute blog and shows us how to make felt flower clips to top off your gifts.

Are you going to try any of these or other diy gift ideas?  Please share your projects and have an amazing holiday season!

Love,
Grown Up Abby Not Scared of Sac

I need to retake my Sac picture in this naughty not nice Xmas sweater

Just click on the product you like and it will link you back to the Haute Republic online shop!  Please help me spread the new, fun way to shop and share it with your friends  

Send your friends this link for Haute Republic’s Fall/Winter 2011 Lookbook

Music and Fashion Forever: http://bit.ly/shRXuS

Thanks heaps!
Abby Lipstick

Model Rosie strutting her stuff Haute Republic Style

Model Bash is anything but bashful!

Miss Elise smiling at her fans =)

Model, Rockstar & Creator of Bubble Bands, Kota

 Two weeks ago I had been working my you know what off to get the Haute Republic website done before the holidays.  I proudly tell my boyfriend it will be done in time to launch on Black Friday.  Then he says “Well aren’t you going to have a party for it? You can’t just quietly start it.”  So after 10 minutes of getting mad at him for stomping on my joy and the fear of  what if I throw together a launch party and it sucks, I just decide to go for it! 

With the help of Gianna, hair and makeup artist at Primarily Hair, we start planning the whole event.  It ended up being super cute and fun.  I couldn’t have done it without everyone who helped out so here’s a shout-out to all of my amazing family, friends and new friends!  There are too many of you to list but you know who you are

 Thank you Donna, owner of Primarily Hair for an awesome venue and hospitality.  And thanks to Gianna for coordinating it all!

Gianna of Primarily Hair and Clarissa of Perpetual Vogue & www.tattooapparel.com

A TON of thanks to Clarissa, owner of awesome online store Tattoo Apparel and brick and mortar store Perpetual Vogue before the fashion show.  The models and I were already shopping her store with quality, edgy rock outfits and accessories I’ve yet to see anywhere else in Orange County!

Thanks to Greg and Del, DJ’s for Tune in Tokyo for rockin’ us the entire night.  Tune in Tokyo puts on huge, fun music and dance events.  I’m so glad to be friends with them and my band Apocalipstick always loves playing their parties!

And sending love and success to all the amazing models, makeup artists and photographers who help make the world beautiful.  Check out their pictures and websites below.  I highly recommend their talent and professionalism!

Fashion Photographer Neil Reola has a gift and eye for fashion while being totally straight

 I’m so lucky to have a photographer in the family!  Neil is an amazing cousin and friend with or without his camera.  Neil and videographer Romeo are partners in crime.  Here’s the first shoot I did with both of them and the quick digital camera video Romeo was able to whip up:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/user/MagicianFlip69#p/u/8/YQWug2Ww1bI]

And thanks to photographers Tweedy and John of JC Photography for taking the first round of pictures from the Fashion Show in this post.

Models Wendy and Aleesa

Aleesa loves music more than anyone I’ve ever met so thank goodness she helped me with the runway playlist.  And of course you can see her and Wendy, Apocalipstick bassist on my blog’s banner pic!

Risa rocks the runway and is also a promoter for Cherry-Jelly Productions

How lucky was I to get Bodhi, also a Playboy Model!?

Ridiculously cute Evelyn and the models in the Photo Booth

Sheree is cute as can be

Amanda did double duty as hair stylist and panda stylist

Hair and Makeup Artist Michelle

Makeup Artist Sussy

Neshia The Makeup Artist

MUA Davi Mak's Work

My cute Mom & Aunt wearing matching Stripe For The Picking Tops

 

Power Pali Sisters

 And of course my little sister, Jenna Blush who’s part of all my projects and the awesome lead guitarist of Apocalipstick.  Yay Palisoc sisters!  The Power Puff Girls have nothing on us

Sugar And Spice Dress

or this dress

Love At Sea Dress

or this dress

Naughty Secretary Dress

…or any dress of equal or lesser value you choose on Black Friday when the Haute Republic boutique opens for FREE!    The contest starts now until Cyber Monday at midnight PST.

Contest Rules:

1.  Like the Haute Republic Facebook Page  www.facebook.com/shophauterepublic
2.  Share this post on Facebook and/or Twitter
3.  Post a comment on the Haute Republic page that you are entering the Free Dress Giveaway and what your favorite fashion style is for funsies. 
4.  The winner will be chosen randomly from the Facebook comments and announced after Cyber Monday in this post.  Please email abby@hauterepublic.com within 48 hours to claim your prize or a different winner will be chosen.

If you are local please also share the flier for Haute Republic’s Fashion Show Launch Party this Saturday, the day after Black Friday.   Bonus Karma points for sharing!

Congrats Faith, you’re the winner of any dress on the Haute Republic website $30 or under.  Please contact abby@hauterepublic.com to claim your prize! 

I used random.org to choose the winner and here’s the winning comment on the Haute Republic Facebook Page:

I’m entering the contest and I dig the Hot Hippe look!! Love ya!!