Lebanon: The land of events

I just got back from a mini-vacation in Lebanon.  I totally adore how Lebanon continuously has cultural events.  I have missed a lot of great events in Lebanon this summer. I sometimes wish I could attend every single event they hold but on most nights you have to choose an event, since they are several simultaneous events at once.  (By events, I mean plays, exhibits, performances, concerts, and much more.)

While I was in Lebanon, I couldn’t get to see much but I was glad I managed a trip to Baalbeck to see Ron Carter and Eddie Palmieri perform as part of the Baalbeck International Festival.  I have to say I wasn’t so impressed by their performance but the ambience there was spectacular and breathtaking, and could almost make someone cry (as a friend said).  We were seated at the courtyard of the two temples and if I remember anything about my history correctly, the temple of Bachus was facing us and the temple of Jupiter was behind us (but don’t take my word on this).  The weather was great (breezy and slightly chilly), the audience seemed pleased, and all in all it just felt great being there.

Ron Carter and Eddie Palmieri at Baalbeck

A few events I missed this summer and wished to go to were Hanine Y Son Cubano and Charles Aznavour who both performed at the Beiteddine festival, Bejart Ballet Lausane and Caracalla,  who performed at the Baalbeck International Festival and La Traviata whole be performing at the Baalbeck International Festival this upcoming Thursday and at the Byblos Festival I would have loved to watch Saif 840 that took place the last 2 days.

How are luxury brands surviving the recession?

I just read this very interesting article on The Big Money on how luxury brands are suffering and dealing with the current financial situation.

Read it to find out how Prada and Gucci are surviving this recession.

Click here

Donate Your Bag

I just saw this on Facebook and truly loved the idea of it.

Preloved Bag has introduced a community service campaign.

Donate your bag (only LV, Chanel, Balenciaga, Prada, and  Gucci) that are in excellent conditions, and they will sell it and donate the money to either a charity or a noble cause you believe in.

Hat Fashionistas

I have always had a love for hats .  The problem though is that I live in a hot country (Kuwait) where wearing a hat is simply about style and fashion, not practicality.  Yet, I have always felt that wearing a hat requires guts here, or at least some types of hats (such as the Michael Kors hats from his Fall collection featured above and below).

The below Chanel hat (Fall 09 collection) is a subtler hat and I am sure it would look lovely with other dresses or suits even.

The below Paul Smith hat (Fall 09 collection) is something that would require a somewhat casual outing and would look great with anything really, for example simple dark denim jeans with a camel brown long leather jacket and you’re good to go.

Today we say goodbye

(Picture by Yoma82 on deviantart)

Today, Michael Jackson will lie to rest.
I have been wanting to post about him since he died but I remained hesitant.

I grew up to Michael Jackson’s songs of my generation, as well as of the previous generations since my dad was also a fan of the Jackson 5.  I never cared about the cases against him and of his “wackoness” since Michael Jackson’s music is what I always cared for.  I love his music and his dance moves.

He was a person who have played a huge role in the music industry through his music, his music video clips, his concerts, his costumes and of course his dance moves.

Less than a day before his death, the local radio station were playing Billie Jean when I was headed to work.  I naturally, raised the volume, ignored all calls, whilst I sung and bopped my way to the office.  A great way to start the day.  That song, 25 years after its release, still had that impact on me.  So many of his songs also still do affect me like that, such as The Way You Make Me Feel, Rock with You and many more.

Needless to say, Michael Jackson has also inspired the fashion industry with his unique sense of style.

Michael Jackson has left a big hole that will be extremely difficult to fill in.

For generations to come, people will continue listening to Michael Jackson (even more now since the respect and honor he deserves is long overdue).

I hope Michael Jackson will finally rest in peace.

Calling all shoe addicts!

If you will be in Paris in July you MUST visit Galeries Lafayette new shoe boutique.

1300m2 full of shoes!
The store is opening in mid-July but I’ve been told the first floor is already open.
This my friends is shoesaholics paradise.

From Galeries Lafayette’s website:

In a boutique atmosphere, with large aisles, brown wengé wood and white varnished furniture and comfortable chocolate brown leather sofas, any style of shoe under the sun can be found. From 10 Euro flip flops to 1000 Euro boots, hundreds of brands are gathered in this immense area dedicated entirely to shoes. Among these, 25 brands are new and exclusively distributed at Galeries Lafayette. Here, all of the must-haves of the season can be found in a very “Cinderella” like ambiance, where the models are arranged by theme and displayed on tall podiums decorated with fringes of crystals, beads and sequins. Slippers have even made it into the fashion scene (20% of shoe sales in France are for slippers) with a new area entirely devoted to sequined clogs, multicolored ballet slippers, sophisticated mules and embroidered oriental slippers. A special area “leather and foot care!” offers everything needed to take care of your shoes and feet: special brushes, shoe creams in all colors, foot-care lotions and so on…

Kootoob

From their site:

kootoob is trying to highlight the
BEST of Lebanese illustration,
animation and creative visual works.
we will try to spot what we think is
the best and only the best!

WE ARE FIRM BELIEVERS IN LEBANESE TALENTS!

Check out their site.  They have a whole lot of categories and designers you can browse through and admire.

Clearance Sale @ Pointure!

Alright… I guess we all know what my itinerary will be for this weekend… plenty of shopping at some of the most fabulous stores in Kuwait!

Pointure has started a clearance sale on their shoes, bags and accessories… up to 90% off  ALL items in their winter and summer collections!!

For those of you who are not aware of Pointure, they are located in Salmiya, in Al Bustan Complex, and hold brands such as Baldanini, Vicini, Just Cavalli, Givenchy and many more.

Further Markdown @ Al Othman

According to Al Othman’s blog, The O Blog , they are having further discounts (started June 20th.. am late!!!)

Some of their clothes and accessories brands are Oscar de la Renta, Christian Louboutin, Halston, and Roberta Furlanetto.

Hope there have more stuff left.

Al Othman is located in Maryam Complex in Salmiya.

Pecha Kucha Tonight!

Pecha Kucha Kuwait #2 TONIGHT
Place: Al Qabliya School (Click here for map)
Time: 7:30 to 9:30pm

Presenters will be:

• Nada Al Shammeri
• Nofal Abdelali
• Raffi Armoudjian
• Shurooq Amin
• Samer Mohammed
• Ahmed Al Rifae
• Bassem Mansour
• Dana Al-Rababa

What is Pecha Kucha Night?

Pecha Kucha Night, devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham (Klein Dytham architecture), was conceived in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.

But as we all know, give a mike to a designer (especially an architect) and you’ll be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.

Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor. This is a† demand that seems to be global – as Pecha Kucha Night, without any pushing, has spread virally to over 100 cities across the world. Find a location and join the conversation.