Friday, May 31, 2013

Your Mama Hears...

...(via the New York Observer) that Kanye West wants 4.5 million bucks for his Big Apple bachelor pad, a 2,300-ish square foot two unit combination crib in SoHo that he had decked out in austere, haute-minimalist style by maverick Italian architect Claudio Silvestrin in 2007. Property records we picked at and perused reveal he paid a total of $3,140,000 in two separate transactions for the fourth floor apartments.*

Mister West's East Coast pied-a-terre apparently popped up on a New York City-centric real estate listing service but quickly disappeared in—you got it—a proverbial New York minute. A subsequent report in today's New York Post reveals that the 21-time Grammy winner's top producing real estate agent hosted an invite-only open house yesterday for some of the city's top brokers. There are—not surprisingly—"more than a dozen" pair of high-cost sneakers in the master closet and—more surprisingly—several small statues that one broker who toured the space described to The Post look like "an angel, or a little boy Cupid." Oh dear.

Other high profile residents of the full-service building include actor Julianna Margulies and model/t.v. presenter Padma Lakshmi who records show paid nearly eight million clams for her two-unit penthouse pad in early 2012.

Mister West also owns a contemporary, art-filled residence in the Hollywood Hills he's been trying to unload on and off since at least May, 2010 when it was briefly on the open market for $3,995,000. The multi-story hillside house is currently priced at $3,150,000.

Mister West reportedly also maintains an apartment in Paris near his fashion world b.f.f. Riccardo Tisci, the very same Givenchy creative director who just bought a West Village townhouse from high brow performance artist Marina Abramovic and with whom Mister West has been salaciously rumored to share something more than just Platonic. Whatever the case—and who cares, really?—the tabloids and celebrity gossip blogs went berserk this week with unconfirmed reports that the newly divorced Miz Kardashian has agreed to live in Paris with her baby daddy for at least three months after the birth of their bundle of joy. Hard to believe her mother/manager would allow that, but K.K. is a grown woman, and can do what she likes right? Anyways...

In February (2013), Mister West's soon-to-be baby momma Kim Kardashian shelled out $9,000,000 for a 9,000 square foot faux-Tuscan/mock-Med mish-mosh macmansion in the guard gated Bel Air Crest community in Los Angeles. Call us a cynic—and we've certainly been called worse—but Your Mama can't imagine Mister West, a man who fancies he has posh and cutting edge taste, actually living in such a downright ordinary macmansion any more than we imagine our mean ol' pussy cat Sugar speaks Cantonese. We shall see, butter beans, we shall see.

*Mister West bought the first and larger of the two apartments in December 2004 for $1,890,000 and the smaller adjacent unit in February 2006 for $1,250,000.

photos: Claudio Silvestrin

Steve Martin To Shed St. Barts Villa

SELLER: Steve Martin
LOCATION: Saint Barthélemy, French West Indies
PRICE: €8,750,000
SIZE: 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Late last night Your Mama received a covert communique from a friendly fella we'll call Bart St. Barts who thoughtfully forwarded a digital press release meant to get the word out about semi-retired and famously private comedic deity Steve Martin putting his mountain top vacation villa on the swish Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy up for sale on the open market with a multi-millionaires only asking price of €8,750,000.*

Saint Barthélemy, the trendily chic and prolifically pricey crown jewel of the French West Indies, is typically more simply referred to by the international jet-setters and globe trotters who can afford to vacation there—as well as those of us who only wish we could afford to vacay there—as St. Barth or, for all us American English speakers, St. Barts.

Over the last ten or fifteen years the tiny island has become a winter time hot spot—especially over New Year's—for sun seeking celebs and demi-celebs such as Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, Rachel Zoe, Michael Kors, Andy Cohen—here he is a few years ago doing the beach thing with Daniel Craig, Demi Moore, Simon Cowell, and Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. In addition to the hordes of spendy Showbizzers and ridiculously rich media mavens like Martha Stewart, all manner of moguls, royals and potentates also congregate in great numbers on the French-controlled collectivity.

Frequently seen hobnobbing and cavorting around the ultra-exclusive island during the winter holidays are big time movers and shakers like tech tycoon Paul Allen, diversified businessman Ron Perelman, paper and media pasha Peter Brant and his aging gracefully supermodel wife Stephanie Seymour, art dealer Larry Gagosian, famed fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier, and late night chat show honcho David Letterman. Last year, the children may recall, Russian gajillionaire and inveterate trophy property collector Roman Abramovich paid—so the stories go—about $90 million for a 70-ish acre, multi-pavilion beach side compound built on land once owned by rich and profoundly powerful banker David Rockefeller.

Your Mama doesn't know how much Mister Martin paid for his St. Bart's getaway that he picked up sometime in 2008 and was last listed for $9,000,000.** What we do know is that Mister Martin, a card-carrying Mensa member and an astute collector of name brand modern art who is surprisingly proficient at throwing a lasso as well as playing the harmonica and the banjo, recently became a father for the first time at the ripe old age of 67. That may seem, children, like a clunky segue and it very well may be nothing more than a real estate coinky dink but every celebrity real estate gossip knows that when people as famous and/or rich as Mister Martin have a baby, get married and/or get divorced they very often also shake up their real estate portfolios. Anyhoo...

Current listing details show Mister Martin's gated, tropical Colonial style villa occupies a private perch high in the hills of Lurin where its mountain top vantage provides postcard perfect, 180+ degree views over and beyond the sleepy, swank, and duty-free port city of Gustavia as well as across the yummy, sparkling blue waters of St. Jean Bay and directly down on busy Gustaff III Airport.***

The single-story house has four en suite bedrooms and a total of 4.5 bathrooms, according to listing information, in an unknown amount of air conditioned square footage. At the heart of the boomerang-shaped residence is a multi-winged, open plan living area with red tile flooring and airy, exposed beam vaulted ceilings. One end of the central living room opens through collapsing glass doors to a lush, wind protected interior courtyard while the other end has floor to ceiling windows that suck up the quintessential Caribbean views.

The living room is flanked by a casual "formal" dining room on one side and a media lounge with built-in entertainment cabinet and a couple of humble but comfortable-looking couches on the other. For a man who collects museum quality contemporary art, the photo-realist paintings (or whatever they are in the media lounge and throughout the house strike Your Mama as painfully and, well, pitifully banal. It's not that we think he ought to have hung one of his Diebenkorns of Fischls up in there but, holy moly that looks like some seriously cliche, low rent "art." Frankly, we'd rather stare at a blank wall but—let's get real, people—what does it matter since Your Mama and the Dr. Cooter are neither in the market to buy nor lease a ten-plus million dollar villa in St. Barts?

The living and dining areas, as well as the angled, galley-type kitchen that the press release rather generously described as "state-of-the-art,"open to a deep veranda with panoramic views and a built-in barbecue station. The media lounge, on the other hand, links through to a smaller covered porch that online marketing materials suggest is punished with fitness equipment.

Online resources indicate the four bedroom suites are well separated for privacy. Two smaller suites occupy their own wing behind the media lounge. Both have exterior entrances, private bathrooms, private terraces, and—oo la ls—private outdoor showers. A larger, third guest suite, on the opposite side of the house behind the dining room and kitchen, also has an exterior entry, a private deck, and an attached bathroom with French doors that open to a fence-ringed deck with outdoor shower.

The master bedroom is contained in a separate building that all but butts up to the far end of the house beyond the largest of the three guest bedrooms. The suite is complete with an elevated bed area, a sunken sitting area, and an unexpectedly large walk-in closet/dressing room. The attached wood and stone themed bathroom has a wall of glass in the shower that opens to a secluded deck with outdoor shower. French doors in both the bedroom and the bathroom open to a large, wrap around deck with sunken spa and a view that's enough to make even the most jaded globe trotter pee their pants with vacation glee.

The shaded verandas off the main living area(s) give way to multi-level sunbathing and dining terraces that embrace a two-tier, infinity edge swimming pool. Steps at either end of the pool lead down to a curved deck cantilevered slightly over the hillside with dreamy views over all of St. Jean Bay. The interior courtyard provides a serene balance to dramatic views that consume the eyes on the other side of the house. A narrow, red tile lined water channel cuts across a flat lawn and connects a gurgling urn fountain just outside the living room to a a flourishing lily pond the wraps around three sides of a slightly elevated Balinese-y pavilion.

Mister Martin's private residential property portfolio includes at least three additional residence. Since at least 1995, the actually quite shy funny man has owned a 5.86 acre (two parcel) estate in Santa Barbara—on the east side of Montecito—with a very contemporary 7,300-plus square foot residence that's partially submerged in the knoll top on which is sits. In Los Angeles Mister Martin owns a pair adjacent mini-estates on a little known cul de sac nestled into a holler high above the trendy and hideously expensive Trousdale Estates 'hood in Beverly Hills. Property records show he purchased the first of the two Bev Hills properties, with its 7,005 square foot main house, in the early days of 1995 for $3,175,000 from actor Corbin Bernsen and his long-time actress wife Amanda Pays. He scooped up the neighboring property in October 1997 from a not-famous person for an unknown amount.

*Listing details show$11,328,327 (USD) but  quick consult with Your Mama's currency conversion contraption shows the current listing price of €8,750,000 equals $11,363,500, at today's rates.

**Not long after he purchased the property, Mister Martin offered it out for least at $28,000 per week. The press release indicates it can still be leased by the week but did not provide a price.

***Just for shits and giggles: In 2010 The History Channel ranked Gustaff III as the third most dangerous airport in the world behind Toncontín International in Honduras and Tenzing-Hillary Airport, a remote air strip in Lukla, Nepal where most mountaineers begin their hike up the Mount Everest Base Camp.

listing photos and floor plan: St. Barth Properties Sotheby's International Realty

Fierce Friday

This is my last outfit shoot from Chicago with the amazing Grant Legan!  I am kind of sad that there's no more left.  I definitely felt fierce wearing this and I know that translated through these photos.  I'm so passionate and at times I can be intense when it comes to the things that I love.  I guess that's the scorpio in me! 










Photography: Grant Legan

Jacket: H&M (shop similar)/ Skirt: Francesca's Collection (similar style) (also love)
 Top: Forever21/ Shoes: Prabal Gurung For Target


You probably know by now that I am all about the edgy chic mix.  When someone asks me to define my style I always say that it's chic with an edgy twist and I think this outfit is a perfect example of that.    There was so many cool places to shoot in Chicago and I swear I would move there just to do all my blog pics haha.  For some of these, we went up on top of a parking lot and had the most amazing view behind us.  As Grant would say, "It was rad."
I love my prints, especially aztec/tribal, so I really gravitated towards this skirt.  It's another one of the last minute pieces that I picked up before my trip.  And of course, I am still obsessing over these shoes!  I am so happy that I got them.  My bold red lip was the perfect way to complete this look and add a little pop of color to this black and white outfit.

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

<3

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

In Case You Missed It: Robert and Alex

All the children should know by now that Your Mama don't a damn thing about professional athletics but for those of y'all who do know and care about such things we sally forth with the following two quickie tidbits...

We first learned it from The Barefoot Financier but it was first noted by the Washington Business Journal that Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III has gone and spent $2,497,000 on a 9,000 square foot mansion in the prosperous Creighton Farms golf community in the rural Washington, D.C. exurb of Aldie, VA.

listing photo: MRIS via Washington Business Journal


According to TMZ, New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez has reportedly accepted an offer of about $30 million for the nearly 20,000 square foot ultra-contemporary mansion he custom built on a pair of Miami Beach (FL) parcels that combined come to about 1.1 acres with 275 feet of private bay frontage.

Your Mama parsed and picked at the nine bedroom and 11 full and two half bathroom behemoth back in August 2012 when A-Rod shoved it on the open market with a publicity ensuring $38,000,000 price tag.

listing photos: ONE Sotheby's International Realty

In Case You Missed It: Jessica Simpson


We're not sure who first reported it but Your Mama first read it on Zillow that pop tartlet turned reality t.v. star turned apparel mogul and Fashion Star judge Jessica Simpson heaved her Beverly Hills (Post Office), CA residence on the open market with an asking price of $7,995,000.

Miz Simpson, currently with baby number two in her belly, paid $5,275,000 for the five bedroom and 5.5 bathroom property in 2007. That was back in the tabloid-y aftermath of her split and divorce from her first husband, former—and current—boy bander Nick Lachey. She's now hooked up and procreating with but not yet married to former professional footballer Eric Johnson, a manly man who Your Mama can't fathom cared much for the hyper feminized—and arguably immasculating—day-core.

Current listing details show the "romantically emotional" 5,500 square foot residence was recently worked over—and hard—by Shabby Chic queen Rachel Ashwell. The formal living room adjoins the formal dining room and the expensively equipped center island kitchen opens up to a window wrapped breakfast area. There's also, according to listing information, a media/family room, an office/library, and fitness room.

The painstakingly and magnificently lit exterior living areas probably cost a fortune in electricity each much but, damn children, they sure look fantastically spectacular. Outdoor living spaces include a walled and gated entry courtyard with gurgling fountain, a foliage enshrouded stone dining terrace, and a stepping stone pathway that leads from the entertainment terrace off the kitchen and family room back to a lap lane swimming pool tucked tightly into dense, towering, privacy ensuring thicket of trees and shrubbery.

The long list of previous high profile owners of the home include actress Jami Gertz with financier husband Tony Ressler and Showbiz executive Tom Freston who now owns a larger house around the corner. The ever-peripatetic chat show queen Ellen Degeneres owned the property for a brief couple of years before she sold it to high powered celebrity manager Rick Yorn who, in turn, sold it after just two years to the then newly single Miz Simpson.

Current home owners in the guarded enclave include Cameron Diaz—who bought her house from Candice Bergen, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, Reggae royal Ziggy Marley and entertainment industry power player Guy Oseary.

Miz Simpson and Mister Johnson have decamped to the family friendly and equestrian oriented guard-gated community of Hidden Hills where they recently shelled out $11.5 million for Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's nearly 11,000 square foot Martyn Lawrence Bullard decorated mansion on 2.25 mostly landscaped acres. Their new neighbors include famous folks like Jennifer Lopez, although we wouldn't expect much in the way of play dates and backyard barbecue invitations since—call it a hunch based on nothing but absolute conjecture—we imagine Miz Simpson and Lopez would not like each other very much.

listing photos: Sotheby's International Realty

In Case You Missed It: Kat Von D

Five days ago the long legged blond gal at Trulia Luxe Living reported that Kat Von D, the heavily tattooed high priestess of tattoo and L.A. Ink reality t.v. star, pushed her 1920s Spanish style micro-compound in the celeb-filled Outpost Estates area of the Hollywood Hills on the open market with a $2.5 million asking price.

No surprise to Your Mama, the day-core skews Gothic, dark and brooding with lots of taxidermy in the formal living room and bends towards glammy with shimmery brocade wall paper in the den and formal dining room.

Miz Von D, who was twice affianced to Sandy Bullock's philandering ex-husband Jesse James and is currently engaged to internationally acclaimed DJ Deadmou5—who proposed to her on Twitter, dontcha know?—purchased the walled and gated 4,148 square foot residence in August 2011 for $2,175,000.

Current listing information shows the four bedroom and 4.5 bathroom main residence has hardwood floors, original tile detailing, a turreted entry and an expensively equipped kitchen. The formal living room quickly converts to a screening room with a retractable projection screen and high octane surround sound system. Listing details indicate there's a guest house somewhere on the property, probably atop the detached two car garage at the back of the property.

The backyard isn't big and, while it does have a spa, barbecue station and built-in fire pit, it does not have a swimming pool. It also, unfortunately backs up to a multi-story apartment building that—praize Jeezis—is all but hidden behind a towering row of thick and high hedges.

No word has (yet) reached Your Mama's inbox about the future real estate plans of the soon to be Missus Deadmau5.

listing photos: The Sher Group

Brush Love Review + Hair Tutorial

Today's post is all about the hair!  I was in desperate need of some new brushes so I was really happy when Brush Love reached out to me to send me these 2 brushes.  The first one is a Thermal Round Jumbo Brush from BrushLab and let me just say that it has made a huge difference when it comes to blow drying my hair.  The round brush that I used before did not do my hair any justice.  I found that every time I blow dried it looked really dry and frizzy and did not give me the natural volume that I wanted.  I always had to use a flat iron afterwards and that wasn't the look I was going for.  So after using this round brush for the past 2-3 weeks I can say with confidence that it's a must have!
Price: $15.98

BENEFITS
-Thermal ceramic coated barrel.  Helps prevent over drying and damage
-100% nylon bristles.  Can withstand high temperatures
-Cozi grip designed to prevent slip ups
-Faster blow dry


The second brush they sent me is the Cushion Paddle Brush and I am loving the width.  It really feels like I am massaging my scalp every time I brush my hair.  The one I was using before was a lot smaller and it was more rough so sometimes it hurt to brush through.  Not only do I use this for getting out tangles, but I also use it when I am blow drying.  I like to go through once or twice after using the round brush.  It's great for curling the ends under a little bit too.  I love it!
Price: $9.98

BENEFITS 
-Massages scalp
-Heat resistant nylon bristles
-Ideal for detangling and smoothing
-Works on all hair types and textures



They also sent me a Hair Therapy Wrap in pink.  The great thing about this is that is really helps to treat dry and damaged hair without you having to go to a salon AND it's cordless.  It lets your deep conditioning products penetrate more deeply and it helps to strengthen your hair too.  It comes with 3 gel packs that you heat up in the microwave and place inside the wrap.  You leave it on for about 20 minutes and you will notice how soft it leaves your hair after.  Since I have ombre highlights still, I always worry about my ends looking damaged from the dye, so this is great for me to continuously treat my hair at home.  The wrap and gel packs are re-usable too which is awesome.  Definitely recommend.
Price: $29.98

BENEFITS
-Deeply nourishes the roots and and scalp
-Strengthens hair and hair cuticle to reduce damage
-Softens hair and makes it more manageable





Check out my tutorial where I go into a little more detail on both brushes and show you the step by step process of how I blow dry my hair!




Just for being my followers you will receive a 20% discount on any order by entering code: affair20.  This expires 6/30 and cannot be combined with any other promo. 

Brush Love is also having a free shipping promo this summer on all orders in the US with no minimum!


AND 
they are also doing their Question Of The Month Giveaway starting today 6PM EST.  All you have to do is answer an easy question and they will randomly select winners.  There will be 10 winners and you will get to select Brushlab brush of your choice!  



*This has been a sponsored post but written by me and everything is my true and honest opinion. 


XO

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In Case You Missed It: David, Darren, Megan, and Madonna

Famously hairy chested, and—ahem—decidedly cheese ball actor and singer David Hasselhoff recently sold his former family estate in Encino, CA, for $3,549,000 and, as was revealed by the celebrity gossip juggernaut TMZ, coughed up $1,950,000 to buy himself a big new mock-Med macmansion bachelor pad in a small, guard-gated enclave in the affluent L.A. suburb of Calabasas (CA).

Online resources show the 5,767 square foot residence—on and off the market since November 2006!—has five bedrooms and six bathrooms. The Baywatch babe's new abode also has a double-height foyer for impressing guests and Chinese food delivery men, a sunken formal living room with fireplace and double height ceiling, a formal dining room and an adjacent center island kitchen, a family room with wet bar, and a office/library loft that overlooks the formal living room.

The 1.54 acre grounds include numerous patios, a waterfall equipped swimming pool and spa, built-in barbecue center, lush semi-tropical landscaping, a grassy play yard and a huge concrete pad with basketball nets but no guide lines or whatever those linear markings on the basketball court are called.

listing photos: Coldwell Banker


Thanks to the New York Observer we learned that wildly successful television super-producer Darren Star (Sex and the City, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210 and the reprise 90210) sold his swank New York City pied-à-terre at the glitzy Trump International Hotel and Tower on Columbus Circle for $13 million to the family of shopping mall magnate Frank Lowy, otherwise known as second richest man in Australia.

Mister Star acquired the 35th floor spread in 2005 for $6.1 million so the thirteen million clam sale price represents an enviable and elephantine return on his real estate investment.

Listing details show the L-shaped, 3,059 square foot corner apartment has three bedrooms and 4.5 marble bathrooms, including a master suite with two bathrooms and private study/sitting room. The living/dining space stretches almost forty feet with a built-in wet bar in the dining area and there's a stacked washer/dryer in the corridor that connects the living room and the compact but generously windowed eat-in kitchen.

Mister Star owns (at least) one very luxurious residence in Los Angeles, a 6,808 square foot residence on a prime street in Bel Air that he bought in November 2005 for $6,850,000, filled with a small museum's worth of name brand contemporary artworks and had photographed for the March 2012 issue of Architectural Digest.

listing photo and floor plan: Brown Harris Stevens


The long-legged blond at Trulia Luxe Living reported this week that sitcom superstars Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) and Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) finally sold their published, city view house in L.A.'s Bird Streets 'hood—where are the streets are named after birds, natch. They hoisted the 3 bedroom and 3.5 bathroom residence on the open market in September 2011 for $12,650,000 and last week at a steep discount for $9,970,000 million.

Back in December 2011 the modern-minded couple bought a glassy contemporary in Bel Air for $4,150,000.

listing photos: Keller Williams Beverly Hills

We first heard it from the ever industrious kids at Curbed that Her Pop Music Majesty Madonna has done sold her 6 bedroom and 8 bathroom duplex digs at Harperley Hall on New York City's Upper West Side. Not surprisingly, the deep pocketed buyer, identified as Deepak Narula, is a prodigiously rich hedge fund fat cat.

The still fit as a fiddle and strikingly well preserved mid-50s Material Girl first listed her approximately 6,000 square foot multi-unit combination spread in November 2012 with a $23,500,000 asking price. So the celebrity real estate scuttlebutt goes Mister Hedge Fund paid quite a bit less than the last and final $19,995,000 price tag.

The sprawling apartment was decorated with Art Deco zing style by her dilettantish brother Christopher—now a shoe designer—and was photographed in 2007 in all its art-filled glory for Architectural Digest.
The celebrity real estate leprechauns haven't been so kind to Madge on the West Coast where she hasn't had much luck yet unloading her Beverly Hills estate either off market—with a rumored $28 million asking price—or on the open market where it's currently listed at $22.5 million.

Madonna continues to own a horse farm in the Hamptons—bought from Calvin's ex-wife Kelly Klein in late 2009—and the near mythic Upper East Side triple-wide townhouse with private garage she bought in 2009 for $32,000,000 and spent heaven only knows how much on extensive renovations that included penthouse level expansion and the addition of roof deck.

listing photos: The Modlin Group

In Case You Missed It: Adriana Lima

According to the celebrity gossip peeps at Celebuzz, Brazilian bra and pantie supermodel Adriana Lima listed her Midtown Manhattan condo crib for $5.5 million. Property records show the smoldering brunette picked up the 2,200 square foot apartment at the full service Metropolitan Tower in late 2003 for $1,995,000.

Listing details show the 42nd floor spread has two bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms plus floor to ceiling windows that provide a through-the-buildings northern view of Central Park. The well-equipped condo, which has month common charges and taxes that rack up to $5,404, also has a handy-dandy home automation system that conveniently controls the lighting, audio visual equipment, temperature settings, and electronic window shades at the mere touch of a button.

Miz Lima and her Serbian professional basketball player husband, Marko Jarić, and their two young children live primarily in Miami, FL where in January 2010 they shelled out exactly $9,000,000 for a nearly 7,500 square foot fixer-upper bay front mansion on the gated and heavily guarded Indian Creek Island enclave. Some of their high profile neighbors on Indian Creek Island include multi-billionaire businessman Carl Icahn, Latin crooner Julio Inglesias, steel magnate Leroy Schecter, hedge fund honcho Eddie Lampert, and Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula.

listing photos and floor plan: The Modlin Group

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Ross Mathews Unloads L.A. Starter House

SELLER: Ross Mathews
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $676,500
SIZE: 1,034 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Thanks to a friendly missive from little birdie we'll call Ron Aroundsue Your Mama learned that hilariously high camp television personality Ross Mathews and his long time man-friend, stylist Salvador Camarena, along with their pooches Louise and Mijo, have moved to a glassy, canyon view house in Los Angeles, CA, a notable event both men have recently blogged and/or Tweeted about.

Since Your Mama's invitation to the house warming party must have gotten lost in the damn mail—uhm...yes, Hello, Ross—we can't reveal any details about the out and proud couple's new digs except that it appears in video to be substantially more spacious and much more contemporary than the itty-bitty 1940s bungalow in L.A.'s Atwater Village 'hood that Mister Ross sold in early May (2013) for $676,500.

Mister Mathews, an inveterate and intensely focused pop culture maven of the highest magnitude, started up his ladder of Showbiz fame and fortune in the early Aughts as a lowly intern on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. His effervescent personality, girlishly high-pitched voice, and brutally self-deprecating sense of humor got Mister Ross noticed by the powers that be who, after a fun-filled last minute fill-in guest spot on the show, hired him on as "Ross The Intern." As "Ross The Intern" Mister Ross honed his schtick as a fun-loving and infectiously fruity correspondent who giddily covered movie premieres, awards shows and other such important Tinseltown trivialities.*

Since his intern days Mister Ross, now in his early 30s, has become a bit of a cable television staple. He lost 40 pounds on Celebrity Fit Club in 2007, was a correspondent for the celebrity gossip program The Insider, and hosted the GSN game show Big Saturday Night. He occasionally appears on the long-running Days of Our Lives soap story, he frequently fawns over celebrities on red carpet events for E!, and he pops up just about every week on sassy pants comedian and entertainment industry mogul Chelsea Handler's eponymous late night pop culture gab fest.

Mister Ross recently published what Your Mama imagines will be the first of several memoir driven tomes, Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence. This fall Mister Mathews will host Hello Ross, his very own interactive late night television chat show that aims to laud and applaud celebrity-driven pop culture rather than tear it down with snarky remarks about failed fashion choices, arrogant douche-baggery and—ahem—poor day-core.

Property records show Mister Mathews picked up his petite pad in Atwater Village—an increasingly hip and hipster inhabited area sandwiched between Los Feliz and Glendale—in January 2010 for $530,000. A few quick calculations on Your Mama's bejeweled abacus tells us that Mister Mathews turned a $146,500 profit, not counting almost 3.5 years of carrying costs, updates and upgrades, real estate fees and—as per listing information—professional decorating by liptastic nice-gay decorator/persnickety house flipping Bravolebrity Jeff Lewis.

The wee, single-story bungalow has two bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms in just 1,034 square feet, according to online marketing materials we managed to ferret up out of the interweb. A tiny front porch with a tomato red front door opens to a small foyer—a minuscule vestibule, really—that sits between a reasonably roomy living room and an eat-in kitchen.

There are hardwood floors in the living room (and the bedrooms) and red clay tiles with decorotive insets in the kitchen that set off the white Shaker style cabinets and cream colored tile counter tops with Fiestaware-ish back splash. Upgraded stainless steel appliances include a commercial-style four-burner range and a side-by-side fridge/freezer flanked by a small built-in housekeeping desk and an open laundry/pantry that connects through to the outdoor living spaces. We loathe how the cabinets stop just shy of the ceiling but at least Misters Ross and Camarena had the good sense not to stuff that slim space with wicker baskets and faux-greenery.

The compact master bedroom has one small closet and two access points to the backyard through what appear to be original 1940s wood and glass doors. We can live with a ceiling fan. They have a southern California practicality that we understand. But we really wish the Misters Ross and Camarena replaced it with something less dainty. Is that fan really Jeff Lewis approved? Anyhoo, the door to the smaller second bedroom appears to have been used by the misters of the house as an office/creative space and indeed has a glass panel on which appears the words "ART STUDIO" have been stenciled.

A detached two car garage at the rear of the property was transformed a year or two ago by Jeff Lewis on his eponymous spin off reality show Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis into a fully finished den/guest room with a concrete floors, crown molding, a moody palette of grays of browns, and a pair of mirror doored storage closets. Two sets of French doors open to the driveway cum dining terrace. Gray horizontal strip fencing and high hedges ring a verdant and separate but adjoining area of the backyard where there's a thick carpet of well-watered grass and an above-ground spa just outside the master bedroom beneath a vine-laden trellis.

Property records reveal Mister Mathews still owns a 1,130 square foot condominium in Pasadena (CA) that he scooped up in May 2006 for $430,000 and last July (2012) Mister Mathews paid $223,000 for a 1,233 square foot house with two bedrooms, one bathroom and a kidney-shaped swimming pool on a tight corner lot on a fairly busy street in Palm Springs (CA).

NOTE (Later same day): Thanks to the always in the know Lucy Spillerguts Your Mama learned that Mister Mathews and Mister Camanero decamped Atwater Village to the rugged hills of Glendale (CA) where they moved into a 1970s contemporary perched privately on a steep slope at the tail end of a long, serpentine, and semi-private driveway. Listing details Your Mama dug up show the renovated residence sits on more than three quarters of an acre with three bedrooms and three bathrooms in nearly 3,800 square feet spread over three floors. Other amenities include: an open concept main living/dining/kitchen that opens to a wrap around deck that cantilevers over the hill side with long canyon views; an attached two car garage with direct entry; a penthouse level master suite with adjacent office; and a lower level game room with built-in bar and wine cellar. The property was last listed at just under $1.1 million.

*Mister Ross also, among numerous other tasks assigned while in the employ of Mister Leno, trained for an worked on a NASCAR pit crew, sent in reports from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, toured the Burbank fire station, and attended at least one Spring Break celebration on Texas's South Padre Island.

listing photos: Keller Williams

You May Say That I'm A Dreamer...

Here's another outfit that I shot in Chicago!  I know it's been a few weeks already but I wanted to spread out the looks instead of posting them all at the same time.  I've still got one more coming at the end of the week.  It's always so hard to narrow down Grant's pics, so there's a bunch :) 













Photography: Grant Legan

Jacket: Forever21 (shop similar)/ Skirt: Charlotte Russe (shop similar)/ Tank: Target
Shoes: Zara (old)/ Necklace: C/O Happy Wrist 


You saw me wear this jacket a week or two ago in a previous post and I really am so happy that I found it.  It's such a vibrant orange and really brought this outfit to life.  When I first got it I really had no idea how I wanted to style it.  Once I brought it home I realized all of the different things that I could wear with it.  I highly suggest getting a bright/bold color jacket to add to your outfits this summer! It will be the perfect piece to spice up your looks.  I created the illusion of a dress (which I often do) with my favorite skater skirt and tank.  If you don't have exactly what you want, then why not create it? I was so happy to wear these Zara sandals again too and of course they matched to perfection.  I also added this statement necklace which has become one of my go to pieces.  I wore this my second night out in Chicago to a couple of different places and I have to say I felt super chic and a little edgy at the same time, just the way I like it! I didn't realize how much volume my hair had.  I swear there's something in Chicago water because it made my hair amazing the whole time!

I'm a dreamer in every sense of the word.  Always have been, always will be.  For some reason I thought of this when I looked through these images.  Go confidently in the direction of your dreams and make them come true!


XO

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Bruce Willis Lists Beverly Hills Estate

SELLER: Bruce Willis (and Emma Heming)
LOCATION: Beverly Hills, CA
PRICE: $22,000,000
SIZE: 10,379 square feet, 11 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Middle aged—and still procreating—action flick actor Bruce Willis is in the mood to shuffle his extensive residential real estate holdings in both the Big Apple and the City of Angels.

In New York City the smooth pated and famously smirky Die Hard franchise superstar owns a five bedroom and four bathroom condo crib at the full service Trump Place complex on the west side of Lincoln Center that was listed on the open market in February (2013) for $11,650,000 and is currently in contract with an unknown buyer for an unknown price. In mid-March Mister Willis and his considerably younger second missus, Emma Heming, shelled out, according to property records, $8,850,000 for U2 Bassist Adam Clayton's stunning three bedroom and four bathroom park-facing cooperative apartment at the distinguished Eldorado building on Central Park West.*

Back on the Left Coast, much to this jaded celebrity property gossip's mild surprise, Mister and Missus Willis Number Two have hoisted their large but hardly behemoth Beverly Hills, CA mansion on the open market with a beastly $22,000,000 price tag.

Property records show Mister Willis acquired the property in June 2004 for exactly nine million dead presidents from movie industry bigwig Alan Ladd, Junior.

Current listing information shows the 1928 Spanish style residence sits tightly on a shy acre parcel in a prime section of lower Beverly Hills—it is, after all, less than half a mile to the posh and plummy Beverly Hills Hotel—and has 11 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms in 10,379 square feet of fully renovated, updated and upgraded interior space. The Los Angeles County Tax Man's public records show the 2012 property taxes rang up to a stomach upsetting $114,838.

Listing details are—as of this minute—painfully slim but listing photographs show an airy double-height entry that connects through to a roomy formal living room with wood floors, wood burning fireplace, and exposed wood beam ceiling. There's an unnecessarily large enclosed loggia and the formal dining room broods with wine colored walls above medium brown wood wainscoting, a barrel vaulted ceiling covered in some sort of repetitive pattern texture that could be tin or carved wood or wall paper or any number of other materials. Wide banks of glass doors in both the living and dining rooms open to a central courtyard decked out with little more than a few plants, a couple chairs and a rugged stone fountain.

The spacious kitchen has a long center island with snack counter, Old School honey bee tile flooring, and, behind the top quality commercial style range, a tiled back splash where a green tiled rectangle has the words "Spring Street" spelled out in reversed out white tiles, an homage to the New York City subway system that doesn't make sense to Your Mama in a Beverly Hills kitchen.

Although it appears to Your Mama that most of the public rooms orient themselves to the interior courtyard—in some cases the quickest route from one part of the house to another—the angled back of the house opens through a couple of arched glass doors to back yard. Looking past the nagging notion that the rear facade lacks any convincing architectural authenticity, the backyard includes a small patch of grass and a large deck that encircles a long rectangular swimming pool.

At the butt end of the irregularly shaped lot there's a lighted tennis court that backs up to a service alley that runs behind a handful of other similarly sized mini-estates and mansions. Some of the nearby estates and homses are owned by L.A. luminaries like mega-resort building multi-billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, the inestimable coochie-cooer Charo, Peter Falk's widow Shera, and 3-D technology tycoon Joshua Greer who, in 2011, paid fellow tech tycoon turned big-time philanthropist David Bohnett $23 million for a nearly 10,000 square foot white brick Georgian on a double lot.

Mister Willis's real estate portfolio runs deep and the Hollywood staple won't be without a Tinseltown bedsit once he sells his big Bev Hills residence. He also owns a 2,900 square foot ranch style residence off Mulholland Drive in the 90210 but it's not known—at least to Your Mama—if Mister and second Missus Willis intend to occupy the property.

*Mister Willis's propert portfolio currently also includes (but may not be limited to) a number of residential and commercial holdings in and around itty-bitty Hailey, ID.

listing photos: Hilton & Hyland