back on track. the palacio duhau/park hyatt . . .

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when you're on the road,

home is your hotel.

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which is why waking up to this,

called a "submarino":

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in the gardens of this hotel,

with it's grand salons and stunning architecture:

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i am just SO relieved that i found the havaiana store in brazil 

before returning.

can you imagine being here if i couldn't wear the right shoes?

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(silver/pink/yellow for timmer.  cause he loves em.  and lets me travel like this.)

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and then, apres dinner, a model appeared -

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true story.

we just finished dessert,

and this insanely gorge brazilian girl walks up to our table 

and says

"you are landis?"

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she had been shooting lingerie 

in a castle outside rio,

had just flown in,

and ran to the restaurant 

so as to not miss us.

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i know you already know it,

i did too,

but it was one of those

"huh. creatures like this DO exist in real life"

combined with

"god, did i really eat that much meat??"

and

"she's a hardworking gal, that brazilian lingerie/hair model".

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ok, i guess this makes that day a leeeetle bit more glam.

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i guess this shows it's not ALL glamour :

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i've been country-hopping.

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went from argentina to brazil for casting call backs 

and to meet up with the agency and client.

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how to put this . . .

bru-tal.

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the hotel in sao paulo reminded me of a stephen king novel.

about a corporate hotel in shifty neighborhood,

with stained toilets,

strange overly sanitized scent,

two full beds in every room

(there is something INCREDIBLY disturbing about that set up.

who travels that way?

rob and laura petrie?)

no wifi

and a palette i can only describe as "golden girls" meets "full house".

talk about HORROR.

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this was flying into sao paulo.

the clouds were a sign.

did i mention the six hour delay before takeoff?

yeah.

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day two, 

casting, 

better,

mainly due to the team having fun together.

here is marge,

checking emails while ignoring the cheese sandwiches on the table behind us.

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we went to lunch, came back to callbacks,

and suddenly THIS had appeared on the stage:

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no one could explain why.

or what it meant.

or why.

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BUT,

we did get to go eat that night 

at Figuera,

a restaurant built around a three hundred year old fig tree

in the heart of the upscale neighborhood of sao paulo:

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we got drinks.

we got meat the size of our heads.

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here are marge and GL just about to start:

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yay, photogenic creative design-y type people to play with!

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the clients, kimberly and ana just seemed eager to eat.

i was with them:

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so i had this:

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and this:

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(note the size of the POTATO in foreground for reference.  THAT my friends is MEAT.)

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which fortified me for this:

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they are big on the dessert buffet down here.

no complaining,

just an observation.

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i am going to get SO FAT.

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so i guess the moral here is

not all is glamour,

it is sometimes strange smells,

ookie hotels,

bad neighborhoods,

draining flights at bad hours,

pressure,

stress,

keeping it together,

and solving things with tequila,

a big tree,

and meat that would make the flintstones envious.

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BUENOS AIRES : the return -

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it's been awhile since i've been back,

i've missed the old girl.

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just booked a great hair campaign,

so am down here for a few weeks doing my thing.

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casting ridiculous models,

running around this "paris of the southern hemisphere"

looking for locations,

getting to know a fun new client,

and generally loving what i do.

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first stop : the park hyatt / palacio duhau,

where you find the old, the new, and the views

mixing flawlessly.

perhaps my favorite hotel on this side of the globe:

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then, a tour of the city,

where the grand and the modern mix as well,

feeling like a dream location scout,

some back-lot forgotten by america,

littered with european streets,

miami bodegas,

fendi stores,

and grand palisades,

one on top of the other:

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even their graffitti seems set designed,

too lovely:

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AND,

it pays homage to moi,

(i even forgive the mis-spellings, occasionally)

(here with rita leroux, my producer/road wife)

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the food is ridonkculous.

meat,

some meat-like vegetables

(yes, tim, i am eating grilled sweet potatoes.  honestly.)

and some more meat.

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i think i'll stay awhile.

it's the perfect . . .

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my husband's holy day, when timothy johnson was born, when everything began for me . . .

-

people rarely understand when i tell them 

that tim was not the man i asked for,

but rather,

the man i deserved.

-

i was twenty one when we met,

and i had a list of requirements,

things i "needed" in a man,

things i thought would keep me content.

-

as you can imagine, the list was not working out.

-

and tim was everything i did not think i wanted.

-

he is kind.

he is patient.

he is loyal.

he puts me, at times, before himself.

he is funny (ok,that was on the list)

but in a completely different way than i am.

he is right brained (BIG TIME)

whereas i am left,

yet he has the greatest sensitivity to color and space,

and the finest taste in design i have ever encountered.

-

i'm drifting.

-

today is his birthday,

the day he was born and somehow,

found his way out of that tiny michigan city

to chicago,

to a club called shelter,

to me.

-

and he saw through the long hair and the club kid,

and drove me around that snowy city in his big gray car,

and waited for me to settle into

understanding

of what love

could be.

-

larger than a list.

-

longer than my imagination.

-

enduring,

without reasons.

-

when he was put here,

i know it wasn't just for me.

-

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it just feels like that.

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LANDIS & CO at the American Music Awards . . .

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in the fun but random category,

a friend recently asked my team to do a series of "red carpet makeover" segments 

for the AMA's.

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so we called in our crew,

borrowed Church boutique on santa monica for a day,

brought in the models,

and took four girls from everyday

to pop star/r&b queen/gaga/red carpet ready.

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it was a particularly crazy,

unscripted,

off the cuff pile of glamour

crossed with how-to's,

and having just seen the first cut,

i'm really happy with it.

-

the promos start running soon,

and we'll be at the red carpet on sunday,

introducing and talking during the pre-show . . .

so get ready to tune in.

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fashion, apparently, IS funny.

-

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jo, at work on my favorite model, me.

-

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there's a method to the madness.

and it's pink feathers.

-

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luckily,

tim showed up at the end of the day to take me back home.

in my head gear.

for my own safety.

and my ego's.

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pretty things worth posting - october/november 2010

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you know the drill,

in no particular order,

some lovely things to ponder.

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moments from the lanvin sp11 runway,

where it was less about the innovation,

more about the movement,

and the moment:

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and the SHOES.

i know the models found them painful,

i know gwyneth griped about them on the red carpet

(even though she should suck it up if she gets to wear things right from runway

weeks after.  goop, my ass . . .)

they are insanely lovely creations:

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then, a motorcycle.

this is for tim.

it is not a batman prop.

it is actually a one off vintage cycle,

found in a shed in germany.

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david gandy and doutzen krouse.

genetically gifted.

hate.

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and love.

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the interior of the dries van noten store in paris,

laquered red when he found it,

he preserved the exquisite walls and added his own touches,

as only the mix-maestro can:

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flemish/kuba/sixties pop?  oui.

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some of jo strettell's favorite looks from the spring runways,

make-up edition:

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the new, very limited edition,

marc berthier designed hermes watch in titanium.

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and an old mcqueen ad.

further proof of the master's mastery of perception:

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scary and tender,

much as i imagine the man himself.

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