News Boy Hats on Etsy

I proudly present my Esty project (www.etsy.com/shop/giedruma). I've been experimenting on classics here and with a little help of my friends the beautiful 8-panel newsboy hats are available for everyone who's in the mood to put a lid on for the breezy season:

Here they are: photographed by the sophisticated Dalia Ciupailaite (daliaciupailaite.lt), modeled by the one and only Mindaugas J. Bikauskas (www.deeb.lt):

reflections in the glass of...

it's good to be back in Vilnius. It's good to have friends everywhere and go out every night to the same cozy places you once got bored of and now so happy to be back there. It is so pleasant to look out of the window and see the same view that didn't change much for 20 years. I will love my home until it's time to go again.

this is not a sad note.

foto by: Andrey Motorichev

Portraits

One of these days in New York City I met a beautiful and sharp-witted photographer Elizabeth Waugh and our meeting turned into this...
(Braids by the amazing Alicia Vance)

The Best of Burning Man 2012 in my eyes

1. Riding a bike in the sand storm and finding a shelter in the Temple.
2. Meeting people and sharing random life stories.
3. Watching time fly while hangin' out on the art cars.
4. Potato pancake parties.
5. My old and new Lithuanian friends.
6. Amazing beautiful costumes.
7. Smiles.
8. Forgetting about the face paint on my face.
9. Lamps, cups, glasses and gifts dangling around on my belt.
10. The Feeling after the fest.

 foto by Salvia

Iš laiško sesei GP

"Tiek daug visko dedasi aplink, kad net nezinau nuo ko pradet rasyti... gal kad is tiesu pries dvi savaites isvykau i Washington DC naktiniu autobusu (buvo turbut rugpjucio 25-os naktis), nukeliavau i tarptautini lindyhopo čempionatą (ILHC), o iš ten - į mažą Nevados dykumos miestelį Reno, kur sutikau žmonių ir nuvažiavau į Burning Man festivalį (tą Black Rock dykumą...) ir ten buvau apie 8 dienas, iš kur po to jau su kitais nusitrenkiau į San Franciską pas dar kitus, su kuriais praleidau Liepą švedijoj... atsipeikėjus san franciske jau galvojau kaip čia bus, nes ten nakvojau tik vieną naktį, kol rugsėjo 6 paryčiais parskridau į Niuojorką, kad jau tą patį savaitgalį trenkčiausi uždarbiauti į renesanso mugę, kurioj išmokau groti didgeridoo, šiek tiek fleita ir ocarina, šiek tiek dzembe... tiksliai nežinau, ką veikiau vakar, bet pusę nakties klausiau Anoushka Shankar, kol išryto visai netikėtai Jason'as mane išgrūdo dirbti į New York Fashion week. Ten ir praleisiu ateinančias dvi dienas, kol penktadienį viena žavi forotgrafė iš manęs darys graikišką skulptūrą. O po to vėl renesanso mugė..."

mažytis update'as, kas dedasi mano pasaulyje, kol po truputį vėsta orai...

pasiilgau mielojo Vilniaus.

10 places to go swing dancing in the USA

I was asked to put together a list of ten places I'd go swing dancing in the states, here it is in the order of abc:

1. “Century Ballroom”, 915 E Pine Street, 2nd floor, Seattle WA 98122
2. “Frim Fram Jam”, 412 8th Ave @ 31st St., New York, New York 10001
3. “Jam Cellar”, Josephine B. Parks Center, 2437 15th St, NW, Washington, DC 20009
4. “Joe's Great American Bar & Grill”, 4311 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505
5. “LindyGroove”, 200 S. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101
6. "Mimi's in the Marigny", 2601 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70117.
7. “Mobtown Ballroom”, 861 Washington Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21230
8. “Radegast Hall & Biergarten”, 113 N 3rd Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY 11211
9. "The Spotted Cat", 623 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116.
10. “9:20 Special”, 2460 Sutter Street  San Francisco, CA 94115.

I have not been at number 1, 3 and 10, but these places are on my map and I will do my best to go out there as soon as I hit the west coast on my ramblings...  Jam Cellar, you'll have to wait for next ILHC :)

Do you believe in Fairies?

This year at Herrang Dance Camp I was involved in so many different activities that half of all of that has already fallen out of my windy head. One of the most random things was this...


Don't know how I wandered from Astrology to Fairies... It must be like everything in my reality... unexpected matches and twists of the story...

 

 

 

I get to leave every time I get to know...

Good bye LA, hello New York City. That's all I can say for now. And it's not even funny! Now I'm afraid to fall in love with this place, cause I feel like I'm leaving pieces of myself every time I start calling a place home. I will stop doing that now, but I will live in and around Brooklyn until the end of October... You're very welcome to visit :)

It's been around three days since I came back from Herrang, making a huge circle Europe - LA - NYC. Just because life's changing quicker than plane tickets... And here I am, still waking up to Herrang time, still living separately from my head... like unexpectedly grown Alice in urban wonderland... with my hear in the clouds and my feet in the park...

In my first 48 hours I met 1/3 of my NYC friends and had an amazing dance night. And I also love my garden and the park! I've seen hundreds of fireflies for the first time in my life and I've just finished reading "Dandelion Wine" this morning, surrounded by dogs and squirrels. Life's exciting! I wonder what's waiting for me around the corner...

Off to the New York Renaissance Faire in a couple hours. Impossible is nothing!

Another day in New York City

As I wake up in the room full of daylight surrounded by street sounds in Upper West side, Manhattan, I wonder, what am I really doing here. I'm in bed that is standing in the middle of the tiny room on the 5th floor and is actually the production office of the movie that is being made by my friends here in NYC. This same bed is also in the opening scene in the movie. It's going to be a good one...

In the big cities like NY sometimes I really feel like I have a cloak of invisibility and I'm just starting to take an advantage of it. Speaking of which... my latest dream is to work in the costume department for a movie like Lord of the Rings. I think now is the right time to dream big again, no matter how scary that sounds.

I came up with this idea in the dark of the empty movie theater while watching a latest fairy tale movie. It was poor, but man how I enjoyed the idea of behind the scenes! I remembered when Robin Hood series were filmed in the forest by the summer house and how exciting that was for us kids.

I've been also thinking about Herrang and planning for the 70's party. I lucked out with the theme in terms of difficulty and fun level. I went looking for inspiration at the famous Chelsea Flea Market garages yesterday and got a bunch of good stuff for Lindy Hop Shop and myself :) I reimbursed myself with Damasquinado brooch, similar to the one I've lost at Frankie 95 three years ago (http://giedruma.blogspot.com/2009/08/damasko-plienas-is-sendaikciu.html). Here it is and the squirrel!

Giedre & Mindaugas at Herrang Dance Camp 2012 weeks 1-4

The famous, worlds biggest swing dance camp is about to start in 20 days form today and this year we will be celebrating 30th anniversary of this annual festivity!

I love this place so much and I am super happy to take part in it for the 8th time (it took me several minutes to count how many Julys I've spent there...) So this year I will contribute to Herrang by organizing the Friday party of week 1 - "Back to the 70s" and teaching together with my partner Mindaugas "Deeb" Bikauskas on week 2. We will be spending the whole month in Herrang and will be available for all sorts of festivities and activities, including private classes.

If you are interested in one, find us in the camp, on facebook or email us: giedre@lindyhop.lt, mindaugas@deeb.lt, www.deeb.lt.

foto: Mania Zyzak

http://www.bobbybonsey.com/

Learn to fly

I've been learning a lot about myself lately, mostly what I like working on at and how can I use that in life. I've known a lot by meditating over the works that I was lucky to have time for past few days...
Listening to the Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly as I look at my latest remake: 3 J's shirt (Before, collar already cut off and After) turned into my BM and Herrang Friday party outfit:

DIY: how to make a yoga mat bag

While the set is buzzing I think of what's waiting for me at home in LA. And that would be some relaxing sweaty yoga classes.. (But not quite soon, cause there is one more week to go) And I made a new yoga bag for myself right before I left. Here it is!

Things you do in NYC...

...when you have (almost) nowhere to go.
The other night J and me where talking about things we managed to do in NYC in one week. Apparently we did a lot, but for our crazy tempo was an easy flow... so:
1) 5 hours at Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, exploring Greek, Egyptian and Asian art, mostly jewelery and pottery/glass. Visited Schiaparelli vs Prada exhibit. Pretty cool.
2) Went to 3 different chicest night clubs - don't ask why - it just happened.
3) Celebrated J's best friends wedding at the amazingly beautiful venue...
4) Seen the ass kicking "Gatz" (8 hour) play at Public Theater, NYC...
5) Started my first internship on the movie that's being filmed in NYC. Working for wardrobe dept. Freaking exciting!
6) Unfortunately all this time me and J are pretty sick :( so low energy...
7) But with this all happening we have slept in randomest places in Queens and Downtown...
8) I've spent aprox. 4 hours in metro trains every day since Monday (today is Saturday night)..
9) J is producing this movie and has been working at least 12 hour days since Monday...
10) I got a great offer from HDC. And a great one from ESDC. Hell yeah!
11) Last night I felt very sad about not going to Harlem 2012 in Vilnius, so J drove me to actual Harlem and took picture of me in front of the tree of hope..
12) I spend at least 4 hours shopping for this movie every day since Monday. NYC is the best place for shopping. Guess what I got for myself after all? two charms and a travel pillow. Practical?
13) met some amazing people!

I'm sad to leave NYC on Monday and going back home to LA. We gonna be shooting on the beach in New Jersey tomorrow. Yay to new locations! I feel like there will definitely be more movie sets in my life oh so very soon.

 

What is 70s?

I keep asking ppl around - is 70s the decade before 1970 or after? Anyway... my guts tell me that 70s is glam rock, Tom Waits, the classical "Smoke On Water", bell bottom pants, bikini tan lines, headbands, Bee Gees, Abba...

Rain

It was raining today in New York City while I was going up and down the Manhattan with the shopping bags for this movie that I volunteer at. Since there is nothing I could show in this field yet, here are some rainy New York views...

Soure, Times Square, 1943. John Vachon. Office of War Information.

Source, Tompkins Sq. Park, James Jowers, 1967.

Source, Labor Day parade on the rain-soaked streets of New York City, 1909.

Mellow

I take of my rings and place them next to me on the marble bar as I feel my fingers landing too heavy on the keyboard. Smooth jazz in the background of the old bar. Some do whiskey, some do red wine over their busy night conversations. I wait for tomorrow as I linger between reality and surreality at almost midnight, at the bar in downtown New York. Just right now.

I have had my first day of the experience as movie wardrobe assistant and - let me tell you - that is what I was looking for for many years! We'll see how it goes. Earlier this week I have visited Metropolitan Museum Of Art, NYC. I was hoping to get myself some Alexander McQueen inspiration, but surprisingly I got there on the first day of Schiaparelli and Prada exhibition. Pretty inspiring, I should say. As for a hat making shoe freak, that was a discovery. Crowded though, as NYC itself. That is what you have to deal when you get to be one foot away from world famous masterpieces on the apple of the worlds eye*...

*New York is also known as Big Apple (a dance is also called Big Apple). Talking of which... I really miss dancing and this morning at the starbucks caffee in the morning when they played a familiar swing piece I cried like a baby... Now I'm gonna sleep like a baby and wish tomorrow is not less wonderful as today...

I leave you with a song 'je ne veux pas travailler' that sounds mellow in my ear. Right now, right here.

lots of love, G.

NewYorkers vs Angelinos

It sounds grand and it is quite grand... sometimes even overwhelming. Now when I'm inhabiting this side of the world and get to be as local as it gets I can speak about the huge difference between the life style of the East and West of the US. I stare out of the window with amazement while fire engine is loudly flashing on a side street. New York is older, more sophisticated, smarter, has more style, and is wiser. He has peculiar smell but owns it as an old man owns his trench coat. New York is loud and does not apologize for pushing you to the limits of the persona you think you are. It strips your weaknesses and sharpens your wit. He puts you on a catwalk and helps you disappear, just wish for it. This place never stops and knows it's value without the mirror. It will chew you and spit you out if you'll just stand there and gaze. He will pierce you with gazillion stilleto heels on a damp summer night... New York will give you everything you want - your part is to find the right word to ask for it... LA is different. She has a good taste for popular perfume, she is always late, she doesn't keep her promise, cause it's all about small talk and sexy blink of featherly lashes... I sip cool coffee and look out of the window at this shabby bird. Everyone in LA has a gene of stardom. That's how and why they show up (literally). It's the place where you wear more flip flops than shoes, more dresses than jeans, more smile than serious eyebrows... you just want to slow down and chill, admiring hot beach bodied surfer boys cruising by. You can become one. You can wish for anything but in the end... you stay with what you got, because LA reality makes you feel so self-sufficient.. just make sure you catch all those muses that attack you with the rays of light and rainbowy waves of the Pacific.

Hatmania

[ kepurių gamybos konvejeris ]

Štai, ką dar nunarpliojau pastarosiomis dienomis.
Here is what I've created these days. These hats don't fit everyone, but if it fits - it's the hottest thing ever. Yes to Jason.
I will put this on my etsy shop Giedruma as made to order, in case some of you would be interested in getting one made by me for you..

Fan dance in progress

[ šokis su gerbėjais progresuoja ]

As I have probably mentioned before, I am continuously working on the dresser project :) Recently the biggest inspiration to me comes from Japanese and art deco patterns and here is the result of stenciling attempt. It's not finished yet and I will be adding flower motives on the side of the dresser or across the whole thing. I found fan stencil in this amazing stencil library and I'm looking fwd to snatch more of the beautiful stuff they have :) stenciling is a lot of fun and is a very fast way to decorate things. All you need is x-acto knife, a picture you want to stencil, a sheet of see-through plastic (I used a top sheet of a thin binder), a sponge or a brush and some paint.

T-SHIRT rug

Maikių kilimas.

I love to transform things into something new after a while and I like working with what is around me. I see all of my transformations as sentiments for things that are not wearable anymore, but still too good to let go. And also ecology. Here is my last transformation of 7 T-shirt into the rug.

Santa Barbara ir vandens pilnas savaitgalis

(English version by request this time:)

Jei teisingai prisimenu, "Santa Barbara" buvo pirmas Amerikietiškas serialas, pasiekęs mus ankstyvais nepriklausomybės metais. Kai buvau vaikas, "Santa Barbara" man buvo kažkoks bendrinis žodis, reiškiantis nuolaitinę santykių dramą turtuolių pasaulyje ir niekada neįsivaizdavau, kad turėsiu progą pati įvertinti, kas per reiškinys ta Santa Barbara... Gerai, kad ne santykių, o gamtos pažinimo srityje.

Taigi, trumpai tariant, SB yra ramus ir prabangus miestas Ramiojo vandenyno pakrantėje, nuo LA kokios dvi valandos kelio greitkeliu 101. Pats miestas visiškai neįpatingas, išdegintas balandžio saulės, o visos legendinės karalių vilos, į kurias veda privačios gatvės ir alėjos, slepiasi kalnuose. 

Kai penktradienį aptarinėjom savaitgalio planus, mano didžiausias pageidavimas buvo žygiuoti kur nors prie vandens, taigi pasitelkdami pažintis ir Kalifornijos keliautojų bibliją sumetėm žiauriai gerą maršrutą su nemažai veiklos tiek kojoms, tiek rankoms. Penktadienį praleidom Hollister Ranch, kur Jason'as filmavo "To Be Friends". Pasakiško grožio privatus pasaulis atsiveria už akylai saugomų vartų: citrinmedžių ir avokadų sodai, privatus paplūdimys, keliu vaikštančios karvių gentys, kiparisai, eukaliptai ir vos ne vandeniu važiuojantis traukinys LA - San Franciskas. Traukinys privačioje žemėje nestoja, bet atrodo visiškai neįtikėtinai - kaip realybės lipdukas pasakos paveiksle.

Hollister valdose esanti Ramiojo vandenyno pakrantė yra geriausia vieta Californijoje stoti ant banglentės. Deja, į teritoriją patekti galima tik dviem būdais: nusipirkti žemės Santa Barbaroje arba atplaukti laivu ir nelipti į krantą.

Penktadienį buvo labai stiprus vėjas, todėl pasirodė vaivorykštinės bangos.

Truputį paplepėję su sodybos šeimininkais apie medų, Lietuvą ir kino reikalus, ėjom rinkti citrinų, laimų ir avokadų.

Santa Barbaros apylinėse šiuo metų laiku saulė leidžiasi ne į vandenį, o į kalnus. Temstant dar spėjau papozuoti prie Postcard Point.

Sutemus pasiekėm kempingą prie Cachuma ežero. Naktį šalta nebuvo, bet kai pabudau 7 ryto, viską gaubė rūkas. Nesimatė nei kur žemė, nei kur ežeras. Jo jo būta didelio ir grėsmingo... kadngi į ežerą kūno galių kišti negalima, nes tai yra geriamo vandens šaltinis, tai me jame šiek tiek paplaukiojom jūrine baidare.

Pagal vietinių standartus, 2,5 valandos baidarėje yra daug, ko pasekoje turiu dailų šortų formos įdegį ant kojų...

Ežero mums neužteko, todėl sekmadienio saulę užmigdėm kalnuose. Prieš važiuodami namo dar užsukom į Santa Barbaros kalnus ir įkopėm į vieną gražesnių apžvalgos taškų (1,25 mylios = 2.01 km). Takas vingiuoja aplink kalvą, nuolat drėkinamą paparčiais apaugusio džiunglių upelio.

Man atrodo reikia geresnio fotoaparato, nes SB neatrodo taip jau įspūdingai (o yra)... :)