Oh Vinny...

Last Saturday, September 25, 2010 Vinny from Jersey Shore "hosted" a party at Republic Nightclub. It's located at 1520 N. Fremont, Chicago, IL 60622. Yours truly went to this shin dig to party with the Italian stallion and to come back and report the drunken details to those that couldn't make it.

I arrived in my killer stilettos around 11:30ish p.m. and was feeling a bit inpatient of when he was to show, since the night was supposed to be hosted by him. But celebrities, what can you do?


Here is monsieur Vinny making his entrance around 1:30 a.m. The sexy, sweaty half-dressed crowd squished their way to the floor to see him as he appeared on stage surrounded by body guards.

In my opinion, Vinny didn't do any "hosting" that night. All he did was go on stage and introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Vinny from the MTV show Jersey Shore," he said to the crowd while holding a microphone. He looked a bit nervous- to be honest- and didn't sound too confident when speaking into the mike.

Then! All of a sudden! A bouncer announced that he was to take pictures with fans and all the ladies in the club went running to the side of the stage! It was a stampede of pushy women that I did get caught up in for the sole purpose of this blog. I too ran and pushed my way through the chaotic crowd of women and their eagerness to get a close glimpse of dear Vinny. It was all in the name of journalism for my purposes. But, unfortunately, I never reached the front of the line to get a personal picture with him. But I elbowed my way close enough to get a close up of him. Here he is on stage with a girl that is not me, but he sure is looking straight at my camera! Enjoy fans of Vinny!

Pictures and story by: Olivia N. Castaneda

Beware of What You Eat

Have you ever wondered what chemicals are used in food? There are seven deadly chemicals used in processed food. They raise high health concerns to people of all ages. Here are three that I think cause the most risks.

FD&C Red Dye # 3 is a red cherry dye derived from coal tar. Researchers in 1981 found that this chemical can interfere with the transmission of nerve impulses in the brain. Since then the dye has been banned from cosmetics, but is still put in processed food.

Do you ever eat cereal, potato chips, or gum? What if I were to tell you that in those products they contain harmful amounts of BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole), which is a preservative to keep food from going bad. Although it is preserving the food, once it hits your body it accumulates in the body fat and disrupts the hormone balance with higher or lower levels of estrogen or progesterone. Studies have shown that mice, rats and hamsters have developed cancer from this preservative, but it is kept on the shelves.

Commonly called Sodium Benzoate or Benzoic Acid is a preservative widely used in fruit juice, carbonated drinks and pickles. The problem with this preservative is when it is used in beverages that contain ascorbic acid (Vitamin C.) These two substances can react together to form an acidic solution that forms small amounts of Benzene that is a chemical that causes Leukemia and other cancers. There have been restrictions made on Sodium Benzoate, bt it is still used in some products.

When I go grocery shopping, I rarely look at the label to see what's in it. I grab healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. It's a scary thought that on a daily basis we are contaminating our bodies with these foods that is full of chemical impurities. Who knows how many chemicals are allowed in processed food before it is deemed a health risk. These chemicals are clearly harmful. So be on the lookout for any of these three chemicals.

Thank you Facebook

How has Facebook affected your life? Did the infamous social, networking media bring you fame? Happiness? Sadness? Surprises, good or bad? Did it change your social or work life; maybe both? Have you gained or lost "friends"? I gained a few unexpected people I really thought I would never meet.

I joined facebook about two years ago only because my friends kept bugging me about it. A few months after that I recieved an unexpected, would have never imagined it friend request. It was my younger half-brother, whom I had never met. He lives in Indianapolis, IN with my other younger half-brother, half-sister, their mother and with the father I hadn't met in all my life. Soon afterwards, my other little brother sent me his friend request. It's a long story and when the editors gave me this blogging gig, I was told to write 150 words in length, so I'll keep it short and sweet. My brothers and I chatted quite often for the following year and decided to finally meet this past summer. So we did and it was awesome. Once they went back home to Indiana, my brothers planned and set up a surprise meeting for our father and I to meet and exchange hello's for the first time ever. Oh my gosh was it a surprise! They had all came to town for a family wedding and that's when it happened.

So if it weren't for facebook, I honestly believe I wouldn't have met my brothers nor the man that I'm told I look like. Maybe we would have in the far, far future, but who knows? So thank you Facebook.

Photo and Story by: Olivia N. Castaneda

Living Yoga

Two years ago yoga changed my life. I decided to take a class in yoga that took place twice a week. Right away I noticed a difference in my body. Before I started practicing yoga I suffered from severe migraines, and meditating along with the different poses helped me to relieve the pressure that I held in my head.

Yoga is all about understanding your body, and living in the present. Just taking 10 minutes a day to focus on your breathing, and noticing your body while you're breathing is another way to calm the mind during stressful days.

Before I started practicing yoga I noticed how much I lived in the future, and how I was always worried about bills I had to pay or things I had to get done. Living in the future not only made life stressful, and more complicated, but there was no room to enjoy life in the now. Yoga poses are designed so that you feel your body stretch and breathe into them. My yoga teacher explained to me that when you realize most of your worries come from things you have no control over that you can take a deep breath and let things happen.

Yoga has a lot of benefits including increasing your flexibility, massaging of your organs, and it can also help you sleep, and become relaxed. Yoga has been around for centuries since the 6th century B.C., where they primary use for yoga was through meditation. Yoga is a way of life, and it teaches the importance of loving your body, and taking care of yourself.

Promises Lies And Sexual Slavery

Dreams, ambitions and happiness are just a couple words to describe young girls everywhere who think of their future. One 15-year-old girl in Mexico was full of life, and wanted to build a successful life with a job in America.

She was determined, and put her trust in a boy who later became her boyfriend who was full of promises and hopes of bringing her to America and getting her a job. Never did she think that her dreams would become her worst nightmare.

He invited her to join him to work at a clothes factory in New York City. After being smuggled into the U.S., her voice was silenced as she was forced into sexual slavery. The guy she trusted beat her, burned her with cigarettes, threatened to kill her parents in Mexico. With no one to trust, no family and friends, she was left feeling lost, hurt and alone. Trying to get back on her feet, she thought of ways of escaping, and asked where bus and train stations were. She saved up money, and hid it in the refrigerator. With determination still in her heart, she went to a nearby bus station, and bought a ticket to a city she didn't know. She has been free ever since, but suffers from nightmares, and is forever scarred.

Living and working as a prostitute became her reality filled with false promises, physical, mental and sexual abuse. Unlike her story, thousands of other girls are still living this horrendous horror. People need to come together, and make it aware that this is happening everywhere in the United States. Parents especially, need to step up and let their kids know that this world has its dark sides. You are not protecting your child if you don't tell them about sexual slavery, because one is better off knowing than not knowing.

Each year about 1,000 American-born children are forced into the sex trade industry, while nationwide there are between 45,000 and 50,000 people trafficked into the United States according to a 2001 report from the U.S. States Department. Do your part, do research, and educate young girls and boys about what sexual slavery is, and what it can do to a person.

Hurry, Hurry You Dirty Girl

Gross, I know, but I didn’t have time to wash my hair or style it! What is a busy girl to do in order to get out of such a pickle?

Last week’s beauty blog was about teasing the hair to get va-voom volume. If you’re pressed with time, but need to have good, not just presentable hair, dry shampoo is the secret weapon. Not only will its formula soak up the oiliness, adding volume, but also kill that smelly hair smell.

This was my first dry shampoo experience. While doing online research for where and which dry shampoo to buy, I discovered quite a few different brands out in the market. Being the Allure magazine devotee that I am, I went out to my local Walgreens store and bought the one they recommend, Pssssst! Instant Dry Shampoo for $5.99! I couldn't pass up that bargain after the prices I found during my research.

The product comes in a can and is sprayed onto the hair as one would with hair spray. Just as the directions on the back of the can say, spray the hair where it needs help. I sprayed around the hair line, around the top and in-between sections and bam! My hair was oil-free, shiny and full of body and volume. A major plus that won me over was how good my hair smelled and lasted throughout my busy day.

Photo and story by: Olivia N. Castaneda

What a Tease

Don’t move. Hold it just right there. Gently put down the blow dryer, the flat iron and –dare I say- the brush. Well, maybe not the brush…that will be used for some teasing later.

I was super excited to read in the August issue of Allure magazine that poufy, almost punk a la Brigitte Bardot hair is the new trend for this fall season. So ladies, if you have thick, coarse, frizzy, curly, wavy or anything but perfectly, pin-straight hair then you’re in luck. You’re more than halfway to achieving this hair ‘do.

Because I’m a huge fan of this va-voom hairstyle, and actually style my hair like this for nights out in the town, here are my very own instructions to getting this fun look.

You will need a toothcomb, a wooden brush, volumizing hairspray, and Velcro rollers varying in size. Begin with clean, dry hair. The hair can be part down the middle or to the side, whatever your choice. Next, will be the teasing of the hair around the crown of the head. Grab hair from the upper section and hold it up, then mist some hairspray. (Note: gently mist, not spray. The hair should not get wet or soaked with the hair spray.) Keep the hair taught, and run the toothcomb in downward motions from the middle length of the hair to the root, making sure that you see and feel hair scrunched up.

To secure and add more teasing volume, gently mist more hairspray and use the wooden brush the same as the toothcomb. Once you finish teasing place the Velcro roller under the hair. This works by holding up the hair to give it shape.

Continue to the next sections of the hair. When finished, leave the rollers in for about ten minutes, then remove and enjoy your sexy new look.

Photos and Written by: Olivia N. Castañeda

Jersey shore

Jersey Shore has been MTV’s hit reality show for one season so far, and is gathering audiences everywhere on its current second season. Some might be distraught or upset over the fact that this show is not only one of a few Italian shows, but that it also adds to the constant stereotyping that Italians are all loud, obnoxious and party animals.

After watching a couple episodes of the second season I wonder what all the hype is about. These people aren’t doing anything but partying and drinking while gaining fame, publicity and money. They are constantly in the media outside their reality show. For example, Nicole Polizzi aka Snookie, a cast member on Jersey Shore, was arrested a couple weeks ago for public drunkenness, and the media coverage was all over the story. Many media outlets wanted to be the first ones to get a glimpse of the reality star’s mug shots.

These reality stars don't demonstrate any talent on the show, and you never see them doing any type of work besides cooking after a long night out partying, or picking out their next club outfit. What is this world coming to with pointless reality shows like Jersey Shore? I would rather be watching something that is more entertaining and educating than watching a house full of Italians go out and party all night

When there is only a couple of shows that display Italians, don’t you think a show would be a little more cautious about how they portray any race? It’s what people want to hear and see, which makes them think that these stereotypes of Italians are true. All we need in this world is cast members from the Jersey Shore to make money by portraying themselves in Italian stereotypes. Be mindful of what you watch, because the media is full of false images or messages referring to race, gender ethnicity, and religion.

Lindsey Lohan: A media obsession

It seems that Lindsey Lohan is enjoying being a free woman these days after she was released from jail then rehab, when she didn’t serve the full term of either sentence. It seems that if you have power, money or fame you don’t have to serve full sentences in the United States. It’s unjust and wrong that the legal system works this way.

The media has covered every legal process that she has gone through to see if she makes a wrong move. Enough already with the media covering what going on in her life after rehab. No one cares anymore!

Lohan has been in trouble with the police many times before and has gotten off. In 2007 she violated her parole agreement stemming from her two DUI arrests. Under the terms of her plea agreement she was to attend an alcohol awareness meeting weekly, which she violated. Also, Lohan is infamous for showing up hours late to court. If regular everyday people can't get away with this nonsense, then why can she?

Other celebrities who have gotten away with the law because of who they were and what they had in their bank account include pop singer Brandy who caused a fatal car crash in 2006 that resulted in the death of a woman. Vehicular manslaughter charges were never filed against her. A case similar to Brandy's involved a 48-year-old man from Idaho who caused a car crash that resulted with four deaths, and was charged with four accounts of Vehicular Manslaughter. Just because his accident resulted in more deaths doesn't justify that Brandy didn't get charged at all for the same crime.

People need to realize that just because you have a house in the Hamptons or your name appears on Billboards, the law is the law, and everyone should have to pay the price for their wrong doing. But for now if you have power, money and fame you can get away with almost anything.

Jimmy Fallon: Host of the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards

Last Sunday night was the 62^nd Primetime Emmy Awards and the only thing the media has crazed about was the fashion hits and blunders. No one has really commented on the comedic performances from the host, the hilarious, Jimmy Fallon.

From singing farewell songs for the ended shows 24, Law and Order, and Lost, while dressed as Elton John and lead singer of Green Day to hugging actor Tom Selleck, claiming him as his “real father,” Fallon had the crowd rolling every time he came out.

Now I have four letters for you: G.T.L.E. Gym. Tan. Laundry. Emmys. Fallon said this was the order in which he got ready to head off to his hosting gig. He did look more tanned than usual; very Hollywood of him.

His opening act for the show involved the acting cast from Glee. Fallon did a high-energy guitar performance, where he was completely out of breath while singing. Even though I couldn’t make out what he was saying, it just made it more comedic. And for the finale, Fallon ended the show on a high-note by popping a bottle of champagne and announcing the after-party at Betty White's crib.

Photos and story by: Olivia N. Castañeda