State

I'm surprised myself to know that I'm actually blogging about a Rhode Island hotspot. But as most of you know, I do live beyond the means that my waitress salary provides and have allowed myself to party in some of the hottest spots from LAX in Vegas to Super Paradise in Mykonos. Aside from sipping on Moscato (my favorite drink in the world) and trying my hardest not to say anything stupid in front of all of the self important people I'm usually surronded by, I also take a very critical eye in analyzing what it is, exactly, that the night club is trying to achieve. Are they trying to be a hip-hop mecca? A pedofile's dream as an underage hotspot? A pseudo-exclusive members only arena (which, in most cases, if you've heard of it you really only need a permission slip for entry- sorry, PX)? Or a Louis DeVitto fist-pumper's paradise right off of the New Jersey Turnpike? In my opinion, the best types of places to go out are those that aren't actually trying to achieve anything at all. And, with that, the most beautiful and fabulous will always be present.
I'm not saying that you need to skip Miami for your next party vacation and go to Providence, instead, but if you are by chance stuck in the Ocean State for whatever reason, leave the blow-out boys behind at the District Lounge and hit up one of Providence's finest new venues; State. Located on Throopy Alley right off South Main Street and behind Olives, I always feel like I've stepped into a small lounge on Las Ramblas in Barcelona (Okay, a huge exaggeration. But it's still adorable). Don't be prepared for any Sweet Caroline drunk wailing at the end of the night, however; State only plays house music from the Ministry of Sound in the UK, which also supports the lounge's Euro-flavor. With delicious Bellinis and French 50 cocktails, you can also enjoy affordable bottle service without getting agita over the bill at the end of it all. Even more, they feature a Champaign Campagne every Decemeber, a special party featuring a tasting of France's finest champagne with house music spun by DJ Dupe and Nick de Paris. With a relaxed feel in a hidden location, State is a lovely, top ten spot that I recommend to anyone coming through Lil Rhody. And, yes, you'll still see a couple blow-outs.

My friend Vanessa and I ran into the Prince of Providence, Buddy Cianci, at State!!!

A Very Rhode Island Thanksgiving

I greatly apologize for my lack of blogging lately, however, I've flown to Rhode Island and have had a few issues that have contributed to this lag in updating because of my temporary location:

1. Because I knew I'd have to fit in during my time in the Ocean State, I immediately had acrylic nails applied so I would be up to par with the other La Salle Academy alums at Pearl Lounge on the night-before-Thanksgiving bash (which had a $20 cover- please, this is Providence, NOT the Bellagio). This makes typing quite the workout.
2. With the constant eating compliments of my Greek relatives, I've been in food coma during the hours of the day which I would normally blog and spent that time nursing my temporary foopa instead.
3. One of my favorite men in the world, Manny Francis, resides here and I spend a great deal of my time in the 401 chasing him and trying to entice him to hang out with me by dangling Portugese chourico in front of his face (okay, not literally. But I do threaten this often).
4. My mother's computer is from 1999 and the space key rarely works properly.

With that being said, I'm sorry that the Leopard has been inactive lately, however, I have thirty followers and am not Perez Hilton. Once I get funding from Google and other investors to get the ball rolling with this, I'll make Perez Hilton feel like he never should have even attempted blogging (Or not, but in my mind, yes).
But on a more comical note, Rhode Island never fails to offer a colorful Thanksgiving holiday with some of the most predictable characteristics that will always define your trip to the home state no matter where you're traveling in from. Haven't quite nailed what makes Rhode Island so unique for the Thanksgiving holiday? See if any of these suggestions align with any personal experiences:

• Before Thanksgiving occurs, your mother, aunt, or other female relative freaks out and does all of their banking, errands, etc. before because "oh-my-God-Citizens-Bank-and-Stop&Shop-will-be-closed-tomorra-what-ah-we-gonna-do?!?!?!".
• You know the night before you're going to see everyone and their mom dolled up in their finest Bebe and Arden B. attire at either Pearl, Monet, or the View and are going to give so many fake kisses that you'll be at risk for H1N1. You will also witness some sort of girlfight at any one of the following locations (and you better stay away from him, or else the girlfight will involve you).
• One turkey is not enough in Rhode Island, as eating is very important to all of us. No matter how many people at your Thanksgiving feast (Mine had 60, no joke), expect at the very least two to three turkeys. And because Rhode Islanders are so proud of their respective hertiges (which are usually only either Italian or Portugese), expect ethnic side dishes, from cacoila to lasagna.
• During dinner, a word will not get in edge wise by anyone. There will be lots of screaming and yelling, and the boozing won't help the situation too much, either. Hours later, a food coma will occur in which everyone becomes immediately quiet, except for that one male relative who decides to take out his accordian and play old Dean Martin standards while everyone is trying to digest (This is not a joke).
• Mothas everywhea will set their alarms at 3:30 a.m. so that they can make is to Wrenthem Outlets by 4. When you decide that you need adequate sleep and let others know you won't be at the Outlets until 9, you're looked at by others as if you're missing the opportunity to meet Jesus himself.
• All of the other mothas stay inside their homes all day, stating that they're "not goin anywhea out thea" because the one decent mall is the state might be a little crowded and, in their minds, will cause traffic all the way to Smithfield so they decide to sit at home all day like there's an Anthrax threat in the air.

Yes, this is a typical Thanksgiving in Rhode Island and I've been lucky enough to have experienced most of this already throughout the duration of my trip. Even though it's silly and so stereotypical, Rhode Island is home and will always have a red, white, and green place in my heart (Italian flag, for you stunads who don't know). But my new acrylic nails are making typing difficult, and I have to get in bed for some serious Black Friday action tomorrow. Make sure you set your alarms before all of the good Juicy Couture warm up suits are gone.

Paint the Town Leopard Party at Fly Lounge

A huge thank you to everyone who attended; with close to fifty guests who came by, Leopard readers got a chance to mingle with a great deal of DC's finest while sipping on Sky Vodka and fist pumping to DJ Chuck all night long. The hook-ups that went down? The numbers exchanged? The degenerates that threw up in the bathroom? What happens at Fly, stays at Fly...

An even bigger thank you to Ezra Quassim and Jamie Hess for making it happen (visit Jamie Hess online at http://www.jamiehess.com/. He's a fabalous event planner and pretty cute, too).

Some highlights of the night (and me looking a little preggers in the first shot, I might add)

Be First-Lady Sexy

I was never a huge fan of Michelle Obama despite being the hardcore Democrat that I am. Although I cried tears of joy the day that Barack Obama won the election (alongside the crowd of 1500+ at The Park at 14th dancing to "My President is Black" shortly after), for some reason I just got a poor energy from Michelle. Maybe it was when she rejected Cindy McCain's handshake after the town hall-style debate during the campaign period, or the fact that I read somewhere that she makes poor Malia and Sascha set their own alarms to wake up in the morning (they're, like, 6, for Christ sake! I'm nearly 23 and when I'm home, my mom still gets my ass out of bed). Plus, even though every magazine raves over her bicepts, they look like they could take out a UFC champ, which, no, is not a compliment.
But this evening while working at the sushi restaurant, I was given quite a treat when I was able to see Mrs. Obama up close and personal after a long and actually pleasant (two of them were super hot) visit from the Secret Service. Not to profile, but after the pronoun "she" continued to be used in describing the anonymous VIP guest and a small group of Jimmy Choo-wearing African American women in their mid-forties showed up to be sat at this guest's table, I knew I'd get to see the most powerful woman in the world. Although she wasn't exactly all smiles when she entered the restaurant, she was chic, elegant, had fabulous hair, and most importantly, tipped extremely well ($200 on a $350 tab? Not bad at all!). I never got to meet her directly, but I did get to stand a foot near her and track her every mood and see everything that she was ordering. Pretty stalkerish, yes; But I now know what it takes to be first-lady sexy.

• Order a dirty martini- but don't finish the second: The First Lady is in too great of shape to drink sugary crap. Copy the First Lady and be skinny, but don't finish the second drink and get too drunk.
• Wear sexy, knee high boots: Michelle rocked hers with a pair of skinny jeans, and looked age appropriate and fabulous.
• Go out with only your most beautiful friends: Let's be honest; she only surrounded herself by beautiful people who looked as fabulous as she is.
• Skip the carbs: Michelle didn't order anything with carbohydrates, and ate around the rice in all of her sushi.
• Ask your server about his/her life: She was nice enough to ask her server about his holiday plans, which thank God I wasn't their server, or else I probably would have invited her for Christmas Eve at my house in Lincoln, Rhode Island like an idiot.
• Keep a low profile: Michelle didn't ask for crazy VIP treatment or a special seat in the restaurant; she knows she's amazing already and doesn't need to pull any shenanigans (except for the ridiculous amount of secret service, of course).

Despite my apprehensions, First Lady Michelle Obama was gorgeous, classy, and didn't act like a diva-esque celebrity. I recommend anyone meeting her who has the opportunity, since I would have probably lost my job if I'd done something stupid like went up to her which I probably would have done had I not been working. Oh well, looks like I'll always be starstruck...

Even Posh Spice has Bad Skin

I'm not talking badly about Victoria or anything. I copied her hair cut three years ago! But trust me, if anyone has the right to say that, it's definitely me; since age twelve my face looked like an unsightly Pro-Active before shot. It was unsexy, disgusting, and in order to not get even more depressed about it, only made me want to see myself in certain mirrors in which the lightening was really dim. By the time I reached fourteen years old, I did what many unfortunate middle school girls continue to do, and caked on ridiculous amounts of MAC Studio Fix foundation that made me look like I was a walking corpse (only with a lot of acne underneath that, yes, you could still see). The daily face makeup routine didn't help the solar system on my face and it only got worse when I started going to the dermatologist. Not to sound like my Papou or anything (translation: grandfather in Greek, for all of you who live in a bubble), but I'm still a believer after my poor experiences with several dermotologists that close to ninety percent of them are scam artists. Don't get me wrong; they've saved the lives of many melanoma and skin disorder patients and are probably a whole lot smarter then I'll ever be. However, not to sound like an old man Republican or anything, but it's all about the money, and a dermatologist's office is just like a business; they want to keep you coming back and having to deal with the specialist co-pays. Every single time I made it to a new doctor, I'd try a new salycic acid wash or a new peel or solution, only to end up with some weird reaction or new area of breakout on my face that would land me right back in the doctor's chair where I started. After dealing with so many different products throughout high school, I said peace out to the dermatologist and took hold of my skin on my own, experimenting with different products and procedures. Thankfully, I eventually grew out of wearing foundation every day, and with that, the severity of my acne. Even though I wasn't a pizza face anymore, I still broke out now and then and continue to deal with my skin being more sensitive then a teenage girl. But due to this unfortunate experience, I now have accumulated a perfect and very valuable list of effective skin products and procedures. Because even if you don't really care about a zit here or there, you have to remember that this is you're face, the first thing that people notice when they look at you (or you're back, neck, chest, errr...wherever else you get acne and I don't want to know about and/or discuss). Take care of it with the following and you'll be gladly rewarded with good-looking dates and a less expensive cosmetic regimen:

• Pro-Active Solution: The ultimate mother ship of acne products. I'll die in Pro-Active repairing lotion. For moderate acne problems, pro-active works great. Start using the whole three step system, but the trick is to use what works for you best (some people just use the cleanser, some just the cleanser and toner, etc). Plus, they'll refund you if it does nothing.
• Agua: Meaning water en espanol. DRINK LOTS OF THIS!!! You will notice a dramatic different in your skin if you start downing eight glasses a day as suggested by every commericial on television.
• Peter Thomas Roth Face Wash: An outstanding skin product for guys and girls. It's oil free and contains salycic acid but still moisturizes. I used to steal this stuff from my friend John Bierle in college all the time until I realized you could get it at Sephora.
• Differin Gel: Another product I used to steal from friends, but this time the friend being my room mate at the time and one of my best girlfriends in the world Noor Multani. Although this stuff is hard to come by, seeing as a perscription is needed and all, it only takes a very small application to be effective and is great at getting rid of that one under-the-skin mark over night. Plus, it's not too drying and won't make your face flakey like other perscriptions.
• Microdermabrasion: The savior of my skin. Usually performed by either an esthitician or dermatologist, microdermabrasion is a technique that literally sandblasts your skin to give you a fresh start with it afterwards. Although expensive (it can run you close to $150 a session), this technique is nearly a guarentee, but the trick is to make sure that you complete the recommended series of sessions. Plus, you get a facial after each session so you get to feel rich afterwards (and in my case, broke).
• White Toothpaste: A trick that every pageant girl knows. Have a tasty one that won't go away? Dab a drop of white toothpaste on the center of your blemish before you go to sleep and wake up the next morning with it barely there. Make sure you use only white toothpaste (Arm & Hammer and Gleem work the best).
• Tanning: I know that your doctor, dermatologist, and Seventeen magazine have probably told you that this is a myth, but go try it out for yourself and realize its not. Although I'm sure I'm going to have to end up getting Botox by the time I'm thirty for doing this so many times, going to the tanning salon will burn off those bad pimples and give you a fresh start. Plus, you'll have a new and exotic color that will make you appear as though you were somewhere expensive on vacation. 

 I may not be the next Rodan & Fields, but I do know a thing or two about skin care. So drink your water and Pro-Activate this week, and even though the commercial says otherwise, no, you cannot sleep in your Bare Minerals powder...

Save the Date! 11/20/09

YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS IT! In exactly one week, one of Paint the Town Leopard's favorite night spots, Fly Lounge, will be hosting an exclusive event as the official launch party of the blog. DJ Vishal will be spinning the best in hip-hop and house (with plenty of tracks that will make you "oh-my-gawd-I-love-this-song" which better include Gaga's new "Bad Romance" and anything by Jay-Z) and bottles will be popping. Plus, it's a perfect excuse to check out one of the hottest lounges in DC if you haven't already done so. Just make sure you let the door know that you are with "Paint the Town Leopard" and you will be taken care of.

Still skeptical? Here are a few reasons as to why your attendance is not even a question:

1. It's the perfect opportunity to meet plenty of other fabulous leopards and maybe even your next significant other. 
2. You will brush shoulders with many DC socialites, including Jamie Hess, Matt Sklar, and Andrew Stover (sommelier to the stars, if you don't remember).
3. A plethora of alcohol will be at your disposal. And I'm not talking Andre.
4. On Saturday, you'll be able to tell everyone that you were at a star-studded, fabulous event the night before (or at least in my mind).

In other words, your presence is kindly requested this Friday at Fly Lounge- mark your Blackberries, iPhones, whatever. And, of course, animal print attire is heavily suggested and encouraged. 

Get in a Food Fight

Almost every weekend in the city, it's a given that you'll always find your standard charity event at an embassy or the Four Seasons in Georgetown. If you're willing to splurge on an expensive ticket that could cost you up to a thousand dollars, you'll be lucky enough to surround yourself with the following; fabulous people who are subpar in the wardrobe department (it is DC), the opportunity to be photographed and to find yourself in next month's Who's Who column in the Washingtonien, but most importantly, great cuisine that will give you the biggest food baby in your mock designer gown. Yesterday was absolutely no exception to the rule, either. If you were willing to shell out $150 to support DC's Central Kitchen to fight hunger in the city, than you too would have been able to attend the 2009 Capital Food Fight, sponsored by renowned DC-based chef Jose Andres. Described as "the creme de la creme of foodie events", the Food Fight showcases an Iron Chef-esque competition featuring the head chefs from many top restaurants in DC, including Barton Seavor of Hooked & Tacklebox, Michael Mina of Aureaole, Mike Isabella of Zaytinya (and of Top Chef, as a local DC reality celebrity, I might add), Tracy O'Grady of Willow, and Bryan Voltaggio of VOLT. Each chef was given a series of obscure ingredients and a limited time frame to create the tastiest, aesthetically pleasing, and creative dish upon being judged afterwards.
Aside from the Iron Chef competition, guests could roam the main floor of the event to try samplings from dozens of other popular restaurants throughout the city. Plus, many even had the opportunity to brush shoulders with Food Network celebrities, including bitchy Carla Hall from Top Chef (who would probably scare me in person, seeing as every time she chopped meat on the show it looked like she was decapitating limbs) and Eric Ripert from Ace of Cakes (who I really wanted to meet, since I could tell him about the Alice & Wonderland cake that I wanted for him to replicate for my wedding in six years). Regardless, you would have needed to be willing to try some very exotic flavors, including sashimi-style salmon seared in espresso topped with vanilla foam (I probably would have made a jerk out of myself if I was there, in other words). Even more, there were excellent live auctions taking place throughout the evening along with great foodie-oriented goodie bags so that you could take the event back to your very own living room.
Of course, the title was a little bit misleading. I expected to see guacamole and splatter all over the faces of DC socialites and politicians, which to my dismay, did not happen.

Wanna check out the Fight next year? Check them out online at www.capitolfoodfight.com.