Lady Gaga BEFORE Lady Gaga.

This picture was taken in 2006. Looks like I was on to something. I should have kept going! (disclaimer: no ice cream cups were harmed in this drunken photo shoot).

A Diamond in the Rough.

I have The CW to thank for my latest musical discoveries. Teeny Bopper, slightly risque shows like "Gossip Girl," "90210" and "One Tree Hill" are heavily concentrated with music from really cool bands that crank out some fantastic tunes, but are normally not as mainstream as the Coldplays and Gagas of the world.

That's not to say they are not successful in their own right. At all. And such is the case with Welsh singer, Marina and the Diamonds, who comes to us from across the pond and has taken the British charts by storm and is now slated to conquer the U.S. with her big voice. And what a unique one at that!

It's very rare to really like every song on an artist's album. Usually one or two songs get lost in the shuffle and are just "eh." With Marina's debut album, "The Family Jewels," which was released last year, every song deserves its time to shine.

It's astounding to see the range of vocals that come out of this petite Catherine Zeta-Jones lookalike (whose real name is Marina Lambrini Diamandis). There is the sultriness that is reminiscent of a Fiona Apple and on another extreme, there are Britney Spears bubble gum beats that get you quickly hooked. But above all, this 25-year-old sensation is a girl on a journey who knows exactly what she wants and who she wants to be.

Beyond the quirky and cute style, Marina is just a girl who is discovering who she is and who doesn't shy away from self expression or her own opinions. Songs like "Hollywood" speak loudly to the obsession with celebrity culture and the pitfalls of fame. Who can't relate to being glued to the tabloids in the checkout line and being addicted to celebs and their downfall?? One of my favorite tracks on the album is "I Am Not a Robot," which is all about finding who you are and being true to yourself. And as Marina says in her lyrics, "Better to be hated than loved for what you're not." I mean, what youngin' or anyone of any age for that matter, can't find truth in a statement like that?!

And ever get the pop star urge to let loose and dance in front of your mirror like no one's watching?! "Oh No!" is the perfect jam to rock out to. It's catchy, poppy and absolutely up-tempo. And I feel like this song really showcases that strong female vocal range with which Marina can easily go back and forth.

What is so amazingly fun about this album is how I'm thrown back to all these different eras that remind me of childhood or of old memories. When I first heard "Shampain," I thought "OMG, this song make me feel like a glam queen!" The beats had me thinking Madonna and Gaga. And after watching the video, add a little Michael Jackson "Thriller" to that eclectic cocktail. Brilliant! This song was perfect for my 30th birthday '80s bash just a couple of months ago!

If you are on the hunt for a new addition to your music collection, and looking for an artist who is a talented female singer who can carry a tune, is distinctively rock star chic, and has something interesting to say, check out Marina and the Diamonds. This set of pipes will blow you away. Trust me. You will thank me.

Here's to you. Here's to me.

Kathy

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

I'm back biatches! Did you miss me?!!!

It's hard to believe that I have been on a voluntary hiatus for the past 6 months.
Bananas. I'm not going to give you some excuse as to why I haven't written anything. It's just not my bag. I'll be completely honest. I just didn't feel like it. My creative juices weren't flowing. Call it a literary coma. And now I'm back up, feverishly laying down the two cents on my good looking peeps.

So much has happened in 6 months. It's now spring. Or mentirita spring. At least I'm not wearing a puffer. I am now 30. Had a fabulous 80's party made even more rad by the most amazing group of friends and family a girl could ask for. Oh, and a Madonna cake. Need I say more?! Went to St. Lucia with Coco to celebrate some more because why not. Jetsetted back and forth between NY and Miami. Went to some killer weddings (ahem, Jenise and Poops) and drank lots of champagne. Became an aunt again to the very delicious Luciana Isabella, my Lulu bear. And donned a little fancy hat for my best friend's wedding shower. And professionally, I started writing for Accesshollywood.com's On the Download- reviewing music, which I will post here for your reading pleasure.

There's so much more to come so please stay tuned if you want to live vicariously through me!

Here's to you. Here's to me.

Kathy.

Back to Black

Chanel has done it again. A new nail polish made its debut at the Spring 2011 show and I have had my eye on it! What color you ask, black, of course. But not a matte or glossy black. Its almost like an iridescent black with green and grey hues if tipped a certain way towards the light. It's called Black Pearl. Whatever. It's amazing. And j'adore!

Initially, I saw it on the models when looking at pics from the runway show online. Then this morning, I interviewed Blake Lively (who is very sweet btw) for the Rockefeller Tree, and she was sporting Black Pearl. I die! So we talked nail polish for a minute and she confirmed it was Chanel's newest creation. What she failed to mention was that because she is a personal favorite of Karl's and a huge Chanel aficionado, she has the shade before it hits the shelves. Oh and she's a celebrity. Lucky girl!

Chanel's Black Pearl doesn't hit stores for another couple of months, but you better believe this girl (with the help of Bonita Thomas of course) is getting her hands, or should I say nails, on this deliciously dark hue!

Here's to you. Here's to me.

Kathy.

Don't you be hatin' on my chocolate lips!

Call me retro, or maybe a little chongalicious, but I'm officially taking it back to 1994 and rocking the brown lipstick this fall. I know I know. This can be bad-real bad. I'm getting major flashbacks of my 8th grade picture and graduation portraits (at San Mikol) when I lathered up my Revlon Coffee Bean lipstick like there was a brown lipstick drought at CVS. Literally all I needed to complete my look was a black sharpie for my eyebrows and to make an appearance on the George Lopez show. Or better yet, my brown lipstick and I could rock chancletas, a tube top midriff, and run for Miss Hialeah. As I discovered, brown rouge can be amazingly fabulous and I think I'm tipping the scale on the fabulous side.

It's now 2010 and glossy mags and runway shows have shown us that brown lipstick has gotten a bad rap. And I've also graduated from experimental chonga to fashionista and I beleive everyone should get second chances, including brown lipstick. So when MAC Cosmetics (my favorite makeup brand EVER.) came out with the Disney Venomous Villains collection I became obsessivo. And dare I say bold, when I was instantly attracted to this very rich, deep chocolate brown shade that was part of Sleeping Beauty's, Mallificent's palette. It's called "Dark Deed". So bad its good! I gave it whirl and whoa whoa whoa! Can we say fabo?! I'm usually a nude lip, smokey eye kind of girl who occasionally dabbles in the red lip look. But brown was so out of my comfort zone and I'm happy that I stepped out of that box bc experimenting can be so fun! And the compliments aren't bad either. wink.

Check out my pic above. I recently wore the shade to a Knot party in NYC and I added a little confidence, a little sexy bedhead and voila! GORGY!!!!!!!!! Dark Deed is officially in my fall makeup rotation. Don't be afraid to rock it ladies! (NOTE: best not to wear deep brown with tons of gold jewelry, particularly earrings and necklaces, that have your name engraved in cursive. That's just too ghetto and not fabulous!)

Here's to you. Here's to me.

Kathy.

Dios me salve Maria.

I wouldn't call myself a super devout Catholic even though I went to Catholic school my whole life and will send my children to Catholic school one day. But, I love God. I love the Baby Jesus. La Caridad del Cobre. La Virgen de Regla. Or any Incarnation of the Virgin Mary for that matter. But for some reason, I seem to be very much fascinated with and drawn to religious pictures, figurines, artifacts, and/or motifs. (Maybe I was a saint in my past life? Hmmm...Santa Katerina. Not a bad ring.)

Anywho, on a recent trip to Mexico, I made a pit stop to the local market to do some shopping. Some of the stores are very formulaic and cater to tourists with their sombreros, tequila shot glasses, and silver jewelry. I'm a little more authentic than that. But I popped into this one store and I was relieved with their more traditional and unique local selections. After browsing some beautiful hand painted pottery, a vision appeared in my midst! La Virgen! La Virgen de Guadalupe to be precise. Mexico's Mary.

In a wooden box, I found beautiful vintage looking photographs of la virgen on sepia paper, with accents in bright blues, golds, and garnets made the image so distinct and delicate. Immediately I thought, "OMG. this will be perfect for my casita!" It has become my new project. Now that I think I'm all HGTV, finding the perfect aged frames for these photographs is going to be my mission. Ill be hitting flea markets, consignment stores, and thrift stores for my bargains. And I'm excited for it.

Asi que, say a little prayer for me and my new DIY endeavor! Amen.

Here's to you. Here's to me.

Kathy.

Happy IPAD bday!

It's been too long. A little over a month since I dropped some serious two cent knowledge on this blog! Between a fabulous wedding in Tampa, flus and colds, birthday drunches,visiting best friends and living an awesome life, I had no time. And can I just say how lucky and blessed I am?? So thankful thankful thankful. Blessed blessed blessed. I pinch myself everyday.

But I just wanted to share this photo of my bff Javy, at his dirty thirty drunch!
One of the best feelings in the world is watching someone you love open a gift that they sooooo wanted and watching the expression on their face go from curiousity to surprise to elation to screaming! And that's exactly what transpired when Javy got his coveted IPad. And I have to say, I'm so grateful for the amazing friends and siblings who chipped in to make this little dream become a reality.

My thoughts on gift giving is, give someone exactly what they want and love. And if its too much mula, (in the case of the Ipad, and lets face it, no one in our circle is rolling in Diddy dollars) why not do a collective gift where everyone can pitch in and be a part of the gift extravaganza?!

Javy is not one to emit much emotion, but to see him feverishly unwrap his gift and see the excitement only seen in that of a little kid on Christmas, was so worth the group effort!

Did I mention, that I, Kathy Liz Suarez Buccio, am a big fan of collective gifts?? I'm just sayin.

Here's to you. Here's to me.

Kathy.