When too clean is a bad sign

See how this bike rack is clean and perfect?
It's not banged up. It doesn't have a rusty bike skeleton chained to it.
It doesn't have a hint of spray paint or a faded sticker.

It's brand new and shiny.


While it's nice to see this, and the other plentiful perfect racks, I am reminded of this. Arkansas ranks the lowest of the states in bicycle commuters.

Sad! But hopefully, it will get better.

Sorry for the trash can, but take pleasure in the extremely clean small town feel.




I rode about one whole mile to see Harry Belafonte speak at the end of a screening for a documentary about his activist life. It was really wonderful. I had no idea what a major role he played in the civil rights movement.

Event review: Tim Gunn

I drew this in the dark because I'm polite. 

I'm quite certain Tim Gunn walked out onto this stage and thought to himself "Those ferns are beat!" The ferns had brown tips. Cough, cough. 

Otherwise, my date was lovely- she stuck with me through the long signing line and took a cute pic with him that you can see here on her tumblr. She's my first internet-stranger-lady date of Arkansas.
I went on tons of internet-stranger-lady dates in NYC and usually it's good. I started stalking this girl online when she was tweeting from a Maddow talk at the Clinton school.

Tim talked at length about restructuring the fashion design program at Parsons and I feared that all of this beauracratic talk was lost on the audience, who I'm sure really mostly wanted to hear what Heidi eats for lunch. He really talked so much about the administration at Parsons.

He did mention how he created the senior review and I can attest to how freaking cool that process is, as I went to see (photo album here) my friend and former intern present her collection. Each student gets ten minutes to present a final senior collection in front of a panel of various fashion professionals. It was one of the coolest things I went to while I lived there.

He was really great and sweet and gracious until this one little point toward the end where he brought up Tavi Gevinson and made this erroneous claim that her parents bought all those designer clothes for her and that fourteen year olds don't know anything. That stabbed my heart, but not too bad because I'm not the biggest Tim Gunn fan anyway.

I didn't let him know that Tavi is now running a feminist website for teenage girls (that girls my age love too!) His negative comments about her success showed his age, in my opinion.

I have flipped through the book which he's promoting, and it is a patriotic text book of American fashion history. I did tell him that seeing the full page photo of Michelle Obama made me run back out to the lobby to get a copy for myself. It did.

I was really just there to get some old gay man wisdom like what Tom Ford gave, and to get the book signed for my play-brother and his boo.

Seersucker ride coming up in #BikeLR

As a brand new Little Rocker, I've signed up for several newsletters and facebooks, etc. relating to biking and events in Little Rock. I was very happy to see a Seersucker Bike Ride coming up August 26th.

This event is great because:
I've already got two trusty, many-times-worn seersucker dresses.
It begins at the Clinton Library (I feel a great energy there!)
We're going to mosey about at a leisurely pace.
It ends at the Capital Hotel.

Here's my last seersucker bike ride- but I was at a 4th of July party. This was July 4th 2011.


My Fyxation accessories were so poppin' and fresh! They have definitely faded. My tires are more like Pink Lemonade color now. Still cute.

Weekend Like Woah

This weekend was like woah.

Friday - Major day with Matt of SoHo shopping. Street food.

Friday evening - Met Malaika for strange bar food and then the wonderful John Waters giving his talk at City Winery. I've seen him speak like this a few times now, so there wasn't much new material in there but I still love him.

Saturday, we went to Mermaid Parade stuff and saw the Brooklyn Peaches synchronized swimmers!

 Last year I walked in the parade with Planned Parenthood.
Watching from a rooftop patio is luxurious.

One thing that makes me sad about moving to Arkansas is that it's not a place where gay people can get married, but hopefully that evolves soon. And we're going to miss our friends!

This evening I took a major nap. 

No Sleep til' Little Rock

I'm still hot, hot, hot for ape hangers. This is an adult-size bike rocking apes and a 'nanner seat. #Jealous


We are on the road to the Dirty South in two weeks from today. I wish I could post blogs about what's happening in every three hour increments but I just can't right now, because I'm on this eyes-wide-open, full-tilt fun farewell tour of New York City.

I didn't even get to write about Sleep No More!

I can't even begin to talk about the coolness of Fire Island.

Tonight I got to go to a really sweet benefit concert called Night of a Thousand Judys (Garland.) Amazing!



Today I was a huge tourist, except I rode my bike and took myself door to door without error.
I went to the Tenement Museum - Highly recommend this! I did the sweatshop tour. They didn't just work sweat-shop style, they lived in it! Yikes.

Then I did ultra-touristy West Bleecker Street cheap Marc Jacobs shops and Magnolia Bakery- But I just got an iced coffee. But I should have had the cupcake too :(

Not working has thrown my coffee intake schedule for a loop.

I jogged a bunch of miles this morning and biked tons of miles today.

I'm gonna miss you, Jackie O' Reservoir!

Heroes and Granny Panties

I went to bed with my pajama top on inside-out and this is what happened to make the night so unforgettable. 

First- Let me say, Thursday turned out to be my last day of work. I got irritated and slipped out at 4pm. The wind on my bike ride home was a little rough and I knew I needed to drink a lot and celebrate so I made the call to subway/taxi later in the dark of drunken-night. 

Also let me say, I've got a few entertainers that I go to anything I can that they do. I don't care if it's in an abandoned church or some weird restaurant or in their own apartment- I am a devoted fan. 

I set out around 7pm. I took the over-crowded 6 train down to K-Mart at Astor place. The subway stops right under the K-Mart. Glamour. 

I went to find some granny panties, because me and Ann wanted our Hero, Bridget Everett to sign some for us. I got two pair of big, soft pink, silky ones. 

I got my panties and a fresh Sharpie and headed to a celebration happy hour for one of my old and best Pat Field co-workers. It was lovely and fitting that we both had our last days of our jobs on the same day. 

It was nice to meet new PF girls and see some of the ones who have been hanging in there since I jumped ship. I had a Coney Island beer then had to leave them to walk back to Astor to Joe's Pub for the Bridget show. 

I was pretty early because I think I'm always pretty early. For everything. I was sitting on the steps outside of Joe's Pub noticing tons of people on bicycles. Hardly anyone had any lights. Thought about tweeting about that, but who am I to nag people about their lawlessness? 

Ann showed up and we went in after laughing about how she tweeted that she washed her tampon string for this. We had great seats, as always. When the show started we didn't know Ben Stiller and his cute wife were in there, nor did we realize Lili Taylor from Pecker and Say Anything was right behind us. They were all really cute, but who cares because Bridget is the star. 

We got a shout-out from Bridget, because we're her two-wo-man fan-club. 

A bit later in the show, Bridget got a little flustered and had to announce that Patti Lupone had just entered the room. She was at our table! B loves P and P loves B. Big time. Here's a screenshot:

Patti came up and did a number on stage and was the first person up on her feet cheering at the end of the show. I'm not super-into B'way or Patti, but I knew I had some granny panties and sharpies in my tote bag so I asked Patti to sign a pair for Bridget. 

I cream for Bridget

Then we got brave and went to the backstage area and acted fucking cool so nobody would suspect we didn't belong there. Bridget's other super-fan Jeremy came out and we told him about the show at Fire Island this weekend and told him he's got to get on Twitter. 

Eventually B. came out and I gave her the Patti autographed panties and asked her to sign my other pair. She wrote wonderful things on both sides and the crotch. 

You should know... I also have a collection of granny panties decorated by Amy Sedaris. Now I've got this collection. This morning I realized one of my proudest possessions may be my autographed granny panty collection. Definitely. 

Meep! 

We discussed the weekend's Fire Island plans and got semi-invited to the bar where B. and her friends and some of the band were going. I walked to the bar with someone not keen on local entertainer identities or hair-fixing. 

I picked the wrong drink at the bar but it was fun. I semi-interviewed the man who makes all of Bridget's costumes. I like to talk to people about making things. We talked about their process and we talked about his sewing background. I wish I remembered more details. 

The highlight of my month may be that at the veeery end of the night B. put her number in my phone. She put her number in my phone! 

Oh! So then I got in this taxi. He brought me home and I did think about telling him to take me to get something delicious but it was like 1:30am and I don't need to do scandals but I did go to the corner bodega/deli and LET THEM make me a sandwich that I would never ever purchase nor eat from such an establishment in the sober light of day. 

And today I woke up and realized my pajama top was on inside out. 

I love last night! 

Biggest Monday

Monday was HUGE for two reasons.

1. I was filmed for a reality show. Not some bug-eating-fear-factor crap either, but a pilot for a show about Girls who ride Bikes in NYC.

2. I saw My President, Barack Obama in the flesh, up-close for the first time.

This is what I looked like for both events:


Filming was fun, but it rained on us and my 20 minute commute was 2 hours because we would do stuff over and over and they would shoot me from different angles. There was also a still-photo photo shoot in the middle. Some neighborhoodies have stopped me to ask what this film crew was all about. That's fun.
I hope the show gets picked-up by a network.

Here's Dom, who accompanied me on my ride to work until we got totally rained out, the cameras were in danger, and we parted ways.


This is what the marquee looked like on the New Amsterdam Theatre for the blessed event of the evening:


I can't even explain how good my seat was. It was on the aisle, about 15 rows back and the dudes in front of me got up during the good stuff so my view was so clear, I could tell you what Barack's tie pattern was like. It was dreamy.

Sure, I rode an overnight bus to his Inauguration but I was soooo farrrr awaaaayyy then. It was more about the solidarity and magic of the day. For all my life I can say "I was there!" Millions of people on the National Mall and you could hear a pin drop. But that's an old story not totally related to this big Monday I had.

I'm so glad I went to all of these events.

Pushit. Pushit Realgood.

Part of the romance of living in New York City, for me, comes from going to stuff like this.
Except for the Bridget performance, we didn't know what we were going to get, but it was all good. The ballet was impressive. I like edgy dance performances.









It was so hot. Neal was working the box fan.

The Bike Ladies Picnic was Rad

Everyone was really cute, really cool and everyone already rode bikes so it was just a good old, lady biker jam session on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Rad, I tell you!

I'm really tired but I wanted to digest what I feel was a great success and a very nice time - My Bike Month event - the Ladies Brown Bag Bike Brunch Picnic. (Back in the cold of winter, I was invited to a TA bike month planning event and I was compelled to host a little something-something and this was my event.) I had such a nice time and I'm so thrilled with the awesome ladies who turned up. Thank you! We have a wonderful community of stylish ladies on bikes. I'm so proud of us. 

I was really busy talking and listening and eating things so I didn't get the most thorough pics but I stole Malaika's pics, per usual.



Malaika and I were hanging out for a little bit after the event, and I realized how amazingly coordinated she was today - Helmet looks fab with dress. She's the best.


I wanted to have something so the ladies could find me, so I went to Party City and got a dozen balloons. It was fucking insane riding with a dozen balloons. The wind was hearty today and the wind resistance of riding a bicycle made this really exciting in the obnoxious way, but man, they looked cute, and I think they were awesome for my visibility going down the street.



After balloons, I went to pick-up cupcakes. When I came out, Ethan Hawke was on his cell phone in the bike lane. He totally watched me balance a huge bag of cupcakes on the left handlebar and wrangling a dozen balloons kind-of behind me (so I could try to see) with my right hand. Luckily, I wasn't going far in this precarious arrangement. I'm not looking for boys, but I'm pretty sure Ethan Hawke was impressed with what a boss I am.

I loved everyone who came out today and they were all cool ladies who I'd love to see again.


Everyone who attended already had bikes and rode in either Manhattan or Brooklyn or Queens regularly. Some were daily commuters. Some were getting started in commuting. Nobody was a scaredy cat - everyone seemed confident about riding. We talked accessories, cargo and helmet hair.

Oh! I loved how most everyone showed-up in a helmet. Safe chic, baby!

Amanda is such an awesome girl. I've met her before and I enjoy her through many internet outlets, especially the tweeter. She's floral everything and a faux chanel fanny that I'm quite envious of.


Totally unrelated to the topic at hand, but really cool and we were excited was a plane flew over and spelled-out a marriage proposal in smoke letters or whatever-you-call that stuff.

Christine Hall will u marry me? We hope/imagine she said yes. We couldn't readily locate her from our post.

I made it home with just two balloons, a lot of string and shreds. It was all good riding home with just two. That's probably my max.


I want to say again, THANK YOU to everyone who attended. I feel so happy that we have such a nice community of stylish ladies on bicycles- Seriously, everyone looked so stylish. Made me so proud and happy!  We should have organized and had a little photo shoot, but we were so busy talking and talking.

Chantal, Gabrielle, Krista, Jen, Amanda, Adrienne, Malaika, and Gigi, Thanks for making the afternoon so great! 

Big Bike Weekend!

It's a Big Bike Weekend! It's finally 5 Boro Bike Tour Weekend!
I made my fundraising goal and I'm ready to do the ride. I've never been on the Staten Island Ferry before, and I'm excited to get to bike on the FDR.

Friday I'm running errands (picking up my team Planned Parenthood t-shirt race package and my tour race package) and going to the Expo. I'm going to be in the Momentum Mag Fashion Show which happens on Saturday at 11am and 3pm. I'll be tweeting @Juleskills and Instagramming it up, I'm sure.

In honor of Bike Month I made a video of some of my commute - the peaceful, pretty part in Central Park and then the wild part in Times Square. I sped it way up and the sound is yucky, so mute it. The visuals are plenty.


Super-speed bike to work from JPH on Vimeo.
This is my ride from Central Park to work (missing the part of my neighborhood, maybe another time) through Times Square to Garment Dist. into the building where I work.

I sped it way up to make it fit in under 2 minutes.


Have a wonderful weekend wherever you are! Happy Cindo de Mayo and Happy Birthday to my friend Meghan! 

Week in review

I didn’t post a blog message all week. I’m a little sick, a little busy, and I broke all my compact cameras. I even joined the cool kids club by getting a monster crack across the face of my iPhone. Rock! -Dropped it on a rock in Central Park.

Let me re-cap this work week.

Monday: Blew off an after-work event I wanted to go to to come home and prepare my survivalist backpack for the hair show. I packed kind bars and coconut water and sensible shoes because being dropped off at the Javits Center is like being dropped off in a no-man’s land.

Tuesday: Rise and shine very early. 7am call-time. Hair show was interesting. I liked learning about how important teaching is to the salon owner who I participated with. Here’s a doodle of what the presentation looked like: 

And here’s the most transformative before & after- I love this!
It takes a village of Japanese hair stylists and a makeup artist. 
And this is after the presentation and when I finally got home. Wavy. 


Wednesday: Was feeling very sickly, so I took myself straight home, riding the bicycle very slowly, and put myself to bed at 8:45pm. You can count on me to do that once a week. I schedule “Go Home” on my Google calendar. No events allowed. I also had an “off night” in college where I stayed home or just went to the library and didn’t do any extra curriculars. Not even shopping is allowed. Designated homebody time.

Thursday: Still feeling sickly, misty day, found out Lovely Bicycle was going to this party at Adeline. Exchanged some DM’s over twitter. Had to meet her, so I went to the party. It’s Lovely to meet Lovely Bicycle’s Velouria!

And yes- it's beyond flattering that she had on one of my necklaces. 

Friday: Went straight home. Fixed fat-hell pasta, drank a hot toddy to soothe my throat and took a benadryl and fell asleep at 8pm. Yes- 8pm on a Friday in NYC. I ball so hard.

I have a new pocket camera while my other one will surely be shipped off for ages being assessed and repaired. This weekend I’ll be back to my old tricks.

Bike Events

I established a date for my Bike Month event so long ago... now it's almost a month away! I'm excited to meet those of you who are going to attend. 

Event Info Here

And to remind you, I encourage ladies who are just thinking about it to attend. You do not need to be an active bicycle rider to do this.
Think of it like an interest group. You're interested in joining a gang... just kidding! Or am I? 

Another cool #BikeNYC development: Bike Trains. If you feel empowered riding in a small group or like to learn from other bikers first-hand I recommend you look into this. Kim B. brought this to my attention and I trust her judgement as she is a safe & stylish lady biker. 

Bike Train info here! 

I probably won't be participating in a bike train on my own since I run an extremely tight schedule of procrastinating as long as possible- usually playing with makeup and accessories- in the morning and screeching into the sign-in sheet at my office by 9am. 

Party Girls: Ciel Bike Shop Grand Opening Party

New York City is so much fun that even my dog, Bonnie, has had plans the last two Friday nights.
Last week she went across town to a house-party hang-out and this week she was my date to the Ciel Bike Shop grand opening party.

Photos from Bitch Cakes NY

Bitch Cakes/Sheryl was the model on the party flier. That's Sheryl, Amanda, Bonnie and Me.

Ciel Bike Shop is a very sleek and clean bicycle shop on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. They are located on 65th street very close to 1st Ave. I told the owner of the shop and the guys of Biria bicycles that the location of this shop is fantastic since the bicycle lane running up 1st Avenue comes so near this shop. It's also not far from the East Side River Path. The Biria founders were there celebrating their 10 year anniversary of business.


I'm still kinda thinking about that cute yellow Biria. Birdie the Biria would be a great name for such a darling yellow bicycle.

The NYC Bike Share that's coming this summer is going to help people who are interested in biking NYC to realize or rule-out whether it's for them. Many people who find that biking is for them will want to invest in their own bicycles. Ciel has some pretty sexy bicycles in stock. 
This shop is smart to have so many great accessories stocked for those who want their own bikes, but also for those who just want to make their bike share experience more comfortable & customized. (With accessories they can wear or remove from the bike share bikes easily, like sleek helmets, bags, etc.)

Ciel has a great selection of my most-favorite bike helmets: Bern brand. I love a little visor.


They also have a Fyxation accessories wall! The hot pink was stocked. Kudos for that.



1. Bonnie & Friend, 2. ECO White Bike, 3. Sexy B&W Fyxation bike, 4. East Side Collage Bike

There are more photos of the party on the Urban Cyclist Worldwide website.