Glitz, Glamour, and Eyebrows

Glitz, Glamour, and Eyebrows

I know that this sounds crazy, but I promise you that I am speaking the truth: my daughter asks me, not her mom, for makeup advice. Back in my rock and roll days, our band was too broke to hire professional make up artists for our performances. So I picked up a brush, taught myself how to use it, and somehow, I became quite the Picasso on my own face. Back then, the popular “look” was heavy eyeliner and black eyeshadow, so that’s what we wore. My band also had its own signature: red, orange, and yellow flames painted on with face paint. Don’t ask us how we came up with that.

Last month, I was jamming away in my studio when my daughter walked in looking VERY upset. Was she upset because I sounded terrible? I sure don’t sound as good as I did was younger, but I can’t imagine sounding so bad to the point of making my daughter cry.

“Dad, I need to talk to you,” she said. Uh oh – I’m pretty sure no father wants to hear their daughter start off a conversation like this. You never know what to expect.

“I hate my eyebrows.”

Phew. I was relieved to hear that this wasn’t one of those conversations.

Before I could ask her “What do you mean?” she broke down in tears. “I hate my eyebrows! One is too thick and the other is too thin! I spend so much time obsessing about them!”

Oh my. Now I know I had mentioned that I was somewhat of a makeup expert back in the day, but that was only with eyeliner, eyeshadow, and face paint. I knew nothing about eyebrows, so I was at a loss for words.

Later that night, I went online to see what could be done about my daughter’s eyebrow catastrophe. As it turns out, eyebrows are an extremely important feature of the face, and many women are dissatisfied with the shape of their natural brows. I came across a solution that combines technology with permanent makeup to give people the perfect eyebrows: microblading.

Microblading is a form of permanent makeup. The client’s face is mapped out, and a new set of brows is traced on accordingly. Then, the technician uses a fine blade to tattoo highly realistic brow hairs, creating the ideal shape.

I came across a permanent makeup service that offers microblading in San Clemente. My daughter was skeptical at first when I told her about the service, but when I showed her the pictures, she was instantly floored and asked if we could book her an appointment the very next day. She became even more excited when she found out that the owner used to be an interior designer and understood the importance of symmetry.

Once microblading is done, the eyebrows required a few weeks to heal and for the ink to fully set in. My daughter now has a new set of stunning eyebrows, and as usual, I helped her solve yet another makeup problem!

Lift Permanent Makeup
24452 Del Prado Ave #A, Dana Point, CA 92629, United States

It Happened Again

It Happened Again

“Tristin, are you still in bed? You need to get up and get ready right now!” Tornado Trixie had entered his room in a swirl, throwing his curtains open. “It’s noon Tristin, NOON! No wonder your marriages haven’t worked out.” 

“Ha Ha Trixie,” Tristin muttered sarcastically. 

Trixie smiled back at him, “What are little sisters for? Now get up, we need to go meet your divorce mediator. Do you realize the gobs and gobs of money you are going to have to pay if you don’t show up to this meeting? I mean honestly, they might just give everything to her. At least she doesn’t smell like a high school locker room,” Trixie pinched her nose, and fanned her face. 

Tristin peeled off his sweaty socks as he sat up, and threw them directly at her head, “I’ll meet you in the car.” 

Trixie shrieked and ran out of the room. Five minutes later Tristin joined his little sister in the garage.  She was seated in the driver’s side of his new BMW. It was probably good she drove after the night he had. The sped down Ocean Avenue towards the mediator’s office. Tristan had used her before, she saved his ass a ton of money, she is the best divorce mediator in Orange County.

When they pulled in her assistant, Macy, was waiting for them outside, “You’re five minutes late.” 

“And you’re paid an obscene amount of money to tolerate me,” Tristin smiled sweetly back. 

“Hmm, cute,” Macy replied, “Now let’s go, your ex-wife is here already.” They walked into the building, and minutes later were seated opposite Tristin’s ex-wife, the notorious Tinsley Teagely. 

“Tinsley,” Tristin said coolly. 

“Tristin,” Tinsley responded. It felt like someone had set the AC to 50 degrees. 

“So, let’s get started,” the mediator said, taking immediate control of the situation. “As we all know our clients here have sadly, decided to go their separate ways. While Tristin may have brought in most of the household funds, he feels it is only right that Tinsley is well taken care of after their divorce is finalized.” Tinsley shifted in her chair, she was ready for a fight, but Tristin seemed much more willing to negotiate than she assumed. 

They spent a few hours working through all of the belongings and assets. This was the first time they had talked this peacefully in months and both parties were surprised at how easy this process was. Tristin thought he was going to get an earful, and rightfully so given that the marriage is ending because he is an out of control, womanizing party mongrel.”

The mediator smiled and turned to Tinsley, “Look Ms. Teagely, you have been doing an excellent job. You both have. And just think, doing it this way keeps this whole ordeal out of the tabloids. I’m so thankful you didn’t go the traditional litigation route. This would have been made a public spectacle, drawn out for months, and costing you both tens of thousands more.”

“Exactly, and the last thing we need is to be caught up in some pesky, drawn-out public divorce,” Tinsley replied. “I’m just glad we don’t have any kids involved in this. Otherwise, we would need to find a family law firm in Orange County and that would make things so much more complicated.”

Tristin nodded his head in agreement. “You’re right. And didn’t I tell you, she was great? I guess having some experience in this came in handy after all!” Tristin said and then instantly got a glare from Tinsley.

The mediator quickly stepped in, nipping a potential fight in the bud, “How about we take a quick break for lunch, everyone is a little hungry, and you never want to do this on an empty stomach. When we come back we can sign the papers and you guys will be good to go?”

That seemed to please everyone and so they all headed off to grab lunch and would wrap things up a little later in the afternoon.

If you need a good Divorce Mediator be sure to check out:

McNamee Mediations

4590 MacArthur Blvd Suite 500, Newport Beach, CA 92660

(949) 223-3836

The Day We Almost Lost George

The Day We Almost Lost George

Imagine you’re in a band. Yes, as an adult. It started out as an ironic hobby, something you did almost as a joke. But then it started gaining actual traction. You didn’t have to seek out venues anymore…they started seeking you. You’re getting calls, messages from friends you haven’t seen in years, calls from people you would’ve never expected..surprisingly, you’re on your way to becoming a financially successful ensemble. That’s how we started out years ago. Now, we’re back together for a reunion tour.

Everything was going great, but then all of a sudden, the drummer in your band gets a phone call during a rehearsal. He steps outside to take it while you tune your guitar, and comes back in like he’s seen his own ghost. Defeated, he breaks the news.

“My application to extend my time here was denied. I have to go back to Canada in two weeks.”

This is what happened to me only a few days ago. No one knows what to say. The band is nothing without George…his drum solos are the reasons many audience members make second appearances. The band chemistry, the specific and unique talent each member brought to the group…it only worked when everyone was on board. You can’t have the Four Seasons without the fourth man — and no one could replace him.

“No,” the keyboardist pipes up. “That’s not happening.”

For the next twenty minutes, we all dispute what little knowledge we have regarding immigration law. Someone says he’d be an undocumented immigrant if he stays, another says it’s fine if he’s a rock star, someone says he could seek asylum, another says “…from Canada?”….nothing really gets done. That is until we finally decide to use the wealth of information at our fingertips.

“Has no one Googled this yet?” I ask. The band members sheepishly stare at the ground.

After a dejected sigh, I finally put “immigration law orange county” into the search bar. The band members grab their respective devices and do the same. The first fifteen minutes were discouraging, but I realized why so many people go into law (spoiler alert: it’s because they make BANK). The band was making a decent amount of money during the tour, but not that much…money was still very much part of the equation, and it made the search more difficult than expected.

“Wait look at this one,” our keyboardist says. He had found a link to a more affordable lawyer via a Yelp review, and she was local. Not only did she have an impressive amount of positive reviews, but every one of her clients agreed that her services were definitely worth the price. George called the number on the website and she picked up in seconds. After briefly explaining his situation, she assured us that he had several means of legally staying in the US longer. They set up an in-person consultation, and from then on, we were never worried about George having to leave us again.

We only hope more people take the time to find these lawyers, rather than thinking their only options are staying illegally or leaving their entire life behind. These kinds of lawyers often unsung heroes, helping people when they need it most and keeping their prices affordable so people don’t spend their last dime just trying to continue their life in the US. And if that isn’t honorable, I don’t know what is.

Here’s one of these great lawyers:

K Nair law Group, P.C.

31897 Del Obispo St Suite 225, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

(949) 493-4150

The Best Contractor in Orange County

The Best Contractor in Orange County

Hey there! I hope everything is doing rockalicious this Christmas season!

I just got back from an amazing tour around Southeast Asia. Wonderful people there.

While I was gone, I was having my home remodeled. We had it all planned out so that the work would be done when I was on tour and it would be ready to go when I got home for the holidays. And let me tell you, the guys I worked with did not disappoint!

These guys are seriously the best remodeling contractors in Orange County!

I’ll just show you what I’m talking about with some pictures of my freshly remodeled home.

First up, here’s my kitchen:

I love the overhead lights and the tile backsplash along the wall. The tile flooring also looks amazing. You should have seen this place beforehand!

Next, check out my bathroom:

That sliding door is so sick and the bathroom looks amazing, my wife loves the white countertops and sinks. And that is just the guest bathroom, here is the one in the master:

I love tile, you can probably tell. I was so excited to get these pictures up I haven’t even had a chance to use the shower! Next up, check out this iron railing they did by my stairs:

I think this looks so cool. It’s fresh and modern. And you have to check out this, it was a dream of mine. It is a fireplace bathroom!

The fireplace is right next to the tub! How awesome is that! And then the TV above it. I will spend hours in that tub!

Alright, the last one for the home tour, check out my remodeled fireplace:

The stone wall all the up to the ceiling is exactly what I wanted! Not only does it all look amazing, but they got it done just in time for the holidays. This is going to be the perfect place to host Christmas with my family!

Now I just need to get all of my decorations up!

So thankful for these guys, if you are looking to get your own remodeling done you can find them here:

Inspired Remodels, Inc.
20992 Bake Parkway, Suite 108, Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 716-1938