From the monthly archives:

September 2009

Want to See My Tiny New York Apartment?

Come home with me. Peek inside my bedroom, kitchen / dining area, bathroom and living room. It’s tiny, right? I could get a larger place for cheaper rent in the Bronx or Jersey. But, I’m a single woman who goes out a lot and often doesn’t stumble home until well after 1:00am. Manhattan feels convenient and safe. Of course, the choice to live here comes at a cost — literally and figuratively speaking.

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My humble abode is approximately 459 square feet. A walkup, I march up what feels like 2,147 stairs to get there. And, it’s a super quiet building, so everyone hears everything. (I pump the volume on my iTunes when I masturbate so my neighbors won’t know. I also tiptoe when I come home late at night because I don’t want to wake anyone.) Because there are no interior walls, when I’m not sleeping, from my bed I have a clear view of my couch, toilet, kitchen chairs and stove. Having said all of that, for me, I still think the place is actually worth the high rent. It’s clean, safe and smack in the middle of a really cute, tree-lined neighborhood. Plus, I’m only inches away from Central Park. What’s more? I’m filling my counters, drawers and open spaces with a few of my favorite things. Like an original Beatles Album I scored ages ago and fun stuff that reminds me of home. New York, similar to life in general, is about compromise. Liking where I live is about learning to be at peace with what I have and what I don’t. Actually, I highly recommend Apartment Therapy as a really helpful resource in this respect. Their mission:

We believe a calm, healthy, beautiful home is a necessary foundation for happiness and success in the world. Creating this home doesn’t require large amounts of money or space. It requires inspiration, connection to resources and motivation to do something about it. The basic elements of good home design can be learned and achieved by all. Simplicity and luxury are not mutually exclusive.

Great, right? Speaking of New York apartments and stuff, I just plopped down $25 to go to a “Live the Life You Love” panel at Saks Fifth Avenue tonight. (I can walk there! Yet another reason I love my place.) I heard about tonight’s event because it’s sponsored by the group that hooked me up with that hiking trip, Single Edition. The panel discussion will supposedly tell me how to maintain a financially secure household as a single person. I can always use more information about that! I’ll let you know how it goes.

By the way, the pictures above and others on Flickr are “before” images taken three months ago. I’ve made quite a bit of progress, so I’ll post “after” pictures in the weeks and months ahead. I’m still working on my place. So, if you know any other resources for setting up small apartments, please use the comments section below to share!! :)

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{ 11 folks got down with the Funky Brown }

You Can Take The Girl Out of The Country …

[Sneaks in through the back door when no one's looking.] Oh, hello there! When did YOU get here? What? You say you’ve been here all along, checking in wondering: “Why hasn’t Twanna updated her blog?” Ummm, sorry. Got a little distracted. For the past week or so, I’ve kicked back, relaxed, hung out with friends and refused to do much of anything that required a deadline — including updating my site on a regular basis. I blame Utah. It’s pretty hard to go from this (me hiking on vacation 2 weeks ago):

Hiking in Utah

To this (where I am today, day and night):

Red Ribbon Rooftop

New York Blue Hour

In any case, I think I’m back in the regular swing of things in New York and on my blog. I’ve got posts brewing about, the British boy & his girlfriend’s shoes, an update on my matchmaker, JDate stuff and a bunch of other things. I’ll post again later today. As always, if you need a more regular dose of what’s going on in my day-to-day life, feel free to follow me on Twitter or flip through my images on Flickr. (By the way, apologies to the blond guy; I told him I’d update on Saturday.)

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{ 6 folks got down with the Funky Brown }

In Pictures: Molton Brown + Funky Brown Chick = Brown Love Affair

I’m going to write another post later. In the meantime, I wanted to upload pictures from last night’s “brown love affair.” Okay, so, here’s the story … My friend Julie is a huge Molton Brown fan, but I’d never used their products because I don’t really spend a lot of time or attention on facial products. So, anyway, a few weeks ago, Julie lured me to a Molton Brown event by mentioning they’d have free chocolate chip cookies and champagne. So, of course, I went. I think the manger — a man with EXTREMELY beautiful skin — asked me what I did for a living. I told him I’m a writer. Julie told him about my site, Funky Brown Chick. He wanted to know more about it, so I gave him the link. Yada, yada, yada … I think he’s a fan because he offered to host an event for me and a few friends. Last night, Molton Brown closed its doors and threw us a private soirée with sparkling wine, grapes, delightful little cookies, free massages and mini-facials.

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Last night. Outside Molton Brown’s SoHo location. 128 Spring Street, New York, NY.

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Today. My bathroom sink. I bought Skinfresh facial wash, Skinbalance tonight lotion and Facezone Overnight Renewal. (I still use Clinique‘s daily moisturizer (yellow container) because it has SPF.)

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Urban Gypsy getting a mini-facial last night.

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Now that I look at all the pictures, I wish I took a group shot of our faces because everyone looked so pretty and relaxed after our mini-facials and massages. See that? Brown on Brown Love! :) Given my friends and I walked out with bags of purchased goodies hanging from our fingers, I guess the Molton Brown + Funky Brown Chick affair was a smart business move. That said, I don’t get the impression they throw private parties w/ wine and massages for everyone who walks in the store. So, I’m grateful for their kindness and generosity.

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{ 4 folks got down with the Funky Brown }

Sex Ed 101: Understanding Your Lady Bits (VIDEO)

“Actually, in all honesty, I don’t even know where my uterus specifically is,” says Danielle from Knotty Yarn, “but I imagine it’s somewhere in the…middle..part…of the torso. Near the other pipes and tubes that..regulate…stuff.” When I heard Danielle tell the story at BlogHer, I laughed because she was really funny and she was a great storyteller. At the same time, the more I thought about it, I wondered how many of my other female compatriots didn’t understand where their uteri and clitorises were. Soooo … Because every woman and girl should know what she looks like below, here’s a video. Clip courtesy of Betty Dodson and Carlin Ross. Love their tagline: “Liberating Women One Orgasm at a Time.” If the clip above doesn’t load, view it on YouTube.

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{ 10 folks got down with the Funky Brown }

I’m Back

Whenever I asked people, “How was your vacation” and they responded “It was nice, but it’s good to be home” I thought it meant they didn’t like their vacation. I figured, you know, if you liked your travels, you never wanted to come back, right? That’s certainly the way I felt when I lived in Chicago. Back then, I took trips to Greece, Hawai’i and elsewhere. Each time I left I’d think, “I wish I could’ve stayed there.” But, here’s the funny thing … Since, I moved to New York almost five years ago, I’ve been away to Vegas, London, Belfast, Austin, Barbados and (most recently) Utah. With each return to Manhattan, I stick my key in my apartment’s front door, plop my bags on the floor, curl up in my bed and think, “It’s so good to be back.” I think I get it now. When you actually LIKE where you live, you don’t want to abandon it for someplace else. Utah was fabulous. But, still, New York is home.

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Photo credit: Image by Eric Ortner.

{ 13 folks got down with the Funky Brown }

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