Margaux Brooke

Hornet Publications Award Ceremony

2012-05-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday was an evening to remember. The Hornet held its publication ceremony to celebrate and award all of the hard working people on the productions staff,which includes, The Torch (magazine) and La Antorcha (spanish language newspaper) as well as The Hornet (newspaper). We also had high school students there to accept awards for their mail-in articles/photos. All of the members of the Fullerton College publications got to read the high school students pieces and then we placed them 1st through 4th. The students looked so excited to received their awards and one of them even won a $500 scholarship towards an education at Fullerton College. It was great to see such young people be so passionate about journalism. I wish I had been on the paper in high school, I feel like it took me so long to figure out what I was passionate about, it is a relief to finally know what I want to do.

After the mail-ins, awards were given to The Torch staff and La Antorcha. Lastly, it was time to honor the hard workers of The Hornet. First, each section-editor awarded their best writers. I gave out two "Best Local Writer" awards, one to an amazing up and coming writer, Kelsey Smith and another to a curious and nervous writer Kailey Demaret. They both did an excellent job this semester and I am so proud of both of them. Each editor was then given an award for being a good section editor and then our editor-in-chief, Krysta Fauria, gave me the award for "Best Editor." I was completely honored. Being an editor was MUCH harder than I expected it to be. It requires a lot of organization, planning, communication and creativity is a must when making layouts. Being a writer and a page editor has taught me so much about what it is like to work on a newspaper and all the time and effort that goes in to just one issue.

I applied to be Online Editor next semester, which I am very excited about because The Hornet is getting an online makeover. The paper is going to be on Wordpress and will be using a backdoor called Camayak that is super organized and amazing. It requires the writers to go online for everything and eliminates the need for a physical newsroom. We will all still meet in the newsroom of course but editors can assign stories and monitor the writers' progress better with Camayak. The Hornet also received a grant that is paying for all new equipment for next semester including new Apple computers, iPads, Canon cameras, and Adobe Creative Suite 6 for all. I believe next semester will be our best semester yet! Lastly, I just want to say congratulations to all the award winners and a good job to everyone on staff, it was great semester and I can't wait to see who returns in the spring.

I Got A New Car... and I Shall Name Her Raquel!

2012-05-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

Models need reliable, gas saving cars! My new 2008 Hyundai Accent, I shall name her Raquel! To many new adventures!

Some of you know that I live in Orange County and unfortunately most, if not all, of my modeling castings and jobs are in Los Angeles, which can be from 35 minutes (to downtown) to 1.5 hours to (Beverly Hills or Santa Monica), so I have to drive a lot. I've had an amazing car for 6 years, my first one, a '94 Toyota Celica. It was a black hatchback, kinda beat up but I loved it to death. Well recently it stopped running properly and would turn off altogether when I'd start it up or put it in reverse. I took it to the mechanic and they couldn't figure it out, probably a transmission issue but either way, the expense to fix it would have been more than the car was actually worth, so it was time to move on. I needed something new, something reliable good on gas.

I was set on getting a used Honda Civic because of the great gas mileage and affordable cost of repairs but unfortunately everyone else is looking for the same thing with the gas prices the way they are right now. I found one in El Monte, a black 2004 automatic. I was stoked and after checking the title to make sure it was clean I headed out to see it with my mom. We arrived and inspected the car, it looked like it was in pretty good shape, but when we went inside to talk to the agent they told us someone was in the process of buying it right then and there. I was totally upset but determined to find a car. Fortunately there were a lot of dealerships nearby.

We walked passed one but didn't find anything and then another, nothing. Then we walked into one with shiny golden banners. We walked up to the salesmen and asked if he hand any Honda Civics and he said, "Oh yeah we have 10 of them." My mom and I lit up! I asked, "Are you serious?" and he replied, "no." Apparently it is too expensive for them to buy them, which means they then have to sell it the buyer overpriced, so they avoid them altogether.

I had my mind set on something in the $7000 range, black or blue and with good gas mileage. They showed me about three cars, all of which I was not interested in. Then they showed me this 2008 Hyundai Accent, it was burnt orange and a little over my price range but it was CUTE and modern and wasn't held together by duct tape, like my present car, so I said, "what the hell" and took it for a test drive. It was super fun to drive, the sound system was nice, great safety features and cold AC. I was sold.

We got started on the paperwork, this was going to be the first car in MY name. I put a down payment with the help of my mom and will be making payments for 12 months to build credit, because right now I have a zero credit score (credit cards + my shopping habit= terrifying). I took the car to the mechanic to get it checked out, nothing major, it needed an alignment, new struts and the trasmission fluid changed, which awesomely the dealership agreed to fix free of charge. I drove home with my new car that day and they drove back to the dealership with my old one, my baby.

It was really hard to see her go (Maxine) but she did her job. A great first car that I wish I could give to my kids when I have them. But alas, we all must on. I'm still getting used to it, mostly the color.. burnt orange.. ugh.. but I know I'm slowly falling in love. It's like a new relationship, we will grow closer with time. I already put my first sticker (The Factory Bouldering Gym) on her too (my old car had tons of stickers). One step at a time but right now I'm really happy with my choice. Can't wait to take her on some road trips soon!

My 1994 Toyota Celica 'Maxine', my first car that I had from age 16 to this year, age 21, I'll miss her! You were a good car!

Throwing Down With Mad Rock

2012-05-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

I went with the Mad Rock Flash 2.0's after trying on nearly every other shoe they had at their warehouse.

A few weeks ago I won first place in intermediate, second place overall for the women at the Vital competition in Marietta, Calif. It was an awesome experience and what made the occasion even more satisfying was that I'd won a pair of Mad Rock climbing shoes of my choice! I'd never worn Mad Rock before, I usually climb in La Sportiva's or Five Ten's so I didn't know what I wanted.

I went down to their new warehouse in Sante Fe Springs and tried on almost every shoe they had. I really liked the Concepts but they were a little bit more aggressive than I was used to. I asked to try the Flash 2.0's right before I left. He brought the orange slip-ons out and the second I popped them on my foot I knew they were the ones. They were SO comfortable! I couldn't believe how soft they were and how well they fit my foot. I said I'd take them and they handed them over to me, free of charge. Every climber's dream right? I'm not gonna lie they looked good on my feet, maybe Mad Rock will rep me one day ;) haha!

That night I had to try them out, so I headed to The Factory in Orange and hopped on the wall. They remained extremely comfortable and stuck pretty well. There was an orange v4- I'd been working on over the past week but hadn't been able to piece together. I gave it to two tries and on my second try I floated it with a heel hook. I don't know if it was the Flash 2.0's or what but I did it. Louie Anderson, owner of The Factory, is setting all new routes this week. I can't wait to try his new stuff with my new shoes. I'm excited to get back on the wall, I think I'll go down to the gym today!

Wooh! Got a v4- project I'd been working on at The Factory in Orange, Calif., sporting the Flash 2.0's.

Representing the ladies at the Vital climbing comp!

2012-05-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

One of the boulder problems I flashed at the Vital competition in Marietta, CA on Saturday. This one was mid 200 pts range.

The gym was buzzing with people and excitement. The air was heavy with chalk dust and a voice announced over a microphone that the competition was about to begin. That's what it was like walking in to Vital Climbing Gym in Marietta last Saturday. They were holding their first climbing competition since the gym opened and tons of people showed up to compete and support the new gym, myself included.

My boyfriend Dan and I had heard about the competition from a mutual friend, and since we both like to compete we decided to go. We had never been to this gym before so we had no idea what to expect. When we got there it was hot, humid and crowded. There were a variety of walls from short and slabby to tall and overhanging. There were about 64 climbs set on the walls. We had arrived just as they started so I instantly felt rushed and full of adrenaline.

My biggest problem when it comes to competitions is trying to pick my top five climbs. Thats what they score you off of. In a training setting at my gym, I will usually warm up on 3-5 easy climbs and then work on stuff that is one or two grades harder than what I can flash. But at competitions it's much more difficult for me to choose my routes. I don't want to get tired so I don't warm up on as many climbs. I should probably do the longer routes first, knock out some stuff I know I can flash, do some harder stuff and finish with more easy routes. But at this competition I was having more trouble than usual.

I warmed up and then headed to the overhanging wall where I watched fellow female competitor Natalie Duran float up a route in the high 300 point range. I thought to myself "I can do that," and jumped on the wall. I fell two moves in. Natalie quickly assured me I could do it as long as I went to the next moved with my right hand instead of my left. I didn't attempt the climb again, I has been shut down. I headed to a different wall and continued to fall off of things a few moves in. This wasn't like me, the competition was getting to me, as was the heat.

Here is a video of me on a tiny crimp climb at the comp, my favorite of the day and I flashed it! Enjoy!

I walked over to the shortest wall and realized there were a few crimp climbs with high point ratings. I jumped on one and flashed it. I felt better. I continued to try hard things and fall off of them by managed to get all five climbs in. I got my final route in 15 minutes before the competition ended. My total points- 1490. I hoped that had been enough. I knew Natalie was going to beat me, I knew that going in so I didn't care but I didn't know any of the other girls competing or how strong they were so I didn't know where my score stood.

Click to view final scores by category

Climbing is very much about getting stronger for yourself and doing climbs to be proud of yourself, and not for the purpose of doing better than others but this was a competition after all, and no one likes to lose. All competitors had to write down which category they were competing in. They could choose from beginner, intermediate and advance, this competition didn't have an open category. I didn't know what to put so I chose intermediate. I knew I was stronger than beginner but I knew Natalie would put advanced and that I hadn't climbed anywhere near as hard as she had. It turns out intermediate was just the perfect choice for me. Though I do like when they place you solely on your score and not by which category you "choose" to compete in.

The judges tallied up the scores and announced the winners starting with beginner and working their way up. They said that they put five girls as top intermediate climbers. They announced the name from fifth to first. I was on edge each time they called a new name, they got to second place, Kirsten Manalo. Then they announced first place. I knew I had either won or didn't place at all, I was really hoping it was the first option.

"First place, Margaux Brooke!" said the announcer. I was thrilled, I had won, woohoo! Natalie was the only girl to place in advance, and rightfully so she had nearly 300 more points than I had. So I came in second place overall and won a free pair of Mad Rock climbing shoes. It was exhilarating. I was so happy that I'd won because it had been a "tough" day. I got shot down on so many climbs and even managed to rolled my ankle on one but I pulled through and took first place for my category. I couldn't ask for anything more.

I'm really excited to keep getting stronger at my new gym, The Factory, and really bring it at the next competition. Kirsten came in second to me by a mere 20 points so I need to step up my game if I want to hold my title or pass up Natalie (haha humor). I learned a lot about the competition process and how I can improve at the next competition. We'll see what happens!

My certificate for a free pair of Mad Rock shoes of my choice. I don't usually wear Mad Rock so I'm excited to try them out.

Margaux Brooke shot by Larry Bartholomew

2012-05-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

So I did a test awhile ago with photographer Larry Bartholomew, and posted a behind-the-scenes video for it. Now I have the photos! I had never shot with him before but after looking at his site, I was VERY excited for the shoot. I drove down to Santa Monica on a sunny day and got to the studio around 2 p.m. The whole team was there waiting for me. I introduced myself and quickly went into my fitting. The stylist, Zoe Joeright, had pulled some amazing '60s style clothing for the shoot. After that I went into makeup with the amazing Erin Smith. Over the course of 45 minutes I had been transformed into a modern-day, brunette Twiggy. I loved the hair and makeup and couldn't wait to start shooting.

Larry was an older guy with some serious personal style and one of his accessories for the shoot was a sparkly vintage Porsche. It was beautiful. Apparently he collects them as a hobby. I was very envious and couldn't take my eyes off of it. He wanted to do a shoot based around the car but the look was too specific for anything I or the stylist could put in our books. So we made a compromise. We would shoot in front of his car and then we would shoot in front of a plain white wall. Though the clarity of the car photos was amazing, I love the contrasted colors we got with the white background.

The shoot was quick and endless amounts of fun. Larry really exudes a sense of confidence and calmness like he could shoot all day. He really just wants his models to have FUN. No wonder he shoots for Target so often, their ads are always bright and joyful! He was also very quick about getting the photos back to me. I've been really busy and haven't had time to post them, but here they are. I hope you all like them. I hope I get to shoot with Larry again. His whole team was amazing and I had a great time and you can see that in the pictures!

Behind The Scenes: Collective Magazine

2012-04-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Friday I got a last minute email from my agent asking if I wanted to shoot with photographer Anthony Elgort for Collective Magazine. I said, "yes" without hesitation. I'd been wanting to shoot with him and Eryka Clayton, the magazine's editor-in-chief, for a long time. Yesterday the day finally came.

We shot at Jagger Edge's showroom in Pasadena on Sunday. It was a beautiful day. I made the drive out with my boyfriend, Dan, who was staying with me for the weekend. We made it there on time and made all the proper introductions to the crew. I went into my fitting almost immediately. I wont reveal the concept until the final issue comes out but lets just say it required a "unique" group of models to make it happen.

The clothes were bright and colorful, I wanted to keep everything. Collective collaborated with accessory line Jagger Edge, which was the perfect compliment to the clothing, I also wanted to steal everything from their line.

We shot casually and yet some how relentlessly till around 5 p.m., where we then called "wrap" for the day. I had an absolute BLAST. It was by far one of the most fun and interesting shoots that I'd done in awhile. I can not wait to see the finished editorial, it is bound to be AMAZING! I'm posting a few shots from yesterday to give you a "taste" before the actual editorial comes out, you are all in for a treat! For more exclusive behind the scenes pics and video check out my Facebook page!

Facebook fan page!

2012-04-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a Facebook Fan Page! I've been thinking about it for a few years now, but I felt it was kind of pretentious, now I see it can be an asset. I am constantly trying to build my brand and though the majority of my work is modeling, I'm trying to increase my skills by going into journalism and social media. I love writing, which is why I am majoring in journalism and also why I am the local and social media editor for my college paper, The Hornet.

I wanted to create this fan page as a portfolio of my work, both modeling and journalism. I will be posting picture from editorials, campaigns and commercials and I'll also be using it to voice my opinion when it comes to journalism and social media by showcasing articles, videos and websites that I feel will help improve journalism, as we switch over from a print based medium to an online one.

I also went on a tour of the OC Register yesterday and discovered that I really am passionate about writing. I was so interested when listening to the reporter who was speaking to us about her job at the Register, I must have asked her 10 questions in a row. I just wanted to pick her brain all day. We also got to meet the production team in charge of the OC Register's interactive iPad app. The app itself was fascinating and ahead of its time. The woman who talked about working on that team was Caroline Wong. She said they were looking for internships so I took her card and emailed her as soon as I got home. Hopefully I will hear something back! I would love to get some time at the OC Register on my resume but more importantly to get the invaluable learning experience under my belt.

So anyways, I hope you will check out my fan page and "LIKE" it. I have a Forever 21 commercial coming out soon that I will be debuting on there so stay tuned. I will update my page EVERY single day so I promise you will get something out of it whether it's a photo from my latest shoot, an editorial from a magazine like Vogue that I find inspirational, an article on the latest tech or social media tool or tips for being a better journalist. There is something for anyone who is interested in creativity and innovation.

Margaux Brooke for Vogue Italia

2012-04-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Back in August of last year (2011) I had the pleasure of shooting with amazing photographer Kenneth Sweeney. It was our second time working together and this time we wanted to go all out. We had Christopher Mannor pull some stunning wardrobe and paired it with the skilled makeup and hair by Lauren Abedini. We shot the entire thing in down town L.A. and the end result was better than I could have hoped for. It is still my favorite editorial that I've done which makes this news even more exciting. Recently I found out that a few of the shots had been picked up by Vogue Italia and where published on Vogue.it! How crazy is that?! It may not be the print issue but it is one step closer to my dream of one day being in Vogue! I want to thank Kenney Sweeney for his amazing tremendous talent and letting me a part of his vision! Here is a link to the original Vogue.it page.

Asana Climbing Sponsor Wannabe In The House!

2012-04-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

So today I received something very exciting in the mail! Asana Climbing sent me my very own chalk bag! I am definitely not a strong enough climber to be sponsored by them but my boyfriend is and since I took a pretty badass photo of him walking in the Buttermilks with an Asana crash pad on his back (it's actually the first pic in the slideshow of my last post) they decided to reward me with a chalk bag in exchange for the high resolution version of the photo! So I decided to do a little photo shoot of my own with the bag and sent it to them as a thank you! I guess there are some perks that come with dating a pro climber and being a semi-decent photographer, luckily my boyfriend, Daniel Beall isn't too hard on the eyes either! Thanks Asana! :D

Rock Climbing in Bishop, Calif.

2012-04-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

So this post is for the rock climbing crowd! A couple weeks ago my boyfriend, Dan Beall and I made the four hour trip to Bishop, Calif., to throw down in the Buttermilks. It was also a mutual friends birthday and we were going out there to celebrate that as well. His friends decided to camp in the Buttermilks just next to the peabodies, where as I am a tinsy bit more high maintenance and opted to stay at Dan's friend, Courtney's house. She has a cute little apartment just down the road from all the amazing climbing and most importantly she has a bathroom- fully equipped with a toilet (yay!) and a shower with hot water (double yay!).

We drove out Thursday night around 11:30 p.m. and got in to Bishop around 4 a.m. hooray for sleeping in the Vons parking lot! Luckily Dan has a van, which can be conveniently transformed into a bedroom on wheels, when need be. We grabbed some food and headed out for our first official day of climbing. We hit The Sads with Ryan, Nathan and Bobby. It was a beautiful day filled with sunshine and amazing blue skies.

I got on a v3 and flashed it, booyah and Dan did some crazy hard something or other. I mostly hung out and took photos while everyone else climbed. The rest of the days were spent in the Buttermilks where I attempted Go Granny Go (v5), which was completely frustrating because I grabbed the finish hold about six times but couldn't control it. Grrrr... oh well, just an excuse to go back again soon.

A very cool part of the trip was going up to The Ninth (v7) highball in the Pollen Grains. It was probably the worst hike I've done in awhile, which isn't saying much because I hate hiking more than scooping horse poop. I'm sure anyone who likes hiking would have loved it.

When we got to the top and I saw the line on The Ninth, which conveniently dangles right off the edge of a cliff, I was not stoked. I like my boyfriends ALIVE, thank you! But of course no protest of mine would stop Dan from trying it and it would have made that terrible hike pointless.

We had about 10 people altogether in our group and each person was carrying a crash pad or two. I wasn't carrying anything because I'm lazy and hate hiking. But with all the pads stacked I felt a little better about Dan getting on this absolutely terrifying climb.

He went almost all the way up his first try but opted out of the finish due to uncertainty of where his next move was suppose to be. He reassessed, jumped back on and finished it his second try. I'm not going to lie it was pretty sexy, once he was safe on top, that is. Jeremy Rush gave it a few goes, close but no cigar. We headed back to the truck in the dark which was not optimal but I just wanted to get out of the cold.

We finished the day with BBQ and relaxing back at Courtney's. I have to say I had a blast. After a shower, Dan and I got some MUCH needed rest and headed up to Buttermilks again for our last day of climbing. We didn't make it out till nearly 1 p.m. but we hopped on a few things with the crew for good measure. After a few hours in the heat and realizing I was completely sunburnt we headed home.

It was really nice going out there with Dan. It was our first outdoor climbing trip as a couple, aside from Santee or Mt. Woodsen near San Diego. I had a lot of fun and didn't complain TOO much. We even did a little geocaching. Yes, very nerdy. As much as I bag on nature it is really nice to get away some times, especially if it's with someone you love.

Here are so photos from the trip, I have to say they are pretty awesome, check them out! ;) One of Dan's sponsors, Asana even asked to use one of my photos! Yay!

Officially A Business Woman Now

2012-04-09T15:49:00.003-07:00

So thanks to Klout Perks I am now officially a business woman. I've been a professional model since I was nine years old but I've never really networked beyond handing out comp cards at castings. I've met a ton of amazing people in this business but I almost never remember to follow up with them and I don't like giving my number out to people I just met.

So I was checking out my Klout (a website that measures your social media influence) and saw that I had a "perk" available. Perks are rewards for reaching certain milestones on Klout. I believe mine was making it into the 50s, not completely sure. Anyways, the offer was 50 free business cards from Moo. I only had to pay shipping and handling $5.50.

So now I have official cards to hand out to potential clients or businesses I'd like to work with. They look great! I have 10 different pictures on the front of the cards and all of my social media information on the back plus a short bio. They're perfect, can't wait to start handing them out! Thanks Moo & Klout.

Latest Editorial- Sylvie Blum

2012-04-03T16:47:00.001-07:00

I had the amazing pleasure of shooting with German photographer Sylvie Blum last week. It was very intimate, just her, our hair/MUA for the day, Jacqui Jordan and myself. We shot in her back yard and she styled the shoot herself with a mixture of my clothes and hers.

I arrived around noon and we shot until around 5pm. It was fast, fun and exhausting (in a good way). Sylvie wanted to have a lot of movement which meant I got a work out for the day. I jumped, skipped, spun and nearly fell on my face more than a few times in attempts to get the perfect shot. Her turn around time was amazing and I think we got some fantastic images! I am so happy with the results and I hope to work with Sylvia and Jacqui again soon!

UPDATE: Tide Billboard + Newsweek Ad

2012-03-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

So I recently discovered that my ad was running in more magazines than just Cosmopolitan. It turns out it's also in Good Housekeeping, Instyle, and TVyNovela (spanish magazine). I was beyond excited for all the exposure and then I found out from a friend that a completely different looking ad was running in the April issue of Newsweek (with Madmen on the cover).

I also finally got the chance to see my billboard on the corner of Hollywood and Highland! It was so surreal, I almost couldn't believe it. Even more exciting was that I got to see it with my mom! :D It was an amazing experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life! So glad this campaign has gone so well, hopefully I will continue to have more print and billboard campaigns in the future ;)

Finally got to see my Tide billboard on Hollywood & Highland. I still can't believe it!

All of the magazine's I've found my Tide ad in so far. If you find any others let me know!

Found a completely different, "psychedelic" Tide ad in April's issue of Newsweek Magazine- featuring Mad Men.

Latest Editorial- Elias Tahan

2012-03-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

As a model I have the privilege of working with many amazing people day in and day out. But every once in awhile I get to work with someone very special. In this case that person was Elias Tahan. Awhile ago I made a Behind-The-Scenes post about shooting with him. Now I have the final images! They look amazing. Thanks you again Elias for shooting with me, it was a pleasure.

Team: Elias Tahan (Photography), Holland Ingersoll (Styling), Bobby Eliot (Hair), and Maria Nguyen (Makeup).

Storify- The 57th JACC State Conference: Day 1

2012-03-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I model but I also love to write. I'm majoring in journalism and am currently the local editor for The Hornet, Fullerton College's newspaper. Every year some of The Hornet's staff attends the Journalism Association of Community College's conference. This year it was held at the Marriott convention center in Burbank, Calif.

The event consisted of three days of workshops, led by some amazing people in the industry for topics such as news, feature and opinion writing as well as broadcast, photojournlism, videography and social media. There were also competitions for almost every one of those categories. I participated mainly in the Twitter competition which took place over the entire three-day event. I had a blast and had planned on making three separate Storify stories to go along with the event but due to complications with the website itself I was only able to complete one for Day 1, all my other stories have DISAPPEARED, including the one of the Collegiate Climbing series that was previously on my blog. So hopefully this one will stay put. Enjoy!

Storify- Collegiate Climbing Series

2012-03-19T23:30:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I went to San Diego to spend time with my boyfriend Dan Beall as well as compete in the Collegiate Climbing Series competition at Mesa Rim Climbing & Fitness Center. I had a blast and it was really great getting to compete with Dan. I made it to finals and ended up getting 5th overall for womens. It was an amazing experience and showed me what I need to improve on in climbing, mainly endurance. I'm excited for the next competition. I plan to really bring it next time!

Anyways, I decided to make a Storify story for the event since I've never made one and it is an important skill to learn for any social media expert. Storify basically builds a story from multiple sources such as Twitter and Facebook posts, Instagram and Flickr pictures, Youtube and Vimeo videos and all kinds of other sources. It it really a great, fun way to display an event. I plan to make many more for the school newspaper next semester. So here's my story! You can can enlarge any photo, play and video or read any twitter post straight from the source just by clicking on it!

UPDATE: Tide Campaign

2012-03-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

My Tide campaign is getting a lot of hype! My friends and family have already found it in Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and Instyle Magazine. There is a billboard of my ad on the corner of Hollywood and Highland and I'm also the main girl on their website! So cool :)

UPDATE: Vegas Seven Magazine

2012-03-07T15:30:00.002-08:00

Vegas Seven Magazine is featuring the behind the scenes video that "I" made for my editorial shoot with Jana Cruder. How cool is that?!

Campaign- Tide Laundry Detergent

2012-03-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hey all! So I shot a campaign for Tide sometime last year, it feels like forever ago but I wasn't allowed to talk about it! Now that it's out I can! So here it is! My Tide laundry detergent campaign! It is for their new laundry "pods."

I literally had to jump on a trampoline for an hour and a half, it was exhausting and completely fun! I got to work with the amazing photography team Juco in the process! Love them! :D Hope you all like it! You can vote for the ad to be put in Newsweek, here! Please do!

Vegas Seven Magazine- Jana Cruder

2012-03-01T13:41:00.001-08:00

So awhile ago, I a posted a behind-the-scenes video from a shoot I did with Jana Cruder. Well today the editorial is finally out! It is in Vegas Seven Magazine! So excited, I even made cover! :) Check it out!

ABS Nationals 2012- Colorado Springs

2012-02-29T20:54:00.000-08:00

Dan on problem #1- Men's Qualifiers: Not gonna lie... my bf is pretty sexy ;) haha!

Sorry I haven't posted in a little while. I was in Colorado last Thursday through Sunday for ABS Nationals. If you're not a rock climber, ABS stands for American Bouldering Series, they are part of USA Climbing. Every year the best of the best come to Colorado to battle it out for first place at Nationals.

In past years the competition has been held in Boulder, CO., but this year they decided to hold the event in Colorado Springs. Now you're probably wondering why I was going to this event in the first place. Yes, I rock climb but no I am not anywhere near the "professional" level it takes to make it at Nationals. My boyfriend, Daniel Beall was competing. He competes every year, and is definitely "professional." He has many sponsors and is all kinds of fancy when it comes to bouldering. Haha! I was just there to support.

We flew out Thursday morning around 6 a.m. and got to Colorado Springs around 1 p.m., with the time difference. Luckily I had purchased a down jacket for the trip because when we landed it was SNOWING! I live in Southern California, where it's pretty much 70 degrees on average, if not hotter, so snow was a total shock. I quickly realized this might be a little more unpleasant than original planned, but it was my first time in Colorado so I tried to make the best of it.

Friday rolled around and it was time for the games to begin! Friday was QUALIFIERS. Women were in the morning, and men were in the afternoon. I had managed to snag a press pass (perks of working on a college paper) and decided to get shooting! It was so much fun photographing all the amazing women climbers from Alex Puccio to Angie Payne, Shawna Coxsey and Alex Johnson. It was awesome! They are SO strong, especially Puccio.

Sierra was the first to finish the 3rd problem in women's semi-finals.

The afternoon rolled around and it was Daniel's turn to compete. I was SO excited. I had only ever seen him compete at redpoint comps (you get three hours to climb/try as many routes as you want). This was an on-sight comp, which meant he and everyone else gets 3 minutes to try one route at a time, and they don't get to look at the routes ahead of time either. He warned me advance that he probably wasn't going to do well, and on top of that he's been suffering from more than a few injuries. But I was still excited non-the-less and wanted to cheer him on, oh and take rad photos of him and all our friends.

I was also there to support our friends Michael Bautista (a rock city superstar), Kyle Owen, Sierra Blair-Coyle and Matt Hulet. It was amazing to see Dan compete even if it didn't make it to finals. Kyle made it to semi-finals and Michael and Sierra made it to finals. Michael placed 3rd after Daniel Woods and Ethan Pringle, and Sierra placed 7th for women's. Alex Puccio claimed the #1 spot, which was no surprise as she's won Nationals six times in the last seven years. It was an amazing trip and experience that motivated me to climb harder once I got back. Maybe one day I'll compete at Nationals even if its just in qualifiers! :D P.S. heres an AWESOME video of Women's Finals!

Lastest Obsession- Pose.com

2012-02-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

One: Laugh Cry Repeat, Tipp NYC, Report and Nordstrom Two: 360 Cashmere, Pleasure Doing Business and Justin.

So a fellow model friend of mine, I won't say who, but someone a with the "Super" status put me on to this awesome new site/app called Pose. I've been playing around with it for a few weeks now and actually really like it. Their PR departement emailed me, asking if I'd like to become one of their featured "Posers." I felt honored, and accepted their offer. All I have to do is "pose" a few times a week.

Posing basically means I take a picture of my outfit for the day and tag everything that I'm wearing. For instance, in the picture above. So I just take the pictures, tag them and press "post" on the app. It uploads into my feed and fellow "posers" can LOVE my pose and/or comment on it.

It's a lot of fun and bring the simplicity of street wear and every day outfits of blogs like The Sartorialist and Fashion Toast right to your finger tips. You can few posts by famous fashionista's like Coco Rocha or every day girls like myself. It all depends on your style and who you want to follow. So if you like fashion and have a unique sense of style you'd like to show to your peers, check out Pose!

Modeling- Pleasure Doing Business

2012-02-16T23:58:00.000-08:00

This week I have the pleasure of working for one of my all time favorite designers, Simone Gonzalez. She is the owner and designer of the amazingly innovative and colorful line, Pleasure Doing Business. She started her line on her own in 2009 and it has grown SO much! I am so proud of her!

I have worked for Simone every season since 2010, when I met her at a casting for her first runway show. Pleasure Doing Business used to be in a small warehouse in downtown L.A. and now they're updated to a huge, glorious studio on Los Angeles St.

Back in 2010- I went to the casting in a black dress and blazer with my hair in a bun. I walked for Simone and her people and she said she loved me. She asked me to come back for a fitting the following day, where I was fitted in a few outfits for the show. I don't think she knew at the time, but this was going to be my first runway show ever!

PDB- Fall 2012 Preview

All the models came back the next day to get ready for the show! Bumble & Bumble did hair for the shoot which was French inspired- basically a frizzy, messy, gorgeous up do! All of the models got in to their first looks and then walked over to the runway for the walk through. The music for the show was amazing and modern, Simone had stayed up all night with her team working on it.

We did the walk through and everything appeared as if it were going to go smoothly, although when it got down to the wire it was more like controlled chaos. Simone decided she wanted me to open the show! I was thrilled and extremely nervous but I knew I could do it!

The music started and I stomped out on to the runway with everything I had. I was walking to the beat of music but it happened to be too fast as Simone only had about 10 girls for the show and each change was intricate and time consuming. We all had to SLOW down our walks. Even so, I ended up walking the entire runway alone for the closing look.

In the end the show worked out, the looks were amazing and cohesive and everyone, including myself, had an amazing time. There was a cocktail party after, right on the runway. Simone's brand BLEW up after that show. Her line is now on sites like Urban Outfitters, Revolve Clothing, Shop Style and more. Her bandage style skirts have become a staple for the modern girls wardrobe and are well known across the world.

After the show she asked me if I'd shoot her lookbook the following day, and she's asked me to shoot it every season since. I love working with Simone, I love and respect her line and could not be more proud of how much it is has grown. I hope to have her and her collections in my life forever.

We are currently shooting her Fall/ Winter 2012 lookbook and I can't wait for you all to see it. It's absolutely stunning and my favorite of her collections so far. More to come soon! Heres's the video of mine as well as Simone's first runway show back in 2010. To see her latest collections go here.

First issue of the The Hornet is out!

2012-02-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

My first double page layout for Fullerton College's paper The Hornet.

I know it's been awhile but school has been CRAZY! So far my classes are really easy but the paper is A LOT of work! I can honestly say I thought being editor would be easier than being a writer, boy was I wrong! Laying out the pages is NO JOKE!

First off all I was given a page and 2/3rd of a another page space. I had a lot of content so I thought it would be NO problem! What I wasn't expecting was for writers to get their stories in last minute. A school publication is different from an every day publication in many ways, but one of the biggest differences is, no one is getting paid. When you have writers whose only motivation is to get their stories in is for a good grade, you sometimes don't get stories in at all. Especially on the standard of "C's get degrees." Regardless, I got only half of my page done after six hours of work.

I came in on Tuesday (our production day) to work on the paper around 3 p.m., which was the earliest I could get there since I had castings that morning. I worked relentlessly till about 6:30 p.m. which is when my Journalism 101 class started. I had emailed my teacher asking for half the class off so I could get back to the paper and received a long reply stating "she was never given a break by her teachers when she was on the paper." (FAIR ENOUGH). So I stayed for the entire class and got back to the newsroom around 9 p.m. I had about a page and a third done total. Krysta my editor-in-chief had put my top story on the first page while I was in class, so that was done.

I got to work on my second page and finished it around 11 p.m. We were saving it to send to Krysta for one last look over before it went to printers, when the program crashed and the file become corrupted. We couldn't open the finished second page at all. Jesse my managing editor helped me rebuild the entire page in 20 minutes. It was very impressive. We got the entire first issue sent to the printers around midnight, making the paper delivery time delayed for the following day. Issues weren't spread around campus till about noon on Wednesday.

On Thursday, I walked in to the first issue critique expecting the worst. Jay went page by page explaining what could have been improved upon. When he finally got to my page he didn't really nitpick too much. He just said I could have been a little more creative with my design, which I totally agree with, but my first time was more like a panic attack so I'm glad I kept it simple.

The only real error on my page, and it was a major one was that the byline for one of my top stories, the one on the first page, was wrong. The story was not by Kelsey Smith but by Mike Atchue. I made a public apology in class and owned up to the mistake. I later apologized to Mike in person and assured him it would never happen again and that at the very least it would be corrected and available online.

I learned a lot from putting this first issue together. It definitely showed me that I need to work on my time management. Writers need to get their stories in sooner so I can edit them, no more slacking. I am really excited and possibly even more nervous for the second issue. I have less stories coming in for that issue and no more excuses. But I'm going to do my best to try and improve every issue regardless. Let the crazy begin again!

Juliana Herz Joins the Elite Family

2012-02-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

Exciting news! A dear friend of mine, Juliana Herz, has just signed with Elite Model Management in Miami! I am so happy for her!

I met Juliana in 7th grade at Country Day School in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. I had just moved there with my family for some unknown reason. Juliana was the only other girl in the class! I know, crazy right. Not to mention our class had about 12 people in it, total.

Juliana, Emily and I in Costa Rica- age 14/15

I'd like to say that our relationship started off nicely but if I remember correctly it started off more in the "frienemies" category. I was invading on all her "men" when I joined that class. She had grown up with them and known them basically her whole life but now I was the "new girl," which always ends up being popular with the guys, and instant loathing with the girls.

But over the years, after Juliana and I had dated almost all the same guys (lol), I think we managed to get over our petty nonsense and just be genuine "friends." I wish it had happened sooner though, as I moved away from Costa Rica at the age of 15. I haven't seen Juliana since but I still regard her as a close friend and always will.

I am so happy for her success and wish her more and more in the future. Elite Miami is a huge step and I'm so glad we are apart of the same, great agency! Hopefully we'll end up working together at some point. That would be all together too amazing! Love you girl, hope you make it big!