"It Girl" is actually an idea that usually irritates me. It's a phrase the fashion world loves to throw around, because it's meaningless and snobby and makes other girls feel bad about themselves. I've only heard a real live human being say it once. I  was hanging out with a girl I'd just met through an improv class; we were going to have a drink, and she looked me dead in the eye and said," I'm an it girl."  

"This is going to be a very long night," I remember thinking. 

So the first thing I love about Yasmeen is she really is live-in-the-flesh one of those mysterious, sought-after, seductive entities, an "It Girl", who would never call herself that. But Yasmeen isn't meaningless or snobby and she's nice to everyone. Girls love her as much as guys do...

And oooooohhh the fun we've had...

We had multiple hallowe'ens together one year. 

My friend Yasmeen could be a celebrity-- one who just doesn't have a hit show or a magazine cover yet...but one thing you learn quick after being around Yasmeen is the extraordinary is just a matter of time in the making. You get the sense when you're around her that it has more to do with logistics or her having better, more exciting things to do-- exotic countries to travel to, male hearts to break-- than through any fault or lack on Yasmeen's part. Being a celebrity would almost be a waste of her time...

She's one of those impossibly worldly-- (hah, I wrote 'wordy' first. That applies, too!)-- sophisticated girls you only meet in New York or Paris or London or, perhaps if you're truly lucky, in some oasis in the Gobi Desert because one of her fabulous friends (she's Saudi- so this is entirely probable) decided to throw a desert-themed party in a real, actual desert and you've now encountered one of those mysterious, international city girls you might have read about or seen in a music video but never truly in your heart of hearts thought existed. 

They coudn't exist, you thought. One of those girls out of a Hemingway novel or a Fitzgerald short story from the 20s. We grow up and figure out James Bond or The Tooth Fairy could never really exist much as you might wish they did...      
 
But Yasmeen is real. And I know it, because she's my friend and I've seen her laugh, held her hand when she cried, and tried with varying amounts of success to keep up with her international globe-trotting. 

What it amounts to is she loves herself and her confidence and self-love inspire others to be themselves, too. And as one offshoot of all that since becoming her friend I've felt more and more comfortable wearing wacky, weird, wild outfits and just in general being my own weird myself.

Being around people who give themselves permission to try, to fail, to try again, to have fun, to risk... they somehow give you permission to do the same with your life. More than permission. They inspire you and they help you grow. 


It girl or not, she's my It Girl-- cause that's the best kind of friend to have. We owe a debt to people who build us up, and I'll always feel I owe a lot to Yasmeen. 
xx
Izzy 

From a test shoot with Julio Torres, makeup by Ayumi Irie, Hair by Marki Shrekli, Jeans by True Religion, Guess Vest, F21 Necklace, Macy's Black Lacy Bra, title from my favorite song "Piazza New York Catcher"

So the song title first... I thought of this song today, my favorite song, because it's a song I think about when I question whether I'm living sincerely or insincerely. That's what this song is about for me, all the questions he's addressing to his beloved add up to self-reflection whenever I listen to this song. Personally, I always want to find that balance between reality and dreams, so that I feel full of light and as if I'm growing and the possibilities are there and adventure beckons, but also as if I'm living truthfully and not exceeding my own limitations and needs... I don't want to float away into airy-fairy land, but I also don't want to become another cranky adult. "Oh grow up," cranky adults have said to me more than once. 

"Why?" I always think but rarely say. "So I can be cranky like you???" 


Speaking of cranky I'm in week two of yoga school, and it's...challenging to say the least! Today we spent three hours in "beginner's class" practicing teaching each other beginning yoga poses. Then we had a hardcore vinyasa yoga class for an hour followed by FOUR HOURS of arm balances and inversions. I can barely type this now, and some people stuck around after "school" to take another yoga class at the studio! 

That's incredible. 

I'm not there, but I'm loving how the yoga is making me feel. We've spent quite a lot of time in class talking about not only practicing and teaching yoga but what it means to be a yoga teacher, and I've kept very quiet about my modeling and acting. 

I don't know why that is. Lots of people have shared their careers, but I feel it would make the students look at me different. Maybe I even feel a little ashamed about it. Like it's not "yogi" enough. Maybe I don't want to brag, like "oh everyone I think I'm so hot." Which I really don't. I WISH I did. I know women who are convinced of their own sexiness and beauty, and therefore they are beautiful and sexy. For me modeling is something I fell into, a part I can play, a job that can make me money here and there but that's it. It isn't who I am or a lifestyle, and I see that being a yoga teacher could provide that in a more fundamental way...

See? I have this real love, hate relationship with modeling. I love how it's built up my confidence-- if you were never even one of the "pretty girls" being told you're not perfect is a heckuva lot less damaging to me than it is to other models-- and I love how I can pick up extra cash here and there...

But am I living a double life? Am I a bad example to my students? Am I a fake yoga teacher? 

It's stuff I'm thinking about. I'd love your thoughts! Sorry I haven't been posting as much. It's been an adjustment waking up at 6:45 a.m., packing a bag, rushing off to class for nine hours, crashing when I get back, trying to do my household chores and care for my kitties and my boyfriend and get my homework in and...and...before I know it it's 10 p.m. and time to crash! 

Well, those are my deep yoga thoughts for the day ;)
Much love,
Izzy

The winner of the jewelry grab-bag which includes a pair of earrings, a necklace and a few other cute odds and ends (and will be photographed ASAP STAT and everything else official)  is....(drumroll) THEA CASTILLO! 

I'm flattered! I am!

But it's also a weird feeling when pictures of yourself take on a life of their own. I'm not quite sure why, but these two seem to appeal to people. Not to my agent, so that's part of why I find this interesting...agents don't know everything I guess!

Anyway they seem to have popped up here...
http://pedalfar.tumblr.com/post/7290956952/welcome-to-the-new-misadventures-of-me-the
and here...
http://pedalfar.tumblr.com/post/7290955438/into-the-woods-the-misadventures-of-me

Not complaining! No, no, I am deeply touched. It's just weird a little... Weird but nice ;) 
I really truly and very deeply appreciate all these wonderful comments and messages I've been getting. They're really helping to drown out all those voices shouting their doubts in my head...wait, wait! Did I just jokingly imply I hear this is an unfortunate turn of phrase...not that I hear voices. Oy. I'm EXHAUSTED. Give me a pass please ;) What I mean to say simply put: they mean so much to me!

Much love, 
Izzy

I didn't quite realize my life lacked a crochet dress and a fine lacy shawl until I saw this picture...funny how soft advertising works! 

This is also the girl I'm in love with today...woah Sally! Okay, I don't mean that. Love is a strong word that describes an abiding connection. And since this is a connection based on a pretty threadbare basis...probably not going to last longer than a day! 

(If I sound drunk it is merely because I did FOUR HOURS OF YOGA today. Then on my way home packed tight into the subway I was listening to my favorite dance playlist on my ipod, saw the time read only 6:20, put the signs together and decided to race off the train to my Wednesday night 6:30  Zumba class led by this really adorable latina transsexual who always wears a t-shirt that reads "crazy/happy" and that's always how he/she (Any LGBT readers. How do transexuals want to be referred to?) makes me feel-- crazy/happy. 

I'm now completely zonked and will not be able to move tomorrow (but I doubt Professor McGonagall will give me that option...yes, I'm continuing with my Harry Potter references until at least July 15!!), anyway I am so happy I am drunk on life, then I found the perfectest new look (above) and I mean, "C'mon!" Can life get better???

Oh did I mention my cold is better?

Back to happy ole ADHD ME ;) 
xx 
Izzy
P.S. And since I was wearing sweaty sweatpants all day I thought I'd throw in another preview from French Closet than what my grody outfit from today!

This is just one of the items I'm including in the grab bag!

I promised pictures, but I'm sick unfortunately. SOOOO sick ;(. Thank you, boyfriend! He had bronchitis last week, and I tried sucking on zicam to ward off my fate. I don't have bronchitis, so I guess it worked, yay! But I'm miserable anyway. Because I'm sick. 

I'll take more pics when I can breathe out of my nose. (Tomorrow. I know it! You can do it, nose!)

I still had fun my first day of class. I decided to amuse the inner sick child in me by casting everyone in class as Harry Potter characters (July 15, coming soon! I'm obsessed!). Not everyone fit that series, so I had to throw in Weeds and also Little Miss Sunshine to make 'em fit my weird vision...But I still did pretty well.

I got a Professor McGonagall, a Ron Weasely, a Professor Dumbledore...and best of all...

There was definitely a Latina Hermione, I can share that now, and I definitely have a crush on her! She's so smart and so brave and she has perfect black curly hair for the part! AND she answered the teacher correctly on the FIRST DAY mind you when he wanted to know what a humerus was. 

Who the heck could that?

Latina Hermione that's who. Ten points for Gryffindor! (Yea...I'm raving looney tunes sick.) I better save more descriptions of the incredible bunch of characters I'm in school with for when the Nyquil wears off. All ages, all races, all really smart and passionate...I can't quite believe my luck!

Now if only I can recover my wits and my balance maybe I too can make a decent impression on these people. Stumbling off-balance while standing still both feet on the ground in "mountain" pose-- a.k.a. The. World's. Easiest. Pose. You are literally just standing there. That's it. Standing and breathing.

=Not such a good impression!

Haha oh well! There's always tomorrow!
xx
Izzy

The beautiful Christy Noad has a tumblr blog that features all things fashion. It's a lovely site, and I'm completely honored and blown away that's she's featured me as the model of the month on it. Please check it out!

http://personalstylista.tumblr.com/post/7253077128/editors-pick-model-of-the-month-izzy-david
or
www.personalstylista.com

Okay, well I'm off to my first day of yoga teacher school! I'm a little nervous. I hope people like me of course and more important aren't all a million times better yogis than me, but "the longest journey starts with the first step." (I think that's a taoist saying, but oh well ;) Close enough!

Here's to my dream of being a fashion model and a yoga teacher AND keeping up with all you incredible women out there on my own personal "happiness project" here on this site! (Of course as soon as I thought of this idea for this blog, I found out there's a book out there called The Happiness Project. And I thought I was soooo original. Oh well! That's definitely on my reading list! She has a blog as well natch.)


http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/the-happiness-project-book.html 

What are some of your dreams? Are you pursuing them? If yes, please share with me some of the things keeping you strong along the way! Help! If no, what do you think is stopping you? 

I'd love to hear from you!
xx
Izzy

I just got this picture (Makeup by Gil Aldrin, Hair by Zoog Salon) This isn't the dress French Closet is giving me, but it's this color and material in a strapless maxi style. And THAT will be the dress I'm giving away in August. For now I need to take some pics for my costume jewelry grab bag, but you can see more details of how to enter below. 
xx
Izzy

Je viens de recevoir ce photo! Cette robe de French Closet n'est pas celui qu'ils vont me donner, mais elle represente la couleur et le matieriel de celui qui je vais donner en Aout. Pour l'instant j'ai besoin de prendre quelques photos pour le giveaway de Juillet-- les bijoux ;) Regarde au-dessous pour les detailles...
Un bizou,
Isa

P.S. Wish this romper below were mine to give away, too! 

Photos by my wonderful friend, Aaron Kinney, whom I love ever so much and that's why I think our pics always turn out my favorites ;) www.swhnyc.com, Forever 21 Vest, Cheap Monday Jeans, Jillery Necklace, My own hair and makeup.

It's been one happy month since I started this blog...At first, for the first few weeks, I didn't tell anyone I was even here. I felt ambivalent-- both good and nervous-- about this new experience. 

But now I love it: being creative again with my outfits, meeting new friends from around the world, sharing beauty and healthcare tips I've picked up modeling and yogaing! I hope this blog keeps evolving just like I'm trying to!

And to celebrate that I'm having my FIRST GIVEAWAY. I wanted it to be a gorgeous maxi dress from Bodylanguage Paris (the lookbook I just shot), but I'm starting school this Tuesday, Monday is a holiday in the states so I'm not sure when I'll be able to pick the dress up. 

That'll be my AUGUST giveaway ;)

I also have been doing LOTS of jewelry modeling for companies like Free People, Bijou Drive, Medeiros Jewelry and I've got tons and tons of costume jewelry. So what I'll be giving away is a grab bag of costume jewelry. 

More pics of the giveaway coming soon...For now to sign up to win really cute bracelets and bead earrings and an OWL necklace all you have to do is like Isabella David on facebook or sign up to my blog on "google reader".

I'll be picking the winner from the followers in those two places in a week! 
xx
Izzy

Et oui...je sais je disais que j'allais traduire tout ca en francais...c'est que j'ai beaucoup de devoirs pour l'ecole qui commence Mardi...Je rentrai pour le faire! 
Desolee et beaucoup des gros bizous!!!

Photos courtesy of Megyn Barroner, Makeup by Kanako Ano, Hair by Candy

One of my favorite readers Lily asked this question:

Is your hair really 'yours', as in no faux-pas extensions or anything? If so, you have amazing hair! Do you use many products to keep it like this?

The good and bad news is this is ALL my hair. There's so much of it I've been forced to waste a lot of time better spent learning Italian instead trying to make "the beast" look okay. Yep, I always feel self-conscious about my hair, like people are staring and thinking what's wrong with that girl and her cat on her head? So I'm glad to hear other people think differently! I'm definitely low-maintenance, so here are a few of the things that work for a low-maintenance gal....

1. Deep conditioning once a week! 
I've always wanted silky, fine hair of course since that's as far from what I have as you can imagine. My hair is very, very thick and coarse-- more like Asian hair many stylists have told me. It always looked terrible. All the time. It was just frizzy and huge. In fact one of my nicknames in middle school was Frizzy Izzy. Kids used to refuse to sit behind me in class, because they couldn't see the board!

One of the first things I started doing that really made a difference was deep-conditioning at least once a week. I used the cheap Garnier Nutrisse stuff in that round green jar for years, but one thing I've learned about hair care is it's worth it to invest in slightly better quality products. The cheaper stuff tends to stay in your hair and build up deposits over time. And the cheaper stuff just won't give you that extra shine. If you are really broke, I highly recommend a bit of olive oil instead of cheap hair products. You can pick up a smaller bottle for as little as 3 or 4 dollars!

2. Eat Well! 
Another big change in my life was EATING HEALTHY and TAKING VITAMINS. If you starve yourself, it will show in your hair and skin. I've seen it a million times in the many models I've worked with. 18 year old girls with the hair of 40 year olds. It's just sad and such a waste! Eat cheese, milk with fat in it, salmon, avocadoes, almonds, walnuts, yoghurt, etc!

3. Leave your hair alone!! 
Okay...this one's gross and you can attribute it to my Frenchness, but... I try to wash my hair as seldom as possible. When it gets really greasy, I ADD grease to it. I stick olive oil in my hair and then put it up in a ponytail and try to make that last as long as possible to give my hair a little conditioning. I also try to style it no more than twice a week at the most and less if I can get away with it. 

4. Find the cut that complements your hair type. 
I ALWAYS longed for a silky curtain of fine hair all in one beautiful perfect length hanging around my shoulders and so...my hair ALWAYS looked like crap. My hair looks so much better really long (because it weighs down the wildness and slight natural wave) and the tons and tons of layers take the bulk out of it. And bangs to take even more of the bulkiness down. On humid days it still looks like I've got a wig or a black hood on my head! If you have fine hair, layers are a bad idea. Really curly hair= a really good idea. And so forth. My youngest sisters are African-American and I know their hair is a whole other story. 

Apparently, after you have kids you lose some hair. Frankly, I can't wait! But unless you have super-thick curly hair I wouldn't recommend that thinning procedure. My sister has curly hair and it worked very well for her. 

5. Find the shampoo that works for your hair type! 
This took some experimentation, but eventually I found that MOP (Modern Organic Products) made my hair look its best. Then...one day it just stopped working. That happens with shampoo. Now I like Redken's shampoo and conditioner, the "softness" kind. I never bother with cheap shampoo anymore. It's just too harsh on the hair. If I come back from a shoot with tons and tons of hairspray in there, I use my boyfriend's Head and Shoulders to get it clean but that's it. And the expense evens out, because I...

6. Use products sparingly. 
They tend to weigh your hair down and make it look greasy. Natural grease is the prettiest grease ;) **So gross but I swear it's true! I'll use a couple of shine drops from MOP or a little  Bumble and Bumble leave-in conditioner when it's really clean to de-bulk it. Otherwise I just brush it.

7. Invest in good hair tools. 
They're expensive, but they'll do your hair less evil! I slowly built up my supply of hair tools from Ricky's, a beauty supply store popular in Manhattan. I think they're available online. Amazon also has frequent deals. I've used Super Solano's hairdryer for years. It dries your hair twice as fast. A blessing for those of us with tons of hair. I also investigated flatirons to make sure I picked the one that did the least damage. I have a one-inch flatiron from Fusion Tools. I recently purchased a Mason-Pearson brush. Mine was on sale for 100 dollars. Really pricey I know, but my hair tends to break easily so I thought it was worth it to invest in a better brush! 

8. Frequent Tiny Trims.
 I cut my own hair, frequently, and this has really helped it stay healthy. I'll just take a tiny bit off the ends. But be careful! You better be ready to live with the consequences if those scissors slip ;) Every now and then I do get my bangs shaped and trimmed. 

I think that's it! 

What are some of your haircare secrets?? Care to share?? Let me know if that was helpful!
xx
Izzy