Rags + Retail

Dear social media, it’s not you, it’s me!!!

~ Holly Reimer ~ Leave a comment

I deleted social media for a week and I had a hard time shaking the overwhelming feeling of needing to share everything with everyone, or specific things with specific people…like I owed it to them or something. I think where that stems from is fear. Fear that if I don’t make myself relevant in peoples’ lives on Instagram, if I don’t stay funny on twitter…I won’t be relevant in their real lives.

On the flip side of things, staying off of it was way more easy that I had expected. I really wasn’t tempted to open it up or redownload the apps. Instead of flipping through instagram on my phone, I’d flip through old photos, check emails, FINALLY get rid of those annoying red bubbles that pop up on all of my apps. But most often, I kept my phone on ring on the table in my apartment and made myself busy with other things. I actually relaxed. The distraction of social media during downtime makes it hard to tune into just one thing. I find myself trying to wind down with a movie while simultaneously checking emails, posting an instagram and scrolling through pages and pages of tweets only to find that the movie is over and I couldn’t even tell you what the main character’s name is. So from a zoomed out perspective, it was easy and I succeeded and am going into the weekend feeling refreshed and present….blah blah blah.

Most people will say the key to staying off social media is to keep yourself busy. It’s kind of like a breakup in that way. In order to get over it, everyone will tell you to fill your days with activities and surround yourself with people who keep your mind off of it until, eventually, you forget you miss it. I think this method has some merit to it, but are you really healing from it if you just fill that void with something else? You can’t just put a patch over it and call it good. The hole is still there, there’s just something covering it up so other people don’t notice. So, I had one day in my 5 day hiatus that I didn’t even leave my apartment. A full day at home to force myself to relax and spend some uninterrupted time with myself. I woke up, made breakfast, cleaned my entire apartment, worked out watched a movie and then that’s when I felt it come crashing down on me. I had nothing to distract me from everything I was feeling. Everything that I had sort of let build up, because I was able to brush it under a rug, was starting to make its way out in to the open to hang out with me! How kind! With nothing to take my mind off of things, what did I do? Forced to deal with my feelings, I just sat in it (as uncomfortable as this was). Wrote in my journal…I also FaceTimed my mom. But what I didn’t do is post a photo on instagram to validate myself, tweet my feelings or creep on someone whose life appears to be 1 million times better than mine. What if we didn’t have social media to distract us from feeling this way? Would we be more in touch with our feelings as a generation? Would we be more productive? Would people actually focus on creating meaningful and lasting relationships? How do we even do that without the internet….???

What sucks is that it’s become trendy to go on a “social media cleanse” and then hop on instagram live and answer all sorts of questions about it to your thousands of followers. Was your intention really pure then? It’s all so frustrating to me and I find myself somewhere in the middle of it all. I think social media is a fantastic tool. There is so much to learn about the mechanics of these outlets and the influence it can have over people, businesses and relationships is second to none (I mean have you seen the FYRE documentary???) It allows you to connect with people from all over the world and opens you up to opportunities that would have been impossible in the past…but there’s gotta be a happy medium. I get so tired of always having the thought in the back of my mind of “I should post this!!!” or “If I post this then x y and maybe even z!!!!!” No. You should enjoy it while you can because this moment is gonna pass, probably already did.  I’m even more sick of always having the fear that I’m way cooler on the internet. What if they think my photos look better than me in real life? What if I’m not as funny as my tweets or instagram captions? I start competing with this made up version of myself. Read that sentence again. I AM COMPETING WITH MY-MF-SELF. How stupid. If anyone in the world is gonna be a fan of mine, it should be myself. At the very least. The unrealistic expectations social media (and media in general) enables us to create are out of this world.

While it’s fun to entertain the thought of what 2019 would be like without social media, it unfortunately is pretty out of the question. Sure, you can delete the apps and pretend that alternate universe doesn’t exist, but it very much does. And it’s not going away. Even if they did outlaw it, I am fully confident that there would be some sort of strange selfie prohibition or bootleg app access. Wouldn’t that be a trip. Bottom line is that there can be a lot of good done through these outlets but I think most of us could benefit from taking a step back and asking ourselves if the time we are spending on social media is helping or hurting us. And I’m not gonna lie, it felt pretty good to ghost around for those 5 days.

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My teenage bedroom was inspired by Paris Hilton

~ Holly Reimer ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes I feel like I live in an episode of the suite Life of Zack and Cody (shout out Cody, I still love you) because my apartment complex is extremely hotel vibey. Nice lobby with giant mirrors, cool couches, a TV bigger than my car and someone who works security at the front desk…Mr. Mosby, if you will….

tumblr_nwk2gqyVEy1upoajro8_250Zack and Cody aside (sorry Sprouse twins)- can we please address the glow up that is my living situation???? Do I need to give you a lesson regarding the evolution of my bed situation? Did you say yes? I don’t really care either way cause I’m about to. You should have seen that coming.

2008- I had a SUUUUUPER sick loft bed with a desk underneath it for the longest time. I thought I was the absolute coolest human in the entire world. My parents let me have the master bedroom at our old place in Pella, and that thing was MASSIVE. It was supposed to be two bedrooms but the builders knocked out the wall between them because everyone who toured the home bitched about how there wasn’t a master bedroom. Viola! The birth of a master-master bedroom. We painted the walls a mix of purple, pink and green, a color scheme I had decided on based off of a dress Paris Hilton wore (WHICH I FOR THE LIFE OF ME CANNOT FIND ANYWHERE ON THE INTERNET). Yes, I was a big fan and you are lying if you think “Stars are Blind” isn’t an absolute bop.

Anyway. I remember getting sent to my room a time or two (or more than that) and just being so jazzed cause my tween brain loved my room. So much room for cartwheels and to throw clothes all over the place! I even had a futon in one corner and like 3 of those weird circle foldy chairs that used to be a thing.

2012- By this time I was even cooler and super sad on Twitter cause I thought I was in love with this guy that I was too scared to hang out with in person but we texted all the time and they were pretty long messages most of the time and so that sounded like a relationship to me!!! I was SUPER mature and #overit (in terms of the pink walls not the guy, cause that was a thing for far too long). I decided to paint it brown like my soul!!!! Actually, no. That’s not why. I started shopping at Anthropologie and thought the BoHo life and style was pretty dang cool and super opposite of what I had been up until that point. And that was pretty cool to me. I was really into drawing and painting so on the parts of the wall that were left tan, I painted abstract flowers all over. I remember ditching plans with friends so that I could stay home and keep painting. This is starting to sound slightly more like the me I know. We even put in hard wood floors which I completely forgot about until just now. Hands down the coolest part about my room was the vintage furniture that was in it. My parents had inherited a bunch of my grandmas old stuff from dressers, to chairs and even a lamp. IMG_4266

Then there was the bed. I had ditched the desk and the loft and traded it in for this guy. Take a look at the purple lamp in the background (and my dogs!!!!!). That thing was about the only part of the Paris Hilton room that stuck around.

2013- Fast forward to college and I have now regressed back to a loft with a desk beneath it. And this time the mattress wasn’t a full, it was a twin. Whomp whaaaa. Funny how that works. My roommate was from China and one of her first times being in the USA was to move in with me. So while I had dreamed of color coordinating with my college roommate, that just was plain and simple not a thing. We had a sink in our dorm room and enough space to literally walk from our beds to the door and that’s about it. Definitely less than ideal, but I was barely ever there between dance team, school and my sorority. In fact, pretty much the only time I was there was when I skipped class…..which was like only a fewwww times.

 

2014- And the regression continues!!!!! I moved into Kappa with a roommate I literally did not know from Adam (who might I add turned out to be one of my favorite people and you can tell in the photo to the right that she feels the same way).  IMG_4055Our room was the size of a shoebox and I missed the fist 2 weeks of sophomore year because I had strep throat so I didn’t even get to meet Erin (my roommate) during move in, my parents did instead. Nice!!! I remember this living arrangement being so funny cause I would have to wake up so early for dance team shit and spray hairspray all over the place while simultaneously eating breakfast and also getting dress while trying to head out the door and not be late. Yes, it was typically as frantic as it sounds. Weirdest part of our room: I had no where to put my National Geographic brand suitcases so they became my bedside table and I thought I was super artsy and resourceful. Cringe. Erin if you’re reading this, I love you forever for putting up with me in our little shoebox room.

2015- FINALLY. My own apartment with my own room. I bought a bunch of frames, wall lights and a bedspread from Urban and that started my obsession with their home line. I actually still have a lot of that stuff in my apartment currently. Except for now the frames aren’t blank. My friends would always make fun of me in college cause I literally never put photos in them. They stayed how they look in this photo for pretty much the whole year. Not because I didn’t have any pictures with friends to fill the frame with…I totally had friends. Really. Another piece of this room that came with me was my grandmas dresser and desk (which were all but falling apart).

 

My favorite thing about having my own room in college: being able to be an actual hermit when I wanted to. Which was hard because I lived right downtown Iowa City aka where all the bars are aka where I ALWAYS had a friend in some circle or another who was trying to get me to partaaaaaaay. Which was also a fun part of living over there.

2016- The couch phase. So my parents moved to Hampton, Iowa, at the beginning of my sophomore year of college so not having an actual room never really bugged me because I lived in Iowa City for a pretty much both summers because I was there so much. But once I moved back home after finishing up my degree after my junior year, aside from the guest room, I didn’t really have a place that felt like mine. I didn’t know any one in Hampton and I knew it was a temporary ‘home’ so I didn’t really care to take the time to go on a friend hunt. Not that I have to hunt to find friends, geez. But yeah, I spent pretty much every day living there figuring out how I could get to California and what my living situation would be. As to why I crashed on the couch instead of the guest room more often than not, I have absolutely no idea. I think cause my mom didn’t like it and that was literally the only way I could rebel in Hampton. That sounds about right.

2017- Hello twin bed, nice to see you again!!! NOT. As I’m sure all of you know by now, I had the pleasure of sharing another small room with another human. Kelly and I had two twin beds shoved into that little space like an L. Which is kind of what we took when it came to personal space. For us though, it worked. Seriously don’t think there are too many people out there in this world that I could stand to do #TwinBedz with. But OUCHmy back was not in great shape after being able to move a full 0% when I slept in that thing. I am a MOVER in my sleep. Or at least I used to be before I was confined to a twin bed. Honestly, I’m surprised I never fell off any of the lofts or small beds. Truly a miracle.

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Moving on. Needless to say, I was ready to have my own space from kitchen to bathroom to bedroom by the time our lease was up. The decision was pretty easy since two of my current roommates were leaving LA and the other one was a guy who had fallen in love with our neighbor across the street. And then there was one, ME!!! So I started looking around for a studio apartment which brings me to the current situation……

2018- I’m extremely particular about a few things: what I’m about to eat, what my Instagram caption is going to be, who is going to be stuck with me for the rest of my life and the space I spend most of my time in. Which is why I landed myself in the complex that I’m in right now. It feels good to live in a place that I’m proud to call home and isn’t much shy from my dream apartment. Well yeah, was all fun and games until the movers packed up all my shit from my old place , and just stuck it in the new place. Which made it feel less…new. I had my tiny little twin bed in the corner and a bunch of boxes full of kitchen stuff for a while. Then I picked up a couch, then a chair, and now I have officially said goodbye (also good riddance) to my twin, replaced it with a queen and GOT A MF TABLE that I could marry if that was legal. Woof did that escalate quickly or what?

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about the mattress and the table so I’m just gonna link to everything here.

  • TUFT AND NEEDLE Apparently this brand is all over the internet?? I hadn’t heard of it until someone recommended it to me at work. But I’m not sure if its because I was coming from a hard twin bed mattress to a queen ($585) or if this one is actually a cloud but DAMN. It feels so much like a hotel bed that I had a hard time figuring out where I was the first few times I woke up on it….that might be more of a me problem though. Either way, I’m sleeping so much better and have space to not be curled up like a freaking dog in a kennel the entire night. I also threw in the pillow cause I have never spent more than $15 on a pillow and it was about damn time. No complaints there either.

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  • URBAN OUTFITTERS haul.
    • Chair– Which I assembled myself, thank you very much.IMG_7438
    • Couch– It folds out into a little pull out bed. It’s pretty small but it’s perfect for my place and I think it was in the ballpark of $250 when I got it.
    • Frames- Still going strong from my college days!
    • IMG_3470Key hanger– Which says Late AF because well….
    • Table– ISN’T SHE LOVELYYYYYY. Pretty proud of this one. Especially since I built it in under 2 hours. I’ve had my eye on it for so long and it was finally 20% ($300ish) off so I pulled le trigger. My one complaint is that a part of it came broken. There are two hanging racks underneath the table that you can store the stools in. BUT of course the screws that had been drilled into the table (the only part of it that came put together) were broken and the hanging things were unattached. Something I chose to ignore for the time being. I also don’t have a drill to fix it with so if you know a guy hmu.

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  • AMAZON came all the way through with my Duvet insert ($25) and bed frame. I found a whole bunch at Urban but they were all at least $500. I can’t tell you how many times I had it in my cart and then took it out again, but I decided since it’s not really the focal point of my bedroom, it’s not really necessary to get a super elaborate one. Plus I spent about $650 on my mattress and pillow so I gotta find the balance somewhere.

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And then I got two pet “dogs” at Trader Joe’s named Spot and Rover (pictured) and am extremely content with this place. I say “dogs” because I have puppy fever SO bad and I thought buying plants would help. And wine. I also bought wine. Obviously I still have a list of about 25 other things I want to throw in my bachelorette pad at some point but for now, it’s good. Six months in and it finally feels like me. Which, as you can see, the definition of me has definitely changed over the years. And thank god cause I really would have to go on a friend hunt if I still had Paris Hilton walls.

 

LIT SHIT: March

~ Holly Reimer ~ Leave a comment

SPRING HAS SPRUNG. And yet, here I sit in the middle of Snowstormville, IA, typing away at the coffee shop I used to work at. Hello nostalgia! Also hello snow, what the f are you. Seriously. It feels like the North Pole here. I must say I’m pumped to be wearing my favorite turtle neck today though. God, I love a good turtle neck.

Moving on. We made it through another month and as per me swearing I’m going to start holding myself accountable, that means I gotta do one of this weird review things to talk about shit that is lit…or at least I think it is. Can I get a drum roll? Or at least pretend you’re even a little bit excited to read these.

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RELAXED. The Now in Silverlake. First of all, I had never been to Silverlake, which is apparently the hipster capital of Los Angeles. Now I’m by no means calling myself a ‘hipster’ but…..how the hell had I made it that long without exploring over there??? I also wore fake wire rimmed glasses so I could blend in with the hipster-folk. So this little boutique spa is aesthetically crafted by the Instagram and zen gods. It’s beautiful. All white walls, plants everywhere, minimalist design and not to mention that it smells incredible. As I said in one of my previous posts, I made the goal to take time to do one self-love-esque activity each week. This was my pick for week one of March. I got a 60 minute deep tissue massage and dammmmn did ya girl have some KNOTS. The Now really knows how to set the mood.

They gave me some water and led me into this heated room with swinging benches and faux fur blankets and once my masseuse was ready, I followed her back into this long hallway with an extremely high ceiling riddled with low-lit lanterns hanging ever-so-perfectly. I basically had to shackle my hands so that I didn’t grab my phone and take photos of it all for the gram. I was trying to zone completely in for once. I left feeling great and had even managed to snag a few photos of the waiting area while I made friends with the two chicks at the front desk on my way out. Bottom line, if you haven’t checked out The Now, do it. They have locations all over LA including West Hollywood and also Studio City but you can check out the other ones on their website I linked above!

REFLECTED. Wisdom Tree. Alright so let me start by saying, THIS HIKE IS HARD. Especially for people who are unapologetically clumsy in nature (me). I struggled so hard to find my footing through the bouldery inclines and sharp drop offs, but hey I lived to tell the tale. It probably didn’t help at all that I came to meet Carsyn at the base of the trail directly from finishing booty day at Barry’s. Yowza. IMG_2184But worth it. We both needed a morning to disconnect from our digital lives and enjoy nature and a great book. I brought my journal up there cause it had been a hot minute since I had written an entry. Carsyn just stated reading You are a Badass (READ IT IF YOU HAVEN’T). We spent about an hour and a half up there. Wisdom tree is cool cause there’s this box where people write stuff and then leave it in there. Because I’m nosey as hell, I struggled to not read everyones’ notes but I restrained myself. I can only imagine the secrets people stick in the box.

BAWLED. Love, Simon. After Carsyn and I finished our morning at Wisdom Tree, we headed to go see Love, Simon. It is so good you guys. I probably cried for about the last half of the movie. For those of you who don’t know, it’s about a high school aged boy who is gay and has been hiding it his whole life because he is unsure of how to come out to his friends and family. Growing up, I had a lot of extremely close friends who lived this exact life. I thought this movie provided a pretty raw look into what that must have felt like for them. Ouch. This really tugged at our heart strings. Not to mention, the soundtrack is incredible. But I’ll talk about that more a few bullets down.

GROOVED.  Like a sexy human Claude Racine’s class at Edge. Yooooo. We learned a dance to Rocket by Beyonce. Which literally starts off by saying “Let me sit this @$$$$$$$$ on ya” so you can probably imagine the nature of the combo we learned. I’ve been trying to stretch myself when it comes to performance and committing to a character and this class just felt so good. Claude is cool as hell and teaches in such a relatable and real manner. I’ll definitely be back soon.

SURPRISED MYSELF. at Nikki. I had my first actual audition in front of an artist this month. That artist was Nikki Minaj. Lol yeah excuse me while I shit myself. Got to spend about 6 hours with my Clippers chica, Kylie.IMG_2267

SPENT. $25 on an entre at Mercado. HOLY SHIT CARNITAS HEAVEN. This is self-love activity numero dos. I can’t say I’ve spent that much money on a meal in a lonnnnng time but it feels good to be able to do that for myself when I want to. It’s a trendy little Mexican style restaurant in West Hollywood off 3rd street. I went with Carsyn and they set us at a two-top table by a fireplace. Ambiance points!!!! They for sure thought we were on a date though L O L. We started with the chips and guac and can I just say HOLY GUACAMOLE. I am a guac fiend and this was definitely top 5 level.IMG_1891 Carnitas are their specialty and since that’s literally one of my favorite meats, I couldn’t say no to that. Basically it’s a hunk of TENDER AF meat served with escabeche on the side and corn tortillas. And Carsyn and I split a side of mashed potatoes because we were really going for it. Pair that with a few spicy margaritas and boom, you have the perfect way to spend your evening. Dessert was Coconut Bliss non-dairy ice cream and an Eating Evolved coconut butter cup (AKA MY FAVORITE THINGS EVER, if you’ve never taken any of my recommendations this is the one that I promise you you should take). Where did I fit all this food you ask? That, my friends, is a question I will never be able to answer.

DRINK DRANK DRUNK. Bottomless mimosas at Mama Shelter. $20 for all you can drink mimosas. This reminded me of college where you can literally die on $20 worth of drinks (hello dollar-you-call-its). Obviously we had a little more self control than my college self probably would have but ooof did they sneak up on us. We started here for St. Patty’s day with some brunch and then ventured up to the rooftop. I’m so excited to come back once it’s a little bit warmer outside. I spent my time on the rooftop under a heater and blanket cause I’m fragile and California has ruined me.

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TUNES. Listened to Amy Shark, Exes. Alright, I said earlier in my blurb about Love, Simon, that I would get back to talking about the soundtrack. This is where I discovered Amy Shark. The song ‘Sink In‘ is one of my new favorites. This song punches ya in the gut. Not to mention it’s totally in my vocal range and my latest obsession when it comes to belting (and recording myself) in the car. Also if you haven’t checked out Exes yet, I highly recommend. She just released a song called ‘Over‘ (also one you may need your tissues for). SO so incredible.

OUTFIT REPEATED. Leather Jacket. Yeah this is no secret so I won’t dwell on this point too much. I feel like every time I feel cool enough to post an Instagram story of myself I’m wearing this stupid thing. I truly don’t know how I got by without it for as long as I did. I could be wearing a workout outfit but throw on my (p)leather jacket as a head out the door and instantly level up my life. I got mine at Urban Outfitters…pretty positive that all of Los Angeles owns the same exact one but it’s fine.

READ. Tiny Beautiful Things. I just bought a bunch of self-help books based on suggestions so THANK YOU to those of you that tossed some my way. This is the first of the group that I dove into. I’m about 100 pages in and I’m already in love. Basically it takes a bunch of advice column entries from Dear Sugar and complies both those and their responses together for a beautifully crafted series of stories and lessons on love and life. I love non-fiction books that I can apply to my own life, but I also love the story-telling quality that fiction books have. Because of that, this is such an easy read for me because it’s both. It’s all true little stories that are 100% applicable to life’s trials and tribulations.

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I spent the end of the month the best way possible, with my family. The perfect way to recharge. April’s gonna be a good one.

Alrighty friends, until next time.

“When I ripped…..my pants” – SpongeBob

~ Holly Reimer ~ Leave a comment

It is no secret that I had the breeziest of weeks. And by that I do not, in any way shape or form, mean breezy as in easy. I mean breezy and in actual breeze. Like a gust of wind where you typically don’t feel it. Meaning I freaking ripped my pants. Not once, but TWICE. Back to back days, ladies and gentlemen. Now THAT takes talent. Who the HELL does that. It takes me back to the last time I ripped my pants trying to show up a boy in gym class…..in 2nd grade. That was mortifying enough but, as an adult we’re talkin’ a whole new level of cone-of-shame-ness. So, without further ado: the story of me channeling my inner SpongeBob.

So, here I am. Minding my own business at work, wearing my favorite BDG girlfriend fit jeans from Urban. I used to wear these puppies basically every single day. They’re incredible…and I thought they were durable.

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THEY ARE THE CUTEST. This was taken a mere 12 hours prior to the catastrophe

Until this week. Luckily for me, I was on my way out of work when disaster struck. I had scooped up my stuff from the back (including my denim jacket THANK GOD) and stopped by the bathroom before returning home. I did the good ole thread your fingers through the belt loops, bend your legs and yank trick (you know the one). I have probably done that a million and one times in these exact jeans. Tell me why this time I hear a giant RIIIIIIIIIIP. Even just typing that literally sends chills down my spine. And not in a good way. God, I wish I could recreate the noise on this blog post because it was BRUTAL. It sounded like someone working on a production team had hijacked the bathroom as their own personal studio and played a sound effect called “extremely exaggerated ripped pants noise.” But, unfortunately for me, it was real. All too real.

So I’m thinking no way did that just happen. I turn around and SURE ENOUGH THERE IT IS. Starting at my waist band and going all the way down to the back of my knee cap, THERE IT IS BABBBBY. And not only was the rip incredibly visible. So was my ass!!!

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There she is. 

Wooo!!! What a way to walk around Cafe Gratitude!!! I basically just froze for a second, stared at my bare butt in the mirror and tried to troubleshoot while simultaneously trying to figure out how to conceal my laugher so people don’t think I’m a psychopath laughing hysterically in the bathroom alone. Enter my denim jacket, my mf savior. Like a true pro, I tied it around my waist and walked out of the bathroom with tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. I also gotta mention that I was basically dragging one leg behind me like a dead leg because I wasn’t sure if my jacket was covering my entire ass and I was horrified of the alternative possibility. Just picture that for a second.

In typical me fashion, I felt the need to tell everybody I saw what had just happened. I feel like when shit goes wrong in my life, I just make a joke out of it rather than actually deal. I realize this isn’t the healthiest way to deal with problems and I’m working on it, give me a break. The next chapter of this story comes with my gas tank being on E. IMG_2228So I had to stop at the nearest sketchy ass gas station (aren’t they all??) and get gas in the condition that I was in. And it was windy. And the denim jacket around my waist blew around a bit and it was all embarrassing and super super great. But, hey I survived….

ONLY TO COME BACK THE NEXT DAY AND MANIFEST THAT SHIT TO HAPPEN AGAIIIIIIIN. Fist thing I did when I got to work the next day was make a joke about ripping these jeans as well. And since I put that out there, the universe turned around and gave me a big ole middle finger. Now, I must say that the second pair I ruined are definitely older. I got them from this little boutique I used to shop at in Iowa City, called White Rabbit, probably three years ago. They’re stretchy and I knew they were nearing their final days. But I haven’t been able to get rid of them. Man, those jeans and I have some memories.

Yet again, though, I’m getting ready to leave work and I do the exact same thing!!!! It’s the freaking belt loop wiggle around pull up you guys!!! DO NOT DO IT. She is a dannnngerous move. This time, the sound was less horrifying and I was a bit less shocked. Probably because I was so desensitized from yesterday’s extravaganza. I did not, however, have anything with me to cover myself with besides my work uniform t-shirt…which, thank god, fits me like a dress because I’m short as hell.

I drowned my sorrows by buying 2 new pairs of jeans the following day. Both of which are the same brand (one even the same style) as the denim that ripped the first day. I would like to take this time to mention that I also have gone down a size in jeans since I purchased the ones that ripped. So we are 100% not sure why this happened. Or why bad things happen to good people. Or why I thought it would be smart to buy the same faulty jeans twice. Or why spending $145 in denim replacement is a good idea between paydays. Lots of unanswered questions here. But one thing I do know for sure is that ripping your pants at 22 is slightly (incredibly) more awful than it is in 2nd grade. History repeats itself and manifestation is a real thing people. If you would like to donate to the Holly Reimer ripped pants denim replacement fund lmk.

 

 

 

New Years Rez must: ClassPass

~ Holly Reimer ~ Leave a comment

As many of you may know, I get bored with things extremely easily. I think that’s pretty evident in all aspects of my life from my career path all the way down to what I eat on a daily basis (also probably why I’m still single, Grandma). No surprise here, but that also carries over into my workout routine. I #cannot stay motivated if I’m doing the same thing day after day after day. I need some variety to stay engaged and challenged. If you’re a person who doesn’t work the same way I do, then great. More power to you if you can hold yourself accountable to the same routine each day. But it’s not necessary to do the same monotonous routine to see results. In fact, it’s good to switch it up and confuse your body especially if you’re trying to stay committed to that same New Years resolution that you’ve had for the past 5 years.

Next question is how. I’ve mentioned this before, but Los Angeles is absolutely crawling with trendy workout spots (Soul Cycle, Barry’s Bootcamp, Pure Barre, etc.). While all of those are beyond great, they also cost a pretty penny a pop (yes alliteration). For my life, it doesn’t work for me to pay 15-20 a dance class, plus that same amount (sometimes more) for fitness classes as well. For a while, I was able to take advantage of the free first classes that a lot of these places offer, but you can only change your name and cheat the system so many times before you start feeling like a cheapskate (guilty as charged). Enter ClassPass.

Basically you pay a fee upfront and have access to multiple different work out facilities and group fitness classes anywhere you want to try. This saves you from having to purchase a membership or bulk package from any one place and allows you to keep your routine fricki-fricki-fresh. You can visit the ones you love up to two times and here’s the best part: it’s only $20 for 5 classes. WHAT. Well, okay there’s a bit of a catch. It’s normally $60 a month for 5 classes (which is still a pretty great deal since it’s about $12 per class). BUT they do a deal if you get a link sent to you from a friend who also uses class pass where both you and the person who referred you gets $40 off. SO it ends up being $20 for 5 classes. And here’s the part where I shamelessly insert my code for you to sign up if you’re feelin it.

Next up: the classes I chose. It can be pretty intimidating to walk into a class and not know what to expect so here’s a little run down of the ones I ended up at.

  1. Barry’s Bootcamp

IMG_6652Let me start by saying that I am addicted. Barry’s is by far my favorite of the bunch. So much so that I used two of my five classes on Barry’s. Basically you walk into this room with super intimidating (and also motivating) red lighting filled with treadmills, weights, resistance bands and mats. Each day is focused on a different muscle group alternates between treadmill and floor exercises. The hour long, high intensity interval training is designed to not only tone muscle and promote fat loss but it also spikes your metabolism for the next 48 hours. Litttttt. So you walk in, start on the treadmill and the trainer leads you through round 1. It varies on the trainer but I would say most of the time you’re on there for around 10 minutes. Sometimes the round is more sprint based and shorter, but there are times where I’ve been on the treadmill for a full 15 minutes. Just depends. They lead you through a rotation of walks, jogs, runs and sprints by giving you 3 numbers (the first being beginner followed by intermediate and advanced) to input into the treadmill. It’s important to keep in mind that this is just a guide.

Obviously you know your body better than anyone and safety comes first and trust me you don’t want to be the person that flies off the treadmill in the middle of class. Then (if you’ve avoided getting tossed and aren’t already on the floor) you move to the floor for round one of whatever day it is: Either arms/abs, back/chest, butt/legs, just abs or full body. You move through the different rounds and exercises for a full hour and then, once you’ve made it, you crawl out of the studio feeling accomplished and motivated (and also a bit dead). THEN YOU HEAD OVER TO THE FUEL BAR. Okay this isn’t mandatory but they have a bomb smoothie selection to help replenish your body after a near 1,000 calorie burn. My favorite is the Skinny Bitch with almond butter FYI.

  1. Pure Barre

Pure_Barre_DTLA.0.0Believe it or not, this was my first time at an actual Pure Barre facility! I’ve taken barre classes in the past but this one takes the cake. One of my teammates, Tori, works at the one downtown (which is literally a few blocks away) so it’s been on my to-do list to check it out for quite some time now. So as you probably already know, Pure Barre works to target those little muscles you forget even exist through small, isometric movements. Basically what that means is that if you walked into a class and just observed, you would probably be like this looks so easy.Pure-Barre-29 Well. It’s not. It’s different from Barry’s or a cycling class because you aren’t necessarily doing much cardio in the standard Barre class (although they do offer a class that includes it). The primary focus is to tone and build long and lean muscle and OUCH. After my first class, I was sore for multiple days in places that I hadn’t been sore in since I took consistent ballet back in the day. Definitely felt good to be back at the barre getting my ass kicked by a fellow dancer.

  1. Fly Wheel

071612_20Flywheel_20Sports_20Interiors-1.0Pretty much your standard cycling class. In addition to the 239028 million things I already do, I also work at Cafe Gratitude on Larchmont. After work I had a small window between my shift and rehearsal so I popped into Fly Wheel just down the street. It’s stadium set up and the bikes are arranged in a half circle around the instructor. Where this cycling class differs from Soul Cycle (which I also love) is that each bike has a points calculator called the Torque Board. Basically it calculates how much energy you’re actually exerting and keeping track of how high you actually have your resistance turned up. At the end of the class, they show the “winners”. Okay. So. I’m extremely competitive and the idea of this was why I was interested in going in the first place. Not gonna lie, I was pretty disappointed at the end of the class when my total was higher than the number 1 spot and not displayed on the screen. I don’t know if this was a tech issue or what but this is me publicly letting everyone know that I SHOULD HAVE WON.

  1. PlateFit

THIS IS THE WEIRDEST THING THAT I’VE EVER DONE IN TERMS OF A WORK OUT. So these classes are only about 30 minutes long. Weird, right? Ok so you’re probably thinking what in the world can you possibly accomplish in 30 minutes?? Well let me start off by saying this whole work out takes place on this vibrating thing. Yes, you heard me right. It’s called a power plate and is designed to contract your muscles 30-40 times per minute. You could literally just stand on the dang thing and be toning your muscles. Crazy. The class I took was a PlateFit barre class. Lots of dance-based plies and releves. The first part of the class I wasn’t feeling it too much but that definitely did not last long. origBy the end of the abs section (during which you actually lay down on the plate), my teeth were chattering from the vibrations and I felt a bit sea sick and fatigued. I am not kidding you I felt weird for like 2 hours afterwards. I tend to get motion sick so I don’t know if that was it or what. But I felt like I got a good workout in that definitely was new to my body. I’ll definitely be back!

Okay, sweeeeeet let’s sum this up. Basically for fitness lovers and New Years resolution starters, class pass is your move. Unfortunately it’s not nationwide. BUT it is available in the locations listed here.

GET AFTER IT. And if you do try out any of these classes, I wanna hear about your experience!!

All hail Yeezus

~ Holly Reimer ~ Leave a comment

Ok, so for those of you that don’t live under a rock, the Yeezy season 3 show happened. And the Kardashian Klan wore this.

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And my face looked like this

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And then I googled things to make my closet look like that. And then I looked at my wallet. It looked like this.

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And now here I am. So clearly I can’t budget for anything Yeezy or Balmain BUT I did get to recreate last season’s line for CollegeFashionista so that was fun.

E N J O Y

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t’s no secret that anything with Kanye’s name on it costs an arm and a leg. The man could sell toilet paper with his initials on it for a grand. Totally fine for #TreatYoself moments, but for the practical shopper it’s no dice. Unfortunately for me, I have a bit of an obsession with the Yeezy spring ready-to-wear line. Oversized sweatshirts, baseball caps and neutrals? Check, check and check. Sign me up. It’s practically torture to check out the online shop and see that there literally is nothing that doesn’t cost less than two months’ rent. Sweet!

I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner but for this round of Style Guru Style, I took it into my own hands to recreate a much more affordable take on Mr. West’s wizardry. First, I set out for a nude colored top and bottom set. Living in northern Iowa makes for a pretty cold January, so I went with a turtleneck from Madewell for the top and some faux suede leggings on the bottom. Yeezy is all about oversized layering so I layered a military style canvas vest over a jacket from Billabong that I normally only bring out in the spring and fall.

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Now for the details. First, let’s talk about the hat. I think everyone should own a few plain hats without logos on them. It’s great to rep your school or favorite sports team from time to time, but just because you’ve dubbed the day a hat day doesn’t mean you have to dress like a scrub from top to bottom. It’s easier to make a plain hat look chic. For my kicks, I went back and forth about dressing it up with some nude heels. I ended up taking the practical route and threw on some vintage Sorel boots. I practically dumpster dove for these. By that, I mean that I nabbed them from my mom’s I-wore-these-in-the-’80s throw away pile. Since then, she wants them back. I said no and am currently holding them for ransom.

Read the full article here!

Kylie Jenner, will you be my friend?

~ Holly Reimer ~ Leave a comment

PLZ STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND LOOK AT THIS DRESS.kylie.jpgWhaaaaaaaat? As if my girl crush level wasn’t already alarming, this dress really just took it to a whole new level. As in it is now my iPhone background, I’ve stalked the designer and have already priced it out like nine times. As of now, it’s looking like I would have to sell all of my possessions and my soul to the devil for just the top. So yeah, you were right if you estimated it to cost more than my life. A price I’m willing to consider paying.

It’s like if Britney Spears (Toxic era) and Tinkerbell had a love child (and it was a dress and not a human) this would be it.

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Oh hell yeah, I nailed it.

Still slightly confused as to what Kylie and Kourtney were even doing at the Golden Globes after party…seeing as they are no where near actresses, nor do they possess any type of potential talent in that area…but do I care? No. Why? Because the dress can do zero wrong and anyone wearing it is exempt from such criticism. Thank you Kylie for once again being my style spirit animal. Cannot WAIT until we are friends (despite my slightly stalkerish tendencies) and you let me borrow that dress. Which will inevitably happen.