Hotel for Forgotten Women

An acrid smell of several coats of white paint overwhelmed me as I walked into my new 115-square-foot Winifred “guestroom.” Inside the tight space sat a two-shelf bookcase, a twin bed, a desk, and an odd sink with a mirrored medicine cabinet. But outside my window, the world opened up. Crowded skyscrapers hung above my bed like a living picture frame chronicling the changing days: steel frames against colorful faded bricks, mixed metals, and glass windows. Wooden water towers stood on rooftops, and clouds of white smoke rose from sewers and networks of pipes along the streets and buildings.

The city’s newness juxtaposed the antiquity I’d left behind in Italy…

Girl, Unemployed

Entitled, politically incorrect Jessica Puente goes from princess to pauper overnight when she loses her fabulous jet-setting job in the Great Recession. Jess must come of age again, find a job, and overcome her hubris.

After a travel stint in Italy, Jess crash-lands in her old-fashioned Spanish-speaking hometown of San Antonio, where she fights with old frenemies and her family. Bailing with partner-in-crime millennial Missy for New York City, Jess is sure that the Big Apple will provide the way back to the glamorous lifestyle she deserves.

But in the new upside-down “gig” economy…

Embracing Life's Messy Middle in the New Year

“But what do you really want to do? What is your passion? What would you do if you could do anything in the world?”

Well-meaning family and friends asked these questions of privilege after I lost my travel job in Chicago during the Great Recession in 2009. Well, la-di-da. When student loans, rent, and credit cards with high interest rates were due, I was supposed to be looking into a crystal ball and asking myself what Oprah thought of the matter. But my debts were far from magical. They didn’t suddenly appear in my inbox and get poofed away with a few clicks…

My ‘Ethnically Ambiguous' Looks Helped Me Succeed In Acting. Here’s Why I Walked Away.

“You got three degrees so you could take off your clothes?!” my mother asked over the phone as I sat outside the studio in Austin, Texas, where I had been cast as a “beautiful immigrant” for several episodes of a Netflix television series. I was already regretting telling my family.

“I thought you were a feminist?” She was right. And even though my degrees weren’t in math, I knew that if I were to take off my clothes for a role, I could make more money by going down to the Yellow Rose strip club…

Sexual Assault and the City? Our Real-Life Episode with Mr. Big

And Just Like That’s season finale aired last night without Chris Noth’s Mr. Big scenes in Paris, as the actor was canceled due to sexual assault allegations. The allegations were all too uncanny and reminiscent of our night with him in New York City in October 2008.

I lived in Chicago, but my travel job took me to New York City, so I brought a friend along—a tall, model-esque brunette named Laura. We joked we’d have a fun Sex and the City episode with dancing, brunching, and shopping. And just like that, the weekend turned into our real-life episode when we serendipitously found ourselves sitting across from Noth on the subway while heading down to Soho for a Sunday brunch…

Writers of Color Are Being Pigeonholed into Writing About Race and Identity

For years, the Texas Book Festival has been known as a historically liberal event, a place where authors from all backgrounds can showcase their stories. So, when I looked at the author-speaker lineup for the week of October 23-31, I was heartened to see it included many wonderful Black, Hispanic, and Native American authors, as well as a few from Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, and Iranian backgrounds. Yet when I reviewed the stories by these authors, I noticed that over 75 percent of them were about race and identity…

Is Scam Culture Here To Stay?

Forget Bernie Madoff. Scam culture is here to stay, and that is one of the many lessons conveyed in the popular Netflix shows Inventing Anna and The Tinder Swindler this spring. The shows illustrate how the internet has enabled modern-day scam artists to successfully pose as wealthy heirs and socialites at the expense of their victims’ lives, who are at best left with a lifetime of exorbitant debt…

Romantic Venice

Venezia, or Venice in English, sits on the Adriatic Sea and is the capital of the Veneto Region. Located in northeastern Italy, the city is about a five-hour train ride from Rome. While much smaller in population than Florence or Rome, Venice was once a large influence in trading and maritime, most notably in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. Additionally, the city is in a very advantageous area as it is also a short drive from the Alps, or to Eastern and Central Europe…

Arts Stories & Interviews: Mata’s Atelier shines at New York Fashion Week

NEW YORK CITY — The entrance to Cult Studios is hidden behind plywood and a closed-off sidewalk when I arrive at the Flower District location near New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Inside, Henry De La Paz, a hairdresser originally from the Rio Grande Valley, is preparing models with weaves, curls, and Princess Leia braids and ribbons for San Antonio designer Angelina Mata’s Spring/Summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection being unveiled at New York Fashion Week…

New York Designer Celebrates Anniversary and Continues to Reflect Her Texas Roots

“Shh, I am in SA!” read the subject line of Marisol Deluna’s email. I’d been trying to pin down the San Antonio native turned New Yorker since the Marisol Deluna New York 15th anniversary fashion show at Manhattan’s General Society Library last spring. After viewing Getty images and celebrity photographer Patrick McMullan’s photos online, I learned that the event celebrated her couture and signature collections with vibrant silk and cotton apparel alongside accessories for men, women, children, and pets…

San Antonio Honors Solar SA founder Bill Sinkin

Over the weekend, I had the rewarding opportunity to attend Solar San Antonio’s annual fundraising luncheon celebrating its founder and chairman, Bill Sinkin, for his 99th birthday. Friends, family, and city leaders honored Bill’s life with eccentric bow ties mimicking his style, an auction benefiting the city’s solar future, and a bit of roasting.  “I still remember the first day that I met Bill Sinkin,” Congressman Charlie Gonzalez began, “My mother was changing my diaper. Actually, that is not a joke.” Other roasters of the afternoon included Mayor Julián Castro…

Whole Foods Mecca in the Midwest

Weekend Plans: Head to Whole Foods Mecca in the Midwest. The third largest Whole Foods in the world opened in our very own Lincoln Park on Wednesday, May 20. Located at 1550 N. Kingsbury, its relocation from the former North Avenue and Sheffield store comes with 75,000 square feet of improvements, making it an organic food Mecca in the Midwest. The exciting opening kicked off with a speech by Mayor Daley, and loyal customers arriving surprised as they were re-directed from their usual route and store…

Chicago Only U.S. City Named Best in Travel 2009

As if your friends and family needed another reason to visit the Windy City, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2009 just named Chicago one of the top ten cities to visit in 2009. As the only American destination to make the competitive cut, the globe-trotting experts at Lonely Planet cited Chicago’s business, art, architecture, food, music, theater, and overall culture as the winning criteria. According to destination-expert author Karla Zimmerman, “If you want your finger on America’s pulse, don’t head to New York or LA. The heart beats in Chicago…

Explore Chicago Humanities Festival

Who doesn't love culture and the arts? The celebration of life's faceted dramas? Whether you're a sophisticated Bernini sculptor lover or a self-proclaimed Blue Man groupie, there's enough going on in this city to accommodate every taste. But if you want to get one step closer to aficionado status, remember there are only two more weeks to attend the exciting and educational events at the 19th Annual Chicago Humanities Festival through November 16…

Night at the Museum with Travel Channel's Andrew Zimmern

“Hi, I’m Desiree, Gal about the Globe,” I excitedly shouted as I was introduced to Travel Channel’s Bizzare Foods host Andrew Zimmern. Andrew, standing proudly in front of his “Strange Foods” table, smiled back, shook my hand, and took my business card. I proceeded to flatter him, recounting why I love what he does and love to do it too. Well, the travel part, that is, not really so much as eating chocolate-covered grasshoppers, scorpions, caterpillars, or a stingray’s heart for breakfast…

Huelva, Spain’s Costa de la Luz

Huelva’s Costa de La Luz (coast of light) sees more than three thousand hours of sunlight each year. In some places, like where the estuary and marshlands meet River Piedras and the Atlantic Ocean— Flecha del Rompido—you can witness the sun setting twice every evening. Once nearby and again in the distance, over the Atlantic. From the hill, Cerro de San Cristobal, the twilight stretches through the land’s shadows, making the coastline seem closer while the hill climbs on, like a wondrous mountain…

City of the Week: Turin, Italy

Your perfect Turin itinerary includes spending your morning in the Museo Egizio and Museo Nazionale del Cinema. At lunch, enjoy Piedmontese cuisine at a family-run trattoria, and then venture back out to get a glimpse of the Shroud of Turin at the Duomo di San Giovanni Battista. Finish your first day of sight-seeing with the Galleria Sabauda (same palazzo as Museo Egizio), where the dukes and kings of Italy’s famous Savoy family feature 14th to 19th-century artwork from Piedmontese, Italian and Flemish painters…