Katherine Chloé Cahoon

Today, I’m reminiscing about the eighty-something live radio interviews I had when my book, The Single Girl’s Guide to Meeting European Men, was published. One of my favorites was at the grueling hour of 3:30 am, my time, with a couple of hosts from a NYC station. Their favorite story from my book was about Betsey the Burlesque Dancer, and we had so much fun chatting that I practically forgot the time:) So today, for Travel Thursday, I’m sharing it with you.

I have this friend who is full of fun and looks like an adorable, young Marilyn Monroe with a short curly hairdo. In my book, I called her Betsey, because with her fashion sense, she also looks like a living Betsey Johnson ad all done up…

Betsey performs in a professional burlesque troupe that travels to exciting destinations like Europe. Don’t you just feel bad for her? Yeah right! One night she went out with her girlfriend Lacey hoping to make some attractive acquaintances. They didn’t find any men, but that didn’t put a damper on Betsey’s attitude. She had a blast “getting down” on the dance floor—and with her burlesque training you know she can really get down.
Even though she didn’t meet an enthralling European guy that evening, she did make a new girlfriend, Carmen. Well, Betsey, Carmen, and Lacey were on a picture-taking high that night…posing and clicking ‘til the clubs closed down. Carmen put up a picture of Betsey on her bulletin board. When Carmen’s Italian boyfriend and his dashing friend Arnaldo dropped by, Arnaldo couldn’t take his eyes off Betsey’s picture. Carmen planned to meet up with Betsey the following night and invited her boyfriend and Arnaldo to come along.

In her normal mode, Betsey is always full of energy, but when she was introduced to Arnaldo, she was frozen and speechless. He was way too cute for words. Once she realized that she hadn’t lost her voice, they got along great. When an obnoxious guy started coming on to Betsey, Arnaldo came to her rescue and suggested that the two of them go off alone. Suave move, super stud! That was just the beginning. They got along so well that Arnaldo got a work visa to Betsey’s hometown in the US. They had a sexy summer romance and then he had to return to Italy.

Was that all? OK, maybe not. About a month later, Arnaldo sincerely told Betsey that he loved her. She explained that she couldn’t say those words back to him or she would get too attached. He just kept saying them to her anyway, proclaiming, “If you feel something you should not hold back…just say it and don’t think about the consequences.” Before Betsey knew what struck, she was saying “I love you” to him. Too late to not get attached! Betsey was totally smitten and counting down the days until Arnaldo could visit her again.

In the meantime, Arnaldo sent Betsey the most romantic emails with adorations like, “The beach is melancholy without you.” How could you not fall for this guy? Betsey says she has locked in her heart two philosophies from Arnaldo: “There is always time to be romantic. No matter how busy life gets, you can pull your lover aside for a quick kiss.” And, “In my country, men take pride in the fact that we are called Italian stallions. I won’t let you down.” Unfortunately, I lost touch with Betsey, so I never heard how the story ended….that is for all you romantics to write.

This dance tutorial is for you! Here I break down the steps to Major Lazer’s newest, POWERFUL, sung by Ellie Goulding and Tarrus Riley.

With Bobbi Brown’s limited edition, Shimmering Sands Eye Palette, you can get twelve shades in a single case, complete with two brushes in one. This is ideal for the jet-setting lady.

And the set works well with every girl’s existing makeup. To get my look, all you have to do is dust the middle far left shade over any golden tone you have and add the hue to the right in your crease. Since all these colors are complementary you really can’t go wrong when mixing and matching.

It’s summer, the perfect time for playing around with your makeup and having fun at sunset soirées.

I want to be exactly like this woman! Her name is Pat White and I recently attended one of her book signings. We became friends when I first wanted to become a writer. Pat’s positivity was infectious, and her advice spot on. I’m forever amazed at how she juggles being a devoted mom and wife while maintaining a prolific writing career.

And since this is Meeting Men Monday, I’m sharing one of Pat’s relationship tips. After decades of marriage, she and her husband still have one of the best marriages you could find. So what’s her secret to lasting love? She says that no matter how busy life gets, you have to make time to turn off the phones, put the work on the shelf, and just enjoy each other. She and her husband still plan a weekend away about once every month to do just that.

This line is currently riding high on my list of favorites, and has held that position for awhile. I can’t help it. I not only love founder Ray Kelvin’s couture, I love his outlook.

Raised in humble circumstances, Ray named his company after the fictitious “Ted Baker,” and resolved to make every item beautiful while balancing just the right amount of flair. This gown is no exception, with its dark floral patterns and pleats exposing slices of cobalt blue.

So I can’t help loving this line, but what I admire most is that its founder appears completely genuine.

In reflecting upon his success, Ray says, “I’m not a lover of the attention…it’s not what I came into business for.”

You know it’s summer when “music” and “festival” are inseparable buzzwords. And when a girl attends one of those, she feels left out if she isn’t decked out in festival fashion, so here’s the look…bohemian and bangles.

Now you need to find the place. Since this is Travel Thursday, here’s a list of the best summer fests of 2015… https://seatgeek.com/tba/festivals/music-festivals/

And this post just wouldn’t be complete without some mf philosophy: “Festivals are the way people want to experience music, more and more,” Paul Tollett, Coachella founder explained, adding, “This is the first time in history that parents and kids are going to shows together—and it’s not embarrassing.”

In my mind, there is no better place to pick up fest garb than Forever 21. The pieces are hip and inexpensive, which is very important when attending an event that could involve getting doused by the drink of someone who is a little too into dancing…if you know what I mean:)

Have you ever started the day at the office, ducked into the gym after work, and went from there directly to a fancy event—with no chance to dart home and freshen up? Well, today a professional makeup artist is helping me show you how to touchup your makeup for any occasion while en route. And we use so few products they’ll fit in your clutch.

I’ve always loved NARS’ products, but I loved them even more when I learned that each one has ingredients that are good for you. A close friend of mine has Celiac Disease. Any amount of gluten makes her extremely sick, even if it is in her makeup. She has probably tried every brand, and the only one that did not cause welts was NARS. So if you have a similar condition, or if you just want to put something healthy on your face, I strongly advise trying this line.

One of my NARS favorites is Satin Lipstick – Afghan Red. Depending on how much you apply, you can have just a hint of red or your lips can be the center of attention.

Ed is a pretty awesome man to feature for Meeting Men Monday. He’s not only talented, but romantic, funny and down-to-earth. When he was asked to describe a perfect first date, he said, “I can cook one meal and one meal only and that meal is fajitas. And if I may say so, I cook it damn well.” How many guys choose to cook dinner for their first date? I rest my case.

Here’s another clip from when Tom and I taught the choreography to Ed’s Thinking Out Loud. If you want to see the whole video, here’s the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjYC2dy4BXI

https://instagram.com/p/5776N5ifCv/

It’s really no secret that I’m all for this designing lady. There have been so many pics of her creations on my site. Today is all about a classic lavender dress and the purrfect purse for you cat lovers. I just couldn’t pass them up, so I tied them together with two Alexis Bittar bangles and strolled over to a neighbor’s house for a summer soirée.

Since this is my tribute to Kate, here are three of my favorite quotes from her.

“She who leaves a trail of glitter is never ever forgotten.”

“I think that playing dress-up begins at age five and never truly ends.”

“We believe in celebrations both big and small.”

I think that every time a girl steps into a Kate Spade dress, life feels like a celebration.

Today, I was reminiscing about my spring Hawaii trip…I might add as I was eyeing the piles of work covering all the wood on my desk! So for Travel Thursday, I’m posting about an eco-friendly, fashion-forward tropical haunt.

MU’UMU’U HEAVEN, aka vintage clothing heaven, creates one-of-a-kind dresses, and donates a percentage of every sale to the preservation of Hawaii’s coral reefs. So if you’re visiting paradise and would love to pick up something local, here’s their website: https://www.muumuuheaven.com

…But you can belly, side, and back flop over and over again…and have fun the entire time!

A big thanks to my friend Cole for teaching me how to wakesurf. As you can see from his performance, no one could have had a better instructor. Do you think I might need a few more lessons to reach his level?

To me, it means enjoying every last ray of sunshine and not taking a single moment for granted.

I’m a strong believer in the concept that you have to slow down enough in life to see the beauty in front of you. The beauty of the sun melting into the sky blew me away when I took these shots.

I couldn’t think of a better dress to enjoy a sunset in than this one by Alice + Olivia. They made it the color of the sunset itself.

And their designs have an air of enchantment…like Alice brought them straight out of Wonderland.

I loved this dress so much at sunset that I put together this little Instagram video for you.

https://instagram.com/p/5sGYGDCfBv/

If you’d like to see the makeup palette for my look, here it is… https://katherinechloecahoon.com/who-can-resist-a-lancome-gift/

Somehow, I managed to make it through life until now without wakesurfing. If you haven’t tried it yet, get your suit on and find that boat, board and driver. Being on top of the water with the breeze catching your hair and the landscape flying by is surreal. This picture was taken before my first wakesurfing experience, which I didn’t want to end…but it unavoidably did when I went belly-flopping:)

My friend Cole is a wakesurfing master and patient teacher. Seriously, few people are as good. Later this week, I’ll post the footage–good, bad and embarrassing–of my first experience.

In the meantime, for Meeting Men Monday, I’m sharing one of Coal’s insights to mastering happiness: “If you can pinpoint the area of your life that is causing you the most fear, you will most likely find that it is the same area that is exhausting you.”

I believe this applies to every aspect of life, including dating. We enter many situations where we don’t know the outcome—if someone is going to like us, if we will succeed in a school course, or if we will be hired for our dream job and do well. But we have a better chance of succeeding if we know our worth and can go forward without fear.

When it comes to gifts-with-purchase, in my opinion there is no contest for the best. Lancôme wins every time!

Recently, I was running out of some cosmetics must-haves, so I stopped by the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and was given the above Lancôme mini-palette and gloss.

In this picture, I created my look entirely from the gift.

So whenever a special is going on that says “gift with purchase,” I always head straight to Lancôme. Plus, I love their products.