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Thursday, May 28, 2009

More Red Hot Annie and Natasha Minsk





Red Hot Annie and Natasha Minsk had a few action packed days in Austin, TX recently. From flying out of the windy city early in the morning to shopping the great vintage shops in Austin to performing at the Texas Burlesque Festival. Below is a bit that Red Hot Annie wrote of their time down in the Lone Star State...

Natasha and I got up way early this morning to catch our 8:30am plane, and touched down in Austin around 11:20am. I’m glad there’s no time change!


We spent some time putting final touches on our costumes for The Big Night – the competition night at Texas Burlesque Fest! Natasha worked away at her “Material Girl” costume, and I continued to add sequins all over my gas tank for “Pit Stop.” We use this glue, E6000, which smells like permanent markers and death – and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was really a good idea to use this stuff while sitting in bed! Such are the limited comforts of traveling!

Around 7pm, we headed down to the bridge on Congress to see the bats! We’d heard from a number of sources about how amazing it was. We ended up getting there pretty early, and we had to wait sort of a long time before the bats came out – but when they did…Wow! We expected a minute or two of bats flying out, but they must have been coming out for 10-15 minutes in beautiful ribbons. And in our spot, down by the river, the bats were actually flying right over our heads. Frightening, but worth it!

We had a delicious dinner at BD Rileys on 6th, and headed back to the hotel with a bottle of wine for some much needed sleep.


The next morning, we wandered around looking for places to shop! After stumbling into a place with gorgeous $300 shirts, we decided we needed to find some nice vintage places we could afford!


We headed down to Emo’s to get a good look at the backstage area for the show! It’s a great outdoor venue, but some of the backstage parts were a little daunting at first – especially the catwalk between the stage and the dressing rooms.


We also took the time while at the venue to meet up with the girls from Jigglewatts at El Soy y La Luna for an early dinner and margaritas, as well as to check out the backstage area of for the show!


We didn’t have a lot of time to cool off before going back to Emo’s to watch the show, so we just chilled by the pool for a while, dipping our toes!


I have to say – those girls from Jigglewatts are super talented. We saw them perform later that night at the Texas Burlesque Fest, before they headed off to Dallas that evening for another show. Ruby Joule and Coco Lectric did amazing solos and even got together for a fan dance duet that knocked it out of the park.


There were a lot of really amazing acts at Texas Burlesque Fest on Friday, and we were glad to be in the audience watching on the first night! Always nice to know the girls you’ll be performing with the following night. We were thrilled to watch Chicago performer Viva La Muerte rock it out on stage.


The next day it was raining all morning. Big wet sloshy rain.


But we joined the performers and producers at an official brunch that morning, anyways! We sat with my friend Kayla, who would be performing with us that evening. Kayla and I go way back – we shot together about 5 years ago when she was still living in Milwaukee. It was nice to just sit and hang out with her!


We were back to Emos just in time for our “performer check in” where we found out that one of the dressing rooms had flooded, and the catwalk and steep stairs from the dressing rooms to the stage was precarious to start with! They draped a tarp over the open-air of the catwalk so we could get to the stage without getting wet! A relief!


We had a successful check-in, including an opportunity to run our acts on the stage before the audience showed up. I find those kinds of moments very relaxing – running an act onstage while the chairs are still empty.


Little did we know – it was a sell out show! Our acts went well, and the audience cheered us on like crazy. I was a little nervous about performing, which is a rarity for me these days – but being in front of a totally different audience can be a little daunting. Still, I think both of our acts went really well, and we can be proud!


We were happy when we found out that some of our friends and new acquaintances won awards at the festival, too! Kayla won for “Most Original”, Ruby Rocket won for “Most Comedic” and Renea La Roux won for “Best Costume” and could be heard backstage saying, “I like to sew!” in the most demure, adorable voice! They all deserved their acknowledgments, and we were glad to be there to celebrate with them!


We got to hang out and have a very early 3am breakfast at Magnolia with a couple great girls after the show.


We didn’t get back to our classy digs at La Quinta Inn until 5am! What a night!


I was relieved to get some sleep this morning, and easily sleep in until 1pm. How very rock star!


It was really important to us that we take some time to relax today, so we spent most of the rest of the day swimming and relaxing with our new friend, Cha Cha Velour.

We also joined Ruby Rocket at Maiko Sushi for a sushi dinner!


We then just relaxed by the pool for the rest of the day with some delicious treats from a local deli/bakery. I couldn’t help but wishing that one of the places we’d been able to go was Barton Springs. Everyone kept mentioning it, but we simply ran out of time to make it there! I’m sure there are a million other places in Austin that would have been fun and relaxing, but we had a great time!

And when we boarded the plane at 5:30pm, we couldn’t help but be glad we’d gotten up in time to finally enjoy La Quinta Inn’s continental breakfast – Texas shaped waffles!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Red Hot Annie & Natasha Minsk...Deep In The Heart of Texas




I was contacted recently by Red Hot Annie to see if I'd be interested in writing a few blog posts regarding the Texas Burlesque Festival coming up this weekend in Austin. I also hope to share a bit about her adventures traveling from Chicago to Austin for the performance and her brief stay in Texas while she performs.

She will be flying down to Texas with
Natasha Minsk on early Thursday morning and I hope to have our photographers strategically placed at the Chicago airport to catch them both at their finest at 6 am!

Over the next few days look for more pictures of their travels along with their performances on Friday & Saturday evening in Austin. If you're in the Austin area, make sure you clear your schedule and get ready for a fun evening both nights!

If you're not familiar with Red Hot Annie...well, her story is quite interesting.


Red Hot Annie’s burlesque career began quite by accident. Originally a modest hot dog vendor, she peddled Annie’s Red Hots up and down the streets of Chicago.

Annie prided herself on the quality of her hot dogs, taking care not to rush an order. To offset the inevitable waiting and to keep her customers happy, Annie performed little dances for them while the food cooked.

Sadly, though, as the big chain restaurants moved in and as people began to forsake quality for faster and faster service, Annie was forced to pack up her hot dog cart for good.

However, in a textbook case of making lemonade out of lemons, she realized that she could put her dancing skills to use in the world of burlesque.


Texas Burlesque Festival

Show Web Site:

http://www.texasburlesquefest.com/

Show Date:

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Show Time:

9:00 PM

Venue Name:

Emo's

Address:

603 Red River, Austin, TX (Click for Google Map)

Phone:

(512) 505-8541

Ticket Price:

$15-25

Buy Tickets Now:

http://www.ticketweb.com/snl/Search.action?query=texas+burlesque+fest

Friday, May 8, 2009

Turn Heads With Our Newest Ankle Bootie

One of the newest fashion trends of the season are the ankle boots/booties.

You may have noticed many celebrities sporting this unique style that can be tricky to pull off.

The “Solana” bootie from Michael Antonio is going to be a hit this season. This multi strap lizard print platform sandal is available in 4 colors and has a 4 inch stiletto heel and is sure to turn heads when you enter a room, and at a price of $34.99 it’s sure to fit within your budget.

But of course, like any other shoe, you have to make sure you wear it the right way. Electrique Boutique is here to help, so you know what to wear and what not to wear with these trendy shoes.


Clothes to Wear with Ankle Boots

-Long skirts

-Short skirts and leggings with skirts

-Skinny jeans or long leggings in a dark color

-Dresses that hit above the knee or higher

-Wear black tights with black ankle boots to lengthen your legs



Clothes to Avoid Wearing with Ankle Boots

-Cropped or wide leg Pants

-Cropped Tights

-Mid-Length Skirts, go either short or long on skirts, so you don’t shorten the length of your legs

-Shorts

-Capris


However you wear the ankle boot, just keep it simple to make the most dramatic effect.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The season for unique shoes


This season is all about the most unique shoes that will stand out wherever you go.

Nicholas Kirkwood is the newest rising shoe designer that many celebrities are starting to notice.

From his Spring/Summer '09 collection, his sandal the “S9051B” was recently seen on model Jessica Stam on the red carpet. This sandal is easily recognizable by its cut out platform. The original is available on his website for $795.

We also have a sandal similar to his for $29.99 at ElectriqueBoutique.com, and it’s available in 4 colors. These shoes are also available in our three Dallas area stores.