by Tara Mackey | Beauty, Blogroll, Discounts, Giveaway, Green Beauty
Indie Beauty Expo is the very first of it’s kind, and I am so excited about this incredible event that connects the very best in safe beauty with the conscious consumer!
There will be TWO winners for this giveaway! Each winner will receive one ticket for General Admission for the Indie Beauty Expo on August 27th at the Altman Building in NYC. This event is going to be amazing! You can check out my interview with the Founder of Indie Beauty Expo, Jillian Wright (here) to learn more about the event!
If you just want to purchase tickets immediately, go here and use my PROMO CODE: ORGANICLIFE for 20% OFF!
To Enter, simply leave a comment telling me why you want to go! 🙂
with love,
Tara
by Tara Mackey | Around the World, Blogroll, My Organic Life, My Photography, Travel
Oh, New York.
I’ve prowled up and down your narrow 12 miles more times than I care to count, hop-skipped and jumped all of your gum stained sidewalks, taken shelter in your countless museums, corner bars and over-priced restaurants, bravely voyaged your subways in the freezing cold, pouring rain and stifling summer heat. I can finally appreciate your rain storms, your always-late trains, your hyper-manic town-folk, your dirty streets (still having quite a hard time with your high prices, but your amazing views, skyline, food and people make it really worth it!)
How proud I am to call you my birth place, my home town, the isle of my first real job, a place that I was educated about life and allowed to happily and curiously explore as a child.
I don’t know who I’d be without you:
For real.
It does finally feel good to be back in the City – somewhere I know every nook and cranny, all the short cuts, every side street, every little nuance so that I can play a sort of restaurant roulette – saying hi up and down streets to friends and comrades who I normally catch glimpses of between longer travels. Normally can’t have a long chat with, never mind one or two full days spent enjoying each other’s company.
I finally got a chance to see Jane’s Carousel in DUMBO! Jane bought the carousel as a whole at an auction in the 1980′s so it wouldn’t be sold off piece by piece. It was originally created in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. After buying it, she then spent the last twenty-something years restoring it in Brooklyn with her husband. They hand-scraped through 62 years of park paint to get to the original colors and wood carvings of the carousel and restore it to its original self from 1922! 62 YEARS of paint!! The killer backdrop of the Manhattan skyline with both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges in view doesn’t hurt the overall experience, either! 
I meant to go back to NYC for only a week, but, like I touched on in this post, I stayed for 2. It was really nice to not have to rush through anything, to enjoy my company, to explore things with my family, to go at a slower pace and bring peace into every action. 
I am super grateful to be able to go back home to NYC so often. A small perk about Dad working for the airlines for 50+ years is that sometimes, just sometimes, when I wish and hope hard enough, and the Airline Gods are with me, I get First Class… 
This was one of those times. There is literally no better way to start a trip!
It was SO nice and I felt like a Princess. Didn’t even have to sit next to anyone!
Ahhh!!! Dreams come true.
They say ” You can’t go home again“…
I beg to differ. 🙂
I got to spend a considerable amount of time in Brooklyn. Couldn’t be happier about it.
(Click for a larger-than-life BK collage ^^ )
I think I’ll post on Manhattan another time, because Brooklyn really touched my heart this time, and I think it deserves it’s own little space.
I remember working here 6 years ago, in the same neighborhood I now frequent, and feeling mostly unsafe. The streets were empty a good amount of the time, and my walk from work to the LIRR was often panic-striking when I was alone. I remember the patrons being rude, the tips being bad, and the neighborhood being mostly uncared for. The locals were extremely passionate though, and overall I found everyone to be really resilient and die-hard about their home town. However, any plans to build a Park always turned into building a Parking Lot, and it looked like the dream of a Better Brooklyn might never happen…
The exact same streets are now some of my most beloved and favorite to walk. I feel a unique kinship with a place that I was willing to travel in every day because I had hope and vision of what it could become, along with it’s residents. So many parts of it have far surpassed that little vision I carried, or any hope I ever discussed with anyone. I love all the little neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and the unique, quaint, one of a kind atmosphere. I love walking around aimlessly, I love strolling around with friends, I love watching the landscape change and finding little hidden greenery in the alleyways and abandoned buildings. I love the graffiti and the ultimate personality of the place so, so much.
I will miss my little haven and my home town.
But, believe it or not, the West Coast has really stolen my heart…
But I’ll be on the East Coast again before I even know it (or can catch my breath!) I missed Raels and my family here a lot though… but I really want to be in LA for my birthday, which is in 6 days!!!!
!!!!
I used to dread getting older, but I have some super beautiful things planned and I’m really, really excited for it, actually! I’m so grateful I get to be in LA for my birthday (I mean, who can deny that being one of the most beautiful views ever?^^). This is where I’ve been my planning to be for years and years now, for this birthday specifically! Feels good to be where you’re meant to be!
Like I touched on here, my trip back was so inspiring and amazing, based mostly on my outlook on the situation. It’s absolutely amazing what your point of view can do positively for your entire life if you are absolutely bent on Positivity!
New York definitely gave me the inspiration and drive to finish My Kickstarter Project, which I am SO happy and excited about!! If you haven’t gotten a chance to take a look yet, please do! I’ve gotten a lot of support about it already and I’m so grateful!!
I’ve made my rewards REALLY affordable – just $1 gets you the digital download of my newest single sent straight to your personal e-mail with a big thank you! Up to $50 gets you The Wake Up EP, personalized art, a bonus track, a video thank you message, and a cover tune!!
xoxo
I appreciate all of your love and support!
Thank you very much.
Love & Light
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An Exclusive Look Into … THE WAKE UP EP!
by Tara Mackey | Around the World, Blogroll, Green Beauty, Green Makeup, Hindu Doggie, Modeling, My Organic Life, Travel
An impromptu visit and near-storm escape to and from the motherland [ New York 🙂 ] has put me in kind of a strange place. I am really happy to be back in California and (for the third time in a year!) somehow booked the last flight out to my destination and completely missed a horrible snow storm. Someone up there likes me! 🙂
I didn’t exactly come back to sunshine, however: it’s been drizzling here, but on the bright side, it’s been just enough to spur some serious veggie growth! I am really feeling this set that I shot with K in Palm Springs a few weeks ago. It reflects my mood recently perfectly, and I think it’s just dark enough to bring some drama into the day! I am really happy with the look we achieved with all-natural makeup! And they said it couldn’t be done! 🙂
Lyrics: hindu doggie | Photographer: Kris Rodammer | All Natural Makeup: MarieNatie Cosmetics, Honeybee Gardens Smokey Eye Pallette& Truly Natural Mascara | Necklace: Morph | on location at Palm Springs, CA
To Participate in My Organic Life’s Around the World Lookbook, Kindly Contact:TaraMackey@me.com
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by Tara Mackey | Uncategorized
I spent yesterday filming a music video with Jose James ( Bluenote Records ) for his hit single Trouble. I got to do some wonderful little behind the scenes interviews for EMI and Capitol Records and we just absolutely had a blast! The crew we had as far as filming, direction, hair, makeup, styling, lighting, & grip were an absolute Dream Team! The video was produced in tandem with Friends We Love, an amazing organization by Mike and Moni Vargas that I absolutely adore! I first met Jose Monday, when I was invited to watch him and his fantastic band perform at Berkley Street Studio for an intimate, private lounge session for KCRW’s Morning Comes Eclectic show. The band is absolutely phenomenal and Jose is entirely sweet and a huge inspiration!
I feel very blessed. It is wonderful to be this inspired and happy! I could do what I did this week every week for the rest of my life!!
Check Jose out on Conan performing Trouble!
And keep an eye out for some clips and photos from the video!
We’re all super proud of this one! 🙂
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Love & Light
by Tara Mackey | Blogroll, Health, Music, My Organic Life, My Photography
If there’s one thing you cannot do towards me when I have an idea, it’s Stop me. You can support me, be happy for me, help me, mock me, fund me, tease me, torture me, or attempt to take it from me, but I’ll be damned if that vision is not going to come to fruition. I don’t give up “for no one”, and I’m a perfectionist. I was hesitant at first to write about my journey specifically because it has involved so many other people – it’s hard to put all of those people to words or to help others understand how you got where you did without a myriad of support, and sometimes real hate and real rejection, to propel you forward.
One of my dearest and closest friends and fellow Life Viking Kate came to visit last week from New York. Basically, the only thing that we’ve not done together in 10 years that I can name is travel to this side of the country together. Life has brought us together rather tragically most of the time: I’ve been to more funerals with this girl than parties or sweet 16s or weddings. But the Universe has a plan for us, and she used some of her days off to visit California and stay with me 3,000 miles away: something I will be thankful for always.
Can I really say I missed her? It was really nice to have a fellow scientist around! I do miss the discussions and the lab banter. She’s currently wading through her MD/PhD program, and I really couldn’t be happier or more proud for her about that.
One of the nights she was here, I was informed via the internetz that my friend and fellow actor Patrick was in town. We went out to meet up with another friend from our home town (Epic New York reunion!) and Patrick joined us awhile later. Pat’s ceaseless efforts towards his comedic web series Stop The Bleeding! has been absolutely inspiring! With the help of Pharmaceutical company Baxter, he’s producing a comedic, fictional web series about a goofy hemophiliac in order to help engage our community in a contemporary, entertaining way. I absolutely love the idea of this – Pat is absolutely engaging and it’s so wonderful that he is creatively doing his duty to bring awareness and serve others! He’s also pretty much an unstoppable force in the acting and producing world in NY. And quite funny! 🙂
Patrick and I had a conversation towards the end of the night that has stuck with me, and one I’ve meditated on quite a bit since. And that is the idea of how he came to be in California for an 8 hour writing session (!!) just to head back home, and how I came to be there to change my life. How we have both somehow paid our bills and are riding on much support (a bit of sponsorship!), and blind faith to carry us from month to month, project to project and idea to idea. Because, truly – my entire journey has been almost entirely faith based! Without the belief, the vision, and the determination behind something like a grand project or a grand idea to work towards from week to week, I have no idea how I would have kept my head above water.
It is nothing BUT the Blessed Unrest that keeps me interested in the day to day. It is telling yourself: I do not have any other choice but to be successful and well, and meaning it. There simply IS no room for screwing up or negative thoughts or not focusing. It gets me up early and keeps me working late. I find the mystery, the not knowing, the working, the convincing, the endless speaking and passion and creative work to be endlessly inspiring. There is more to create and it is infinite and I am powerless to do anything but make more. And then, to use that towards something good? To make uplifting music or to make an inspiring video or a collaborate on a commercial, or take a beautiful photograph or to reach out to a small brand and make their vision come to life is truly humbling. Diligence is the mother of good luck.
When you’re being something you’re not, you’re miserable. I found this to be one of the most true things I have learned all year, if not all of my life. Happiness doesn’t come from big pieces of great success, but by small pieces hammered out every day. By laying the brick to make the Great Wall. You’ll be as happy as you make up your mind to be RIGHT now. Being happy on the way doesn’t cost you anything (in fact, it’s one of the ONLY things that don’t cost you anything!): you’ve got to enjoy the journey and take pride in your little accomplishments, and enjoy who you are becoming every single day. We are infinitely moldable but it is our duty to work on that diligently and with positive thoughts behind it, in order to build up to success. Success is a pleasure, and it’s entirely relative. If what I am doing today isn’t gratifying, if I’m not fulfilled: that’s not success to me. But you cannot change what’s going on around you until you understand what’s going on within you. Even small, positive changes really help towards this goal.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8FUdpv8Npc&w=560&h=315]
It still really astounds me how much can happen in such a short time with just a more positive outlook. By answering that e-mail a little nicer than you intended, or concentrating on being kinder to your loved ones, giving someone a call you haven’t spoken to or going for a run can change you. They’ve changed me! Every single morning I have risen with the sun, every indulgence I’ve said no to, every nasty e-mail that I’ve answered kindly from people who just don’t want to understand, every single person I’ve smiled at when they were screaming at me and my dog, every stranger I’ve spoken to even though I was tired or snippy has changed me for the better and propels me forward every day.
It is the curiosity that compels me.
There’s a wonderful Confucius quote that inspires me daily:
“ The Man who says he can, and the man who says he can not.. Are both correct.”
If you’d like to share your experience or journey with your own Blessed Unrest, I’d love to hear from you. 🙂
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Love & Light
