This event might be the banger of all bangers.

Strap on those wingtips, shine up the chrome, grab your best poodle skirt and head on down to Surreal Estate for the Candy Hearts and Saucy Tarts Valentine’s Day sock hop. Whether you’ve got a sweetheart or are lookin’ to find one, there’s something for everyone.  All you need to dance past your bedtime and find that happy ending. Whether a candy heart or a saucy tart, swing on by to Surreal Estate for the hep postwar sensation!

The FIRST LEVEL features a dance floor done up just like a sock hop with kissing booth (and break up booth) to boot!
The SECOND LEVEL, Betty is beautiful in this pin-up burlesque fantasy paradise.
The THIRD LEVEL, take a trip to lover’s lane and find your own Garden of Eden (clothing optional) Be careful not to bite the apple!

Bands:

//Beyondo (Brooklyn) (band of Eric Biondo from Antibalas Afrobeat Ochestra)
http://www.myspace.com/beyondoband

//Dinosaur Bones (Toronto)
http://www.myspace.com/dinosaurbonesband

//Escarioka (Brooklyn)
http://www.myspace.com/escarioka

//Dead Phones (Brooklyn)
http://www.myspace.com/deadphonesmusic

//Nayaman is Not a Man (Brooklyn) (She is not a lion, not an insect, but she has antennas)
http://sites.google.com/site/nayamanisnotaman/

DJs:

//Cobra Krames (GoldWhistle) http://www.myspace.com/djkrames
//Stefanko Selector (of the Dolomites)
//TV Party (50, 60s soul classics)
//Faith in the Glitch (dubstep, electro-house) http://www.faithintheglitch.com
//Seduce Medusa (BASS and boom)
//Brian Sweeny (afropop, big booty bangas)

As always..

Killer Sound Provided by Industrial Bass & Boom

Interior designed by Surreal Estate Art and Design with installation by Ocular Delight

Wine party @ 8pm with acoustic music in the library (2nd floor).
Drink specials continue until midnight.

$10

Surreal Estate
15 Thames St btwn Morgan and Bogart [Bushwick]

Tis the season once again.  Check out this new event that BK Hookup is hosting.  Get your swag on.

via BK Hookup

Come dressed in your finest PJs for the most off the hook Valentine’s party E-V-E-R. If, and only if, you buy an advance ticket, we’ll match each and every one of you up with your one true lurv (or someone close) upon arrival.

Comedian Sara Schaefer will be back with some sexy bedtime stories and other crazy shenanigans (remember the wet T-shirt contest??). Outrageous hook up games by special guest performance artists (including Blizzard the Bunny of Club Animals) will guarantee you seven minutes in heaven. Plus, DJ French Toast, Jason Baker, DJ Workhorse (AKA Jonny Con Carne) and DJ Just Iz will keep you dancing well past bedtime, and we’ll have FREE Lillet cocktails and Smuttynose IPAs from 7-8pm, and $3 Busch beers the rest of the night to keep the slumber party in full swing.

For those who are up for some extra down-n-dirty matchmaking, we have specially priced tickets for speed dating, hosted by Miss Jinners from Union Hall’s I Heart Nerds Speed Dating. (you know…for peeps who are REALLY serious about finding a Valentine before the big day). We’ll have three 45 minute sessions, where we get busy hookin all your asses up in the front lounge, but you’ve got to be in it to win it! Make sure you choose the 7:30 time slot when you purchase your tickets, for a guaranteed speed dating slot.

And if cheap dates are more your thang, you can join in on the fun for just $7 at the door after 10pm.

We want to even up the playing field, so to guarantee an even ratio, men’s tickets are on sale here, and ladies’ tickets are on sale here.

RSVP on Facebook too if you want to see some pics of the hotties that will be there.

The Bell House
149 7th Street @ 2nd Ave [Gowanas]

If you hate Valentines Day as much as I do, mostly because you’re single and ready to mingle like moi, here is your chance to go babe hunting before V-Day D-Day.

Ladies Lotto, an organization I am apart of, is throwing an event next Monday called Lovers Rock, where the theme is sharing is caring.

Here are the deets:

• Every girl is to bring at least ONE male date, single obv, and the more the merrier.  I’m banking on someone bringing at least ten single guys for me to chose from.
• Any guy can come, date or not.  Like I said, the more the merrier.
• We’re not trying to pigeon hole anyone’s sexuality, so bring whom ever is down to have a good time.

When: Monday, February 8th // 10PM – 2AM
Where: Norwood Club / 241 West 14th Street, New York NY 10011
Who(s Hosting): DJs 24 Court, imelectric & more. Hosted by Sara Rosen, Susan Morgan, Carissa Pelleteri, Bob Bland & Zlata Faerman.  With astrosexologist Kiki T, live performance by special guest & date auction
What: OPEN BAR 44 North Vodka from 10-11PM and singles mingle.
Why: Well, duh! We know why!

Extras:

• Norwood is a private “members only” club therefore ALL GUESTS must submit full names no later than 10AM on Monday, February 8th. NO PLUSES!! NYLOVERSROCK@LADIESLOTTO.COM
• There is a $10 REQUIRED donation to enter per person. Please donate here: http://tinyurl.com/LLLRDVNYC.  A portion of the proceeds go to W.I.N. Women in Need, a local domestic violence organization
• Ladies Lotto members enter for FREE. Not a member? Join here: http://tinyurl.com/joinladieslotto

PS: The Norwood is DOPE.
PPS:  I NEED A SINGLE GUY TO BRING.  WHO WANTS TO BE MY DATE?!?!?

The Norwood
241 W 14th St [MePa]

Single Ladies // Beyonce

Pics coming soon!

In 2004, A&E brought us ‘Growing up Gotti’  and introduced the world to the blow out, orange skin, and ‘guidos.’  I am not going to lie, I was in to it.  I wanted to find me a nice juicehead guido.  I was living in Jersey at the time and guidos and guidettes were running rampant, once summer hits they all go one place, and that place is the Jersey Shore *or Neptunes AKA ‘Tunes in the Hamptons.* Five years late on the trend, MTV and the Jersey Shore cast reintroduced the world to guido culture – which happens to be quite popular in all of the Northeast.  Being Italian, and living in New Jersey for a few years, I know a thing or two about fistumping, battling to house music, and GTL. You might have never guessed it but this Billyburg chick has spent some serious time down the shore and I am going to have to rep it for a minute.

I just graduated college and I really wanted to a shore house in Belmar *where real guides go, PAH-LEASE, no one goes to Seaside unless you are 18 or white trash.* I couldn’t rally enough people on my own, and found a sick house on Craigslist.  So there I was, in a house with 18 strangers all from Westchester and Jersey. If someone filmed our house, I guarantee it would’ve been way more interesting than the shit we are seeing now.   We had many roommate hookups, we had one guy dating another guy in the house’s sister, which in turn means we had many fights, we had a drug dealer, we had a random 35 year old who tried to regulate everyone, we went to Djais and Headliners every night, and although no hot tub, *because no one actually does* we had lots of drama.

If you plan to head down the shore this summer and observe these creatures in their element – here is a list of some some basic Do’s and Dont’s.

Do:

• (Gents) Add an ‘ey’ or an ‘ie’ to your name, especially if you’re a guy.  ie: Joey, Mikey, Pauley
• (Gents) Rate the looks of people on a scale of 1-10
• (Gents) Roll down to the shore in style
• (Gents) GTD – Gym Tanning Dinner, or better yet BGD – BEACH Gym Dinner (Real shore-goers actually go to the beach, not tanning! Well, unless its raining. then its fake-n-bake time)
• (Gents) Rock a faux-hawk
• Go to Belmar, Point Pleasant, or Manasquan
• Go to DJais, Headliners (Sat night only,), Jenks, or maybe the Osprey.  Surf Club and Tiki for day drinking.
• (Ladies) Flatiron or pomp your hair.  Kim Kardashian curls will work too. (Don’t forget the fake eyelashes!)
• (Ladies) Wear Bebe, Guess, or even Forever 21.  Tight and short – always good.  Boobs out – a must.
• Get your picture taken by NJGuido.com or TheHotshotz
• Practice your best guido shuffle before heading down.
• Bring plenty of cash with you.  Shots of Patron are not cheap.

Don’t:

• (Gents) Give yourself a bogus nickname like “The Situation”
• (Gents) Refer to people as grenades or catastrophes, that’s just ridiculous.
• (Gents) Tattoo the brand of your car on your body.
• (Gents) GTL – who does laundry down the shore, that is unheard of.
• (Gents) Rock a blow out
• Go to Seaside – unless you are 18 or live in a trailer.
• Go to Karma
• (Ladies) Get bleach blond highlights if you are in fact a brunette
• (Ladies) Wear anything that remotely resembles Ed Hardy
• Film your own reality show.
• Dance barefoot at clubs, or bang on the dance floor.  That’s (A) nasty and (B) straight trashy.
• Work at a ‘Guido’ T-shirt shop.

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TDD Exclusive Update!!!

So a while back I reported that HBO is bringing a hipster-based comedy/drama to their line up and now I have the full scoop on what exactly the show is all about.  By the looks of things, this show might actually be a somewhat accurate portrayal of what it’s really like to live it up in the NY.  I had a conversation with someone involved in ‘How To Make It In America‘, HTMIIA for short *the name is a little lame, no? doesn’t really roll off the tongue* and my source prides himself in saying the shows about “kids trying to make it to the top, versus already being there,” so hopefully we wont see any 22 year olds in luxury one bedroom apartments in Gramercy. *cough Whitney Port cough* The show’s head writer Ian Edelman, producer Rob Weiss, and cast members Victor Rasuk, Luis Guzman, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and Lake Bell are all New York natives. Even Bryan Greenberg has been living in NY since his days at NYU, so hopefully they will bring an element of keeping it real throughout the show.

The Cast Basics:

Ben Epstein (Greenberg): Wannabe fashion designer who is currently working at Barney’s.
Cam (Rasuk): Ben’s best friend and partner in crime.
Rene: (Guzman): Cam’s uncle who is trying to sell his own line of energy drinks.
David (Thomas): Wall Street banker, used to go to HS with Ben and Cam.
Rachel (Bell): Ben’s Ex who he still is crushing on.

Contrary to popular belief, Scott Mescudi AKA Kid Cudi, does not have as big of a role as many fans have hoped for; although his screen presence may increase as time goes on.  What you can expect from ‘How to‘ is a lot of party scenes, club promoters, hookups, and the overall pursuit of happiness and self fulfillment…seems pretty legit I guess..but only time will tell.  My sources told me the show tried to be as realistic as possible and even had Greenberg, Rasuk, and Kid Cudi used their camera phones to record videos while being out and about in the city.  The actual footage that they captured at various house parties, clubs, and bars working off the clock will be used as footage for the show.  I mean…I have to give credit where credit is due and this is an interesting concept…kind of bringing a reality element to the show.  Although, the show plans to bring hip hop, hipsters, and the Lower East Side in to the mainstream *Noooooo*, as long as there are no HTMIIA tour buses rolling around town and the show doesn’t do to downtown scenesters and ‘hipsters’ what The Jersey Shore did for Italians everywhere, we might be okay.  Hey! It will be interesting to say the least…

Here are some pics Bryan Greenberg took during filming…

NYC graffiti legend, Lee Quinones, did a piece for Guzman's character's Energy Drink Van

Brooklyn Bowl footage to be used in the show.

Maybe even your fav street vendor will be making an appearance...

How To Make It In America premieres Sunday, February 14th after Big Love on HBO.  The chances of me having a date are slim, so I will be tuning in and live blogging from the event!

Will you be watching?