Guiding Light's Joshua Lewis / Robert Newman

As a 30 year fan of the Guiding Light, its cancellation hit hard. It is unbelievable that a 72 year old TV institution is gone. Nearly 15,000 Facebook GL fans have vocalized their feelings through emotional status updates. (We) love Guiding Light and can't get enough of it!

Enter

Celebrity Events Group

, CEG.

Through their efforts, GL fans coast to coast can meet the cast in an event called So Long Springfield. Ten Guiding Light stars will light up your day/evening in an extravaganza including music & singing, hugs & autographs. You may even have an opportunity to recite story lines with some of the stars!

Want more Guiding Light?

How about a Caribbean Cruise with Josh, Reva and Shayne Lewis!

The

Soap Cruise

sails on January 28, 2010. 

Joshua Lewis/  Robert Newman speaks  about life during and after the Guiding Light:

fashionado:

I texted my sisters, both avid GL fans, to tell them I would be interviewing you and I asked them if there was anything specific I should ask. One them replied right away, "ask if he'll go out with me." (My sisters are married, by the way!) So, Robert, what's it like to be a heartthrob!

Robert:

It's a strange thing to hear. I think its Josh who's the heartthrob. He takes care of the people who he loves and he's a good dad. He really believes in true love and I think that draws women to him.

fashionado:

How do you stay looking so good and so young? Have you discovered the fountain of youth!

Robert: (modestly laughs and replies) Strong Norwegian genes. I eat and sleep well, I'm not fanatical about it, but I take care of myself. I also just started

Beth Chamberlin's

(Beth Spaulding) work out and fitness regiment, the

Kettlebell Way

. It really works.

fashionado:

Would you like to say anything to your fans?

Robert:

Some people are really struggling with

Guiding Light

gone. Fans have approached me, openly weeping. They've always expected GL to be there and now it's not. It's a pretty big deal. I want to say to all our fans, Thank you. Without your support there wouldn't have been a show.

fashionado:

I'm excited to hear about your play

Sessions

.

Robert:

Doing theater fills my soul. My dream was to do theater in New York which is why I moved there in the first place. I am playing the lead role in

Sessions

, Dr. Peter Peterson, a therapist on the brink of a mid-life crisis whose patients help him through this journey. It makes you question the value of therapy.

Sessions

is a terrific new piece, a musical. I was doing it in the last two and a half months of the GL which was a true challenge.

On stage, I feel completely and utterly at home.

*

Sessions

is playing through the end of the year at the

Algonquin Theater

, NY.

Click Here to Visit Website.

(and you get to see/hear Robert sing!)

fashionado

Uptown with Tina Sloan

After a successful launch in Atlanta of the wonderful one woman play,

Changing Shoes

,  

Tina Sloan

, who originated the role of

Lillian Raines

on the

Guiding Light

26 years ago, is back at the place she calls home, New York City. I met up with Tina, on her turf, for a lovely lunch at the chic Amaranth restaurant.

Tina loved Atlanta and praised her audiences,

"They were wonderful and so gracious."

As much as she enjoyed the city, walks to the botanical gardens and the stellar service at the Four Seasons, Tina is happy to be back in

her

city and is taking a little time to rest.  

At our NYC lunch, we talked about how much

we

miss the

Guiding Light

and we talked about how much we love Changing Shoes. I went to the play 5 times! Needless to say, I can now recite a number of lines, so I did. My favorite: 

"You must always wear your own shoes, otherwise your feet won't know where to take you."

I followed Tina's advice the previous evening and wore one of my favorite pairs-- metallic silver wingtips. They took me to Dior, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent. You see, Changing Shoes is a play for everybody. Changing Shoes the book, hits bookstores in Fall 2010. 

After lunch, which was quite delicious may I add, Tina invited me over to see her place.  As we approach her place, the doorman greeted us as he pulled the door open. We went through the posh lobby towards the elevator. Tina's home is as sophisticated as you would expect. Her impeccable decorating epitomized NYC chic.

e-vincent-martinez-tina-sloan-guiding-light-fashionado

Remember to visit Tina's website. Its fun, its interactive, its: www.changingshoes.com

fashionado

Fashion, Beauty, Photography: DREXINA Nelson

Drexina

With a rock star name like

DREXINA

,  you're destined to be fierce and fabulous... and after just a minute with her... 

I knew she was.

Drexina is an accomplished stylist who started photographing her own work after technical (photo) criticism.

"I was told my portfolio looked great but that I should get another photographer, so I just went out, bought a camera and thats how all this started."

Today, Drexina works with a team of stylists and is shooting for magazines like

Teen Vogue

. Not bad for someone who picked up a camera just five years ago! Drexina's photographic style possesses a dark, but aesthetically alluring edge. Her approach is minimalist by nature, giving the images a refreshingly modern and chic quality. Visit Drexina's

website

/gallery for images!

fashionado

The Heavenly St. Regis Atlanta

The fashionado Traveler

Being fashionable when traveling involves more than simply making the right selections from your valise de fabuleux. How you get there and where you stay can make the difference between style and vile.

In my periodic writings, I'll share with you some of my own away-from-home experiences, be they fashionable or otherwise, which determination I shall leave to you, my dear reader.

THE SPOT

The St. Regis Hotel and Residences is nestled just off Peachtree Road in the Buckhead enclave, a mile or so down Paces Ferry Road from where Sonny Purdue, Georgia's Governor, calls home. A short pedestrian mall leads from  the hotel to where the Streets of Buckhead — Atlanta's answer to Rodeo Drive — will burst forth onto the scene in 2011.

The St. Regis boasts 120 rooms and 31 suites, and is also home to fifty private residences on the top fifteen floors of the hotel.

THE HOT

Arriving at the St. Regis in mid-afternoon, we were greeted and quickly dispatched by the hotel valet, who offered bell service for our two small overnight bags, which we politely declined. The check-in process was quick and effortless and we were escorted to our room by the desk clerk himself — a very nice touch! Even nicer was the handwritten welcome card from the hotel's general manager along with a bottle of Merlot on a silver wine plate and three large chocolate bars packed in lovely gift wrapping.

We had been double-upgraded from a Superior room to a Grand Deluxe room, which included a huge outdoor balcony furnished with lovely cushioned metal furniture. The room itself was truly a feast for the eyes, decorated in what I call the "Contemporary Deco" style: furniture and walls in soft tones, custom polished-nickel lamps and chandeliers and huge gloss white mouldings; I think I heard Barbara Barry whispering in my ear!

On the nightstand is what looks to be — at first glance — a telephone. Further investigation reveals that it's actually a control center for nearly everything in the room: temperature, lighting, hotel directory...even the weather! And no, darling, you can't control the weather, you can merely display it!

The bathroom — a stone and tile-clad masterpiece — had dual sinks, a large floor-to-ceiling tiled shower and a separate deep, oval tub, which is separated from the sleeping chamber by a sliding door, affording the weary traveler the opportunity to relax in a hot bath while watching TV or even gazing out upon the world through the balcony doors. One of the vanity mirrors even has a television screen embedded in it; I loved watching the news while freshening up for a trip out into the surrounding neighborhood!

Room service was efficient and delicious, the menu a well-chosen subset of the hotel's Paces 88 Restaurant which itself provides both indoor and al fresco dining. The pool area at the St. Regis is a quiet, private oasis in a busy part of the city, and provides both comfortable lounge chairs and serviced tables. Just up a flight of stairs from the pool is a well-groomed outdoor event space which boasts a large, well-landscaped lawn area replete with bocce ball equipment, a very nice touch. The hotel also features a lovely outdoor area off the main lobby-level bar, where well-heeled travelers, local cognoscenti and other shaken-not-stirred types mingle under the stars.

The true standout at the St. Regis is its staff. We were unfailingly greeted with a smile by every single person we encountered, were always made to feel as if we were highly-valued guests, and every request we made was handled quickly and graciously.

THE NOT

In over fifteen years of near-constant travel, there is never anything that's perfect. Ever. But the St. Regis Atlanta was as close to perfect as a hotel can be without resorting to nitpickery. OK, I hear you all groaning that I must be "on the take" or what have you; I am forced to share one minor quibble: The bottle of wine that greeted our arrival in the room was, unfortunately, not accompanied by a wine opener. However a simple push of a button on the "control center" summoned our white-gloved butler with one in less than ninety seconds. Who's to complain?

FOR THOUGHT

The St. Regis Atlanta. Five Stars. Rooms from $340 midweek, $270 weekend. Discounts and packages available. See the St. Regis website for more information.


*fashionado Traveler Score: 9.5 (out of 10). Nothing gets a ten.

The fashionado Traveler has traveled extensively throughout the world, including forty-seven U.S. States and four continents. He holds elite status with multiple hotel chains and is quickly approaching the two million mile mark on Delta Air Lines. He lives in the Atlanta area and hails originally from California, where he spent his younger and admittedly less stylish years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He invites your comments and encourages invitations to your favorite away-from-home places.

Miss Georgia USA, Kimberly Gittings, Saves the World!

Feed the Models Save the World

The reigning and ever so charming, Miss Georgia USA,

Kimberly Gittings

, was the special guest celebrity at a charity event for the

Eating Disorders Information Network,

EDIN

.

The benefit party titled,

Feed the Models…Save the World

was hosted by

LUXE Atlanta

boutique and catered deliciously by

Livingston

,

Gary Mennie’s

restaurant at the Georgian Terrace. Guests enjoyed great food and grooved to the latest music, spun live by

DJ Jay McCracken

, while they purchased their designer Feed the Models shirt with proceeds going to EDIN.

(back story in a nutshell)

The Feed the Models campaign, launched locally more than two years ago by

UrbanCouture

(UC), Grady High School’s fashion design program and its creator E. Vincent Martinez, was a stylish reaction to the seriousness of eating disorders. UC’s top designers, who are high school seniors, felt passionately about creating a fundraiser for a cause that is relevant to young people and is a real problem within the fashion industry, to which they hope to be a part of someday.

LUXE

carried the shirts for a limited time, though most sold! BUT it’s not too late to get yours and show support for EDIN. Visit

www.myedin.org

and you too can ‘

save the world

’!

fashionado

Tit for Tat

Ouch! Yes! Ouch, it hurts!!

Tattoos. I recently had another session and this time it hurt more than the others as my artist worked near bony areas and on my chest. I don’t enjoy the pain at all, but I sure love the product. I got my first tattoo when I was 41 and got hooked with the personal significance of the images I am placing on my body, and with their beauty.

So is it fashion?

To an extent, especially when celebrities are sporting them more and more and they are working their way unto glossy fashion magazines. There is also a certain, underlying fashion/artistic element when choosing where on the body to put a tattoo. Call it what you want, disagree all you like, but it is fashion when you have to think about the area on your body the tattoo will work and look best on.

Tattoos are becoming socially acceptable as they become a mainstream, but lets keep it real: get one for the right reasons-not for fashion- and remember, you wear them for life!

The amazing artist whose done all my work is Malia Reynolds at Memorial Tattoo.

Memorial Tattoo

fashionado

Party Like A Rock STAR in Atlanta

So the evening starts out with a magazine party at Mason Murer Gallery. Two sparkling pink martinis later we move on to a fashion show at Luckie Lounge. The pre- show atmosphere was vibrating. The energy felt different than usual and the crowd was better than the usual. As I sat at a table to enjoy a cocktail, I spotted Tyson Beckford and Dallas Austin sitting across from me. Hot! Minutes later, the lights dimmed even lower, a spotlight appeared and the music shot up. One of the hottest and chicest fashion shows was about to start. When it ended, the crowd worked their way to an upstairs lounge with stunning city views. Meanwhile, photographers are still flashing. The night doesn’t end there. One more stop—the after party. The fashion scene moves to Prive at the W. There’s more drinking, dancing and yeah, Tyson.

Did I mention we’re in Atlanta? Oh, and it’s a week night!

fashionado