Philly

BEHIND THE BLOG: EMILY THARP

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Emily Tharp began her blog, Her Philly, in November of 2013.

Why did you begin blogging?

I have always really loved writing. I moved to the city and I was in a long term relationship with a guy. I was always very involved in high school and college, I came here and I didn't know anyone. I was looking for a way to get out and do stuff after work. I wanted a resource for young women like me who weren't into going to expensive things but also wanted to try new restaurants or go to new stores. I basically created the resource that I was looking for myself and it really exploded for me. I was able to dedicate more time to it when I ended that relationship. My independence came out through getting to explore new things with my blog. 

 Even though a lot of people do a really good job blogging about those things, I have nothing to add to that conversation.

What is your blog and who is it for?

My target age that I think about when writing is young women who are just out of college not yet with kids. I have learned that it is a lot more than that. People are interested from all ages who are looking to do fun things in Philadelphia. I only write about things that I myself think are interesting. I don't write about fashion shows or things like that because that isn't what I find interesting myself. Even though a lot of people do a really good job blogging about those things, I have nothing to add to that conversation. I have had to just think about what is unique that I can present about this topic. 

How do you balance work life and blogging?

It can be really tough. I think in the beginning I tried to keep myself to a schedule and that was really hard for me. It made me resent it for a little bit. I never want the blog to turn into something that I feel is a second job. I like how I have freedom. It's tough because there are events during the day I miss in Philly. Both of my employers since I have had the blog think it's really cool. So they do give me support and some flexibility. I am always working on balancing but I learned not to feel bad if I don't get a post up. 

What are you favorite things about Philly?

Eating, mostly. I always like going to new restaurants. I am not a really big fan of driving at all. So, I love being able to walk everywhere. Learning to take public transportation has been great. Exploring new neighborhoods. I love Diner En Blanc. I love Restaurant Week. A lot of things that people love to hate but things that get people out and excited about Philly. Right now, I am really close with all my friends from college. We all live in similar neighborhoods so it's been fun to explore new things with them. 

What are some of your favorite restaurants right now in Philly?

So Zahav is always and forever my all time favorite. I love it so much. I really like the tapas places. I also really love Amada. 

What else is a current obsession?

I'm obsessed with Flywheel. I started never having taken spin before. Everyone there was so nice and welcoming. I love how all the instructors are on social media. I think its all the tech stuff that really gets me. I love being able to look at my score after and see how far I have biked and see how many calories I burned. That makes me continue to go back. 

20 LAST QUESTIONS FOR EMILY THARP




BEHIND THE BLOG: Jordyn Nicole Shaffer

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In this nine day series, we interview the bloggers behind some of the most influential blogs in Philadelphia. Today, we meet Jordyn Nicole Shaffer of Jordyn's Fashion Formula.

FP: Why did you begin your blog?

JNS: I began Jordyn's Fashion Formula a year ago this month. So last February. I started it because I felt like I wanted to really show my knowledge of pop culture, music and film through the lens of street style. How we absorb all this information, entertainment and media and how it ultimately materializes through the material things that we wear. 

I also started my blog because it is an amazing way to connect and network with people. That is why we are here together right now, right? 

FP: So it is mostly a fashion blog. 

JNS: It started out as a street style blog. But my goal was and continues to be to ask other people about their formulas. Street style blogs can be just me, me, me, me. At the end of the day, I am a journalist so I care about what your outfit and what your outfit says about you. Even how your formula manifests itself in your apartment or home. How your design aesthetic may be different from your outfit to what your bedroom looks like. You formula may be different.  I have started to go into people's personal spaces to really get a personal touch on their fashion formula. 

FP: When did you become interested in fashion?

JNS: It started in middle school when everyone was trying to figure out who they are and what their identity is. What do I stand for and what do I represent? I always felt like I was too mature for my own well being. My peers were off caring about other things and I was very bookish. And than that bookish-ness made me interested in fashion. I started to absorb fashion in Teen Vogue. I use to collect them and stack them in periodical order. To get back to the Formula, I became obsessed about fashion through film. My Dad's girlfriend told me to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's. I know it's so cliche. But the 60's and Audrey and her aesthetic made me realize how nostalgic I am. 

FP: What films lately have you been into?

JNS: I love everything with Wes Anderson. So Moonrise Kingdom. I was Margot Tenenbaum for Halloween. It's beyond just the outfits. It is the whole aesthetic. Other films? I really liked Midnight in Paris. That showcased another time period. Any kind of Italian film. I studied abroad in Rome so just to see like La Dolce Vita, to see the Italian aristocrats and how they dressed. I love to see how their fashion was so effortless and sophisticated. 

FP: What is your favorite thing about Philly?

JNS: That it is a underdog but it really isn't an underdog. That everyone wants to connect with each other. 

FP: How do you connect with people?

JNS: At first it's really awkward to put yourself out there. You may have all these fears of, "Maybe they will think I'm weird." But, the more I kept on doing that, the more natural it felt and the more friends I meet. Now when I go to places to meet new people, I see familiar faces. It took those three or four times to go to an event and tap someone on the shoulder and say, "Hi. Lets talk." Put yourself out there and it's a domino effect from there. 

FP: How often do you blog?

JNS: I try to do once a week because I believe in quality over quantity. Because I am a writer in my real life, I don't want to half ass anything. So I want to make sure I go home and have clear a mind. I don't want to do it just to do it. 

What’s your favorite thing about Philly in one word?
Community.

FP: Do you think there is an entrepreneur in you with this blog and that is why you started?

JNS: I think that Philly has so many taste-makers and we always read about them in highly popular local publications But how often do we get to go into their personal space or their home.? The entrepreneur in me would want to see if there opportunity where business and those taste-makers overlap. 

19 LAST QUESTIONS FOR JORDYN NICOLE SHAFFER

OFFICE SPACE: The Hive Philly

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The Hive Philly is a co-working space for women in Old City. Founded by Melissa Alam, The Hive provides women of all ages and backgrounds a space to work with a community full of like-minded women. I had a chance last week to stop by The Hive and sit down with Alam about the space's design, what keeps her organized, and her desk must haves. 

FAYMEPROBLEMS: What were you trying to achieve when designing the space?

Melissa Alam: First and foremost budget. The Hive is bootstrapped. I wanted it to be budget friendly so a lot of thrifting went into designing it. I definitely did not want it to just be an Ikea space that felt very robotic and drone like. I wanted a creative space that was also comfortable. I mixed and matched a lot of stuff that I had collected over the years with Ikea, Target, thrift stores like Jinxed and Goodwill. So I really like that eclectic design. In terms of the rest of the space, I really wanted it to be like you were entering a really cool girlfriend's apartment and working out of that type of space. I think that a a lot of female entrepreneurs are already use to working out of their friend's apartments. So I wanted to emanate that but also create a professional space for them to meet with their clients. Really quirky but thrifty and fun. 

FP: Tell me about the piece that hangs that reads "The Hive."

MA: That was created by Aubrie Costello. She is awesome. I have seen her work and I definitely wanted her to be involved somehow to create silk graffiti for The Hive. At first I wanted a saying. Something inspirational for female entrepreneurs. But then I realized the best thing would be just to have "The Hive" written. It has been the best branded piece I have had here in the space.

FP: What do you seek in your own work environment?

MA: I love natural sunlight. It is good to work in a room with windows. So The Hive has amazing windows and light which is why I loved this space in the first place. I also love organization. I can't work if my desk is a mess. I have to organize it or clean it or just hide it. 

FP: How do you organize yourself?

MA: When it gets to the point of no return, I start digging in. I deal with it. I got a really good piece of advice from a friend who said, "You can have a lot of stuff, but keep it in a way where people can't see it." I got this great storage ottoman from Geekadelphia. They bought that for us as a gift so I hide a lot of crap in there. I like things that have a multipurpose function that look great but you can hide clutter in. There are a lot of nooks and crannies here that hide stuff. 

  • a: "We have cold brew delivered to The Hive by this great local company Coley Coffee." 
  • b: Iphone case by Ban.do.                                                                                                                                             
  • c: Jumbo sticky notepad and pen by Poppin. "I love having a jumbo sticky notepad right by my side because it is the perfect size for my ideas."                                                                                                                          
  • d: "This phone was a gift from our Director of Communications, Sara Kelly. I love having it by my side because it makes the place feel little fancier."                                                                                                                                  
  • e: Canon 6D Camera.

INTERVIEW: A Dancer Turns Opera On Its Head

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Photo by: Simon Pauly

On the other side of the world, the handsome Reed Luplau started dancing when he first began walking. “I am from Perth, Australia. My mom is a dance teacher there. I was dancing when I started walking because that is all I really knew. I went to an Australian Ballet School. I then danced in Sydney and then moved to New York City five years ago.”

Luplau’s dancing has now brought him to Philadelphia, landing him a starring role in Opera Philadelphia’s East Coast premiere of Oscar, an opera about the life of Oscar Wilde. But wait, a contemporary ballerino with a starring role in an opera? You read right. Luplau never sings or speaks in the piece, but dances the important role of Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas, Oscar Wilde’s illustrious lover.

“I hated ballet when I was a young kid,” he told me over a Gibraltar in a comfortable corner at La Colombe in Rittenhouse. “I use to think it was very effeminate. It wasn’t until I was 15 when I saw the West Australian Ballet do a production of Coppelia. I asked myself, what is this? You can actually dance professionally? I got addicted to ballet after that point. I trained for years. It really is the basic foundation of dance and for any technique you want to do.”

Since moving to New York City, Luplau has worked with Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and Stephen Petronio Company. He got involved with Oscar after director Kevin Newbury saw him in the independent feature film, Five Dances. “At the time they knew they wanted a dancer for the role of Bosie but they needed a dancer with acting experience. Kevin saw me in the film and thought I should come in for the audition. I ended up booking it. We started in Santa Fe in the summer of 2013. But we didn’t know how far to push this. Where the line was. How far should we go?”

“Opera can have such a pretentious audience,” Luplau candidly told me. “It is very regal. But the story here is very dark and sinister. What Oscar went through is very visceral and human. In Santa Fe, we made it very ethereal and very fairy like to tell the story. Here in Philadelphia, we made it more real. See it for what it is and if people don’t like it, we are at least doing something. And if people love it, we are still doing something real.”

Oscar’s Philadelphia premiere has opened to mixed reviews like Luplau predicted. In a review titled “‘Oscar’ too often forgets its opera”, David Patrick Stearns of the Inquirer wrote, “The volatility of Wilde's relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas is sidestepped by having Douglas portrayed as a dream-like non-singing dancer.” However, Bill Chenevert from PhillyNow wrote, “The first half of the show is all about the way that Wilde’s relationship with the beautiful Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas (performed stunningly through dance by Reed Luplau) puts Wilde’s life in danger.”

Photo credit: Kelly & Massa.

Luplau dances the role of Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas or Bosie, an illustrious lover of Oscar Wilde’s whose affair with him began in 1891. “Bosie is a little brat. He comes from money. His dad was the Marquess of Queensberry. His Dad was strict and never let anything get in his way. Oscar was married with two kids at the time and having this affair with Bosie. It ended up being this love affair for six or seven years. Bosie’s father didn’t like that and took Oscar to court. It was Bosie’s influences on Oscar that brought him to that time of weakness. He was an important part of his fall.”

Bosie gets shirtless in scenes with Oscar, played by countertenor David Daniels that get hot and heavy for an opera. “First day of rehearsals was interesting. Bosie and Oscar had such an intimate connection. So first day of rehearsal we had to take that leap of getting to know each other. We kiss a few times on stage.”

Photo credit: Kelly & Massa.

I asked Luplau if Bosie is the antagonist of the piece. “Very much so,” he responded. “The reason why they made Bosie a dancer is a lot of the times I appear in Oscar’s mind because of timing. Bosie was gone and left for France by the time Oscar was sent to prison. They wanted this character to lurk in the shadows. I come in and out. For me, it is extremely fun and challenging.  There is a sweet side to Bosie, too. But it is fun to play a little shit sometimes,” he laughs.

Luplau has a special affinity for Philadelphia. It is here where he fell in love with fellow dancer Anthony Bacconi in 2012. “We started dating when we were on tour here in Philadelphia. He had just joined the company. When you are rooming with someone, you spend time with them.  Because I am not from this country I wanted to do all the historical sites like Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. We ended up spending a lot of time together, became good friends, and then started dating.”

Luplau is still writing his love story, and he believes that people will attend Oscar for the love story offered there. “Not just gay people. People in general should come and see that it is another kind of love story. A real one. I think they were in love and they wouldn’t have done what they did if they weren’t.”

Members of the LGBT community will have a special opportunity to attend the opera this Friday when they host an Out at the Opera evening in conjunction with the William Way Community Center. The William Way will host a wine and cheese mixer early Friday evening. Then, Opera Overtures at the Academy of Music will feature Michael Bolton, Opera Philadelphia’s Vice President of Community Programs chatting with Reggie Shuford, Executive Director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. They'll discuss the powerful legal issues surrounding homosexuality in Oscar Wilde’s time versus today.

Does Luplau still think ballet is feminine? “If you are doing a classic ballet like Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake, the princes are so manly and need you to dance like a man,” he answers. “Those roles need that really prince like stature. I think ballet can be very masculine. Just look at the bodies.” 

Oscar has three more performances this week before it closes. For a special discounted rate to Friday's Out at the Opera, use the promo code PRIDE. when purchasing tickets.