Hurricane Sandy Victims Lose House, Receive Free Wedding

07 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by emigdol in The Huffington Post

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features, huffingtonpost, lovestory, marriageproposal, weddingvenue

Originally published in The Huffington Post

New Jersey couple Samantha and Chris Reinhold were planning to get married in Aruba in November 2013. But after Hurricane Sandy destroyed their Staten Island home in October 2012, they realized they could no longer afford their dream wedding. Then, Samantha, 24, a hairstylist, entered herself and Chris, 28, an engineer, into a contest to win a free wedding from TheKnot.com. They didn’t win, but thanks to the generosity of local wedding vendors and wedding gown designer Amsale, they married on Saturday in a free wedding at the Affinia Manhattan Hotel. Here, Samantha and Chris tell their story to HuffPost Weddings’ Erin Migdol.

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Harry Potter Proposal Features Quidditch Box, Hidden Ring

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by emigdol in The Huffington Post

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features, huffingtonpost, marriageproposal, movies, weddingring

Originally published in The Huffington Post

Rachel Allison knew her girlfriend, Jaquie Richards, had been a “Harry Potter” fan since 4th grade. So when Allison decided to pop the question, she turned to Hogwarts for some proposal inspiration.

Allison enlisted the help of artist Tony Albano to create a “Quidditch box,” filled with the bat and four balls necessary to play the mythical game featured in the “Harry Potter” series. She hid an engagement ring inside one of the balls, the “Golden Snitch,” then surprised Richards.

Allison told HuffPost Weddings that although she has never read the “Harry Potter” books, the movies have been a major source of entertainment for her and Richards since they first began dating in 2010. She was inspired to center her proposal around Quidditch because she wanted the phrase “I open at the close,” which is inscribed on the Snitch and signifies endings and new beginnings, to factor into the proposal. Continue reading →

Mother and daughter make dentistry a family affair

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by emigdol in The California Aggie

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Davis, features, profile, thecaliforniaaggie

Originally published in The California Aggie

Mother and daughter dentist duo Jeanne and Kelly Brewer remember the first time they ever worked together. One of Jeanne’s patients needed to have a root canal over a weekend, and with no dental assistants available to help with the procedure, Jeanne offered the job to her daughter, Kelly.

Kelly was seven years old.

“When you’re doing root canal work the person who’s assisting you suctions next to you. She wanted to make sure it was at a perfect angle, and she sat there just doing it perfectly because that was her big job. She was great,” Jeanne said.

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Poets spit sick rhymes and lines

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by emigdol in The California Aggie

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Originally published in The California Aggie

It’s Tuesday night, and the Memorial Union’s Griffin Lounge has been transformed. The chairs are facing a small stage outfitted with three microphones and bright lights. Crowds of students and locals sporting horn-rimmed glasses and sweatshirts rush to find seats as a DJ spins ’90s hip hop music. A voice rises above the din.

“I was baptized in the spit left on floors of abandoned stages/See my holy books rhyme/And five times a day, I lick the ink off their pages/Inject the black ammunition deep into my veins and/Now my tongue is stained with poetic cadence,” recites SickSpits member Mannie Rizvi, hands gesturing to the beat. “Rhymes tight because I’m Abel but they’re sinful like I’m Cain and/I’m bleeding rivers of lyrical drops/Leaving your heavens looking like wastelands.”

As she reaches the breathless finish, the crowd chants back, “Spit sick, po-ET!”

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The ins and outs of getting inked

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by emigdol in The California Aggie

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Originally published in The California Aggie

If there’s one thing you learn when talking to a tattoo artist, it’s that people want some very unique drawings on their bodies. Very, very unique.

“I did one of Wolverine riding My Little Pony,” said Urban Body Body Piercing and Tattoo artist Chris Yoakum as he carefully inked a horse and horseshoe on a young woman’s shoulder. “That seems random but it’s much less interesting if you know the story – the guy got it to commemorate his kids.”

Judging by the steady stream of customers that filled the colorful Davis shop last Saturday, it would seem that lots of people have a story they want to commemorate. Tattooing is more popular than ever, with kids as young as 18 and adults as old as 70 choosing to get inked. And that isn’t likely to change anytime soon, said Sacred Tiger Tattoo owner George Hernandez.

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What’s your word?

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by emigdol in The California Aggie

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Originally published in The California Aggie

Junior English and political science double major Kate Henka was tired of being called a “dumb blonde.”

So she wrote it on her forehead.

Wearing a dress, pearls and bright red glasses, Henka posed on the staircase of the UC Davis Art Building with “dumb” written across her forehead and “blonde” stretched across her cheeks as photographer Tommy Corey snapped away, offering occasional adjustments and direction.

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Students indifferent to the royal wedding

18 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by emigdol in The California Aggie

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Originally published in The California Aggie

Despite their fondness for London double-decker buses, Davis residents have remained decidedly free of “royal wedding fever.” Yes, that is the official name for the rest of the world’s obsession with the so-called “wedding of the century” between Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton.

Prince William and Middleton, who met while studying at St. Andrews University in 2002, will tie the knot at 11 a.m. Friday in Westminster Abbey. Thousands of tourists will travel to London for the occasion, and Britons will enjoy a four-day holiday.

Two billion viewers are expected to catch the action on television, if they’re not one of the 1,900 invited guests. The wedding will be broadcast live on BBC America and YouTube at 3 a.m. and repeated on network television in the evening. But don’t expect many UC Davis students to tune in – many claim they’re just not that interested.

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UC Davis, the sitcom

18 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by emigdol in The California Aggie

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Originally published in The California Aggie

After spending a year living in the UC Davis residence halls, Stephen Leung thought the experience would be the perfect material for a sitcom.

Fast forward a year. Three episodes of “Freshman Fifteen,” the only known sitcom filmed in Davis by UC Davis students, are now on YouTube.

“Everyone was really close to each other [in the dorms] so I got this idea of making a film that expresses our friendship,” said Leung, now a sophomore biochemistry major.

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Davis Beer Shoppe now on tap

18 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by emigdol in The California Aggie

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Originally published in The California Aggie

It’s 2 p.m. on a Friday and the bars of downtown Davis are, for the most part, quiet. But at the new Davis Beer Shoppe on G Street, a steady stream of customers strolls up to the wide wood counter to order a pint, which they sip leisurely to the tune of Irish folk music.

Owner Taylor Ramos keeps an eye on the proceedings, appropriately distracted for a guy who just opened the shop in March and found himself with a near immediate fan base.

“Right now we’re just trying to get what we have under control,” Ramos said in between greeting customers.

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Managing campus fire extinguishers no easy feat

17 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by emigdol in The California Aggie

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Originally published in The California Aggie

For Rocky Twitchell, every building at UC Davis has a number.

The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center is 125, for example. Chemistry Annex? More than 200. Giedt Hall, a particular favorite of Twitchell’s, is a merciful four.

“Meyer has way too many,” he says emphatically driving past the rectangular hall on a busy Friday afternoon.

He’s no mathematician, but there is a common denominator in this numerical puzzle: fire extinguishers.

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