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Jeremy Scott is a high-fashion Pied Piper for pop stars of all nations. The Kansas City, MO, native launched his first eponymous collection in 1997 and quickly became known for his unabashedly whimsical designs. Then, in 2013, his career took a dramatic turn toward luxury: he was named creative director of the Italian brand Moschino, whose founder, Franco Moschino, with his tongue-in-cheek design humor, was a true spiritual father to Scott. The moment the young American took over, Moschino pieces became collectors' items, from French-fry phones to leather-jacket handbags. Between Moschino and his own line, Scott has dressed a cavalcade of chart-toppers including Madonna, Rihanna and Miley. Here, Scott's partner in crime is his bestie CL, a 24-year-old megastar in her native South Korea who's got her sights set on changing perceptions and inspiring girls worldwide. We sat with them after their shoot to talk about the endless iterations of luxury -- high and low, East and West, then and now.

Jeremy, can you tell me who CL is and why you love her?

Jeremy Scott: To me, she is one of my best friends; to her fans, she's the Baddest Female. So yeah, it's a dichotomy. I know she also has an image, and I'm aware of the image -- I contribute to the image. But when I think of her, I don't think of that. I think of who I love and who I know, and it's a very loyal, very sincere and very smart person.

How did you guys meet?

CL: Well, I wore his Adidas shoes in my very first video, and you [Jeremy] saw it on the Internet, and someone from Adidas contacted you?

Scott: I was coming to Korea for Adidas and I said, "I want to do a shoot with her. I want to meet her. I love her. I'm obsessed!" They set up a photo shoot for us so we could meet and do something.Actually, the first video was "Fire"?

CL: Yes.

Scott: So there were pieces from my own collection in the video and we just instantly clicked. I came dancing into the studio...

CL: We had so much fun. I still remember that day.

Scott: And somehow she coaxed me within a few days to go onstage with her to perform in Korean -- which I don't speak!

CL: You were good!

Scott: And I somehow rapped or sang in Korean.

CL: Yeah. The youngest girl in my band, because we were performing at a club, couldn't come in.

Scott: She was underage so I took her part. It was a lot of fun. We have many good memories, and we've had many, many, many since then -- not with me onstage though!

Jeremy, what is your definition of luxury?

Scott: For me, the things that are luxurious are things that are rare. It's not really about how much something costs or whether it's "limited edition"; it's about how special it is. It could be a mass-produced thing. It doesn't need to be expensive. And maybe that's why it has changed: it's not so much about the most expensive materials and the most expensive workmanship and the most amount of time you can say something took to make. Of course I realize that's not a bad thing, but it can also just become heavy and old. You can make something that's very "all that" but still ugly and not special.

Do you see changes in the luxury market in terms of newer designers moving in?

Scott: I never really thought about it. There's obviously a younger crop of designers, and I think that means a younger crop of clientele. There's a generational shift of what someone 20-35 thinks is special, beautiful, rare, unique and luxurious versus someone who's 45, 55, 60, who's been that customer for a while. That's why, when I make things, I try to make something that you've never seen before. Even if it's using things you are familiar with. I'm all about that, because that's iconography -- a way to communicate with the masses. You can speak to more people while making hybrids of things that are special and unique.

What you've been doing with Moschino is so fun. How do you balance that playfulness with luxury?

Scott: Honestly, I have the best manufacturing and the best quality at my fingertips, so it's just like, "I'm going to make that giant milkshake into a purse." I can do it and make it with beautiful quality. I can take these very pop ideas and then they have this dichotomy: the way they're made does follow the tradition of "luxury." I'm just giving it a new image, to a degree; a different take, as opposed to an alligator purse.

Do you feel like you need a celebrity or a recognizable face for a luxury line these days?

Scott: I have such an affinity for musicians especially. I'm not really an actress' designer. I love musicians because, if their job is to personify a part of their personality, then I can come in and help turn up the volume on it. I love that, because it is really being with a unique person and creating with a unique person, and that's why I have these strong female relationships like I do with CL, Katy, Rih, Miley. I'm lucky I have those relationships with people I feel so inspired by. I am the musicians' designer because I do things that are stronger and more eccentric. I get it: actresses have to blend and become other people all the time. I'm not that person. My design stands out, it personifies. It's like a megaphone. And I love that [CL et al] can carry my message further.

CL, as a pop star, how do you see that relationship between music and fashion?

It always goes together. But I feel full when I wear Jeremy's stuff. Sometimes it could get boring if you just wear all black, but his all black is a whole different thing. So whatever I wear, I feel like I could play this character onstage; it gets me into that zone. I started wearing his stuff when I started my career, so it's always been there.

What is it about Jeremy's work that speaks to Korean audiences?

CL: It's not only Korea; I'd say it's the whole Asian market. A lot of his fans show up when I'm there in Asia, and vice versa. I think they love it because it's just good! How else can I explain that? In Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, we're more into colorful, cute, very animated, so I think we're more connected to that too.

Scott: I feel like Asia has always been super open to "new." Maybe because there's already such an ancient culture, anything new is exciting. I feel like that's why it's always been so quickly embraced there. I do think my clothes set you apart, and that is something that is great in Asia. There is less hair-color difference, unless you input it yourself, and there are things that are already keeping people more similar, so you can set yourself apart easier.

Is Korea a major force in luxury?

CL: I think a lot of the young kids right now are looking for something new,and they want to look different. Especially girls, and this is why I'm trying to come out here -- to set an example of an Asian girl. A lot of Asian girls love being basic because it's safe. But the thing is, a lot of my fans are those girls, and they want to be bolder, but there's no one they could look up to and be like, It's OK to be that way. There's no one out here who will do that, and I feel like I have done enough for Asia and changed a lot of girls. Even if it's a phone case, they try. Girls in Asia are very obedient, shy, timid, quiet, but I can tell that it's changing, and I want them to be stronger and tell them that it's OK to be different. Being special is a luxury, and I don't think we have that. Yet.

Femi Fani-Kayode
| credits: Photo file

A former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, has advised the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to go and make peace with his former boss, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Fashola, who has been in the news for spending N78.3m of taxpayers’ money on a personal website, www.tundefashola.com, and for spending N139m on the drilling of two boreholes at the Lagos House, Ikeja, is believed to be at loggerheads with Tinubu.

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress who are loyal to Tinubu were also absent at a book launch held in honour of Fashola last week, fuelling speculations that all was not well between Tinubu and Fashola.

However, Fani-Kayode, who was the spokesperson for former President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election campaign, said in a Facebook post that Fashola should go and beg Tinubu before things get messy.

He wrote, “Things are getting messier by the day. My advice to Tunde Fashola is to go and make peace with his benefactor, Bola Tinubu, before it is too late.”

Meanwhile, a group, Lagos Indigenes Network Organisation, has dissociated Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, from the scandal rocking his predecessor.

Some groups loyal to Fashola had fingered Ambode as the brains behind the revelations especially since the information detailing the contract which has generated widespread criticisms from concerned Nigerians was made available by the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency.

But LINO’s Executive Secretary, Fouad Ade-Basorun, said in a statement that since his inauguration on May 29, Ambode had busied himself with developmental projects in the state and had no time in trying to tarnish the image of his predecessor.

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose

ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has canvassed for the zoning of the national chairmanship seat of the Peoples Democratic Party to the South-West.

The governor said it was the turn of the region to produce the chairman since the presidency would be zoned to the North in the next general election.

He spoke when a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed, paid him a visit on Sunday to consult with him on his ambition to become the national chairman.

Mohammed, who was in Ekiti in company with Ambassador Liya Damagon and a former Special Adviser on Political Matters to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, met with Fayose behind closed-door in Ado Ekiti.

When asked if he was in Ekiti over his ambition to contest the seat, Mohammed said it was no longer news that he was contesting the post.

Fayose, who later spoke with journalists, said that the time was not right for the party to have a substantive chairman and that the present acting National Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Uche Secondus, should take charge for the next five months to conclude the ongoing reorganisation in the party.

Fayose said, “I think the party needs the caretaker committee now rather than a substantive chairman.

“What I also wish to say again is that for me, it is the turn of the South-West to produce the national chairman of the party.

“The South-West and the South-South have had their turns and, of course, the next presidential candidate of the party would be from the North. So, I believe it is the turn of the South-West to produce the National Chairman. We have to allow the North to begin to search for a credible presidential candidate for the party,” he said.

Fayose stressed the need for the repositioning of the party.

He said, “Secondly, we need somebody who could take his time and put the party into a proper position. We do not need somebody who is trying to just finish the tenure of a former leader.

“We are now in quite a challenging time and it is not a time for someone to say he wants to just complete a tenure. We should allow the caretaker committee to continue and put proper elections in place for a new executive of the party.

“You will recall that I told the former National Chairman of the PDP, Adamu Mu’azu, that he has to go and he’s gone now. This time we must entrust the party into the hands of credible people who would not use it to redeem their names or for personal gains. So, to me, there isn’t much that a substantive chairman can do in just five months now.

“And I advise that everyone should go back to their bases and do the needful at the grass roots.

Wike’s Endless Search For Prayers

THERE is no doubt that the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has portrayed himself in recent times as a governor that believes so much in prayers as there is hardly any Sunday that the Ikwerre-born politician is not seen among congregations of different Christian denominations.

Ordinarily, clerics would not have noticed Wike as a man that has a penchant for going to church to pray, but because he occupies a position of authority, he is always the cynosure of all eyes any time he is in church.

Before the heat of the general election in March and April 2015, the governor’s level of appearances in churches was not as high as it is now.

Within the past one month, he has been to many churches seeking and getting prayers for himself and the success of his administration.

Just last week, Wike was at the Royal House of Grace International Church where another guest of the church and a renowned cleric, Dr. Uma Ukpai, prayed for him and described him as an asset to the state.

The General Overseer of the Royal House of Grace, Apostle Zilly Aggrey, also prayed for the governor.

A week before his visit to Apostle Aggrey’s church, Wike had been to The Lord’s Chosen Church, Pastor Lazarus Mouka where he also got a large dose of prayers from the general overseer of the church. It was at the Lord’s Chosen Church that he ordered that a major road leading to the church be reconstructed based on his pledge during his previous visit before the general election.

The ‘praying governor’ has also received clerics from the Methodist Church and Archibishop Ignatius Kattey of the Anglican Church at the Government House in Port Harcourt and none of them left without praying for him and the success of his administration.

There is no doubt that this coming Sunday, Wike is likely to be found on his knees in a church praying or being prayed for.

With such an outpouring of prayers for Wike, his supporters hope that the ongoing election petition tribunal will rule in his favour.

Justice Folahanmi Oloyede

The National Judicial Council has issued a query over allegation of amorous scandal against a judge in the Osun State judiciary, Justice Olamide Oloyede, who initiated a petition calling for the removal of the state Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola.

The NJC issued the query dated July 28, 2015 and with reference number, NJC/S.29/HC.OS/16/1/55, against Justice Oloyede upon a petition by a mother of four, Mrs. Emily Richard-Obire, who accused the judge of cohabiting with her (Richard-Obire’s) husband.

Oloyede came to prominence recently after she submitted a petition to the Osun State House of Assembly calling for the removal of Aregbesola on the grounds of his alleged financial misappropriation.

But Richard-Obire had stated in her petition dated July 13, 2015 that she only “recently” discovered that the judge had been having an affair to the detriment of her (Richard-Obire’s) matrimonial home since 2011.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the NJC, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who personally signed the query, directed Justice Oloyede to respond to the query within 14 days of receiving it.

A copy of the query obtained by our correspondent on Monday was issued to the judge through the Osun State Chief Judge, Justice O.A Ojo.

It was entitled, ‘Re: Petition against Justice Olamide Oloyede of the Osun State Judiciary’ and reads thus, “I forward herewith a petition dated July 13, 2015 against you by one Mrs. Emily Richard-Obire on the above subject matter. The petition speaks for itself.

“I shall be glad to have your comments within 14 days from the date of your receipt of this letter.”

It could not be ascertained on Monday if Oloyede had responded to the query.

Richard-Obire alleged in her petition that the judge’s relationship with her (the petitioner’s) husband was threatening her 23-year-old marriage which had produced four children, one of whom is suffering from autism and Down’s Syndrome.

In the petition addressed to Justice Mohammed, the petitioner alleged that her husband, Mr. Richard Obire, moved out of their matrimonial home in Lagos since 2011 and often travelled to Osogbo, the Osun State capital to cohabit with the judge.

She said her husband and Justice Oloyode were both adherents to Grail Message and must have met in one of their meetings.

According to her, the relationship between her husband and the judge had got to the extent that the judge’s official car was now in permanent custody of Obire.

Urging the NJC to restrain Justice Oloyede “from further acts of having an affair with my husband,” Richard-Obire expressed fear that if something urgent is not done, the judge might finally “snatch” her husband eventually and finally abdicate his responsibilities.

The petition read in part, “I am afraid that if something urgent is not done, Justice Oloyede may finally snatch my husband and he may eventually and finally abdicate his responsibilities. I have evidence to the effect that she has been addressing my husband as her husband and also my husband addresses her as ‘my beautiful wife’ knowing full well that there is subsistence of marriage between us.

“I urge you to use your good offices to restrain Justice Olamide Oloyede from further acts of having an affair with my husband.”

Blessing Okagbare

Sydney 2000 Olympic Games men’s 4x400m gold medallist Clement Chukwu has lent his support for Blessing Okagbare, despite the Nigeria medal hopeful coming last in the final of the women’s 100m event at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing on Monday.

Double Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who beat Okagbare to second place in the semi-finals, retained her world 100m title in blistering fashion at the Bird’s Nest, holding off Dafne Schippers (Netherlands), to win in 10.76 seconds.

Jamaican Natasha Morrison and Okagbare (both 11.02), were way behind the crowd, as they finished seventh and eighth respectively.

“She gave her very best; unfortunately her best was not good enough to earn her a place on the medal podium. I’m not in a good position to criticise her because I have been there before. It’s not as easy as we think,” Chukwu said.

Okagbare is Nigeria’s only athlete with a realistic chance of claiming a medal at the IAAF Championships. Chukwu said the Athletic Federation of Nigeria contributed to the situation, by not encouraging young athletes.

He cited the issue of up-and-coming triple jumper Olumide Olamigoke, who got a wild card to compete in Beijing but was reportedly dropped by the AFN.

The US-based ex-athlete stated, “This is a good time to raise the issue of the invited triple jumper that was frustrated by the AFN. The opportunity given to this kid was stolen from his very eyes. Now tell me, how does a country encourage its young athletes? This is mismanagement at its best.”

Amelia Via MPL-Studios
Jessie Rogers Fingering Herself
Sabrina Petrarca Via BellaClub
Anna Drijver from Smoorverliefd
Miley’s GF Stella Maxwell Purple Pantie Peek
Mila Flashing on a Jog
Very sexy nude archers
Lyla Ashby strips out of her business attire
Lacey Banghard Geek Girl
Jaw-dropping In Adriana Sephora Bitsy Bikinis
Jenna In The Bedroom
Pattycake Team Pink
Lela Star Strip Off Red Dress
Carrie Lachance via Carrie LaChance Official
Danielle FTV Enjoying a Bubble Bath!
Alison Tyler – Seductive Lady in Red

Dannika Daisy has a very nice unique look, and I myself like it very much.

Holly Peers is Seriously Straining Swimsuits with Zoo Magazine

Holly Peers is one of our all time favorites here at Your Daily Girl, so we look forward to every post we get of hers. As great as this is, I am pretty sure it’s just a collection of previous shoots, but who cares, their pretty great.

Luisa Grisales for SoHo Magazine Colombia

Luisa Grisales is pretty damn sexy, and personally I’m pretty happy I have now discovered her, because I would like to really get to know her.

Rhian Sugden and Mellisa Clarke sexy for Page 3

Rhian Sugden and Mellisa Clarke might not actually be together in a shoot, but add them together into the same post, and you have yourselves a pretty awesome day.

Monday Hot Links

Busty Fitness Girl Samantha Kelly
Amber gets all naked, and kinky on the floor
Little Caprice Lovely Pink Lingerie
Rachael C Lace Lingerie for Downblouse Jerk
Angela White – Seductive Nude
Hannah Ware from Boss
Busty Clara G is Naked in front of a Mirror!
Tommie Jo strips out of her red lingerie
Miabelle Via SuicideGirls
Abigail Mac’s Body Is Absolutely Incredible
Jeans Babe Ariana Marie Fucks Hard
Sabrina Petrarca Via BellaClub
Miss August – Dominique Jane
2 very sexy Playboy babes nude together
Adele plays a nude Summer Melody
Rahyndee James via Digital Desire
Ashley Benson Pokies and Leggings!
Diamond strips down nude, and plays with herself
Sexy topless blonde down at the beach
Priscilla Salerno topless down in Miami
Olivia Y in Doggy Position by Yonitale
Katie Lou in her tight black dress
Nikki Sims prances around in a black g-string
Hot Playmate Samy Jordan porn pic gallery
Bianca Beauchamp Night Shift
Lorna Morgan unbuttons her blouse for Pinup Files
Lillith Von Titz of My Naked Dolls a slender redhead from Austria
Amy Hood by Jonathan Leder MQ Photo Shoot
Sweet Krissy Pearls and Pussy
Rose McGown Pokies in the Parking Lot

Blessing Okagbare

Nigeria’s queen of the tracks, Blessing Okagbare, on Monday lost Nigeria’s major hope of getting on the medals table at the ongoing IAAF World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China, when she placed eighth in the women’s 100m final. She finished her performance in the Far East just as President Muhammadu Buhari also on Monday directed the National Sports Commission to put machinery in place to ensure that Team Nigeria win medals in swimming at the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo.

He said the directive was important so that the country can top the medals table in the competition.

The Director-General of the NSC, Alhaji Alhassan Yakmut, disclosed the presidential directive to State House correspondents after he briefed the President of the commission’s activities. Yakmut promised to implement the directive to the letter.

He said, “We briefed Mr. President on sports development in Nigeria and its retinue of social economic values.

“Mr. President was impressed with the presentation but he raised observation on the need for us to rekindle the exploitation of the medals available in swimming in order to ensure that Nigeria emerge tops at the All Africa Games in future.

“That is actually the presidential observation that we have taken interest in to ensure that it is implemented to the letter. You know that we also have cultures that are oriented with gymnastics and that culture is the one that we will first of all technically invest in, in terms of facilities, coaches and programmes to make sure we compete with others in swimming.”

Yakmut said his delegation also commended the Federal Government for being the highest financier of sports in Nigeria. He added that they sought the President’s intervention to encourage the private sector to do the same with their budget for Corporate Social Responsibility to promote sports.

The NSC boss said they also requested that Buhari should intervene to allow the Nigeria Lottery Trust Fund channel a good percentage of its resources or funds available for sports development as quoted in the Act that established it.

“The Act says the Funds in the Lottery Trust Fund are supposed to be disbursed for sports and other courses. But we are yet to see that in a good percentage in order to encourage grassroots sports,” he said.

In China, Okagbare had said on Sunday that her focus was on the title after she won the heats with ease and she made good her promise by coming second with a time of 10.89secs in the semi-finals behind Jamaican and title holder, Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who ran 10.82secs.

But Okagbare got her start wrong in the final and struggled to catch up with the others as she finished in 11.02secs. Jamaica’s Natasha Morrison, who Okagbare beat in the heats, was seventh with the same time but ahead with 200th of a second.

Fraser-Pryce won the race in 10.76secs to retain her title and claim her sixth gold medal in the World Championships. Netherland’s Dafne Schippers came second in 10.81secs to set her country’s national record while Tori Bowie of the USA placed third in 10.86secs.

Okagbare will now focus on the 200m, which will not feature Fraser-Pryce, hoping to win her first gold medal at her sixth World Championships.

Meanwhile, Team Nigeria’s hope of a medal suffered another blow as only one of the country’s athletes in the women’s 400m qualified for the semi-finals. Patience George came third in 50.87secs in one of the heats to qualify for Tuesday’s semi-finals.

The other quarter-milers, Regina George and Tosin Adeloye, placed fourth and fifth with a time of 51.74 and 52.42 in their heats respectively while Amaka Ogoegbunam came last in the heat of the women’s 400m hurdles on Monday. She arrived in 58.16secs.

Also, Tega Odele will be competing in the heats of the men’s 200m on Tuesday.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Islamic State has executed four people in the central Libyan city of Sirte, including at least one member of a rival group whose body was put on display, according to residents and a video published on social media on Monday.

A video released by the militant group showed a gunmen shooting a man, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, who was tied to a makeshift cross. His body was left there afterward as a warning to others.
The man was identified as an alleged spy for Libya Dawn, an armed group backing a non-recognised government in Tripoli, which has flown air strikes against Islamic State in Sirte.
The video's authenticity could not be verified by Reuters.
Sirte residents, asking not to be named, said Islamic State had executed a total of four people, which all had been wearing orange jumpsuits. They had no information on their identity.
Sirte is a stronghold of Islamic State, which has gained a foothold in Libya by exploiting a security vacuum as two rival governments are battling for control four years after the ousting of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The executions come after Islamic State fighters crushed a revolt by a Salafist Muslim group and armed residents in Sirte earlier this month, trying to break its grip on the city, located some 500 km (310 miles) to the east of Tripoli.
Islamic State has been trying to retake the eastern city of Derna from where another rival group evicted the group with the help of residents in June. But armed residents repulsed another assault on Sunday, residents said. There was no fighting on Monday.
Libya's official government has been based in the east since losing the capital a year ago to Libya Dawn, which set up its own government. Neither administration controls much territory.

By Alastair Sharp Homepage of Ashley Madison website displayed on iPad, in photo illustration taken in Ottawa

TORONTO (Reuters) - At least two people may have committed suicide following the hacking of the Ashley Madison cheating website, Toronto police said on Monday, warning of a ripple effect that includes scams and extortion of clients desperate to stop the exposure of their infidelity.

Avid Life Media Inc, the parent company of the website, is offering a C$500,000 ($379,132) reward to catch the hackers.

In addition to the exposure of the Ashley Madison accounts of as many as 37 million users, the attack on the dating website for married people has sparked extortion attempts and at least two unconfirmed suicides, Toronto Police Acting Staff Superintendent Bryce Evans told a news conference.

The data dump contained email addresses of U.S. government officials, UK civil servants, and workers at European and North American corporations, taking already deep-seated fears about Internet security and data protection to a new level.

"Your actions are illegal and will not be tolerated. This is your wake-up call," Evans said, addressing the so-called "Impact Team" hackers directly during the news conference.

"To the hacking community who engage in discussions on the dark web and who no doubt have information that could assist this investigation, we're also appealing to you to do the right thing," Evans said. "You know the Impact Team has crossed the line. Do the right thing and reach out to us."

Police declined to provide any more details on the apparent suicides, saying they received unconfirmed reports on Monday morning.

"The social impact behind this (hacking) - we're talking about families. We're talking about their children, we're talking about their wives, we're talking about their male partners," Evans told reporters.

"It's going to have impacts on their lives. We're now going to have hate crimes that are a result of this. There are so many things that are happening. The reality is ... this is not the fun and games that has been portrayed."

The investigation into the hacking has broadened to include international law enforcement, with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security joining last week. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Canadian federal and provincial police are also assisting.

Evans also said the hacking has spawned online scams that fraudulently claim to be able to protect Ashley Madison clients' data for a fee.

People are also attempting to extort Ashley Madison clients by threatening to send evidence of their membership directly to friends, family or colleagues, Evans said.

In a sign of Ashley Madison's deepening woes following the breach, lawyers last week launched a class-action lawsuit seeking some $760 million in damages on behalf of Canadians whose information was leaked.

Evans said Avid Life first became aware of the breach on July 12, when several employees booted up their computers and received a message from the infiltrators accompanied by the playing of rock group AC/DC's "Thunderstruck."

Rachel Tepper

Every week, we spotlight a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Today, we chat with Ashley Rodriguez, the former pastry chef-turned-food blogger behind Not Without Salt, which since its founding in 2008 has become one of the Internet’s most popular food blogs. Swing back all week for a new recipe from Rodriguez every day.

Photos courtesy of Ashley Rodriguez

For Ashley Rodriguez, the food blogger whose site Not Without Salt helped define the food blogging genre, success can be boiled down to a single trait: confidence. It was a characteristic learned early, from watching her mother move self-assuredly about the Bellingham, Wash., kitchen that was the setting for Rodriguez’s earliest memories.

“She walked into the kitchen with confidence and wasn’t afraid of it, and rarely used a recipe to make us dinner,” Rodriguez told Yahoo Food. “Things like that gave me a big head start because I wasn’t fearful in the kitchen. Never have been. I’m always trying new things and experimenting — and recognizing that some things don’t always work out.”

Asparagus tart with mascarpone and walnuts.

Things certainly didn’t work out as planned when it came to her career, although Rodriguez is thankful fate had other plans in store. She’d originally intended to use her fine arts degree to become a high school art teacher, but a semester studying art history in Italy provided a different sort of education.

“In Italy, I spent all my free time shopping in the market,” she recalled. “It was the first time I experienced a food culture where so much of life happens at the table… I just fell so in love with that feeling, and I desired to create that experience back home.”

Upon her return to the States, Rodriguez embarked upon a career in food. Rather than go the culinary school route, she began working at a bakery in Seattle, and soon kickstarted a small business selling chocolates out of her own tiny kitchen. Then, in 2005, she got her big break: a pastry gig at Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant Spago in Los Angeles. She and her husband picked up and moved to the city of angels without much of a second thought.

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