Sunday, September 30, 2012

Phillip Lim's 'Kill The Night' comic book! The most fashionable comic ever!



I finally got my copy of Phillip Lim's 'Kill The Night' in the mailbox. I am not sure if it's suppose to be any good but couldn't hurt to get a copy since it was free. I ordered a copy during Fashion Week and it looks like you can still get a copy on the website now! It's pretty thin, I can probably finish it in 1 minute! Not too sure if I want to take it out of its cellophane wrapper yet...


Pictures from the weekend are coming up. You have seen some on my instagram, if not, follow moi!

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Project Pop Up New York City- Of a kind- Story - drinks with White Pike Whiskey [Events]

As we were walking. Like straight out from a Batman movie
First-of- a-kind program! Project Pop Up NYC- at Story. 

The second event of the night was held at Story, a permanent 2000 square foot 'pop-up' store located right by the High Line in Chelsea. Best described on their website: "STORY is a retail space that has the point of view of a magazine, changes like a gallery and sells things like a store.Every four to eight weeks, STORY will change out all its merchandise, design, fixtures and reinvent the store around a different story-based theme". Cool, non?

We were there to celebrate with Of A Kind as they were one of the winners of Project Pop-Up NYC which allowed them to sell their goodies at 100% profit in the store alongside other great innovative New York-based businesses including 2 other retailers and 8 technology companies.



of a Kind displaying their merchandise from their online store


These pants from Outlier look comfy as they are very stretchy and guess what? Take a look!

4Season pants from Outlier shed rain and dirt, resists wear and tear.

Made in NYC of course!
Ernest Alexander bag for women!

Does this look cool? RK New York bag curated by Ahalife

One of the treats of the night was not only seeing the merchandises in person, meeting the designers although I think they should have had a name tag or something to let us know who they were but also drinking the free drinks provided by White Pike Whiskey. They offered three types of drinks on the house and the most memorable one for me was the Pickelback shots (A shot of Whiskey followed by pickle brine). Lamso hyped it up for me since she heard about it from a friend so we just had to try one. And let me tell you this, I rarely take straight up alki unless someone tells me that it's absolutely something to try. I have taken shots of pure alcohol (Everclear 95% strength alcohol- warned not to drink it straight) when I was a teenager because someone told me that I should try it at least once in my life. I survived because I was young but if I took that now, I might just pass out and not remember anything.
Anyway, so we took one shot and it hit me almost instantaneously but instead of feeling drunk, it felt almost like a high. It was great and my mouth already missed the taste of pickle brine but I knew I couldn't take another...for now. Usually, when I'm tipsy, I feel tired and sleepy but I felt a high. I told myself that It's got to be really good whiskey. As we were about to leave, we told ourselves that we had to take one last shot before leaving. I thought I would stumble around after that but it went down smoothly and I was tipsy but not sick. We both agreed that it was goddamn good alcohol we just had!


3 drinks: White Derby, Bloody Mary and Pickleback shots!
Yesterday's bad but good idea! Pickleback shots !

Good idea #1

Good idea #2

We then headed to Spice Market for a late din din [to be followed here]


@BoConcept: Free sushi, yoga and massages! [NYC Events]

Lady Gaga art at BoConcept on Madison Ave

On Thursday evening, Lamso and I went to check out a couple of free events happening in the city. First, there was this healthy lifestyle event at BoConcept at 105 Madison Avenue.  There were free vegeterian makis, various choices of refreshments, hula hoops, free yoga classes by Sangha House and  free chair massages.

It's the first time Danish company BoConcept has thrown an event like this and if they do decide to organize another event, I hope they can be a little bit more organized and have a better marketing ploy. We felt lost when we first walked into the store and wasn't even sure what was happening.  I went there specifically for a massage. I needed one. The disappointing part of it was that there was only one masseuse on hand and by the time I  found out about a sign up sheet which suddenly appeared, there were already ten people signed up even if we were one of the first ones to arrive AND had asked about it. I thought I was already waiting in line after telling the masseuse we were next. Anyway...moving on. 

Store owner Niki Cheng was on hand overlooking the spectacle but then changed into some stretchy attire to learn a few moves with the professional yogis. A couple of kids and ladies were hula hooping but I'm not sure if guest knew they could get 'sweaty with it' and join in the fun. I missed the part on RackedNY's post about free yoga classes being offered so we didn't come prepared. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the refreshments, sushis, looking at the human tower yogis and looking at some of the cool furnitures in the store described essentially  as "Affordable luxurious, contemporary and modern furniture and interior decorations". We then moved on to our next event in Chelsea... [to be followed here]



Various refreshments served..




Free Lolë elastic balls, tote bags up for grabs!
Free back rubs

Yoga demo by Sangha House and free classes offered!

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

MY BEAUTY "I need these" LIST [Sephora]

My most basic beauty products I use. I had an eyeliner too but I don't know where it is now.
From left to right: Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer, Kevin Aucoin mascara, Dior 5 color eyeshadow and Laura Mercier concealer.

I don't think that I own a lot of beauty products and if you think I do, it is due to an accumulation of all my old makeup which I haven't thrown out in the past few years even after moving from country to country to country. I just dragged that old mascara that I rarely wear around because it smells like roses (Anna Sui's voluminous mascara). I should empty my makeup bag one day and show it to the world and you will laugh! Ok, I do have many current beauty products that are not expired. I buy at most one lipstick every year or two (I bought this Chanel liptsick in May). I buy one tube of mascara per year because that actually runs out or dries to the point I cannot use it anymore. And then I bought this NARS Multiples stick in March to replace this blush I had for a reeeeally long time which I did not throw out yet! I should test it in the lab for fungal growth right?

"6 months shelf life for a mascara? 1 year for foundation? 1 year lipstick.."

I don't follow any of those petty rules but I know I should. I'm still happily using my DIOR 5 couleurs INCOGNITO eyeshadow palette I purchased with my Pharmaprix (equivalent of Duane Reade) points back in Montreal in 2008? Booya!

So the point of this post was to mention that I am running out of my Kiehl's Creme de Corps whipped body buttah and I've gone through two tubs of it for over a year now. I have decided that it is time to move on to better moisturizing things. I dread changes because you always stumble upon undesirables before finding your true love...body lotion. I was visiting Aussie brand Aesop the other day and tried some of their body lotions. They are really expensive but good thing I didn't like the scents so I gladly walked away buuut not before taking a buncha samples with me though. It smells better when it's free! Also, a large bottle of Aesop body lotion is $95 so my little samples are gold.

As your may or may not know, I have become a fan of Josie Maran's Argan oil skincare line and looked to the collection to find that she indeed has whipped body lotion. It is only available online on Sephora.com (I want the free samples!)! Since it is $50 for free shipping, I needed to find $15 more of something to buy. You'd think it was easy but it's not. So what else do I need? Mmmm I need eye lotion! I have been using samples or free eye creams gifted to me over the past few years. In fact, I don't remember the last time I bought eye cream or ever. It is is a high price to pay for just my eyes and I also read that Tyra Banks' mom uses good ol' Vaseline so I thought I could try that too! But I'm almost 30 now so I HAVE to take care of my skin. Josie Maran's eye cream is $65. Is the price justified if it includes 2 types of eye cream? A day and night eye cream. I didn't think I needed two types of eye creams do I? The day time one can help hold your makeup and that could be useful when I wear concealer and it would look blotchy because it is dry...So, do I splurge? It is definitely not the $15 that I wanted to spend to get free shipping and I still have various eye cream samples laying around. hmm




This is not an endorsed post! Cha-ching!

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Randomness: Creature Cups [Etsy finds]

Need an extra jolt to your morning coffee?




Pictures taken from Etsy store: Creature Cups from Brooklyyyn!


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Monday, September 24, 2012

Ze Weekend snapshots: Eat Eat Eat Sample Sale Eat! [what to do in NYc]

On day -1 of the first day of Fall wearing my new The Row wool skirt

Argh! Not another weekend of eating you say? I hear ya!

Over the weekend, I had these intense food cravings like I was a preggo lady (I'm not preggo) and I just had to go out of my way to satisfy these cravings and D was super cooperative. "If my baby wants congee, she's going to get congee!" -grins and bangs softly on table.

On Saturday, we were suppose to go see a Mets baseball game at Citifield stadium. I am not a fan of baseball but D is and I thought that I should attend at least ONE pro baseball game in my life. It is also a way for me to integrate myself more as an American bahaha...not really. Anyway, when tickets sale went over $20 on the day of, we cheaped out. Even though we didn't attend a game, we did still want to go eat at White Bear in Flushing. I was looking forward to eating some wontons after the game which was only one subway stop away from the stadium and a great motivator to sit through hours of balls throwing. I'm telling you, the craving was huge because I, for a fact, would never venture out to Flushing which takes almost an hour by public transportation, to eat one plate of wontons. I am usually discouraged to go unless we had a car! 



White bear wontons with spicy oil $4.75

Won ton noodle soup

Ten ren red bean icy milk
After satisfying craving #1, we stopped by the stadium which was already closed and desolate post game because we wanted to look for the brick D bought to support the Mets. After circling over hundreds of bricks and neck pains induced, we gave up on looking and got back on the 7 train to head to Woodside/Sunnyside. We were curious to see all the shops and restaurants offerings in the area. We walked from 63rd Woodside to 40th Bliss street and found maybe one restaurant we would come back to try called 'Fat and Salt'. We didn't venture too far from the train tracks so didn't fully explore the area. We then hopped back on the train and headed downtown to Congee Village for my craving #2. Congee. There was a long wait for a table of 2 but we patiently waited. We were supposed to cook dinner at home but I had this big craving I could not put to rest. It was since my sister's visit during Labor Day weekend and we passed by the resto and I was like..mmm I want congee but we did not go in! After din din we FINALLY headed back home but not before getting off two subway stops earlier to be able to walk off our heavy meal. That's when it started pouring and we sprinted home and... I wore white. Sexy time. We walked so much that day, it felt good.

Citifield stadium

Looking for D's brick that we did not find


Congee Village Restaurants to satisfy my congee craving


On Sunday, I returned to The Row sample sale as Sample Sally gave me a heads up that sale was now at 90% off retail instead of the 70% on the first day. I was going to check it out anyway because the reduction was up to 80% on day 2. When I got there, the stock was depleted to maybe 1/4 of what I saw on day 1. There were however, small piles of sheer tees and tanks for $10, cashmere knits for $30, pants for $20, modal dresses for $15 and more. I was going crazy but I had to restrain myself. Last week, I had my eyes on this ONE long silk skirt at the sale but did not get it. It retailed at $1,250 and so at 70% off , it would have been $375. No thank you. That day at 90% off, the skirt was $125 but at the cashier, it was further reduced to $65 for some reason I did not want to contest. It's white, flowy, silky and so elegant. I will find a special occasion to wear it and hope for a Marilyn Monroe moment. 

After, I met up with D after his gym session (he's so disciplined) and we passed by 71 Irving Place Cofee and Tea Bar. D says 71 makes him feel very much like a New Yorker (which he is) but I guess this is a local gem frequented by mostly locals away from all them tourists. 

This is also one of the first coffee shops D brought me to when I first moved to NY. It holds a special place in my heart (insert hearts here bling bling!) and the coffee isn't so bad :)

Uh oh, went back to The Row sample sale for some $10 tees!

Irving Place cafe

sniff sniff

Bedford Cheese shop: All the cheese you need

Big tub of Nutella

The Row tee :)
A beautiful 100% The Row silk skirt at 95% off...

The rest of Sunday was grocery shopping, cooking and laundering. 

xx


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These shoes ... [Charlotte Olympia sexy red pumps]

These beautiful silk Charlotte Olympia pumps are brought to you by Gary Pepper.



They were also featured in my InStyle magazine and found out they were $895.

Look but cannot touch :)

xx

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Thursday, September 20, 2012

nykeiko eats: Momofuku Ssäm bar [East village Eats NYC]

Momofuku Ssäm bar was awarded 2012's World's 50 Best Restaurants as top 37 and has been on the list for the past 4 years. Quite a title non?

There are about 5 NY restaurants which made it on the list this year including the usual pricy suspects such as Per Se ($300/person tasting menu) and Le Bernandin ($330/person with wine pairing menu). I don't know how the list is created and if they have this team of foodies traveling around the world eating up everything they can while taking notes but I'll take their word for it. Ok, of course not. Here's how they do it and that's that.

When I saw Momofuku Ssäm bar on the list, I was curious. I am familiar with Momofuku's reputation so I was not totally surprised it was on there but inquisitive because this small dark East village eatery is not in the expensive price range such as Per Se and other fancy schmancy eating places and is frequented by patrons of all stature. You know, not snobbish with dress codes. Also, I'm not trying to say that the BEST dishes in the world HAS to be expensive but it is an observation. The food must be really good I thought and well, Momofuku's owner David Chang runs 5 other restaurants in the city which one of them Momofuku Ko has picked up 2 Michelin stars and also Momofuku noodle bar which is well know for its ramen (though it is not on my top recommended ramen list).

So for me, Ssäm bar was just okay. I just know that I've had better meals. Heck, Momofuku Ko's dishes were so much better in my opinion. No review on that because no pics allowed but you MUST try it if you can get reservations! I'm not a food critique and pretend like I know what I'm talking about but I just know what I like.

The cheapest thing we ordered at Ssäm bar were the porc buns which is also still the the best porc buns I've had in the city. The other pretty dishes charred octopus and lamb, were delicious upon the first few bites but after that, the puree sauces that all the pieces swimmed in really made everything taste the same and it became blend. It's suppose to add and enhance the flavor but I didn't think so..for what I had anyway.

Bonus points for the nice presentation! Here's what we ordered, do you think we did good? Do you think that it is worthy of being one of the 50 Best restos in the World?

Ssäm bar santa barbara uni – heirloom tomato, cantaloupe, shiso

Ssäm bar steamed buns – pork belly, hoisin, cucumbers, scallions

Ssäm bar porc buns

Ssäm bar chicken liver mousse – olive berry, purslane, maitake

Ssäm bar

Ssäm bar roasted lamb loin & belly – bulgur,  lima beans, egg yolk

Ssäm bar charred spanish octopus – pine nuts, celery, black olive

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In pictures: The Row sample sale 2012! Get a piece of CFDA awardwinning womenswear! [sample sale nyc 2012]

The Row sample sale, currently being held at Soiffer Haskin from September 20-23rd, is one of the few sample sales I have been to of this size (big!) where there was no chaos and not too stressful to shop. It is probably because there were no major bargains (no $10 tees here) to be found as everything is only 70% off retail. I say only 70% because retail prices on pieces from The Row range starting from what I could find and remember, at $150 (cotton tees and long sleeves) up to $8500 (all leather ostrich skin miniskirt) and up some more. There were nice jackets and blazers, leather trimmed garments as well as full-leather jackets, pants and skirts (few pcs!), silks and gorgeous bandeau tops all resting on well-organized racks. Everything grouped by size and color. Handbags were available in maybe 5 models and are almost untouched. If you were looking for sunglasses at the last sample sale, there are PLENTY here for you to pick from and prices ranged between $100-133 (reg. $335-$442)! Leather temples is a nice touch! You can try them on and then the friendly salesmen give you brand new ones from the back. That's a first because usually you take what you can get. Once you pick one, they will set it aside for you for an hour while you shop some more.

The samples section is where you'll be able to find more interesting pieces of various colors and not just black and white and also maybe find some great bargains. They are marked 1size for most. I was able to spot red full-leather midi skirts for $120 after discount and Claire from WreakHavocNy struck out with a floor lenght full-suede coat for less than $500! I saw some great pieces for under $100 in the samples section but they are rare! Sales team said the sample sizes vary mostly between 2 and 4 but you must try on to make sure. If you're looking for cheap, you won't find it here.

The quality of the cloths is unsurpassable and expected from The Row as most of the material are imported from Italy and made here in the USA. The workmanship is excellent even on most of the sample pieces which made every tailored piece fit so well.

Everything at the sale was well organized and well staffed like many other sample sales held at Soiffer. It was a pleasant shopping experience and I always appreciate dressing rooms as oppose to having to strip down in front of one single mirror with hundreds of other gals.

[Updated]: I went back on the last day (here) when they increased the discount to 90% off and more on many items.

We were about 15-20 people at 8:15 a.m.

The line reached back to the front door 5 minutes before the opening.


All the sunglasses you can pick from. Linda Farrow collabs. 

snake skin belts.

The handbags


Lots of belts


Cashmere sweaters, knits and soft cotton tees and long sleeves are organized by size and color


She could barely hold all her clothes in her arms!


Lace finds and silky blouses

Racks upon racks of just BLACK




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