In pictures: The American Fine Art Craft Show at the Brooklyn Museum +Killer Heels exhibition [NYC]

Vase by Leonoff Art Glass of NY

Dave and I ventured back into Brooklyn this weekend as we were invited to the American Fine Craft Show at the Brooklyn Museum. The word 'fine' intimidated me since we're not fancy people who like fancy art pieces (i.e. expensive) in the house but the word craft is what got my attention. I was looking forward to seeing the craft but especially about meeting the talented artists and designers at the show. Almost all the artists were on hand and it was a pleasure chatting with a few that were present. Of course I couldn't meet them all nor love all of their creations (some of the clothes were just too wacky for me and some of the jewelry were not fit for my age no matter how much I tried) but for the pieces that I did love, I took pictures to share on the blog.

nykeiko plays: A week in pics...

Here are some pictures from my iPhone and stuff I already shared on my instagram.

As we walked around Harlem and Williamsburg last weekend and Dave blurted out "I love this city" out of nowhere, I couldn't help but feel the same way about New York. We love this city. This city is truly great and for Dave (born and bred in the city) to keep feeling the same way about his city after so long makes me truly happy that I've decided to make it my home as well.

Last week was a busy one for me. Covering the Alexander Wang for H&M launch, three Vixen Workout classes in a week (one with no other than founder Janet Jones) and deciding to see Alex Winston play at a popup shop in Soho, I made no excuse to stay home (I'm kind of lazy sometimes).  

I also started walking to work or should I say, walking towards work while waiting for the bus to pass but is always late so I end up walking to work anyway. Never having walked to work before, I discover beautiful buildings and different facades of Harlem. Now that my jet lag is totally gone, I don't know if I'll be waking up early enough to do this more often (takes about 45 minutes to walk to work) but I'm glad to know that it's totally do-able to walk 40 blocks and loving every moment (Well, the crispy Autumn air helps a lot. Not sure about loving winter freezer weather or sweltering hot summer days...)

Beautiful church on a cloudy morning

In pictures: Cheering on at the New York City Marathon 2014 [NYC]

This would be the first time we made an effort to go out and cheer on the runners of the New York marathon since moving to New York. I'm not going to lie. I didn't think I'd give a darn about watching a marathon. I've seen enough pictures of Facebook friends running marathons that I thought I would be just as uninterested in watching the thing live as I am looking at pictures of runners in their bright tight outfits. But, it's the New York city marathon and this year, we had a couple of people to cheer for. Our avid marathon runner friend, Kino and Desperate Housewives actress, Teri Hatcher (We met the day before and I decided that we needed to support her too.) A guy from our building was also running the marathon and had the support of our building's community. It was great to see everyone out there. This year, the course cut right into Harlem and right down the block from our building. The Madison Avenue bridge marked mile 21 of the race. There was no excuse for us not to watch it. It was right there when we step out of our building so I'd have to blindfold myself if I really didn't want to see anything.

The weather on Sunday was beautiful albeit windy and chilly but the crowd was in high spirits and cheering non-stop. After seeing the women's leaders pass by our corner around 11 a.m. ish, I was hooked. What a high it was to see these awesome athletes running for the win. I am definitely not a runner but seeing all these runners was inspirational and those rare thoughts of "maybe one day I can too run a marathon" clouded my mind. But these came as quickly as Wilson Kipsang came and went (Winner of the men's race! Clocking in at 2hrs10mins59secs). I blame my knee and lack of discipline but blaming my left knee sounds less lazy of me.

Here are a couple of pictures I captured yesterday. My fingers were frozen from taking pictures but I didn't care. These people were running out there in the cold for hours in their skimpy outfits so I have nothing to complain about.

Top three winners of the men's race of the TCS NYC marathon 2014. Left to right: Gebre Gegremariam, Lelisa Desisa and Wilson Kipsang

nykeiko travels: Day One in Reykjavik in Pictures

Day one in Reykjavik started when we landed just a bit before 6 a.m. Like I mentioned before, we were stuck on the tarmac for more than an hour due to hurricane Cristobal's high winds. When we finally escaped, we picked up our rental car, grabbed some breakfast and coffee at Reykjavik Roasters, checked into our apartment we booked via Airbnb, napped and had lunch at Dirty Burgers and Ribs just before driving out to the Golden Circle for some geyser action. For dinner, we checked out a local fare, Snaps which was just a few minutes from our apartment. A jam-packed first day but totally worth it!

Watching the movie that inspired our trip to Iceland on the plane: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

In pictures: Snapshots from Betsey Johnson's Spring Summer S/S 2015 "Pre-Nup" Runway show

Betsey Johnson 'Pre Nup' Spring 2015 NYFW show

Iceland was amaaaazing and it was a bit sad to leave the ethereal landscapes and come back to a bustling city with no mountains, glaciers or roaming wild sheeps in sight. But what made it a bit easier for me is to have a seat at the Betsey Johnson's NYFW show waiting for me (Thanks T.Y.!)

I was ready for NYFW but not my feet. First day back from Iceland. 

This would be my first time attending a Betsey Johnson fashion show and it is probably the most entertaining fashion show I have experienced thus far. I mean you've got drag queens, real housewives and a transgender model (from America's Next Top Model) taking the runway; Christina Milian in front row (what is she up to nowadays?), cameo by Dancing with the Stars' Tony Dovolani (Betsey's partner on the show), a dedication to marriage equality (yay!) and finally, seeing Betsey's signature cartwheel split (with her granddaughter!). All there. Am I missing something? Probably. There was so much going on. I'm happy to see first hand why there's always a buzz echoing from NYFW's most eclectic show. I wouldn't necessarily wear any of the clothes because you know, I'm married and not because I would dare wear a sheer wedding dress with furry pom-poms covering my lady bits. I was trying to figure out which items are the buyers interested in. Her clothes are just a tad too crazy for me but fun to see on the models. I caught myself giggling a few times. Some of the models were just so quirky. Actually, all of them.

Who goes to a fashion show and forgets her camera? Me! But handy iphone in hand, I got some pretty decent pictures from second row. Enjoy!

First Look

In pictures: "Jeff Koons:A Retrospective" at the Whitney Museum of American Art NYC

Balloon Venus - Jeff Koons

During our July 4th staycation in the city, we decided to check out the Jeff Koons exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art which was just perfect on a rainy afternoon. Thanks to Dave's company, we get to visit a few museums in town for free including the Whitney. We need to find more time to take advantage of that I think!

Here are just a few pictures I took from the large exhibition which astonishingly occupies 5 floors at the Whitney including the lower level. I personally enjoyed a few of the pieces from the series 'Statuary, Celebration, Equilibrium and Antiquity (especially the Balloon Venus)'. Although some of the art might look fun to bring the kids to see, be warned that some pieces are def R-rated (ahum, avoid 'Made in Heaven'). I might even have blushed a little.

There is still plenty of time to see the exhibit which ends on October 19. This is also the final exhibition at the Whitney on Madison Ave before the museum moves to the Meatpacking district next year.

More pictures after the jump...

In Pictures: Alex Winston performs at Le Poisson Rouge May 31 2014

Alex Winston at Le Poisson Rouge

After seeing her perform at CitizenM's slumber party back in April, Alex Winston has become one of my favorite artists to loop on Spotify. I like her entire album 'King Con' and there is not one song on there I don't like to hum too. Dave even found out that she was part of La Blogotheque's Take Away Show years ago which increased her major coolness factor by a ton. Her rendition of Choice Notes is very le cool.

Randomly Googling her one day, I by chance found out that she was going to do a show at Le Poisson Rouge in New York city.  I put it on my calendar and made sure to snag tickets as soon as they went on sale. I was pretty excited because when she was performing at CitizenM, I have to admit that I wasn't paying attention 100% (Busy chatting, instagramming, tagging, tweeting..you know the drill. It was a blogger party after all!). I regretted it. 

I had also never been to Le Poisson Rouge which made going to the show even more thrilling. My other favorite artist Lykke Li, performed there once back in 2010. She has since released a couple of albums, toured worldwide and we last saw her perform in New York city at the lengenderary Apollo theater. 

I wish the same success for Alex. 

Picture time!

 Alex Winston is a very lively performer. It was difficult for me to get a non-blurry pic with my point and shoot. It was also difficult to get a good shot of her because somehow, tall guys like to stand in front of me during concerts. It's almost a tradition now. Why can't it never be a shortie?

One of two opening acts: The Neighbors

Alex is one petite gal. Standing on the drum and not breaking it...

Finally some downtime allowing me to take a couple of non-blurry pics (sorta)...

Alex Winston and me

Hmmm I guess I don't have that many good pictures after all. I took videos which also suck because of the tall dude. Most of the time it's me trying to not shoot the back of his head.

Here's a picture before the show.... Do not order the Riesling. 

Thanks for stopping by xx

In Pictures: Frieze Art Fair New York May 8th 2014

Frieze Art Fair is a four-day event happening this weekend on Randall's island in New York City. I had the chance to preview the fair for CitizenMag (see my post here) along with VIP peeps, and so I am excited to share some of the pictures I took with you! It was my first time going to Frieze and loved it! Some pieces were a yawner but some were definitely conversation starters; it basically felt like strolling through a contemporary art museum except here, you can purchase the art if you have a few thousands of dollars to spare. I don't have money to spare so I was just happy poking around looking at million dollar art pieces.

Food was available for purchase and there was no plain cafeteria food served here. The fair partnered with a few of the best eateries in town including Blue Bottle Coffee, Court Street Grocers, Marlow & Sons, Mission Cantina, Momofuku Milk Bar, The Fat Radish and Roberta's! What a crazy line-up of deliciousness right?! 

Here are just some of the few pieces I enjoyed...

Yayoi Kusama