My latest post on CitizenMag is about sample sales...naturally

Vera Wang sample sale

For those who do not live in New York City (where sample sales thrive), you may not be familiar with this concept. Every year, hundreds of retail brands unload their excess merchandise-in the form of overstock and samples (design prototypes)- to the public via sample sales. If you’re lucky, you might find samples that were once used for fashion shows or one-of-a-kind designs that never went into production.

Sample sales happen all around the city, and year-round with peak seasons maybe twice a year. Shoppers can expect to save up to 70-90% off retail. What brands are we talking about? There are hundreds, but top luxe brands like Manolo Blahnik, Saint Laurent, Mulberry, Hermes, Hugo Boss, BCBG, Vera Wang, and Alexander Wang etc. are all part of the action. For some of them, the queue to enter may be a few hours long and chaos may ensue inside.

citizenHsini says:

my guilt is shopping and spending money on things I probably don’t need while my pleasure is telling people how much I spend on stuff like my $75 Jimmy Choo shoes.

These past few months, I have acquired some really good stuff. I nabbed a sample embroidered peplum dress from Alice & Olivia (probably never went into production and thus, one-of-a-kind) for $50, a 100% cashmere cardigan from Calypso St- Barth with a slight defect for only $19 (retails at over $300) and sample Current Elliott jeans for $25 (retails at $200+). I even got my husband dressed head-to-toe with sample sale garbs. From past Hugo Boss sample sales, he has nabbed dress shirts, Italian-made leather shoes, silver cuff links, a silk tie and underwear; and paid less than $200 for everything. Pretty nifty right?

If you are in town and looking for some sales, you might want to check out a sample sale or two if they are happening (don’t be fooled by some stores that put up ‘sample sale’ banners all year round).

To keep up with all sample sales related news in New York, you can check out ny.racked.com for the latest with some sale reviews included! Or check out ‘Sample Sally’, which features more curated sample sale reviews.

Happy shopping!

Link: http://www.citizenmag.com/2014/08/04/shopping-samples/

nykeiko plays: Our July 4th staycation in the city ... [NYC]

Here are just a few snapshots from our Manhattan staycation over the holiday weekend. Some of these you might have already seen on my Instagram. It was such a good idea to book a hotel in the city (Thanks to CitizenM!) for two nights and enjoy the city like tourists but without the stress of time factor and the unknown. We ate, we drank and I elegantly coughed up flem while recovering from a cold (which I'm still recovering from). My runny nose and coughing didn't stop me from enjoying our staycation- it only prevented me from getting drunk like I had planned. We were faced with lots of rain due to hurricane Arthur but it was perfect for us to just stay in, canoodle in bed and watch TV for hours. 

On our first night, we did get caught in the middle of a downpour but our hunger drove us to run through it so we could try the new Totto Ramen shop on 51st street in Hell's Kitchen. The rain helped us get seats without a wait and although soaked, we warmed up quickly with our bowls of ramen. We got back to the hotel and watched the thunderstorm from the rooftop bar while eating complimentary red velvet whoopie pies, nutty snacks and chocolate-dipped bacon plus a warm cup of tea (for me). 

My picks on CitizenMag!

In pictures: CitizenM-Where to sleep in the city that never sleeps...[New York Times Square]

CitizenM room 1414

Welcome to CitizenM 

CitizenM is a Dutch-based hotel chain line that has kicked off in Amsterdam-with great success- and has since opened two more locations in Glasgow and London. Where is the location of their latest venture for helping people get a good night's sleep? Ironically, in the city that never sleeps- New York city! CitizenM NYC is right by Times Square where it really never sleeps...well, except maybe for Earth Hour when Times Square shut off its lights for an hour, yet still attracting a mass to see it turn off :)

When Eva extended her invite to a blogger sleepover party to help celebrate the launch of the new CitizenM hotel in Times Square, I was beyond ecstatic but still trying to keep it cool sorta... How original and exciting! All breeds of bloggers from New York city would be taking over the brand new hotel for one night. To keep everyone merry, there was an open kitchen and cocktail bar along; and live music performances and entertainment (live portrait drawings) throughout the evening. I could have pretended that I am a heir of a hotel owner and do pretty much whatever I wanted (except break stuff)! The goal was to do a soft opening and prep the hotel for its official opening on April 10th. The staff worked really hard to make sure everything ran smoothly and were friendly even at two in the morning.

nykeiko play: CitizenM blogger/slumber party-Portraits by Mike Perry and ChrisRWK

Portraits by ChrisRWK

We had the awesome pleasure of meeting and having our portraits drawn by Chris of RobotsWillKill and Mike Perry during a blogger/slumber party (more on that later! Click here) at the new CitizenM in Times Square!