The 3rd annual Racked Awards 2013

This was my vision by the end of the night at the 2013 Racked Awards celebrated at the Heath inside the McKittrick hotel. Alright, I didn't drink thaaat much but those cocktails were pretty strong...except the punch which was so good! The winners of the 2013 Racked Awards were announced earlier in the day and could claim their golden turbans at the party. 

Just to mention a few winners voted by Racked readers:

Best New Store-Personnel of New York (which I personally want to check out!)

Best Sample sale went to 'Comme des Garçon'. (That's where I got my Tretorn sneakers for $20.)

Best New Home Goods Store-Jung Lee. (Another store I want to check out.)

Best French Import- Maison Kitsuné (It's a nice store!)

Best Online Goes Offline- Warby Parker. (I have a pair!)

The Racked Awards golden turbans!

The Heathens played up some great tunes! Oldies, classics and new songs!

3 choices of Tito vodka's handmade cocktails (with fresh ingredients, simple syrups and everything!) were being concocted at the bar. We tried all 3 cocktails as you can see.

photo by Kenneth Bachor 

A party is not complete without a photobooth! There was one set up called Rotobooth inside this mini model train cart! (I need to return to the Heath one day!) Rotobooth lets you use a rotary dial to enter your cellphone number so you can get a text with the link to your 4 pictures! It is a pretty neat idea but freakin' takes forever to dial when you're slightly buzzed which the booth attendant said, guests often are! I'm 30 so I did have a rotary dial phone at home when I was young but I thought, for the younger kids, they must think it is such an ancient but novel idea! 

And right after you finish dialing, you have to step back and get ready immediately for the shot or else you will look like this...

The I Am Not Ready Yet look

But then you get the hang of it and look like this...professional synchronized photobooth takers. 

Fobby Asian pose

We took 12 different poses

Live band, free drinks, a psychic reader and photobooth! More pictures of the party here! Thank you Racked for an awesome party!

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There was a bachelorette party part 1 of 3...

Can you guess what we did?

Yep, one person was in art major...

A nude model drawing bachelorette party!

Although my sister came up with this brilliant idea all on her own, it is not as unique as we had thought. A few Google search results show that several companies out there organize nude model drawing for bachelorette parties. My sister wanted my bachelorette to stay classy and tasteful but still include some type of male nudity. She gets full props for thinking of this idea all on her own and approaching an art center in Montreal with the idea. I personally never heard anyone do this before!

The art center did it right by showing my sister some pictures first of a couple of models (without the face) she could pick for my party. Because she was unable to pick her eye-candy of choice, the girls were slightly disappointed that the model was older than expected and not "hot". However, we all agreed that he was an excellent choice. There was no distractions, blushing and he had the perfect body for drawing. With well defined pectorals and good muscle definitions to challenge us. The model is actually a professional and is often hired for art classes. I'd love to show you pictures of our model but we were advised not to post any online for the model's privacy. You can deduce his look a little from all our awesome drawings.

If you're interested in doing this fun amazing party for your next BFF's bachelorette bash, I would seriously recommend it. I was able to find a company in New York who does this for a business and their models are natural eye candies for bachelorette giggles. It is free for brides and comes with champagne and treats! Check out The Artful Bachelorette! I personally preferred our party as it felt more tasteful and there was minimal interaction with the model which was a good thing for me. It felt like a real art class where we used charcoal and several art tools we were taught to use and we were also able to do several types of drawing methods. Some of my friends whom declared themselves as artless souls did so so so well. We were all so surprised and proud of ourselves! My sister also organized a tea/coffee party afterwards to compare and discuss our drawings but we just ended up all eating cupcakes and cookies instead :)

My bachelorette party did not end here... Once I get some more pictures from a photographer yes, a photographer, I'll show you part 2 and 3 of the party my superb sister organized for moi! :)

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