Volunteering with GrowNYC at the Bronx Zoo!

Volunteering with GrownNYC at the 'Run For the Wild' at the Bronx zoo was a rewarding experience even if we had to wake up at 5 a.m. to get to the zoo on time. Also, I learned a thing or two about recycling myself in NY while trying to educate others since different states accept different types of recyclables. Did you know you can't really recycle yogurt cups since they are a 'rigid' plastic but you can bring them to stores like Whole Foods who will accept them? Recycling can get quite confusing but you just have to learn about it and recycle efficiently for a better cleaner greener planet! The best part of volunteering that day was to see all the drink bottles being recycled instead of being trashed. There were over 5200 runners/joggers/walkers that day so there were alot of bottles being recycled!

Another perk of volunteering that day was free access to the zoo afterward. I like animals but I don't like seeing animals in zoos. It's sadness all around for me. However, I just got to believe that the Wildlife Conservatory Society who run the 5 zoos in NY have the best intentions on educating the public about the importance of protecting these animals by donating or making small changes in their daily life that can protect the future of our planet and the animals we share it with.

Snapshots time:

Dave holding up a sign

Seal feeding time

Peacocks run freely throughout the zoo

I hate zoos for a reason. They look soooo bored.

The Egyptian cobra that got misplaced last year and started tweeting

Three brown grizzlies. There was a fourth stuck in a ditch.

Does he miss his friends in China?

Totoro visits zoo too

Favorite place in the zoo. The African plains. Can you see the lions?

Keiko wears...@ In Williamsburg

I actually entered this picture for a contest. I'll only tell you what the contest is if I win though.

I didn't wear this particular outfit out anywhere that day. I only threw it on to take this picture. In fact, this was my first time wearing my new jeans for a happy 10 minutes. Now they are being washed so I can wear them fresh!

What a cute Community garden in Williamsburg

Jeans: Rag and Bone
Top: Stylemint's Lincoln top
Heels: Terra Plana
Sunglasses: Burberry

Rockin' the floral pants, denim jacket and gray purse by a..MAN!

At Union Square 14 st at around 9 a.m.

Possibly the same guy I saw earlier this week wearing shoes with heels and studded purse! Hey, whatever works! I can't pull off floral pants.

Paige Denim

I've got my eyes set on YOU! You = Aqua Di Lara Liquid High Waist bikini

On sale at The Volts, only in Canada, for over 50% off!

I should get it with a big resort straw hat! Should I add this to my collection of Aqua Di Lara swimwears which happen to be all in black or black and white?!

In Montreal wearing the Diamante in black

 In Bali, Indonesia

I have worn this two piece on so many trips to the beach or vacation. The quality is exceptional and it feels new when I wear it. It can probably last forever! I wish I had more chance to wear the Diamante though.

Guess what I got in the mail today...

The 20% site wide discount on Piperlime didn't apply to Rag & Bone but I still got the discount anyway because they have awesome customer service ;) I was also able to get them in my size. They look much better with heels so that means I gotta suffer a little wearing these...

I've concluded that fashionistas/socialites in New York are able to spend a day in their heels because they cab it everywhere which I don't! So.there!

Spring cleaning..selling my Yves St Laurent Touche Éclat!

Travel Duo Set

Wondering why I'm selling a $40 best seller product? I'm selling the second tube that came in a travel duo set I bought at an airport in Beijing or Hong Kong, I forget. I think the duo set made each tube cost less than $30..again, I forget but it was a deal so I got two. This was about three years ago, it should be good unopened up to 5 years right? or I just made that up in my mind.

The reason I'm selling this is because I don't even use my Touche Éclat anymore. Just another one of those hype product that blogs and magazines lured me to try and then end up being disappointed at the results but continue using it because you don't want to waste it and convincing myself it's a good product because everyone else says so I know better now (nope, not really)! It didn't conceal well but it did give a nice glow I liked.

Now, I use Laura Mercier Secret Concealer and love it as it gives me a nice coverage, hydrating and instantly makes me look "fresh". Before that, I used stick concealer from Smashbox concurrently with the Touche D'eclat to give the coverage and glow.

I suspect this pot will last me a decade

The Laundress- Hand washing my clothes just got more pleasant for realz!

Maybe some of you have heard of The Laundress or none of you but anyway, I have read about it in numerous websites including Refinery29, Daily Candy and Who What Wear. They are not cheap products (example: Those 16 oz bottle for washing are $19 each! That's a nice sushi combo deluxe somewhere..) so when Refinery29's Reserve had a deal going on for- Pay $50 to get $100 worth of The Laundress products, I immediately took advantage of the deal to try out the stuff at half the price if I buy $100 in products that is. I'm an avid hand washing person but without the right products, detergents like Tide really dries out your hand and loaded with chemicals that are difficult to rinse off and would not be good for your intimates such as bras and undies. I actually had this wash powder for delicates I bought from 'La Vie en Rose' - a lingerie store- back in Montreal but it turned as hard as rock a while back and I spend 5 minutes scraping powder before washing. ..not fun! I've had it for more than 3 years!

I got 5 types of products from The Laundress website:

Fabric wash: I guess it is like Febreeze but without the generic clean smell and without any harmful chemicals. I will use it to spray our couch which we can't put in the washer unfortunately but needs to be cleaned!

Sweater Stone: Takes the pricklies (piling) from sweaters and stuff that need de-piling. I didn't try it yet but I have a couple of sweaters that need it.

Wool & Cashmere Shampoo: I got to try it out on not one but three of my cashmere/wool/silk mix cardigans and by following their video instructions, the results were great. It made my cashmeres so soft and smelling good (Cedar scent). This will definitely help save me some money on dry cleaning bills which is ridiculously expensive in NY. So $19 is not so bad after all!
I will only send it to the dry cleaner when it's a precious item i.e. designer or it has become too filthy i.e. worn too many times to justify the cost of dry cleaning.I would recommend the Wool and Cashmere shampoo to save yourself money on dry cleaning and also save yourself and your clothes from those harmful chemicals used during Dry cleaning. In fact, the shampoo states that it helps get rid of toxic chemicals such as PERC which is used in dry cleaning. It will work on Down, meriono, angora etc.

Delicate Wash: I got two of these. Perfect for my bras and panties especially since all my panties are 100% silk. My mom got about a dozen pair for me when I visit. Delicate wash is formulated to remove perspiration, body oils and stains! It's also good for those delicate tops and dresses!

Wash and Stain bar: this one is more for the bf's shirt collars but I tried it on one of my shirts too that had these stains I could not remove even with those harsh sprays. Maybe the stains have been there for too long but I still managed to remove most of it with the help of a toothbrush.

They are a company from NY but due to high popularity, they also sell outside of NY, just go on their website to find store locations near you. They also have a large line of home cleaning products and more specialty products for laundry like swim wear, whites, darks, denims, baby and more! Definitely worth considering!

Happy washing!

x



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Keiko Wears @ The Cloisters

 This is not really me posing for the picture. Well, it's me trying at posing to get a nice pic of the same picture anyway, I should learn how to pose like other fashion bloggers out there that do a better job taking self picture with their tripod. In the last picture, I actually got distracted looking at a crow and a hawk flying together in a dance...

Blazer: Aritizia's -Wilfred Chevalier Blazer
Bag: Of a Kind edtion- Rachel Nasvik Celia bag 
Dress: Thrifted...no, it's from a store in a Xi lin night market Taiwan.
Sandals: Birkenstock Gizeh. I don't care how they look, they are comfy!
Bracelet: APC

Finally visited 'The Cloisters' in NY!

From time to time, it is nice to "escape" from the rumble of the city and escape into the wilderness. However, for those who do not own a car, it's rather difficult so Fort Tryon Park and The Cloisters are easy destinations to escape to and all you need to do is hop on the A train, take a short nap without getting pick pocketed, and get off on one of the last stops! Bring a picnic if it's super nice out.

A view of the George Washington bridge

Unicorn Tapestries

 

Stared at this little guy for 5 minutes

I didn't really LOVE the Cloisters museum because that Medieval stuff is freaky and too religious for me but Tryon Park and the gardens were definitely relaxing. It was nice to sit by one of the cloistered gardens and just stare at something for an hour...a bumblee bee perhaps which is a rare sighting in the city of NY!

We went to the Nickelback concert to see BUSH !

So here is a video of Bush playing 'Glycerine' and some pics!
I checked the crowd, Gwennie and kids were not present I don't think.

First off, we got free tickets to the Nickelback concert at Madison Square Garden so we were able to just go and leave as we please without feeling too guilty..Even though the tickets were free, we weren't sure if we wanted to see a Nickelback concert until... we found out that Bush was opening for them (along with two other rock groups we have never heard of) and decided that we wanted to go see the show! However, we left right after Bush performed, before Nickelback even started. I feel slightly bad but the only song I wanted to hear from Nickelback - You Remind Me- was set to be played near the end of the show and I just didn't want to sit through the entire thing while the bf had no desire to stay at all. 


Set list for Bush at MSG April 19th 2012:
1. Machine heads
2. The Sounds of Winter
3. Everything Zen
4. The Chemicals Between us
5. Come Together (Beatles Cover)

6. Little Things
7. Glycerine
8. Comedown


It was interesting to see how many different songs from Bush Dave and I knew and I realized that most of the songs he knew, I was not familiar with.  When D did some research, we realized that some songs that made it to the top of the charts in the US never really made it in Canada and vice versa.  For example, Dave has never heard of 'Swallowed' but it was much played on Much Music in Canada right? It would be interesting to see if the set list changes during his performances in Canada targeting le Canadians audience :)

x

Of a Kind Roadshow- The way I like it!

I love NY sample sales,  up-and-coming designers,  local designers and ofakind.com thus, the 'Of A Kind roadshow'-sample sale- held in obviously the city of New York, was something I was looking forward to!

I did not know what to expect at a "sample sale" featuring 30 different designers but I knew it would be lots of fun and that there would be a lot of unique non-mass produced things..things that were made with love. The way I like it!

Big lofty location

Of course, I wasn't familiar with any of the 30 brands/designers that were present except for some (eg. Erica Knight, SFK, Cold Picnic, Elizabeth Knight ) I've seen at different flea markets , pop-up street fairs or simply learnt about through ofakind.com. I think one of the ideas of this sale is to probably give a chance for clients to meet the designers since some of them were on-site to sell their goodies.

What is featured on ofakind is different designers will create a special limited edition piece to sell just for the website. I've seen some really gorgeous pieces so it was simply great to be able to see what other things these designers have to offer! It is too bad they couldn't get all of the designers they ever featured but maybe in an upcoming roadshow, they will double the number of vendors!

There were lots of gorgeous soft silky frocks from multiple designers...

So many fresh and bright colors for Spring and Summer

Organic looking leather bags

Handmade camera straps

Cool looking jewelry for all tastes

I'm glad I got there the first day since it seems like the small sizes were gone for most of the pieces I had my eyes on and some vendors seem to not have any more in stock. What you see is what they have!

The only thing I regret is not being able to spend more money! Anyway, I purchased two pieces that I absolutely adore.

I got this Timo Weiland dress from Fall 2011 retailing at over $500 for 80% off. I never heard of Timo Weiland before (maybe read about in blogs but not memorable) and also found out later that the brand is sold at Saks, Barneys, Shopbop and more online outlets. The cocktail dress I picked had a minor snag but the sales guy promised he would ask the designer how to fix it and maybe give me a discount! It was the last dress and size and they didn't carry it anymore so I had no other choice. It's not that obvious anyway..black on black!

My second piece:

Andy Lifschutz's Gaia crystal earrings made from 100% reclaimed bronze formation! They are cast from a real grown in nature crystal the artist and a friend found on a road trip together in New Mexico.

The original crystal the earrings were inspired from- Photo from ofakind.com

Arent't they gorgeous? They were almost 20% off. I tried to bargain with Andy himself but that didn't work out however, I can see how passionate he is about jewelry making and the pieces he creates and how it would be impossible to drive prices too low. I totally understand. Truly an artist.

Bling Bling

Note: He made a special 40 of a kind edition for ofakind.com which was made with rose silver and sold out quickly! They were $98 so I didn't snatch them up myself however, seeing the earrings in person, I was immediately drawn to them.

I hope ofakind.com organizes these roadshows more often! 

That's all folks, have a great weekend!

x

H