New York à la Keiko: Weekender: Movies, photoshoots and $10 shoes

Beautiful Grand Central Station

This past weekend was a little relaxing and little bit romantic and lots me just being plain lazy. I have been addicted to streaming movies online and it has caused me to be a homebody more than ever. As Fall arrived, I took out our Restoration Hardware luxe faux fur throw (small version of this one) and can comfortably snuggle under it for hours.

On Saturday, Dave left the apartment late in the afternoon to hang out with his friends while I decided to hang back and watch movies all day (and night!) long. I ended up watching about 4-5 movies including classics like Armageddon and Gladiator, while gobbling down leftovers, chocolates and homemade popcorn with tons of butter. I did do some house chores to set my guilt aside. When I started feeling sluggish, I thought I'd make my day just a bit more productive by getting a pedicure at some nail salon 5 minutes by stroll. Haha yea, reeeal productive but it was legit since I needed my feet to look pretty for the photoshoot we were going to do on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon is the romantic part of the weekend. It was the day we did our couple's photoshoot session with Bernie and Molina. Dave and I spent a lot of time close to each other and giving kisses during and in between shoots. It was nice smelling his breath for 3 hours. We met up with Bernie and Molina at their hotel near Times Square and started the photoshoot right there in their hotel room. They then brought the shoot over to Grand Central but not without taking a few pictures in the subway first. The photoshoot was awkward at first but soon felt at ease when Dave and I just kept making each other laugh under the guidance of our photographers. Since they are a wife and husband team, they were able to show us exactly what poses they'd like us to do. That made things a lot easier for us I think.

My favorite part of the shoot was when we were inside Grand Central station. By the time we got there, we were already more at ease with posing and pretending to make out every second. But now, we just had to overcome being stared at by curious bystanders in the crowded station. However, Dave and I really don't have a problem with doing silly things in public (especially at weddings) so it wasn't difficult. I can't wait to see all the pictures especially the ones where we were in this quiet part of Grand Central under a faint ray of light coming through the high ceiling windows. The best part of the shoot and most romantic or maybe weirdest (for us) was one of us standing in the middle of the crowded Grand Central station. We were in each other's arms with our eyes closed, absolutely still as stone for about 5 minutes, while Bernie and Molina were somewhere in the distance taking pictures. We were joking about putting a tip jar. You know, performing artist type thing. With our eyes closed, it was easier to ignore the crowd but before it started feeling uncomfortable, Molina came back to let us know they got what they need and we could relax. We wrapped up the shoot by getting some Shake Shack burgers, cheese fries and shakes at the food court below. Best way to end anything really.

Bernie and Molina!

After we said our goodbyes, Dave and I went to Soho together to check out stuff at REI. It is DAve's favorite store in NY or something. He'll just go there even if we don't have a trip planned and I just want any excuse to go to Soho. After he left for the gym, I went to check out the last day of Catherine Malandrino's sample sale not expecting much based on reviews. To my surprise, there was a table with Malandrino and Melissa shoes going for only $10. At first I didn't see any styles I liked at all but mostly because there were no small sizes. But after flipping through some boxes, I spotted these Melissa+campana zig zag rubber flats for $10. They retail for $80 so I was pretty happy even if I wasn't sure I would wear these sparkly rubber shoes. I don't own any Melissa shoes and they actually fit quite comfortably.

After our photoshoot, we became really good at looking like we adored each other

I think if Dave could live in REI, he would! He's thinking about it here...

$10 for these Melissa + Campana zig zag shoes at the Catherine Malandrino sample sale

Since I was already in shopping mecca Soho, I promised to help my sister's ex-colleague ask about the price of a Prada purse she had her eyes and possibly ask me to purchase for her to bring back to Montreal. I imagined strolling in and pretending I wanted to buy a bag but when I was overwhelmed by the bag selection and couldn't remember which style her colleague wanted, I had to tell the salesperson what I was in there for. Just to get pricing and that I wasn't buying anything...yet. It seems the bags are way cheaper in New York than in Montreal but did you know that the retail prices of designer brands in Hawaii are wayyy lower? Yea. I found out while I was in Hawaii that there's indeed a difference in pricing on designer goods between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. So, for your next trip to Hawaii, remember to set some money aside if you've been eyeing a designer bag and get them there at almost 20-40% off. Sales tax in Hawaii is only 4%.