nykeiko shops: Catherine Deane dresses

I've cleaned my closet to make space for two new dresses. I haven't bought a dress in a while now. I sold a couple of dresses on eBay and donated two other dresses including one purchased over ten years ago that just needed to go (actually, I'm donating them to my sister the next time I visit her.) Husband probably wants me to donate a bag full but baby steps honey, baby steps.

My #TBT=#ThrowbackTravels #36: Bali, Indonesia

Monkey see, monkey don't do. Monkey just wants my food.

nykeiko plays: Quintessential New York

There are literally hundreds of spots in Central Park where you can capture the perfect picture and one of them is by the Jackie Onassis Reservoir. Any time of the day is nice but at sunset, it’s one for the books. This picturesque landscape, to me, is a quintessence of New York city. 

nykeiko plays: Boozing and painting [Painting Lounge-Manhattan]

Rene Magritte "The Son of Man" a la Totoro

A couple of friends (two couples), me and Dave attended a painting class at the Painting Lounge in Manhattan last summer. We had such a good time, we went ahead and bought another coupon but the motivation has since dissipated and we have until end of March to book a class. Anyway, I never showed you guys what we drew.

My #TBT=#ThrowbackTravels #35: Kona, Big Island, Hawaii

That time we put on some snorkels and jumped into the pitch black sea to stalk a group of manta rays feast some on plankton...

nykeiko eats: Artisanal shaved ice at Snowdays Shavery

It's wintertime and although a nice hot soup always hits the spot, it seems like some of us (me and husband but mostly husband) crave cold fattening things like ice cream! But recently, after trying shaved ice from Snowdays Shavery (thanks Susan and Simon!) I have been craving something cold myself even on one of the coldest nights in January. We were not the only ones.  When we walked into the small East Village shop, there were no seats available and half of the customers were enjoying their frozen treats standing up. Jackets on and everything. I was surprised they would remain open for the winter but I’m happy they are.

One cat, two cats...

We have been catsitting (two cats!) for more than a week now and have been enjoying their company very much except for when we eat. That's when they hound us like fresh kills and we have to fend off our food. It's pretty darn annoying except when a little cat head pops up from under my arms in front of me trying to get their face in my food. That's cute. I'm allergic to cats but I've been feeling pretty normal with these two around. There is the occasional itchiness but it is completely my fault for pressing my face against their cute little faces cuz I just can't help it.

I've taken about 100 pictures of the cats on the first day they were around. I've refrained myself from posting them all on Instagram...It makes me fear that I'll be one of those people who take a million pics of their kids and publish on Facebook...yikes!

Anyway... Here is one of them cozing up to Dave while he reads a book. Anyway Laurie, please go on vacation more often!

nykeiko shops: Fivestory Sale [January NYC Sample sale 205]

The Fivestory off-site sample sale is happening over the weekend until Wednesday. Here's my report for Racked. I stopped by yesterday but came out empty handed. Although the deals are up to 80% off, pieces that retail over $1000 made it a tough call. There are a lot of lusty statement pieces that I'd love to own but they would probably sit in my closet for ages with no where to go.

#TBT=My #ThrowbackTravels #34: Svartifoss, Iceland [September 2014]

Svartifoss Iceland 

A very popular short hike in Vatnajokull National Park... It took us less than an hour from the visitor center to get there and needed to wait for space to get this shot without people.

nykeiko eats: One lemon a day keeps the doctors away..maybe.

Warm lemon water. It's simple and based on multiple articles, pretty healthy for the body. It's actually very old news.  I know many people who try to keep it up but not consistent about it. For many, drinking lemon juice might be too harsh on their teeth enamel (there are easy solutions to this!) or simply not pleasant (unless sourness turns your taste bud on). I have been drinking lemon water with cold water for about two years now (I think even longer). I drink it because it's my potent dose of vitamin C which I don't get enough of due to the lack of fruits we consume at home. I go through phases too but it's usually depending on lemon availability which I have friends buy in bulk for me at Cotsco or Freshdirect. I never really loved drinking it but now, I have added a new twist to my lemon water and am obsessed! It has also forced me to drink it with warm water now which is apparently a lot better than drinking it cold.

#TBT=My #ThrowbackTravels #33: Peninsula Valdes, Argentina [November 2012]

My pictures are not comparable to those taken by Sebastiao Salgado's photographs (See my previous post here.) The whales we saw did not play, dive or even moved at all. All of the whales we saw were mothers caring for their calf and resting on the surface of the shallow waters of the peninsula. I felt bad when the boat we were on got so close to them. It was quite irresponsible of the captain and perhaps have maybe bumped into one of the calf at one point or another. Despite the tourism, there is still a thriving population of Southern Right Whales that come to the Peninsula to care for their newborns until they are big and strong to migrate up north when winter comes.

I have yet to write about our journey to Argentina which was right after our hike in Torres Del Paine which I wrote about here.

nykeiko eats: New fried chicken in town at Root and Bone [NYC]

Many people think Harlem serves up the best southern fried chicken in town but there are definitely some competitors out there that are worth mentioning. I can name a few joints but one newish restaurant on our radar and creating a buzz for having the best new fried chicken in town is called Root and Bone (link: http://www.rootnbone.com/).  Root and Bone is founded by two Top Chef alumns. They opened their doors this past Summer and has since been attracting a mass of hungry foodies craving some finger lickin’, lip smackin’ good fried chicken.

nykeiko plays: GENESIS by Sebastiao Salgado at International Center of Photography [NYC]

At the Taschen store. This book is $4,000.

I first laid eyes on Sebastiao Salgado's photographs at the Taschen bookstore in Soho almost a year ago. There was a large copy of his book GENESIS on display with the picture of a large whale. I immediately recognized the backdrop in the picture, it was Peninsula Valdes where Dave and I visited the year before back in 2012. I found a smaller version of the book where I skimmed through the picture fell in love with the photographs. The book was $4000 and too big for home. There's a smaller version for $70 and perfect for a coffee table (which we did not have at the time). When I got home, I started reading about Sebastiao and found out that there are exhibitions in Brazil featuring his photographs from Genesis. There were no planned dates for New York city or anywhere when I searched. I did not follow up since then. But one day, by pure luck, we were walking through the subway tunnel from the 1,2,3 train to the F,M which we have not done for a long time and an ad caught my eye. "Sebastiao Salgado!" I squealed. It was an ad for Sebastiao Salgado's exhibition at the International Center of Photography in the city.

Happy New Year 2015! [#NYE in #NYC]

Perks of being a Citizen Mag contributor: I booked a room at the CitizenM hotel in Times Square for New Year's Eve. Since I booked way back in June, we didn't know what the plan was until last night.