Friday, July 31, 2009

NYC restaurant week wrap-up

Twice every year, NYC has restaurant week where a bunch of nice restaurants to promote their 3-course menu for $35. They are mostly upscale restaurants that serve a pricier tasting menu when its not restaurant week. I think its still going on, but I am not planning to go to more for this summer. Here is a review of 5 that I visited over last summer and this summer:


Riingo (so-so): The food was quite plain and the place was empty. I think this might be so because we went for lunch, but even so it was just so ordinary. If I want Japanese fusion I would go to Morimoto instead.


JoJo (do not recommend): It's a French restaurant on the UES, the ambience was very nice and quiet, but the food was horrible. The fish had a weird spice, the chicken was very salty, and everything else was less than mediocre.


Vong (do not recommend): It's supposed to be fusion Thai, but I don't remember any of the dishes using Thai spices or even tasting similar to Thai food. The place was pretty but we were seated in wobbly chairs, which made the dining experience even more uncomfortable. I would recommend Kittichai to anyone who wants fusion Thai.


Crema (recommend): When you think of Mexican food, you usually think of tacos and cheap eats, but Crema is like an upscale Mexican restaurant, and I loved the appetizer and entree. All the portions were big, had the element of Mexican in every dish, and was good! I especially liked the appetizer because it was kind of like a tortilla wrap filled with soft duck meat, and it foie gras on top with a cheese-based sauce. The main course was hangar steak with a mix of corn, chips, black beans on the side.


Telepan (recommend): This UWS restaurant serves French cuisine, and they had a variety of dishes to choose from, and we got many dishes with small portions. So I felt like I had a well-rounded meal without feeling stuffed. Everything tasted great and the place was packed, but still quiet enough to enjoy a good conversation.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Shredded

I've been wanting a pair of shredded black jeans ever since I saw a picture of this Korean celebrity/fashionista RyoWon wearing some last fall. They look supercool and are perfect to complete the homeless-but-upper-class look. Then I saw something similar at Top Shop, and when they finally had my size on stock, they were still too big on the calves. I love how it is high-waist, but it didn't lookk good because the holes were bagging on the bottom. It would be perfect for somebody else (and its only $90), but I guess not for my body type.


But Current/Elliott has one out this season, and I love the wash, the softness of the denim, now all I have to do is try them on before my size runs out. I even found a picture of Lohan from Denim Blog wearing them. I'm a little hesitant because they are $235, which isn't bad at all but I'm a little skewed from all the +50% sales on designer denim...

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Lipstick Queen

You know when the beauty experts tell you, its either the lips or the eyes. I always thought, 'if your eyes are your best feature, you should always accentuate your eyes', duh! But then once you start wearing lipstick, you get hooked. You feel like a lady. Like the kind that gently dabs her lips with a napkin before dining, and then while you're not looking magically has colored lips again when the meal is finished. But sometimes you feel kind of dangerous and badass, like (MK Olsen driving sloowww, credits to Olsens Anonymous):



I started wearing lipstick last year, when I was given a few lipsticks from Lipstick Queen. For someone just starting to understand lipstick, Lipstick Queen made it easy. They have two basic kinds, the Saint and the Sinner. The Saint has 10% pigment while the Sinner has 90%, so they come in the same shades, just different opacity. I decided to be daring and got them both in same shade: red. Now that I have tried on lipsticks from other brands, I could now say that my first lipstick spoiled me. I've tried department store lipsticks that were too glossy, deceptively sheer, or too dry that my lips would start peeling. Now I only wish they had more shades, like a lavender whip color (the discontinued color I wish I had from MAC).



I also got to choose a Shine lipgloss. I got the Gold Saint and yes, its extremely glossy, but the texture is something new, nothing like I tried before. I have a feeling their main ingredient to mix up this lip gloss is one that other companies don't use. I love the gooey-ness (I know that doesn't sound attractive, but it describes the texture best) of it, but I wish it were easy to apply. The pot is cute, but not practical. I also got the Medieval - this is cool because it uses the same technique women in the way olden days used to color their lips - by squeezing on lemon. I like to wear this as a lip balm that has a hint of redness and vitamin E.

I was really interested in this brand after using their products, so I purchased Poppy King's book (which is basically about the rise and falls of her business, and tips on those starting their own business) and was able to get it signed by her as well! They don't sell Lipstick Queen at Sephora but they have them at Space NK and Barneys. I want to try out the Black Tie Optional lipgloss and lipstick this fall, but maybe just to test it out...

Sunday, July 26, 2009

American Mags Don't Cut

Gosh what is up with U.S. magazines these days? Elle and Bazaar having horrible cover girl choices...Nylon having June/July issue and the August issue is up in the air, the new Vogue issue criticized (and sales going down).
And I see all these beautiful editorials from all over the world: France, Italy, UK, Japan, Korea, and even Russia. Oh and actually my new favorite crush RUSSH magazine. It comes out every two months but is consistently great. I might just subscribe to it actually.
Anyway, July brought no good magazines to purchase, and sadly the August issues are the same as well.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Boots


My dream boots: Over-the-knee, all the way to the thigh thin leather boots with little(flat) or no heel. The kind that are tight-fitting and scrunched up, like the ones that Hayden Panettiere is wearing up there (but minus the heel!). I love the leather of hers as well, its so hard to find decent boots that use good quality leather.


I found some that come close to what I'm looking for, but not quite. From top to bottom, left to right...
1. Chloe: Love the leather, but I don't think that they hug your legs. $1,195 hmm...
2. Robert Clergerie: These would most definitely hug your legs but sadly they are suede. $879
3. Barneys Co-op: The shape of the boot and the material isn't really right, but hey its $610!
4. Giuseppe Zanotti: Interesting material (snake print) but these would be loose. $1,079


These are beautiful boots from Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony, $625.
This is like the punk remix to the Ann Demeulemeester lace-up booties.
I would wear these with black denim, cut-off shorts, or a short printed dress.


Awkwardly similar but not as amazing Jeffrey Campbell ones for $180.
Even though they are like more than 400 dollars cheaper, I would rather save up and get the Opening Ceremony ones, although they are already sold out of my size on Shopbop.


On a side note, I saw these booties in a magazine and almost jumped off my seat in shoe shock. They are designed by Cesare Piciotti, and when I went to their website I saw these other amazing shoes, all from the new fall collection. The booties I'm talking about are the ones on the bottom left. The heel is decorated with thin silver chains, which is also used on the top part to give the illusion of a zipper. It's the kind that you would wear with a smart outfit, like a black pencil skirt or a form-fitting dress.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Sniff Sniff

Fragrances I have owned and used enough to write a short review about.



Calvin Klein Be: Its unisex, hence the first perfume I purchased for myself in the 8th grade, when I was into hip-hop and thought dressing like a boy was cool. More people used to prefer CK One, but nobody uses them anymore because its so mass. I mean they even sell it at Wal-Mart. But I still love it and miss the smell, and might buy one to wear to bed. I don't know if its because I had it when I was so young, but it gives you the kind of feeling you would correlate to memories of your first crush.

Clinique Happy: Very fruity, what I wore in high school when most of the girls who were wearing perfume opted for Ralph Lauren. I don't like it anymore because it smells too sweet.

Lanvin's Eclat D'arpege: Got it as a gift, but barely used it because its so overwhelming for me. I'm usually into light perfumes, the kind that give a burst of freshness when you first put it on, but gradually wears off. If you're into heavy woody/oriental scents, you may like it.

Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue: I used to be in love with it and then slowly my friends started to wear it, which was okay because I was done with my bottle and decided not to repurchase. Who wants to smell like their friends anyway? Nevertheless, you feel feminine and grown-up when you wear this. If nobody around you wears this scent, you should def. try it out.

Stella McCartney's Stella: I usually used it at night because it smells romantic and sexy at the same time. I might buy it again, but maybe in the Sheer because then I could wear it during the day as well.

Acqua di Parma's Arancia di Capri: This is one of the five from the Blu Mediterraneo collection, and also my current love. It is always refreshening and I never get sick of it. I got it like 2 years ago and I'm almost finished with the bottle. Now they are sold everywhere, but I have yet to smell this on someone else, so I may get another bottle. Its really energizing and puts color into your day, especially when you're feeling groggy in the morning.

Chloe: I got this because I loved the bottle design and thought it smelled nice, but this again is too heavy for me, so I only use it when I go out at night. The best way to explain how it smells is that you feel like you're living in an old-hollywood film, sort of vintage but romantic.

...and on my wishlist, Fresh's Strawberry Flowers: I wanted to get the Mangosteen fragrance from Fresh, but it didn't smell as nice as I imagined it to be (because Mangosteens are so tasty). I saw that they have this new limited edition fragrance and I love the scent, so I'm planning to buy this one before the summer ends!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Making use of my LV

I have this huge classic Louis Vuitton bag that I barely use. It's actually very light and you can put so much in it, but I seldomly wear khakis and browns that would match the bag. But the past few days I've been taking out my khaki bottoms and playing around with browns.
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This past sunday for church and an interview afterwards. My top and shorts are both from Korea, belt from Barneys Coop, and my shoes from C.Ronson.
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My dog wanted to join.
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Today I wore these pants I got in Korea that have an elastic band instead of the normal zipper/button closure, low heels I also got in Korea for like less than $5 US dollars, and a KUHO(he is a Korean designer) top. And my dog appears again.

Monday, July 20, 2009

frolicking in Central Park

I took my dog to Central Park the other weekend for a nice day soaking up the sun. I hauled her in a tote bag and made sure I had a blanket to lay on, water for both of us, a book, and my i-pod. I feel like Central Park heavily populated all the time, but you can still find a quiet place to just read and even fall asleep.
When my dog started running on the grass I was so happy because it is what I've always pictured, something that she didn't have a chance to do when we lived in Seoul. But she ran into the grass because the temperature was cooler there and in less than a minute, she plopped down and panted heavily like she had ran a marathon. I took a picture of her like that because it was too funny.




I was supposed to meet up with my friends there but I had been there too long, we were both in need of air conditioning, so we peaced out before and we walked through the park all the way to Bloomingdales, because I know dogs are allowed in. I really wanted to sit down in their cafe and drink some lemonade but I didn't think they would allow dogs. I always thought shopping with your dog was so cool, but not when your dog weighs more than 13 lbs and the department store is too crowded to let your dog walk around-
BUT I would still totally do the whole day over again.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The World of Stella McCartney

I love Stella McCartney. I had a chance to see her speak in front of a small audience at Barneys last summer. I wanted to take a picture of so bad, she was just shining. You can just tell she is hardworking businesswoman, and I admire her for that. I feel like in our generation (and gender), we associate the name McCartney with Stella, and not her father. I mean, she is so legit: she designed for Chloe! She has a whole empire now:
  • Womenswear, organic line, shoes, and handbags
  • Organic skincare line
  • Perfume (a must-sniff if you haven't already)
  • Adidas by Stella McCartney
  • I don't know if this counts but she had a collaboration with H&M years and years ago.
Flattering silhouettes and color palettes that women want to wear, and you will never see fur in her collections sending out the message of anti animal cruelty (debatable).

Fall 06
Spring 07
Fall 07
Pre-fall 08
Fall 08
Resort 09
Spring 09
Fall 09
Resort 10 (a really fun presentation!)

I spent two hours at the New York sample sale today and did my piggy bank a favor by only buying 3 items when I actually wanted to buy 5. It was really hard to let go of these black satin high heels. But I decided they pinched my feet and were slightly big due to my feet that is shrinking these days...I ended up getting this cute skort (pictured above in spring09), white pants, and blue sweater. I was exhausted and hungry afterwards and decided to treat myself to a late lunch at Spice. Mediocre Thai food, but I liked how it was very casual and the workers there were actually Thai (I think). But I thoroughly enjoyed Thai iced coffee mmm my favorite coffee drink!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Nicole Richie

My favorite celebrity personalities all around the globe break down to- US: Nicole Richie, UK: Victoria Beckham, and Korea: Seo Inyoung. They are similar in that they are very outspoken, hilarious, stylish, and an unapologetic attitude. When I watched 'Simple Life' like 5 years ago, Nicole Richie outshined Paris Hilton with her craziness and wit. Everything she said was soo funny. My favorite is when she's like "I pay someone to live for me." Anyway, I am in love with her fashion style. These pictures are very old that I've been collecting.

Summer look: I cut a pair of jeans to get the look of her ripped shorts I couldn't find anywhere. I think nowadays you can get them easily. I'm also convinced she has almost every color of that Balenciaga bag...same style same size.

Prints: She wears alot of Anna Sui-ish print tops alot, and often accessorizes a tee-and-jean look with a colorful print scarf.

Downtime Paparazzi: Gosh I love all of these outfits, especially the striped top ones. She is really tiny but because of her tiny frame, her legs look longgg even when she is wearing flats.

Red Carpet: well, not exactly red carpet, but for special events she always pulls off a clean look, soft colors, and to be honest sometimes very rachel zoe-esque, maybe moreso because of the similarity in their figure.

She has her own jewelry line called House of Harlow 1960, I really like the headpieces and am excited to see the fall collection! (I also follow her on Twitter bc I'm a dork like that!)