Ye Olde Renaissance Faire

Last weekend I went to the New York Renaissance Faire up in Tuxedo Park.  When you enter they say, "Welcome to the Shire!".  Yes, it's just like that.  It was quite the amusing trip and I failed to take pictures of the horrific costumes that I saw.  No, I did not wear a costume!  

I did check out some fun merchandise that they were selling.  How cute is that mushroom patch?  I would have loved to take one home with me but I'm not in a place to purchase any knickknacks because I am reserving the cash for a pair of fierce shoes.  I also ate really poorly here but you kind of have no choice.  I had a baked potato with a pool of cheddar cheese in the middle, sauteed mushrooms and cotton candy.  I hope to have something a bit more substantial up on here soon.  This week has been rainy, gloomy, and not so inspirational for anything in general.  It's even hard to put together a cute outfit! Weird week, weird blog post.  Hopefully things pick up on my end.

A Day of Treats and Treasures

I sort of (but not really) regret the "treats" part of yesterday because I think I'm paying for it today.  I have been sick with a cold the last two days and I completely ignored that and thought with my stomach and sweet tooth instead.  I woke up today with an adolescent boy voice and I'm still blowing my nose.  It was a good day though so no complaints!

The Wafels and Dinges truck was parked by my job yesterday because they were teaming up with Eddie's Pizza Truck, who's regularly by my job every Friday.  Wafels and Dinges is never in the same area I am in so this was a huge surprise and of course I had to go get some waffles.  

I ended up getting the Throwdown, which is what they made for their challenge on Throwdown With Bobby Flay - and won!  It is a Liege waffle topped off with their special spekuloos spread (made from Belgian gingerbread cookies) and whipped cream.  I added bananas to it as a free extra.  It was indeed crazy but came together really well and I think if you're going to have something from the Wafels and Dinges truck, just one topping won't cut it.  That spekuloos spread is a nice change from the standard Nutella and peanut butter. 

I left work early and rushed downtown to the Fenton/Fallon sample sale.  It was the last day of the sale so I didn't expect to see a huge selection leftover.  When I got there, there were maybe 3 hours left of the sale and there were still some good pieces left!  Especially if you wear earrings.  I don't at the moment so I checked out the other goods.  For the last leg of the sale, everything was an additional 50% off the sale price, making most items $25 and under.  How amazing is that? 

Sadly all of the bangle bracelets were way too huge for me (and most normal hand/wrist sizes it seemed) so I looked closely at the cuffs.  I picked up a pair of identical cuff bracelets in two different metal finishes.  They both offer a different look on my arm depending on my outfit and other jewelry worn with it.  I couldn't choose one over the other so I got both for $35 all together.  I only get two items of the same style if I really truly love the design and see myself wearing it a lot.  I also couldn't argue with the price.

I love the look of this bracelet.  It's chunky and is a mix of girly and edgy, which is always what I gravitate towards.  The touch of pyramid studs sealed the deal for me. 

 

Later I went to Momofuku Milk Bar with my friend Jon and his friend Melissa.  Along with a Chocolate Friar Fancy Milkshake (made of chocolate ice cream + vodka), I got some Birthday Cake truffles to take home.  They don't sell slices of cake here, so you either have to get a whole cake or the truffles which come 3 to a pack.  I haven't tried any other cake but the Birthday Cake and it's already a favorite I keep coming back to.  The truffles look really gross and I call them Unicorn Poop, but trust me they are t-t-t-tasty tastay.

Check Me Out on MTV Style!

I am really thrilled to be featured on MTV Style this week.  Obviously there are tons of extremely stylish bloggers out there.  And MTV is seeking me out for some blazer lovin'?  Pretty awesome.  Outfit posting is relatively new territory for me so I am quite humbled by this.  I've been sneezing all day due to allergies, forced myself to skip yoga and overall not feeling too cute. Well this definitely made my day! Thanks MTV Style for the lovely write up too.  Below is the little blurb on me...you can read the entire post here.  

A Look Into the LUSH Gorilla Perfume Exhibit

If you're a LUSH fan, then I automatically will assume that you are a fragrance enthusiast.  For those who live in New York City and have no plans this weekend, do head over to the LUSH Gorilla Perfume Exhibit! It's a pop-up exhibit, running from September 23-25.  It's totally free and all you need is your nose.  They do ask that you RSVP, but I think you will be fine if you find out about this last minute and just head on over.

Address: 54 Crosby Street between Spring and Broome

Hours: 9/23 & 9/24: 12 PM to 9 PM

9/25: 11 AM to 5 PM

 

Gorilla Perfume is LUSH's new perfume line created by the Mark, the owner of LUSH, and his son Simon.  The entire line is on display here and they dedicated a room to each scent.  You go up and down staircases and through different rooms that are infused with each scent.  It's like a perfume fun house.  In each room is decorated accordingly to each scent and there is a LUSH representative there to give testers and speak about its origin. 

A look into the rooms ahead...

MAC Venomous Villains Unveiling Party

Tonight I went to the Venomous Villains unveiling party at my local MAC. It was so crowded and crazy! I'm glad I did a little research on the products beforehand which made my browsing go a lot faster.  I just wanted to get what I know I wanted for sure - I can always have a second look after it officially releases, but I think I'm good.  Checking out was long and tiresome, especially because this random annoying woman was ever so eagerly pressed into my back area the entire time I was in line!

I love Disney and the idea behind this collection BUT I do think that Ursula should have been included to round out the villains.  Maybe it would have been hard to have her and Evil Queen both have purple collections.  My favorite was definitely Evil Queen's collection, which as a whole seemed the most  wearable for me.  My second favorite was Maleficent's collection because of the unique color and product range. I didn't purchase anything from this collection because I don't think I would get much wear out of it.  But this collection has all the "fun" colors, that's for sure. A lot of the MAC employees were sporting lip colors from Maleficent.

There was a Cruella display on one side and Evil Queen on the other side with costumes to put on.  There were complimentary Polaroids if you put on costumes.  The Cruella one was really wacky - huge fur coat and two toned wig!  Supposedly the costumes were rented from Disney, according to an employee. 

Cruella De Vil and Evil Queen collections

Maleficent collection.  

This was during the swatching frenzy so everything was being moved around.

Dr. Facilier collection

My loot: 

Bite of an Apple blush and Toxic Tale lipstick from the Evil Queen collection

Resort Life lipgelee from the Dr. Facilier collection

Fun boxes!

Are you planning on getting anything from the Venomous Villains collection?  

Chinatowny

Today I went to Chinatown with my dad.  First we went to Buddha Bodai, my favorite place to get dim sum.  It's all vegetarian and mostly vegan.  My dad's a good sport for going with me to places like these, but it is so delicious.  We got caught in traffic and arrived just a few minutes late for dim sum and had to order off their regular menu. 

Appetizer sampler.  I love candied walnuts over my food. 

Pan fried noodles with "ham" and broccoli.

We then went to Canal Street to get some street vendor goodies that I've been revisiting my entire life.  First I went to look for Yao's Dragon Beard Candy.  They are a Vendy Awards Dessert Finalist!

Watching them make the candy is really fun.  It's just white candy that isn't overly sweet, stretched about and has a crushed peanut filling.  

$3 for 6 pieces of dragon beards! I took home a container.

These little cakes are also one of my favorites to buy in Chinatown.  They used to be 20 for $1 back in the day, but now they are 15 for $1.  

See you later, little cakes.

Picked up a dragon fruit.

I've never had star fruit before so I got one of these too.

Pretty rambutan.

Went to Topshop and got this crazy fantastic ring.  I walked around the entire store for about 20 minutes debating on whether I should buy it or not.  I was immediately drawn to it  and then ultimately decided it would make the perfect "me" cocktail ring. I also used my old college ID from 5 years ago (sad) and that knocked off 10%.

Now it's time for me to take care of my other writing duties and rest because I'm so sore from yoga!  

I Got a New Camera

Guess who got a new camera? That would be me.  I've upgraded my old Canon point and shoot to an even better Canon point and shoot: Canon S95.  I've read so much about the S90 but I got lucky and my "need" for a new camera came while they were preparing for the release of the S95.  It's really new and I'm excited to have it!  To own a really good compact camera is important to me.  I'm very quick, always hurrying and on the go and I can't find it in me to lug around a big camera.  I don't even like toting around a yoga mat.  That's how fussy I get with carrying things.  So far I am happy with the photos I've taken while out and about:

We had a tornado pass through Queens and Brooklyn yesterday.  This is right outside my yoga studio.  Apparently I missed the tornado by 10 minutes because I was in the subway.  

Karaoke Shout in Astoria has amazing images that come before and after their corresponding Disney songs.  Disney only. So far my friend Fotini and I have have sung songs from Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Pocahontas.  We freak out each time we see the images.  I've never seen a karaoke place have this!  Karaoke Shout also has impressive technology like iPod touch "remotes" and touch screens, along with booming speakers. This is one of my favorite spots to do karaoke but I can only go for their Happy Hour since they are kind of pricey.

 

My camera case.  Poketo for Target. 

Feeling Neutral

top: Madewell, blazer: Uniqlo, shorts: Forever 21, necklace: Etsy, belt & shoes: Urban Outfitters, bracelet & bag: Rebecca Minkoff

I decided to go the casual route as usual! Since my outfit was so neutral, I painted my nails a shade of dark blue by MAC called Ming Blue for a slight pop of color.  Blue on black is a fun trend to play with.  I don't even own a black cream nail polish surprisingly.  These loose fitting shorts do look like a skirt from afar, but they are indeed shorts.

Keds and similar sneakers are my favorite comfy shoe to wear with skinny jeans or short shorts.  It's funny, I went through an anti-sneaker phase last year unless it was for working out.  I thought that the casualness of sneakers just downplayed an entire outfit.  So I guess Keds types are my only exception because they are so simple and just a good flashback item in general.  I wore them a lot as a kid.  Lately, I'm just not in the mood for a heel.  I try though!  It's just that I feel like I'm forced to walk so much slower and when I try to speed up to my normal pace, there's that chance I might eat the sidewalk.

Also, I had a great time at the Fournier Communications event that I went to yesterday. I met with the Parisian brands that Fournier represents like Orlane, Votre Vu, Patyka and others!  Parisian products just feel so luxurious to me, smell amazing and I'm excited to try a few of them for Beauty Debutante, who I thank for making this possible.

The lovely Mary Hannah of Fournier

I HEART: We Heart This!

I want to share with you a really enjoyable website that I have been a part of for a few months now.  We Heart This is a website made by two best friends, Stef and Tyna, for cool, modern women to come to to obsess and talk about things that they love (obviously).  And while you think that it may only be about things that THEY love, it's actually really community based and allows readers to get in on it too.  While they are huge beauty buffs (which I love of course), they also rave about housewares, recipes, books, comics, music, trends, and a ton of other topics.  I've grown to love We Heart This because everyone that contributes posts great photos, insights and it's just more than a review site to me.  It's really in depth but so laid back, conversational and easygoing at the same time. 

Now here is some fun and EXCITING news: I was recently invited to join We Heart This' Review Team!  This opportunity only opens up once in a blue moon, so when I found out that they were looking for new blood, I had to try out.  Soon I will be sharing my thoughts on the latest and greatest products on We Heart This posts and also contributing my own posts on the site every month.  Of course I will link to my We Heart This posts, but I also encourage you to join and become a member (free and you can also get a blog hosted there if you don't already have one) so you can respond and post to your heart's content over there yourself!  Fun times ahead! And thanks Tyna and Stef! 

(photos: we heart this)

Links à la Mode: The IFB Weekly Round Up 9/9

Working the new season with fabulous new discoveries.

Edited by: Florrie Clarke of Intrinsically Florrie

I've  been overwhelmed by the quality of the submissions and I hope you'll  enjoy reading these as much as I have. This week the issue of workwear is tackled whether as a fashion blogger you're heading to Fashion Week  or you're not sure how to translate your everyday style to the office.  The latter is a dilemma I'm often confronted with when dressing for  work. Through the links I have also gleefully discovered some wonderful  designers to dreamily sigh over the work of; these garments would most  definitely fit into my wardrobe perfectly, be it in the smart section or  the purely frivolous one.

• A La ModestReintroducing the morality within green ethical fashion
• Bachman's Sparrow What better way to greet the new season than a beautiful, one-of-a-kind statement necklace?
• Beyond FabricEnhancing your image: posture and body image.
• Boheme NoirTen ways to style the classic Chanel jacket young & fabulous.
• Fabulous Finds Girl Ann Wiberg creates future vintage by recycling materials with Trash-Couture.
• Fashezine Inspired by the sensuality of Joan, the determination of Peggy, and Betty Draper's elegance, a girl goes mad for Mad Men.
• Fashion Limbo Brand Love or I Want What She's Wearing - How brands fail to get me and what/who truly inspire me
• Grit and Glamour Staying true to you when dressing for dress code.
• Hello beauty! Review and makeup lesson video with the NARS Fall 2010 Collection with NARS National Makeup Stylist Janice Daoud
• Intrinsically Florrie Exploring the historic city of Bath in style.
• Manda Bear Fall Outwear Finds, Beauty Goodies and other Treasures.
• Mis Papelicos A first Ebay buy and what to look for when shopping online.
• Oranges and Apples A vintage wedding dress on a budget, plus some ideas for styling it.
• Poetic and Chic In which I spot the most beautiful pair of Louboutins and get inspired.
• Pull your socks up! What do you do with an inherited, precious and much-coveted family heirloom?
• Retro Chick Retro Style for Autumn: Lena Hoschek Autumn Winter 2010
• Seven Deadly Cyns Death by Cosmetics- the dangers of harmful ingredients in our beauty products and what you should look out for.
  
• The Coveted What to Wear to NYFW
• The New Professional How high is too high for heels in the office?
• Wit & Whimsy Designer on the Rise: Whitney Pozgay

SPONSOR: New @ Shopbop: Cosabella - Dannijo - Houlihan Cargos - T-Bags - BE & D