new york minute

New York Minute was one of my favorite childhood movies, starring the well-known twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The Olsen twins were two of my most admired celebrities as a child and it's amazing how they, and myself have entered the same industry. They've become successful women within the fashion industry and I admire everything they do and have done throughout the years.

Anyways, I got a little off topic but since my title was "New York Minute" being an avid fan of the Olsen twins I HAD to bring up the movie.

Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday I am blessed (most of the time) to be in the city due to my internship. I've grown up with the hustle and bustle of NYC and have grown accustomed to this lifestyle. Backtracking to the (most of the time) it gets frustrating trying to hurry my way to the NQR train station dodging smokers, tourists and people who just have nowhere to go. I used to think that us New Yorkers were really rude but I recently came across an article talking about how it isn't us New Yorkers being rude, but tourists visiting our city being rude. It's so important to learn the culture and lifestyle of the place you're visiting, because you are a visitor to a person's home where they do the same routine every day and if you just so happen to block the path of a NYC subway rider, that could cause them to miss the train they're supposed to take to get to their set destination at a set time. Of course, we don't mean to be rude, but it's important to know that New Yorkers are always in a rush and almost have no time to spare. But of course there are going to be those miserable people that are just rude and nasty every day. I hope this post didn't scare anybody from coming to New York, but it's only super hectic during rush hour when people are trying to get to work or get the hell home (like me.) I'm usually rushing at 6:00PM rather than 9:30AM because I just want to go home, sit back and relax. 

Note to take before visiting New York City: we would greatly appreciate if you could just step to the side and not stand in the middle of a sidewalk when you're trying to figure out which way to walk via your smartphone. Be prepared for the crazy rush hour of New York City if you're planning to visit! I've visited different cities and there's nothing quite like the concrete jungle.

Does your city/country have a certain culture that tourists should know about?

I'm going to Asia soon, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan to be specific and I would love to know about the do's and don'ts there!

dead end

These past few days, past few weeks I've been feeling super uninspired. I don't know if it's been the cold, winter weather that's been affecting my fashion inspiration but it's been making me feel some type of way. Whenever I look at the weather, I see 30 degrees, 40 degrees and I always just end up throwing on a pair of leggings, a knit sweater and go to school, which is such a boring outfit compared to what I know I'm capable of styling. I guess you could say I've made a turn right into a dead end.

With warmer weather slowly making its way to New York City, I'm hoping my inspiration will come back alive and stop hiding.  I want to create more content for my blog as well as Instagram and I've been feeling like I've been doing a much better job than I have been at updating my blog.  I told myself that I would put out content every Sunday and Wednesday, which gives me a push to style outfits that are post-worthy. Talking to my blogger friend, and now supervisor, @forevervanny, I've learned that it's important to write posts with actual meaning and not just a post talking about your ootd. With that being said, I want to be able to create more insightful content that could inspire other people in times of need (also what I am going through.)  Jotting down blog ideas will definitely be part of my plan from now on. 

What do you guys do when you're feeling uninspired? Let a sista know! Hope you're all having a wonderful week and Happy Easter :)

black layers

I love having pieces that I can incorporate into different outfits in different ways. Dresses make for great layering pieces because you can wear them every season; paired with tights in the winter, over a shirt in the fall, with a denim jacket in the spring and on its own in the summer.  In this outfit, I threw on a fuzzy sweater over a chiffon shift dress, which is also the same dress in my previous xoxo gossip girl post. 

Black, like almost everyone else, is my favorite color to wear and to buy. When I have a monochromatic outfit, I like to mix different textures so it creates more personality to my overall look. I mixed a furry-type texture with chiffon along with leather making each piece stand out while being the same color.

Today is actually the first day of spring, so happy spring everyone! To those in NYC, what a wonderful spring welcoming we have received.. cold crisp air with chances of snow tonight. Global warming at its finest. 

xoxo

Hey Upper East Siders. Gossip Girl here and I have the biggest news ever. One of my many sources, kay-ng, sends us this: "Spotted at Grand Central with a trench coat, cheetah print scarf, and Stuart Weitzman boots: Kara Ng." 

Do we have any Gossip Girl fans here?! I knew I had to include that Gossip Girl reference in this blog post when I decided to snap some photos in Grand Central. Being in Grand Central makes me want to just hop on a train and head to an unknown destination, just so I can have some real thinking time on the journey there. Does anyone else ever feel that way? Having the urge to just pack a bag and go on an adventure. If I could, I definitely would. If I could, I would travel all around the world. The top few places I want to visit are: Bali, Greece, Morocco, France, Rome and London. But 1. I can't afford it since I'm just a little college student with a part time paying internship 2. I still have school 3. I hate planes and 4. I can't afford it. If my life was the way Serena or Blair's lives were, I'd be flying to different countries every week in my private plane, but unfortunately that only happens in my dreams.

xoxo,

Gossip Girl

playsuits and playgrounds

Wearing this Boohoo playsuit made me feel like I was a little girl again, bringing back memories from when my mom used to dress me in overalls and rompers.  

My dad told me when I was little he took me to every playground in Queens and almost every playground in the Lower East Side. I was an active little dumpling; I loved running, loved hanging on the monkey bar, doing flips on those bars, playing basketball and playing catch. I went from being a super tomboy to the girly girl I am now. 

Being in my last semester ever as an undergrad is making me feel some type of way. I absolutely can NOT wait until this semester is over (due to my classes being tedious and me having senioritis) but it's quite a bittersweet feeling. After this semester, it's time for me to really step into the "big girl world" and it's scary! I miss being in elementary school, being care-free, the hardest struggle being multiplication tables. I even miss high school, back when I thought school was hard and when I thought I was close to being an "adult," but who am I kidding, I still wouldn't consider myself an adult.  I wish time could pause for a bit and I could live without adult responsibilities for a little while longer.

I'm almost at a new chapter in my life, let's see what's in store for me!

f is for friends

These photos have absolutely nothing to do with what I'm about to talk about but here was my ootd from the other day. I've been on the hunt for a bomber jacket for a while now, and I finally came across one that I liked and it's actually from the H&M little boy's section. There was a mirror with measurements and according to my height I am an 11-12 year old child (LOL short people problems) but I wanted my bomber to be a little bigger so I opted for the 13-14 year old size. 

Anyways, what I wanted to blog about is actually about friendships, mine in particular. The day these photos were taken, I got to spend one-on-one time with my best friend, Wendy. We've been friends since 8th grade, so it's been a little more than 8 years. We used to live right around the corner from each other so we spent A LOT of time together back in high school. However, with me going to school and interning, and her being a pharmacy student, intern and moving 30 minutes away creates a barrier between us, physically. We don't get to see each other as often but when we do, we always have a blast. We've always had that type of friendship where we don't have to talk every single day, but when we do it's like nothing has changed. You don't have to talk to a friend every day but it's important to reach out here and there to catch up and ask how they're doing. Friendships don't work if they're just one-sided, effort has to be put in to them just like in a relationship. I've come across people with no friends, no true friends, and it's sad because I can see the reason why that is.

Wendy and I had so much fun with this photo shoot, we had so much fun eating and talking, and we even had fun walking in the rain with a cheap $5 umbrella we had to buy from Canal Street. I love the fact that I can be my complete self around her and we can make the most mundane things funny when we're together.

I feel so blessed to have such a genuine, caring person in my life, super blessed that I can call her my best friend. I hope that all of you have someone you can truly call your best friend, because sometimes all you really need is that one person to turn to. #bffappreciationpost

beautiful day in beacon

The bf and I decided to go on a little day trip to Beacon, NY because it was recommended by one of our friends. We were supposed to go on Valentine's Day, but with it feeling like -15 degrees outside we decided to go the following week. The drive was about an hour an a half from my house so it wasn't too bad. 

Our first stop was lunch at The Hop, 544 Main Street. It was a cute spot, pretty roomy, with 3 separate areas for seating. I ordered something from the specials, which was the salmon cakes and Kyle ordered the lamb and kale sausage, which he said was alright. I was disappointed because I really wanted to try the scallop and pork belly appetizer but we were told there was no more and it was only 2PM. Overall our meal was okay. Across the street from the restaurant was a train track as well as a cool waterfall so we snapped some photos there.

I really enjoy going to art museums and exhibits so we decided to check out Dia:Beacon because we heard good things about it. The land was enormous, compared to anywhere in the city, so it was in a huge warehouse. Overall, the museum was okay but it was a nice, calming experience. 

Walking on Main Street, we came across cute little shops, restaurants and cafes. Beacon is a really small town, so there wasn't much to do but it was definitely cute. With it being Sunday, a lot of shops were closed earlier so we decided to end our trip with a super early dinner at The Kitchen Sink, 157 Main Street. This meal was delicious! For starters we got the brisket kreplach, which was like a fried dumpling. I had the beer braised pull pork lasagna and it was yummy! It had tomatoes and spinach in it so it tasted and seemed healthier than it probably was. Kyle had the steak crepe and said it was good too. I recommend trying this place out if you're in the Beacon area, but it's tiny so either come early or there might be a wait!

This day was so gorgeous with the weather in the high 50's while the prior weekend was in the single digits.  I always do my best to take advantage of the nice weather when it's winter because I hate being bundled up every day. It's finally not dark outside when I get out of work; spring is coming, my friends!