NYC: ALL THE FOOD & SHOPS

July 28, 2014

Filed Under : TRAVEL

Ok maybe not alllllll the food & shops, but these are a few of the places we visited in New York that we loved (some favorites from before, some newbies). I couldn’t list them all because then we’d be here until next Tuesday and you’d probably judge me for how much I ate, but these places were all top notch experiences. I’m still trying to work off all the bagel weight, because don’t you think for a second that we didn’t have Black Seed Bagels more than once.

Anyway, after this mess of iPhone #foodpics below (plus a few shops thrown in the mix), there’s a lil breakdown of each place in case you fancy my unsolicited opinions. BYE NEW YORK, I miss you already.

Clockwise from top left: Black Seed Bagels, Cafe Gitane, Happy Bones, Rubirosa, Freeman’s, Jack’s Wife Freda

Clockwise from top left: The Butcher’s Daughter, Cafe Colette, Buvette, Navy, Buvette again, Roberta’s

Clockwise from top left: Schoolhouse Electric, Steven Alan Home, Still House, Mociun, Joinery, Rag & Bone

And now, if you’re still tuned in, the breakdown:

FOOD
Black Seed Bagels: There must be something in the water here (get it? bagel jokes), because holy crap these bagels are GOOD. We went twice, in case you skipped over the part at the top of the post where I mentioned we went there twice. Don’t forget to order the lox or beet-cured salmon, please.

Cafe Gitane: Been here a million times but seriously, why does their avocado toast taste so good? This time we sat at the bar so we could watch the staff put together the toast. We took notes, tried it at home, and NO DICE.

Jack’s Wife Freda: We went to Jack’s at 5pm on a Thursday night (hey, we took the red eye the night before) and had one of the best meals of the trip. Ummm the beet dip with pita was next level and I never tire of a good brussels sprout dish.

Happy Bones: Don’t ever ask my opinion on a coffee place because I don’t drink coffee. But their ginger tea was super refreshing and their donut game was pretty on point. Plus, it’s so cute – those tortoise shell spoons!

Freeman’s: I was really excited to go to Freeman’s because it makes for a great instagram photo, what with the picturesque alley + string lights combo they’ve got going on out front. What made it even better was that the brunch was really great. I always say that you can’t trust a person who orders granola for brunch (aka what I ordered), but I swear, I had just eaten a donut from Happy Bones AND I was sharing Kyle’s smoked trout with hardboiled eggs and toast.

Rubirosa: Alex pretty much forced us to order the vodka pizza and I’M SO GLAD SHE DID. Let me set the record straight: I’m not a pizza person. I KNOW, I’m sorry. It’s not something I’m proud of. But holy crap, I enjoyed this pizza so much. The flavor was unlike anything I’ve ever had before. So if you go, I’m forcing you to order the vodka pizza.

The Butcher’s Daughter: This breakfast was the perfect detox after a night indulging in Rubirosa pizza. We ordered a few things on the menu, like the muesli and the avocado benedict, and everything was fresh, light, and delicious. Definitely order a juice!

Buvette: Paris? Is that you? Sure feels like it here. Also the waffle was pretty delicious.

Navy: Kyle and I had a romantic dinner for 2 at Navy and it was a perfect meal to end our vacation. The oysters were some of the best we’ve had and I’d really like to eat that mussel toast again.

Cafe Colette: This cafe in Brooklyn was pretty much the cutest place ever. Their fish tacos were really good and that’s saying a lot coming from a Southern California taco aficionado. Also, God bless their air conditioning system. We stumbled in super overheated and it was like a mini oasis away from the heat.

Roberta’s: When we got to Roberta’s, the hostess told us it would be a 2 hour wait. We made our way to the tiki bar in the back (yes, I said tiki bar) to wait out the storm, and 20 minutes later our table was ready. Talk about a happy surprise. Also, chewy dough, HELLO I like you.

SHOPS – and here’s the rapid fire round:
Schoolhouse Electric: for all the home decor and fixtures
Steven Alan Home: the best ceramics and planters
Rag & Bone: because duh
McNally Jackson Goods for the Study: really neat/fancy office supplies
Diptique: because everyone needs a good candle
Saturdays Surf NYC: a great men’s brand, but still wanted all the things for myself
Still House: ceramics and jewelry, what more could you want?
Love Adorned: jewelry, home goods, and a really good stack of Moroccan rugs
Joinery: a Brooklyn staple – great home goods and apparel
Mociun: heart swoons, alllll the heart swoons
Pilgrim Surf and Supply: because we were traveling with lots of dudes and this is perfect for dudes
catbird: best jewelry store IMO
Space Ninety8: a multi-story urban outfitters with a great roof top

New York, until next time.

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NEW YORK CITY: PRETTY MUCH ALL THE PHOTOS

July 17, 2014

Filed Under : TRAVEL

There’s really nothing I love more than a good ol’ trip to New York and holy heavens, this was a good one. It took me a solid 2.5 months to go through all my photos, but who’s counting really? I traveled there over Memorial Day weekend with my dude man Kyle, my best friend Jaymee, and her hubs Reis. We also spent a lot of time with my lady love, Alex, and her BF, Grant.

Anyway, this was my favorite trip to NYC yet, mostly because I got engaged, but also because we did really fun things, ate really good food, and spent time with really great people. Plus, throw in a full day in Brooklyn and then we’re talking about all the reasons why we need to move to NY asap. I also probably spent way too much money, i.e. all this stuff, but money doesn’t count when you go on vacation, is what I tell myself. I want to go back already.

A couple things to note: We stayed at The Nolitan Hotel and loved it, but I’ll do a full post on that separately. Plus, ALL the places we shopped and restaurants we ate at are coming later as well. SO STAYED TUNED.

Washington Square Park and the impending downpour. I love how people aren’t fazed at all by rain. As an LA lady, I’m very used to seeing people bunker down inside until any and all weather systems pass through.

The rooftop of our hotel was my favorite place and we went up there as often as possible. What’s funny is that no one else goes up there. We were like the only ones who took advantage of the amazing view.

My babes (Alex and Jaymee) and I at Freeman’s. The one thing about this trip that I’ll note is that we had a very strict food itinerary that we stuck to everyday. I wasn’t about to miss out on my fave NYC eateries so I made reservations at almost all the places we went to months in advance. Give me allllll the foods. More about said food in a later post.

NYC / the style eater

Beers and chips & salsa on the rooftop. Why no one else took advantage of that dang roof will remain a mystery for the rest of my days.

Oh Brooklyn, you really get me every time with your picturesque streets, amazing shops, and sweet cafes on every corner. Don’t mind me, I’m just on Craigslist looking for an apartment.

WE JUST PEOPLES. $10 to the person who can name that movie reference.

These two needed their coffee fix every couple hours. I love them.

The Wythe Hotel rooftop! Gorgeousness everywhere.

And what’s a trip to NY without a stroll through Central Park? Actually we forgot about CP altogether on our last trip and were determined to make it this time. It was overcast with a 100% chance of thunderstorms and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

ALL THE SELFIES, ALL THE TIME. This photo was an update from the photo in this post, but we just weren’t getting our angles right.

And then after this selfie, he said “Hey, why don’t we go up to the rooftop one last time?” and then proposed. That kid, always something up his sleeve.

Food and shops coming next!

Last trip to NY here, here, and here.

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BEACH HAIR ALL SUMMER LONG

July 7, 2014

Filed Under : BEAUTY

I like my hair to be at it’s absolute messiest in the summer time. A good messy though – not like too messy, who do you think I am? Just kidding, it’s probably too messy like 4 out of 5 days, but we can’t all be perfect. Anyway, beach messy is what I aim for. Lots of texture, extra volume, and most importantly: not a strand in place, thank you very much. To achieve said look, I’ve pretty much tried every combo of salt spray and dry shampoo and thickening spray and oils on this planet. Sometimes it worked, but mostly it just looked even more tangled than normal. So at my last hair cut, I expressed my concerns of not reaching peak beach hair to this fine lady, and here’s what she told me to use:

Unite Beach Day Texturizing + Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray

Y’all, I think I get it now. This combo = beach hair. No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. The Unite beach spray adds a good amount of grit and wave, while the Oribe spray amps up the texture and volume like no other. Also the Oribe smells like heaven and is totally replacing my perfume usage as of now.

Here’s how I do it: I spray Unite on damp, towel-dried hair and tousle with my hands. Once my hair is air dried, I’ll spray the Oribe on the ends and use my hands to twist strands and mess it up a bit. That’s it. On second-day hair (or third), I just spray Unite a little on the ends and then do a good long spray of Oribe once around my head. Beach hair from now until September (or probably forever, let’s be real).

Wearing:
Vintage Levi’s 501s
Zara blazer, old (similar here)
Zara tee, old (similar here)
Clare Vivier Clutch

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THE SHOT

June 30, 2014

Filed Under : MY LIFE

This photo isn’t a particularly great one, nor does it come close to capturing the beauty of a New York City skyline at night. The exposure is a bit off, the colors aren’t all there, and the graininess is a little too visible for my liking. But for me, this photo doesn’t capture an image. It captures a precise moment in my life, timestamped at 1:01 AM on May 28, 2014, on the rooftop of The Nolitan Hotel in NYC, when my boyfriend of 8 years (is it 9, now?) proposed to me. At the exact moment I took this photo, he got down on one knee and I’ll be honest with you, I was one sappy mess.

It was perfect, just the two of us on that roof, and although I have no photos of us from when it happened, I’ll forever have the moment captured. You see, the sneaky guy suggested we go up to the roof to take night photos of the skyline. Well, gosh darn, that made perfect sense to me because OF COURSE I need photos of that exact thing for the blog, ya know? I’m always looking for that perfect photo op. Well, he had other plans, which, in retrospect, seem really obvious – who wants to go up to a roof at 1AM? But at the time, it just wasn’t on my mind. That’s not to say that it wasn’t on my mind during other parts of the trip – you know, the sweet stroll through Central Park, the talks of going to the top of the Empire State building, the romantic dinners. During those times, I was like YUP I think I might get proposed to. Aaaaaand it never happened, so I guess you could say I had given up by the time he actually did ask me – HIS PLAN ALL ALONG. After 8 years together, it’s hard to surprise me because I know all his moves, but he somehow managed to do it. And I said yes, of course.

More NYC photos coming soon.

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WEARING THIS ALL SUMMER

June 26, 2014

Filed Under : STYLE

I’ve been wearing this particular outfit (or a version of it) as often as humanly possible. I’m not even kidding, either. See here, here, here, and probably Saturday. A black camisole + vintage Levi’s 501 shorts. Simple but so, so comfortable, especially in this hot summer-ness that we’re experiencing. I wore it on our Brooklyn day in New York. I wore it on our vacation in Lake Chelan, Washington. I’m wearing it right now, probably.

Zara camisole (old, similar here)
Vintage Levi’s 501s
Converse
Coach handbag

Here, here (or is it hear, hear?) to a summer uniform! I’ll be honest with you. Since that photo was taken in mid-May, I’ve switched footwear from Converse to these Birkenstocks. If a better shoe exists on this planet, I’d like to know, because Birks are literally the best things ever. If they’re wrong, I don’t want to be right. I swear, I’ve never met a more divisive shoe. People either hate them with every fiber of their soul and being OR they love them so much that it becomes their sole footwear and sometimes best friend. I’m definitely with the latter group. So a black camisole + Levi’s 501s + Birkenstocks. What’s your summer go-to?

Photos by Jaymee!

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