Chibi Lai

I'm so excited to be working with photographer Chibi Lai next week!  Chibi is going to be shooting the Wolcott : Takemoto lookbook for us....I can't wait to see how it turns out.

All photos by  Chibi Lai

Day off.

One of my favorite ways to spend a day off is by wandering around the city aimlessly.  I normally stay below 14th street (I know, such a cliche.  Who cares?) and today was no exception.  I visited some shops, stopped for banh mi, developed some film, and bought a present for someone special.  This next week will be busy, so this alone time was much needed.

Aquarium.

I finally got around to uploading these photos I took on a very spectacular day that I spent with Skye last month. We started off with breakfast at Cafe Gitane (baked eggs with tomato and basil, watermelon juice, fresh fruit with yogurt and granola, and of course, the avocado toast).  After our big "feast", we F trained it out to the New York Aquarium on Coney Island.  Boy, do I love aquariums, I always have.  As a kid, I used to spend hours at the beach collecting wildlife in a bucket --- I would put all these creatures in there; crabs (hermit and regular), snails, eels, etc. and I would watch them interact with each other for a while before eventually letting them back into the wild.  Anyways, we checked out the sea life....Skye tested out his new macro lens and then we took a very quick stroll around the boardwalk,  ate some elementary-school-grade cheese pizza and a soft serve cone and headed back into the city.

Somehow, we still had the energy to see Bridesmaids (because sitting in an air conditioned theatre, eating popcorn and laughing takes tons of energy). After all this eating popcorn and laughing, we were in need of some dinner, so we walked around the East Village in search of good Japanese food.  If you know New York at all, then you know that good Japanese in plentiful in the E.Village.  And, if you know Skye and I at all, then you know that we're bad at choosing restaurants.*  So indecisive. We finally just said "*#@* it, lets eat here"  when we spotted a tiny little restaurant on 1st or 2nd Ave  where Skye ended up being the only non-Japanese dude in the place.  Needless to say, we were not disappointed---but we were exhausted.

*Also, if you know me at all, then you know that if I'm hungry and on the search for food, you better get me something to eat quick....or else. 

Happy fourth!

I hope you guys all have a wonderful holiday weekend!  Hopefully at this time tomorrow, I'll be at that very beach in the first picture, weather permitting.  I woke up to some very loud thunder this morning and it has been raining all day....

In other news, I think I may have mentioned that I'm working on a clothing line with a friend (and now business partner).  We created a Tumblr that chronicles our new journey.  Follow if you want!

At the Met.

Please excuse the phone pictures.  I just wanted to post some pictures of things that I happened to find interesting at the Met.

Through his eyes.

Skye was able to spend a whole eleven days here in New York with me!  Here are some of the photos he took during his stay.

 

The day Skye had to leave...breakfast at Juliette.  :(

Everyday was full of all the fun things I've been wanting to do/eat in New York.  Trips to the Met, the aquariaum/Coney Island, Highline Park, Chelsea Market, many walks around SoHo/NoHo, Brooklyn Flea.  Eating Roberta's pizzas in bed (this only happened twice....), The Smile (OH MY GOD, the fig, cheese, arugula, truffle oil sandwich...), Ippudo (wasabi shoyu ramen!), Cafe Gitane, a Japanese restaurant in the East Villiage where Skye was the only non-Japanese dude (and he speaks Japanese way better than me!), Momo Sushi Shack and more.  Seeing Midnight in Paris (SO GOOD) and Bill Cunningham New York (you already know how I feel about that).  AND I cut off a bunch of my hair.  100 degree days in NYC will make you do that.  I feel so much better now that I'm not covered in hair.

But the most fun thing of all was spending time with my best friend.  One more month 'till we get to do that again!

Photos all by Skye Skjelset (look at his other pictures!)

Bill Cunningham...now that's inspiration.

Last Monday, Skye and I finally got around to seeing Bill Cunninham New York.  I know for a fact that I have not smiled throughout a whole movie like that since I was a child.  (I'm one of those people that start to zone out and daydream during movies, but there was none of that while watching Mr.Cunningham).  Not only did the movie make me smile, laugh, and yes, even tear up....it seriously inspired me.  Bill is not an amazing photographer but his eye for fashion and trends and his perseverance made me think about what it is that I'm doing at this moment in time.  For like FIFTY years, he has gotten on his bike and rides allllll over New York City (uptown, downtown, and back uptown again) taking pictures of anything and everything that catches his eye.  And after all that bike ridin', he goes into the Times and works on his On the Street article.  I mean, this dude was doing it all before all of y'all. 

In all his hard work and dedication, this man appears to be so amazingly humble and kind-hearted.  He has integrity that is so rare to see these days.  Should I stop gushing now?  

Go see it if you haven't yet!

The NYT does a video version of his article.  Check them out here.