I came and triumphed

This was day 1 in Paris. After a mishap in the metro involving someone's sticky fingers (yes people, pickpocketing is serious business over here), I safely made it to see this beauty a few minutes away from the hotel.

From there, I walked straight to the Louvre.

My first day was a roller coaster ride. After getting my wallet stolen, encounters with locals were either really enjoyable or quite unpleasant. One shop girl was extremely nice though. She barely knew any English, but was very kind and even walked me to a local thrift shop (she didn't know what thrift was, until I said "old clothes"). I bought this shirt from her for 40 Euros, and it's currently one of my favorite things to wear (suede elbow pads!)

I wore this outfit the next day and John, over at Hippy Market, snapped a picture of me!

(Sand on the boots from walkin' to the Louvre beeteedubs)

The store, reminiscent of some thrift/vintage stores in the Lower East Side, is full of leather jackets, leather handbags, short a-line skirts, and patterned button-up shirts. I bought a very cute scarf from them for 12 Euros. It's perfect for tying around bags or wearing on your head.

If you're ever in Paris, definitely check them out! You can find the location and see more Hippy Peeps on their facebook! http://www.facebook.com/hippymarketmarais

Shabby Apple Giveaway!

Hey guys, it's Aya. How have you been? Sorry for the lack of updates from my part. I pretty much decided in December I would start ballet, bachata, and bikram yoga on top of running and hip hop classes, and now that I'm doing kickboxing, I decided I need to slow down before I completely exhaust myself.

I have some very exciting news though. I'm hosting my first giveaway!

Shabby Apple is an online dress boutique for women. Here's what they say on their website (www.shabbyapple.com):

A return to what dresses were always meant to be — a one-piece outfit. No need to add anything...no tank tops, no cardigans, nothing (except accessories, of course!).
We started Shabby Apple because we saw a need in women’s fashion that was not being met. A need to make women feel feminine and beautiful for what they wear, not what they bare. We offer flirty, stylish dresses a woman can wear just as comfortably in the office, at a family dinner, or on a date. Shabby Apple is a fashion company for women, by women, and of women.

Before I had been approached about the giveaway, I had never heard of Shabby Apple. But after taking a look at their site, I've come to adore them. Super cute designs, with a vintage flair? What's not to like? And their picturesque photos make me want to travel really badly.

For today's giveaway, you have a chance to win the Tiber dress (featured above)! It's chic and a bit nautical--perfect for the upcoming season! Here are the rules of the giveaway:

1. You must "Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shabby-Apple/56291792791
2. You must follow my blog.
3. Leave a comment telling me you did those things, and let me know which dress is your favorite from the site!

For an additional entry, mention the giveaway in your blog. Then leave another comment telling me you did so!

Thanks and good luck guys! The winner will be posted March 5th! Happy entering!

Pomplamoose and Motilo!

Check out this amazing video made by Pomplamoose and Motilo! It's to promote Motilo's new and improved website, whose aim is to have cute and stylish clothing available all in one place, so you don't have to miss out on the rest of what life has to offer. Very cute concept and very cute video!

Holiday Windows

Passing by Bergdorf's window display. Gorgeous.

The new kid on the block.

Howdy. How is everyone doing?

I've been super busy with work and running around trying to hang out with friends and generally trying to make everyone happy. Am I burnt out? No. But I think my flame is flickering. Hospitality is a tough tough job.

So of course I needed to buy a present for myself. Okay, well, no, I actually just needed to use the apple gift card my friend gave me (but no one forced me, if ya catch my drift).

Welcome my new little wonder, the ipod nano!

I originally thought of getting something bigger, but I run and workout a lot and this has the nike+ fitness app already installed so I thought, why not? Plus, it's so damn cute. I love it.

Speaking of new things, a few other items I've indulged in in the past month or so . . .

I bought these on Black Friday but of course, cosmetics don't go on sale so I paid full price. These are my staples though and I was running out so I figured why not. Let me just say that these are some of the best cosmetics I've ever bought and definitely worth the extra $10 or so. Lasts pretty much all day and even survives tears and sweat! Amazing.

I bought these two to add to some homemade sugar scrubs I've been working on, but I seriously just apply them straight to my skin and hair sometimes. The coconut oil especially leaves you smelling tropical and moisturized. The lavender oil is also AMAZING for massaging tired skin after a soak in the bath. Both from Trader Joes!

Last but not least, a wallet from Forever21! Quite the cutie and about $10 so it was definitely an impulse buy. It fits all my cards and money though in separate compartments and I love the size so I say it was worth it. Plus the vivid red and hearts make me happy just looking at it!

Have you bought anything lately that you just have to tell everyone else about?

I will try my hardest to update more often. See you soon!

New shoes

Olive lace up boots from Spring

My 5k and Recent Buy

Hey guys! It's another bright day in NY. The weather earlier this week was wet and dreary, but summer decided to show it's face yet again.

I recently hung out with my friend Melissa.

Cardigan- Sexy Dynamite London, Tank- F21, Shorts- thrift, Leggings- H&M, Boots- Ebay, Glasses- Peach Frog, Bag- Friend's gift, Headphones- Sony

Shoe shot!

After lolly gagging in Bryant Park, we headed to Lily O' Brien's and got hot drinks!

My salted Lily! It was a good pick me up. Pretty sweet, so I would just go with a small. I love the combination of chocolate and salt.

Then on Sunday (Labor Day Weekend!) my friend Kievan and I went to Governor's Island for the Run to Remember (9/11) 5k race!

Waiting in line (another shoe shot).

Waiting in line and camphoring. Fun-zo!

I had a lot of fun. I did the same race last year and though I went over my time from last year, it didn't matter because I still had a blast running. I also mildly got obsessed with coconut water after that and I've been drinking one everyday since!

Finally, I snagged this cute cardigan at Forever 21. I'm not the biggest Forever 21 fan because their quality is so-so, but they have cute things from time to time that I just can't stop myself from buying. This cardigan is a good example.

Anyway, I'm off to sleep a bit more, drink kombucha, and eat lunch (maybe not in that order). Tata and see you guys soon!

Yesterday was Thursday Thursday

Today it is Friday Friday (if you don't get the reference, then you're missing out on a generational sensation! Youtube Rebecca Black "Friday")

Yesterday I had a day off, so I decided to hit up some sales in Soho with my friend Lesley.

Before I left, I ate lunch. Sadly it was 2 pieces of chocolate and a Power Crunch Bar.

Delicious and fairly filling, but not a meal. I do recommend these for in between snacks (maybe at work?) because it has 1/3 day's worth of protein, which actually keeps you fuller longer.

After Lesley and I met up, we went to Mango first because everything is 50% off and who can resist that?

I scored the cutest culottes ever, and everyone who knows me knows I love polka dots!

We also went to Uniqlo, where I snuck a picture of their new Barbie display. Everything is so wonderfully hot pink!

At that point though, I was hungry, so after a few more shops, we headed to Quantum Leap for some tasty veggie dishes!

I ordered the Dos Enchiladas (top) and Lesley got the Portobello Burger with garlic fries. It took me forever to choose something to eat, but I was highly drawn to the words "large" and "cheese" in the description for the enchis. Did not disappoint--I think I'm still in a food coma. And I have to say that things doused in cheese never really lose it's finesse.


I have a morning shift tomorrow at work so I should skidattle, but I'm actually having a life this weekend so look forward to updates later!

Get the beach bodies ready . . .

Naturally, this is what pops into my head come January.

In Store Sale starts January 4th (this Tuesday)!

Blue skies, hot suns, and colorful dancing.

Yesterday I went to the Annual Thunderbird American Indian Mid-Summer Pow Wow at the Queens County Farm Museum.

I go every year with my mom and because I conveniently didn't have work yesterday, we kept the tradition! Here are some shots from yesterday's event.

I tried to get a better picture of this man's face but I failed. HE LOOKED LIKE KARL LAGERFELD. But you know, with braids and color.







Zoom was good to me yesterday. This kid's hair is awesome!

After the afternoon show, there's another show in the evening that involves a bonfire and more dancing. My mom and I always miss that one because it takes too long to get back and make dinner if we stay. So of course, we used the rest of our time to shop the booths.

Gorgeous beaded hair accessories.



This doll was adorable!

I also saw this tiny owl emblem that looked like one of my co-workers and it entertained me quite a bit. Other than that, my mom managed to buy a cool necklace, a dream catcher, and I got some pretty leather strips (a future arts and craft project perhaps?)

Finally, I loved snapping pictures of the tribe's colorful clothing because it's so inspiring! I love color and it's just fun to see all the patterns and the beading they use. I was talking to this one man who was explaining a lot of the symbolism of the colors and the animals. For example, purple signifies heart (purple heart), green is grass, brown is earth, dark blue is night sky, white is the north wind, etc. And turtles signify mother nature because it carries the earth on it's shoulders. Quite poetic.


Right now I have to get ready to go to work and after that, I'm hanging with one of my amigas! See y'all again!

I don't know the difference between East and West

I also don't know the difference between right and left. Hello, my name is retard. :D

A few days ago, I met up with my friends Yijia and Yujing, plus her friend Tara for some good ole' fashioned shopping and eating.

We went to this Malaysian restaurant called New Malaysia Restaurant. They're located at 48 Bowery (between Bayard St & Canal St) .

After trying to decide what to order for a super long time, we ended up with these three dishes (above). Everything we ordered tasted REALLY GOOD! They all had great flavor. Sadly, I was stuffed before coming, so I barely ate most of it. However, I did try everything at least once and I give it all a thumbs up. I need to come back on an empty stomach, because there were so many other things that sounded great!

After eating, we headed to Soho for some retail therapy. I saw this truck outside the Top Shop store.

They were giving away keys to unlock a wardrobe to win prizes. I tried but failed. It was fun though.

Then I tried a denim dress on at Zaras. I however, decided to buy a top instead.

Work has been going on all week, so I had to stock up on a few items for easy food. This is a salad I managed to make, with some NUT BUTTER CRUSTED TOFU!!! I got the recipe HERE from Mama Pea, but then I tweaked it according to how I liked it/what I had. T'was amazing.

Then I went shopping at TJ's recently so I can make myself some homemade energy bars. Woo hoo for saving money, huh?

Yes, I label my foods. My fam likes to snack, if you get what I mean. ;)

The bars, flavor wise, came out GREAT. But I can't post the recipe yet because the texture is not quite there yet. I'll have it the next time I make another batch. Until then, I had to finish this one, so I prepped lunch for work.

A salad with shrimp dumplings and some bars.

Finally, I bought what has been on my list forever.

A Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler!!! I totally mentioned how much I wanted this before on the bloggy, and decided to treat myself. Mainly because the curler I use now is my mom's Revlon, and it has already damaged my lashes numerous times in painful ways, so I knew I had to get this. Oh Shu, you make me happy. Just look at it glisten atop my WWD.

Oh man, and did I mention it really works? It's got a much firmer spring action, so it don't clamp down too far like the Revlon. And after applying mascara, I definitely see the difference. I am happy now.

Good night everyone, and have a fantabulous July 4th weekend!