Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts

May 22, 2013

iTube: OOTD - The Neon Dress

   I'm so excited about the video outdoors so if you need to be critical or plainly bash me (and my modeling skills! Hahaha) please do it so in small doses and don't be so harsh ;)

   On this video I'm featuring one dress and two completely different ways to wear it. Also as a little bonus I'm posting pics of when I bought the dress back in October/November to show you yet another way to style it.





Here goes a more fall version:

   Truth was I had limited wardrobe choice as I was visiting my friend Karin in the little island of Manhattan ;) just for the weekend. But sometimes in scenarios such as those we get creative and come up with unexpected choices. This ended up being one of my favorite ways to wear my dress!






   I apologize for the quality of the picture. It was taken with my cell phone at night.


One more thing: Please let me know how you guys like this style of videos, it's valuable feedback if you watch them, or if you're a follower or subscribe to my channel. I'm always looking for ways to improve my channel/blog and still keep my style, so your feedback is very IMPORTANT! 

Beijos,

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Mar 19, 2013

KarinaStyleTravels: NYC - March 2013 (DAY 2)

   So there we were waking up to a late start, as if losing 5 hours (due to my flight delay) was not enough, I also picked the weekend of the time change and lost yet another precious hour :/ so not happy about that...but I had no time to be unhappy about anything, or tired, or cranky, I had only a day left to enjoy myself, my friends and the city!

  First stop off the subway was the famous NY fashion week spot Bryant Park, and even though the trees were bare it only added to the beauty of the place and its surrounding buildings, such as the black and gold one that I love!


Beautiful sunny Sunday morning at the Bryant Park
   As we head to our destination we pass the New York Public Library and I can't help myself but think of Carrie and Big's wedding flop! Hehehe

NY Public Library
    Next stop: The Empire State Building. Breathtaking views kept me there longer than I should've, it was coooooold, and I forgot my little furry scarf, so I headed down to the closest H&M, they have one in every corner and purchased myself a spring scarf! I apologize for the bad quality of these photos, not sure what happened :(

Empire State Building views

Empire State Building views

Chrysler Building view, and we could also see Karin's building across the river! So cool ;)

This quickly became my favorite picture, taken by the security guard! He should be a photographer! hehehe 
    Now, off to find a place to eat and as our friend Livia suggested we should check out the "Eataly" which is sort of an Italian market with everything you can imagine from Italy. Such as; coffee, desserts, sodas, cold meats, appetizers, wines, and little restaurants each one with a different specialty. All inside the same space. Very cool, totally worth a visit!
 
   The eataly is located at the Flatiron district, named after the Flatiron Building at 23rd St, Broadway and Fifth Avenue.

Flatiron District, Karin and I :)

Flatiron Building

   Inside the Eataly we picked the sea food restaurant. Livia suggested the "Fritto Misto" which is a fried dish of fish, calamari and shrimp. Yum!!! All that with a glass of Pinot Griggio, I was in Italian heaven ;)  

The restaurants are open kitchen style, you can see them cooking everything, very neat!


Love the prosciutto hanging from the iron bar back there! Hahaha reminds me of my Portuguese dad hanging the sausages to dry out all over our laundry room when I was growing up!  


Fritto Misto at Eataly - Flatiron District, NY
    After our awesome meal, espressos and Italian sodas we headed home to get ready for the Stella and Dot trunk show! Except we got a bit lost in the subway and were running late....oops!

   Finally made it back to Karin's home, we set up and open a bottle of red. Time to catch up with the beautiful ladies Amy and Katie and meet sweet Brazilian Juliana. We had such a great time (or at least I did!!!) that the show lasted all nigh and when I realized it was already midnight (and the bottles of wine were all empty...) oops #2.

Karin, me, Amy and Katie

Cute little Amy! We're wearing the jewelry but you can barely see :(

Fab Katie and I wearing spring's must haves!

    Well, I'm sorry to say but that was about it. I went to bed late that night and woke up super early, needless to say how I felt the next day, right?! Let's keep it classy, shall we? ;)  hehehe

   ***Outfit note: for this day I wore a pair of Zara light wash denim; BCBG Max Azria gold tank top; Zara nude leather jacket with a peplum; Rebecca Minkoff mini-mac; and my Sorel snow boots! 

   I really enjoyed sharing my trip details with you. Hope you got to laugh a little with me!!!

Beijos,



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Mar 18, 2013

KarinaStyleTravels: NYC - March 2013 (DAY 1)

   Yes I guess it's getting old, I know you might be sick of hearing me going on and on about how much I LOVE the Big Apple, but I can't help myself especially having a girlfriend living there now...I find just about any excuse I can to visit!!!!

NYC's View from the Top! Never gets old....

   This time my little excuse was a fine Stella and Dot trunk show and it turned out Sunday is not the best day to have one as far as attendance goes but hey, we had a great time (I might have had a bit too much wine - so not professional) but I was so thrilled to be in NY with my Brazilian buddies and to see my darling friends from school Amy and Katie (in fact I love their style so much I've featured their outfit choices here and at modaindy.com previously!).

   Even with my 5 hour flight delay I made a point of enjoying my 'me' time and aside from the time change who caught us totally off guard we managed to have a good time and here are a few pics to prove that ;) hehehehe

 DAY 1:

Dress H&M; leather belt Brave; Leather jacket bebe; black pumps Nine West; handbag mini-mac, Rebecca Minkoff

   Before you wonder what the hell I'm doing in a mini dress in March I'll tell you I had been checking the weather and saw the temps would be in the 50's that weekend, and just so you know upper 30's in the valley is "bare-leg" mode. But obviously I didn't put into account the closeness to the water, the walking around in between buildings that offer a delightful (not) frozen wind and so forth and so on. I know I was getting a lot of stares, just not sure they were good ones! So off we go to our favorite store and I totally had second intentions!

Boyfriend jeans and vertical striped silk blouse, Zara, the rest you already know ;) hehehe
    At our Zara pit stop I got some of the goodies I wanted and switched my dress for a two piece more weather appropriate ensemble ;)

At the Rockefeller Building entrance

At the Rockefeller Center with Karin, where we had plans to skate but the shopping took it's toll on us..



    At the Times Square where we were getting ready to find a place for a drink.


   But look who we bumped into! Ha, the cowboy who's always there barely clothed, very much willing to take a pic with us ( and mind you he says: Everything is touchable ladies, go on and grab it!) hahaha dude, we're all married ladies! Sorry!!!



At The View - Marriott Times Square 
    Finally we get in the Marriott and go up to the spinning restaurant that literally spins around (very slowly) so you can get a full view of the city. We only had drinks there which were pretty pricey and beware they charge an 8 dollar fee per person just to sit at the table! Bottom line, it's worth it to do it once in a lifetime.

   Hope you enjoyed my Saturday in the city. Stick around for day 2 tomorrow ;)


Beijos,


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Oct 31, 2012

Sex and the City - starring the city and myself....no sex!

   Shall I open this with one of my fave quotes from the show, from Samantha: "That's the thing about the Brazilian. It makes you do crazy things. You have to be very careful who you invite to Brazil." Haha! I shouldn't say this is my fave quote as I have a ton of faves and will share some of them with you!



   Let's just say I've been waiting for this moment for a long time as the last time I visited NYC was about 7 years ago and I wasn't so passionate about "Sex and the City" back then... I was busy having babies!!

   Now, babies are growing and momma is having her fashion moment! The one thing I went to the city to do (besides shopping) was to take the SATC Hotspots tour. I wanted to experience those moments that are so vivid in my mind from the show...and the meeting point was nothing less than the Pulitzer Fountain, in front of the Plaza Hotel where Carrie quoted Barbara Streisand in "The way we were" to Mr. Big when he was getting engaged to beatch Natasha! She said: "Your girl is lovely, Hubbell." I mean who doesn't remember that?!


This is at the other side of the fountain, and behind me there's delicious Bergdorf Goodman where the girls bought MANY shoes throughout the show ;) 


    Before we go on I must tell you about the difficulty of finding the puurrrrrfect outfit for such a remarkable occasion, needless to remind you I'm living in a teeny tiny valley in the mountains temporarily, meaning I didn't bring my closet along and had to find something simple (I really wanted to wear a tutu!) yet fashion forward fast. I was happy with the final choice, but still wanted that tutu...
well, the sweater was a hit with everyone as I was stopped in almost every corner to answer to the ladies where I found my hello kitty little number, at the kiddie session at Target! Trendy and Cheapie, my first option of skirt was a Zac Posen pleated high-waist skirt but the fabric was too heavy with the sweater, so I found a vinyl pleated mini at the Times Square Forever 21, the bootie was featured here already and I didn't feel right with just that, so I found the perfect angora blend (so soft and warm) socks at H&M to pair with it and voilà!!!

   Our first stop - the "Pleasure Chest" where the girls got their RABBIT! Yesss, from the episode when they discovered the joys of the vibrator! Hehehe....too bad we couldn't take pictures inside, let's just say we laughed so hard it was difficult to stay in there for too long!

*I'm posting videos so everyone can follow along!




Look at those shoes my friend Karin was wearing! Amazing spiky Schutz babies!!!
   Anybody remembers the rehearsal dinner from the first movie when Carrie tells Big: "It's the last single girl kiss." We visited the restaurant where that was taped, the beautiful Buddakan in Chelsea.  -we tried to eat there but just like any trendy spot in the Island they didn't have any openings until midnight :(

This is just the reception!!! Awesome land or what?!

Over at this bar is where the famous quote was said...

Rehearsal dinner anyone? Those amazing chandeliers and the Asian designs on the walls, just beautiful. 

Of course we walked a bit further to find the spot where Stanford and Anthony had their first kiss!


   Can't find the clip but here this goes, just for laughs....as if you pay attention they were in Chelsea too: 


   We had a good half an hour to walk around the Greenwich Village or West Village, the artsy sort of quiet neighborhood (nothing is really quiet there) is just about the coolest neighborhood in NYC. It's also where Sarah Jessica Parker lives in real life.

Pumpkin carving on the street? Such New Yorkers ;)

Back on the bus, cupcakes were waiting for us! Delish sugary littles cakes....yum!!
    Our last stop was "Scout", the fictitious bar Steve opened with Aidan. Except the real bar is called ONIEAL'S and is located on Grant St. not on Mulberry St., as the show suggests! This was a must stop to have a yummy cosmopolitan!

This is the entrance where Carrie uses to give Aidan a Mulberry plant (see the video bellow)

Us and our sassy guide, who let out the F#*@s every now and then!

This is the side entrance where Carrie and Aidan had their talk over a cigarette and cake!



   As the tour went by we pass by many of the places where the show was taped and of course I wouldn't have the time or the space to talk about all of them, but it was nice having a guide who was so knowledgeable and passionate about the show as many of the tour goers. She quoted the girls a lot with their big F words and all, it was highly entertaining and I highly recommend! We used 'on location tours'.

   As you might have the same wonderings I had, such as where are their apartments and the cafe where they had their Sunday brunch?! Well, I found out those are all studios as in all TV and movies when you are in a particular spot so many times, over and over throughout the show or movie those have to be made into a studio (for SATC they used the famous Silvercup studios in Long Island City -my friend's neighborhood- in the borough of Queens). They are torn out after the show is over and so no peeks of them...

   And just so I can finish feeling good, I needed to share a small part of one of my top most "laughed hard awesome favorite" episodes, even my husband laughed with me on this one (he loves Sam's lines, but won't ever admit it!!)



   But I sure hope you enjoyed going back in time with me, as I absolutely loved writing about this subject....in fact I wish I could write about it everyday for many years to come, but then it would be boring....so let's enjoy it and move on!

Beijos, 

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Oct 29, 2012

New York, New York...

   I must confess the last few days were pretty much the highlight of my year. As it may sound shallow I'm a city gal and need a dose of big city pollution, crowds, and traffic jams -once in a while- to keep me fueled! My visit to NYC was fast but filled with laughs, goodies,  great food, and Ah-mazing views ;D
   To start off I need to say thanks once again to my dear friends Karin & Luis, who hosted me and did everything possible to assure I had a great time. Thanks guys, I owe you ;) - now not to mention the views of their place, I mean really from one window you could see Manhattan and the Chrysler Building, from the other the Queensboro Bridge and it's stunning lights at night, and then from the back windows you had cool views of other neighborhoods in Queens, lovely!

Queensboro Bridge

Bottom to top windows, that's the back view of other neighborhoods in Queens such as Astoria. Having a Brazilian breakfast in NYC with this kind of views was really priceless!
Side window view

That's the view of their gym! I bet everyone would be in shape here :D hehehe, right?! 

   Let's talk about the outfit, shall we?! After all this is a fashion blog....at least it used to be!
A day walking around, shopping in the city can be totally considered a cardio workout (in my book of rules!), so choose something easy to move (no sweats, please...you are out in public...), comfy jeans, comfy shoes, comfy blazer!
 
This and the following pics were taken across the street from my friend's place, at a very family friendly park; in fact I was surprised to see the amount of kiddos and mommas out there!

Blazer, BCBG MaxAzria; shirt and scarf, Target; jeans; Diesel, belt, Claire's; sneakers, Steve Madden; sunglasses, Persol; all jewelry, Stella and Dot.



Famous Pepsi-cola Outdoor!

   So after having a mini tour of their awesome building and neighborhood, we headed to Manhattan. First stop Times Square (for some updated pics!), and from there 5th Ave. for the shops of course!


View from the TKTS stairs

At the "dazzling intersection of Broadway and Seventh Ave." sits the famous TKTS ruby red stairs (new to me, as I hadn't seen it before), which has a view to the busy White Way! (pic above)

Typical tacky pic, but as a good Brazilian I had to update this one too!!

Bag, J.Crew; awesome size to carry around town ;)

We were exhausted in here....can u tell?! Glad to see the ice skating was already opened at the Rockefeller Center!

   Our shopping stops included the obvious H&M, Forever 21 and ZARA, but we also HAD to go to the newest hot shop spot in NYC, the Schutz store! For the ones who don't know this is a high quality and trendy shoe brand from Brazil, pretty huge down there, they are starting to gain room in the fast-paced fashion American market, retailers that carry the brand include Bloomingdale's, Madison LA, shopbop.com, farfetch.com, and obviously at their new store located in the 655 Madison Ave.


Even though I couldn't afford their pricy 800 dollar soft chamois nude western style jacket, I could take a pic ;)

Just lovely!

Must go ;)

Stella & Dot bracelets, don't they just make the outfit?!

NYC is so safe now a days, you can ride the subway at night and walk around with your shopping bags, looking fancy :) and with so many TV shows being taped in the city now (we passed quite a few) you just might bump into a celeb on your way home!



   Since this is a rather long post I'll save the Sex and the City hotspots for later this week!

*As I finish writing this post, hurricane Sandy makes it's way up there and I pray that this will be just a strong storm and that everyone will be safe and warm*

Beijos,


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