maxi-mum impact

I'm short, it's true but I've actually grown to love this about myself over the years. It has, however, made finding the perfect maxi dress pretty difficult this summer. Sure, I could have gotten a regular maxi and had it tailored. That's what I planned on doing until I found this coral beauty at H&M last weekend. It's the perfect length, doesn't drag on the floor and the color screams summer. I wore it this weekend for an outing to S'MAC (a restaurant in the East Village whose menu consists solely of mac and cheese) and a walk down 5th Avenue (pit stops at Henry Bendel and FAO Schwarz). The sheen of the fabric made it a bit dressy for day so I did my best to dress it down with a rope belt, bronze jewelry, sandals and a big bag.

H&M dress and belt, Kenneth Cole bag, Ray Ban sunglasses, Michael Kors sandals, Essie "Cute as a Button" nail polish, Thrifted necklace and cuff

 Here are a few other pictures from the afternoon:

{Our glorious mac and cheese sample platter -- they were all amazing but 4 cheese, cheeseburger and alpine were among the tastiest}

 

{All gone just a few minutes later}

 Stay tuned for more New York posts!

Only 3 and a half weeks left before I'm home so I'll be sure to make them count.

opposites attract

What do you get when you pair a floral romper and studded gladiator sandals? A surprisingly cute combination! This outfit perfectly suited a warm weekend afternoon spent walking around the city. From a visit to the Empire State Building to a stroll in Brooklyn, I stayed wonderfully comfortable all day last Saturday. 

Here are a few more shots from the afternoon:

 

Hopefully this weekend has some equally wonderful stuff in store. All I know is that its gorgeous outside and I don't know why I'm still inside!

kitchen daydreams

I miss cooking. I miss it so much it almost hurts. Mind you, I have been "cooking" these past few weeks in New York at least 4 times a week but still, I don't think it really counts. Limited by the fact that I only have a pot, a pan and a spatula I can't make much more than simple dishes like grilled chicken with green beans or some sort of 15 minute pasta.

The food is good, don't get me wrong, but I miss the excitement of trying a new recipe and really challenging myself. I also really miss my big, beautiful gas stove and endless array of kitchen gadgets.

On top of all that, it doesn't help that I'm like a moth to flame when it comes to the internet and food blogs. Reading them constantly, I can't help accumulating a ton of recipes I'm desperate to try. I took my addition for searching the net for food to Pinterest, one of my absolute favorite sites... ever... and made a pinboard for all my food lustings. Here's a look at my ever-expanding board of all things food (click here to see the full board):

 

Needless to say, I'll probably be spending my entire first week home in the kitchen concocting things. Dinner party, anyone? Until then, I’ll keep pinning so stay on the lookout! You can also check out the rest of my pins here . I have boards dedicated to everything from food and fashion to home decor and dream destinations

*Soon to Come: A sidebar featuring my favorite blogs (food and fashion related mostly). I'm always interested to see what my favorite bloggers are reading so hopefully you are too.

all about the little things

In such a crazy and overwhelming city, sometimes its nice to just take a step back and savor the little things. Here are a few of the simple pleasures putting a smile on my face these days:

Flowers I bought in the subway on my way home from work. I put them in a vase I "upcycled" from a jar of tomato sauce we used to make dinner a few times last week.

This fabulous quilted bag I scored at the BCBG sale I mentioned a few weeks ago. I love that it quickly changes from a midsized shoulder bag to a slightly-oversized cross-body.

My new Tarte eye shadow palette, along with a few other new beauty finds. Currently, I'm obsessing over this Revlon lip stain. It's a total keeper since the color lasted through dinner. Also on my list, L'Oreal's Telescopic mascara. The little round-tipped brush makes it great for getting mascara on my bottom lashes.

Things I didn't photograph but that are still making me smile:

-My Restaurant Excel List: I finally put my hyper-organized Virgo spin on restaurants I'm desperate to try while I'm here. It's still a work in progress, but at least it's organized.

-Hunger Games: I finally started this book yesterday and have been tearing through it ever since.

wandering for the weekend

The way Friday was going, I was really worried that we would have yet another rainy weekend in the city. Thankfully, it cleared up and left us with some gorgeous weather on Saturday and Sunday. Here's a little breakdown of how my wonderful weekend panned out: 

Still waiting for my rain boots to arrive from home, I threw on my favorite wedged platforms for a Friday night dinner to keep me at least an inch above any puddles. I also happily debuted my H&M trench (a total steal at $35) and headed out in spite of the less than appealing weather. We decided on a second visit to Bar Tabac on Smith St. after a fantastic experience there a few weeks ago. Quino and I shared the hanger steak with mushroom risotto the last time and enjoyed it so much we each got our own this time around. The meal definitely didn't disappoint and neither does the atmosphere at Bar Tabac. It's pretty loud, I'm not gonna lie but it somehow manages to be intimate and cozy. It must be the lighting.

We spent the better part of Saturday wandering around Union Square. Between stops at Strand and Baked by Melissa, we browsed the extensive farmer's market. I ended up not taking anything home with the exception of a few great pictures.

 {to-go treats from baked by melissa including s'more, chocolate chip pancake, tie-dye and of course, red velvet}

 {the rare book room at Strand... i'm pretty sure i wasn't supposed to take this but i couldn't resist}

{another snapshot of strand... i love this bust, book and typewriter decorative combo}

As for Sunday, Quino and I  went on a little adventure uptown to Central Park. We started out in Columbus Circle and somehow ended up on the Upper East Side right in front of the Plaza. I guess that's part of the beauty of this enormous park, you never really know where you're gonna end up. That's fine by me though, I'm all for getting lost for an afternoon.

{columbus circle}

 {entrance at of the gorgeous Plaza Hotel}

snippets of the city

New York City life has been nothing short of a whirlwind. There's always something to do or something to see and I'm loving every minute of it. I do have a confession to make though, I haven't been taking my camera around as often as I expected. Shameful, I know but I made sure to take a few pictures with my phone. The quality may not be as nice but thanks to my new picplz app, I got to use all these cool effects to make them a bit more fun.

As for the city, it’s a total foodie-fashionista's dream. Amidst bites of famously delicious pizza and to-die-for sweet treats, I keep stumbling on (or often purposely looking for) fabulous fashion at amazing prices. Case in point, Friday's visit to the BCBG store on 5th Avenue. With 60% off a lot of their amazing styles, it was too good to pass up! I left giddy with excitement over my finds and then met up with Clarissa in SoHo for some mid-afternoon coffee and gossip.

Most recently, I sampled some of New York’s finest (pizza that is). Quino and I took a short walk to Grimaldi’s and had to stand in line for 20 minutes but it was totally worth it! Their pizza had a nice thin but doughy crust. The tomato sauce was divine, definitely not your typical marinara and the ewy gooey globs of fresh mozzarella were the perfect finishing touch.

{our huge pie}

{beautiful gobs of cheese, torn basil and luscious tomato sauce}

{the cheese dripping... that's how you know its good!}

Hope to share more New York antics soon! 
Until then, I'll leave you with a few little snapshots of this fabulous city!

 {quino's amazing view - I'm so jealous he gets to wake up to this every morning}

{the same view but this time it was pouring all afternoon. i'm amazed that you can barely even see the bridge, let alone the empire state building}

{i love that i get this steamy view from my desk at work all day. gotta love don draper}

{the wonderful mini cannoli i had after lunch last week}

{funny little note someone wrote on the subway directory}

start to a big city summer

Having spent the last week getting to know New York a bit, I think it's safe to say that this is gonna be an amazing summer! Between exploring our neighborhood here in Brooklyn Heights to interesting subway rides and of course sightseeing, everything has been a fantastic adventure.

After settling in, we caught the subway into the city early last week to track down our offices. We made a few stops along the way, including a visit to the gorgeous post office on Park and a quick lap around the originals Macy's followed by our first, but certainly not last, soggy water hotdogs of the summer. We made a pit stop at Time Square that day too.

Among my other New York escapades were walks across the Brooklyn Bridge (once with Quino and again when my dad stopped in for a visit). We also spent a day walking around downtown. We snapped some shots at Wall St. before walking over to Battery Park for a ferry ride to the statue of Liberty.

Work started this week so we wont have quite as much time for adventures but it’s been a wonderful experience so far. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has I store!

I'll leave you with this beautiful shot we took just after sunset in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Amazing, isn't it?

Best Wishes from the Big Apple!