MANHATTAN HUSTLE

The quintessential New York hustle is very evident in the streets of Manhattan.  The constant buzz of the vehicles around and the endless streams of people just make you notice that you are indeed in the city that never sleeps.  It was a very busy and rushed day for me as I hopped from different places to photograph every few hours.  I am still quite disappointed though that I was not able to visit the Flat Iron due to lack of time.  Manhattan made the city girl in me gushed like crazy.   It has that vibrant and distinct ambiance that can only be attributed to being NYC's hustle centre. The original skyscrapers like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler together with the affluent shops are right in the middle of the city.

For this day, I opted to wear a dress that I bought at Chicago a few years ago and then just put a cozy turtleneck sweater over it.  I wanted to be comfortable enough since I would be doing a lot of walking (walking made me miss California haha!) and photographing.  New York weather can be very erratic so I did not leave anything to chance and wore tights with the thigh high boots.

WHAT I WORE:

turtleneck off white jumper from WALMART (yup it is a clearance sale haul)

black dress used as a skirt from URBAN OUTFITTERS (CHICAGO)

thigh high boots from BOOTSIES

tights from H&M

eyewear from COTTON ON

charcoal gray tote bag from STEVE MADDEN

Below are some shots of me taken by my kiddo or Uncle as well as other shots I took using a Sony Mirrorless Camera and a Fisheye lens (my uncle's camera and which made me consider buying one just because it is very handy and light.)

PHOTO TAKEN BY MY UNCLE

well, I just had to try most of the food stalls.  Walking stresses me out.:-D

5th avenue

NEW YORK!

New York! The big apple or the city that never sleeps to some but for me, it is the home of my queens, S & B; the empire of Serena and Blair; the playground of Carrie Bradshaw,Samantha Jones. Charlotte York Goldenblatt and Miranda Hobbes; the home of Gossip Girl and Sex and the City.  I went for a quick trip (and when I said quick, I meant like a 3 days and 2 nights trip only) to visit my relatives here as well as have a brief look-see ( more like an amazing race) into the city.  I had so much in my itinerary but had so little time to go everywhere I had planned.  But I did make the most of my visit and you can watch out for all the amazing places in my future blog posts here.

I have always been told that New York is really cold so I actually came prepared.  But I was thankful that it was not snowing when I arrived or else, it would have been difficult to go to the places I had in mind.  And besides, cold weather and I don't really like each other.  So for this amazing race day 1, I picked a nice floral dress with a choker like neckline which is technically not for winter.  I carried a wool scarf in my bag just in case the temperature drops (and it did in the evening! and yeah I was still out that time dong skyline shots at Gantry park).  I paired the dress with black tights and mind you, I wore 2 tights and a pair of thigh high boots just to be sure.  It was a good thing because the sun was up most of the time so it kept us warm.

WHAT I WORE:

camel long coat from FOREVER 21

floral dress from H&M

thigh high boots from BOOTSIES

eyewear from COTTON ON

charcoal gray tote bag from STEVE MADDEN

BLOODY RED AT THE VENETIAN

Venetian,to me, is synonymous already to luxurious intricate hotel interior design.  I have been to the Venetian at Macau so it was not really a big surprise for me to see this hotel's interior.  Nevertheless, it still left me breathless.  It was even a big plus to find an ongoing travel photography exhibit which left me drooling over everything.

The Las Vegas Venetian is the original Venetian hotel; much older than the Macau one.  They both have the inner canal feature, the blue sky ceiling as well as the huge plaza areas.  But I guess, Vegas' shining point is its exterior Grand Canal which spans the whole facade of the hotel.  Baroque ceilings and mouldings are everywhere inside the hotel, reminiscent of the old Italian grandeur.

WHAT I WORE:

red off-shoulder dress from H&M

caleen boots from ISABEL MARANT

charcoal gray tasseled tote from STEVE MADDEN

eyewear from COTTON ON

in the shadows

holding hands with my munchkin

people watching

red

the photography exhibit

the inner canal

the grand canal

ORANGE PICKING AT PAUMA VALLEY

I had the chance to visit a large orange orchard when I was in SoCal; and when I say large, it means a really....really massive farm that stretches from the valley up to the mountain.  We even had to ride the car just to reach some of the orange and lemon groves from the farm house.  I dared not to go up the mountain because I am not built for mountains anymore.  Sometimes, I could not even believe that I used to hike a lot when I was a whole lot younger.

The farm is owned by the lovely Uncle Ben and Aunt Marge Burgos, who hosted a sumptuous lunch for us as well.  The kids enjoyed the trip and frolicked around the "not-so-friendly to adults with back problems" areas.  The adults on the other hand enjoyed picking oranges, lemons, tangerines and blood oranges.  We even got to bring home a rather huge pumpkin!

WHAT I WORE:

shirtdress from H&M

black vest from WALMART'S  CLEARANCE SALE (yup!5 dollars only)

flared pants from HAIDUOYI

scarf from H&M (gift from a good friend)

bag from LUXE

caleen boots from ISABEL MARANT

with Blake

with my lovely Aunt Lou and Uncle Ben

yes, that is my tattooed arm

the Burgos, Almenana ,and Palisoc