NYC Photo shoot

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I’m actually enjoying catching up on old TV episodes and sleeping. I have finally finished the Lili St. Cyr biography I have been reading as well (read all about it in a future post).

Back in NYC, I teamed up with my friends from Flytographer to shoot in the streets of Soho. This time, the fabulous Mayleen was behind the camera and we had a lot of fun. She schooled me all about Miami, shooting notable clients and how to be fearless in a “coat that looks like a shag bear that didn’t stand a chance.” Here are some shots with hair and makeup by Bianca and Anthony. As you can see, I’m a fan of the profile shot;)

ELENA:)

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NYC in December

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I can’t believe that there is 5 days until Christmas!!!

I used the last of my vacation time to venture off to NYC in early December and I thought you might want to know a little about my adventures. This is a short summary with more details to follow!

TUESDAY: Checked into The Renwick, (a cool new boutique hotel on east 40th in between Park and Lex) and went to visit my friend Nizim from Labeling Men and had dinner at Bill’s Food & Drink on 54th. Bill’s Food and Drink is one of Chef John Delucie’s restaurant. Bedford & Co is his latest venture at the Renwick which is slated to open very very soon! (Comment: Actually it’s not going to open until spring 2016) Things to note – my room had a lovely floral arrangement from Uprooted Flower Truck (NYC’s first flower truck) to brighten my stay and I got to snack on some yummy ginger people made by Sweets by Olivia (which only lasted a night!).IMG_8612IMG_8602

WEDNESDAY: Hair and makeup with Anthony and Bianca for a Flytographer shoot in Soho. I got to wear my new Christmas/Birthday present to myself, a Proenza Schouler cashmere coat which I love. (More photos in a future post). Uber was crashed when I needed to rush to an important meeting at the Surrey Hotel but I managed to get there eventually after walking 20 blocks in heels and paying $30 for car service. Sheesh. Dinner at Marta with a friend from BluBird Vancouver.

THURSDAY: A breakfast meeting at Le Pain Quotidien followed by an amazing tour of Ciner manufacturing (future post coming up) was on the schedule. In the evening, I surprised the creative fashion illustrator Elaine Biss at her French Connection event. After, I got to meet Alexis Bittar at his holiday meet and greet. Then finally, to my trainers delight, I got to eat a chicken burger at Fuku.

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FRIDAY: A breakfast meeting at The Smith (I totally recommend) and a stop in with Editor-In -Chief, Courtenay C. Hall from Bella New York Magazine. I made a pit stop at Century 21 of course and had a few moments uptown to take some photos of beautiful Bergdorf window displays before heading downtown to dinner at Hundred Acres.

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SATURDAY: A stop into Creeds Collective Pop Up Shop which was conveniently located across the street from the brunch spot Santina under the High Line.  I managed to pick up some salt water taffy from Salty Road from Brooklyn. With an hour to spare to leave to airport, I went to & Other Stories new 5th avenue spot and bought a pair of booties.

ELENA:)

Birthday in Paris

I’m in PARIS! Yay! Many adventures to be had and guess what? You’ll get to see the majority of my pics right here on my blog. Later today – it’s 5 am  right now – I’ll be meeting the illustrator of #thelovelist for the very first time! Whoohoo 🙂

Here is a pic from my walk yesterday right by the Louvre. So pretty.

Stay tuned…

ELENA:)

Barcelona Trip…

The day started with chocolate croissants. Yummy.

I like how after 5 or 6 years, some things don’t change. Case in point, the oldest shop in Barcelona, Cereria Subira is still there. It’s a candle shop (a little boring) – but the candles are amazing. Quebo… the fantastic sandwich place – not there…. now is some deadbeat corner store. Oh well.

Gaudi filled the rest of the afternoon, La Pedrera and Casa Batllo (one of my favourite buildings in the whole world!).

Chocolate break at Cacao Sampaka (Thanks Sara!)

And yes, FC Barcelona lost to Real Madrid and couldn’t get reservations for Dos Pallilos – so we checked out this other restaurant called Komomoto Taberna Japonesa Peruana instead, it had great lychee + cava drinks. So wonderful.

ELENA:)

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Got in after a long flight from London on British Airways. Watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Twilight Breaking Dawn: Part One. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo… was so graphic (yikes!) but i can see why Rooney Mara ended up with an Oscar nod.

Wanted to go to Dos Palillos but it was too busy… settled on late night flat bread pizza and wine.

This picture was something we found in a dark alley.

ELENA:)

I’m Back. Finally. So much to share….

Let’s talk about Boston and how great it is… the city is amazing. It’s pretty humid now. I have a new job that took me to Boston for a conference. My new work BFF and i decided to be roomies at the Fairmont Copley Plaza which ended up being really fun. Unfortunately for two of the nights one of use slept on a cot because they screwed up the reservation. Oh well.

The red eye flight wasn’t bad expect i had a runny nose and i couldn’t breathe. Minor detail.

On our first day we went to Cambridge and spent some time around Harvard. Then we took the train and walked one of my favorite restaurant in Boston. The Barking Crab where I had a Lobster Roll. So fantastic.

ELENA:)

Bath UK

The London leg of the trip started with a trip to Bath after the 8 hour plane ride. Thank goodness i was flying United, i managed to score three seats to myself. I ended up half sleeping half writing this confession email to someone. Not good.

We stayed at the Halcyon Hotel which was perfect for 2 nights as it was very close quarters. The hotel was walking distance to the train station which was very convenient. Also very convenient, the Marks & Spencer. I love going to groceries stores abroad… they always have interesting eats.

Here is a picture from the Roman Bath.

ELENA:)

Chicago (March 30-April 2)

I love Chicago. Chicago is like the cousin of NYC. You can walk around. Not get lost. People are friendly. Interesting architecture (Frank Loyd Wright) and great food. Last spring, I went with a bunch of guys. But this time it was all about doing things i wanted to do.

Where did i stay? The Trump Tower. Yup. I have a letter from Donald himself. OK, so it might be a form letter… but i don’t care. The room was incredible and it was the size of people’s condos in Vancouver (600 sq ft) complete with a kitchen and a TV in the bathroom mirror (fantastic).

My first nights’ dinner was at Graham Elliot. So fantastic. I need to go back and try the tasting menu for sure. The popcorn sample at the beginning of the meal was so scrumptous i think that i totally ate our tables’ portion. I think that i had the crab cake. It was amazing. Bravo.

The next few days were spent eating (some more) a lot of drinking and shopping. I heart Potbelly’s sandwiches and WowBao’s hot Asian buns. They definitely take the fast casual (someone taught this terminology and I’m giving you credit) to another level. My favorite breakfast in Chicago has to be at the Old Fashioned Pancake House. The sweet pecan pancakes are spectaular. I totally recommend it.

Enough about food, more importantly I got to test out my shopping skills on a coworker. Although she wears scrubs most of the time, she managed to pick up a few things to enhance her wardrobe at JCrew (I love JCrew!) . It’s tragic that she can’t wear normal street clothes more often, she has the body type that 90% of girls would kill for. Not only does she have a great body, but she is the sweetest resident ever so you can’t even secretly hate her!

Of course, bought a few things from Anthropologie. A long blue dress, a pair of jeans and this cute equestrian hip bag thing. I can’t wait until they open here. Maybe I’ll apply for a job.

I fell in love with these butterscotch patent leather pumps (Prada) at Nordstrom’s, but a lady bought my size and they were sold out nationwide. They are the perfect height and shade. I looked everywhere for them, but there was none to be found. (A little update is that i found them online and they are making their way to Vancouver shortly. Thanks Neiman Marcus!)

One night after dinner we all went bowling (10Pin Chicago) which was interesting to see who was a closet bowler. I believe we actually got flashed at one point.

On Friday night after this wrap up dinner, we checked out the Crimson Lounge, where we found out that not everyone knows how to play spin the bottle. After the lounge we found our way Mother Hubbard’s where we made nice with a guy named John who claimed he was moving from San Fransisco but he had a Midwest accent. I don’t know how that worked out. But he managed to get us inside and bought us a round of shots. Which was not a good idea considering i needed to be sober enough to catch a flight to London later that afternoon.

Next up… why Elena should not drink alcohol and text/email.

ELENA:)

Paper Art

The first time i went to NYC, I went to the Guggenheim and there was an exhibit on paper trees made out of paper shopping bags. I was thinking about it the other day and I couldn’t remember the exact artist so i googled the topic. I found Yuken Teruya and his Notice – Forest Series. Another noted project is called Cut Up Price, where he does some interesting things will the dollar.

ELENA:)