Nov 27, 2014

Thankful

As cheesy as it sounds, every day I am thankful for having a job I love and for living in a city I love. Though I haven't been home very much the past month, my little apartment is slowly coming along, in large part thanks to Kira and her boyfriend who worked on making my kitchen nook beyond-dreams awesome while I was traveling. You would think they were professionals who had done this many times before, but that's not at all the case. This shelf wall is by far my favorite part of the apartment right now.



These are definitely the areas that have come along the most – what you don't see is the pile of crap sitting on the other side. I also turned the actual bedroom in this apartment into my office/studio and it's still a hot mess. My bed is on the other side of the sofa, still totally spartan, and I'm waiting on a shelf unit that takes 10-12 weeks to make to divide the room. And we're gonna go very very dark on the wall that the sofa is against. It's going to get super moody in here, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm still hunting for the right lounge chairs and tiny bedside tables that can actually fit in the space. Plenty of work to be done, but that's the fun of it.




On a side note, one of my favorite online retailers is doing a little something different this Black Friday. Everlane will be investing all of the profits from Black Friday sales into making the lives of their factory workers better. They're starting small and focusing on the factory that makes their silks and button downs (of which I have lost count of how many I own...). I'm eager to see where they will go with this and what kind of tangible change this will mean for the factory. If you haven't checked out their new arrivals, I'm most excited about the silk camisole – a girl can never have too many, as well as the stationery because a hand-written note in the mail goes a long way.

Ok last bit of cheesiness before I sign off – thank YOU for still coming to this little blog of mine. I know my posts are irregular and it's gone pretty silent compared to past years, but I'm resolving to work on that. I realized I've been shooting a lot less personal work and I don't want to lose that or stop posting here. Now... onto Turkey (or more likely, Chinese food with my parents)!

Nov 25, 2014

Kinfolk Vol 14

It's always a treat to work on stories for Kinfolk. In the latest issue (which got a pretty rad redesign), Kate, Diana and I got together again for a cookies story and a simple lunchbox recipe. Below are some of the final shots and outtakes.





You can find all of the recipes in the issue.

Nov 18, 2014

A Boy Named Sue Lookbook

Ah, Hong Kong, you feel like such a far away dream at this point. Was I actually there, some 8000 miles from here, just a hair over two weeks ago? I'm still a bit out of sorts having just come back from the Caribbean and attempting to regather myself in sub 30-degree temperatures. But yes, Hong Kong – when an opportunity comes up to travel to a cool city I've never been to and it involves style and food and great hotels, I get on that shit.

Tania and Sam, the co-founders of e-boutique A Boy Named Sue, gave me just that opportunity. Their shop promotes the idea of "cool clothes with a conscience" by offering sustainably made clothes that are ethically manufactured and in most cases, made with innovative eco materials. They wanted to shed the hippie/granola perception that eco fashion can often come with. The resulting look of the pieces they carry is contemporary and slightly tomboyish. So the three of us got together and shot a lookbook, only I wasn't the one holding the camera! When I got onboard with the lookbook, I didn't know exactly how much I'd be in front of the camera. It ain't easy. I definitely do not know my angles or how to not have a bitch/angry resting face. Sam worked wonders wielding my camera and was a great art director. We explored and shot at some super photogenic spots like the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, Chi Lin Nunnery, The Upper House hotel, and Syut by tfvsjs (don't ask me how to pronounce that).

As for Hong Kong, I have many other thoughts but may need to save them for a future post. The city's density was staggering yet it didn't really feel crowded. I am already scheming of how I can get back there because my short time there was such a tease. And I would kill for some prawn wonton noodle soup right now. And how I miss those congee and dim sum breakfasts.

Are we ready for this behemoth post? Let's begin.








Look 1: Kaarem wind chime top, Ace & Jig obsidian wrap skirt
Look 2: Kaarem open back dress





Look 3: Ace & Jig obsidian cardi jacket
Look 4: Amour Vert petrice playsuit





Look 5: Collective raglan sweatshirt
Look 6: Hien Le blouse








Look 7: Kaarem wind chime top, Hien Le vegan leather skirt
Look 8: Kaarem chance drape top
Look 9: Amour Vert libby silk dress







Look 10: SVILU dust pink sweater
Look 11: Maska helga sweater, Amour Vert rosie polka dot pants







Look 12: Kaarem wind chime top, Obakki plum box pleat skirt
Look 13: The Sway byron leather jacket, Kaarem three leaf dolman top
Look 14: Kaarem wind chime top, Hien Le vegan leather skirt

The brilliant Mina Park also hosted us and other friends for a lunch at her beautiful light-filled apartment. This gal is a talented jack-of-all-trades and made us an glorious spread of hamachi, ddukbokki, pork tacos, and chocolate cake. When she's not kicking ass at corporate life, she runs a project called Sook to bring communities together over food. It was very cool to have lunch with such an international crowd – NYC is diverse and all, but not quite like that was. I've highlighted a few more A Boy Named Sue pieces below.






Links to products shown: (one) Ace & Jig bonfire quilted sweatshirt, (two) Ace & Jig obsidian chalet dress, (three) SVILU dust pink sweater, (four) Ace & Jig royal cardi jacket, (five) SVILU chalk plaid skirt and A Question Of night rider boxy tee, (six) Kaarem wind chime top and Hien Le vegan leather skirt

If you couldn't tell, we're all big fans of the Kaarem wind chime top ;). That's easily a piece I would have multiple colors of in my wardrobe. A huge thank you to Tania and Sam for being wonderful hosts and giving me this first taste of Hong Kong. P.S. You can get 20% off your order until Friday with the code 'gettingold' in celebration of the shop's two-year mark!

[All images of me by Sam, edited by me. Other photos by me.]

Nov 10, 2014

Travel uniform

Twenty-three mosquito bites on my ankles alone, four on my face that now look like pimples, three on my fingers, plus who knows how many on my arms and legs... Between that and practically living at airports these past few days while on assignment in the hot hot hot tropics, I've completely neglected personal style and pretty much look like a dirtbag every day. Forget wearing makeup since I'll just sweat it off. After I got back from Hong Kong (much more on that to come), I just about unpacked one bag to repack another. I will say, I've gotten very efficient at light-packing. 9-10 days in a carry-on is no big deal anymore.



[Top / Jeans (similar) / Sneakers / Backpack / Luggage / Trench]

Even though it feels like 100 degrees outside (literally), I've been wearing some variation of the above for all the travel days. These Caribbean airports have some of the coldest AC I've ever experienced and the planes themselves are always extra-freezing. So besides the above, I carry a light sweater and a shawl that's big enough to be a blanket in my backpack. How it took me this long to become a casual-sneaker wearer is beyond me. I now live in two pairs of Nikes and feel like I'm walking on clouds in them. A day of errands and running around just seems so much more manageable now that I've given up trying to look cute in flats and other shoes.

It's been fun (minus the bites and plane delays) being on the road, but the thing I miss most is always my morning coffee ritual at home. For now, it's hotel pod coffee and bitter espresso, sigh.