Cherry Bombs

This weekend I went to the annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. There were a bunch of activities (origami and Taiko drumming workshops to anime stand-up comedy) but I kept to the flowers mostly. I could sit under the trees for hours, which I did. I'm trying to enjoy these beautiful blossoms here in Brooklyn for as long as I can before they disappear as fast as they came. I wore an Asos crop top, vintage kimono-like button up, River Island skirt and Zara sandals. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

oxo

Broccoli City Fest

My apologies for being MIA for the past week! I took an impromptu trip to Washington, DC this weekend to go to the Broccoli City Festival dubbed by Complex as the 'biggest urban Earth Day celebration ever'. The Los Angeles based organic lifestyle brand Broccoli City itself is all about promoting healthy lifestyles and sustainability to communities who may not otherwise have access to such information. The headliner was Big Krit, one of my favorite artists, so I couldn't miss it. I really didn't get many outfit pictures unfortunately. It was one of those days where theres so much going on and so many people that you spend most of your time socializing than taking actual pictures. Not that that's a bad thing, I like making memories not just capturing them. The event was held at the Navy yard, with cups filled with broccoli stalks as centerpieces for the tables covering the fairgrounds. Green twist? Between the music, vintage clothing vendors, group yoga lessons, and food carts I'd say it was a solid good time. I wore an Asos long sleeve crop top, body chain, American Apparel riding pants, and Dr. Martins. 

Custom t-shirts and artwork by Julian Starks. I definitely want to do a feature his Pill Collection project in the near future.

 The crowd was definitely eclectic, which made made everything that much more interesting.

Beautiful pencil drawing of one of the events host's, Va$hti.

oxo

Pusher Love Girl

Please excuse me while I daydream about spring date night outfits. I've been bitten...

oxo

Secret Garden

 I'm having one of those days where I feel like being incognito. Torrential rain decided to interrupt our two blissful days of sunshine here in NY last night. I got caught in it walking home from the subway yesterday wearing a chiffon blouse and sandals - needless to say I looked crazy. So today I'm laying low, hanging around my hood and running errands.  

I find a lot of exotic looking plants in my garden. The light plum looks so pretty against the teal metal.

 I'm wearing a turban made of fabric I found around my house, flea market shades, Asos crop top, American Apparel corduroy skirt and Zara sandals. 

oxo

Gravity & Grace

This past Saturday I was dragged to the Brooklyn Museum with my two french gal pals to check out the featured exhibit Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui. Being that I hadn't planned on visiting the museum that day (I try to stay away from the weekend tourist crowds) I wasn't fully prepared for what I walked into. Pure, raw, unfiltered BEAUTY.

 After being immobilized with the sheer grandeur of it all, I began to wonder what exactly the glimmering alien cloth before me was made of. When I moved closer the pieces started to distinguish themselves from one another, and I realized it wasn't cloth at all; colored tin and aluminum banged and twisted into shape, strung together with pieces of copper wire. I couldn't be...could it? Trust me, it was. Mesmerizing mosaics of silver and gold and blue, red and yellow and black. Some of them hung in a manner so ethereal you would have thought they grew straight out of the wall like vines or moss. Shimmering gold and silver tapestries hung here and there, folding naturally to create a sparkling walls of water. It was magnificent. So who is this genius El Anatsui anyway. After doing a little research reading the museum pamphlet, I find out that is actually not a Latin American art school student, but a dashing 68 year old Ghanaian sculptor and professor recognized as one of the leading artists of our time.

 

Needless to say, my weekend was full of inspiration, and El Anatsui is officially one of my favorite artists. Apparently he taught at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and also lives in Nigeria as well. Is it wishful thinking that I may one day be able to meet him face-to-face? My dad teaches in Nigeria as well after all, so its not completely unreachable. I urge anyone who is in the NY area to go and experience this exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. You wont be the least bit disappointed. I'm curious to know what you guys think of the Brooklyn museum compared to the MET: Better or worse? 

 

oxo

 

*All photos were taken by me using my iPhone 4S

Lucy,loosie

Sandal heels have become my best friends. Where do I begin when explaining my love for them. The delicate 'lady-like' vibe they project is what draws me in. I used to be really into chunky platform heels, but I started to hate the way they made me feel like some kind of Goliath causing a noisy ruckus where ever she places her feet. I'm not sure I like people hearing me coming from five blocks away. Thus, my dainty sandal obsession was born. The b&w beauties are the Tryst pumps from Nasty Gal. I'm swooning over the four alternating b&w braids that go around the ankle. The other two beauties are from Zara. Both the black and the light tan pair are going to be my go to sandals this Spring. There is nothing they won't go with. My ankles are pretty skinny, so the LT pair is a bit loose in that area. I still have yet to figure out if they can be tightened. Unfortunately I looked on Zara.com and they're both sold out, which is crazy considering I got them just last week. Good shoes go fast! But don't you worry; I scoped out an almost identical version of the black leather sandals right here, and a less then identical version of the light tan sandals here.

Started playing dress-up for a little bit to see how my black sandals looked on.

Wearing Zara pants (very old season) and H&M button-up



Side note: I reached over 10,000 page views! Now I know that may not seem like a lot to you all, but I truly feel that if I don't appreciate all of my accomplishments, even the small ones, I will never truly understand what it means to be successful. I pretty much neglected this blog during the first year I started it, but now I'm finally giving it the attention it deserves.

oxo

Double Whammy

 

I've been very inspired lately, so I decided to do two design sets instead of one this week! The first set focuses on the gorgeous tie-died kimono from Top Shop. When dressing pieces that are so colorful (colorful to me at least) I like to keep the colors of whatever else I'm wearing very neutral. I usually go with black of course, but sometimes I'll do camel, white, or olive tones, depending on what I'm wearing. I recently bought the Zara leather sandals pictured above and I'm in love with them. They've most definitely become the most versatile pair of shoes I own. You'll see these babies along with a couple other of my new Spring shoes in a feature post later on this week.

 

 

This is inspired by not only the obvious high contrast Spring trend, but the 'futuristic' trend as well. At first I thought dressing 'futuristic' was an oxymoron, if not a little corny, but then I started researching what dressing in such a manner actually entailed. Metallic colors, sharp lines, and cut-outs? I think I could actually do this. The b&w Topshop sweater and Oasis faux leather skirt are my simple centerpieces. When your clothing is simple, you can be super creative with your shoes and accessories. I think the retro 1/2 black, 1/2 white glasses look like so much fun! They may look better off than on, but who knows? I think they're worth a try.

When I see snakes I automatically think seductive. I think it has something to do with the way they move, hence the reason I also added the fake gauge striking snake earrings to this outfit. They add a sense of danger. Yum.

 

oxo