Summer Fashion

June 15, 2018

Are you looking to put together a cute summer wardrobe for the upcoming season? Well look no further! LOL, actually this is a lie. I'm not really a good person to follow when it comes to fashion because my 'style' is honestly all over the place. And when it comes to dressing for the seasons, I honestly am stuck in spring and summer all year long. If you've noticed, I live my life in dresses and skirts. I rarely wear pants. Which is funny because back in college, that's all I wore. I owned like 30 pairs of jeans and they took up several drawers in my dorm room. I don't really know why either. But like I said, my style is all over the place and constantly changing but still the same somehow. I either dress like a hoe or I dress like a child. There's really no in between.

I go through a lot of weird phases too. In high school, I wanted to be that bitch so I wore heels a lot to school. In college, with campus being the size that it was, that wasn't as practical so I switched over to living in a rainbow of Converses. But bootleg from Wet Seal and other cheap stores because college student budget. I actually did own one pair of real Converse and they had cupcakes and glitter on them. Now in the real world, I wear boots and flats a lot to work. But recently I've been trying to shift over to pretty sparkly sneakers, platforms, heeled boots. I started wearing heeled boots to work for two reasons. They actually feel pretty good after leg day for some reason - they help to relieve the soreness and pressure. And secondly, I really wanted to start feeling comfortable again in them. I used to wear them so well in high school and be able to trudge around all day in them. But college made me a bitchass. I want to go back to being a boss bitch in heels on my regular days, not just for shoots.

Okay, enough digression.

What do you need for some good cute summer looks?

It depends on your body type, your own style and taste and what you're comfortable in.
I'm a summer child so I absolutely love the season while my friends hate it. I swear it's in my blood being a child from the tropics. It could be 100 degrees and I could be sweating like a pig and I still would enjoy the day. The heat doesn't bother me, the cold does. I'm no Elsa.

I'm[Photos by Some Kid]

My favorites for summer include a cute sundress, light fabric crop tops, super cute shorts, fun printed skirts and either a cute pair of flats or sandals. But as long as you make sure you have some of the above in your wardrobe, you can't go wrong. For dresses, go for some fun prints or a simple bright color. For crop tops, I like light blues or whites. Anything basic because it'll make what you pair with it stand out. For example, if you have a really fun printed cherry or mermaid or gingham skirt, a white off the shoulder crop top will complement it nicely and make the skirt pop out as the centerpiece of your look. I try not to have two different prints going on because then it looks too busy. Or at least if it's two different prints, make sure one is not louder than the other and that it's the same color scheme. And vice versa. If your shorts/skirt is a plain solid color, make the top stand out in a fun print or picture or design. Or if both pieces are solid plain colors, this is where some accessories can come in to accent the look. Sometimes I like to accessorize with a sunhat or hair bows depending on how I wear my hair. Most of the time it's in pigtails or all down in loose curls and waves.

If a look is too simple or basic, I just throw on some light accessories or I dress it up with how I do my makeup. Good hair and makeup can pull together almost any look. For summer, I prefer bright pink lipsticks.

In terms of color palette, I love bright colored clothing. Black and white is an easy go to, but I prefer to live my life in color. I love sunshine yellow but it's such a hard color to find in clothes since everything is always in mustard. A little white dress is also one of my favorite go-tos for summer, or even an all white look. All white keeps it simple and clean. It can also make for a cute Hamptons look depending on how you style it.

I also get this common question of how I afford everything I wear. Truth be told, my shoes are expensive. My clothes are not. And despite my excessive shopping habits, a lot of my pieces are not always new. (I did shop a lot this spring season because I love a lot of the stuff in stores right now and the styles, but last few years I actually did not buy as much. ) BUT, the secret is, when I look for something, I try to buy only stuff I REALLY like and know I'll definitely wear and wear more than once for a look. I try to ask myself, will this mix and match with other things in my closet? Will I want to wear this more than once or is this just for a look? If it's a one trick pony, then I'd better really love it or back on the rack it goes. I'm also a fan of in store shopping over online because I like to see how it looks on my own body before commiting. Some things look terrible on an online model and amazing on your body type. And vice versa. Sometimes it looks great on the mannequin and then you put it on and it's a tent and has no shape because it was pinned on the mannequin strategically. I also try to look for pieces that are versatile as well as classic. When you're trying to be bougie on a budget, you'd got to make that fashion go a long way. I have this one eyelet crop top that's lasted me since 2006 simply because it's a classic clean look that goes with everything and over everything. It can be dressed down for a beachy look or thrown over a cute dress for a more fancy party look. I did the same thing when I bought cute overalls and overall dresses this past year. I made sure they would look cute when paired with different cute tops underneath. This way you can make numerous combos of different looks with one staple piece.

If you follow these simple rules, you can put together a great look for summer and your own signature style. When shopping for summer, I look for floral, stripes, polka dots and ruffles. Sounds simple and basic but you can pull off a cute look with any of these classics without looking like a basic bitch. It's all about how you pull it together with your own creativity and confidence when wearing your threads. Make sure you work it!

For this summer season though, I'm looking to shoot some more cute fashion that shows off what I've been working on for the past 6 months since I started dieting and exercising more seriously. So this summer, I'm really hoping to work on more swimsuit shoots and crop tops and shorts. I haven't worn a bikini in SO LONG because I felt so fat and shitty in my body but it felt so good on my family cruise I took in February to finally get back in one and look great in one again. And all the shorts I used to fit in! I'm so glad I never threw them out. They all fit great again and look better than ever. I'm really glad I didn't give up and pushed myself through all the hard work so that my summer body would shine through and be ready in time to knock em dead. I can't wait to get out there this season.

Here are some looks I have on my phone when I'm being vain to help you pull together your own style. There's another style tip, lol. I know, I have a lot of clothes, but I'm forever stuck in that "I have nothing to wear" syndrome so I really always am stumped when I have to put together an outfit. But then there are times where I put together some slamming looks. It helps to photograph them and keep them catalogued in your phone. Kind of like your own personal lookbook. It's helped me many a times when I have no idea what to wear for work, a day out with friends or even what to wear for a wedding. Also helps to see different combos of things and how it looks with your hair at a glance. (Just click on the pic to see the full length of any particular photo. )

That's all for now. You guys have any questions, comments, suggestions, anything, drop me a line below. Hope you guys enjoyed this even though it's literally all over the place in a disorganized mess.

- RxBarbie

Happy Go Lucky

June 13, 2018

Yesterday on my day off, I went on another gram date with my siblings.

Our destinations for this trip were:

We made it to everything but the museum mile but that's okay. I have all summer and the museums in NYC are not going anywhere.

Mister Dips was a foodie place I saw on Facebook last year through those videos showcasing places to eat in NYC. I've been trying to get here for a while now but it's out of the way in terms of my usual route when I'm in the city and something always comes up or I run out of time. This time I was determined to finally make it there by making it the first stop of the day.
It's known for serving only three items initially but has since expanded its menu beyond burgers, fries and ice cream. I wanted to come here because the food looked good and the ice cream cones looked really pretty, so this was a #doitforthegram type of stop. It actually wasn't as hard to get through as I initially thought. I was afraid I would have to make that dreaded commute through Queens, Manhattan and then Brooklyn before getting there. But the train I usually take into Manhattan actually had an easy transfer while still in Queens. Took the E to the G and then had a short walk over to the place. The location is actually pretty interesting. It's a cute little food truck "parked" on top of an elevated outdoor promenade of the William Vale hotel. We wanted to try a little bit of everything so we ordered burgers, buffalo chicken fingers, loaded waffle fries, and 3 different ice cream cones. It was definitely a bit excessive but I figured why not since I finally made it out there and who knows when and if I would come back. The verdict? The food was good, but very messy to eat. I mean, I should've expected since it's in the name that everything is "dipped." But the burger oozed out grease, the fries were overly loaded and dripping in cheese, the chicken fingers drenched in hot sauce and even the ice cream had strawberry and caramel saucing dripping everywhere. We literally could not eat any of it without needing a shit ton of napkins for each bite. The burgers are good but Shake Shack still reigns supreme. The waffle fries were delicious but may have been better if they weren't so overly loaded. Sometimes a little goes a long away. The ice cream, while instagrammable, was way too sweet, honestly. We had the Berry Dip, Skinny Dip and Jacker Crax 2.0. It was sugar overload. We weren't able to finish it because it was just too saturated with sugar. Diabetic coma. And they don't really give you a lot for the frozen lemonade either for your money's worth. It was nice to try once for the gram but I don't think I would come back again. It's out of the way and overpriced for what it is. It's Instagrammable but doesn't live up to the hype in terms of taste and foodie satisfaction. It's more eye candy than optimally delicious.

After Mister Dips, we headed over to Vinnie's pizza because I wanted to try the pizza-ception pizza that I saw as well in yet another Facebook video of NYC food, lol. Damn these foodie videos luring me into their traps. But unfortunately when we got there, they didn't have any available and we didn't have time to wait since we had an appointment at the Happy Go Lucky art exhibit. So we made it, but we didn't really get to check it off our list since we didn't actually get to try the pizza. Although, the good thing is after eating healthy for so long, I actually don't crave pizza. When I do eat it though, it's good don't get me wrong, but I'm able to control my craving for it and not want it so much anymore. So it wasn't a total bummer that we didn't get to try this. Maybe another time.

Next to Mister Dips was a store called Stone Flower that sold the cutest things! It's funny because I actually own a few things from this store (gifts from family and friends) but have never been here. It's such a small store but so pretty and has so much unique cute knick knacks. I bought some pens and a cute pair of iridescent bunny earmuffs for the winter.

We headed out of Brooklyn and stopped at the Flour Shop next on our way to Happy Go Lucky. I saw the Flour Shop on Instagram and I couldn't not go. The rainbow decor in the shop was calling to me. And then the weekend before I saw that Jellio Design was teaming up with the shop and had their rainbow gummy bears there for the month for Pride Month! How perfect. This ended up being one of my favorite stops for the day. I wish I could own one of these bears for my house, actually who am I kidding, I want all the colors, but I don't have that kind of bougie money to be just throwing away like that. One day though. I would love to own a lot of ridiculous shit in my house, hahaha. The people in the shop, both workers and customers were really nice in letting me set up the bears for my shot. I didn't plan to purchase anything, I just wanted to stop by for the gram and they were so nice about it.

Afterwards, we finally headed over to Happy Go Lucky a few blocks over. It's another interactive art exhibit that just opened up over the weekend. I found out about it on Facebook last month while they were still building and my sisters were intent on going. It's a ticketed event similar to the Museum of Ice Cream and actually uses the same system to buy tickets too so you have to buy tickets on line and ahead of time to reserve your time slot.
It's very similar to MOIC, but it doesn't have a central food theme. Their theme was simply creating fantasy rooms that were something out of a dream. Some rooms were like that, but not all rooms, I would have to say. And like the Egg Shop, I do have to say they spent more time on some rooms than others, unfortunately. Overall, it was a nice experience and I would definitely recommend doing it, but be mindful of a few things. I was a little annoyed because when we got there it wasn't too busy but the couple in front of us spent a LOT of time in the diamond room - the most coveted room - and I didn't mind this but when it was our turn, the line had gone out the door and the exhibit got really busy so they limited how much time my group was allowed in the diamond room and only gave us 3 minutes for photos. I wasn't too happy with that since my photos didn't come out as well as I would've liked since I was under a time constraint while several people in front of us that went before us, were not rushed and were able to take their time. The couple was in there for a good 10 minutes for just two people, but when we got in there, they gave us a time limit of 3 minutes for a party of 5 people. The rest of the exhibit was not as nice as the diamond room, I would say. It was their "sprinkle pool" I'd say. I wish I knew that they were going to give us a time constraint because then I would've planned my poses better for my photos. I mean, I understand they had to start timing everyone but it's not fair that the two people in front of us were not timed and were allowed to spend as much time as they wanted while we waited patiently. So if you go, time your arrival just right as you walk through the door to experience the exhibit, and make sure you have your poses ready and take as many as you can in your time allotment.

As for the rest of the exhibit, I loved the giant clam shell and pearl, and the chili pepper but everything else felt not as up to par. The balloons were pretty but felt a little cheap since they kept having to replace them as they popped. The first floor of the exhibit is brightly lit, while the basement was really poorly lit so it was hard to get nice photos with the neon signs unless you had a professional camera. The rest of the exhibit also requires you to get creative with your photos and use of the space. I would definitely research looks and poses before coming to maximize your time and best shots. Maybe this is a reason why I should've waited to visit later on in the month instead of during the first few opening weeks. But you know, the sell out hype and wanting to do it asap for the gram got the better of me unfortunately. Patience is hard to learn, lol.

After the exhibit, we had dinner at TsuruTonTan. I've been wanting to try this place too after watching yet another Facebook video last year about how big the bowls and portions are here. I love udon and I've been craving soup since I rarely have it nowadays being on a healthy diet and soup is so full of sodium so it's not the best choice. But alas, today was a cheat day and I was making the most of it. I got the TsuruTonTan Deluxe and it was delicious! Although I couldn't finish it all, hahaha. It's a lot of food! Especially for someone who's shrunk their stomach from eating healthy and eating smaller portions for 6 months. I actually can't wait for my next day off/cheat day because I'll probably grab another Asian soup dish again because man, Asians are the bomb dot com at soup. I miss pho and bun bo hue and ramen (not that instant or cup garbage) so much. Til the next cheat day/gram adventure!

The Egg House

June 9, 2018

I visited the Egg House back in April when it first opened with my sisters. I saw it from @feedyourgirlfriend's Instagram and it looked cute so I figured why not, I was going to be in the city for the day anyway.

The ticket fee was $18 which isn't terrible, but I think it's a little expensive for what it was from my experience. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it as much as I did the Museum of Ice Cream in LA. In my opinion, it felt a little like a Walmart rip off version of MOIC. The egg pool is akin to the sprinkle pool, as the hanging spatulas are to the hanging bananas, and the cracked egg swing are to the ice cream sandwich swing. There were some cute original aspects though like the floating balloons and the clouds to make it look like a sunny side up egg, and the giant carton with giant eggs.

The Egg House is set up like a "house" per se, but it's an open space for the most part with one extra room and a basement downtairs. It's the living area of an egg called Ellis. But it was kind of more like an egg studio apartment than a house. The areas are all open to each other so you can see everything at a glance. MOIC is set up so you walk room to room and monitored so no one room overcrowds to ruin the experience. Although these tickets were sold in batches, it seems they didn't stagger the number of visitors enough and the space is relatively small so the experience felt a little cramped and it felt like a one conveyor belt line to experience everything and take photos. The pool was one of the more popular pieces of the show so that took the longest to get to, as well as the fact that it's located towards the back. And once there, of course, everyone wants to take their time and get as many photos as possible so that further boggles down the line. This is the problem with some pop-up ideas. They spend too much time making one idea great and half ass on others. I would rather the pop ups give equal effort into each "room" and make it all equally amazing. But of course, you never know what people will love more than others until you put the idea into motion and see what happens.

My favorite was the giant egg carton. It was more unique to this exhibit and really cute. The egg pool is cute but I wish you could sit in it a little deeper for some reason. The egg swing and the rocking egg is cute too.

I went on a Saturday and I would have to say I regret it. I know people who went on a weekday and during a less busier time like lunch and had the place all to themselves. I felt a little rushed trying to get my pictures in and didn't have time to think so I just went into auto-pilot of basic easy poses for photos. It probably would've been better had I went on a weekday and been able to take my time and take as many cute pics as I wanted and a better experience as well with the place being more 'clean' in a sense that they would've had it all tidied and ready to go for the next guest. Since it was a Saturday and busy, it was like a conveyor belt getting one person in and one person out so they never reset up the pool for the next guest. You just jump in. And sometimes you're sharing the pool with another guest. I would've liked a picture with the entire pool in the frame and all by myself. Yes, I'm already aware I'm vain. This is nothing new.

And they also had Eggloo available to them from what I saw from other visitor's photos on Instagram. When I went, the Eggloo vendor was not available so no waffles and ice cream for me. Only cold egg tarts that weren't very fresh. That's the other thing about the price. For $18, it should be the same experience all around. the Eggloo vendor was something I was looking forward to and I was disappointed it wasn't included in that day's admission. Luck of the draw, I guess but they should've had something else to substitute to make up for it.

I don't mean for my post to be a negative review of the pop up, because I did enjoy it. I just feel there's room for improvement and changes to make it a better and more similar experience from guest to guest in terms of quality. But this is also a lesson the original MOIC in NY had to learn and it helped to make the LA one amazing. So hopefully they take any feedback they receive and make it even better. It would be really cool to see them do a new and improved Egg House 2.0! Like a version of Ellis when he moves up in money in the world and gets a nicer estate. The Egg Mansion, hahaha.

These new pop-ups and interactive exhibits are on the rise and I am definitely loving it, as a person who's always looking for something to do since I don't like to party or drink, but rather take fun photos and explore around NYC with my friends. So these are right up my alley. I do enjoy this trend and going from pop up to pop up. And since they're pop-up dessert shops opening up and being more aesthetic and designed with the gram in mind, with flower walls, tons of cute decor on the tables as well as super cute furniture and other gimmicks to draw you in. This is probably going to be that kind of summer as I eat my way through NYC from dessert place to dessert place. My sister laughed at me the other day as she realized that now that I'm maintaining my weight and physique and no longer trying to lose, what I've been doing is pumping my body full of poison on these days where I adventure through the city, and then spending the next 3-4 days working it off at the gym. It's a roller coaster of eating and then undoing the damage only to go back and do it all over again. But at least now I have it under control and I don't waste my cheats on the stuff I can get anywhere. I save my cheats up especially for exploring for the gram, hahaha.

Hopefully you guys enjoy as I eat my way through Manhattan this summer and review every new spot and pop up.

If you visited the Egg House, what did you think? Or sound off below if you're planning to go in the future. Do you enjoy pop-ups too?