New York Magic Lab

New York Magic Lab is a new magic themed Instagrammable pop-up. Similar to most pop-ups, it has a ball pit, multiple backdrops, neon signs with a cute cheesy quote, and tons of props. There are a total of 12 different backdrops in 5 different rooms for you to take photos in. 

The space itself is actually very small compared to bigger named pop-ups like MOIC and Candytopia. It’s similar to the Egg House in terms of space and setup; there’s an open room upon entering the front door with multiple backdrops in the same room, with 2 rooms past a curtained wall, and a few more rooms downstairs. They make pretty efficient use of all the space in each area though to provide nice backdrops for all your Instagrammable needs. More space doesn't always mean better quality and experience as evidenced by Candytopia, which was spacious but a big letdown for what it was hyped up to be.

 I stopped by to check it out last Friday before NYCC, first thing in the morning, since weekdays are less crowded and best during opening hours for the best photos without having to be feel rushed because of other guests behind me. I found this to work very well since I always feel terribly strapped for time and end up annoyed when the photos don't come out to my liking at pop-ups. I might start doing this more as scheduling permits for future pop-ups. I just hate waking up early and traveling out from Long Island takes a while...but for the gram, hahaha!

The staff was so nice and so sweet as I took my time looking around and exploring. Checking in was easy and everyone was very patient with us, making us feel very welcome and free to take as much time as we needed. I appreciated this a lot, considering how many pop-ups I attended this year. Sometimes a smaller exhibit is better because similar to indie businesses, they are more attentive and concerned with customer service and your overall experience. They also take into account how they can improve your experience and work towards it.

I do have to note that the ticket price varies, like most pop-ups, whether you attend during a weekday vs weekend, as well as if you attend in the evening when a magician is present to perform. My sole purpose was simply for the gram so if you only need to take cute photos, I'd recommend a weekday during the day for cheaper admission as well as more space and time to take photos without feeling rushed or having to worry about people walking into your photos and having to awkwardly ask them to move. I didn't experience the magic show so I can't comment to report back on that if that's what you're looking for.

I would recommend this pop-up for families and kids. It’s open for another week and a half so if you’re looking for some cute magic themed backdrops, definitely stop by. This would probably be cute for some magic themed cosplays as well, like Zatanna. The Magic Lab is located at 344 W 14th St, alongside the Highline neighborhood so there’s plenty to see and do around here, as well as places to eat nearby after you’re done.

RuPaul's Dragcon NYC 2018

Last year I attended Rupaul’s Dragcon on a Sunday, it’s last day. This year I attended on it’s first day. Friday was the preview night and open from 4-8pm.

I got there early since I had lunch at Drunken Dumpling earlier. I’ve also been meaning to stop by and try their giant soup dumpling for some time and finally got around to it. In my opinion, I found their other dumplings much better than the giant soup dumpling but I still had to get it and try it for myself. It was delicious but I see now why you should enjoy things in its smaller, original forms. The proportions of the regular soup dumpling is evenly paired with the soup, pastry lining and meat inside. The giant soup dumpling ended up being too much and hard to eat. But it was fun to have and share and cute for photos. I would definitely go back for more dumplings as their pink shrimp dumplings were really good and their original sized soup dumplings are amazing too. I’m glad I went by their recommendations when ordering.

After lunch, we visited the Museum of Broken Windows exhibit. It’s a small and temporary exhibit only running this past week to showcase the ineffectiveness of broken window policing and how detrimental it has been, and how it has actually cost more lives than it was thought to have saved. It was really sad to view and read about all the things that happened to people. One part of the exhibit had names hanging from the ceiling of people who have been killed by the police due to these policies, basically a β€œsnippet” of their profile/police report. This exhibit should honestly run for more than a week so that more people can come view it.

After that, we finally shantayed our way over the convention since opening time was at 4pm. We got there early, grabbed our wristbands and waited about 10 minutes in line before the rope drop and we ran right in.

First stop was the Sugarpill booth as I wanted to snatch up the new launches they released earlier this month. I couldn’t help myself. I grabbed pretty much everything. Sugarpill is an indie brand I discovered in college and I’ve loved them since. They were one of the few makeup companies that delivered on its products when it came to the brightness and accuracy of its swatches. The quality is there and they deliver. I’m also bias because its founder is a cute Vietnamese girl from California. She’s what I picture myself as if I had grown up on the West Coast and been allowed to follow my dreams and creative side more, instead of being a sensible East Coast Asian. Her achievements since beginning her brand have been remarkable. I’m so happy for the brand and I love seeing them each time they visit New York. This time, they brought so many of their recent new launches and I scooped basically all of them up. Their matte and sparkle liquid lipsticks are the best I’ve ever seen. The formula is so easy to apply and wear and sparkly. Barbara, the new limited edition color from the Oh Honey! Trixie Mattel collection is my new favorite. It’s the perfect Barbie hue with the right amount of sparkle. I really hope they make it permanent and sold separately from the kit.

My second must-do stop for the day was Elektra Cosmetics. I discovered them last year at Dragcon and I swear, I don’t know how I lived without them in my life before. If you follow me on my Instagram, you know I LIVE for the days off from work where I wear glitter like its my job. Casual glitter is a thing. What happened last year at Dragcon, was that I was walking about with my friends and saw this booth that caught my booth but didn’t want to stop because my friends were moving forward. When we split for a bit and did our own thing, I went back to the booth with my sister to see what the sparkly hubbub was about. There were jars and jars of glitter and a huge selfie ring light for taking gorgeous selfies. What I like about their product is how easy it is to apply on and that it stays in place and on all day. I’ve worn it literally day everywhere. On trips to Paris, in the Bahamas, to work, out with friends, everywhere. Well, I dabbed some on my cheeks that day and was sold. And I haven’t looked back. I started with two jars of their bolt balm originally. And then it grew from there over time as they came out with more colors and I decided I needed more in my life. Eventually I will probably own every single color in the collection. I can’t say enough about them either. They simply have the best customer service for an indie company and are really engaging with their customers, which I appreciate a lot from small companies. They take note of everything and they really take care of you. So naturally, I was really excited to see them again this year. And they did not disappoint. They brought ALL of their new colors and hooked me up! I even got a new microfine glitter to take home and try. I’ve never experimented with loose glitter before for eyeshadow for fear of getting in my eyes or making a mess because loose glitter, but they made it look so easy and even gave me the transformer glue so I could play around and work on it. I’m excited to see if I can master the art of loose microfine glitter as eyeshadow. Although this may be a dangerous path I’m walking down too. Anyways, I went home with many more jars of glitter than I’d like to admit to, to my evergrowing collection.

The rest of my day at Dragcon was browsing the rest of the booths and what they had to offer. There were so many things to see! Beautiful custom made wares - crowns, tiaras, unique sunglasses, latex clothing, plastic drippy pieces, art, fans, makeup, etc. I love the different booths here that I don’t see at a comic and pop culture convention.

Anastasia Beverly Hills even had their own booth giving out free makeovers and a HUGE beautiful photobooth that made you look like a literal queen as you stand on a pedestal and they take professional photos of you and email it to you immediately. This was also another one of my favorite experiences here.

I fell in love with a beret that I had saw @thedisneylandprincess wearing earlier in the year and lo and behold the vendor Sunshine by Hester was at Dragcon! You know I scooped that right up. It’s such a cute and perfect beret for Valentine’s as well as a cute piece to wear to Disney later this month. I can wear it with my Minnie Mouse outfit for my Epcot day since it would look so cute in France. I hope she re-releases the pink and the white berets too because those are super cute too. My sisters got cute berets that each matched their own personal styles too so I’m excited to wear them together next time my family goes on vacation together.

Another thing to note of the convention is the energy here. It’s a different energy I get from NYCC. It’s a lot of fun and very uplifting. Everyone is really nice and polite, but still sassy and funny. Even the bathroom atmosphere is really funny with the bathrooms being gender neutral. I was actually stuck in the bathroom for a while due to a hair incident from one of the booths (which I’ll keep quiet for now until resolved), but the people in the bathroom were really nice and polite while I had taken up an entire counter and some extra space to try and fix what had happened to my hair. I watched a guy accidentally walk into a stall that a girl was in and he was so upset about accidentally walking in on her, he basically started crying! He was like β€œI promise I didn’t see anything, I don’t want to look! TRUST ME HONEY THIS MORE SCARRING FOR ME THAN IT IS FOR YOU! I can’t with these bathrooms!” Hahaha! He was so embarassed but everyone else played it cool and was super nice.

After the convention, I grabbed dinner with my sisters real quick and headed down to the financial district to shoot with a friend for some quick photos before heading home. After eating and being in my Harley costume all day, I expected to look a little bloated and not up to par, especially since one of my food choices was dumplings. But I held back on getting ice cream with my sisters and for dinner, I got a healthy dish of grilled salmon instead of pasta so that helped because I still looked pretty good in my Harley suit in my photos. Jason Laboy isn’t heavy on the photoshop so my body isn’t altered at all in the photos he took, so I’m pretty proud that my body held up nicely after all I did all day. I’m really happy with how they came out and how my body looks in the Harley suit, finally doing Harley some justice in all her lean but curvy glory. You can also view the full set of photos here.

I’m really glad the gym and diet combo is working and my results are shining through after 4 weeks of not having ice cream, fries or any of my favorite foods. Update on my fall goals is that I’m currently at 108 lbs. I have 3 lbs left to lose before I leave for my vacation in another 4 weeks and I’m really hoping to crush it and get there sooner. I’m not progressing at the rate I would like to be at admittedly, but I forget how much of a waiting game this and that I have to be patient. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. The results will come as long as you are consistent, dedicated and focused. I am worried about NYCC though. It’s going to be definitely hard to stay on track while in the city for 4 days so hopefully I don’t do too much damage. I made it this far though, right?

Anyways, in conclusion, Dragcon was a blast for even the few short hours I was there and the small mishap that occured. I would definitely try to go again next year and hopefully it gets even bigger with more vendors and more new wares to discover! Until then, I’ll sashay away until they come back next year.

Human's Best Friend

Behold! There is now a dog pop-up in NYC for both dog owners and dog lovers, and well, your dog too if you have one. Unfortunately for me, I do not own one - yet! Similar to the subject of a child, we have yet to decide when the β€œtime” is right. We’re still struggling to get on a regular set schedule aligned with one another, and I’m still too much on the go. But alas, one of these days, I’ll slow down. One. Of. These. Days.

And on top of that, we can’t compromise on what we want. I want a cute little teacup baby while he basically wants a dog the size of a bear. I want something cute and cuddly and he wants something huge and monstrous. Clearly, we are on extreme opposites of the matter. Regardless of what we end up with, like a baby, we’ll probably love it nonetheless. We’ll see what happens when the time comes. And you bet your bottom dollar I have my puppy name picked out.

Anyway, back to the main attraction! I stopped by Human’s Best Friend, the new dog pop-up with my sisters. We got there around 1pm on Saturday and there wasn’t a long line. When we left, the line was down the block with everyone bringing their dog. Word got out fast since it’s so easily visible from the street walking or driving by. Check-in was quick and easy, you sign a waiver, they go over rules and you enter in small groups a few at a time so it never feels congested. It also gives the dogs enough space to play freely the way they allow people in a few at a time. It is a one-way experience, however. Once you leave a room, you can’t go back, only forward until you come full circle. And they don’t precisely time you but you are limited on time so that people behind you get their own chance to come in. I would say, you’ll probably spend about 30-45 minutes inside on the experience.

Oh yes, and if you don’t have your own dog, there are adoptable babies there too for you to play with, from local rescue organizations. And of course, everyone else’s dogs that people bring in as well, so long as the owners/other guests are okay with it. Always ask!

We played with both other owner’s dogs and the rescued babies and they were all so sweet. A lot of them are hams! They are just ready to pose it up or melt into your arms and force you to love them forever.

The actual space is small compared to other major pop-ups I’ve been to, but still pretty big for what it is, and has tons of room for all the dogs to run around in freely. And the time lapse in between each entry helps to make it so. There are plenty of cute photo ops all over the spaces for you and your dog and each room is gated so no one space gets congested. They have people in each room to make sure it’s ok to move onto the next space, in case the dogs don’t play well with each other. They also do their best to separate the big dogs from the small dogs when entering, for safety reasons.

The rooms are really cute. The entrance looks like a dog house and leads to a living room couch, with a cute dinner table and toilet seat fire hydrants. From there you walk into a purple room with glitter bones hanging from the ceiling. There are treats in this room for the dogs, which I thought was really nice for the pop-up to have. (They were supplied by the Ollie company, which I found is a brand dedicated to making healthier food for dogs, basically β€˜cleaner’ ingredients, and they can tailor it to your dog. They’re also an online only brand though so it gets delivered straight to your door.) From there, you go through the rainbow bridge into a room with a pool full of squeaky toys. The rainbow bridge was really pretty but a little loud so I found some smaller dogs sensitive to loud sounds were not particularly fond of it, while other dogs ran up and down the bridge to their delight. From that room, you walk into another room with a different pool of toys. This room had 4 different walls for you to take photos from, with different splashes of color. The last room before re-entering the room with the dog house gate has a big ramp for dogs to run up and down.

The wall opposite the ramp has the pop-up’s mission statement displayed, basically explaining the pop-up was designed to celebrate dogs and bring people in to help rescue and adopt more dogs. There are so many dogs out there in need of a home and once you see that adorable face, how could you not? I see the main idea and it’s a really great way to get it done. Pop-ups are really trending right now and it’s a great tool to leverage exposure of rescue dogs in need of a family to take them home and give them some much needed love, attention and care. And for once, this is also a pop-up designed to be pet-friendly for those always traveling with their best friend. The rescue dogs are different from day to day as they get adopted and are also from several local animal rescue organizations, thereby giving back to the community when you help out.

So if you’re looking to adopt or if you have a dog already, if you’re in the NYC area this fall, definitely stop by and check it out. Even if pop-ups aren’t your thing, this was super cute. It was fun playing with all the dogs. Just be mindful of your time slot and if the time you choose to come by. If you choose a busier time of day, you may get rushed through the experience to allow for other guests and dogs to come through. But if it’s a little slower, than you can take your time, I’d imagine since there’s no reason to rush you if there’s no one waiting behind you. I was here for about 45 minutes before being asked to leave so that more guests may enter. It’s $29 for just humans to enter, but $39 for you and your pet, which can be quite pricey for the experience and the pop-up’s allotment of time. Tickets are also only available online, not at the door since it’s all time slotted entry, not first-come, first-serve. Don’t expect to be able to walk in if you walk by the area and decide you want to just walk in. The weekends definitely get busy since more people are out with their babies on the weekends and time off.

If you go though, have lots of fun and remember to give some love to the adoptable pups too!