NYC #11 // When in New York...

Start the day right.. nope.. not with brunch, 

but with real yummy breakfast. Recipe here.

 

 Walk around and enjoy the little things.

 Visit the Costume Institute Exhibition Death becomes Her

in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Diego Rivera // The Café Terrace

Max Weber // Athletic Contest

Find your favorite artwork

in the many, many exhibitions.

Dream yourself back in time.

Pamela Barsky

Stroll through Chelsea Market.

See Ms. Liberty, at least once and

for free from the Staten Island Ferry.

Explore Downtown.

Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.

 End the day with a nice sunset from Dumbo.

Celebrate Pumpkin Season

and do pumpkin-everything!

Look up. Yep, away from your phone.

 Siblings Army

Discover new artists and designers at

Artists & Fleas, Williamsburg.

Try something New!

Have delicious food at Smorgasburg.

Take a moment to step back and

be grateful.

GIRLCRUSH // Sophia Chang from Queens, NY

 By Jeremiah Wilson for Hypebeast

When I first heard about Sophia Chang, I had to immediately talk to K from Off Color and was like: Oh my! New Girlcrush! I'm so into her! Why? Her appearance and her style, I love the fact that she's sporty and super feminine at the same time! Oh and the most important part: she's real! Also, her work, her thoughts, and yes even her bun! I was amazed by the young illustrator and designer from Queens. She just had a major collaboration with PUMA and designed the series 'Brooklynite', in which she incorporated her New York inspired illustrations. This creative mind is not only active in the arts & design field, but also in sports such as running and aerial yoga/pilates, which I would love to try out myself, too! 

Her interview on Hypebeast really motivated me to also take some time off from school and explore myself and embrace new projects.. Well, time will tell, but her words really stuck in my mind:  

Struggle, fail, try, make attempts, succeed (maybe) and see how far I can take myself.

Read the full interview here.

She is also part of Undo Ordinary, a magazine where sweat meets culture. I will definitely get a copy of that because it sounds like my perfect bible, style meets culture meets fitness.

 Follow the Bun Queen on Instagram.

@esymai

NYC #6 // Express Yourself in Central Park

H&M Basic Top // ThuThu Shorts

Fleamarket Handbag & Sandals // Bracelet from an ArtFair

One thing I love about New York is that it does not matter at all how you look or dress like. The more time I am spending here, I feel the need to experiment more with my wardrobe and try out new things. Although the outfit I chose for the last hot weekend in NY is not 'new' in the sense that I never worn it before but new in a sense that it is not black, more colorful and just different. These ThuThu Shorts I bought a year ago turned out to be one of my favorite summer pieces. I love how the shorts confuses people and they might think: what is this, skirt or pants? :) I also love the traditional Vietnamese Sapa Pattern as Pocket Details. You should definitely check out ThuThu and her unique creations.

A beautiful smile is worth so much! Thank you :)

Strolling through Central Park that afternoon, we discovered the wonderful singer Bekhari from New York, who was in a middle of a shooting herself. We loved the golden details and her shoes!

Later on, we met the two Denim Ladies Shonelle and Cherish, both dancers from New York and the Netherlands. The Denim trend is stucking with us and won't leave anytime soon as I still see Denim-on-Denim Combos around the city. We really liked Cherish's Jumpsuit and Bomber Jacket, also the perfect mix with the Air Jordans!

 Of course, we had to take a Group Selfie :)

It's New York,

celebrate yourself! ;) 

Mindful Monday: Shopping Madness

NYC #4 // "Money looks better in the bank..

..than on your feet", that is what Sophia Amoruso, founder of Nasty Gal and author of the NY Times Bestseller #Girlboss recommends us. As soon as you get out of the airplane and land in the heart of Manhattan, you see shining lights with photo-shopped ads everywhere. Anytime, you will find sales going on: Buy one, get one 50% off. Buy 4 for 25$. Buy two and you get the 3rd one free. It's crazy! People are running around with huge shopping bags as if spending money would be their biggest hobby. 

Of course, I am tempted, too. There are so many stores you won't find in Germany and designer brands, where you just want to dive in and all the consignment stores and flea markets. Oh my! It's shopping heaven for any fashionista! What shall I do? Buy or not buy, that's the question... I know these are first-world problems, but Mindful Monday is there to reflect and rethink my actions. Before coming here, I already made myself a shopping list and only wanted to buy specific things. Now this list has reached its edge and I don't know what to do. Did my 6 Month-Shopping-Challenge teach me something? 

Yes, it did. Every single day here, I tell myself: Try to keep your money together, save it, you will need it. Only shop what you love, not because something is cheap! Be selective and live within your means. Think first. So, at the end, I didn't get these nice pair of Nike Wedges. Amoruso is right, I do like my money on my bank account better than on my feet.

NYC #2 // On Brooklyn Bridge

Since I am right now in one of the most fashionable cities in the world, I am taking this chance to capture some nice, authentic NYC street styles. Lately, I have seen these classic black leather Dr.Martens boots a lot! In the streets, on campus and in several retail stores, but when I had my eyes on them back in Germany I couldn't make the purchase just yet. Maybe because I feel like they are too chunky.

This English girl shows us that they are not! But she is also striking another trend: the shirt-tie around your waist! Although this here is more like a jacket-tie, I love how she twists up her all black everything outfit with such a small detail. Do you already know which two pieces to twist together? ;)

NYFW // Black Summer

After that afternoon of NY Fashion Week madness, I met up with Yona again later (after my class) to take some outfit shots of ourselves. Since I had to bring my Yoga clothes (yes, I had a yoga class that morning, too), my school stuff and my camera, I had to bring my backpack. It also had to be comfy, so I went with my brand new sneakers and paired them with all black classics. Oh, I did let some of my stuff ship to NY since I was traveling for a month!

That day, I wore one of my favorite shirts I got during my shopping-challenge. I haven't showed you this one yet because I would only wear it when skating. This time, I thought: yeah why not, try something new! It's a very tomboyish look, but I think it comes from all the skating, and also traveling with boys, but you know what? I really like this one. It's black, gold and a touch of burgundy, my favorite fall color.

Where did I buy that shirt you might ask? When I was in Berlin last January, I visited the Funky Summer Shop and Fränky showed me what he has been doing all fall and winter. If he finds time, and there aren't as many customers coming for longboards, he prints t-shirts with silkscreen. You might wanna check it out this year if you happen to be there.

I chose this print because it has a very special meaning to me, I am also very drawn to tree-designs and this one was just perfect. I love how the tree grows out from the longboard, it was love at first sight. The t-shirt is also organic, so I didn't feel too bad about buying this during my challenge. Hope you like it!

Funky Summer T-Shirt, Urban Outfitters Backpack

Topshop Fake Leather Shorts, Nike SB