Month: October 2011

Sunday Brunch: Eataly + Birreria

This is not your typical Italian food with pasta and pizza (which is not really Italian). If you’ve never heard of Eataly before, and you love artisanal food, then this is your heavan. Or at least your mall.

From chocolate, to cheese, to seafood, to vegetables and gelato, Eataly is your level of gluttonly at its finest. Besides shopping you can also dine and the various stations/sections. Be prepared for a long wait for any of them (especially during weekends and dinner hours), but that’s when you begin roaming around this part supermarket, part restaurant, part food court.

If you aren’t in the mood to stare at the various kinds of brie Eataly offers, then head up to Birreria, Eataly’s own rooftop beer garden/restaurant.

Wine and Bread wrapped in parchment paper.

I can only attest to a late lunch, but it was still exquisite, especially when paired with a rosé wine. The waiters are also very attentive when it comes to asking for recommendations.

Cavolo Nero Con Salsa – Chopped mixed kale, grapefruit, poppy seed frico with anchovy vinaigrette

The price is a bit average for New York, but worth it to try once. Although Birreria is open all year round (winter time, they have heatlamps) the best time to dine would be preferably during fall and spring when the weather is just right.

Eataly
200 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10010
212-229-2560

Wedding Dress Shopping for Lolitas: Tips and Shop Recommendations

I now pronounce you Lolita and bunny bear. (Tokyo Fashion Festa 2010)

It’s a bit hard to envision a wedding when your a Lolita. And there are not alot of resources out there.  GeekMeNina is recently posting updates about her upcoming wedding. And there’s Pink Milk Tea‘s posts about her simple ceremony at City Hall.

Especially, if you want to incorporate your love of Lolita, but also have a wedding.  A real wedding, not a civil ceremony at City Hall.

This goes same with a dress.  If you’re a Lolita, you have a good sense of what looks good on you, what materials you want it, and how you want it to look. Not too plain, but not too shiny, and maybe a bit of lace.

Some tips for the newly engaged and wear Lolita and looking for a dress:

  • Marathon at least one season of Say Yes to the Dress. This gives you a good idea what you do or don’t want. It also saves you money if you don’t want to buy and flip through several wedding magazines. (Also once you have a dress, stop watching.)
  • Leave David’s Bridal as your last resort. There are plenty of salons in your budget (see below) if you just look. Also I’ve learned your information is also given out to affliated third party vendors.
  • The best way to set a budget if you’re a Lolita: imagine there’s your ultimate dress on an auction site. What’s the maximum limit you would spend on this dress? (Note: Another tip is use your monthly rent as a typical gauge of how much you’d like to spend)
  • Bring a close friend who’s into fashion or a Lolita. 
  • Physically try on dresses before considering ordering online. You never know you’ll like it if you just try it on. Wedding dresses, I’ve found, look completely different on the hangar than on you. 
  • Start with a boutique that sells more traditional styled dresses before thinking offbeat. You may find out you want a dress that’s more traditional after all.
  • How to tell it’s the dress: nothing else will matter if you get the dress. Even if your significant other plans to wear a certified replica Doctor Who suit.

I’m sure you are not here to listen about tips, but physical places to look. Here are list of boutiques I recommend you check out if you’re in the New York area, or are planning to head to New York City to shop for a dress if you city lacks in the bridal department.

Birnbaum and Bullock – What I love about this place is that their website has a specific webpage addressing “Alternative Sizing.” They understand that not everyone is a size 4. Also they make sure you are the only appointment in the atelier so you can take your time and not feel like another cog in the wedding machine.

Their dresses are a bit traditional, but also different from your typical wedding dress styles looks and a fan of retro styles.

151 W 25th Street
#2A
New York, NY 10001

212-242-2914

Klienfield Bridal – If you want to go to Kleinfield’s for the sake of saying “I’ve been to Kleinfield’s,” then by all means go. No one is stopping you. They do have a large selection all in one place with a large number of price ranges. However, I recommend you know what you want in terms of a dress otherwise you may be shown a detailed dress out of your budget.

110 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
646-633-4300 

Lovely Bridal Shop – Another place which I think would be good for Lolitas who are also into mori-girl or natural-kei. They have dresses by Ivy & Aster and Elizabeth Dye, which are great for girls who are interested in flowly, etheral dresses or thinking of marrying barefoot in an outdoor fall wedding in an apple orchard.

313 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10014
212-924-2050

The Bridal Garden – A nonprofit boutique that has a variety of vintage to designer gowns. And all sales go to charity.

54 W. 21st Street
Suite 907
New York, NY 10018
212-252-0061


RK Bridal – If you are a no frills girl who just wants to sift through dresses and pick out what you want. Note: This is a store you shouldn’t go alone. Bring someone who can at least carry the ones you want to try on.

318 West 39th Street
#2
New York, NY 10018-1407
212-947-1155

Are you engaged and into Lolita fashion? Do you have any additional tips for brides-to-be? Most of all was this helpful?

Stetsons are Cool – Sample Sale 11/10 – 11/11

Are you so enamored by this past season’s Doctor Who, you need a hat and boots (optional) to make a Lolita version of the Eleventh Doctor’s ensemble?  Specifically the “Impossible Astronaut” episode.

Then mark your calendars for Stetson‘s sample sale.

Boots (originally $225 down to $50) and apparel (originally $50-200 down to $10-$25) will be marked at a 60-80% discount.  This is two days only, so act fast.

Stetson Sample Sale
November 10 – 11, 2011
11-4PM
263 West 38th Street
New York, NY 10018

Surreal Moment of NYCC 2011

Fandom is a weird disease that you catch like a cold. You don’t realize you have it, and once you do, it’s already too late. I’m not a big comic person, and even less of an anime person now, unless I know who the person is affliated to what pop culture reference, I’m very much out of the loop. 
There were only two times I could say this was true or just very surreal. Seeing Wylie Dufresne, owner of WD-50, and seeing Sebastian Masuda, founder of %6 Doki Doki and the Might Harajuku Project. Attending the Food and Comics panel made me realize how much of a food fanatic I really am.  Discovering Masuda had been attending for the sake of attending was beyond surreal. 
(Okay, a third surreal thing was meeting a blog reader I had never met in person.)
He apparently also knew about the tiny New York portion Mighty Harajuku Project I helped organize at Sakura Matsuri! I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it was probably still awe-struck seeing him in person. 
However that was literally the ending moment of the convention for me. See more pictures of what happened earlier that day.
Note: If you’d like to use these pictures for your own reference, all that I ask is for credit of some kind. No one likes when their stuff is stolen, even if it’s a picture.

Yang Cosplay. Quite a lot of Street Fighter cosplay thanks to giant Capcom booth.
Sailor Moon necklaces from Pretty Pop.
Just Dance 3 booth.
Marvel Booth
Scarlet Witch cosplay
h. Naoto had a booth but it was way in the back.
IGN Theater
Simone Legno, Tokidoki creator
Giant CiaoCiao at Tokidoki Booth
Meet the Maids
NYAF Anime Stage area

Outside the Javits.
Thor and Loki
Rin Okumura from Blue Exorcist and Link
Geek family that stays together.
Creators of Fenix Gear

Pictures taken from the “Little Pink House on the Prairie.” It was an introduction panel to natural-kei by Martha from Moss Garden.

So that was my NYCC 2011 experience, what was yours? Did you have any surreal moments meeting people or seeing things?

Streets Snaps – Lolitas at NYCC 2011

Dalin from La Vida Frills

I’ll be honest and tell you I did not see much at New York Comic Con this year. Mainly because I was doing one of three things: navigating through the Javits, buying lunch and last-minute supplies for people, and hiding from the crowds.

However I made sure that I had to see two panels: “She’s So Unusual” by Dalin from La Vida Frills and “Little Pink House on the Prairie” by Martha from Moss Garden.  And take some picture snaps of Lolitas if I could find any. Despite the lack of Lolita programming I did find quite a few girls.

Note: If you’d like to use these pictures for your own reference, all that I ask is for credit of some kind. No one likes when their stuff is stolen, even if it’s a picture.

Cute Gothic Lolita
A character from Candy Candy
Another Gothic Lolita
Sweet Lolita taken after “She’s So Unusual” panel. Since NYAF was in a glass portion of the Javits the lighting was a bit off.
Punk Lolita. Reminds me of Nana Kitade.
More Lolitas at “She’s So Unusual” panel.
Gloomy Bear
If Apple Jack was a Lolita, she’d look like this.
Classic Lolita in green. Just in time for fall.
Another Classic shot.
Lolita version of Link.
Looking fab in Wonder Party.
Apparently she was one of this blog’s readers. It was a very surreal moment meeting someone who reads your blog.

Classic Lolita with a bowler.
Goofing around at the swap meet on Saturday.
Lovely in Chess Chocolate.
Plaid to meet you.
Two Sweet Lolitas
A Lolita taking a breather from all the picture taking.

Get Your Glide On – Ice Rink Openings

No Lolitas were harmed in this photo.

The weather is getting colder, which means only one thing: the ice skating rinks are starting to appear!

Before you starting planning out that long holiday present list, find your skates and try them out before asking for another pair.

Also practice that combination lock (or in my case figure out what is the combination, since I only use locks during this time of the year). 

Rockefellar Center’s Ice Rink opened last week, and this Sunday marks Wollman Rink’s opening.

And . . . now that Bryant Park is no longer the place to be for NYFW, The Pond is opening up October 27th, instead of the usual early November.

Check out last year’s post for tips if you’ve forgotten how to skate properly. Hint: It’s just like riding a bike.

See you on the ice!

Ice Rink at Rockefellar Center
October 15, 2011 – April 2012
601 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10017-1024
(212) 332-7654

Trump Wollman Rink
October 24, 2011 – April 2012
830 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10065-7001
(212) 439-6900

October 27, 2011 – January 2012
Bryant Park
New York, NY

A Taste of Home – A-Pou’s Taste

Lunch tends to be a tricky meal if you work full-time, and really want to avoid the lines and burgers Mickey D’s.

You could bring lunch, but its more rewarding to know you can afford lunch.  I recently discovered A-Pou’s Dumpling cart.

With 4 dumpling options to chose from you really can’t go wrong. There’s Taiwanese Style Pork, Hong Kong Style Chicken, Kimchi Beef, and Vegetarian.  What’s got me hooked is that they advertise using no MSG in their food, and it’s pretty authentic when it comes to potstickers – right down to crispy skin).  The next closet thing is making them yourself from scratch.

Took me at least 3x before I was able to take the pictures.

Which I’ve actually done, and it’s simply not the same making them with family and then eating a giant pot of dumplings. 

You can have it with noodles or just order a whole bunch of dumplings. And between $5-$9 you get your money’s worth.

 A-Pou’s Taste

(Upper West Side)
Broadway and W 72nd St
Manhattan, NY 10023

(East Village)
Astor Pl and Lafayette St
New York, NY 10003

(Financial District)
140 Broadway
(between Cedar St & Liberty St)
New York, NY 10005