S U M M E R. I S. H E R E

This past Memorial Day weekend was the kick off to the summer season. And what a weekend it was! I was so busy having so much fun that I have hardly any photos to show for it. Just these few that were taken at our own season opener back yard barbecue party on Saturday. I don't even have any cell phone snaps from Sunday's or Monday's parties, or from the pool... I haven't had that much fun in a looong time. But it just felt so good to be out and about and socializing with friends after the long winter hibernation. I am setting an intention to have this much fun all summer long.

Back in the day when we used to go clubbing together with this girl friend, everyone always thought we were sisters. I guess it's the Scandinavian in us, even though we don't even speak the same language.. 

My one and only blogger friend, who always brings along a lot of swag from all the glamorous events she goes to! 

Smores... they were good... 

This was the first ever layer cake my 12-year old baked and decorated. Pretty amazing for a first try. 

Rhubarb pie that baked. Super easy, and we didn't have one piece left! 

A trick question: How many kids can you fit into a trampoline? 

The Long Shirt

I've always loved long shirts and tunics. I'd love to have a tunic shop with all shape, size, style, and color tunics. They are just so easy to wear. Comfortable and chic. This long shirt is from H&M. I paired it with my NYDJ jeans, Ecote sandals, and my new Alexis Bittar bangle. 

Talk about Alexis Bittar - I am quite disappointed in their customer service. I have a pair of earrings that go together with a necklace and the bangle, and the other day I was putting the earrings on but the post fell off one of the earrings. I figured no worries, I'll just take them back to the Bleecker Street store to have them fixed or replaced. Well... I did, but I was totally turned off by the reaction I got at the store. Today I took the earring to be fixed at the jewelry fix shop at the Roosevelt Field mall. It was a quick fix, and I can wear them again. However, I decided that I'm not going to get any more Alexis Bittar pieces since they don't stand behind the product... 

They Grow Up So Fast

I mean, when did this happen? 

It's hard to believe that my little girl is growing up so fast. I get a little nostalgic thinking about the past years, and back to when she was my first beautiful baby, but at the same time, she is growing up into an intelligent (and gorgeous!) young woman, discovering more about life every day. And she is making this journey in high heels! 

Making Space

I'm tired of my overflowing closets, and trying to make some space.. I tried Ebay a few years ago, but found it very cumbersome. I guess the pain of jam packed closets has now surpassed the pain and effort of selling on Ebay, and I really am trying to get rid of stuff, so I'm back trying Ebay again.

So far I only posted one item, an Yves Saint Laurent bag that I have hardly used.

I was not able to link the item here directly even though I spent about an hour last night trying...that's the pain and effort of selling on Ebay! But if you're interested, you can check out my seller's profile here:

http://www.ebay.com/usr/nycfashionistastore

Let me know if you have any improvement suggestions, or ideas on how to sell unneeded stuff.

Gansevoort Market Lunch

Yesterday was a Finnish School day, and afterwards we hung out in the Meatpacking District, had a late lunch at the Gansevoort Market, then had a little stroll and went over to the Chelsea Market.

I hadn't been to the Gansevoort Market before, didn't even know it existed, so it was a VERY NICE surprise to find it. We were actually going to eat at Sugar Factory, but the wait was two hours for a table...and it's not worth that long of a wait... 

But like I said, Gansevoort Market was great. A little bit like "Kauppahalli" gone hipster. 

There's a ton of food stalls - something for every taste and craving. 

I had tacos from the Tacombi truck. 

The tacos were yummy. 

This one wanted sushi! 

My other little one wanted pizza. And my other lovely lunch companions had Thai food and a pulled pork sandwich. 

I almost had some food envy on this pulled pork sandwich. 

It was amazingly delicious. 

For dessert the kiddies had gelato. 

The new Whitney Museum is the next corner - I need to go back and visit Whitney. Might as well pop back into Gansevoort Market too :-)

The Clutch Again

Here's an outfit from last weekend. These pictures were taken before the clutch incident took place.

You'll never guess what happened with the clutch! I'm such a scatterbrain that I left my beloved clutch in the supermarket cart after packing my car trunk with the groceries. I didn't realize I'd left it until I was home and was going to get out of the car. I quickly drove back to the supermarket, but of course the clutch was already gone. I was mortified, and half crying I went inside to ask if anyone may have returned it to the supermarket staff. I waited for what felt like hours but probably was just a couple of minutes. Then I saw my daughters coming in (they were waiting for me in the car). My daughter had called my husband, who was home, to tell him what happened, and at the same moment my husband answered the door and someone brought my clutch home. A lovely lady had found it in the supermarket cart, checked my address from my license, and dropped it home! My husband didn't even take her number down or anything, so that I could have thanked her with flowers! So I just had to send this nice stranger lots of warm thoughts and good karma via the universe. I was so relieved and happy to get my clutch, wallet and phone back. And I won't ever put my clutch on a supermarket cart again...

North Fork Wine Country

The wine country is only a couple of hours from New York City, and definitely worth a visit if you like to sample wines. All the vineyards have tasting rooms, and the wines are very good. North Fork is mostly known for its excellent Merlots, but the quality of the roses and white wines is also getting really good, is what I hear. I'm not a wine connoisseur, and not educated in wines at all, but I liked the  rosé that I tried at Jason's Vineyard. By the way, the Long Island wines are not easy to find if you want to buy them in a wine shop or liquor store, because the vineyards are mostly quite small and don't use large distributors. The wines are available at some good NYC restaurants, however. I had the most delicious Bedell rosé at the Andaz hotel bar last week. Yes, I've been on a rosé kick since I had some amazing rosé in San Diego and fell in love with it again. It just feels like such a summery drink, and after the horrendous winter I am just craving all this summery.

The vines were still a little bare, but I can just imagine how lush and beautiful 

this will be in the summer. 

A reason to go back. 

Guess who took a picture of a pooping llama? A hint, it was not me... 

This little guy (or girl) was too cute. 

The grounds are beautiful, and the sheep are cute... 

But this is why you go - to sample some delicious wines.

The Daytripper

Here's what I was wearing on the North Fork day trip: my Forever 21 linen t-shirt full of ripped holes (my 12-year old swore I'm not too old to wear it!), NYDJ jeans, Birkenstocks (perfect for any terrain from beach to vineyard and easy to kick off in the car), and the big Tory Burch tote to lug everyone's stuff in.

Still more to come... 

North Fork

Long Island's North Fork, or NoFo, is known as the more rural and laid-back sister of the glamorous South Fork, which mostly consists of the area known as the Hamptons. North Fork is home to a lot of farms, nurseries growing various garden plants, and of course the famous Long Island Wine Country, with tons of beautiful vineyards lining the roads.

It's about an hour and half drive from us (more than two hours from NYC) so some light travel reading comes handy. 

Once you clear away from the Riverhead area, the road sides are full of farms stands and farm stores like this one, with local seasonal produce. I had to buy the rhubarb because it's usually so hard to find. 

I guess it was asparagus season - it was everywhere. 

We also bought a big bag of local, organic spinach. Maybe we'll get strong like Popeye. 

We stopped by on Southold beach on our way to Greenport. It's right on route 48, and a convenient spot along the way to get out of the car and enjoy the salty air. The water was still too cool for a swim, but in the summer it's a great spot for a refreshing dip in the Atlantic ocean. 

Oh how I wish one of those houses was mine... 

Life is always better on the beach. 

Happiness is a day at the beach. 

Greenport is an old whaling and fishing village, and still has a nautical feel. It's not a fancy town, and has a nice folksy and down-to-earth vibe. 

There are tons of cute little shops to browse and some good restaurants too. 

There are lots of vintage, second hand, and antique shops. So fun to browse. 

The village blacksmith is open in the summer. 

The Greenport marina area has a carousel for the kids, and a few famous seafood restaurants. 

We had lunch at Salamander's which is know for its fried chicken. This time we ate there, but next time, we will order for take-out and have our lunch at one of the local vineyards.

To be continued...