superwomen

This comes a little bit late, but nevertheless I wanted to say that I hope all the mothers out there had a happy and much deserved Mother's Day! To my dearest friends who are now mothers, I am in awe of all that you do. I can hardly take care of myself, so you are superwomen in my eyes. To my dearest mom, Marinella, who has loved me through 29 years of craziness and belligerence, and supported me in my quest to turn far-fetched dreams into reality, thank you and I love you very much. Special thanks also goes out to my "Mommy", my aunt Cristina who has been a second mother to me my whole life, for her untiring prayers, advice and reminders. I am blessed to have such amazing women in my life. I love you all.

balenciaga lust

I haven't lusted over a bag in awhile. I haven't really shopped in a long time either. I've got my mind (and money) focused on other things these days, like trips, adventures, and yummy things to fill my belly with. But today, a bag did make me stop and salivate: the Balenciaga City Classic Craquele, exclusively done for Neiman Marcus. It's really the bois de rose color that I fell in love with. The material is suede with a metallic finish. It is LOVE.

The damage: $1,395. *sigh*

That money can buy me a ticket to Ibiza, a skydive + photo and video, and dinner at Per Se, so I guess I'm not owning this bag ... ever. My rule for how much I can spend on a bag is this: If I can't even get myself to pay that amount for one month of rent, I am certainly not spending it on a bag. Reasonable, right?

So I will just appreciate this bag for the beautiful specimen of calf leather that it is, and move on with my day. Thank you for indulging me.

In bag love and lust,

shepard fairey

I don't buy magazines that much anymore, but today I felt compelled to buy Time Out New York, both for the gorgeous cover art and the promise of having my next three months planned out for me. The cover art is by Shepard Fairey, the rock star urban artist who seems to always be in trouble with the law. He is best known for creating that contentious "HOPE" poster of Barack Obama. He seems to be everywhere these days, also appearing in Interview magazine, where he was actually interviewed by his long-time hero (and  subject), Iggy Pop. I'm bummed that I completely missed his May Day exhibit in New York. See the amazing pictures here. His style is distinctive and I like that he's got the balls to make his ideology known. It sucks for him though that he isn't anonymous like Banksy because he has to bear the brunt of the backlash.

I've been admiring his art since 2006 when I first saw his work. My friend Joel and I stood in line for four hours in the freezing November cold to see the urban art inside 11 Spring Street in Nolita before it was powerhosed and covered up in drywall, then made into the multimillion dollar condo that stands there today. That was an unforgettable experience that I treasure to this day. This article about 11 Spring Street in the New York Times still makes me nostalgic for what that building once was. Since that day, I've dreamt of owning a massive Shepard Fairey print. Here's what we saw inside 11 Spring Street:

He apparently also has a clothing line, Obey Clothing (OBEY being his tagline). I'm thinking of getting either this "Hope for Rwanda" t-shirt or a shirt benefitting Haiti.

And one of these days, I will order this print.

Ok enough time spent in front of the computer for today. It's a beautiful day in New York but I have to rest up and recover from my cold so I can run the Newport 10K tomorrow. Hopefully I don't tempt pneumonia in the process of working towards one of my 30 Before 30 goals. Have a great sniffle-free weekend!

get your groupon: 4 boxing lessons for $48

Groupon always seems to be reading my mind. It's starting to be kind of creepy, actually. Last Saturday, while watching Floyd Mayweather dismantle Shane Mosley, I started thinking about taking some boxing lessons. I'm not a particularly violent person, though like every other Filipino I'm enthralled with boxing. I want to take lessons because I really want to strengthen my upper body and thought this could be a good way to do it (in addition to my sporadic aerial silk acrobatics lessons). Well, lo and behold, just as I was entertaining the idea, look what the side deal is on Groupon today: $48 for four 60-minute individualized boxing lessons at Mendez Boxing on W 26th Street! Normally, this deal is valued at $100. I just got the Groupon and I'm pretty excited to take a class. Bring on the pain!

If you'd like to get in on this Groupon, click here.  

the weekend in food porn

Rooftop + BBQ + freshly made mojitos + Billy's cupcakes = Fantastic Friday. Thanks to our hosts Jakob and Sunyu!

The best red velvet cupcakes I've ever tasted. And I've tasted a lot.

From the massive rack of ribs that Jakob and Sunyu use to shock and intimidate neighbors at the grill

Nothing better on a balmy New York evening than freshly muddled mint and limes in my mojito

The next day, a super Saturday in Long Island. To celebrate my dearest friend Zoe's birthday, we spent the day sampling wine at Lieb Family Cellars, Shinn State Vineyards and Lenz Winery in North Fork. We also lunched on super fresh shellfish at the Old Mill Inn. In the evening, there was inihaw na liempo (grilled pork belly), Patron XO, mango margaritas, and the Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley boxing match over at the Vargas' in another part of Long Island. The only pictures I have of that evening involve me getting intimate with a Patron bottle, so it will have to remain off my blog.

The vines at Shinn Winery getting ready to flourish. In a few months, they'll be lush with leaves, as they were during our visit last July.

Oysters = LOOOOOOVE

The "Angry Mussels", which was named after the sauce's saffron-flavored, spicy kick, made me very happy indeed!

On a steaming hot Sunday in Manhattan, I was hoping to try out some Korean tacos at the New York Gourmet Food Truck Bazaar in Hell's Kitchen but the lines were ridiculously long. I don't want that taco bad enough to wait for an hour under the sun. Instead we went for brunch at Rachel's where my favorite Aussie, Jodie, and I had French toast (we had to have something sorta French since our favorite Frenchy, Anne-Cécile, couldn't make it).

After brunch, I went for a killer 6-mile run in the sweltering heat and realized that "hydrating" with mimosas is not the smartest thing to do on a hot day. "Re-hydrating" with sangrias at Good Enough to Eat afterwards with Alida was probably not the brightest of ideas either, but who am I to say no to homemade potato chips, mac and cheese, chicken fingers and chopped salad?

I think my work here is done. Off to bed and another workweek!