i'm moving

Not physically though! My blog is getting a much-needed revamp, and sadly, that meant leaving blogger where I've been for the past 6 years and migrating on over to Wordpress. Catch more of my updates at ladykrystle.wordpress.com from now on! I have been able to import all my old blog entries though, so no content will be missed from my "old" blog here. See you there!

what i'll save up for

Nati came down from Kingston to visit me for the weekend and I couldn't help but notice her Cartier watch. I am normally much more drawn to watches with bigger faces but something about the simplicity and classic elegance of this watch made me glance at it time and time again. I finally decided to look up the model name, and it's called the Ronde Solo de Cartier Small Ladies' Watch in Stainless Steel. I think I have just changed my mind about that big ticket item I was going to buy for myself when the time comes for me to (sadly and regrettably) leave New York. Originally I was thinking of splurging on a Chanel bag, but I think a watch is more up my alley. This will definitely make my eventual leaving New York a bit more tolerable.

happy socks!

I recently bought myself a pair of Happy Socks from Nordstrom Rack where they sell them at $5 a pair instead of the usual $10. I know they're made for the men, but I couldn't let the guys have all the fun. Who can resist wearing a pair of socks as fun as these?? Only Paul Smith socks like the one Aldrich got for Ming on his birthday could match the joy one feels upon seeing these on your feet. And those cost $30 a pair! These are much more worth the money :D

boredom breeds productivity

I always seem to find myself creating something when I'm bored. Maybe I should be bored more often, then I'll have much more to show for my time! Here's a little something I came up with one night last week. I was too lazy to trace the lines so the illustration's not in vector form right now. One day I will find the time (and the patience) to do that.

labor day weekend

Everyone's obviously in vacation mode now. People are coming into the office at 10am instead of the usual 9:30, and the subway trains were practically empty today on the way to work. I am a bit (okay, maybe a lot) jealous of the people who are off to vacation somewhere nice for the weekend. It helps though that we get off work today at 2pm (yey!) And, we're all heading to Queens for some Thai food at SriPraPhai! It's located almost across the street from Red Ribbon, two blocks up from Jollibee along Roosevelt Ave. and it's supposed to be the best Thai restaurant in all of New York City. I'm super excited. :D

red dress up high

Something about this red dress hanging off a second-floor balcony-slash-fire-escape seemed really dramatic. I couldn't not take a snapshot of it.

photo shoot at work

After weeks of preparation, we finally had our two-day photo shoot for our client last Thursday and Friday! It was an amazing experience putting together all the settings with Luca (the prop stylist) and his team, ogling over the outfits Peter styled and watching as the photo assistants created lighting magic under Cyrus' direction. There was also Ludo, Mr. French digital technician, who kept a watchful eye on focus and lighting on the iMac screen whenever Cyrus fired his camera and Erin who made sure everything was going according to schedule. Everything went pretty smoothly! I'm still bummed that we weren't able to set up the green living room we had planned for the first day, but oh well. The "hobby room" and the "music room" from the second day turned out great!



It was a bit overwhelming being surrounded by so many beautiful people. One of the models who we cast as the older, slightly "not-so-pretty" guy turned out to be the hottest in the bunch. *insert Rietje's sigh here* (She had a major crush on that guy, Philip.) Even the stylists were gorgeous! Funnily enough, I found out that Peter, the wardrobe stylist, actually used to be a model himself but has since decided it wasn't for him and now styles outfits for people like Maroon 5. He has got himself an amazing job, I must say!

I was pretty flattered though when one of the models, Ming, came out wearing an outfit that looked eerily, okay, exactly, like mine! I don't think Peter had done it intentionally, but he later joked, "You're my muse!" when he saw the "similarity".


Here's me in the "bachelor pad" setting


And here's Ming in the "home office" setting with Peter

I wanted to grab so many things off the clothes racks they had brought there. They were mostly filled with goodies from J.Crew and Club Monaco. *sigh* If only we could keep the clothes! Peter said had we been in L.A., we would probably have been able to keep them. Sayang!

my summer friday

This is how I spent the afternoon of my third Summer Friday! (We get four Fridays of our choice off between Independence Day and Labor Day.) I haven't touched my acrylics in almost two years... actually, make that three! I haven't touched them since I finished Color Theory class in my first semester at Parsons.

I remembered I still have a few blank canvases left over from my art student days so today I decided to paint on one of them. Before I could get started, I actually had to go out and buy a palette from Lee's Art Shop a few doors down because I realized I'd thrown away my old one. (It was probably unbearably stained.) When I got back, I then realized I only had one paintbrush left too. I was hoping I had a thinner one around but, oh well, I didn't want to go back out again, so I made do.

I'm really not a painter, and I've only used my Guerra paints for those Color Theory projects that took Cel and I forever to finish. (I still cringe thinking about the grayscale half-painting half-collage piece that took us 10 hours each to complete! Haha) I wasn't really expecting a masterpiece of any sort to emerge from these hands of mine. I was not gifted to be a painter. Haha, I must say though, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out all things considered. I couldn't really fix things that needed more detail because of the width of my brush, but I don't think I ever intended to fill in the details of my face anyway. I like doing faceless sketches and paintings; it makes life so much easier. *grins*



Sooo, this might look familiar... because it's based off the picture I posted maybe 3 entries ago, hehehe :) Now that I've finished cleaning the palette and putting all the paint back into my art box, off to other things! I'm really excited for Karaoke tonight in K-town! Jared has been talking about organizing this for over a year now, and it's finally happening! Hurray! :)

miso soup mishap

Today I decided to forgo my recent obsession with Soon Doo Boo from Manna Kitchen and revert back to my former obsession of Oyakodon from Ennju. I had my bowl of chicken and egg on rice in front of me, my chopsticks in hand, and my eyes glued onto my computer screen. I was watching White Collar on Hulu during my lunch break and was well, busy swooning over Neil Caffrey (Matt Bomer, I love you, your style, your suits and your blue eyes!) Next thing I know, I had spilled a spoonful of my complimentary miso soup onto my pants, and not just anywhere, but right at the crotch! I was horrified. I had to wait a good 30 minutes for my gray pants to dry and for the spot to disappear. Thank goodness nobody needed me and had wanted me to come over to their desks! Else I would have had to stand up looking like I had peed right through my pants! *laughs* Hayayay.

ramen coma

I think I might have slurped down that bowl of Shoyu ramen at Terakawa Ramen much too quickly. My tummy is not feeling all that well at the moment. The ramen, from the soup, to the noodles and that perfectly soft-boiled egg, was so delicious I just started stuffing my face with it all. Now I am regretting not taking my time with it. Food comaaaaaaaa...