To all my Frenchies and Francophiles, Happy Bastille Day! I hope it’s filled with tons of crusty baguettes and Camembert cheese and may your champagne glass never be empty. I am indulging in some treats from one of my sweets that returned from Paris recently. How adorable are these Jeff de Bruges chocolates with Parisian landmarks?
Famished and filled with pre-trade show excitement, fellow WWDMAGIC bloggers and I went in search of some food that would satiate our voracious Vegas-sized appetites. While the Wynn never disappoints, Elizabeth Wahler and Mariah from Ladylux, Nicole Giordano from Startupfashion, and Elim Chu from the Style Seen joined me at the Lakeside Grill where you can have dinner with a view.
While I committed carbocide on crab cakes and truffled mac and cheese, the food was not even the highlight of the dinner. Conversing with like minds and with women of similar passions and backgrounds, enlightened my evening as our discussions encompassed current fashions and events to future foresights. How amazing is life when a platform of social media brings people together to become socializing for a larger purpose? Then a cleverly named “A Sweet Cart Named Desire” tempted our tastebuds, but alas we did not indulge as we had our waistlines to watch for the first big day at WWDMAGIC.
In a nutshell, I spent New Year’s Eve at dinner with my brothers at DISH, then some time with my best friend, and danced the night away with Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights at the Granada. Read the rest of this entry »
A mere hour after I had just wrapped up interviewing, shooting, and one of the quickest outfit changes of my life, I was back at the Sunglass Hut Flagship store on Fifth Avenue with all the fabulous finalists. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s no doubt that I love being Vietnamese; its rich and vast Asian culture and history with the influence of French fabulousness. The fusion provides the best of both worlds and lets me appreciate the French without being an asshole. I kid, I kid… Anyhow, the sweltering heat lately has made my morning coffee ritual completely unbearable. Gulping down a hot cup of joe in 100+ degree heat only makes my body an internal sauna, and let’s face it, that’s not how I’d like to start my day. So what’s a girl to do to beat the heat and still get a morning caffeine kick? A Cafe Sua Da, the sinfully delicious Vietnamese Iced Coffee, comes to the rescue. Each sweet sip brings me back to the nostalgia of being a little girl watching my Daddy drink a tall glass while eating Pho; all the while trying to keep my sticky fingers out of that sweetened condensed milk.
The history behind it all is that during wartime and with Euro influence, everyone had to tighten up those purse strings and make ingredients last longer. So chicory root was added to coffee grinds in order to stretch the coffee supply, and today the Chicory Root Coffee blends are very well-known for their distinctive and bolder flavor. Many swear by using only Cafe du Monde coffee (you’ll see the infamous yellow canister in many Pho shops), but your favorite blend of medium ground coffee will easily hit the spot as well when in a pinch. Those with a sweet tooth and sugar addiction will easily fall in love with the sweetened condensed milk addition, which sets the Cafe Sua Da apart from the French Cafe Au Lait.
Ingredients and Equipment needed:
In the empty glass, add the sweetened condensed milk to the bottom and if you totally lick the spoon clean, I won’t judge. Place the Vietnamese Coffee Press atop of the glass with the condensed milk and add the coffee grounds into the press. Tamp down and screw on the lid tightly to get a slow drip after you add boiling water to the press. Cover the press and let the brewing magic happen. Depending on how you like your coffee, the ratio of coffee to condensed milk will differ. Stronger? Brew more coffee than milk, and for you sugar fanatics, you’ll have a lighter coloured coffee due to the condensed milk ratio. When you’ve decided on how much of a caffeine kick you want, remove the press, fold the condensed milk into the coffee and pour over the second glass of ice. Then sip, smile and thank the French for invading Vietnam and making culinary history.
[Birthday Week Kickoff - Fresh Dungeness Crabs, Carmenere, Mango Mochi, and Cookies & Creme]
For as long as I can remember or care to remember, I’ve celebrated my Birthday (February 5th) as a Birthday Week. Seven days filled with loved ones, wishes, cakes and candies, and oh so many hugs and kisses. Before you begin to think I’m some egomaniac, it’s not about the gifts or just little ol’ me me meeeee. But more so that people’s schedules never align, someone’s working or out of town, and that my birthday always falls around the Superbowl and Chinese New Years.
So every year like tradition, I have different themes for each day, varying each year as my tastes and likes change as I age like a fine wine. There’s always a dance party if not several, sometimes a sleep over, potluck dinners as of the last few years, karaoke is a must, pinata busting is a favorite, cupcakes and champagne, several young years of a fishing competition, intimate family celebrations, Superbowl Sunday, models and bottles, Asian festivals, etc etc etc. Yet each year is different and unique, but reminiscent of years prior.
My birthday becomes a reunion of family (blood and acquired), a celebration of life, and reminders of why I’m thankful for each person in my life. This year, I’m turning 26 and in a bit of a whirlwind situation. A certain someone made arrangements for us to go to Tahoe to get out of town to go skiing. Now, instead I have an ultimatum to literally get out of town. You can’t rain on my birthday week parade…
(Dewars Discovery "Build Your Own Blend" Tasting)
Sifting through my e-mail inbox, I received an invitation from an editor to a Dewar’s Scotch event. Thinking this may perk J in attending with me due to the alcoholic nature, and I’ve gone to my fair share of liquor branded events in Miami,why not give it a go? Oh geez, I forgot how things change when we’re in a recession.
