I cant believe November is almost done! The holiday season is right around the corner. It always happens after fashion week. First the fashion season is over, and then Halloween rolls around, and right after Halloween it’s my birthday, and then after that it’s Thanksgiving and before you know it, boom! it’s already Christmas eve and you’re having noche buena like my family usually has.
I just got back from New York last week. I went as a gift to myself for my birthday and it was an amazing week in New York. We flew to JFK from LAX on November 10th (the day after my birthday) and go to NYC around 11 p.m. We happened to be staying at my wonderful friend Jaylin’s apartment in Brooklyn.
After getting settled in, and unpacking a little, my cousin Rejel and I got changed and decided to brave the cold and rain to go for some late night dinner and drinks at a restaurant called Cafeteria. It was on Sex and The City in one episode and it was open 24 hours so we figured we might as well try it. The food was delicious. I had a steak, and french fries and for dessert we had some white chocolate raspberry bread pudding. We were exhausted from our sleepless flight so we called it an early night and got home around 3 a.m. and then slept.
The next day, we decided to meet up with my friend Marcos who was going to be in town the same weekend. He was getting a tattoo consultation and we decided to meet in Soho to walk around and explore a little. We did so much walking that day that it was such a blur. We visited our friend Denise, whom we used to work with at our previous job together at Prada, and chatted and caught up with her for a while before exploring Little Italy and grabbing a bite at this restaurant I can’t quite remember. It had “little buffalo” in the name and it was pretty good.
While at Starbucks, I get a text message from my friend telling me that he saw a tweet that Carine Roitfeld was going to do a book signing at Bookmarc. I was seriously on such a mission that everything from there happened so fast. We hailed the first taxi we could find and high-tailed it to Bleecker St. to catch a glimpse of Carine. With only 45 minutes left before the store closed, I decided to wait in line. My dream of meeting Carine, however, was put to a halt when a store employee informed us that only people with purchased books in line were going to get the chance to meet and have their photo taken with Carine, and that all their books sold out 20 minutes ago. He did however assure us a new shipment would be in next week, sans of course a book signing and meet-and-greet with Carine.
Undeterred, I still decided to wait and still went inside just to take as many candid as I can of her with my iPhone. I mean, I wasn’t going to let this moment slip through my fingers. My friends waited outside and drank their coffees while I hung out inside and just watched people pose with Carine and drink their champagne. I was pretending to browse around, so as to avoid being asked to leave for loitering, lol, when I happened to notice this tall figure with her backside to me. When she turned around, I gasped so loud at the sight that was Joan Smalls. She is so stunning in real life, I kid you not. As she was leaving and paying for her signed book of Carine Roitfeld’s Irreverent, I kindly tapped her on the shoulder and said “excuse, me Joan, I’m seriously such a huge fan of yours, may I please take a picture with you?” she smiled, grabbed my shaking arm and said “Aww, thank you, of course I’ll take a picture!” So, as I was handing my phone over to a random girl, she put her arm around my waist, but before doing so, turned her side to me and said “I like your hair!”. I was like, “OMG, thank you!” And just like that, I met Joan Smalls. SNAP!
Immediately after, I went outside and started freaking out to my friends who did not know how to control me. They had no idea who she was and I kept saying, umm face of Estee Lauder? Face of Gucci for several seasons? I started tearing up in excitement and after collecting myself, I went back inside while my friends stayed outside, fearful of the near-riot these fashion folks might have caused at some point.
I was taking photos of Carine when I started talking to this random girl next to me named Elizabeth. I was like, “OMG, she’s wearing Versace for H&M boots isn’t she?” We just kept talking about random stuff for like 5 minutes, our favorite editorials of hers, our favorite covers (if you’re curious, mine is Natasha Poly in Gucci at the beach shot by Inez & Vinoodh) and other random tidbits, when you know who exactly happened to walk in? Natasha (excuse my French) motherfucking Poly.
I got so excited I started squeezing Elizabeth’s arm and smiling so big. She grabbed my hand and started smiling with me and we were about to start jumping up and down but we didn’t want to embarrass ourselves. Natasha didn’t stay for long. She stayed less than 10 minutes. She took photos with Carine, chatted with her a little and then went to pay for her book and left. Right as she stepped outside, I was literally in shock. I could not believe it. I went straight up to her, with my hand shaking and nervously said “Oh my god! Natasha, you are like seriously one of my favorite models ever.” She was SO sweet and grabbed my shoulder and said “Aww wow!” I was so nervous, I couldn’t contain myself but I ended up just blabbering “OMG you are so stunning in real life!” She giggled and said “Thank You!” I asked her for a photo and she obliged. SNAP!
Moments later, it was looking more and more hopeless that I would be meeting Carine. My friends were getting antsy, they were getting tired and I knew we had to go. We went to Starbucks to meet up with Marcos’ friend David and I told him all about it. After we all met up, we decided to walk by one more time. The store had been closed for about 45 minutes by now and there wasn’t a crowd outside. Inside, there were still a few people drinking champagne and some employees cleaning up but my eyes went straight to this stunning young lady who was at the cash wrap paying for her purchases. It was Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Carine’s daughter. I knew immediately Carine would still be in there so I waited a few minutes for them to make their exit.
Moments later, Carine and her driver along with Julia walk out. I went up to Carine and said “Hi Carine, I’m such a huge fan. They ran out of books but I promise I’ll get one.” she said “Oh wow, that’s so sweet of you.” I asked her how her night has been and she said “So long and busy!” and I replied “I bet!” Before she left, I asked her if she would kindly take a photo and in her deep Parisian accent, with enthusiasm as vivacious as if her night were just starting, she uttered “Of Course!!!” I thanked her and posed for a photo. After the photo was done, she asked, “Shall we do another?” and I said “okay!” LOL. She wished me a good night and I told her I couldn’t wait for her new magazine, at which point she looks at me, winks, smiles, and says “Oh, you know about it?” and I shrug and say “Of course!” SNAP!
So that was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. It was really such a fantastic night. We finished the night off with a late dinner at a Korean restaurant named Mono + Mono. We had a large Lychee Soju, some Korean fried chicken (yummy!) and french fries. After that, we called it a night. It was only the second night but I was completely fulfilled.
I have more to write about my New York trip including some other photos to share but I have to get packing because I leave for holiday again tomorrow. I’m going to Manila and Hong Kong so I will when I’m in Asia!
X + O
O N E L L
