At first I wasn’t sure about attend the book release show/party for the Dear Evan Hansen YA novel…then I saw that Tan France & Antoni Porowski were co-hosting and I was sold!

As a fangirl of Dear Evan Hansen, Pasek & Paul and Queer Eye, this was the place to be! There were excerpts from the book, cut songs from the original show and lots of discussion around the story.

Mostly, it turned into a mini-show with performances by Alex Boniello, Barrett Wilbur Weed, Rachel Bay Jones and Will Roland. Oof, I wasn’t prepared to ugly cry at a book party!

Inside the NKOTB pop-up shop was a recreated teenage girl’s (or boy’s) bedroom! Full of New Kids memorabilia and even a landline phone you could fake talk on!

Yes, I was a little bit late to the “Blockhead” fandom of New Kids on the Block (admittedly, I only got “into” them when they reunited in 2008)…but now I try to go to see their shows at least once when they’re on tour.

So, this year was the 30th Anniversary of their album “Hangin’ Tough” and their performance at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The boys were returning for a one night only performance and tickets were super hard to get…luckily, one of my co-workers used to work at the Apollo and was able to get us 2 House Seats!

Leading up to the performance, NKOTB opened up a pop-up shop of merchandise in the lobby of the Apollo. In an effort to try and avoid the crowds at the show, I met up with my friend, Barbara (fresh off a 5K run) and we lined up to go inside.

While we were standing out front, Danny Wood walked by with his security team. Little did we know that he was about to work his way down the line and take photos with us all! He may not be as popular as Jonathan, Joey or Donnie, but he surely is the nicest!

One of the best things about Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA), besides all the charity work that they do, is their Annual Flea Market in the Fall. Various Broadway shows and theaters line Shubert Alley and 44th Street to sell or auction off memorabilia to support BCEFA.

While my previous jobs didn’t always make time for me to attend, this year the Flea Market overlapped with RuPaul’s DragCon! Oh the choices we must make! I made sure to exhaust all my options at DragCon on Friday & Saturday, so I could hit up the Flea Market when they opened!

Generally, each year, I purchase one “big ticket” item (2017: Dear Evan Hansen opening night tote bag & window card signed by the entire cast. 2016: Canvas Newsies tote. 2015: Hamilton window card signed by the OBC. 2014: Price & Son shoebox from Kinky Boots signed by the whole cast.), so I went right to the Mean Girls booth to try and score a lunch tray…well, they were signed by Grey Henson and $350 each!? Hard pass.

My next stop was the booth for the Public Theater. While they had a few random posters, I was hoping they would have one for the Animaniacs Live! show that I had attended on my birthday…and they did! In fact, the staff even said “I was wondering who would buy that?” Well, that’s me! For $10 it was a great deal…but now where will I hang it?

Shortly after snapping & gramming our way through 29Rooms, Deirdre & I went to Candytopia near Penn Station after work!

There were so many rooms filled with candy-themed items, but the marshmallow pool was the best! While we didn’t quite get into the right spot for the professional photo, it still turned out nicely!

Ever since I was little, I’ve had a fascination and taste for cherries. I’m not sure if it was all Cherry Merry Muffin or Mary Englebright related, but who knows? My Mom would always send me cherry-related gifts (sometimes too many), even as an adult.

So, when I saw this Revlon cherry-themed room, I knew I had to wait for a chance at a photo for the gram! Thankfully my Refinery29 29Rooms buddy, Deirdre, is the best at taking photos for social media purposes!

Who could resist a pile of plush Rilakkumas!? Not me, that’s for sure!

While I was waiting to meet up with the Jiwa’s I made a pit stop in the Rilakkuma pop-up shop in Times Square! Yes, I mostly knew about this spot from Instagram, so I had to contribute to the hashtag and get my photo, too!

In an effort to make Andre see more theatre, we got some cheap tickets to see Avenue Q at New World Stages one day after work. (He had wanted to see Book of Mormon, but since I just went in June, I wanted to wait until the cast changed; so Avenue Q it was!)

As soon as I saw the giant, furry, orange “Q”, I knew I had to take a photo with it! I even wore my Ernie “New phone, who dis?” t-shirt for the occasion!

Sure the photo’s a little, but I got to be on stage at HAMILTON! My friend, Jacob, knew one of the wardrobe team members, so when I said I had a ticket for sale, he jumped at the chance to buy it from me. What an experience to actually stand on stage, see David Korins’ set up close, meet Tony Award Winner James Monroe Iglehart and shake hands with him!

Also, we were running a little late to the show, so just as I went to turn off my phone, it rang! I almost sent it to voicemail before seeing it was my brother, who never calls me…well, as soon as I told him I was at the theatre he & my sister-in-law, Melanie, quickly interjected to say I was going to be an Aunt!

Wow, the only Chen son was actually going to have a baby! Such a bittersweet moment, since the only thing my Mom ever wanted to be in life was a Grandma and she never got to experience it…but I can’t wait to meet their little one and be “Auntie Chenny” for real!

Breaking my “square photo” pattern for this adorable shot of me with Ellie at MoMA PS1! While Rem was out of town for work, Tempestt, Ellie, Solomon and I had a little slumber party at their apartment in Jackson Heights!

We took a trip to Long Island City to play around at PS1, including lounging on this giant hammock-like net right outside the museum.

I never can get enough of this little one who always calls me “Chenny!”

The things I do for concerts & entertainment! Originally, I had purchased a single ticket for “On The Run II” to see Jay-Z & Beyonce at MetLife Stadium in NJ. After making the trek to East Rutherford for Taylor Swift, I knew it would take me a hot minute to get back home to Brooklyn.

Seeing that my friend, Andre, lived in Newark, NJ, I asked if I could crash on his couch after the show. Well, it all worked out for the best, since he decided to buy a ticket and come along! (This also meant a ride to and from the show!)

However, neither of us could have anticipated a severe thunderstorm that forced us to evacuate the stadium and a show start time of around 11:30pm! Bey & Jay still put on a show to remember and well into the 1am/1:30am hours!

Needless to say, the following day at work was a zombie-like blur…but I wouldn’t have traded the experience at all! (And thank god, I didn’t go alone!)

My first attempt at a boozy painting class! My team at work left a little early to paint a beach scene at Muse Paintbar!

While normally I love to follow instructions, I knew I’d never paint something that looked exactly like the instructor. So, I took my own liberties: smiley face on the rock? Sure! Flowers that kinda look like starfish? Great!

All-in-all, I had a great time, but the class was a tad bit too long…3+ hours!? No thank you.

Sometimes I get a little over zealous in my ticket purchasing…so, I bought a ticket to see Jeremy Jordan & Ashley Spencer at Sony Hall; the same day I flew back from Chicago.

Well, my friend, Sara, really loves Jeremy and wanted to do VIP, so we could meet him & Ashley…so, I tried to sell my other ticket; but no luck.

And so, I went to both nights of their show (“Starring Opposite You”) and got this photo with them afterwards! I think my favorite part was when they sang Broadway music from shows that the other one had been in…especially Ashley’s impression of Jeremy’s accent in Newsies!

Why did it take me so long to visit the Museum of Food & Drink (MOFAD)!? Located in Williamsburg, it was barely a 15 minute train ride for me to get there.

I knew that I had to get there for “CHOW: Making the Chinese American Restaurant.” The exhibit traced the history of Chinese immigrants in America and how they brought their cuisine to the States and subsequently had to modify it for American tastes.

Now, as our foodie culture evolves, it would be interesting to see how these first generations of Chinese immigrants feel about the search for more “authentic” Asian food. Would they love or hate the rise of Xi’an Famous Foods and Mission Chinese? Or would they love it?

No filter on this photo of the pure blue sky in Upper Manhattan! It was my first time going to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s other location, The Cloisters. I finally made the time to take the train up to 190th Street to see the other part of “Heavenly Bodies” this year’s exhibition from the Costume Institute.

Arguably, the better part of this exhibit there were pieces from Rick Owens and way more opulence!

However, I couldn’t resist the reference to Dear Evan Hansen once I went outside and saw the color of the sky!

After a friend cancelled on our 4th of July plans, I was looking for something to do. I found myself wandering around Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

Somehow, I seemed to forget that the Macy’s Fireworks were going to be on the East side of Manhattan, meaning that everyone was lining up on the West side of Brooklyn in Domino Park to watch…yes, this was where I decided to randomly walk.

Despite the crowds, I did find this Tom Fruin stained glass house while walking around the waterfront. So, some rainbows on an otherwise sort of melancholy day.

I figured the best way to end Pride weekend in NYC was to see Kathy Griffin at Radio City! It was actually my first time seeing her stand-up live and in person, after watching numerous versions of her show on Bravo over the years.

She called this show her “Laugh Your Head Off” Tour and it was capitalizing on all the drama surrounding her “banishment” from CNN, the end of her friendship with Anderson Cooper and everything around her career post-Trump’s severed head joke photo.

Obviously, the crowd was mostly LGBT friendly, so she stayed true to her humor; stories about her mom and much more. Impressively, she filled the show with fresh material right up until the 11pm deadline.

With Sarah & her family back in NYC, they met up with Dad & me. We gathered with a group of my friends for a Saturday morning dim sum in Chinatown. Although the kids weren’t big fans, it was nice to have friends & family all in one place.

After dim sum and finding some more food for the kids, we were off to the Staten Island Ferry for a quick trip on the water. (Oddly enough, while we were waiting in the Whitehall Terminal in NYC, I looked to my left and there was Kashawn from my office! This just proves that NYC is smaller than anyone thinks.)

After a brief nap on the ride to Staten Island, Dad woke up to take some photos of the NYC skyline, just alongside a bunch of Asian tourists!

For Dad’s annual trip to NYC, we started out by walking up the High Line. The end of the tracks are starting to finish in anticipation of Hudson Yards, which will open in the Spring of 2019.

Towards the end of the elevated walkway, there was this little bridge, so I made him pose to try and get this shot. #HipsterDad

When my cousin, Sarah, told me that she & her family would be in NYC for two weekends in June, I was excited for the chance to hang out with them! They would be taking a trip to the Caribbean and staying in NYC between the trip.

For the first weekend, we met up in Times Square by the Line Friends Store. Of course, Reese, Sarah & Scott’s daughter, couldn’t resist going into the store and neither could I. We browsed before posing for this photo with the giant plush Brown bear in the entryway. Kawaii!

I met up with my favorite family on a Sunday afternoon in Soho, they had just come from the annual Pride Parade in Queens, so Ellie arrive with a little rainbow flag in hand!

After lunch, we stumbled upon Flour Shop and all of their rainbow themed treats! How could a 3-year-old, and let’s be real - me, resist!? I opted for some cake balls and Ellie got a rainbow cake pop, perfect for this great photo op!

Fleet Week will always hold a special place in my heart after last year. So, to honor that moment and to honor our troops, I went to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum at Pier 86 in NYC.

Since Deirdre’s husband is in the Army, she was the ideal buddy to tag along on this Memorial Day Weekend excursion. (Yes, I mostly wanted to go to see the Broadway stars that would be performing on board the ship and she was game).

We decked out in our patriotic best and arrived just in time to see some of the acts performing. While I was standing and singing along to the songs from American Idiot, a photographer asked if they could use a photo where I was singing in a press release. (I agreed, although I have yet to find the photo anywhere online. Tell me if you see it! I’m in a navy tank top with white stars printed on it, army green shorts and a red bandana.)

Walking through the decks, we were both impressed by the size of the ship, artifacts about the ship and it’s sailors, got to meet one of the sailors that sailed on the Intrepid, purchased a Nebraska enamel pin and got some choice Boomerangs for Instagram.

My NYC birthday tradition: taking a day off of work and visiting the Met Museum for their annual Costume Exhibit. Since the Met Gala and fashion exhibit are always unveiled during “The First Monday of May,” I luck out. My birthday is 7-days from the end of May, so although it may be cursed with falling close to Memorial Day Weekend, I can always count on going to see some great fashion to celebrate aging one more year.

This year the theme was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” - clothing inspired by religious dress and the Catholic church. Even more bittersweet as I know Mom would have loved to see this exhibit. She only made it to NYC once, in my almost 9 years living here; where we went to the Museum of Natural History, but not the Met.

Here are some of my favorite dresses from the exhibit from Rodarte.

Thank goodness for good friends! Since I knew this first Mother’s Day without Mom might be hard, my friends, Deirdre & Risa met me up in Queens at the Museum of the Moving Image to see the Jim Henson Exhibit.

I had a heyday seeing the Sesame Street and Muppet characters of my youth in person! From Cookie Monster to Prairie Dawn to the Doozers from Fraggle Rock, it was a great experience in nostalgia!

Even if RIsa wasn’t old enough to know half of the references, it was worth the trip up to Astoria.

Bonus: The digital section where we watched Justin Baldoni’s (from Jane the Virgin) boy band-themed proposal video to his girlfriend and now wife, Emily.

One of the best parts about working in Tribeca is walking by the Balloon Saloon storefront daily. They always have amusing and interesting displays outside.

You can’t help but smile (or stop and take a photo) when your nearby.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I had not seen Angels in America before the revival came to Broadway this summer. I remember hearing about the play and reading reviews of the HBO miniseries years ago, so I knew I had to get tickets when it finally came to NYC from London.

After almost being late for the first night, I left work with plenty of time for night two. I was also able to find the neon wings in the basement and found a nice stranger to take some photos for me. And yes, I wore a red & blue striped t-shirt to coordinate with the marketing for this show.

I admit that I do not know as much about K-Pop as I should. At least I knew about Line Friends before their store opened in Times Square, just below the old MTV TRL studio!

So, when the boys of BTS worked with Line Friends to make their own character collection, I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to buy from all the adorable products.

I settled for the bunny notebook and some stickers. This wall and neon signage of all the characters was too cute to not take a photo of.

Yes, I purposely wore a red & blue striped t-shirt for the second night of "Angels in America" on Broadway. I made sure to leave the office in plenty of time to get settled, find the neon angel wings and have a snack before the 4-hour run time of part 2 of the play.

I found a nice couple who was also taking photos near the wings and asked them to take my photo. This was my favorite of the bunch.

When my high school friend, Nan, invited me to his oceanside wedding in Rancho Palo Verdes, CA, how could I say no? I got to leave behind the cold and snow in NYC and spend several blissful days in the California sunshine.

While he told me the ceremony was "business casual," clearly I had the wrong idea of what that meant. Oh well. My friend, Courtney, provided me with a place to stay in Los Angeles and came with me for the festivities.

I found a blush pink "eyelash" skirt from Banana Republic at a bargain for around $25 (originally priced at almost $200) and paired it with my floral embroidered over-sized Madewell jean jacket, an Old Navy top and some Stan Smith's and my little Alexander Wang bag.

Yes, I might have been a tad under-dressed, but at least I was comfortable for the ceremony, dancing and meal that followed.

I'd been wanting to go to a Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center for years, so "Chinese Heritage Night" seemed like the perfect time to go. I think partially due to Jeremy Lin and partially due to Chinese New Year, the marketing team put this together. 

So, I headed off to the game after work with my friend, Andre, and we went to pick up our free scarves, grab some food and drinks and find our seats.

Granted, the venue was not crowded, so we were able to stretch out in our seats and enjoy the pre-game; including a hype man who announced all the players names and numbers in Mandarin. We watched the game (mostly) and just had a great time reliving great phrases from basketball video games and enjoying the atmosphere.

One perk of no longer working at Madewell is getting to take advantage of all the benefits in the "Insider" program. Of course, I have now achieved VIP status, which comes with shopping perks and free items.

I went to my old store for an Insider shopping party and got this free denim tote. Then, while out for Caitlin's birthday, I couldn't resist taking a photo of how it contrasted with the graffiti-ed wall in the restroom.

A Louis Vuitton and MTV fanny pack from the "Is Fashion Modern" exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. Besides a Patagonia fleece pullover, a pair of high top Chuck Taylors and pins from Pintrill; these fanny packs were some of my favorite pieces from this exhibit.

Fashion is so cyclical, I love seeing what comes back around. Although, this 90's fashion revival seems weird, since I don't feel like it was that long ago that I lived through it. It's hard for me to fathom that I work with kids who were born in the 90's and that they are in their 20's already. (Aren't I still in my 20's!?)

I love when you can find people who "nerd out" over the same things that you do! Luckily, I found two kindred souls at work who are also big Broadway fans!

So, for our office's Halloween party, we went with a Broadway theme: I was Joan from Fun Home, Barbara was a Newsie and Matthew was Evan from Dear Evan Hansen.

I lent Barbara my Newsies bag that I got at the BCEFA Broadway Flea Market and found the pieces for my Joan costume already in my own closet.

Another "twinning" moment for Deirdre & me. Somehow, at the Grand Opening of the new Times Square Gap store, we ended up in the fitting room with the same shirt.

We couldn't resist another photo opp!

My friend's daughter, Ellie, loves calling me "Chenny." So, after not seeing her or her family for a few months, I was worried that she would forget who I was.

It only took a few minutes before she remembered and warmed up to me. And behold! We had matching shoes on too! Her dad jokingly calls me their "Asian Nanny," which I consider a term of endearment, especially when their kids are so cute!

For Election Day, in a nod to Rosie the Riveter, I donned a chambray jumpsuit with a red bandana to vote. 

One day at a time. We're halfway to those important Mid-term elections in 2018 and hopefully, we can turn this country around.

In that sweet spot of Fall before it's too cold to wear shorts and maybe too warm to wear pants; but somehow my buddy, Deirdre and I managed to match at work 

A little bit Gap, a little bit Old Navy; but both white shirts and denim overalls. Perfection.

And, yes, I was wearing all my pins recently acquired from RuPaul's DragCon.

Undoubtedly, Thorgy Thor, was one of my favorite drag queens on RuPaul's Drag Race. As soon as I saw her brightly colored booth at RuPaul's DragCon, I knew I had to get in line to meet her.

I'd been to several of her shows at Metropolitan Bar in Williamsburg, but never had a chance to chat with her and Ragamuffin. She was super friendly and appreciated by Care Bears dress by Ichiban. After all, two rainbow souls deserve each other, right?

For my birthday, my friends, Caitlin & Emily, got me a ticket to a Mets game! While I'm not the biggest baseball fan, I love the atmosphere of sporting events; not to mention the food.

Of course, I had to rock my A.Ham hat from Hamilton, but I also was able to find a great Mets tank top at Old Navy for the occasion. 

And a little blue and orange never hurt anyone.

Happy Summer Fridays! I decided to take advantage of the shorter workday and head over to the Brooklyn Museum and see the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit before it closed.

I didn't know much about O'Keeffe other than her flower paintings, so the exhibit was very informative. I really enjoyed seeing the various garments and pieces that she inspired. One of my favorites was this robe with the rainbow colored stripe.

Sometimes it's annoying setting up tons of work events, but never getting to reap the benefits of them. But this time, I knew I wanted to partake in the 4th of July treats and it was another excuse for theme dressing!

I broke out my new RSVLTS shirt (featuring rocket pops and the State of Liberty) with my Old Navy short overalls and some more themed enamel pins. The mini corn on the cobs and a borrowed beer for this photo opportunity, were the best accessories!

Well, I guess you can see how much the color has faded since my last post of my purple hair! The front is almost a plum color, while the back is still a vivid purple.

Of course when Boy Meets Girl announced that they were going to have a Care Bears collaboration, I knew I had to get something. I chose this Share Bear tank top, as she was always one of my favorites and she's purple! 

On a little work field trip, I found this camo denim jacket at Anthropologie and although I hadn't purchased anything from Anthro in forever, their "Mother's Day" discount made it an easy decision. And, I'm glad I tried it on, (since I hate trying things on) because I only needed a small!

For the last several years, I've always taken my birthday off of work and visited the Met Museum to see the Costume Institute Exhibit. The first Monday in May is always when the collection premieres with the Met Ball, so it's a perfect time to visit.

I've been a fan of Comme des Garcons for awhile, but seeing so many pieces of Rei Kawakubo's work in person is an experience in itself. There were so many intricately constructed dresses, jackets and garments, it was hard to not take photos of everything.

This look is one of my favorites. Not practical at all to wear, but the colors with the red wig caught my eye.

Every other year, Nebraska alumni, fellow former Nebraskans and friends gather at the Husker Bar near Penn Station for the "Taste of Nebraska!" 

I knew I wanted to be a little "festive," as my Mom raised me to appreciate a good theme to dress up for. I found a new red & white striped t-shirt from Madewell (naturally), and paired it with some Gap overalls. I had to add a few enamel pins: a vintage Nebraska pin, an emoji corn cob and my Waitress pie slice with a Nebraska baseball cap. I think I did a good job, don't you?

After finally changing jobs, I knew I wanted to color my hair for the first time in over 5 years! I did some research, (thanks, Pinterest!) and found some great shades of purple to show my stylist. 

I was really happy with the way the color was looking this day, so I snapped this photo in my new cactus print Courier shirt from Madewell and one of my favorite pieces of Madewell jewelry.

I can't take credit for this pun, but once I saw it on Bow & Drape, I knew it was the t-shirt for me! I personalized it with the food emojis, but I knew my love of carbs and bad reality TV made this the perfect purchase.

I broke it out at work and it got lots of great responses! 

For a little winter break, I got my team tickets to visit the Taylor Swift Experience when the Grammy Museum brought it to the South Street Seaport. I knew I had to wear my sequin bomber jacket, since I remembered Taylor wearing one during the "1989 Tour" and wouldn't you know; it was there!?

Here I am wearing my jacket, a Chance the Rapper "MALIA" t-shirt and standing infront of Taylor's costumes from the tour.

I took a short vacation from NYC to visit my friend, Jonelle, in Columbus, OH. Since she said to work, I took some time to visit the Columbus Art Museum and was very impressed by their collection. I happend upon an Isabel Marant installation and it was amazing!

Here's a sampling of some of her pieces that were on display. I really want that pink layered top in the lower left corner...

I can't seem to quit my Madewell addiction. My all black Transport Tote was looking a little worn, so I went to find a new one. I decided to get the Burgundy one and then head to the Meatpacking Store to get it monogrammed. And, yes, I'll always be "CHEN."

It's a nice deal when your Company has a Holiday Pop-Up Shop within walking distance from the office! I went with Brynn to check out the store in Soho, just a few days before it closed.

Of course, these days, everything needs to be Instagram fodder. This lightbox was filled with light bulbs and Gap logos, perfect for those square photos.

My friend, Whitney, and I have started our own holiday tradition of spending an afternoon or evening each year strolling the holiday windows on upper 5th Avenue. (This year's viewing was only slightly impeded by the barricades out of Trump Tower.)

My favorite window of this year's displays was at Bergdorf Goodman, where this Roberto Cavalli clad mannequin was posed upon a giant rabbit and surrounded by oversize cactus plants. That multi-colored fur jacket!

As of late, I've been really impressed with the designs at Coach. I got my first Coach bag at my high school graduation from one of my Dad's business partners and I didn't know the importance of that saddlebag at the time.

Now, as they partner with Colette for their "Rexy" dinosaur collection, I was just browsing around when I saw these boots. Super soft leather and suede patches, Chelsea-style pull-on and actually comfortable; I knew that they had to be mine.

The salesgirl was very friendly, and offered to let me know when the Oxfords in a similar style went on sale. I can't wait to break these puppies in!

A little piece of flair for my jacket for Election Day! You can feel the excitement/anxiousness in the air...could we have our first female President of the United States?

Since it was also my second to last day at work, I had to pair with a little bit dressed down look: a camouflage HAMILTON/NYC t-shirt, my Madewell jean jacket and topped off with my new Monsieur Coat.