As soon as I landed in Chicago, I saw that a college friend of mine was also in town. (She had gone to HAMILTON the night before and I was going that night.) So, through the miracle of social media, I met up with her for lunch at Velvet Taco.

While our conversation might have been awkward at first (we hadn’t seen each other in person since 2004), we quickly found enough to chat about.

I knew I had to get one of the brunch tacos (I’d been thinking about them since the last time I was in Chicago), so I got the #19: bacon, an egg frittata, crisp tots, chili butter, smoked cheddar, ranchero salsa and micro greens in a corn tortilla. I added a side of their tots, topped with a fried egg. It might have been too much food, but when you’re only in town for a few days, some sacrifices have to be made!

For my last day in Boston, I found a nice bakery near the hotel that had lots of press & good looking food. As soon as we walked into the restaurant, I spotted Sonya Tayeh (from So You Think You Can Dance fame & the choreographer for Moulin Rouge, which was having it’s out of town, pre-Broadway tryout in Boston), sitting at a table with her girlfriend, Jo Lampert (Joan of Arc: Into the Fire and Orange Is The New Black)!

Of course, Jim ha no idea of who either of them were…but was happy, because I was happy, I guess…we were both happy when our food arrived.

I picked Tatte’s Jerusalem Bagel Egg-in-a-Hole. A large bagel, covered in sesame seeds with two baked eggs, a chopped salad and added Vermont Ham. Although it was a little hard to cut into, it was still delicious.

I made my first trip up to Boston to visit my bestie, who was in town for work. While our first meal was seafood-based, his next request was to go to Chinatown and get dim sum. After a little Yelp research, we settled on Hei Lah Moon and plucked our first few dishes from the metal carts.

Here’s a photo of round two: pork buns, taro cake and shrimp & pork shu mai. I’m drooling just thinking about all the deliciousness of this meal!

When Dad said that he wanted to get pasta for his Father’s Day Dinner, I found a great place in Little Italy, Aunt Jake’s, that had a variety of pasta types and sauces for you to create a dish. So, after taking in the matinee of The Book of Mormon (in which, Dad fell asleep and we were in the third row), we headed down to dinner.

I got cavatelli with carbonara, but little did I know that the meal would take a turn when I asked him about his current “lady friend.” Turns out, maybe he wasn’t ready to share that information with me and kept telling me how he should have married a Chinese woman instead of my Mom; so great.

Needless to say, the pasta was great, but I found myself with a little appetite to eat.

Every since I took my Dad to Flushing, he’s almost enjoyed going there more than Chinatown to eat and shop. The first time he exited the 7 train, he got onto the street and exclaimed “I am in China!”

So, after grabbing dinner at the food court (he had an assortment of meat skewers and soup; I had dumplings & fried rice), we went in search of dessert.

He chose a durian-based ice cream, while I went with a coconut milk based, red bean, jelly and green tea ice cream treat.

Anytime my Dad comes to visit me in NYC, it’s almost a test to see how many different types of Asian food we can eat in a small amount of time. After I took him to see my new office in Tribeca, we walked to Chinatown and grabbed lunch at Hong Kong style eatery, Cha Chan Tang.

He picked a shrimp and rice dish, while I went for the baked spaghetti with ham and cream sauce; basically the Asian version of a Midwest casserole.

After my last visit to Ozi, I couldn’t stop thinking about their “potato twirl,” which was basically a spiralized potato that was fried. Sadly, upon my second visit, I was told that it was a “seasonal” dish, but there were french fries.

New to the menu this time: dumpling combos. 9 pieces of 2 styles of dumplings with a side. I chose the chicken teriyaki and the char siu pork with a side of rice. Whitney opted for the cheeseburger and the crab with blue cheese and a seaweed salad.

Overall, they were very tasty, even if they can’t beat the Emmy Burger dumplings at Mimi Cheng’s for #dumpsofthemonth!

My cousin, Sarah, was visiting NYC with her husband, Scott and their kids, Owen & Reese. I met up with them on a Summer Friday, to explore and to eat. After walking around, visiting some kid-friendly stores and giving them my own mini-tour of Times Square, we walked to find pizza.

I wanted to make sure it was going to be a good pie; so we walked up Broadway to Angelo’s, right next to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a bonus for Scott.

We got one red and one white pie; pepperoni & mushrooms on the red and grilled chicken & mushrooms on the white. While both were delicious, I preferred the red pie (too much ricotta on the white one)! Ew.

Sometimes I think office culture is weird, where people eat at their desks all the time or never go outside in a 9+ hour workday. Well, this day, I convince my friend, Andre, to go get food with me. After our attempt to get Japanese food was thwarted (they looked closed), we walked to Bubby’s.

I chose the salmon eggs Benedict with home fries & an iced tea. We spent some time playing with the children’s activity menu and I finally got my t-shirt that says “PANCAKE” on it!

After showing my friend, Tempestt, Taiyaki’s unicorn ice cream cones, I knew her daughter, Ellie, would want to get one. So, after lunch in Soho we ventured into Chinatown to pick up a cone.

I opted for the custard-filled “fish cone” with chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup, chocolate powder and a waffle stick.

While Tempestt was trying to setup an adorable Instagram shot with Ellie, her cone tipped and all of the ice cream fell onto the floor! Luckily, we escaped any panic attacks and were able to get a new cone! (The second time around, we were all much quicker at taking the photo!)

I already was a fan of the chorizo tacos from The Deep End, so when I had the chance to try their breakfast version (i.e. filled with scrambled eggs), it was an easy choice.

I met up with my friend, Ololade, to catch up on our lives over a good meal. He has frequent shows at The Deep End (check him out on Instagram @lae.d.boi), but hadn’t tried their brunch and it’s close to both of our apartments, easy choice.

The tacos were so delicious, but so large, I had to share and then run off to see “Boys In The Band!”

In the last year or so, I’ve tried to up my cooking skills by trying out a few various meal delivery kits. For about a year, I cooked meals with Plated, but I made the switch to Blue Apron a few months ago. I’ve learned more about the prep steps in cooking and a few new skills.

By far, this crispy potato & kale hash with baked eggs was one of the favorite things I’ve made so far. Now, just to work on my plating/presentation…

When I heard my friend, Phil, go on about he loved Dough’s greasy yeast doughnuts, I knew I had to take him to Doughnut Plant and make him try one of their cake doughnuts.

Sadly, since we went kinda late on Memorial Day, they were sold out of a lot of the flavors. He still bought a yeast doughnut from Doughnut Plant, but at least I got this killer coffee cake doughnut!

Yes, my birthday falls exactly 7 days from the end of May; so it’s almost always around Memorial Day Weekend and it’s made celebrations and meeting up with friends hard over the years.

Luckily, two of my best friends, Caitlin & Emily, live right by me in Ridgewood, Queens. So, we met up on a rainy Sunday for brunch, to exchange gifts and catch up on life at Father Knows Best.

I choose the mushroom hash - cirispy potatoes, smoked oyster mushrooms, pickled beets, arugula, toasted seeds with poached eggs and a side of cheddar scallion biscuits with honey chipotle butter.

I’ll definitely go back here again, not only was the food delicious, but my friend, Ricky, also works there.

After a failed attempt to eat at ABC Kitchen for my birthday last year, I was finally able to go this time around! After seeing Animaniacs Live! at The Public, Barbara and I went for a late dinner to celebrate at one of Jean-Georgers Vongerichten’s more famous establishments in the NYC area.

When we had a hard time deciding between the pizza and the pasta, we opted to get both & share.

A whole wheat pizza with mushrooms, parmesan, oregano & a farm egg and then homemade casarecce with spicy fennel sausage, broccoli rabe and shepherd’s basket cheese.

I also indulged in the chocolate cake with malted chocolate ganache and toasted marshmallow icing, but couldn’t get the best photo in the light of the restaurant.

As a special deal for my birthday, my roommate, Jordan, arranged an option to cook deal at Maialino, where he works for me & a few friends. We had a four course meal with dessert and lots of champagne.

The highlight for me was the first pasta course (seen here) with squid ink pasta, a slightly spicy red sauce and a perfectly buttery white sauce.

I took a lot of photos, but they really don’t do the food justice. You’ll have to taste it yourself!

I was looking for something sweet to eat after dinner, when I popped into Food Gallery 32 (a sort of food court in Koreatown), when I saw Sweet Churros.

They had several different types of churros or you could get mini’s and try a few flavors. I opted for one regular one, based around S’mores - melted marshmallows covered in toasted marshmallows and chocolate syrup. It was missing the cinnamon sugar was a little on the greasy side, but I’d definitely go back and try another flavor another time.

Years ago, I found photos of the most delicious looking egg sandwiches on Instagram. Enter Eggslut and their perfectly crafted sandwiches and other egg-centric concoctions.

When I finally made it to LA after this discovery, a friend took me to eat one in Grand Central Market. This time around, I wasn’t able to get a sandwich there, so to my surprise, when I decided to kill time at the Americana shopping center; there was an Eggslut!

However, “The Slut,” was calling my name! A coddled egg on top of a potato puree with chives & gray salt, complimented with slices of a toasted baguette. How could I resist?

And, yes, I took a freshly made biscuit to go.

There was so much delicious food at my friend, Nan’s wedding; but I only managed to capture this photo of dessert. Blueberry cheesecake on a graham cracker crust with a white & milk chocolate straw.

You can see some of the menu to the left: my first time having clam chowder (really!), the fish & risotto were delicious; but I had to also save room for wedding cake!

Although Shake Shack will always make my favorite burger (there’s something about that Pat LaFrieda patty…), when I’m on the West Coast, I have to get to an In-N-Out.

Luckily, Chung humored me, and after walking up and down the Hollywood Walk of Fame and searching through stacks and stacks of albums at Amoeba Music, we went to get lunch.

Only we must have arrived when school was just getting out, because it was PACKED! I think we waited almost 45 minutes for our food, but at least we found a seat and made some friends with a pair of teenage boys who were visiting from Canada (never mind that I could have been their teen mom).

Chung opted to get an “animal style” burger, but cut in half, while I just went with a classic cheeseburger and cheese fries.

I spent a long weekend in the Los Angeles area, as one of my high school friends was getting married, to do some touristy things and to catch up with some friends.

For day one, I met up with Chung, who used to work with me at Madewell in NYC & recently moved back home to SoCal. She suggested Porto’s Bakery for our breakfast/brunch and it was the perfect spot.

I got a bacon & egg “omelette” sandwich and iced soy chai, while she opted for a cheese omelette & an iced coffee.

To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never eaten at a restaurant that was nominated for or received a James Beard Award for excellence in food. So, leave it to Philly to get me to one and an Asian one, at that.

My friend, Mike and his friends had come to Sate Kampar before, so i kinda let them take the reins with the meal; even if I was the only Asian one at the table.

I resolved to try everything, even if might have been too spicy for my tastes. Sauteed meat. Curried vermicelli noodles. Beef rendang. The whole fish special. Mee hoon goreng.

Everything was delicious, but bring a more “adventurous” friend with you, when you want to eat there.

Yes, I finally made it to Philly! And on my friend’s list of things to try out was Poi Dog, a Hawaiian restaurant that was fairly new. I joked that if they had Loco Moco, I would totally be into it and low and behold, they did!

I remember when I was in Hawaii and first heard of Loco Moco; which was basically me asking “what’s that?” and them saying “a hamburger patty on garlic rice with gravy and a fried egg!” If my face could have turned into an emoji it would totally have been the cat with the heart eyes!

So, here’s the version I had in Philly: a brisket patty with two fried eggs over rice with miso gravy & furikake. And those heart eyes came right back!

Somehow every time I go to Sweet Chick, I luck out with their poached eggs and get a sweet (and tasty) photo.

These flaky, buttery biscuits with mushroom gravy and these beautiful eggs; I could go back again and again!

After a thwarted attempt to visit Philly over the weekend (weather forced Amtrak to cancel/delay all their NE trains), I booked a trip for next weekend and treated myself to the March special at Mimi Cheng’s Dumplings: Philly Cheesesteak!

I got the pan fried version made with grass-fed beef, caramelized onions, peppers and housemade cheese whiz for dipping! Not quite Pat’s or Geno’s, but it hit the spot.

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.

Before a Dr. appointment, I walked by P!Q at Rockefeller Center and saw this Yummy World plush display! There were so many new plush characters that I had never seen before and they all wanted me to take them home, right?

I was mostly temped by the “onion ring toss” and little basket of onion rings. However, since I already had the large “cheese puffs,” I only purchase a few vinyl toys and the mini grilled cheese plush. Yes, I have some self-control!

The walk from 6th Avenue to 7th Avenue on the L train can be kinda gross. So, it was a pleasant surprise on Valentine’s Day to see that someone set up all these photos for the “Love Tunnel” and was letting people take a random photo home with them.

I get the sentiment, but I can’t help but be a little bitter on Valentine’s Day. It’s such an arbitrary holiday.

I don't think that was the theme of the Bergdorf windows this season, but I was particularly attracted to this window because of all the colors. 

Each Holiday season, I get soup dumplings with my friend, Whitney, and then we walk down 5th Avenue and look at all the window displays. This time around, we invited Deirdre, and made a great evening of it.

As you know, I'm in Times Square/The Theatre District a lot. I love nothing more than a good musical and "Dear Evan Hansen" has quickly become one of those that I go back to again and again.

I loved getting off the train and seeing the subway station wrapped in DEH ads. From the turnstyles to the card readers, the signature blue was everywhere at 42nd Street.

After completing more than 18 collections with the “Bucket Brigade” for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA), I was able to attend the first night of the Gypsy of the Year benefit for free!

And…I even got my name in a Playbill!

On a Saturday afternoon, I trekked up to Corona Park in Flushing to see a holiday dance performance of Ellie’s dance school classmates. Called “That 70’s Nutcracker,” it was loosely based on the story of “The Nutcracker” and was performed in various 70’s-themed costumes. The show was fun, but I had to leave early to make it into the city for a Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS bucket brigade shift.

While walking back to the 7 train, I passed by this new public art installation next to the Unisphere and had to stop and take a look. Entitled “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors” and designed by Ai Wei Wei was part of NYC’s Public Art Fund installations.

Gentrification is a weird thing. While I'm sad to see my neighbors displaced over the last 8+ years, I do appreciate Twin Suns Deli that opened less than 2 blocks from my apartment.

Their breakfast sandwiches on brioche buns and their breakfast burrito! Oof. I would eat them every day...if my stomach could handle it. 

A little wink to the graffiti in the bathroom at Clem's. Also, since I don't work at Madewell anymore, I get some perks. One being free overnight shipping on order and another being free gifts, like this denim tote.

Back for my 2nd season of "red bucket" collections with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS! 

One of my first collection was for Wicked, where I was quick to find Ashley Parker Angel's name on the board and ask for an extra Playbill for safekeeping/boyband memories.

If you know me, you know my dream job was to be a VJ on TRL! Well, this new reincarnation isn't exactly what I thought it would be, but I still appreciate that MTV is trying to stay relevant.

I saw this poster in Shubert Alley and couldn't resist taking a photo. Who knew that when I was in high school & college and taping TRL on a VHS tape each day, that one day I could walk by 1515 Broadway any time I wanted to?

Even since I saw an exhibit of Dale Chihuly's work in high school, I've made an effort to see more of his exhibitions when they're in the city or if I'm in a place that has one.

I almost didn't make it to his installation at the New York Botanical Gardens, but I was able to snag a ticket for one of the last "Chihuly Nights," where all of his sculptures were illuminated for the evening. 

Of course, this neon abstract piece was my favorite.

You would hardly know that a few years ago, this was Toys 'R Us and there was a ferris wheel inside the store! 

We got a special treat and got to shop in the new Old Navy and Gap stores in Times Square before they were open to the public. It's spectacular to see how the spaces were transformed for each brand, although setting up all the stations at the base of the elevator wasn't the smartest idea...I had a grand time and got some great new clothes!

The best part about cat sitting for my friends, might be this view from their private deck. I didn't edit this photo, but the sun was shining perfectly on this weekend afternoon.

Even if cat food smells gross & their chubbier cat has the worst smelling poops; this makes up for it all.

Growing up, Margaret Cho, was the first Asian-American I saw in media that reminded me of myself. More "American" than "Asian," and not typically small and submissive, I sat in front of the TV every Tuesday night to watch All-American Girl on ABC through the good and the bad.

In college, I helped UNL's University Program Council (UPC) out with spreading the news about her show and received a free table for my help! I got to speak with her briefly, where I blurted something out like "My Dad sounds just like your Mom, I'm Korean and I"m a HUGE fag hag!" To which she kindly replied "You ARE like a younger version of me!" and I could have died.

So, whenever she has a show in the NYC area, I will be there! In fact, the last time she was at the Gramercy Theater, her performance was filmed for Netflix and it's called "PsyCHO" and I was in that audience!

When I was walking back to the office, I noticed this balloon sculpture/installation in front of Maman in Tribeca. I'm not sure what it was for, but it was too pretty to not stop and take a photo of.

Mostly, I was "doin' it for the 'gram" as the Millenials might say...but I never posted this to Instagram.

If you're ever needing some great home inspiration or just to get out of the office for a bit, a stroll through the housewares department at the fairly new Anthropologie downtown is just the fix.

While I probably won't be hanging up any light fixtures in my apartment any time soon, I loved this "bubble" chandelier and it's rainbow effect.

It'd been a few months since I had caught up with my college BFF, Phil, so we decided to meet up for brunch at B Bar in NoHo to catch up.

The weather was perfect, so we were able to dine al fresco, which would have been more enjoyable without the teenagers behind us running around and shouting for part of the meal. (How old am I sounding right now?)

It might be my Nebraska roots, but I will always be a Pepsi girl. Never a Coca-Cola/Coke girl. 

When I was growing up, Pepsi Co. acquired the contract for all University of Nebraska events and campus. Thus, not a Coke product in sight on the campus or at any home football game.

This also meant that we were  great test market for Pepsi Products and were among the first markets to get Mountain Dew Code Red in the early 00's.

So, when I was in Long Island City with Tempestt & her family, of course, I had to stop and take this photo (and it was in an episode of "SMASH," too).

If you're ever walking through the West Village, take a stroll near W. 12th Street and stop to see the New York City AIDS Memorial. A stunning sculpture and right next to St. Vincent's, where the onset of the AIDS Crisis was first treated in the 1980's.

After a long week of meeting planning at work, we all gathered near the office at The Bennett for a little Happy Hour and to celebrate Mariel's upcoming wedding.

We posted up on the long benches against the wall and were shown the call buttons to grab the attention of our servers when we needed anything. The best part: the buttons would light up a number on the mirrored panels behind the bar! (We might have played around with them for a bit, too...)

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.