The Winner of the "Heart Rhinestone Bracelet" giveaway announcement.

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An afternoon at the "Spring/Summer Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show."

"Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show" is like no other vintage clothing show I ever experienced before. From the minute I entered the entrance door until 2 hours later walked out the same door; I transformed into another time where the nostalgic of vintage fashion goes way before you were born up until about 1990s is under one roof. The adrenaline is pumping and I did not know even where to start to look. What was in front of me is definitely an ultra  exclusive old, used vintage fashion items at it's best !

Every direction I looked; saw vintage dresses, vintage gowns, vintage tops, vintage blouses, vintage sweaters, vintage jackets, vintage skirts, vintage swim suits, vintage hats, vintage blazers, vintage coats, vintage pants suits, vintage jumpsuits, vintage shoes, vintage lingerie, vintage jewelry, vintage handbags/purses and vintage glasses/sunglasses. They are from different eras, different style, from top designers like YSL, Nina Ricci, Gucci, Chanel, to a more affordable Italian designers like Genny (which I spotted and bought; here)

After minutes from entering the door I realized I ended up in a booth where a rack of row of skirts were hanging. A young Asian woman came and handed out a bright lime green skirt to me and said "this color is very much in trend right now!" I smiled and took the skirt from her hand and thought to myself how does she know that is the one I was attracting to ? It was a "Nina Ricci"! I liked it already. Remember, I just walked in 2 minutes ago. The price tag is USD 130.00. Not bad for a Nina Ricci.  The next thing I knew she escorted me to the fitting room which was located on the other side of the hallway. It was a perfect fit. Later her boss an older woman said "I can give you for USD 100.00!" I told her politely I just came in and I want to see more what's out there. So I left leaving the Nina Ricci's skirt behind.

I was walking aimlessly and was mesmerized by the beautiful items hung and displayed at every direction my eyes could set upon. Thought I was in a Vintage Clothing heaven. Perhaps I was !

Oh yes, before I forget I must take some pictures since I want to write a full article about this lovely afternoon experienced in my blog.

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Isn't she look like a beautiful young princess from a fairytale land ?

Then I saw two young ladies wearing a gorgeous necklace that I never had seen before. So I asked them politely if I could take their picture wearing the lovely necklaces. To my surprised they were very nice and let me take the pictures.

Julie Skinner is wearing a Laurent G. necklace.

 

A close up shoot

 A purse from Julie's boutique.

I could have spent 2 hours there but I decided to go home after scored 2 tops; "here",  "a polka dot anorak" (which I am excited to showcase in this blog in the near future) and" a pair of vintage golden Chanel earrings" here  before I did some serious damage. Ahhhh.....am so happy with my purchased and said to myself; "definitely must come back to the next show !"

More pictures from the show

 

 

The lobby.

 I brought home some 'nostalgia' in a shopping bag.

At home I found out from checking out  the business card the lovely lady handed out to me, is a high end vintage clothing dealer herself and an ex top model; her name is Julie Skinner. A full article about her, here. I remember how sweet she was when I asked to take picture of one of the purse displayed on the table in her booth. I was in awe realizing that I have met a celebrity that afternoon. Then the idea of sending her two questions about her and the necklace that she was wearing came into my mind. It would be a good article to have in my blog. So I did.

I have not heard from her for about two weeks and a little disappointed that I could not include her answers to my questions in my blog about the necklace. So I was about to write the blog without the answers all together. What a pleasant surprised when I received her email yesterday. I was in such joy that afternoon to finally have her answered my two questions. 

So these are the Q & A or a short interview with 'lovely' Julie Skinner. Thank you very much, Julie ?

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Q: Tell me about yourself ?

J.S.: Hello Ellya,

I apologize. It has been extremely hectic here, as I am 8 months pregnant and relocating next week to Los Angeles.

I would be delighted to answer any questions you may have.

The website gives a detailed explanation of how I started and where we are now. (yet we are moving to Beverly Hills this month) We work with clients all over the world. 

Recently we have been featured in W magazine on Elle and Dakota Fanning, in interview magazine on Katy Perry as well as Spanish Vogue, U.S. Vogue, and Italian Vogue.

Q: Could you please explain about the necklace you are wearing ?

J.S.: The designer is Laurent G. He is a current jewelry designer, working from Paris. He has designed for the likes of Paco Rabanne, Chanel, YSL, Christian Lacroix for the past 30 years. His designs will be showcased on www.postscriptcouture.com within the next week or two.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

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Isn't she sweet ? I replied her email by wishing her best of luck, success and happiness in her new home in L.A. and a new baby on the way.

I did not hear from the you lady that looked like a young princess from the fairytale land; but I am very happy to have Julie Skinner emailed me personally and explained about the piece she was wearing during the Vintage Clothing Show. This means a lot to me plus it would make a positive impact on my Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show blog post.

More stories and articles about Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show, here.

AND

Find out celebrities, stylists, who came to the Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show, here.

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Thank you for stopping by !

Heart Rhinestone Bracelet GIVEAWAY

I know I just hosted a giveaway a week ago. 

I finally  fixed the Facebook business/fan page plug in onto my blog this afternoon.

But in the middle of doing so I lost all of my 65 friends Facebook  followers on my blog. I just had the Facebook business page plug in installed in my blog correctly  but I need to re invite you all. As a reward; I am doing a give away once more time. 

Please accept this small gift/giveaway as my appreciation for  you once more time to click the Facebook 'like' button.  Thank you !

So here is the giveaway. It is a lovely "Rhinestone Heart with Emerald bracelet !"

To gain entry,

- Please be 18 years old or older of age
- 1 entry  if you leave comments on any of the posts and follow me on Facebook.

- 1 entry if you follow us on Twitter 

 - Please limit one 
entry  person and one comment per person Double entry will be disqualified. - Open for US, Canada and European Union, Australia residents. - Giveaway will be opened until 12.00 A.M. EST May 15, 2012. - The winner will be announced the following day.
- The winner will be contacted the same day through email and must reply with home address within 3 days. Failure to reply after 3 days; I will draw another winner.


Good Luck !

I love Cous Cous !

2 months ago, hubby and I decided that we need to eat less calorie food. So I decided to cook less calorie dinner for us. Since I did not know where to get a good recipe for a low calorie dinner I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a "Better Homes and Gardens Eat Well Lose Weight" magazine to try out some good recipe from.

Some of the recipes I have tried had been posted here in the past.

To my surprise, Steven, my husband loves the diet food and they are quite tasty. 

After 2 months I noticed that my jeans are quite loose that I need to pull it up all the time {yeaayy !}  My stomach always feels light after a meal. I am very happy that I will continue and maintain eating  less calories food always.

This recipe is called "Mediterranean Shrimp Platter" This meal is delicious, healthy and very light. The taste of light cous cous  blend in with the garlick shrimp with a hint of lemon and oregano.

Note : As shown on the pictures above I put some raisins in the couscous to have a little sweetness of a taste.

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You might noticed that I did not put a light greyish blue calligraphy border around the pictures like my last posts. I think I want to discard the border but not quite sure yet. What do you think ?

Thank you for reading ?

Winner of "Retro Pearl Rhinestone Rectangle Chain Necklace" announcement !

An old friend came visiting me...

Ine Gandah Catalano is an old friend of mine from Jakarta, Indonesia. She lives in Rome, Italy -  Perth, Australia and Bali, Indonesia.  (Yes, she flies to all continents every few months or so...)

Our only son went to the same elementary school in Jakarta many years ago. I have not seen her for about 20 years but thanks to Facebook; we found each other about a year ago. So I was very excited when she told me that she will come to New York with her husband whom attending a business conference in Manhattan, New York.

Through Facebook I knew Ine and I share the same hobby; collecting vintage china ! We often talk about it in Facebook. So I told her if she comes visiting me, I will make  a high tea luncheon for us. I thought this is a nice intimate way to show her my vintage china collection and to celebrate our reunion. 

Our meeting was fun and memorable. We talked about 'the old days.'  And of course we talked about our passion; vintage china ! We exchanged stories about her buying vintage china in Europe and myself in the US. In the end I took Ine to a near by small town where I know  an antique store selling  good vintage plates. Ine bought quite a few beautiful vintage plates and tea cups from the store. And I was happy that she found what she likes.

I was proudly drove her around to show Ine my neighborhood.  She seemed enjoying the ride and looking at beautiful houses and stores as we were driving through. Sometimes we stopped and took a picture one or two. Then we said 'goodbye' as I dropped her at the train station. 

It was definitely  nice meeting Ine again especially after so many years.

Ine and I

 

Recipe

Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwich

- 4 slices  white bread

- 4 slices smoked salmon

2 tbsp  mayonaisse

- 2 tbsp chopped dill

- lime juice and zest

1. Mix mayonaisse, dill, lime juice and zest. 2. Spread the mayonaisse mix on top of slices of bread. 3. Put 2 slices of smoked salmon on each 2 bread and put the other two slices on top. 4. Cut the crust on all sides and cut the sandwich into 3 rectangle (makes for 6 small rectangle sandwiches)

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Egg Salad Tea Sandwich

- 4  slices traditional pumpernickel bread

- 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

- 2 tbsp mayonaisse

- 1 tsp dijon mustard

- 2 tbsp chives, chopped

- 2 tbsp crispy bacon bits

Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Mix the chopped eggs, mayonaisse, dijon mustard, chopped chives, bacon bits and salt/pepper. 2. Spread the egg salad mix on the 2 slices of bread and cover with the other two bread. 3. Cut the crust on all sides and cut the sandwich into 3 rectangle (makes for 6 small rectangle sandwiches)

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Cucumber Tea Sandwich

- 4 slices white bread

- Thin slices of cucumber

- Butter, room temperature

- Salt

1. Spread butter on all bread slices. Sprinkle with salt very lightly. 2. Arrange cucumber on top of 2 slices of bread. 3 Cover the with the other 2 bread. 3. Cut the crust on all sides and cut the sandwich into 3 rectangle (makes for 6 small rectangle sandwiches)

Note: Before making all sandwiches; using dough roller I thin the bread slightly by running the dough roller on top each sandwich. And to keep the sandwich moist and before serving; cover the sandwiches with damp paper towel and cover them with plastic wrap. It can be refrigerated.

Macaron : here

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Giveaway -Vintage Rhinestone & Pearl Rectangle Chain Retro Necklace" (CLOSED)

This giveaway is officially CLOSED.

  
"Vintage Rhinestone & Pearl Rectangle  Chain Retro Necklace" by Ellya to a lucky winner. The rectangle piece is about 3-1/2" x 3/4" and the chain in the bottom is 3-1/2" at the longest. The total length is 17-1/2"

As seen here 

and here

To gain entry,

- Please be 18 years old or older of age
- Please leave a comment on any of last 5 posts plus follow us on Facebook (a must !)
- You will get another  entry  if you follow us on Twitter
- Please limit one entry  person and one comment per person
Double entry will be disqualified.
- Open for US, Canada and European Union residents.

- Giveaway will be opened until 12.00 A.M. EST May 05, 2012.
- The winner will be announced the following day.
- The winner will be contacted the same day through email and must reply with home address within 3 days. Failure to reply after 3 days; we will draw another winner.


Good Luck !