Thai Islands

Landing in Thailand was such an adrenaline rush. The moment I got of the plane I immediately felt the immense cultural differences. Jamie picked me up, and on the back of his scooter and we headed into Jamie's new home, the southern city Hat Yai. It's Thailand's 3rd largest city and it was a great place to be introduced to some of the thai foods that I would be living off for the next month. On our way to the amazing food haven that is the floating market, I saw my first elephant! I was in awe and after minuets of squealing I started feeding the baby elephant that was decorated with chalk. The elephant owner/trainer/riders in Thailand are called "mahout". Looking back now, I realize that this elephant shouldn't be living in a large city and probably had quite a sad life. After that experience, I assured myself to only pay mahouts in locations that elephants are treated with kindness and respect.

After snacking on some awesome thai sausages with fresh basil and ginger, we went to gather all Jamie's things and stuff them into an incredibly heavy backpack. That night we headed towards our first destination, Phuket!

Phuket is a small island off the southwest coast of south Thailand. Its definitely known as a main tourist hub, and it was easy to see why!After a rickety overnight bus ride we arrived at the busy beach town of Patong. Its ful of foreigners, both old and young, and there are fresh mangos, pineapples and watermelon vendors in every direction. Although I am not usually the type of person to enjoy busy tourist areas, it was hard not to love my first thai beach sunset!

The next day we rented a scooter and explored the rest of the huge island. The amount of beautiful vistas and viewpoints were overwhelming. Then we scootered up a huge mountain in the center of the island to gaze at the biggest Buddha I've ever seen, while the sun slowly set. It was windy at the top of the mountain and there were small chimes all around the temple. The marbled pink sky and collection of bells made it a truly magical experience.

Around Phuket are smaller islands, so Jamie and I took longtail boats and visited Koh Phi Phi, James Bond Island, and a floating Muslim town. Each place was utterly beautiful, and surrounded by huge mountains bursting from the water.

After Phuket we took a bus and ferry to Koh Samui, the largest of a triplet of islands on the east coast of the country. I thought it would just as busy as Patong, but actually Koh Samui felt quiet in comparison. We stayed at an incredibly beautiful, hotel hidden in the forest off of the beach. After drinking dancing and swimming all night with our new friends, we took off in the morning for the next island, and my favorite, Koh Phagnan.

Although famous for its Full Moon Parties, I opted to go during the island's "down time" to escape the western party crowd. At first I was skeptical that I would be able to relax at this island known for its drug filled foreigner parties, but after arriving, I was immediately eating my words. It was so serene and secluded, and although it probably does get very wild during the night of the full moon, I couldn't even imagine it. I celebrated my 24th birthday on Koh Phagnan with scuba diving, pina coladas and a sunset beach massage, it was absolutely perfect! We ended up staying 2 nights longer than we had planned because we both fell in love with this island and didn't want to leave! When we did end up packing up to leave I had already started planning my excuse to come here again. 

the strokes.

As its my last month in New Orleans, I felt like channeling all the artists and gutter punks that fill the city. Naturally that means brining out all the clothes from college when I was hugely into thrift shopping. NOLA is full of old clothes re-imagined into awesome new looks.
It seems strange that they even have a Free People store here because this city's style is where they draw most of their inspiration from.

 

 

All thrifted; similar skirt , shirt , necklace

Black + Blue

I am obsessed with my new thigh high boots from Steve Madden. They make me feel like I'm wearing thigh high socks all the time which is what secretly I wish i could do anyways!

H&m Coat, Topshop Scarf, Steve Madden Boots, Urban outfitters Socks, LF Shirt

NY trip

Finally got to head back to Brooklyn as an early christmas present! Headed up to New York to see some old friends and new sites all the while stuffing my face with as much different combinations of cheese and carbs known to man (pizza, mac & cheese, festive cheese plates , etc)  one can image.

Went to one of my favorite landmarks The High Line in the city and took a stroll over to the Chelsea Market, where they had bountiful christmas decorations up. In addition to having a ton of amazing food shops and markets, they hang work up of artists down the corridor and have a monthly concert series for musicians.

We eventually chose to eat at one of my favorite NYC spots S'mac in the East Village. This place has THE most amazing varieties of macaroni and cheese. I constantly crave this level of amazing mac while in NOLA.... I'm still hunting for a local alternative, if anyone has any suggestions?

Brandy Melville pants, Forever 21 Jacket, Top Shop Sweater, Urban Outfitters Necklace, Madewell Sunglasses

Ended my time here having dinner with friends and celebrating the holidays partying the night away!

I am missing NYC already and counting the days until my return.

Exhibit Be

A friend of mine mentioned that there was a huge graffiti exhibit down in Algiers right next to New Orleans. As an old flood ruined apartment complex as the backdrop, Brandan Odums and bunch of graffiti artists from around the city got together to create a huge architectural canvas. With larger than life size portraits of civil rights leaders such as Malcom X and Martin luther king jr. splayed around the ruins in neon colors.

In addition to the large portraits of prominent historical black figures there were large pieces by graffiti artists such as Rone, Revees, and Paten to name a few. The November 15th event was eventually expanded for two more weekends, and was open to the public at no cost. The event had food trucks and live DJs, creating a uniquely New Orleans experience.

The event was a first of its kind, and personally I'm excited to see what comes out of it.

Turkeyday at the Races!

 

C Wonder sunglasses * similar, Urban Outfitters Dress *Similar and Coat *similar, vintage shoes *similar

Last Thursday was my first ever Thanksgiving away from home! I stayed in New Orleans and decided to see what my friends down south get up to on their t-days.
as it turns out..... they go bet on horses?!


So I live about 8 blocks away from the New Orleans Race Track and Thanksgiving marks the first day of their season. I was told that people get dressed up and go hang out and bet all day while their turkey is in the oven.

Well I'm terrible at gambling so I decided to spend my money on bloody marys while I caught a glimpse of some of the awesome hats and outfits that would (of course) only come out in this awesome city! Check em out;

All in all, it was a VERY awesome non-family Thanksgiving. Now I can finally turn on my Hanson Christmas CD and start jamming to get into the Xmas spirit! (justtt kidding ) *notkidding

Wait......stahp

Lawdy - Jeffrey Campbell

It's safe to say Jeffrey has crossed a line. 11inch heels?

.....Because it's what the world needed