Love Me Tender

When we were wedding planning last year, we realised that for a variety of reasons we had to get registered (aka legally wed) before our traditional temple ceremony in Kuala Lumpur in December. 

Since the registration was a formality, we decided to have a bit of fun. So a year ago today, having told only our immediate family, we made my elopement fantasies come true and "ran away" to Vegas...

Paintbox - Nails of New York

I might live in the city of cheap and easy manicures, however getting cool nailart with gel polish for an affordable price has always been challenging. Until I discovered Paintbox a few months ago. At each easily-bookable appointment, I pick out a gel manicure design from their lookbook and decide on the colour scheme, and then settle in with a complimentary glass (usually two) of prosecco. 

My first appointment was made just before a double beach trip - Montauk and Barbados. Bright yellow made for an obvious choice. I was obsessed at how great it looked and durability of the manicure. I was hooked henceforth. Here are just two out of the MANY pictures I took of that look:

Sunday at the Frick

We crossed off an NYC bucket list item last month when we visited the beautiful Frick Collection on the Upper East Side. We never got around to visiting for no other reason than being spoilt by free entry to almost all the big museums through my (now-former) employer's corporate responsibility initiatives.

So we did the next best thing, and visited during the museum's pay-as-you-wish hours one Sunday afternoon. Henry Clay Frick invested much of his wealth in acquiring European art, furniture and sculptures and the house is filled with impressive pieces. Most are displayed where Frick originally intended when this was still a residence for the family. 

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It's considerably small relative to the neighbouring Met but we still found Time Out magazine's list of 10 must-see works helpful for some degree of direction. There are also descriptions and a quick history lesson of everything in the audio guide which is free with admission. 

No photos are allowed anywhere in the museum but in the beautiful Garden Court, so we took advantage:

Oak Tornado dress (on clearance), Preen by Thornton Bregazzi sunglasses, and Giles and Brother railroad spike cuff

Mansur Gavriel cammelo/antico bucket bag, very very old Sportsgirl belt, and Brook & Lyn x Anthropologie necklace

Ivy Kirzhner Babel sandals (breaking my rule against buying multiples, it's the black pair to the gold version I wore to my wedding reception - which amongst other styles, is on super sale here)

Chelsea Galleries in Philo

Happy September! S and I spent Labor Day in New Orleans (which I have since realised is pronounced "AWHR-linz", not "awh-LEENZ". This month is a big one in the J-J household, not least because my parents and brother have just arrived from Kuala Lumpur. It's their first visit since we moved to the country and I am excited to show them my New York. 

Here's a post I set up just before they arrived, on our visit to art galleries in Chelsea not long ago. The best way to navigate the many galleries is via the Chelsea Gallery Map (also available as an app) - which provides detailed locations of each gallery in the area, a description of the exhibits being shown, as well as the functionality of being able to save your favourites. I tend to prioritise exhibitions that are wrapping up - which in our instance that weekend were Keith Haring and Tara Donovan below:

If you have time though, just ditch the map. That's how we stumbled upon Eugenio Merino's Always Shameless exhibit (press release here). Merino created life-like bodies of the world's most evil leaders and placed them in Coke vending machines. If you looked closely, you could tell that an incredible amount of detail went into the sculptures.  They looked so real that I hesitated from staring too long due to a silly, irrational fear of the statues' suddenly opening their eyes! I had never heard of Merino before this, and read that he initially became famous for his "Punching Franco" piece, where he sculpted the head of Franco and stuck it on a punching stand, which was also there for viewing.

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Other than that, I thought the tiny statues of Kim Jong Il and Mao Ze Dong below were particularly funny #Napoleancomplex

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Here's my gallery-hopping outfit, taken in front of Eduardo Kobra's giant mural on 25th and 10th (also seen here):

LPD New York t-shirt and Anthropologie Sloping Skirt

Mansur Gavriel bucket bag cammelo antica (back in stock), Nike Liquid Gold Dunk Sky High and Ray Ban wayfarers

Have a great weekend!