What a whirl wind it has been — I’ve been out at events leading up to the start of the US Open all week. This was my week in a nutshell
Wednesday: IHG US Open Kickoff Party
Thursday: Taste of Tennis
Friday: Fan Week at the US Open & Chase Sound Stage featuring DNCE
Saturday: Fan Week at the US Open
While it was a bit exhausting, I wouldn’t change any of it and happy I took it all in. I’m so happy that the US OPEN is BACK and NY is taking it all in!
I have wanted to see The Lion King - The Musical on Broadway for YEARS, and was ecstatic when I found out I won tickets for the 5th row center! What are the chances?
The show did not disappoint, it was hands down the BEST Broadway play I have seen. I would definitely recommend going if you get a the chance!
You can enter to win Broadway lottery tickets to see the Lion King here: https://lottery.broadwaydirect.com/show/the-lion-king/
The lottery opens from 9 AM to 3 PM the night prior to the show, at 3 PM they draw the winner and you have 1 hour to claim and pay for your tickets.
Good Luck and please support the Broadway community!
Happy New Year!!! 2021, we are ready for you! 🎉
Throwback to getting to the top to see the NYE ball in Times Square up close, it was even bigger than I imagined!
Check out my interview with Brennan of Waterford Crystal on designing the NYE Ball!
Merry Christmas!!!
Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
I have officially put my hat in the ring for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Search 2019!
I would love to join the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit family and all the amazing things they stand for - diversity, inclusion and women empowerment.
I have always tried to push myself to be the best I can be and to break barriers and stereotypes. For example, I feel that I bring beauty and brains, earning my MBA at 22 years old, I was one of the youngest, if not the youngest in my graduating class, and currently work at a Fortune 50 company. In addition to doing this, I also won the title of Miss NY despite being asian and petite, which is not the typical standard.
I hope that by joining the rookie class this year I can encourage other women believe in themselves. You can do anything you set your mind to and not to be afraid to take a risk and go for your dreams!
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Last night my board, the Young Professionals Council of New York Edge, hosted the 5th Annual Kickoff to Summer Soiree! We had a wonderful turnout of about 40 people!
I have been involved with New York Edge since 2013 and am proud to be a founding member and co-chair of their Young Professionals Council! Together we have volunteered, met a lot of great people and raised a lot of money to help New York Edge provide free after school programs to over 40,000 students across the Greater NYC area!
I am very proud of all of you, thank you for all that you do!
As 2018 comes to an end, one of my favorite ways to ring in the new year is to watch the NYE ball drop in Times Square.
This year, I had the pleasure of getting up close and personal with the Waterford Crystal ball that drops every year on NYE at One Times Square!
Check out my interview with Waterford Crystal’s Tom Brennan, who was the lead in designing the amazing ball that is seen across the world on New Year’s Eve!
Fun Facts:
The Waterford Ball is:
Illuminated by 32,256 LED lights
12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds
2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles are bolted to 672 LED modules, attached to the frame of the ball
Surprisingly the ball was only located a few flights up from the 21st floor. However, this did not take away any of the allure or grandeur of the Waterford Ball. It is just phenomenal up close!
One of the Waterford Crystal Triangles
Hope everyone has a sweet day!!!
I just tasted these delicious cupcakes from Huascar & Co Bake Shop. The flavors going clockwise were Nutty Fella (chocolate fudge cupcake with Nutella filling, Glanduja buttercream frosting with chocolate pearls toasted hazelnuts), Pink Lemonade (lemon sour cream and raspberry cupcake with raspberry buttercream frosting and raspberry chocolate curls) and Berry Champgne (pink champagne cupcake with strawberries baked in iced with vanilla-pink champagne frosting)!
Huascar & Co had a bunch of fun flavors and other items in the store, such as spiked tres leches cake which is one of my favorite kind of cakes! The cupcakes were pretty tasty, more dense than fluffy, the Nutty Fella even had a filling, which was delicious. As for the frosting, I thought it was a bit hard and too bitter tasting, however they did have interesting frosting flavors to go with the different cupcakes.
John Isner may not have won the US Open, but he’s still one of my favorite tennis players!
Check out my interview with John Isner on everything from training for the US Open to having a baby girl!
He was the one who suggested to do the interview standing up, to get the height disparity, LOL!
During my vacation in Miami, I wanted to more than just your typical beach and party routine. After seeking out some recommendations from my new friends from Sunrise, Florida, my friend and I decided to take a food tour with Miami Culinary Tours. They had a few tour options, but decided the Little Havana Food tour, would give us a new cultural tour in addition to some yummy Cuban Food!
Stop 1 of the food tour was at El Pub restaurant, they are best known for their beef empanadas & coffee, which exactly what we had and a great way to start the tour! For those of you who do not know, an empanada is basically dough filled with something, such as beef. Variations of empanadas exist in many different cultures, such as calzones and dumplings. I also learned about the "colada," which is a Cuban coffee that is mean to be shared (you should not have a full cup, but rather a small little shot, the size of a creamer).
Next we headed to the Cuba Tobacco Cigar Factory, where we learned how cigars were made and got to see it first hand. Fun Fact - The owner of this factory was actually imprisoned for 20 years prior to starting this factory and was sitting on the couch in the front of the store.
Domino Park is where all of the seniors go to play, you guessed it... dominos! The park is a social club and the place to be during teh day for dominos and chess (but gambling is not allowed). Don’t forget to bring your ID, because they will card you!
We then headed lunch at Old Havana, where we had a delicious Cuban sandwich & croquette. A cuban sandwich consists of pernil (one of my favorites!), ham, pickle and cheese, croquettes are basically fried sticks of food, usually consisting of potato.
We migrated to some live Latin music at Ball & Chain for some refreshing mojitos! Ball & Chain is definitely one of the most lively places in Little Havana, with a fantastic live band in the front of the restaurant and a pineapple theme! They also have a nice little patio area in the back, this may have been my favorite spot on the tour - I will definitely be back next time I am in Little Havana!
On to Yisell Bakery for some guava filled pastries (pastelitos). This little hole in the wall bakery, looked kind of small and run down, but had some great pastries, bread and was very busy with locals. The bakery was crowded in the middle of the day while we were there, which says a lot about a place.
This fruit stand has a variety of fruits that you would not find at your local grocery store, here you can find giant avocados, green plantains, lady fingers (baby bananas), dragon fruit, star fruit and fresh mangos to name a few! Here we had a very fresh mango smoothie, which you could tell was made right on the spot, I could definitely use another one in this heat!
Fun Fact: this is one of the only open air fruit stands left standing AND was featured in some movies.
Time for dessert! For the final stop of the tour we headed to Azucar for some mantecado ICE CREAM topped with guava syrup! This shop was created by a local who saw the need to create a place for tourists to enjoy the local culture, thus Azucar was born!
Along the tour, we saw many roosters, both statues and real ones, very depicting of islands in general.
Needless to say my friend and I were STUFFED by the end of this tour. I would definitely recommend taking this tour if you want to learn about the culture, while stuffing your face!
Earlier this week, I traveled to Toronto, Canada on my first work trip... ever! It was a great experience and I learned a lot about my new team, Travel & Lifestyle Services (TLS). I had not been to Toronto since the North American Debate Championships (Northams) in January 2010 at York University.
My boss and I were only there for 1.5 days, so needless to say it as pretty jam packed with meetings during this market visit. However, I was able to find some time to catch up with one of my MBA grad school friends who recently started working for AMEX in Canada!
During my stay, I stayed at the Shangri-La Toronto, a very swanky 5-star hotel chain with a gorgeous pool. The room was so spacious, bathroom alone could have been a small studio apartment in NYC, which included a hot tub and TV built into the mirror. The hotel concierge even left me a nice handwritten note and left me pound cake loaf to welcome me to the hotel. I would definitely love to stay there again, can I afford it is the question!
“Big Ass Steak” at Baro in Toronto
After Day 1, all of the managers+ went to a team dinner at Baro, a delicious Mexican restaurant in downtown Toronto. The food here was DELICIOUS and the menu had some great names of dishes. My favorite dishes on the menu were the steak and the the tacos, but the most amusing dish names were "Big Ass Steak" and “Eat Like Jefe!”
CN Tower
On the way back to the hotel from Baro, we had a great view of one of Toronto's most popular attractions, the CN tower. For those of you who know me know I had to stop and take a photo. My new boss surprisingly followed suit and took a photo on Snapchat to send to his children.
The next day was filled with back to back meetings starting at 8:30 AM to 4 PM, which I then headed to the airport for my flight - delayed about 5 hours... However, on my flight home, I sat next to someone who taught me a bit about meditation and turned about to be a new friend!
Can't wait for my next trip!
Rainbow Cookie Ice Cream topped with Homemade Lemon Meringue from Bona Bona Ice Cream
Celebrating National Ice Cream Day at the 3rd Annual NYC Summer Ice Cream Blizzard - with a variety of NYC's most unique artisan ice cream makers and flavors.
For those of you who know me well, you know I have a big sweet tooth and LOVE ice cream!
Today I attended the 3rd Annual NYC Summer Ice Cream Blizzard at the Grand Baazar NYC on the Upper West Side. There were so many varieties of ice cream it was hard to choose where to go! There was everything from ice cream mochi from My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream, ice cream sandwiches from Melt Bakery and Thai ice cream rolls from Minus Celsius Ice Cream to ice cream stuffed donuts from Stax Ice Cream, ice cream like cookie dough from 2 Dough Boyz and deep fried ice cream from Sam's Fried Ice Cream to name a few.
I decided to get something new that I had not seen before (which is rare when it comes to ice cream) - rainbow cookie ice cream topped with toasted lemon meringue from Bona Bona Ice Cream! If you’re wondering, yes it tastes as good as it looks! The rainbow cookie ice cream had bits of rainbow cookie in it (one of my favorite cookies), and the toasted lemon meringue added a nice touch, definitely a good decision made today!
Thank you to my friend Della for indulging in my love of ice cream and attending this, despite the intense heat today!
Until next time, stayed tuned for more ice cream and foodie adventures!
Tonight, Friday, July 13, 2018, I had the pleasure of attending he Forty-Five Show, hosted by Vans in NYC, which was the final stop of the tour proceed stops in Santa Monica, Chicago and Philadelphia. The Forty-Five Show is a charity art show, featuring 45 album covers created by 45 artists inspired by artists and musicians who have played on Warped Tour.
These art pieces will be sold online and all proceeds will benefit Sound Art, a non profit that focuses on putting music back into the classroom.
Check out some of the album covers on this post! My personal favorite was the album cover inspired by The Dickies featuring narwohls!
Happy July 4th!!! 🇺🇸
I am so happy and proud to call myself an American! I hope everyone has a happy and safe fourth!
Waikiki Beach, Hawaii
Happy July!!! 🎉
Who’s ready for some R&R beach weather? 🏖 I know I am! 😎
What do you have planned for the summer?
In June, I took a weekend trip to Montauk in the Hamptons for my friend’s Birthday. I had a wonderful time celebrating and hitting the beach!
This upcoming weekend, I will be headed to Vienna, Virginia for a high school friend’s wedding! I can’t wait to celebrate this momentous day with them!
New York Edge Young Professionals Council (L-R): Mateo Creamer, Eileen Tublin, Rose Wisniewski, Evvie Kelley, Chris Creegan, Diana Arias, Elizabeth Tam, Robert Strang, Kinja Dixon, Kyle Deleon
Last night the New York Edge Young Professionals Council (of which I am president of) and I hosted the 4th Annual New York Edge Summer Kickoff Soiree at the Ainsworth - East Village. I want to thank everyone who came out to support our event!
I am so happy to say that all of the tickets were SOLD OUT!
I want to thank everyone who came out to the Summer Kickoff Soiree and helped us raise money to benefit New York Edge in providing free after school programming to students across the Greater NYC area!
New York Edge has been and still is one of my favorite non profits to work with. They are the largest provider of free after school programming in NYC, reaching over 35,000 students in over 130 schools!
As a product of NYC public schools, their cause really hits home for me and is something I am very proud to support!
New York Edge Young Professionals Council (L-R): Eileen Tublin, Ian McCarty, Mateo Creamer, Kinja Dixon, Evvie Kelley, Rose Wisniewski, Chris Creegan, Diana Arias, Elizabeth Tam, Robert Strang, Kinja Dixon, Kyle Deleon
On Wednesday, June 6, 2018 I attended the 9th Annual Spring Arts Showcase for the non profit New York Edge (formerly Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation). NY Edge has been one of my favorite non profits to volunteer with and this is one of their favorite events I love to attend (the other is the annual STEP Competition)
The Spring Arts Showcase featured some of the top performances and art, ranging from dancing and stepping to fashion designs and 3-D artwork. Needless to say, I was truly impressed. Check out the photos and video in this post!
In light of what has been happening in current events, in particular the suicides of fashion designer Kate Spade and Chef Anthony Bourdain, I was truely moved by the step performance, in which they addressed suicide prevention.
The free after school programming New York Edge provides is very impactful, reaching over 25,000 students in 120+ schools across the Greater NYC area. The after school programming varies from sports, arts, education, music and more. I love volunteering with such a great organization and am currently President of the NY Edge Young Professionals Council.
The NY Edge Young Professionals Council will be hosting our 4th Annual Summer Kickoff Soiree on Thursday, June 14, 2018 at the Ainsworth - East Village. If you are interested in attending, tickets can be purchased here:
https://sasfny.networkforgood.com/events/7165-new-york-edge-kickoff-to-summer-soiree
For Mother’s Day this year, I took a floral arrangement 101 class with The Wild Bunch and I made my mother a flower arrangement (which she loved).
I’ll be the first to say I do not have a green thumb, in fact when I moved into my new apartment in April I swore I would not have any plants, pets or anything they could die. However I did manage to make a pretty decent looking flower arrangement, if I do say so myself.
Here are a few take aways I learned:
Choosing Flowers
Prepping the flowers
Arranging the flowers
Maintaining the flowers
If I can make a gorgeous flower arrangement, you can too!
Thank you to the Moxy Times Square & The Wild Bunch for a wonderful class!
Today marked the 25th Anniversary of Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation, the largest provider off free after school programming in NYC and a non profit that i hold near and dear to my heart!
SASF serves over 125,000 students in over 130 schools across NYC. I first got involved with them in 2013 when I was Miss NY, I absolutely fell in love with them and all that they do. Now in their 25th year, they have re-branded and will now be operating as New York Edge.
As President of the SASF Young Professionals Council, I have definitely had the opportunity to see all the progress and phenomenal accomplishments they have made over the years as well the tremendous growth my board has undergone as well.
Congratulations to the winner of the Legacy Award Nico Elmaleh and Gold Star Award winner Matthew Petrula!
I look forward to seeing all of SASF/New York Edge's continued success in the next 25 years!
