If you have ever doubted your ability to rock one of the most innovative footwear trend, the heelless shoes then let the couture maven Daphne Guinness convince you with these jaw dropping artistry. She takes no prisoners when it comes to fashion and she does it very well. See what I myself unearthed a few weeks ago.

 

I am now a proud owner of 2 pairs of some of the most whimsical ballerina flats in the market right now. The Finnish designer, Minna Parikka made a pit stop in New York City on her way to the Caribbean from Finland just to deliver these lovely colorful and playful ballerina pairs to MOI! What a surprise! I honestly didn’t see it coming and this would be my very first time meeting the talented designer in person! I must say, it feels good to be appreciated, no matter the size of the gesture, every little thing counts. Thank you so much Minna!

Shoeholics Magazine featured her shoes in the summer print edition (pages shown below), now in stores and this was her way of saying thank you! And to think she wasn’t even the only designer featured! How cool was that? The generosity is so unparalleled! I promise to use them in good health and spirit!

Please my dear friends, check out the brand’s online store to see many other colors of these gorgeous flats! They are so adorable!

The image farther below are pages in Shoeholics Magazine of her designs featured in the fantasy “Dinning Out” story.

Gone are the days when revelers eager to celebrate the birthday of America with picnic chairs and hampers sat along the coastal fronts of the Hudson River in New York City. I was rather sick to see it fast becoming a commercial monopoly where the uber rich individuals and mega corporations like Macy’s bride their way into the city pockets by pushing back tax payers to the streets while they set up fancy tents and white chairs on the coastal fronts for prime view of the fireworks! Whatever happened to when this used to be fun FOR THE MASSES? A time when families gathered themselves to take in the event on grass lawns along the edge of the water. Now moneyed and well connected denizens take out permits from the city to lock out an entire area of public park all to themselves while utilizing city cops to hold off “trespassers.”

If I wasn’t a fan of Macy’s before, now I am even more turned off from the brand/store all together because they were the ring leader of this fiasco that made seeing the fireworks a nightmare. It didn’t matter if you got there 8 hours to show start. You were told to move and redirected to a far away “nose bleed” area if you could not come up with a Macy’s issued tickets! So much for 4th of July being for the people. It’s now a corporate commercial monopoly game! What’s next? Bergdorf, Saks, Barneys to set up exclusive invite only firework shop along the coastal lines too? Sigh…

Needless to say, while on my way out, forgoing the fireworks altogether, I couldn’t resist capturing some of the memorable images of mere mortals less connected than the VIPS on the coastal lines. They camped out there, slept & ate there, networked with each other to while away the time. All races, religion and age brackets…waited eagerly for hours in the scotching heat of 90 degree plus!

Well, I hope you like the images. As usual folks, all rights reserved 🙂

The Jacksons Unity Tour Summer 2012 – United States & Canada – Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson & Marlon Jackson.:

First let me start off by apologizing for the poor quality of the photos below. The Apollo theater has a strict policy on “no photography” meaning no whipping out of large professional SLR cameras like my Canon. So I had to settle for the poor resolution of my camera phone. Nevertheless, it got some job done. Camera or not, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I would rather be no place else!

So let’s talk about these dynamite brothers, The Jacksons 5 which since the demise of the great iconic Michael, their brother, now call themselves “The Jacksons.” They brought the sold out house down! This would mark their first tour together in years, returning to their birthplace on stage, The Apollo Theater, since their brother’s passing.

The dance moves of Marlon (and all the others for that matter) brought to mind a lot of Michael’s iconic moves. He even went on to tease the crowd to sing back a couple of Michael’s iconic melodies in honor of his late brother. After a couple of hot dance moves and bringing the crowd to their feet to jam to some old classics, they brought tears to a lot of people’s eyes, including myself, when they sang tribute songs to Michael culminating with “when we see you again” while playing in the background a video montage of home pictures of the entire family ending it on Michael. Then once again it was on to the dance numbers. With the way there were moving, it was hard to believe they are all well over mid 50s! So, all you poptarts out there, the originals are back. Move over!

 

 

THE SETLIST FOR THE JACKSONS CONCERT AT THE APOLLO

Jacksons set list at The Apollo
• Can You Feel It
• Blame It on the Boogie
• Wanna Be Where You Are
• Rock With You
• Show You the Way to Go
• Lovely One
• We’re Here To Entertain You
• Good Times
• Looking Through The Window
• Time Waits for No One
• Heaven Knows I Love You Girl
• Push Me Away
• Man of War
• Gone Too Soon
• I Want You Back
• ABC
• The Love You Save
• Never Can Say Goodbye
• All I Do Is Think Of You
• I’ll Be There
• Dynamite
• Let’s Get Serious
• Do What You Do
• Can’t Let Her Get Away
• This Place Hotel
• Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
• Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough

Solstice in Times Square: Athleta Mind Over Madness Yoga
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets

Anyone can find tranquility on top of a mountain. Can you find it in the middle of Times Square?
Attendees were challenged to find tranquility and transcendence in the midst of the world’s most commercial and frenetic place, Times Square. Thousands of yoga enthusiasts celebrated the longest day of the year (June 20th) with an all day FREE outdoor yoga classes. Participants will received a Solstice gift bag and Athleta provided free Manduka yoga mats. In between classes, participant enjoyed an Athleta Fashion show and music from Prasanna. The heat was somehow bearable but the determined participants didn’t let that bother them amidst the crazy traffic in the city -a true mad over madness in Times Square! What a fantastic way to start the sweltering summer! I hope you like the pictures! As usual, all rights reserved 🙂

Why on earth did it take me this long to “discover” the many cool sides of Zara brand? The main store is only a few blocks from my doorstep and yet I have never set foot in it until a few days ago when this lovely cute as a button dress perched in the window literally drew me in with its “voodoo” flowers. OMG! I was sold! The dress does make a bad girl look good.

The next thing I knew I was making out like a bandit with many brown bags stuffed with their frocks….and the SHOES, I had to find in my size from 4 different stores! Talk about desperate!

I could only imagine the many cool stuff I had missed already. For years I had feared their quality of clothing would be like H&M (no offense).

Call me silly, but I now visit the store twice a week for new findings! Oh dear oh dear…..what took me so long 🙁

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I want to be just like these lovely golden dames when I grow up. I have absolutely no excuse.

 

And by year 2013 I want to be able to do this. No that’s not a snake, it’s a very bendy WOMAN! Is that too much to ask? Now pass me the butter!

Let me start by asking how was your weekend? I hope it went well with lots of merriment with your friends and families. I for one did something a little different. After a fun filled Saturday night bowling with my friend Heather and 20+ others who was celebrating her birthday, on Sunday I opted for a girlfriend night out, party of 2, with my friend Deborah. We holed at B.B. King on 42nd Street taking in the Latin Jazz vibes of legendary sax man Gato Barbieri. The 80+ year-old man still has the magic touch. Afterwards, we twirled our way uptown some 25 blocks up in staggering 6-inch heels but not without making a pit stop to say “hello” to the infamous tourist attraction “Naked Cowboy” on Times Square!

Why did we walk in these super high heels? Well, they have been sitting in my closet since I acquired them in London in January and I thought what better way to test out and break in a brand new pair of shoes! Figured if it didn’t pinch/hurt my feet in the shoes then it definitely would be the one to wear to the upcoming Gay Pride Parade on June 24 this coming Sunday where I intend to lead the group for SHOEHOLICS MAGAZINEin support of their cause. The magazine’s group will strut down 5th Avenue in style! So yes! I have broken in my shoes and I intend to walk in the parade in these golden glory of heels! My o my, I can’t wait!

Do you feel like joining the magazine? Please don’t be shy. For more details on that please see the post on FACEBOOK about it. Email members@shoeholicsclub.com if interested. The more the merrier! 🙂

The other day Vegetarians had a more subtle parade in the city and now the meat eaters had their day just this weekend at what would be the 10th anniversary 2-day barbecue fair. Let’s just say that they do things a little bit more…hmm…dear I say…BIGGER compared to the vegetarians.

Barbecue grills and smokers were brought from far and wide, including cowboys from Texas, southern gentlemen from states like Alabama, Omaha and the likes turned the petite patch green land of Madison Square Park on 23rd street into a smoke and grilling yard with flames ablaze. It looked like 4th of July in Texas. Rain or shine, eager and hungry patrons snaked around in long lines waiting for their turn to get served. They all said it was worth the wait and even went back for some more. The park smelt really good I must admit and the fun fare was accompanied by a security controlled beer garden area where ID check was mandatory for the liquor contents being served, free soft drink giveaways by Zico and Cocacola, picnic blankets all around and live concert of country and R&B tunes. And before I forget, there was at least one tent grilling prawns for seafood lovers. So, no one was left out of the big block party celebration 🙂

As always, all photos by me of course. I hope you like my style of photography. Bon appetite 🙂

I was on my way to see the horror alien flick, Prometheus when suddenly a taxi came screeching off the road and onto the sidewalk, just across the movie theater near Union Square. The Cosi eatery was hit and so was a 4 month pregnant lady who was terribly shaken – an example of classic New York City car accident. People rushed to her aid while some of us with recording devices recorded the scene as well as the car’s plate number just in case it was a hit and run incident, similar to the one that took the life of a 21 year-old girl just a block away from the same location a few weeks ago. Seems like everybody these days should know what to do if injured like this and asking ourselves: how much is my case worth?, – you just never know.

I really hope the mother and the baby are doing fine. An ambulance was on its way before I departed the scene. Please feel free to share this information and video. I personally do not remember seeing the driver there. God help us all.

Preview the video footage and images below.