Inspirations along the way

hotel routine

2013-05-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

I normally travel a lot for work, but it has been especially intense the last few months. I seem to be living out of hotels seventy five percent of the time. As challenging as it is to make a hotel room feel like home, I think I've gotten really close. Of course, it helps a tremendous amount when you stay in a luxurious hotel that prides itself on exceptionally personalized service, which is what The Mandarin Oriental New York does incredibly well.

| Zara jacket | Madewell dress | Ninewest booties | F21 necklace | Banana Republic belt | YSL lipstick |

Here are a few photos of our beautiful room that overlooks Columbus Circle.

{neither} there {nor} here

2013-05-03T09:56:00.004-07:00

Over the last few months, we have been traveling to New York quite a bit for our live shows as well as Apollo Robbins's TV projects and appearances. The airports are often demanding and exhausting, but I thoroughly enjoy being a bicoastal denizen. The parched vastness of the Las Vegas valley becomes beautifully balanced once I spend the other half of my days climbing the skies with Manhattan's high-rises. The diverse lives of the city that come across my way in New York travel with me back to the desert, their faces carving out across the spectacular sandscape from my aerial view in the clouds, an almost perfect state of longing, neither there nor here.

stripes & leopard

2013-05-01T15:53:00.001-07:00

It has taken me a long time to wear this outfit. The fearless gesture of mixing bold patterns like horizontal stripes and golden leopard used to be out of my timid fashion range. Coming to the US at the age of 13, I consider myself a 1.5 generation immigrant and such a personal history typically does not consist much risk-taking. Any sensible 1.5'er would try not to attract too much attention, whether by speaking accented English or wearing an unconventional mixture of patterns. But I've become more optimistic over the years. I grow less and less afraid to mis-pronounce new words I've only used in writing, as well as wearing whatever combination of eccentricities that strike my mood. It feels free to be a risk-taking 1.5'er.

| American Apparel top & skirt | Bebe jacket (very old) | Zara scarf | Marc Jacobs tote | Madewell boots | Banana Republic necklace |

city {lengths}

2013-04-26T11:56:00.001-07:00

Forgive me, once again, I'm a repeat offender of my favorite silhouette. And if you thought you can't wear a crop top with a maxi skirt in the Chicago 50's something spring, I'm here to prove you wrong. Just add a leather jacket, ankle boots, and artistic scarf, mission accomplished!

| Zara sweater | Uniqlo skirt | Arden B leather jacket (very old) | Madewell scarf | Marc Jacobs tote | Banana Republic necklace |

{office} excitement

2013-04-23T07:52:00.001-07:00

I have been finessing the decoration of my home office. It has been an incredibly fun project and I cannot wait to share with you. In the meantime, I wanted to show you some home offices from my inspiration board. I'm looking for a touch of modern glamour as well as uniquely designed functionality, oh, and unexpected pops of color.

Images from Elle Decor.

mod {in the city}

2013-04-21T12:04:00.002-07:00

I love fashion because it inspires me to tell a visual tale with the routine items of everyday dressing. The functional act of clothing oneself becomes transformed with self-expression, and stories are told without words. In that same vein, fashion trends emerge as tools that confront me about the smaller facets of my identities and histories. I don't embrace all trends, but have always loved the resurfacing of past favorites, especially when they strongly reflect an era. The mods of the 60s are among these favorites. Structural color blocking of black and white highlighted the artistic turbulence and disruptive world events that shaped my parents' lives and thus mine. This post is my interpretation of mod with a bit more play and functionality for a day in New York City.

| Zara coat and dress | Via Spiga heels | BCBG necklace | Wolford tights | MNO.logie clutch | Anne Klein watch | Madewell dress |

{more} yellow love

2013-04-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

It was the beginning of April and New York still had me wearing tights. My legs have always been the least favorite body parts of mine and yet I'm dying to see them bare and exposed! Like I mentioned this post, yellow is my fail-safe happy solution. So what if the restrictive weather forces dark legwear, I'm bringing my favorite shade nevertheless. How about you, what do you refuse to give up despite the weather?

| Zara jacket | F21 coat | H & M dress | Madewell boots | Wolford tights | Anthropologie necklace | Marc Jacobs bag |

the first blooms...

2013-04-16T13:02:00.002-07:00

My name, Anhđào, in Vietnamese, means cherry blossom. My parents named me this because I was born in November, amidst the entrance to winter. Their hope was that my arrival would quicken the cold and soon welcome the return of Spring. This may be the reason of my infatuation to the first blooms, still so timid and few, and yet emboldened enough that they outshine the still-colorless background upon our gaze. Maybe I love them because it's not the beauty of the actual flowers, but the beauty of hope that we transfer to them, reflected back at us.

These photos were taken when I was in New York with Apollo Robbins this last time for his Today Show appearance.

{another} favorite

2013-04-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were a child and your grandma made you that delicious Asian kale soup (canh rau đay) with dry shrimp that sent its steamy aroma right into your pleasure neurons (all right, for those of you who didn't grow up in Vietnam, we'll just say it's chicken noodle); and then because you were a kid and indulgence was commonly accepted, you asked her to make it day after day, meal after meal, until you got sick of it?

Well, these new flats are like that for me, except I'm never going to get sick of them. They are my comfort luxury / that are also gorgeous / that I can wear with everything / and to almost anywhere.

Chanel flats | Anthropologie sweater | Juicy Couture clutch (a gift from my friend Bao Han) | American Apparel midi skirt | Arden B leather jacket (very old) | BCBG necklace | Madewell rings

colors {block}

2013-04-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

I am once again on one of those two-weeks-long trip that spans all ranges of this unpredictable Spring we've been having on the North American continent. I love fashion and I am an enthusiastic style devotee up to the one-hundred-pounds luggage limit. However, this one-hundred-pounds is disappointingly easy to fill when you have two weeks on the road. So as much as I would love to pack all sorts of gorgeous layers and clever combinations, I still hold myself as a girl who can roll her own suitcases without a need for lifting help. My five-foot frame only allows for a certain amount of abandon. To incorporate colors and shapes without reaching the official high-maintenance status, the color-blocking trend is my reliably creative solution.

| Equipment blouse | J Brand jeans | Miu Miu heels | BCBG gold cuff | Banana Republic necklace | newspaper clutch bought on the streets of NYC (also seen here)

Photos by my brother Shawn Chuong Do

food | friends | sun

2013-04-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

There is a privileged delight I feel when eating with other cooks or foodies. So when my friend Kris and Lynn invited myself & Chatnoir to have lunch over Santa Monica promenade at Zengo, a partner restaurant to La Sandia, where Kris is a manager, I did all sorts of mental happy dances. The food was delicious and we got an all-star treatment, thanks to Kris. But most of all, it was one of those unforgettable afternoons where all things in the universe collide into perfection so that I could see my old beloved friends.

Kris & Lynn have revealed other eating secrets to me before, remember this post? And Chatnoir has appeared in a few other beauty & fashion posts, see them here.

yellow {spring}

2013-04-07T17:13:00.001-07:00

There comes a time in March when I often run out of patience for the winter colors, I burst into excitement waiting to wear the brights and pastels of Spring & Summer. Among those brights and pastels, my absolute favorite has to be yellow. When a girl has been boggled down by the unforgiving traveling and the cruel endless winter, yellow is my fail-safe cheer solution.

| J Crew jeans | Loeffer Randall sandals | Madewell blouse | DKNY purse | Club Monaco bracelets | House of Harlow rings |

an afternoon at the Riverwalk

2013-04-03T11:27:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we had a chance to work in San Antonio and I had the pleasure of visiting the Riverwalk again, one of my favorite Texan destinations. The weather was perfect and the afternoon could not have been more romantic with Apollo Robbins.

I mixed a preppy sequined polka-dotted top from J Crew with a native-inspired bohemian parka from Scott & Soda. The outfit felt right at home.

| Linea clutch | Zara skirt | Rag & Bone shoes | Scott & Soda jacket | J Crew top | House of Harlow rings | BCBG bracelet | Ray Ban sunglasses |

travel journal: oahu, chapter 3.

2013-04-01T11:16:00.003-07:00

If sunsets on Oahu were romantic, then the sunrises were inspiring. We spent our last days hiking to Diamond Head to take the spectacular views in the morning and drinking island cocktails and jiving to live tunes at House Without A Key in the afternoons. They were absolutely perfect days.

Please go here and here for the previous chapters of the Oahu travel journal.

travel journal: oahu, chapter 2.

2013-03-27T21:36:00.002-07:00

As much of a reluctant tourist as I was to Hawaii, countless others have fallen in love with these islands for a good amount of reasons, the top of which has to be those perfect stretches of beach, the endless blue that extends from the water to the sky.

The North Shore of Oahu is an idyllic paradise away from the sardined Waikiki, loved equally by all types of locals, adventurous surfers that come for the fearless waves as well as playful families that come for island weekends.

After spending all morning with our feet warm in the sand, we spent a languorous afternoon in the lush gardens of Waimea before reaching the red waterfall, its water unusually colored from the volcanic dirt of the island. The word of the land is that the rich water heals and gives... I'm a cynic on land but this was Hawaii. So, it was cold, but I dipped.

The warm days in paradise are wrapped with cool breeze and spectacular sunsets, the kinds of sunsets that make you question your city-loving soul and ask yourself if you could be happy living out your days on these sun-soaked islands, content with living off the land and filling your soul off the water, watching sunsets every evening with your love from a little red car, hmm... perhaps my old definition of happiness needs some island updates.

for part 1 of Oahu's travel diary, please go here

travel journal: oahu, chapter 1.

2013-03-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have fond attachments to Hawaii. Apollo Robbins kidnapped me more than 3 years ago and proposed to me in Maui. In the middle of the Pacific, in that impeccably breezy air and those golden sunsets, where the island spirit sneaks into the most cynical of persons, the billowing winds expand your soul and the shimmering ocean beckons you to say yes. So I did, it didn't hurt that I also had a man with whom I was deeply in love.

Since then, I've returned to the islands to visit Kauai, whose spectacularly wild beauty still fights to be the favorite island in my heart. And on this trip, Oahu. Oahu has a little bit of everything to please the pickiest of tourists: from the glamorous and busy Waikiki to the breathtaking seascape of the North Shore and its superhuman big-wave surfers to the much sought-after delicious shrimp trucks, no longer an underground secret of foodies.

| Quiksilver sweatshirt & backpack | Victoria's Secret swimsuit | vintage Yves St. Laurent scarf | Guess shorts | BCBG bracelet |

flight of fancy {chinoiserie}

2013-03-24T10:38:00.001-07:00

It probably won't surprise many of you to learn that my favorite silhouette is the crop top paired with a maxi skirt (seen here & here). However, lately I've noticed an emerging pattern of a possible contender, the kimono wrap top with slim silk pants. I seem to be collecting a few ensembles of this combination, to indulge an aesthetic as well as a lifestyle. The silk pants are so accommodating to my traveling life, and the kimono wraps offer prints as poetic as spring picnics with your first crush. Forgive me if I can't seem to resist carving them into my life, and onto the blog.

| Zara top | Abercrombie & Fitch cargo pants | Miu Miu heels (also worn here & here) | Banana Republic lace cami | vintage clutch (also worn here) | Jewelmint necklace & bracelet

limes on black

2013-03-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

I've had this sheer black blouse with the lemons and limes print for almost 15 years. It has survived every closet purge, not because I've worn it often, but because I've always had a special instinct about it, as if even though I didn't quite know how it fit into my outfits throughout the years, I always thought there may be a day I will find it a pairing. Sometimes clothing articles are like poems, some at first read don't quite make sense to you, but you can't quite forget them. You think about them throughout passing situations of your life, searching the passages, combing the lines and trying to find meaning. And then one day, someone or something happens to you, and the first thought to appear: a line from that poem.

| vintage blouse | F21 sweater | Zara necklace | Jewelmint bracelet | Bebe pants (very old) | Rag & Bone shoes |

{baked} eggs

2013-03-19T15:58:00.001-07:00

I love having family meals, and thus this baked eggs recipe is perfect. Being able to share one pot of brunch goodness is a great way to begin Sundays.

Ingredients:

1 tbs olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tomato, diced, drained

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

2 bunches spinach, trimmed

8 eggs, separated (yolks kept whole, if possible)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400

2. Beat the egg whites until foamy

2. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic & cook 1 minute

3. Add the tomatoes, 1/2 tps salt & 1/4 fps pepper & simmer for 3 minutes. Add the spinach & cook for 1 minute until it begins to wilt. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish.

4. Pour the egg whites over the spinach mixture. Carefully place the whole yolks over the top.

5. Baked until the egg whites are set, 20-22 minutes.

{until next year} winter

2013-03-18T14:01:00.002-07:00

Last month, it was both my blessing and curse to experience the first snowstorm of my life. Nemo visited New Haven and gifted us with more than 3 feet of pure powder. I had little idea of what preparation for a snowstorm entails, so it was my fortune to be sheltered by good friends who were also wonderful chefs and strong men. I missed a gig because the airport closed but enjoyed the most peaceful three days in a winter wonderland.

The more frigid it gets outside, the cozier it was inside. My friends baked delicious bread and pastries, cooked comforting soups and brewed rare teas. I cuddled up with their handsome golden retriever, Linus, whose wonderful coat of golden hair made him an ideal snuggle partner.

I had always been afraid to experience winter, being in warm weather all my life (I was born and raised in Vietnam, spent my teenage years and young adulthood in Southern California, and now live in Las Vegas). But the white magic brought by snow is undeniably a fantastic experience. When that coat of frosty silver took over the charming New England town, a beautiful silence engulfed me and transported me to a place of inspiration, where all is pure and any is possible.

{dreaming of} a spring brunch

2013-03-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

Spring is like a perhaps hand

(which comes carefully

out of Nowhere) arranging

a window, into which people look(while

people stare

arranging and changing placing

carefully there a strange

thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps

Hand in a window

(carefully to

and fro moving New and

Old things,while

people stare carefully

moving a perhaps

fraction of flower here placing

an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything.

e. e. cummings

| BCBG blouse | H&M skirt | DKNY mules | Marc Jacobs purse | thrift store earrings

Vietnam: chapter 5 - Hà Nội

2013-03-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to find myself feeling a little more at home in Hanoi than Saigon, being from Saigon originally. Hanoi felt more understated, more complicated, and probably more misunderstood. There is a lot of room for interpretation about this place, and that hints at many stories untold, which has tremendous appeal to my dark poet soul.

I came down with the worst flu I've ever had at the end of my trip to Ha Long Bay and upon my arrival in Hanoi, so please forgive the lack of continuity in the photos. With a fever of 102, I still managed to leave my hotel room and explored a bit of the city, but the flu left my desire to understand Hanoi untamed. A future trip is, hopefully, near in sight.

{green} at bay

2013-03-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

Even for the souls absent of any poetry, the chimerical labyrinth of Hạ Long Bay will secretly find its way into the crevices of their hearts. There is something about Hạ Long's perpetual emerald that promises fantastic enigmas and adventures beyond the mist-soaked seascape. That something also inspired me to wear a dress that belonged to the narrative. The Mr. snapped some quick shots of me before night fell on this floating forest. What mysterious stories happened after these photos, in the ebony of night? Those, are for you to imagine...

| Bebe dress (very old) | Jewelmint necklace and gold bracelet | Christian Louboutin pumps (also seen here | stone bracelets from Central Vietnam

Vietnam: chapter 4 - hạ long bay. part 2.

2013-03-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

While we were in Ha Long, we visited one of the floating villages that inhabited a stretch of ocean around these beautiful isles. This was such a unique opportunity for us to see a completely new way of living: many of the villagers were born on the water and have never been to land. They were gracious enough to invite complete strangers to see their makeshift homes which float above colorful tubes.

We also visited Cat Ba island and hiked the gorgeous mountains and hills. It rained sporadically through our hike, and my mist-soaked memories of this island consists mostly of this little girl's haunting eyes. She was very shy, but her eyes spoke volumes.

Without much television or other entertainment, the kids from the village on Cat Ba Island incorporated us, the tourists, into their game play. They pretended we were zombies, this photo above showed them running away from us with their rich imagination.

The headwraps donned by these graceful ladies inspired me, you can see a preview below of how I will look when I get old.

Born at sea, most of the villagers learn to swim and row around 2 or 3. They prefer to row with their feet while fishing with their hands.

This second set from Ha Long is not about pretty photos but as the villagers share their lives with me, I'd like to share my experience with you. This visit left emotional imprints on my heart that was more than a paradigm shift, it gave me a set of new eyes through which to see my own reality, a reality that is definitely, too landlocked.

You can see the first set of Ha Long here

Vietnam: chapter 4 - hạ long bay. part 1.

2013-03-05T10:05:00.002-08:00

I've always strived to be a wordsmith. I've often wanted to fill my world with expressions and poetry. And I've seldom imagined meeting a place that would render me speechless. Hạ Long did exact this. I have no vocabulary to describe the awe and pride that transfixed me when I arrived here. Hạ Long carved a visual and emotional beauty in my mind for which I'm forever grateful. And I hope it will for you as well...