Artists & Fleas ft. Brooklyn Bleu

As seen in my previous post, I featured some photos from my adventure in Chelsea, NY. Not only did I see some really cool buildings, but I also stumbled upon a great pop-up shop version of Artists & Fleas. I was drawn in by the racks of vintage clothing and tables full of antique jewelry, plus tons of other unique booths. This cool flea market features artists, designers and various vendors and its mothership location is in Williamsburg Brooklyn. This Chelsea Market Manhattan version that I found was the fall pop-up shop (at 10th ave & 15th St), which runs until December 31 (If interested, it is open daily from 10:30am-7pm)

When walking past the different vendors, one caught my eye. It was a table set up full of beautiful rustic jewelry. There I met the owner of Brooklyn Bleu, a private fashion boutique based out of, you guessed it, Brooklyn. Founded in April 2011 by Tenisha Light-Caba, her unique showroom focuses on the customer's experience and is "inspired by vintage."

Although I didn't get a chance to visit the actual location, it was great to see her pieces at the pop-up shop! Check out Brooklyn Bleu on Facebook, Twitter and Etsy. To book an appointment for the private boutique, just send Tenisha an email at info@brooklynbleu.com

Fierce, Fabulous & Fun!

Founder of Brooklyn Bleu: Tenisha Light-Caba (left)

Make sure to swing by the Chelsea Market & Brooklyn Bleu if you're in NY! :)

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

Photography Post | New York in the Fall

At Ground Zero

During my most recent trip to NYC, I had some free time to explore some of the city and wander around, just enjoying how beautiful it really is, confirming the fact that I need to live there one day. Just thought I'd share some of my artsy photos that I took on those strolls... :)

SOHO, my love.

Walked by the water in the Chelsea area:

^I love this one!

 I'm a sucker for those NYC stairways

I also got to visit the famous Magnolia Bakery (as seen in Sex and the City) and Serendipity 3 (as seen in Serendipity) - such cute places!

Yum.

 I love Serendipity!!

Oh and side note (since this isn't big enough to be its own post) - just thought I'd share some celeb spottings from that weekend:

Big crowd gathered to see Ricky Martin, who is currently starring on Broadway in Evita

 And courtesy of my mom, who stayed in NY a little longer than I did - she caught a glimpse of Gerard Butler!

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I am already anxious to go back - although, my heart goes out to everyone in the city affected by Hurricane Sandy right now :( It's crazy to think I had taken these photos just more than one week before all the flooding...

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

All photos taken by me | Please contact for use

TEEN VOGUE FASHION UNIVERSITY 2012 | Part 10: Last Day of TVFU

The final day of TVFU 2012 was made up of a session with Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Krauss (authors of The Nanny Diaries), a Fashion in the Digital Age panel, and a graduation photo.

Bright and early, the day started off with hearing Emma and Nicola talk about their humble beginnings at NYU leading up to becoming bestselling authors and what it was like to see The Nanny Diaries come to life when it was made into a movie starring Scarlett Johansson in 2007. Their hilarious book was inspired by their own experiences as nannies; they shared some great stories about the people they encountered and the situations they got into - it sounds like such an interesting job!

They also gave us insight into their brand new book Over You - and we all got to take home a copy (book review coming soon!) that they signed as well. They are so nice and eager to help us follow our dreams. I do hope to publish a book someday!

Next up was our final session of the weekend: Fashion in the Digital Age - a panel discussion moderated by Simone Oliver from The New York Times, featuring Nadia Hussain (Polyvore), Danica Lo (StyleBistro), Treena Lombardo (ShopBop), Rebecca Minkoff (designer) and Huan Nguyen (LOOKBOOK.nu). They discussed the importance of social media and making that online presence as strong and effective as possible.

I personally am such a fan of Rebecca Minkoff so I was super excited to see her on the panel!

After the session we all headed down to get our certificates and graduation photos - Woohoo!

Overall, it was another amazing weekend in New York City - I couldn't have asked for more. I love being surrounded by such passionate and motivated people and can't wait to keep in touch and see what everyone ends up doing!

Also, here's a look at the swag bags we all received...

I definitely went home a happy camper.

I definitely recommend anyone hoping to get into the fashion industry to apply for next year - it's worth every penny!

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

TEEN VOGUE FASHION UNIVERSITY 2012 | Part 9: Topshop Shopping Soiree

The second shopping party for us Teen Vogue Fashion U attendees was at the Topshop store in Soho. There was a section of the store closed off just for us, with a candy bar, mocktails, and treats. We also received a 20% discount for the evening (I didn't go too crazy because I do happen to also work at the Topshop in Toronto...) and there were some different stations throughout the store for photos and makeovers. I always love the TVFU shopping soirees, they really know how to throw a party :)

 Yummyyyyy :)

This photo was taken by Topshop and tweeted out that night! With my friends Robert Hurse & Christina Dawes.

I met Robert at last year's TVFU so I was super happy to be reunited with him! 

Some of my purchases :) The BEST blazer btw.

Anyways, it was so fun to get to shop and mingle with my fellow TVFU-ers!

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

TEEN VOGUE FASHION UNIVERSITY 2012 | Part 8: Editors Panel

The last session of Saturday's events was Teen Vogue 101 with Amy Astley and the other Teen Vogue editors. This panel discussion was open for all of us TVFU attendees and everyone was eager to get insight on how to potentially land a dream internship (or job...) in the industry.

Gloria Baume, Elaine Welteroth, Jane Keltner de Valle, Sheena Smith and Andrew Bevan joined Amy Astley in opening the floor to questions from us inspiring fashion writers, stylists, designers, bloggers, etc.

Here are some tips from the pros:

"This is a good time in your life to explore those other opportunities that you won’t get a chance to do when you all of a sudden work in an office everyday" - Sheena Smith

"Take advantage of the fact that you are still a kid, that you have free time, and go and live your life. Be inspired by being a kid. You will one day graduate college and you will one day be in an office. There’s so much pressure on internships as if it’s your only chance to make things happen, and it’s not" - Andrew Bevan

Always give 110% at your internships - your bosses will notice if you are full of positivity or if you are just slacking off. "People always think when you are interning we aren’t paying attention to you, but we are always watching," says Gloria Baume. "The truth is, you need to just learn to never say no. Always try to do your job well, and think ahead."

Use internships and volunteering as opportunities to find out what you don't like. It's always a learning experience. Elaine Welteroth, the new beauty editor, interned in advertising and hated it. "It taught me everything I don’t want in my job," she says. "I was so thankful that I did it before I was out in the real world."

Ultimately, it was such a great experience to get advice straight from the editors themselves. Who knows, maybe I'll get to work for them someday....(kind of scary to think that every other person in that audience is thinking the exact same thing...)

Next up: Topshop soiree, the authors of The Nanny Diaries, Fashion in the Digital Age panel & more!

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28