Cheap Thrills: Room Edition

As a student on a budget, I dream of living in a fabulous apartment one day. In the meantime, I have to make-do with things that I have for a small dorm room. Here are some ways I've tried to spruce up my room with some personality:

1.) Large poster of Hong Kong gifted. Shirohige picture from poster fair. Poster of woman bought at Chelsea flea market ($2!).

2.) Postcards, reminders, pictures from travels and cards from restaurants.

3.) Gifted Hello kitty humidifier. Cute and practical :)

4.)The maps of Asia were torn out of an atlas book of maps. Purple lamp from Target.

5.) Art work,pictures posters. The two paintings were gifts from my Grandma, who painted them herself. Framed picture of Hong Kong bought in Stanley Market, Hong Kong. Pictures were taken on my digital camera and printed at Kodak shops.

Rainy Days

Pants: anthropologie (50% off for $50), top: gifted from zara, necklace from Shanghai, rain boots from Century 21.

Is it spring right now? The weather has been crazy the past two weeks! From snow, to sun, to rain, it is becoming such a challenge to decide how to dress everyday. These pictures are taken on a day that it rained/snowed and then became sunny later. Sigh. I just want it to get warmer soon.

Chat 'n Chew + Max Brenner

On Wednesday, my lovely friend Ahilya came to visit me in the city. I decided to show her some urban hospitality since she has come all the way from L.A. We hung around Union Square, first stopping at the quirky Chat 'n Chew on 16th street. I had a bowl of chicken vegetable soup that tasted like my Jewish Grandma's chicken-noodle soup but it was nothing outrageous. My friend ordered a nice Asian salad with chicken, also good, but nothing special. The prices were more than I would like to pay for lunch but they give you big portions. The sweet potato fries we ordered were probably the most interesting since they tasted like your usual s.p. fry but crispier, lighter, and not as greasy as most s.p. fries. Delicious!

After spending about 5 hours in Forever 21-just kidding, it was about 2-we went to Max Brenner's chocolate cafe on 13th and Broadway. (By the way, F21 has some lovely designs for spring right now.)

I was initially skeptical about ordering dinner from a dessert restaurant, but their menu looked promising and we were already there, so why not? To my surprise, the food was really good! I ordered a Sliced and Diced Dream steak panini- thin slices of beef steak with crispy asiago cheese, tomatoes, caramelized onions, and baby spinach. The bread was a bit too thick, but everything was yummy. After stuffing ourselves with panini and pizza, we took a 10 minute intermission before ordering dessert. After much deliberation, we decided on getting the churros with two chocolate sauces and a raspberry sauce. Our waiter was nice enough to give us some slided strawberries on the side. Holy smokes was the chocolate sauce delicious... I felt like I was drinking Belgian milk chocolate but WAIT I was dipping a sugary, doughy stick of churros into it and then adding a raspberry flavor as well.

J. Crew Top

I purchased this top the other day from J. Crew and I am really happy I bought it. My boyfriend has been telling me to dress more girly. What can I say, I love my 6.0 Nike's and cardigans. But in an effort to buy something cuter, I bought this little tee shirt in navy blue which has delicate crocheted (sp?) stripes. I'm not used to showing that much skin (I know I'm ridiculous), but hell, it's going to be spring soon and it was almost 50% off.

Sweater for Mama

I went to J. Crew and bought a sweater very similar to this for my mom since my Grandma is visiting the family in Shanghai right now. The sweater was worth a lot more than $35, I think it was $70 and the merino wool felt super soft. I'm happy to report that my mom likes it because it is very warm and wore it yesterday!

Free People

The other day my friend Shamira and I went to the Free People store near Union Square. To my delight, they were having SALES. I happily purchased a sequined vest (I will try to post pictures later) that was $70 but on sale for $30. Yay! Sequins have been so in over the past couple of seasons and I think my new vest will really dress up a plain black tank. Who doesn't need a little sparkle in their life? Shamira bought a lovely sweater with a beautiful lace crocheted back that was also about half off.

Century 21

I will praise the department store Century 21 yet again after visiting the store with friends Crystal and Liv yesterday. I found a sexy black Vivienne Tam mini skirt worth $78 for a fraction of this price at $30! Along with the skirt, I also bought a silky summer dress with a bird pattern by Anlo originally worth $264 for $50! SUCCESS!

Free Underwear? Yes, Please!

Every girl should sign up for PINK nation or become part of the Victoria's Secret mailing list. Pink Nation members get discounts on different things every month, but the BEST deal is when they give out free panties every so often. The annoying emails are worth it just for freebies with no purchase required.