The one fashion designer’s atelier that I’ve always wanted to visit is Colleen Quen’s in San Francisco. My dream could even become reality, since it’s right in my vicinity – maybe I’ll send her an email and cross my fingers.

From her swirling Georgia O’Keeffe gown to her impressionistic and architecturally genius couture dresses, Colleen Quen’s designs are every art history lover’s sartorial fantasy.  She is a real-life couturier who studied French couture – needless to say, she’s honest and organic.

Read the rest of the post »

Although my days of gorging on calorie-laden dorm foods are in the past, I have yet to lose my “Freshman 15,” which has resiliently remained with me throughout college.  Even worse, when I was actually able to afford a gym membership, I decided not to bother.  Now that I really need to work out, I’m conveniently unemployed and can’t afford to go to the gym, let alone pay for a non-happy hour priced drink.  Nevertheless, my determination to get in shape has pushed me to explore workout options outside of the gym, especially if they are outside and eco-friendly, as it doesn’t waste immense amounts of energy like electrically powered cardio machines in the gym.  Here are some money-saving, green workouts to get the body you want.

I’m in love with kitchenware.  Ask my roommates, and they’ll tell you that I buy too many gadgets for our kitchen to hold – and our kitchen is huge.

During my recent attempt to clear out space for my new ice cream maker, I was reminded of “The gadget graveyard,” an article by Tim Hayward of The Guardian, describing common kitchen gadgets and appliances that are bought but rarely used, if ever.

As I purged through my kitchen, I came across certain items that clearly fit the categories Tim describes in his article.  Here is my list of kitchenware that seemed more decorative than useful.

Silly question. We all know America’s Best Dance Crews’ Quest Crew, Kaba Modern and others blew the lid off that assumption ages ago. But lest we forget, Fox’s fifth season of So You Think You Can Dance? features three uber-talented Asian American dancers vying for the top spot.

KARLA GARCIA

In one corner we have Filipino-American Karla Garcia from Brooklyn, NY. 23-year-old Garcia is a graduate of New York University where she studied dance at Tisch School of the Arts. She has also performed on Broadway in “Hot Feet” and went on to tour with “Wicked.” And as if she weren’t accomplished enough, the Maryland native is also a member of hip-hop dance group Boogie Bots.