The Lo Down: 2/11/25

Abracadabra, my floral obsession, and the one Fashion Week event that I actually get excited about...

Feb 11, 2025

I can’t stop thinking about (and singing) Abracadabra. It reminds me of the summer of 2011, when I first moved to NYC—right as Lady Gaga’s Born This Way came out. That album was the soundtrack to my first few months in the city, blasting through my headphones as I navigated a brand-new world.

I spent that summer interning for a fashion designer in the West Village (who was scary and will remain nameless) while living in the NYU dorms before I started at FIT. Every day, I walked from my East Village dorm to the showroom—partly because I loved the city streets, partly because I hadn’t figured out the subway yet. Born This Way played on repeat, fueling my excitement and making the city feel like mine.

And now, 14 years later, that same electric energy is in the air again. Launching this newsletter feels like stepping into another exciting new beginning—one filled with possibility, creativity, and the kind of magic that makes life exciting. Just like Born This Way defined my first NYC summer, Mayhem is about to be the soundtrack to this one, carrying me through spring and summer with that same pulse of adventure.

I’m thrilled for this journey, where I’ll be ranting and raving about all the things on my mind—culture, TV, movies, fashion, food, travel, fitness, and my latest obsessions. Think of this as a little corner of the internet where I get to spill my thoughts on everything I love, and hopefully, you’ll love it too.

Current Obsession

Never have I ever stopped for somebody standing on a street corner with a clip board. But one late summer day, I was walking around the village with a friend, and a cute British man with a bike and a basket overflowing with flowers caught our attention. We stopped to hear him out, and he convinced me to sign up for his weekly flower subscription service, Botanical Brothers (admittedly, I thought I was being scammed at first). I had been thinking about taking up flower arranging but didn’t know where to start, so it felt like a sign and an easy way to begin learning. I now receive a box of unique beautiful fresh stems once a week, complete with an informative guide to each flower, and I trim and arrange them myself.

You can get 50% off on your first order (that’s $25 for a stunning gorgeous bouquet of flowers! Unheard of in NYC!!) using my referral code. I proudly take a picture of my arrangement each week, and the one from this week is one of my favorites:

Fashion

When we wrote our business plan for Maison Rogue in 2017, one of our target brands was Sandy Liang. It took 4 years of emailing them before they agreed to let us carry the brand, finally launching in SS21, and sure enough, it’s been our top selling brand ever since. I generally find fashion shows unenjoyable and chaotic, but I always look forward to the Sandy show every season (I don’t like to play favorites, but it is personally my favorite brand that we carry). The location was one of the most interesting I’ve been to for a fashion show - surrounding the Isamu Noguchi Sunken Garden in FiDi, making for a relaxing, serene atmosphere. The collection reminded me of being a little girl and playing dress up with my dolls. My favorite pieces were the ones layered with mini versions of itself - an apple green satin mini skirt, a pink striped sweater, and a luxe brown satin dress that could be easily mistaken Prada if not for the playful accents.

I wore my Sandy Liang Maru Jacket, which has the cutest heart shaped buttons.

I’m on a quest to find new jeans because I all of a sudden hate every single pair that I own, and I found some inspo in an unlikely place this weekend (as I’m sure you did too) - Kendrick Lamar’s jeans that he wore during his Super Bowl performance. Shoutout to upnextdesigner for identifying them as these Celine jeans (unfortunately sold out online, potentially available in stores)! I guess the search continues on.

For more of what’s in my closet, what I’m currently obsessing over, shopping guides & more, check out my ShopMy. Looking for some personal style advice? Whether it’s for curating a flawless vacation wardrobe, hunting down the perfect shoes, or finding the best basics for your closet, I’m here to help—just reach out!

Food

Not technically food, but I stopped by Sloane’s this week to catch up with some girlfriends over cocktails. It’s funny sometimes to feel like you are growing up alongside places in the city (Sloane’s resides in the former Butterfly Soho space - iykyk). Sloane’s feels more mature and classy, with a gilded bar, waterfall chandelier, and luxe accents of green and red. The service wasn’t the best, but the cocktails were good and the company even better. Sloane’s is a great and aesthetically pleasing (see pics below) spot for a date or for drinks with the girls, and I’ll be adding it to my rotation.

You don’t want to hear about food this week because my only dinner out was to Benihana, which isn’t noteworthy enough to recount to you and hasn’t been updated since it opened in 1964 (they didn’t even flip the shrimp into anyone’s mouth! Ugh!) Worth noting from this night, though, is where we went for karaoke post-hibachi: Ms. Kim's in NoMad (order the blue shots at your own risk)!

Movies/TV

Something you may not know about me is that I absolutely love going to the movies by myself. So I took myself to an IMAX matinee of Companion last week, complete with a large Diet Coke (because it’s only 50¢ more than a medium, duh). I don’t want to give anything away because I do think it’s best to go in without even watching the trailer so as to not spoil anything, but just know that I thoroughly enjoyed it and think Sophie Thatcher is our next young rising star. The movie was clever, fun, shocking, and a cautionary tale about mentally underdeveloped men + technology. I saw an interview where the movies director, Drew Hancock, said that Sophie can cry a single tear on command and can control which eye it comes out of. That’s talent!

On My Radar

The Twenty Two, the latest hotel/members club from London, and its restaurant, Café Zaffri

Monsieur, the new sexy medieval cocktail bar designed by Baz Luhrmann

Manjul Coffee, the aesthetically pleasing cafe-boutique-hybrid that keeps popping up in my feed

Loser’s weekly Monday night pop-up dinners at Jean’s

Until next week -