Wanderlust Bali – This spot has super cute swim and all the things you forgot you were going to need for your trip (lightweight linen dresses are a must in that heat!). There’s also a ton of cool jewelry from local designers. Pretty affordable, too!
The People Vs. – Great vintage and surf-inspired streetwear. Bali is actually v fashion forward, so if you want to slay your club look, this is a great place to go.
Escalier – Very high-end boutique that specializes in quirky, unique designers you’ve probably never heard of. It reminded me a lot of Opening Ceremony. Even if you can’t afford the price tag, it’s definitely worth perusing for inspiration.
Alex is wearing the Hot as Hell Hi-Kini
Sundays Beach Club – To get here you have to go through this resort that has an AMAZING view from the top, and then take a tram down through the valley. It’s a little bit of a trek, but so worth it. The club has an awesome infinity pool, and the water is this insane blue-turquoise color. This is def by far the best place to watch the sunset!
Tusu – SUCH delicious cocktails and a really fun place to dance. (Really good combo if you think about it…)
Potato Head — This spot is great for day and night hang outs. It’s huge and right on the beach, so you can cutie-watch! The restaurant is also amazing—go here for super authentic Indonesian food.
It’s like 100 degrees in Bali. Ice cream is a way of life.
La Finca – I thought I’d died and gone to Spanish tapa heaven. It’s great for sharing, the sangria is delicious, and the ambiance is super chill.
The Slow – The neighborhood this spot is in is a LOT like Venice/Abbot Kinney. The food here is healthy and great for sharing, plus the decor is super cute. (Side note: sharing is perf when it’s hot and humid and you don’t want to get too full on a big entree.)
Shady Shack – If you’re on a health kick, this is definitely the place to go. It’s all vegan and vegetarian, and SO yummy. Highly recommend the Jackstack Burger.
Yang Tao Villa
Yang Tao Villa in Seminyak – Def recommend a private villa, especially if you’re going with a group. Waking up to jump in your own private pool for an early morning swim before starting your day was incredible! We also had a housekeeper come and make us amazing authentic Indonesian food and fresh juice every day!
Luna 2 – Staying at this place is like being transported back to the 1960s. It’s a pretty small-ish, quirky hotel—everything is pop art themed! Even all the employees wear these darling little mod outfits. Super cute!
TS Suites – This place has more of a resort vibe. If you’re looking for guided activities, this is def the spot–they have yoga, scuba lessons, a workout facility. Most importantly though, they have all-day breakfast. Mmmm bacon…
From BHAVA by Francisca Pineda (PSA: shoes designer with the most awesome SHOES!!)
You may have heard of this story, or this musician, or this concert but in case you haven’t I think you’ll find it to be a fascinating account of the creative process and how one of the most influential and beloved albums in music history might not have happened.
The musician is Keith Jarret, and the event was the infamous 'Köln Concert’. Keith hadn’t slept in 24 hours and arrived at the concert exhausted. His mood wasn't helped by the fact that there had been a mistake with the piano. It was too small for the vast hall, some keys were stuck, and other keys were out of tune. Jarrett walked out, he was not going to perform on a piano with a tinny toy-like sound. The concert organizer, a mere 17 year old teenager, Vera had convinced the concert hall to allow this late night performance and had sold out all 1,400 seats. Vera was not going to take take no for an answer. She walked out to his car and convinced him to play. Vera’s plea along with taking a peek at the engineers sitting, with their equipment helped to change his mind.
Keith started thinking, "I'm going to do this”. “It just seemed like everybody in the audience was there for a tremendous experience, and that made my job easy. What happened with this piano was that I was forced to play in what was — at the time — a new way. Somehow I felt I had to bring out whatever qualities this instrument had.” recalled Keith. A sleep deprived Jarrett avoided the problematic notes, and pounded the keys with the energy necessary to fill the vast concert house. An improvised performance with no rehearsal, no sheet music, no sleep and a poor piano at an 11:30 pm concert sounds like a recipe for disaster. 45 years later, the the recording of 'The Köln Concert’ is still the best-selling solo album in jazz history, and the all-time best-selling piano album, with sales of more than 3.5 million. The album is one of those rare pieces of music that is not only beauty, art and truth, but a window into a pure and spontaneous moment of creation. How many unfulfilled moments of creation have we let slip through our fingers?
I share this story because it is one I come back to often during those moments when everything seems destined for failure, or when I just simply feel too tired to persevere. Next time your inner voice discourages you from creation, remember Keith’s initial resistance. Lack of sleep, lack of the proper tools or even just plain lack of inspiration, take your pick. It's okay if your first instinct is to quit when times get tough, it is even natural. All I ask is that you consider giving yourself a second chance. Rethink your circumstances. Perhaps the very challenge that you perceived as a red stop sign, was in fact the key to unlock a gift of unimagined potential to the world.
]]>It was summertime and Jonny chose the Manhattan-bound F train as the proper location to tell me that he “wasn’t feeling it anymore.” Our respective plus ones, whom we forced together to create a makeshift double date for a comedy show in Park Slope, sat across from us and politely pretended they found the opposite end of the train fascinating. To say I was thrown for a loop would be an understatement. Just the week before, we sat 25 floors above Madison Square Park, Jonny in his black Lululemon tee and me in my vintage Levi’s shorts, fingers interlaced as we made the mutual decision to give this a shot for real. The commitmentfloated sweetly in the air between us.
I begged him on the F train to tell me what I had done wrong. And then, in the cab to my StuyTown apartment. All Jonny did was shrug his shoulders and hum to a song playing on Z100. I spent the rest of the evening choking on Cheerios and Lactaid milk as my best friend wiped saltwater from my cheeks.
The first time I opened my laptop in front of Jonny, my background was a stock image of a grapefruit on the edge of an infinity pool. “You should come to my pool this summer,” he said. “I’ll get you as many grapefruits as you want and you can sit outside all afternoon.” I smiled uncomfortably at the way he dangled my very own ideal in front of me.
I didn’t love Jonny, but I thought I might be able to.
It’s hard not to take being dumped personally. After spending a significant amount of time getting to know someone — holding their hand discreetly in dark cabs, squeezing into frames of inebriated selfies, pillow talking about the horrors of being severely lactose intolerant — your multidimensional relationship is edited down to a simple list of pros and cons. Risk factors, potential growth, cost-benefit, overall net worth of you as a person. You as their person.
I guess my cons outweighed my pros. I just couldn’t figure out the math that got him there.
In the days following the breakup, I remained numb until the moment I crawled into bed, at which point my mind would race. I’d press repeat again and again on random cringe-worthy things he said. A particular one that comes to mind: “I think the pool at my family’s summer home is the largest one in the area.” When I’d catch myself going out of my way to pass 24th and Madison Avenue, I’d press play: “I think the pool at my family’s summer home is the largest one in the area,” and walk the other way.
I eventually reached out to, “clear the air”/“flesh things out”/“get closure”/“see how he was doing.” I forget which exact cliché I walked right into. On the afternoon we planned to meet, I crossed and uncrossed my legs, too nervous to look anywhere but at my Nikes as I waited in the courtyard of his apartment building.
“Whatsup?” Jonny asked. He was walking towards me but was still too far away to hear a response, so I said nothing. He reached the chair next to me and sat down. He had a mustard stain on his shirt and a pimple, shimmering with oil and just beginning to break the surface of skin above his upper lip.
I asked him point-blank what it was that broke the camel’s back. One day, it had struck me that all the sleepless nights and hopeless wondering didn’t have to be a dead end. Maybe, just maybe, all of it could be avoided by just asking him straight-out. Why?
He told me I was inconsistent. The word stung until I realized we were working with different definitions. He recalled specific occurrences where he felt like he was on an “emotional rollercoaster.” Like when I told him I wasn’t a smoker and then took a drag of a friend’s cigarette at a concert. When I broke up with him months before and then told him I wanted to try again. When I told him it was “that time of the month” but really only wanted to take things slower.
I smirked. Jonny’s forehead was greasy with sweat. “I feel like you’re always in the driver’s seat and I don’t like it,” he confessed. By revealing what was “wrong and un-date-able” about me, he revealed much more about his own character than mine. I laughed and reminded him that I didn’t even have a driver’s license. He looked at me, perplexed. A reaction I was used to as my sarcasm almost always breezed above his dark head of hair.
I’ll never not ask again.
Illustrations by Maria Jia Ling Pitt.
With everything going on in the world, we need to strengthen our local communities and be self sufficient NOW more than ever. Research shows that over 90 percent of small-business owners contribute each year to their communities through volunteering, in-kind contributions, and/or direct cash donations. That means your purchase of a good or service at a small business is a great way to “pay it forward.”
I’ve compiled a list of some (emphasis on SOME – it would have been impossible to name them ALL) of my favorite small businesses and emerging brands I’d love for you to support today and every day with a focus on beauty and fashion. P.S.: In Her Shoes has been committed to shining light on small businesses + emerging brands since its inception in 2009, so if you don’t find what you’re looking for within this list, feel free to browse the site. I know you’ll find exactly what you need.
10. Ginger + Liz
11. Melody Ehsani
12. Martine’s Dream
14. Lorraine West (aka Tasha West)
16. Sincerely Tommy
17. Sir & Madame
18. Suakoko Betty
19. Beriqisu
20. Shirley + Alice
21. EU2Be
22. Ashaka Givens
23. The Silly Simone
24. Elma Blint
25. Taylor & York Salon
25. Shayla Cox
InHerShoesBlog Founder Renae wearing BERIQISU top & skirt set
Rocking BERIQISU in the city this past spring. Can't wait to get into their new fall collection! #flyfemaleentrepreneurs #tbt
]]>Model pictured in main image is wearing a Dreams of Fash jumper.
Today’s guest post comes from my sis-Star, accountability partner, friend, and 1/5 of the Frugal Fab 5, Mrs. Kara Stevens, founder of the Frugal Feminista. She started her journey by paying off 40k of student loan debt in 2 years! She’s easily on of my favorite people and one of the most financially savvy women I know.
By ZOE ZEIGLER | CURLZ AND THE CITY
To say it was love at first site when I saw this skirt is an understatement. The prints, the colors, the pleats, the fit — it’s pure perfection! NYC-based designer and BERIQUS
I founder Belkis Whyte proves that she really knows how to tailor her designs to the everyday woman, making eye-catching statement pieces that suit everyone from Beyonce (yea, she’s worn her pieces too!) to a regular curly girl in the city.
As long as I was out, I figured I might as well head downtown and pick up a shirt to match. I selected an off-white, cropped lace number on the sale rack at Urban Outfitters for only 10 bucks (what can I say…I love a good sale)!
The pieces are an unlikely match, but somehow they come together flawlessly. And, best yet, they can effortlessly transition from a day at the office to a date or evening out with friends.
skirt: BERIQISU // top: Urban Outfitters // bag: Coach // shoes: Forever 21
]]>PLUS TIPS IF YOU WANT IN ON THIS FREEDOM
Around a month ago, I found myself in a meeting room at the offices of a popular British gossip magazine. While I pretended to be interested in the news writer job I was being interviewed for, my mind could only focus on one thing. On my right shoulder, I could feel a poly-cotton-blend strap loosen its grip, slowly making its way down my arm. I didn’t know what to do. Should I let my boob pop out and pretend this isn’t happening? Or, should I hoist that strap up and take it on the chin? I decided to do the latter. That goddamn strap wasn’t going to defeat me.
I didn’t get the job and it was the first time I’d worn a bra in a while. Curse my 38Fs. I didn’t want that job anyway.
Over the past year or so, I’ve worn a bra maybe five times, and that’s only because I was visiting my mom. She caught wind of my boobs flopping around and gave me that look all brown mothers use to guilt their adult children into doing their bidding.
If there’s one thing all boob-havers know, it’s that fashion demands we prioritize style over comfort. (Though, in the spirit of everything the Man Repelling woman stands for, I say to hell with it.) Fed up with having to deal with underwires sticking into me, fabric chafing against me and the extra step in my morning routine, I decided to abstain from wearing a bra. I know, it was an incredibly brave decision on my part.
Going braless is freeing in so many different ways. You learn to appreciate and notice the natural shape of your boobs, rather than the exaggerated, round, padded version you normally see underneath your clothes. It’s a lot less painful; no more itching, sweating or straps falling down. Going braless adds more fun to the whole underwear-buying process. Reserving bras for formal and professional occasions means that I have accumulated somewhat of a power underwear collection. When I do subject myself to that torture device, I feel like a godly bitch.
Not wearing a bra has also saved me in more than one instance. Flying as a brown woman is always a fun and exciting experience; I never know where security agents are going to inappropriately fondle me. During one routine “random check,” an agent used a handheld metal scanner which supposedly found my bra’s underwire and clasp to read “unusually high.” (I yelled, “it’s just my bra!” and was ignored.) I decided to go commando on top for the return journey, was randomly searched again (what are the odds?!) and was ordered to stand in a machine, but this time I wasn’t patted down, which is a triumph for any Afghan person. Ditching bras will make you less of a perceived security threat, people.
Ready to take the plunge and dedicate yourself to a braless existence? It isn’t an easy transition and your mom will almost certainly make snide comments about it, but with a little help you, too, can eradicate the most irritating article of clothing from your life. You might think it’s as easy as simply removing your bra, but it’s so much more than that, my protégé.
1. Thick fabrics are your best friend. Invest in neoprene and other heavy materials for tops. As an added bonus, these materials usually don’t require any ironing.
2. Not into boob flop? Order a load of specialized tape from Amazon a la this tutorial. If you end up ditching the braless lifestyle, you’ll have tape to use for other things normal people do with it.
3. Powder your nose and your under-boob. I use a dusting powder from Lush that smells divine (I don’t fancy smelling like a baby) and contains tons of glitter because I prefer my chest region to sparkle like a disco ball.
Illustrations by Maria Jia Ling Pitt.