Fashion, Food, and No Animals Were Harmed

I kicked off New York FashionWEEK last night at Moo Shoes, who hosted a great event with great vegan food and fashion. By 7pm the boutique was packed, it felt like a Christmas party with good cheer! Sorry to be chiche but everyone was so nice and no one was elitest in the slightest. Everyone was just excited to be meeting new people, sharing work, and supporting the designers.

 I met the designer and brains behind Love Is Mighty. Every ballet flat and heel is made by hand in India from waste materials like candy wrappers. The workers are paid fair wages and the materials are sourced form a school program in which the children bring them to school, as a sort of educational experience. of course all workers are paid fair wages. The designers hopes are to preserve the tribes' crafts before the people are all sourced for jobs, like construction which is a more stable income in their modern economy.

After my sample of raw thai from Rawlicious I had to the mini raw cupcakes from Sherry's Short Cakes which were so yummy and pretty. I mean who doesn't like gold flakes in their chocolate! Their was also bits of Rescue Chocolate from Brooklyn, one of the vendors on forAnima !! I love Resue Chocolate! The founder and dog lover, is adorable and a portion of the profits go to various foundations.

I also met the designer, Joshua behind Brave GentleMan. He had his loafers, boots, bowties and ties for men on display. All men's shoes are men under fair wages in the European Union. They were so handsome. I wished that I had a brother or boyfriend to buy them for! But alas, I could "pet" them in awe and when you see then shoes up close, you will want to as well. I hope that one day forAnima can work closer with Brave GentleMan and Novocas.

Waltz.Astoria

I have to share my new cafe/workplace.

 I needed someplace to work other than my balcony in Ditmars Stienway and since I really don't like commuting to Manhattan for work ("only when I have to" is my moto these days), I really needed to find a place to work. I wasn't holding my breath for the type of organic, fair-trade, quiet, coffee shop (that has gluten free or vegan options for my tummy) that I normally check in to. Really anything was fine. But, I was beginning to think that these types of places didn't exist here in Queens. Astoria doesn't have a Brooklyn or Astor Place demographic so any cafe around here is usually a standing/foam cup of coffee/Greek/loto/convenience store, where the donuts... are kept in a warmer... and if its not that, then cafe most likely stands for Greek diner. 

But I found one! 

And not that I found one that I liked among many cafes. I mean, I only found one cafe type of coffee shop that I was hoping for. 

It's called Waltz.Astoria and run by the cutest mother-daughter duo. The walls are covered with decorations (just about every holiday is represented), antiques, books, and nicknacks. No the food is not guaranteed organic and there is usually only one type of muffin for the day and two types of cookies. There is, however, a menu with one or two vegetarian options! But they are small and don't get crowed that a college town coffee shop would, so I think they do alright with the 6 or 7 regulars that work there and the others that stop in for their coffe. 

 The first day I went in, I decided to get coffee out of sleep depravation. I don't normally have caffeine and don't crave coffee but once in a blue moon I will have some. Out of curiosity I ordered the Greek Iced Coffee. It was unbelievable. No words to describe it. I asked how it was made but couldn't understand the grandmother. 

Smile and nod. 

The next day I reverted back to tea and ordered the Greek Iced Tea. Even more impressive! AND it had foam!! I don't know how it's made either but everyday when I come to work here I order the same thing because it's just that yummy.

http://www.waltz-astoria.com/
23-14 Ditmars Boulevard  Astoria, NY 11105
(718) 956-8742