Day 7 NYC: Harlem and Amy Ruth's

Hello Lovely Ones,

How are you all? I have been a bit slack with posting on my New York Summer Adventure because I have been busy with work and a little caught up with the Aussie Curves Challenge (see my Celebrity Copy Cat submission of Solange Knowles HERE) and weekend getaways with my lovely friends. 

But here I am again. Back to share some more of my most deliciously wonderful memories of my summer holiday in New York. This was day 7 and I made arrangements to meet up with my lovely blogger friend Daisy. I was so glad to meet up with her because everyone had such a busy schedule. Deja was flat out with school but it just so happened that the day we planned to wander around Harlem was the very day that her morning was free from classes. COOOOOOOOL!

So on our first visit to New York last year I had plans to go visit a few places to eat.

1.  Katz's Deli
2.  Grimaldi's Pizza
3.  Sylvia's Soul Food

Last year when we were wandering around Harlem we asked a few locals where Sylvia's was and if it was any good. The girl told me that Sylvia's was cool back in the day but everyone eats at Amy Ruth's now. 

So by this time it was getting late and we were all shopped out. Sadly we found the subway before Amy Ruth's so we made our way back to Manhattan before we found our soul food. 

This year however, we promised that we would find Amy Ruth's. It was even more sweeter that Daisy could meet us and have some brunch (aka chicken and waffles) before she started class for the day. It had been a whole long year since we last saw each other. Daisy was looking amazing since she made the pledge to be Fit Fab and Fierce and while we encourage each other weekly with exercise routines and praising healthy choices we promised that we would enjoy our soul food because I was on holiday and this was a special occasion for the both of us. Daisy was my first ever blogger friend and we had such an amazing time meeting her last year.....to catch up again was THE BEST! 

I love getting around with the locals especially this lovely lady. She possesses that old school class that is rare these days. Softly spoken and composed and she never seems to be bothered by anything.

"Are you gon' eat chor' coooornbread?" 

Chicken and Waffles. Hot Damn! So delicoious with maple syrup & tobasco sauce :)

Had to try Mac n Cheese with candied yams.

Smothered fried chicken with potato salad and grits.

We ate at 11. Breakfast was over and the lunch rush was starting to come in.

Seriously I was sooooooo excited to make it to Amy Ruth's. I swear I had this ridiculous chingy grin on from the moment the corn bread arrived on the table. For my sister and I, we grew up watching movies like Soul Food, Life & Friday; all with some sort of reference to food and we would drool over it and imagine how good it could really be. 

The verdict? Something so simple as fried chicken and waffles is just really yummy. It was crisp and hot and fresh and workers were friendly and the prices were reasonable too! 

After we finished our lunch, Daisy invited us to come and check out her campus at City College New York. Again all the teen memories of watching all the college frat parties and general college life came flooding back as we walked around feeling like little cool dudes as if we belonged ;)  

Honestly I guess you have to know my sister and I to not think of us as major losers (cause we kinda are). We will happily own that label because we have so much fun being genuinely impressed by silly things we watched in movies when we were younger.

What I wore: I was just extremely excited to being to going Harlem to eat some fried chicken. So amongst all the excitement I didn't get to take a proper outfit shot :(   But I can tell you what I wore.

Basic short tights for comfort, a beautiful fluro patterned top was found at Mickey and Mallory (a FABULOUS OPSHOP in the main street of Nowra) for only $3. It was too tight so I cut up the side hems so I could be comfortable when I wore it. I also wore my cute sunflower hair comb that I picked up for $3 at my new local RSPCA opshop in Mildura. Earrings from Vinnies for $2 and my sisters Converse boots that were $50.

I also got to meet one of Daisy's besties Ashleigh. 

 These ladies are all sorts of smart! Ashleigh is studying medicine while Daisy is studying law.

Girls I hope you are still dominating all your studies! I can't wait to come back and visit you guys again.

And of course the only photo that was in focus of Deja and I was the one where we were pulling funny faces.

Oh well no cool photos for the blog but loads of cool photos for my wall at home and my fridge. These are type of photos you take with your real friends.





Big Love,



Falala Mele xo

NYC day 2 wanderings

 What I wore:

Over sized sheer black blouse- Free at a Easter Church Clothes drive in St. Marys. They had piles of clothes and insisted we take all we wanted. I walked away with a lot of great stuff that day.

Shorts- Kmart tights cut to length $10

Chains- Thrifted $3

Glasses- Specsavers $99

Shoes- Converse $30

We walked around EVERYWHERE from Battery Park,   the old WTC area, Staten Island Ferry, and we walked all the WAY back to the hotel.

It was nice just being there. Remembering everything from last year and experiencing it with another friend and showing her the places we had already been.

It was HOT but we loved every ounce of the sunshine.
Hope all the US readers are still enjoying their summer <3

 Day 2

So we awoke early after arriving at 9:30pm into New York. We were met at the airport by a group of people asking where we needed to go and if we wanted a lift. Some big burly guy was like "Mami you want a taxi I got you a taxi right here" and this other big teddy bear looking guy jumps outta a big black shinny SUV or something (I'm useless when it comes to identifying cars) but I stepped back with attitude and I'm like "this is not a cab" and I looked at my sister for approval.....she is usually super quick to say "HELL NO" when she aint down with shit. The driver got a lil offended. The price that we were offered was reasonable (basically the same that everyone and online sources suggested) and in his thick Colombian accent he reckons "up to you if you wanna ride in that piece of shit or not, doesn't bother me what you do".

I sussed out a few things before I made the decision
1) He probably doesn't wanna kill me if he is getting offended because we are rejecting his big fancy car
2) If he did wanna kill me; could I take him out?

After weighing up the fact that he looked like an out-of-breath teddy bear and the fact that if I slammed my hand into his nose I could have blinded/hurt him enough to get away....we jumped in the car.




Don't cringe.




If you haven't already realised we made it home alive :) We found out that Diego is a Colombian born, late 30's American citizen who resides in Queens, takes care of his sick mother, drives a fancy black car around and is currently trying to lower his cholesterol by eating better. We chatted and swapped diet tips all the while Ruth was falling in love with New York and the city lights and Theresa was recording our conversations for evidence and trying to catch his reflection in the rear view mirror in case he tried anything funny.

Well our friendly driver asked our ages, names and suggested I take off my winter cardigan because it was hot (but by this time I didn't want to have to carry another thing so I left it on). After a few little jokes about how we could be his girlfriends and an offer to go to some island for the Fourth of July we were finally at our hotel off 53rd and Lexington. And so began our second summer love affair with New York.

We showered and wandered around. Got pizza and went to bed after buying a ridiculous amount of junk food from Walgreens. We slumbered for a few hours and awoke to all this (refer to pictures). Day 2 was spent wandering around; only this time in sunshine, earning blisters, chatting to a guy known as Antonio who looked like someone off New Jack City (and claimed to go to FIT) trying to get my sisters number for his friend, Lady Liberty, open top cruises and pretty flowers. See that's why I love NY. All this within a matter of hours.

Staten Island Ferry and Lady Liberty

Big Love,

Falala Mele xo

NYC now

I have been very very busy. There is so much to share and so many new wonderful friends to tell you all about. 4th July was HOT and we spent our time dancing and sweating front row of the 41st annual African Arts festival.  The amazing Gabby and her sister Candice and friends were all so welcoming and really so much jeffing fun to hang out with! We ate jerk chicken and greens, fruit punch and coconut cake. We have been a lot actually and I hope to share it all with you!

This is a super quick one to let you all know that I am alive and that NY has been super fabulous to us on our second visit.

Big Love,

Falala Mele

NYC; Queens

Vintage dress: $1 thrifted / Shoes: Converse

Our beautiful friend Rhiannon promised her boyfriend she would go all the way to Queens to pick up something special for her boyfriend from Sadowsky Guitars. We all went along to explore Queens and I was especially excited because one of my favourite movies of all time "COMING TO AMERICA" is based around that area.

We got a pint of ice-cream for $3 because we thought it wouldn't be full. LOL we couldn't finish it but atleast we will know better for next time. Queens was beautiful. We walked through the projects and they were quiet. We got lost and ask for directions and everyone was really nice. Any places to recommend this time around in Queens?


Big Love,


Falala Mele xo

ps. I can't believe I am back again a year later! Today it was SOOOO WARM out....but I'm not complaining because I'd rather be hot than cold...ha ha ha ha so long Australian winter!

New York; the old first day

I have been jabbering on about NYC like a crazy lady lately. The 3 following reasons are the cause:

1) In approximately 12 days I will be returning to this AMAZING place

2) One of my best friends are over there as we speak and I really wish we could have teed up our trips together because we should just scream at everything together! We have similar tastes/humour and we both get excited about food/travel/80's/90's fashion-music/both love thrifting (You should see the stuff she got me for my birthday!)

3) My blog feed is clogged up with all the beautiful ladies who are currently in NY for FFFW. I wish I was there!!!!

I will have to plan my timing better next time. But I'm definitely happy to be spending 4th of July over there. I already have an outfit ready for that day :)

Here's some pics of my sister, friends and I on our first day out in New York last year.

Photo credit/edit Emma Magenta

Nat geting a portrait and Rhiannon having an ice-cream in Battery Park

Mele & Emma Magenta

Waiting outside the small WTC memorial building (the new one was being built when we were visiting.

First slice of that NY pizza. It was so good. Thin crispy crust, not too much cheese and guy who served them was a charming New Yorker. Hollaaaaa ;)

 What I wore:

While packing for the summer in the US I didn't really know what to expect. I knew I wanted to be bright, comfortable and practical. Even though I love watching Sex in the City (yes I am cheesy) seeing Carrie glide effortlessly through the city, I knew that wasn't gonna be me. So I packed light sheer tops, skirts and tights for day wear.

This is one of my favourite tops. A cheap one from Best and Less (an Australian store) and I desperately wanted to find some yellow shorts. No luck with that search so I made this yellow skirt. It was the colour I wanted so I was happy.

I'm packing slowly here trying to fit in every possible outfit option. Here in Australia people in general are not really into fashion. Sure we have fashion hubs but in general people don't "get" the way I dress sometimes. And I'm not even that loud! So when I go to New York I really love to pull out all my 'cool shit' that I have been saving up. I'm one of those people who will save an item of clothing until it's ready for the right occasion/outfit. Yes I know I'm crazy.




Big Love,




Falala Mele xo

grand central park

so I know its in all the movies and television shows...but I had no idea how big grand central park is!!! Its freaking amazing......I managed to make my way down to the park twice but it still wasn't enough time to explore....I plan to leave two whole days next time to just wander around the park and watch New York pass me by. The first day we only had like an hour and a half free before we went inside the Met....we waited in line to see the Alexander McQueen show...Savage Beauty was worth the nearly 2 hour wait although I wish it wasn't so damn crowded and full of the type of people who say "oh his stuff looks like Lady Gaga" buuuuuut even though it kinda killed my life....I'm no pretend snob and I think its wonderful that his beautiful pieces can be appreciated or at least seen by people from all walks of life.

But yes, back to the park...it was sunny, filled with people and squirrels...(okay so it might be boring to you Americans but its so exciting for us Australians....I guess its how you guys would be if you saw a kangaroo) so we were feeding the squirrels nuts until we got told off by a crazy lady...she told us homeless people try to eat them and we shouldn't feed them..... but I also tried a hot dog.....I just had to....like I said before I'm a total tourist and I even acted out the scene in brown sugar when Taye Diggs munches down on one and says "shoot I love these bad boys".....its just one of the many scenes from new york that was imprinted in my mind before I had even arrived so it made it so much more fun to relive it all for real.... HA HA HA HA some would say lame.....but I don't care!

So even though I had wonderful ideas of looking beautiful everyday wearing my common sense and need for fashion to be comfortable and practical meant that I was yet again in my converse shoes....I had a lot of walking to do. I wore my vintage skirt that had been longer and too small around the waist but I just cut the waist and hemmed it lower and it fit nicely...YAY!!! The skirt was $2 and I love how it moves. I swear people do not know how to make clothes fit now....I also have a matching top but its too much to wear all together so I wore the top another night.....I found so many wonderful pieces at this remote outback opshop. Seriously the majority of my suitcase was made up of opshop finds that cost less then $20 all together! I paired it with my white loose top from Kmart because I wanted to feel pretty and girly...but cool and comfortable also.

baby it's you

I have been debating how I am going to share my pictures with you all....I was going to upload day by day OOTD shots but then I thought I would just start sharing because otherwise it might not happen at all. So this outfit was worn when I went to watch the Broadway show "Baby it's You" the untold story of The Shirelles. I didn't even know this show was running until I saw a big advertisement on the side of a bus and I just knew I had to see it because my sister and I are a big fan of The Shirelles.

When the show first started I thought "Oh no is this just going to be a tribute-like knock-off show"....but thankfully IT WAS AMAZING!!! We all cried......the lady who plays the manager of the girl group....she was such a standout....it was lovely to hear their songs in the context of her life...... Go and see it if you are there or if you love old school music like I do.

As for the outfit...I wanted to wear something cute and old school. So I thought it was time to pull out my pretty dress I pulled outta the free pile. Its a vintage dress that had long sleeves and a longer hemline. Without the alterations I felt a bit swallowed by the dress but after I shorted the hemline and sleeves.....I just fell in love wit it. I just kept everything simple and understated with just a lick of red polish and red lips to bring it all together.

After the show my friends and I wondered around Times Square......it was so crowded and I thought about how eerie the place would be with all the lights flashing with no one around....so if you have been there...imagine what it would be like if you were the only person there.....weird aye.....

but yeah here's my free pile dress.....I love it....what do you think?

Meet my lovely friend Rhiannon. She's on lookbook if you're interested in following her.

Big Love,

Falala Mele xo