Napa Day-Trip Summer 2011

So yesterday I went to Napa which for me is about roughly around an hour away from where I live and 30-40 from San Francisco. I've been there only once before but it was back in October right during the peak of the harvest season. With all the tree leaves warm shades of brown and orange.

Well... this time around everything was green and hot! It got as high as 92 degrees and for Napa/Bay Area that's pretty rare. I would say we're used to the summer to be around 85 at the most.

Although I can't "legally" drink yet I still enjoyed myself going to the farmers market downtown and all the gardens through out the different wineries.

xo, chiquita banana

Dress: Forever 21

La Pena Show

 So last weekend my mom had an art show at La Pena in Berkeley, CA. It was filled with latino folk artist from LA , Texas and the Bay Area. Around 150 people ended up showing up at the venue which was great! More of an intimate affair which was nice. My family also tagged along to show support.

You can check out my mom's art at: www.sandiafria.com

 (mom & dad)

 (Left to right: my lil sis and cousin)

 (my grandma, auntie and dad)

 (my mom's art work)

(me and my boyfriend)

My new sparkly shoes, which I am absolutely in love with!

xo, chiquita banana

Great Gatsby Meets Breakfast at Tiffany's

I just made this Moodboard on www.BHLD.com you guys should definitely check it out. BHLD for those of you who don't know is a brand new branch from Anthropologie/Urban Outfitters/ Free People. They target everything wedding! From decorations, shoes, dresses and invitations it's all there. You can mix and match with tons of products on their site as well as their inspiration photos and you can also upload your own. Great tool to use for those of you newly engaged! Prices vary but overall I would say pretty reasonable considering it's wedding attire and what not. Very vintage feel to it and honestly I know I will be using this site when I get married one day. I want a Great Gatsby themed wedding and this site has everything that inspires me. Love it!!

xo, chiquita banana

Anthro: Cork & Wine Bottle Windows

THIS DISPLAY TOOK FOREVER!
But it was so rewarding to just sit back and see it finally all done. We used cork to create the spheres then added plants to liven it up a tad. Then the orange dots are paint that we simply just used a circle brush to apply. We also incorporated a little macrame to the bottles which actually wasn't as easy as it looks. But I guess now I can say I know how to do it. Right?

xo, chiquita banana

Anthro: Amethyst Cork Display

One of my favorite displays i've worked on would be the amethyst cork cash-wrap. We used a mix of regular cork and cork with wine stains. They all had this gorgeous purple mauve affect. Then we covered a few of them with sugar and this homemade amethyst science kit paint. The end result was this huge concave of plants and cork! 

Let me know your thoughts! 

xo, chiquita banana

Why Chiquita Banana?

For those of you wondering how I got the name "The Chiquita Banana" well it's quite simple really...

See when I was little I used to always wear really frilly girly dresses the more ruffles or baby roses the better! And I would do this little dance where I would shake my hips side to side and  then not to mention one of my favorite snacks we're bananas! I loved them don't ask me why but I used to literally eat at least two per day. So the name just sort of clicked. Even now those closest to me in my family still call me either "chiquita" or "chiquita banana".

It also was the specific type of bananas I would eat. Growing up being puerto rican, salvadorian and a little mexican bananas we're a staple snack I guess you can say. We would and still do eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner as "platanos fritos" with some refried beans. :)

(Little me back in the day with my brother; I know chubby cheeks!)

That's my story of how I got my name & here's the original commercial from the 40s.

Enjoy!
xoxo, chiquita banana

Hola!

Hola!
So I have finally decided to start my own blog well aside from Tumblr that is. I truly love to write and miss it quite a lot. Im a fashion merchandising major I just finished my freshman year at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California. I really wanted to spend some time to really capture the rest of my adventures in art school and living in the city for that matter.
I also just finished my 6 month internship at Anthropologie as a visual merchandising intern. I helped install all the store displays which was so much fun! Hopefully this fall I can go back as part of the stores selling team...but we'll get to that later. So for now im on the hunt for a summer job. But we'll see how it goes, wish me luck!

xo, chiquita banana
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