Fashion Show in Santana Row

If you think Silicon Valley is a place for “geeks” who only wear jeans and t-shirts, not any more! Last weekend, the Annual Fall Fashion Show in Santana Row flashed the runway with the season’s latest style and high fashion – right on the street of Santana Row in a lush garden park setting.

With world beat music and impressive chic models, the fashion show featured the world’s top brands, from leading British designer label Ted Baker, to cross-cultural fashions of Anthropologie, to world-wide renowned fine leather Furla purses and high-end luxury shoes designed by orthopedic surgeon Taryn Rose – all are picked from the neighborhood’s retailers.

The elegant black and white outfits are still the high point of this year’s fashion. Additionally, the combination of vibrant brown and blue color has become my newest fancy for the Fall.

After the fashion show, I cruised into the designers’ shops featured in the show. Among them, I found Anne Fontaine a timeless class. A French designer drawing her creativity from her Brazilian roots, Anne Fontaine’s collection captures the purity and simplicity of white with a touch of feminine and elegance. In her boutique, “each shirt has a story and a meaning, and with each new creation, a new woman emerges.”

Another fun boutique is Pink Stripes – a unique retail concept combining clothes and sweets. Here, you can shop while sampling truffles, chocolates and other sweet treats. It even has a live model in the window! The shop carries the lesser-known lines from Nanette Lepore, Tracy Reese, Rachel Pally, etc. The price is quite affordable ranging from $50 - $150. The place is hip, hot and entertaining!

The Fall Fashion Weekend, highlighting six fashion shows over Saturday and Sunday, is one of Santana Row’s signature events. A must-visit place in Silicon Valley, Santana Row represents a high quality lifestyle that “blends a distinctive mix of living, shopping and dining experiences.”

Please also see my previous post about Santana Row.

Photo source: http://www.dailycandy.com

lifestyle, fashion, style, Santana Row, beauty, shopping, trendy

The Moon Is Reaching for Me

A landmark attraction in Palo Alto, the Stanford Theater is a cinema treasure by all accounts. Its splendid Greek/Assyrian style interior is dazzling enough; the mighty Wurlitzer theater organ, played during the intermissions, gives an added feeling for nostalgic refreshment.

If you are bombarded by the violence and sex in today’s films, the Stanford Theater is a perfect place to retreat on weekends and enjoy the classic movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age. It showed many of my most favorite movies, from Casablanca, to Roman Holiday, to Gone with the Wind.

Last weekend, we went back to the Stanford Theater for Billy Wilder’s Sabrina (1954), featuring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. The movie itself is an age-old fairy tale story about a chauffeur’s daughter (Sabrina) falling in love with the estate family’s son. It is Audrey Hepburn’s timeless charm and beauty that still catches the fancy of millions of men and women.

When I first saw the movie years ago, in addition of being charmed by Audrey’s adorable grace, I was struck by one line in the movie that uttered an epiphany to me:

When her father Fairchild told Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) that she was trying to reach for the moon, Sabrina responded with such a confidence and demeanor:

“The moon is reaching for me.” *

It was like a ray of gleaming sunlight that enlightened my entire world. I found this line incredibly empowering. Like Sabrina, so often, we are looking for things from outside to fulfill ourselves. We want to find that perfect man, the ideal job, etc., but we neglect the importance of nurturing the light from within. Like Sabrina, when we strive to be the best of ourselves, instead of reaching for the moon, we are letting the moon reach for us.

It was my epiphany then, and still is today. I dream the impossible dreams, and reach for things that are seemingly beyond my reach. I will always remember this line: the moon is reaching for me!

* For those who don’t remember the detail or who haven’t had a chance to see this movie, here is a little background: Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur who live in a large estate of a wealthy family, was hopelessly in love with the family’s playboy son – David, who hardly noticed her existence. After her return from Paris, Sabrina evolved into a beautiful and sophisticated young lady and finally won the attention from David. Her father, very much concerned of daughter’s unrealistic infatuation for David, said to her: “You are trying to reach for the moon.” Sabrina replied: “The moon is reaching for me."

lifestyle, movie, Audrey Hepburn, Sabrina, Stanford Theater, epiphany

The Thinker

Is the freedom of my flying soul forever behind bars?

难道飞翔的灵魂将永远被监禁在自由的门槛？

Copyright (c) 2006 Helen Wang

This picture was taken at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. It remimded me of a poem by a Chinese poet: “难道飞翔的灵魂将永远被监禁在自由的门槛？” - Is the freedom of my flying soul forever behind bars?

It was when I first came to the United States almost fifteen years ago. The poem resonated with me strongly. I wish to dedicate this piece to those who are not yet able to have free thinking on their own.

lifestyle, thinker, art, sculpture, rodin, legion of honor