BPC in downtown New York City is my jam. The neighborhood of our first shared apartment with Matt, it holds an exponentially growing place in my heart, somehow becoming more meaningful with each return. Every cross street is familiar, every restaurant has history, every view feels like coming home, and I guess what I’m trying to say is that every change to this area feels personal. So imagine my shock when a huge portion of south Battery Park closed for renovation to… elevate the park enough to protect against rising sea levels. Clearly an insane concept, I thought, but I’m not an engineer or a scientist, so let’s see what happens before I criticize the renovation to hell. So two years and $300 million later, no longer BPC residents, we decided to check out the results and… it looked like the Office meme of finding the difference between two pictures when they’re the same picture. And that’s probably the highest compliment a project of this caliber could receive. Underneath what looks like the same Wagner Park now sits an entirely new layer of engineering – the landscape was elevated, flood protection was built into the design and critical infrastructure was rebuilt to better withstand future storms, all without really changing the character of this place.
Several “oh yeah, global warming can’t get us now” jokes later, I realized the main innovation of the park wasn’t smacking us in the face, it was an invisible change designed to make a huge difference. And there, my friends, lies the entire concept of my blog.
I preach on my little social media platform all about feeling powerful with your decisions, no matter how little: choosing sustainable brands or thrifting might not make your wardrobe or established style look drastically different, but the entire supply chain changed, shopping less won’t dramatically alter the trajectory of your summer OOTDs, but has an impact on lowering overconsumption, Ukrainian brands on your hangers won’t necessarily scream “international,” but those purchases will make someone’s day, fiscal quarter and with the current events of 2026, quite literally help save a life… I have 200 more examples where these come from, but you get the picture – change is necessary and meaningful, especially for the long term. Baby steps matter. And all your purchase decisions make a difference. They don’t call it “purchasing power” for no reason.
On that philosophical note, let me put down the megaphone before I break out into a poem. Let’s get into the outfit. This set is from Cher’17, a UA brand I recently featured in a post about my new blogging chapter, one of my new faves. To be honest, when I added this one to cart, I was imagining wearing it to a beach vacation – a shorts / oversized short-sleeve button down is my ideal combo over a bikini and this is probably the 4th in my closet. I know it’s a winning look for me every time, so it’s a no-brainer purchase, but since there are no beach vacas on my horizon, a park will do. We’re also about to get slammed with 100-degree days here in NYC, so no time like the present to wear breathable, lightweight oversized summer sets. The hat in this post is by another Ukrainian brand Ruslan Baginskiy, already a legend. I think Paris Hilton has 300 of his hats, Beyonce wears those wide-brimmed RB masterpieces in concerts, Sabrina Carpenter recently wore one at Coachella 2026 and obviously, the most important and iconic appearance of Ruslan Baginskiy hats is on the Real Housewives shows.
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