LIMITED TICKET AVAILABILITY, ON SALE NOW!

Tickets are on sale now! Sponsored by Ketel One Vodka, Audrey Magazine is hosting Audrey’s Night Out 2010, a fashion event bringing the Asian American community together for an evening of fashion, fantasy and fun!

Collaborating with some of the most exciting talent in the fashion, entertainment and music industries, Audrey’s Night Out will include hot celebrity and professional models in the coolest fall fashion, amazing musical performances you won’t wanna miss, and a fabulous star-studded after-party with hosted bar.

Get your tickets now, and don’t delay. Not only do tickets sell out fast every year, but fashion show seating is assigned based on order of ticket purchase. Don’t be stuck standing — get your tickets now!

For a while, it seemed everything was gonna go cyber — newspapers, magazines, even your favorite stores. No more browsing cute little streets for knick-knacks and precious finds. All browsing was being done in front of monitor, alone and in bad fluorescent lighting.

But recession be damned. A whole slew of cute little boutiques are popping up all over, many by names familiar to Audrey. It gives this editor hope that we won’t all meld into a faceless world of tweeters and status updaters. Check out the newest additions to the brick and mortar crowd.

Leanna Lin’s Wonderland

Billed as a “playful jewelry studio/shop/art gallery,” hand-beaded jewelry designer Leanna Lin‘s new boutique in Los Angeles is just that — a Wonderland.

With cheerful pops of color and a candy shoppe feel of beads and baubles galore, Leanna Lin’s Wonderland is a place where you can peruse, drool or just get plain crafty.

For a little jewelry making inspiration, the boutique also features art exhibits, like “The Lucky Show” presented by Spicy Brown, featuring the works of Kazuko Shinoka and Sachiho Hino. Check it out this weekend, Saturday, September 11, from 6 to 10 pm. The event is in conjunction with NELAart walk, and Spicy Brown will be handing out “Lucky” goody bags! (Not that you need another incentive, but food trucks will be converging on the spot as well — Don Chow Tacos (where “Chino meets Latino”) and Lake Street Creamery.

If you can’t make it this weekend, go the next for their official grand opening. Goody bags, drinks, treats and White Rabbit Filipino fusion truck will be there from 12 to 3 pm on Saturday, September 18.

Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, 5024 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

TeeTee Bar and Fighting Eel

If you’re going to be designing clothes in “the land of perpetual sunshine” (Hawaii), it’s likely your pieces are going to be infused with a lot of that laid back aloha spirit. In fact, Asian American designers Rona Bennett and Lan Chung specifically created their line Fighting Eel to express their love of not just fashion but vacation.

Rona Barrett and Lan Chung of Fighting Eel.

“On vacation” is exactly how one feels in one of Fighting Eel’s jersey dresses — a feeling of carefree ease and seductive languor profuse in any sun-soaked holiday. Specializing in a substantial, extra drapey jersey, Fighting Eel’s dresses are simple and easy to wear, yet constructed just enough for some serious sex appeal.

Now Barrett and Chung have opened a store in “paradise” called TeeTee Bar, which prominently features Fighting Eel designs as well. With an array of kids, women and men’s tees (really, if you live in Hawaii, do you want to wear anything more than tees and slinky jersey dresses?), the boutique brings a little bit of chic to an island locale where uncomplicated and unfussy style rules.

TeeTee Bar, 1131 Bethel Street, Honolulu, HI

Carol Young

Now, Carol Young’s Los Feliz boutique is not new, but it’s still going strong after four years.

Young has stayed true to her aesthetic of wearability, durability, and environmental and global consciousness. She may not be roaming the world anymore (her travels to India and Japan inspired her line of “undesigned” clothing for the urban nomad), but with two toddlers now in tow, she is likely in even more need of her functional yet beautiful pieces.

Ever the champion of cutting edge accessory lines that wonderfully complement her aesthetic, like Cydwoq shoes and (Audrey favorite) Prismera Designs jewelry, Young is also partaking in Fashion’s Night Out on September 10 with a special trunk show of Nikki Montoya Jewelry.

Carol Young, 1953 1/2 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA

As a writer, I pretty much lug my laptop everywhere. I lug it to the coffee shops and to the libraries. I lug it to my car and to my work. It’s like I’m back in college holding overweight books again.  But I would be oh so cool if I had this “over-sized” leather messenger bag by Beth Springer. It’s strong enough for a laptop yet lightweight and is a great travel companion whether you are going across town or half way across the world. Plus, it’s also made out of vegetable dyed leather so you know it’s strong.  I think my favorite thing about this bag is its color though. I’m a sucker for colors commonly found on vegetables and this spinach green is just bold enough to be striking without being too over the top.  I can’t eat it but carrying it would be the next best thing!

We profiled the Seoul-born, self-made professional drift racer Joon Maeng in our Fall 2010 issue, in which we found intriguing his relative lack of concern for crashing into walls. Now we bring you an online exclusive Q&A with the quirky driver.

Professional Formula D racer Joon Maeng in his car.

Audrey Magazine: Besides your crash, what was your worst experience in a car?

Joon Maeng: Last year in Vegas [at a drift meet] I had a tuna sub for lunch and I started vomiting.

AM: In the car?

JM: No, in the back near the restroom. When it was time to drive I put a doggie bag in the pocket of my racing suit. But when I started driving I felt better. Driving for me is comfort. Even though you’re in a suit and it’s hot, and you’re drenched in sweat, all that goes away when you’re in the car. It’s like “ahhhhh, I love every drop of sweat that my body is producing right now.”

AM: Ew. So categorize this feeling of happiness for me. Is it like how you feel after a really good meal?

JM: Ten times better. I’d rather be [driving] than doing anything else.

AM: When did this love of driving start?

JM: I always had a dream to be a pro driver. Not specifically drifting, but just to be a pro driver, since I was a little boy growing up in Korea. My family wasn’t well off. All I had was toy cars and my bike, that’s all. When it snowed I used to drift around my bicycle. Then I would not be able to sleep because I would be so excited to ride my bike around in the snow the next day.

JM: I came to the States when I was 9. I’m 28 now. I actually started driving when I was 11 or 12, secretly [laughs].

AM: How did you manage that? Did you ever get caught?

JM: I snuck out [my parents'] car late at night. I didn’t get caught until way later. I got into big trouble for that.

AM: What did your parents do to you?

JM: Not much, they trust me and they know I’m responsible. They just gave me a lecture and said, “Hey, we know you’re a good driver and whatnot, but just wait until you get your license.”

AM: Did your mother have such a lenient response when you told her you wanted to be a professional drifter?

JM: She was like, “Are you crazy?” Korean parents are very against that stuff. Anything to do with racing and working on cars, they don’t want to see that because they see it as suffering. Whenever she saw me working on the car in the garage, working until 5 in the morning, she would be like, “Why are you working on this piece of junk car?” I got frustrated because she’d say things like that. I was already down as it is, even with the three jobs I had I was in debt. I didn’t know how long I’d go.

Eventually she understood, she saw my frustration and how much I wanted it. She really changed and became more supportive. Instead of complaining she would come out say “Oh, here’s some fruit. Eat at least.”

Humble drifter, Joon Maeng. Photo by Derek Lieu.

For more on Maeng and all the other goodness in our Fall 2010 issue, order it here.