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Elisa Mala

@thisismala

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Welcome to my world.

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We debated this in a 300-person group chat for MONTHS 😮

Tate’s, Biscoff, or Classic Cookie — which team are you on? ✨

Sound off in the comments! 🍪

#CookieWars #AirplaneFood #TravelHumor #JetBlue

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Shine bright tonight, you and I ✨

@theninesnyc

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May aka birth month aka Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month aka Mental Health Awareness Month aka—

Ngl May is always a stressful time for me just emotionally and mentally so here are some highlights of the month that balanced out the bad ✨

1. Cowboy Concert look on a budget 💄
2. Me and Hayao Miyazaki crying over a masterpiece about raccoon dogs 🦝
3. “Any chance to celebrate the fact that you’re queer 🌈” - @jess.lifethings
4. First NYC @7641kollektive meetup 🗽
5. Some step and repeat action for the Bessie Awards @witsummit @sheswanderful 🩵
6. Pinays crying para sa kultura and Pinay motherhood 🇵🇭
7. Hair consultations and matcha mangoes from @rizoscurls and @colmadocoffee 🥭
8. @mama.xita and I shaking ass for @rizoscurls and @colmadocoffee
9. My forever concert buddy and the Blue to my Rumi @jess.lifethings
10. Yeehawncé 🤠🇺🇸🐎🦅
11. Enjoying some mouthwatering pizza from @nolitapizzanyc with @seesighttours
12. Repping Southeast Asia with @lovebonito / @lovebonitousa and @kulturafilipino for the @tripshepherd launch party 🇸🇬🇵🇭
13. Sleepy fur babies 🐕🐕‍🦺
14. Mood

#maydump #mayphotodump #photodump #may2025

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✨women✨ in travel summit

This weekend I attended @witsummit thanks to @sipbitego’s giveaway and had an unbelievable time!

There’s so much to digest still, but I’m so grateful for all the connections and memories I made this weekend.

From hosting the first @7641kollektive meetup in New York to meeting to learning from some amazing women in travel to showing people around my favorite lowkey food spots around downtown Manhattan, I’ll never forget my first WITS!

Thank you @sheswanderful, @witsummit, @downtownnyc, and all the amazing folks who made this weekend happen!

#WITSDTNYC #WITS2025 #WITSDowntownNYC #WITSDowntownNYC2025 #travelinstagram #travel #travelgram #solotravelgirl #femalesolotravel #femalesolotraveler #solofemaletravel #solofemaletraveler #girlswhotravel

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There’s nothing more healing than being surrounded by bold, adventurous women who lead with heart.💗 It’s been such a joy to connect, swap travel and life stories, and simply be in community with fellow female travelers who are making waves in the digital space. ✈️ So grateful all our paths have crossed—and that we got to share a little shimmy along the way! 💃

#WomenWhoTravel #WomeninTravel #FemaleTravel #Travel #nyc

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The Orchid Show: Natural Heritage • On until Sunday, April 23 • @nybg @studiolilykwong 🌿

Beautifully captured by @thisismala 💕

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Turning a tunnel into a red carpet 🤩

#lilykwongnybg #lilykwong #lilykwongstudio #nybg #nybgorchidshow #nybgorchiddinner #plantlove #likelynyc #renttherunway

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The theme of the party was “red carpet.” And save for the jacket, I like to think that this @likelynyc gown would have worked for some non-Met-Gala events.

Moments before I walked through the door, both friends that I was supposed to join at this party canceled. They’re usually so reliable that I hadn’t even bothered to confirm that they were coming, but life can surprise you with mild illness and severe injury.

One texted me the number of the friend who would be using his ticket. A nice gesture.

The bouncer carded me on the way in. Also a nice gesture.

It was a nice time with new friends and old: I ran into two classmates and half a dozen acquaintances, one of whom poured arak for anyone who wanted it, and who turned out to be quite the life of the party. (I definitely skipped the arak.)

In the dark, I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Is that a —“ I asked the person standing next to me. Yes, it was: one reveler had brought her baby in a bjorn, and the baby seemed unbothered to be bopping around to 90’s beats.

And on the way out, there was this. The Yayoi Kusama ( @yayoikusama_ ) x Louis Vuitton ( @louisvuitton ) collaboration, which made my heart swoon with its eye-popping vibrancy. And what luck that my very ensemble happened to match. One of those quintessential New York moments, where against all odds, complementary energies manage to find their way to each other. And where people leave you alone even as you stage a storefront photo shoot at night.

(Tangentially, about a year or two ago, the New York Botanical Garden displayed a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin sculpture in one of the gardens. The house-sized metal pumpkin required a bouncer to manage the hordes, and even then, people tried to sneak past. I’ll say it again: Pumpkin! Bouncer!)

Pastis was down the block, and while I was tempted to go in, I thought better of staying out late. Not only was it a Monday night, but I had a flight to catch in eight hours. Though it’s more like six now.

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Help me win a multi-night stay in the Turks and Caicos by voting at the link in bio.

Dress: @aidanmattox via @renttherunway

#travelphotography #caribbean #tci #turksandcaicos #ootd

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A TOAST (and if you know me, you know I speak TRUTH with a spicy margarita in my hand) to the friends and family and humans who got me through the last twelve months——

To Turner. For being everything and everyone for each other for a year, and still wanting to be here after all that. And for being fun as hell.

To @ctoyj and @rebmhi who quite truly carried me, week after week, FaceTime after FaceTime. They know. I’ve said. But truly.

To my folks and our phone calls, and their ability to make things feel manageable - even things unimaginable thirteen months ago.

To @evanallenmusic and @ejneslusan for throwing a damn good party, long-distance and under crazy circumstances, and sharing such joy!

To the Covid Maker Response volunteers for getting me out of bed for the first three months, and giving me a sense of purpose, control, and the ability to help.

To the neighborhood crew, for new outlooks, shared frustrations and constant humor, even at three-arms-lengths. I can’t wait to remind myself what your smiles look like :)

To The Hustle homies at 232, for giving me a place to belong, a task to complete, and a community among whom to navigate this thing with creativity, fortitude, and kindness. I’m proud to be in your number.

To the neighbors who were strangers last March, but now feel like friends even though I’ve not seen your full faces, for providing a sense of normalcy and welcome.

To @krgibson for her patience and generosity with me in picking back up where we left off every time, while near-distance is long-distance. I want to hear all the war stories someday.

To the Nic Cage peeps, for necessary laughter, and such biting and witty commentary. And excellent memes. Even though I couldn’t join you every time.

To @thecalmchronicles fans, for enabling me to navigate my own anxieties and stress by sharing small moments of comfort with you in the early months.

And to the strangers of all kinds, who I’ll never recognize if we meet again, but who continue to make this Great Endurance possible and finite.

—— A toast to you!

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Happy Lunar New Year! In celebration, here is a retrospective of our famed #woodside 🥟 parties at the Sundance Film Festival from years past! In 2016 we even celebrated with the approval of the 🥟 by Unicode! In a party (with signs) organized by @thephoenixfox. Also small note that @emojinationorg helped pass 🧧 and 🧨 with Baidu!

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Have you ever visited NYC's Inspiration Point? Head to Fort Washington Park to take in its awe-inspiring waterfront view made even more spectacular by the fall foliage and the glow of the afternoon sun. Visit it at the Hudson River Greenway near 190th Street - enter the greenway via the ramp at Dyckman Street or at 181st Street and Riverside Drive via the pedestrian bridge. #FallforNYC 🍃🍂 (📷: @thisismala)

When you share photos of fall foliage in our parks add our hashtag: #FallforNYC. We're sharing our favorites all season long!

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