greys and greens

Sometimes the best outfit shot is a quick spin-and-twirl even though you're completely haggard, look like crap, and twirling is the last thing on your mind.


F21 skirt and knee-highs, Payless boots, random top, blazer from street boutique in Taiwan, headband borrowed from sister

Latest obession? Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games books (yes, i know, they're 'young adult'. whatever, i'm 14 again). finished the second book this afternoon and now can finally get back to productivity, sleep, and the rest of my life.. haha. wow i sound so ridiculous here. but i get like that with book/tv series i fall in love with - let's not even start on harry potter.

Anyways, just another quick somewhat sloppy post. Heading out of town with my family tomorrow morning for a few days so I'll see you all in 2010! Have a safe and fun New Year's =)

happy holidays all!

I'm a little late on the Christmas post... and well, posts in general =( my apologies -been busy with life, etc.

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday!! Mine was full of good food, visiting family, and our traditional monopoly game which I never seem to win (did come in 2nd this year though). I got my present a few days early this year - it's a Canon Rebel xsi! My good-ole point and shoot has done me well but is getting sort of old... I'm so excited to play around with the DSLR and learn more.


Lately I've been thinking a lot about New Year's resolutions. Normally I don't bother with them at all -starting the new year always seemed like a big hassle and high expectations (over NYE plans in particular) when really, it's just another day tomorrow. But i think it is a good way to mark milestones in your life (also since my birthday falls so close to New Year's) and use resolutions to set some goals -you know, make sure that the days dont just slip by like they always do. I feel like I'm always turning around and going - 'ohmygosh, how is it summer/october/december/whatever already?' I don't want to have the same feeling when i wake up and I'm 40.
Also... this year I've had a huge shift in my life - which used to be almost solely focused on academics. Having graduated this past year and decided to defer further school, it's odd to have to grasp for something else and not find anything tangible enough there for me to reach to. It's definitely led me to rethinking a lot of things and exploring new ones (this blog being one of them). Now might be a good time to start laying out some concrete goals, plans, dreams -stuff beyond 'okay, now this semester I'll try to attend 75% of my 8am classes'.

without a wrinkle in today

self-made lace and chiffon skirt, lace tank and dotted tights: F21, Jessica Simpson riding boots, blazer and studded belt from Taiwan street markets

venice beach. i haven't been here in hella long.

walking on sunshine

a quick shot of the american apparel factory sale in downtown LA yesterday. i got there later than planned since i swung by the airport to pick up the boyfriend who's here for the weekend. consequently, we ended up waiting in a long-ass disneyland-eqsue line in the hot hot heat (come on LA, it's late december!!) the selection wasn't all that but i did picked up a pair of their velvet stir-up leggings for $6 (hah, which of course I'll never be able to wear down here even if it is late december)




DIY wool cape, F21 jeans, random tank, Penny loves Kenny oxfords

i need to learn how to coordinate my face/hair.

my life would suck without you

i realized that i never officially announced it here, but i'm moving in new york in less than a month!!
i feel like i've sort of known about it for the longest time, but it's taken a while to get everything all finalized, and i didn't want to jinx anything so i held off on telling most people. normally i'm nowhere near superstitious or nervous like this but i've honestly wanted to move to new york ever for the past 8 years, so i guess i was just holding my breath for a reallllyyy long time.
i just booked my flight though, and am almost done confirming all my apartment details.. so it's actually happening! i am so stoked =D


Forever 21 and DIY sequined cardigan, H&M pseudo-harem-aladdin pants, Madden girl floral pumps

so that's my weak excuse for not posting for 8 days... 8 days!! so sorry guys, i've been completely MIA from blog-land -spent the weekend up north and have mostly been working hard at meaningless jobs that suck all your creativity and energy out of you =(

...actually, not quite true, remember how i said i'd be writing fashion and style articles? those of you guys who follow me on twitter probably already know, but my examiner page is officially up and the articles are a-comin'. you can check them out HERE -i'd love to hear any feedback, advice, etc. you guys have. thanks!

oh yea, and i recently got into Glee (can't you tell from the title?) and with the help of megavideo, finished the entire half-season in the past 3 days. hm, that probably also had something to do with the brief blogging hiatus.

halfmast

bought these heeled oxfords on sale for $23! and then i got home and my sisters pointed out how dumb it was that i bought shoes that look like the Jeffrey Campbells i wear all the time. i guess so... hm, but they're different enough to be worth the 23 bucks methinks.


AA disco pants, random long-sleeve, thrifted polka dot silk blouse, Style&Co oxfords

i'm heading up to davis this coming weekend to celebrate a friend's commencement from uc davis --should be fun. hope it's not too cold up in cow town.

louder than boom

Urban Outfitters lace bodysuit, homemade experiment shirt, H&M boyfriend jeans, Jeffrey Campbell booties, dinosaur necklace from Taiwan

been really busy recently (a good thing though), but just wanted to say - i can't stop eating this dark chocolate pomegranate.
oh yea, and this shirt is an experiment.. a la remnants section of JoAnn's


toodles!

smooth criminal

i know bloggers complain a lot about daylight savings and losing light and time to go outdoors and take outfit pics. today tonight as i drove past a deserted parking lot i realized that 1. i should do an outfit post, 2. i didn't have a photo and the sun was gone, 3. the roof was completely deserted (well, except for this one couple in a random car off in the corner, hmhmm.. hehehe) and completely lit up.

so this was my attempt at a 'night shot' ooh i'm so artsy. semi fail though. these photos are B&W not because i am so so artsy, but more to get rid of the icky yellow lighting. mneh, oh well... let's go with artsy.

miss sixty flare jeans, lace body from Urban Outfitters, DIY YSL croptop, reworked F21 robe, Penny Loves Kenny oxfords, cuff bracelet from NOLA

anywho, i've been tagged by tink and kathleen for blog awards! 7 facts about myself? any excuse to babble - let's gooooo

1. my parents recently got a bag of dark chocolate covered pomegranates from Costco (read: Costco SIZED). mmnomnom... it's been the death of me
2. ditto for Cheez-it Party Mix. although there's a disproportionately large amount of pretzals in here.

3. i really am quite retarded when it comes to sewing and crafy stuff. really. despite all the projects/homemade stuff i've shown you guys here.. someone that spends that much time playing around with it all really should be more knowledgeable
4. despite my retardedness, i'm going to try to make a pair of velvet harem pants (tryyyyy). but how awesome does that sound??

5. my birthday is at the end of this month and i am really pretty terrified to turn 22 (but let's save that for another post). anyways, you know how anthropologie gives you 15% off your birthday month? they send you this little card -- and this year it came with a "candle necklace". how cute! ... and how useless

6. green is one of my favorite colors, but i don't really find myself wearing it much anymore...
7. i just found out today that i'll be writing the "style and fashion" section for the examiner in my local area! should be fun and maybe i'll make some pocket change too while i'm at it! i'll give you guys more deets once it's up and running.

i am tagging christen, lexy, jasna, kristy, amy, carrie, and anyone else that wants to do the tag! thank you guys for trotting over to this little corner of the www. =)
goodniiiiiight.

crocheted hooded scarf

the hooded scarf. there's something strangely satisfying about putting a hood on different pieces of clothing, even though you could easily just drape and wrap a regular scarf around your head to make a hood.
i wanted one that was a bit chunkier, and wool, perfect as a huge bundle to hide your head and neck in. here's a semi-tutorial on how to make one --although the photos really aren't that great/non-existent since most of the time i crocheted while watching movies in the dark.
i'm sure you could totally knit this too. i just forgot how to =(

what you'll need: hook and yarn
obviously the size hook depends on what yarn you end up choosing. and how much yarn depends on how long/wide you want your scarf (and how big your head is too i suppose). mine ended up being a mix of 3 different yarns (random ones i had lying around). i'd say starting off w/ two skeins would be a safe bet.

1. crochet a single chain stitch as long (high) as your want your hood to be
2. go back around and double stitch the length on both sides, doubling up (per stitch) at the end in order to round out the top.

3. continue crocheting - keep doubling up at the ends in order to get hood effect. keep doing this until you're satisfied w/ the width of the hood.
(i sort of just winged this part... trying it on as i went)

4. after you've finished crocheting the hood cut the yarn. determine how wide you want the scarf portion to be and then start on the two ends of the hood...

one side done.

(i was originally going to just make an attachable hood and crochet the scarf separately, with the option of buttoning the two together if desired. but my hood accidentally turned out to be too long so i just included it as part of the scarf. in hindsight, i also think it probably would have been too bulky had i done as an attachable... but it's an idea worth playing around with)




(tell me if this makes no sense at all... i suck at explaining these things)

food baby

hope everybody (in america) had a lovely thanksgiving yesterday and ended the day stuffed!
our family wasn't eating until ~4:30ish so i deliberately ate very little throughout the day to save up for my gluttony-fest later in the afternoon. mistake. pretty sure my stomach shrunk throughout the day so that by the time 5:15 hit i was already pretty full from just salad and stuffing =/
(don't worry guys - i preserved till the end through dessert)


my little sisters and i yesterday, pre-food babies

oh yea, and you guys remember those pointless Victoria's Secret Pink dogs from a few years back? i needed a pincushion the other day and (i guess it can look slightly macabre, but) i finally found a use for it...

by default

i know... another one! this miniskirt + tights + oversized shirt is quickly becoming my default outfit when i'm too lazytiredcrankystillhalfasleepbitchingthatthere'snothinginmycloset. i wasn't originally going to post this outfit -i was actually gonna show you guys this project/DIY that i've been working on.. but yesterday i decided it wasn't done well enough so i impulsively took apart a lot of it and am slowly reworking it together again.


and since you can't see the lovely details in the above photos --

F21 skirt and tights, thrifted velvet sheer shirt, Jeffrey Campbell starburst booties

little hipster girl

flannel plaid - mom's, random tank, homemade lace + chiffon skirt, studded belt from Taiwan, F21 tights, Penny Loves Kenny oxfords

i was at FIDM - LA yesterday and stopped by their mini museum where they were showing Betsy Bloomingdale's personal Haute Couture collection (most of which was Marc Bohan for Dior). apparently for a lot of her ensembles, she would write little tags as to when she wore each piece and the accessories she wore it with as a ministyle diary i guess (pre- style blogs! haha). it was all sooo beautiful and glamorous - photos, of course, weren't allowed, but all i really wanted to do was wrap myself in all her beautiful satins, velvets, and silks, mmmyes.

i didn't stay that long in an attempt to hit the 101 before friday rush hour traffic hit. then i got on the freeway and remembered that in Los Angeles, all of friday is basically rush hour. gross.


hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

that universal mind control

Jessica Simpson riding boots, DIY zipper fringe necklace, top from Urban Outfitters, F21 floral skirt and fence tights, fur-trimmed coat from my ancient wardrobe

forgot where i found these editorial pics (i think they're from L'Officiel?) anyways, great inspiration for adding pattern and color to the standard black+grey winter outfits...

heartbreak warfare

the boy brought me to this gorgeous beach park in san francisco. we made it juuuuust in time to catch this beautiful sunset
(before that?? i had dragged him to this independent fabric store in east bay and he was dragging me away from caressing some amazingggg faux mink fur that was unfortunately also amazingly expensive)






sorry this post is so devoid of any fashion (or even food, psh). besides these, the majority of my other photos from the weekend are all really classy drunk clubbing pics. we did have many delicious eats -but unfortunately the photos were either too dark or the food wasn't visually photo-worthy. womp womp.

the perfect trenchcoat

for me anyways. found it at an impromptu H&M stop earlier this week. it's light enough, long enough, lined in leopard print, and has got great buckles on the sleeves.

gray jeans from Old Navy, H&M trench, old Urban Outfitters sweater, Jessica Simpson riding boots, silver necklace from a temple in Taiwan

i know it's not raining or even too chilly here in these photos. but this'll be a good jacket to transition me into freezing Bay Area weather while i'm up there this weekend. speaking of which... i should leave for the airport now.


p.s. three is too many of me huh?