two outfits & a fotd

August 9th, 2011

Hey guys! Today I gave the self-timer another shot, and I have two outfits! I think I’m getting better with the self-timer, though it’s funny, it’s so windy that my hair’s different in every picture, haha. Anyway, hope you like the looks. :)

faux leather jacket by People’s Liberation; t shirt by GAP; cargo skinnies by H&M; Ahnu Lucia shoes; watch by Skagen; bracelet by Express; necklace by Amy Ensign; rings from the vendor fair at UCSD; crossbody bag by Vieta

Sorry the pictures are a little overexposed. I’m still having a really hard time getting my camera to focus on the self-timer shots. I really like this combination of motorcycle jacket and skinny black pants, and it’s casual enough that I’ve worn it to school and for going out a couple of times. I’m a graduate student in biophysics, and I already stand out enough as it is, haha. I’m thinking this will be more or less what I wear to the Outside Lands music festival this weekend.

For this second outfit, I decided to glam and girlify it up a bit! I’m not entirely sure where I’d ever wear this, other than just for fun on days when I don’t have lab. I do love it though. =)

blazer by H&M; t shirt by GAP; black pumps by Payless;
bracelets by Express, American Eagle, Anthropologie; druzy ring by walkonthemoon@etsy; necklace from Greece

I actually have never worn this second outfit out yet – I snagged this blazer from H&M for $10 a few weeks ago! I was so, so close to buying the grey one too, but really, how many lace blazers with a giant bow closure do you really need? I usually don’t buy clothes without having a pretty good idea of how it’ll fit in with the clothes I already have, but for $10 I brought this baby home without really worrying about it. I’ve been bouncing ideas around in my head for a little while now, and I’m really happy with how this outfit turned out! Hopefully I’ll think of more ways to wear it too. =)

For both of these outfits, I chose to wear Bvlgari Black as my sotd (scent of the day). It’s technically marketed as a men’s fragrance, but it’s a spicy black tea and vanilla with just a little edge of rubber. I like it because I think it’s a feminine fragrance with a masculine edge to it, kind of like black skinny cargo pants, or a blush pink lace blazer with a tailored fit. Sexy without trying too hard. =)

For my FOTD I just decided that it was a good day to pull out my hot pinks. I haven’t worn X-Rated or PK369 in quite a while, but I love them everytime I do. There’s something magical about a hot pink blush and lipstick. =)

Face: NARS Sheer Matte Stromboli, MAC Lustre Drops in Pink Rebel; Eyes: Bobbi Brown Bronze Palette Amber, Espresso, UD 24/7 Bourbon, HIP Gold Charge; Cheeks: R&R X-Rated; Lips: shu uemura pk369

Hope you guys enjoyed this post! I really hope I have time (and some sunlight!) to take pictures for and write up some makeup posts soon. I’ve really missed blogging. :)

fotd and an attempt at an ootd

August 5th, 2011

Hi guys. I got a makeover at NARS with a good friend of mine last weekend at the Westfield downtown. We had an awesome day – makeover, lunch, shopping, and Crazy Stupid Love, which was AWESOME. (Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera, so there’s no documentation of the day… =/) Anyway, my makeup artist at the event used Exhibit A on my face, and I LOVED it. It’s actually been on my to-buy list for a while now, so I’m really happy that’s the one he decided to use! Anyway, they were actually out of Exhibit A in the store, so I had it shipped to me, and I got it Thursday night. These pictures are from yesterday, my first fotd with it.

Face: NARS Sheer Matte Stromboli, MAC Lustre Drops in Pink Rebel, Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Bronzing Duo; Eyes: Bobbi Brown Bronze Palette Olive, Espresso, Amber, WnW Comfort Zone green, UD 24/7 Stash, HIP Gold Charge; Cheeks: NARS Exhibit A, MAC Improvise; Lips: Laura Mercier Clementine

I’m also wearing shadows from Bobbi Brown’s Bronze palette, from the fall Tortoiseshell collection. Hopefully I can do a post on that soon – it’s freaking gorgeous and I’ve been using it practically every day since I got it. Olive doesn’t have the most amazing texture as far as BB shadows go, but it’s stunning. I’m also wearing Laura Mercier’s Clementine, which is one of her new(er) gel lip colors. It’s so pretty, and for having such a sheer, lightweight gel texture, it actually is very buildable to a full red lip and it wears down and stains beautifully, so it’s very versatile. It’s also pretty much the same color as NARS Matte Velvet Lip Pencil in Red Square (which is what I had put on at the NARS event, and bought, but may have to exchange because it absolutely murders my lips and does not stain well…).

And … I’ve been thinking about doing outfit of the day photos for well over a year now… but have never had anyone to photograph me. I went to a blogger book signing a few weeks ago though, and figured I might as well give the self-timer a try. And dude, it is really freaking hard!! These are the only good shots I got… and they’re really not that good in terms of actually showing the outfit. I think I need a tripod. Or I don’t know, a real photographer, hahaha. We’ll see.

coat by Jolt, from Nordstrom; tights and scarf from H&M; old sweater from American Eagle; bracelets from Anthropologie, American Eagle, Edition by Banana Republic; rings from Aldo and walkonthemoon@esty; shoes by Born; bag, which you can’t really see, by Melie Bianco

I’m positively in love with this Jolt cape that I bought during the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. It’s not quite cold enough to be wearing it out yet, but I’m sure I’ll get a lot of use out of it once fall really starts. I’ve also been obsessed with stacked bracelets – this is quite a new thing for me since I’m generally quite insecure about how thin my wrists are (my bones just happen to be very close-set apparently), but it’s really a lot of fun. And statement rings, thanks to Ilyana – I actually think that was my gateway drug into the bracelets lol.

Anyway, hope you all are doing well, and hopefully I’ll have another post up soon. I have quite the backlog to cover!

Happy New Year! Resolutions & Thank You

January 13th, 2011

Hey guys! I’m about two weeks late, but I still wanted to wish everyone a very happy new year and share some resolutions for 2011! Last year was pretty bipolar, but I’m happy to say it ended on the upside. I’m hoping I’ll be able to carry on that momentum! I think I did a pretty decent job with most of my resolutions last year, but I definitely want to expand on them.

  1. Be more zen!
    Over winter break, I got stranded at Chicago Midway airport. I didn’t let it get to me because there was nothing I could do about the situation. And I felt awesome! I napped better in the airport and on the planes and I didn’t get sick like I normally do traveling. I think not stressing out made a huge difference. Now, if I could only apply this to other areas of my life!
  2. Sleep more!
    I say this every year, but it’s worth being said. =)
  3. Cook more!
    I love cooking and cooking for others, and eating out makes me sick (literally)… so clearly I should seek out more opportunities to cook! Plus, I just got a slow cooker and my BFF sent me a pizza stone for Christmas! (Or as she says, not a late Christmas gift but an early MLK Jr. Day gift. =P)
  4. Exercise!
    Ok, this one I didn’t do so well with last year haha, but I am seriously going to put in more of an effort this year. I’m taking up swing dancing, and I’m hoping I’ll have enough friends to go with me to help me stick to it! Chasing after shuttles and buses doesn’t really count as exercise!
  5. Prioritize my health.
    This has been a hard lesson to learn, but I’ve definitely realized the value of taking time out for self-maintenance. I can’t do everything 100% and sometimes I can’t even do everything to any percentage, but that’s ok. Doing my best means figuring in a buffer for my own health, because if I don’t, then I can’t do anything well.
  6. Three Beautiful Things & other exercises in mindfulness.
    I started writing down three things I was thankful for everyday and I think it really did improve my mood. What really struck me about the exercise was how hard it was for me to choose only 3 things I was thankful for in a day and it reminds me how lucky I really am. I’d like to start doing that again. I also learned this awesome de-stressing breathing exercise at a seminar earlier last quarter and it REALLY WORKS! I just wish I could remember to do it more often when I’m actually stressing out!
  7. Use more, buy less.
    I will be posting my stash inventory for 2010 soon. I didn’t really stick to this resolution last year, I’d really like to be better at it this year.
  8. Read more.
    I started reading again over break, I’d love to keep this up!
  9. Write more.
    Same as last year: In addition to writing more, and writing better for this blog, I would really like to pick up my letter-writing again. I wrote a lot of letters to penpals and friends across the country and across the world earlier in my undergraduate career and I definitely miss it.

And of course, I’d like to thank everyone for your kind comments and support and friendship in the last year. I wouldn’t blog if it weren’t something immensely rewarding to me, and I’m so thankful that I’ve found such a warm and supportive community to be a part of. Here’s to a wonderful 2011! :D :D :D

Holiday presents, stash inventory, best of 2010 and NOTDs coming up soon, so stay tuned! :D