free alterations (b.k.a. my mom the tailor)

I wore a trench today that my mom recently altered, so decided to snap some pics.

Story: When I graduated univ and got a "real" job, I got it in my head that I needed trenches for the fall to wear over my biz casual outfits. I thought they were so sophisticated and grown up. So I purchased 2 from Bebe in the smallest size available (XS), simply because at the time I thought it was the best place to purchase that sort of thing for a fresh-out-of-college girl. I wanted something young but classic. And, I think they were like BOGO or BOGO1/2 off. Mind you ~ I knew NOTHING about the "fashion" rules like length, size of the lapel (heck, I still don't know what it's s'posed to be!), yadi yadi yada.

More recently I've begun to notice the "fit" problems.. like the lapel is too big, length too long, width too wide, etc. etc. etc. These problems are magnified when I wear flats. I am, however, too lazy to fix many of those things. What I did fix though (rather, my mom fixed), was the length on the lighter colored trench. She took off maybe 3-4 inches? Unaltered, I feel like Columbo. Do any of you guys remember that detective show? My parents watched it when I was a kid, and it was this old grizzly detective dude (Peter Falk) who wore big trenches. Hahaha. Needless to say, I don't want to look like him. My mom suggested I leave the black trench unaltered. Because of the dark color, some of the fit problems aren't as noticeable. Maybe I'll hem an inch or so when my mom has time. We'll see.

Unaltered trench

This here, my friends, is the "OH SHIT I JUST WOKE UP AND IT'S 7:49 I HAVE TO LEAVE IN 10 MINUTES CRAP CRAP CRAP" OOTD. Or, the "I want my outfit to match my black heart" OOTD heehee :D J/k. I'm really a happy person. Most of the time. Well, some of the time. Well, when I'm not around people I'm usually happy :D

H&M dress (doesn't wrinkle! but must wear a slip inside)

favorite lipsticks atm and an ootd

Hello hello! Wanted to share my 2 faaaav lipsticks at the moment. Been wearing them every single day! One is pink, and one is peach/nude. So they both have very different effects, which I love. Can't decide which I love more, so sometimes I'll start the day off with one, and then reapply the other later on haha. I can't stand my natural lip color, and I just love the change these l/s bring to my face and overall appearance.

Maybelline ~ Born With It
(I heard it's a close dupe to some MAC color too.. Angel or Hue.. you can google it)

Maybelline ColorSensationals are soooo ultra moisurizing, I use l/s as a chapstick.

NYX ~ Orange Soda

Slightly less moisturizing than Maybelline. Very pigmented, so I gently pat the l/s on.

I only got into lipsticks this year.. and I'm hooked! Here's about 75% of my lil collection.. the rest are all in random purses and stuff.

Susy had asked me the other day how often I reapply.. and I'm embarrassed to say that I put lipstick on for my walk to work (I take it off when I eat breakfast at the office), and once again for my walk home. HAHA. Silly right? But Susy does that too!! I dunno.. I feel weird reapplying it at work.. I'm scared to get caught putting makeup on at work! Especially because the girls in my office aren't into makeup at all. And, there's no one I want to impress at work.. but when you're out you never know who you'll run into! LOL. Right Susy??

K well this isn't a real "tag", but recently I overheard Susy and Serena say they didn't have blog ideas.. so I'm going to "tag" them to do a post on their favorite lipstick(s)! And please add pictures galore! And anyone else who wants to, I'd love to see what your favorite lipstick(s) is(are)! Please someone do it or I'll feel lame for having asked o(>__<)o

And here's work OOTD. I absolutely love the print and vibrant color of this top, and it's 98% cotton so machine washable and soft on the skin! I have it in tan+white too.

Cardigan ~ Gap
Top ~ Banana Republic
Skirt ~ H&M (comes with nice patent belt!)
Stockings ~ Hong Kong (can't see but they have diamond print)

OMGGGG these Hong Kong stockings are SO small compared to American!! My mom got me size small, thinking they're equivalent to US small. NOPE! They're so tight, they squuuueze the heck outta my entire leg and tummy. It's a battle getting them on haha. But they're very strong material and good quality. I have heard (from HK friends) that Hong Kong girls are super skinny and are all anorexic looking... after wearing these stockings I definitely believe that!

more work outfits, hair update

Merona (Target brand) top

vintage waist belt

Express twill leggings

The Merona top is a medium (no smaller sizes available), but I just loved the length, look, and texture (polyester) of it! Looking forward to wearing this tucked into a high waisted skirt too!

Dunno what to call these ruffly things going down the center, but I love 'em!

Miley Cyrus (Wal-Mart line) ruffle top
Banana Republic skirt

I actually wore a different top with the skirt to work, but after taking a picture of it I realized how horrible I looked! Uggggh can't believe I walked around downtown all day looking like that T_T

Anyways.. took 2 seconds to switch to a more suitable top. Problem is, it has an elastic waistband. And the skirt is huuge (size 00P.. BR you are so inconsistent!). I bought this skirt 3-4 years ago.. either I was a chubster and it fit fine, or it was too large at the time but I didn't care.

Here's the quick fix with my trusty Forever 21 $4.80 belt! The skirt looks much better at this length in my opinion. Little bit of scrunching but I can live with it.

Update on hair for anyone who is curious... so before my hair was super long and not layered, so the weight pulled my hair down, making it really flat and lifeless. After getting it cut, the shorter layers are really light and have lift. I don't know how to style it when it's straight ~ it looks really awkward and terrible if I just flatiron. So I've been curling with my flat iron instead. And when I say curl, I'm only curling very slightly at the ends, so basically I flip my wrist when I'm almost to the bottom of the hair and it makes 1 curl per strand (does that make sense?). Because of all the layers it looks like more curls, but it's basically because of the many layers stacked on top of each other. I now have huge hair. And if you're curious, it takes somewhere b/w 3-5 minutes to curl (same amt of time it took to flatiron before.. maybe even less b/c doesn't have to be so perfect). I still wake up at 7:45 and am out the door by 8ish.

I'm really happy b/c the stylist cut off enough length so that all my dead and split ends are gone. My hair feels soooo healthy and strong! Before, after blowdrying and flatironing my hair was a tangled mess that made it a nightmare to run my fingers through. And now, I can comb my hair no problem!

Tried to smile here. My eyelids are weird. I do have lids, but one tends to disappear on one eye. And then, sometimes they both disappear altogether.

casual work

Thank goodness I work in a casual workplace! I don't know how I'd survive if I had to wear formal work attire. Suits and jackets make me feel butch and old, and I've decided that I'll have many many years to be old and stuffy so I'l save that stuff for later.

Casual also isn't an excuse to not iron my clothing... bad bad Sophia!

Gap top (6-7 yrs ollld)

Banana Republic skirt (has pockets! yay!)

Nine West pumps

H&M dress

Forever 21 belt (looking at this pic, I realize a skinny belt would've worked better, except that I don't own one that fits the small of my waist >_< )

Cinderella of Boston shoes (my walk to work shoes.. I walk 0.8 miles each way!)

And my usual all black ensemble w/a nonblack top thrown in (oooh soooo creative Sophia..)

H&M striped tee

Forever 21 skirt

yesstyle.com cardigan

Nine West kitten heels

There is a French woman in my office who dresses impeccably. She wears Hermes scarves, and uses Hermes scarf rings (http://bit.ly/9dZliL). I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THERE WAS SUCH THING AS A SCARF RING! She just looks expensive! But as far as her clothing goes, you know the crazy part? She wears mostly Gap and H&M! Leave it to the French to turn cheap clothing into something fabulous and chic. If that ability was for sale, I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

heart on my lips

This was fun and easy to do. NYX Circe all over lip, then use a brush to draw on the ♥

Used Angie's genius idea to use eyeliner for the black part! http://pandaphilia.blogspot.com/

Here's a link to her very simple and easy to follow tutorial: http://pandaphilia.blogspot.com/2010/07/polished-spot-on-leopard-print-mani.html

OOTD for casual Saturday lunch. These Nine West pumps haven't seen the light of day for a good year now.. time to bring 'em out! And my faaav jacket from Korea :)

weekend in photos

I don't post too many outfits, but this weekend I dressed a bit more "fun" than usual... which is still pretty simply. Haha. What can I say ~ I'm a cotton tee + leggings type of gal! Putting on something other than a heather grey tee is hard work for me!

Saturday morning I was checking out apartments.. didn't know it would be FREAKING HOT in SF!! Like 75 degrees in the Richmond!!! Richmond never breaks 65.. so this was quite shocking.

I spent the night at mom's, so this is all I had packed:

Ralph Lauren sunnies

Gap 3/4 sleeve cardigan

Puella tank

Target leggings

no name brand sandals from DSW

My sister got me the sunnies when I was in high school... can I call that vintage? LOL. I love them though ~ they sit on my nose and NOT on my cheeks.. and ♥♥♥ the gold studs!!!

The shoes are cheap and no name brand.. but VERY comfie, and 2" heel is perfect to run around all day in!! Price to me means nothing. I have expensive stuff that's not all that great compared to some of my cheap stuff.

After the morning appointments, I had to change into something more suitable for the weather! I took ExtraPetite's advice and tried to dress up the outfit.. rather than pair the shorts with, say, an A&F logo tee and my go-to Reef flip flops, I wore the same wedges from earlier, and a lightweight wool top.

Gap sweater

H&M "Divided" shorts

And then before having drinks at Sundance Kitchen (next door to Sundance theater in SF Japantown), I changed to a button down. I thought it was slightly dressier than the sweater, but it's still really casual..

H&M top

vintage belt

H&M shorts again

Aerosole wedges

Delicious kahlua pork + cheese fries.

Expensive ($4.50!!) spam musubi... the THINNEST slice of spam I've ever seen!

Too lazy to figure out a different outfit for the next day.. so reached for the same shorts, again, and just changed the top hahahaha...

Puella dress (stupid me shrunk the damn thing.. so now it's a top >.< )

Later in the afternoon, I went to Oakland to watch SATC2. Oakland is a bit more casual, so didn't get super dressed up. Originally was gonna wear outfit on left, but changed to the right b/c I thought about wearing a skirt in a theater (my mom got bugbites before...), and I knew the A/C would be blasting.

Semantiks silk blouse

Forever 21 belt

Yesstyle skirt (has gold zipper in back down the entire length)

Cynthia Vincent for Target sandals

unknown brand yoga leggings from Nordstrom rack

I'm sure most of you have watched SATC2 by now! I loved it! Great fun to watch, and good for some giggles. I didn't have expectations, and didn't anticipate it besting the 1st one, I think that's why I enjoyed it so much.....

And, for the record, John James Preston ~ I will never nag and bitch at you like Carrie! Marry meeeeeee!!!

part deux

weekend cont'd...

Saturday night I chilled at my sister's house.

mango mojitos w/my sister's homegrown mint leaves

butternut squash raviolis, herb salad

aren't the pastas pretty?

And then after playing with the doggies, we did our nails :)

I saw this youtube tutorial, and told my sister to do her nails that way (pink base, silver glitter tip, red glitter heart):

I used Revlon Tropical Temptation for my toes, and some flower stickers

Sunday was even hotter than Saturday in the bay area, so decided to take my mommy down to San Jose for some 85 degree weather, and CRAWFISHESSSSSS! (or is it crayfish? are they the same thing??)

My sister.. always so stylish :)

Charlotte Russe top and F21 short shorts.

Nine West shoes.

Tory Burch bag.

My mommy is stylish too!

Laundry by Shelli Segal dress.

Coach purse

So I didn't recognize my mom's dress, and I usually know when my mom buys something new. So, as we're waiting for crawfish, I asked my mom where she got the dress. And she replied, "Gilt". And I was like WHOA gilt like GILT GROUPE? LOL. Apparently my sister was thinking the same, b/c she was like, "Gilt, like Gilt Groupe?" It's funny b/c my friends and I always check that site, but I didn't think my mom was on there! Good deal.

I had wanted to wear one of my Puella dresses (website under construction, but you can find Puella pieces at shopstyle http://www.shopstyle.com/browse/Puella). This is one of my FAV dresses b/c the material and cut are sooo nice... and it's a SoCal brand so when I wear it reminds me of when my sister used to live in the beach town and I would visit...

BUT stupid stupid me put it in the dryer.. and since there's stretch in the dress I thought it wouldn't shrink! BUT IT DID >.<>

Sooo.. wore this instead.

Wet Seal dress.

Target kids sandals (size 3 fits like women's size 5!) ~ only $10!!!

My turn to wear the earrings! (Changed finding to clip-on)

And I love yellow gold.. decided to layer a couple necklaces.

Loving my new Swarovski baroque pendant hanging on a gold leaf bail :))

And now for your listening pleasure..

Recently discovered Yiruma from sweet Caroline (http://thesweetreverie.blogspot.com/), and found some of his sheet music on the web.

No critics, assholes! LOL. Seriously though, it's my second time sight-reading the damn thing, so no critics!

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why hello, sunshine

My weekend is starting off beautifully!

Saturday morning, I woke up to bright sunshine :) So bright, in fact, that I couldn't sleep in as I had originally planned. My sister came over with her two lil doggies ~ a toy poodle, and a teddy bear pup (1/2 bichon, 1/2 shih tzu), and we walked them around the 'hood.

OOTD

J. Crew sweater, Ralph Lauren kids skinny zip (sz 12) jeans, Nine West shoes, Gucci shades

The RL jeans are ON SALE at Bloomie's right now originally $95, they are now $12 (http://www1.bloomingdales.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=480287&CategoryID=10143),

They fall down without a belt... but I hate wearing belts :\ Oh well, saggy butt :(

I LOVE the back pockets, and the side zippers

Thanks again to PetiteAsianGirl (www.extrapetite.com) for alerting us to the Bloomie's sale, and kids size 12 jeans!!!!!

My sister wore a stylish flowery romper (from boutique), and Tory Burch purse.

She's wearing these earrings, which were $3.80 from Forever 21 :)

And I'm wearing this ring that she got me, also from Forever 21 :)

It matches this bracelet that I bought in Japantown recently, during the blog meetup outing :)

I love how gold jewelry can perk up an outfit. Excuse the wrinkled sweater.. I HATE ironing!

And lastly, I've been craving Italian ever since my return from Boston. I miss the margherita pizza from Bertucci's, and just Italian food in general there. San Francisco doesn't have good Italian food. So, I've been making my own:

Caprese salad.

Fresh mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, EVOO, balsalmic vinegar

Pasta.

Penne, fresh garlic, fresh basil, EVOO, balsalmic vinegar, red chili flakes