Firecracker

This week I finished a blouse that I have been working on for 3 weeks. It was a little more advance than what I was sewing before and I used a new slippery fabric that made sewing more of a challenge. Also, it took almost 3 full hours just to cut out the pattern- crazy! I'm so glad I decided to take on this blouse because I learned so much! I learned how to make pleats and sew a princess seam, things I didn't know how to do before.

These sewing classes were taken at Sew LA- I've been going there for a couple months now and they are awesome! This particular class was taught by the talented Christine Haynes- she's actually trying to kickstart her new line of sewing patterns!! Help her reach her goal of $6,500 to launch her adorable patterns here.

The fabric sorta reminds me of firecrackers and the 4th of July. I guess I'm a little late as 4th of July was almost a month ago- but hey! Maybe next year I can wear it!

Outfit Details:

Top- Sewaholic 1001 Pendrell Blouse

Skirt- Urban Outfitters

Purse- by Hobo from Nordstrom

Shoes- by Report from Nordstrom

Glasses- Marc by Marc Jacobs

Belt- Anthropologie

I love this blouse so much that I may just make another one. Have you done something that was challenging but then you were glad that you did it?

Awkward and Awesome Thursday!

Dress-Anthro; Cardigan- Anthro; Shoes- Seychelles; Clutch- Anthro; Necklace- J.Crew

Happy Thursday! This photo was taken by my dear husband a couple weekends ago when we were in Seattle for a wedding. I think this may be my new favorite dress- the cut is amazing, I love the color, and the print is awesome. I mean, they're mini elephants! 


I decided to play Sydney's Awkward and Awesome Thursdays again so here goes:

Awkward:
- Buying 8 boxes of choco tacos for Tad's birthday fiesta and having the grocery clerk look at me strangely. Obviously, they aren't all for me.
- My yucky red highlights that are fading. I'm thinking of dying my hair back to black so I don't have to keep maintaining it.
- Having my 2 year old niece tell me that the bottom of my foot is dirty- in front of my mom and cousin.
- Coming out of the hospital elevator and having someone say " Hi Doctor". Instead of correcting him, I just said hi back and walked away.
- Being the first of my friends at the bar then having to wait 30 minutes for all the other girls to show up. I ordered a drink and sat by myself at the bar...with weirdo guys around me...awkward...

Awesome:
- Finally finished sewing a cute blouse that I've been working on. It was a lot of work- just cutting out the pattern took me 3 hours!
- My tattoo has peeled and is almost healed. Yay.
- Discovering that Costco sells individual packs of edamame that you can just heat up in 3 minutes. Yum!
- Getting together for pizza with good friends Jenn and Allen- they just came back from a trip to Japan and it was fun hearing about their adventures.
- Going out for ice cream before dinner with Tad. We did it yesterday (in case you're wondering, I had jamoca almond fudge).

So that's my awkward and awesome Thursday!! Did anything awkward and awesome happen to you this week?

Smooching Glasses

Some of you may have been wondering why I'm all of a sudden wearing glasses...yes? Well that's because I just got a new pair and I love them! This is probably the first time I really like my frames. I've never really liked how glasses looked on me so I usually just pop in my contacts but this time I've been thinking of my glasses more as an accessory to my outfit. Hmm...I sense another collection coming on...I just might be on the lookout for more cute frames.

These little pair is by Marc by Marc Jacobs and if you look closely, you'll see little kisses. I got a super great deal on them because my optometrist just happens to be my best friend Sharon! She helped me pick out these frames. She knows my style so well!

These photos were taken by my co-worker Sherome while we were on lunch break at work. We walked out to a staircase and luckily no one walked by. Or they may have thought we were weird. But we're not, I swear.

My contacts may spend more time soaking in their solution and case now that I got these. I love them. Makes me look smart. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Which do you like better? If you don't need glasses, do you wear fake ones? (When I was younger, my good friend had these awesome purple glasses so I used to wish for glasses and was dissappointed when my optometrist said my eyes were fine and I didn't need glasses). 

Lobster and the Great Wall

A few days ago Tad and I were walking around Old Town Pasadena when we came across this alley. We've walked pass this alley tons of times but never actually walked through it. We had some time to kill so we took a quick stroll through and to our surprised we discovered that all the walls were brightly painted!

I was so excited- and I just happened to have my camera on me (well, I guess that's not actually that rare).

So I had Tad take some photos of me. I think his photography skills are pretty good! Thanks to the practice he's getting from this blog. Hehehe.

Pardon my no make-up face. It was a long day at work.

Outfit details:

Dress- Anthropologie

Cardigan- Anthropologie

Shoes- Seychelles

Belt- Anthropologie

Necklace- bought on our honeymoon in Greece

I'll be visiting this alley a lot now that I know what it's hiding- there's many more pretty walls to take photos in front of so I'll be dragging Tad along with me to take cute outfit photos to share with you.

Have you ever discovered something new in a place that you've been to time and time again?

Summer Night Heels

Happy monday all! Despite having to work, I still had a great weekend. On Friday night I celebrated my cousin's birthday with a girls' night out at Nic's Martini Lounge in Beverly Hills. I really love this place- they have a live band, great atmosphere, and yummy drinks. If you're in LA, you should definitely check it out.

On Saturday night, we celebrated a birthday dinner at Malbec in Pasadena (I had the skirt steak with chimichurri sauce and it was so unbelievably delicious). Then on Sunday night I had awesome pizza at The Luggage Room with my good friends Jenn and Allen, which was nice because I haven't seen them in for-eva (well, it feels like that)!

This is the outfit I wore out to girls' night. I was super excited to wear these shoes! I ordered them online from Modcloth, hoping they wouldn't be too uncomfortable and difficult to walk in. Boy was I surprised! These were sooo comfy- probably my most comfy pair of heels/wedges I own- even rivaling the comfiness of my flats! Plus, they are super super cute. The bow even removes so you can wear it on the side. Awesome.

I later saw these shoes on Rebecca's blog and I was excited to see what she wore them with. I love how she styled it with a navy blue dress. I have only one navy dress and I can't wait to try to replicate her outfit. What can I say? This girl's style is so inspiring.

Outfit Details:

Dress- Urban Outfitters

Shoes- Modcloth

Glasses- Marc by Marc Jacobs

I know these shoes may not be practical on most days but I'm tempted to wear them with everything. And everywhere. Especially when they are so comfy. I already picked out so many cute outfits to pair them with.

Do you have a pair of shoes you love so much that you want to wear them all the time? I even thought of wearing these to a BBQ but thought I better not. Unless I want werid stares. Like, why is that girl wearing such fancy shoes to a BBQ? Whatever. They're just jealouse because they want these shoes too.

I Want Candy!

TGIF! TGIF! TGIF! TGIF!

I woke up feeling happy today! Maybe it's because it's Friday, I got to sleep in, and I'm not working today.

Or maybe it's because my hubby and I are going to Costco today for groceries- I know, silly...but I love stocking up on yummy food. Plus, I love eating the free samples. Silly again.

Or maybe it's because I'm planning on visiting a few of my favorite thrift stores in Pasadena.

Or maybe it's because my tattoo has started to scab over and peel so it'll be pretty really soon.

Or maybe it's because tonight I'm going out for a girls' night out at Nic's Martini Lounge.

Whatever the reason for the fantastic mood that I'm in, it made me want to throw on something super fun  and colorful.

Enters this bold, bright, and yummy dress from Modcloth. It's actually called the "good enough to eat dress." Yum.

Outfit details:

Dress- Modcloth

Shoes- Jeffrey Campbell

Cupcake Necklace- gift from my hubby

Not sure if you can see it, but my necklace is of a cupcake- and you know how I love my cupcakes!

I hope you're all in a fantastic mood today too- have a super weekend everyone!

VIntage Blues

You probably remember this dress from yesterday's post but that's because I've been wearing it all week! I picked this up at the Pasadena Flea Market a few weeks ago and after taking it in a little at the top, it fit me perfectly! I didn't even have to shorten it (most dresses are a tad long on me- I'm barely 5'2). It's super comfortable and is made of quality fabric- it even has raised designs. These are photos were taken while Tad and I were in Seattle last weekend.

necklace- forever 21

Do you have any great vintage dresses? I think this dress might be my favorite find!

Cupcake Love

I got something very new that I want to share with you....I got a tattoo!! I've wanted one on the inside of my wrist for some time but it took me a while to think of what I wanted. I wanted something very "me" and if you've been reading my blog, you know that I love anything cute, girly, and colorful. You probably also know that I love to bake. And what is my favorite thing to bake, you might ask? Why, cupcakes of course!

Yup, that's right, I got a tattoo of a cute cupcake. Yum.

I love my cupcake so much! It was totally worth the pain- which wasn't even that bad. I think I psyched myself up so much that it was gonna hurt like hell so it didn't seem that painful. I think I was even more relaxed than when I'm at the dentist. But I also really hate going to the dentist. A lot.

The very next day that I got this tattoo, I was reading Sara's blog and she posted a tutorial on cupcake nails. Cupcake nails!! How cool is this photo she posted- and how fitting! I know that in a few days my tattoo is gonna start peeling and get ugly before it gets pretty but I can't wait to rock these nails while I show off my cupcake! 

Just for fun, here are a few of my favorite cupcakes that I've baked:

Do you have a tattoo? Or are you thinking of getting one? What you would get?

What a Girl Needs (vs. What a Girl Wants)

Whew! I had a crazy busy (but fun) weekend! On Friday, I went surfing in San Onofre and caught some really fun waves, then we flew out to Seattle for a wedding super early Saturday morning (gorgeous wedding by the way), then flew back home super early Sunday, and lastly, I had a photo shoot with Kristine Ko yesterday evening. Phew! I'm exhausted but happy! I didn't really have time to write any new posts but here's one I had saved up for a while now :)

I know I have more clothes in my closet than I need (what girl doesn't?) and my usual complaints of "I have nothing to wear" really means "I have nothing that I want to wear" but I'm starting to realize that there are a few holes in my wardrobe. Now, these aren't things that I can't live with. But they are things that would allow me to  expand my closet a little more...which will be cheaper than buying more clothes... so it's actually cost-saving. Right.

1. A red belt. I think this dress would look awesome with a red belt on. Actually, I don't think a girl can have too many different colored belts.

2. Black shoes- Surprisingly, I think I only have one pair of black heels. It's not like I don't like black shoes but I usually gravitate toward color. But there are times when you just need black shoes!

3. Flats- I have only 2 pair of flats and these are the ones I wear to work. On days off, I usually wear something with a little heel. Maybe it's cuz my husband is so much taller than me and makes me feel like a gnome. There's been a few occasions where I wore heels in inappropriate places. Like spending a day walking in SF. Crazy, I know.

4. A bandeau top- this is an item that will allow me to wear about 4 tops in my closet that I don't really wear because I don't have one. See? Totally needed so I wouldn't be wasting the money I spent on those tops.  If I don't get one, well, that would just be a waste of money.

Outfit:

Dress- from Lace Affair

Shoes- on sale at Aldo

Belt- Anthropologie

Bracelet- my mom's

I think those are all the items I need in my closet. Definitely not all the things that I want!

Are there some things you really just need in your closet to be able to expand your outfits?