In Other News...

...I am now engaged! Way to end 2011 huh? ;)

Happy New Year and thank you so much for interacting with me on this little blog (even though my posts are so sporadic!) I hope 2011 was nice to you and here's to an even better 2012. <333

A New Work Bag

Ever since I sold my Chanel GST earlier this year, I have been hunting for a more suitable work bag. Although I adore the GST, it was much too heavy for my weak frame. In the years I've had it, it was rarely used yet the shape loss was clearly evident, a definite dealbreaker for me. So I had to bid goodbye...

Since then, I have been looking for something more functional, using the following requirements as a guideline:
- top zipper
- light weight
- top handles + cross-body
- fits at least a laptop + binder at the same time

I considered the LV Palermo (not big enough + trying to stay away from the Monogram Canvas), LV Siracusa (wish it comes in Damier Ebene Canvas instead of Azur), Celine luggage tote (too heavy), and Balenciaga (too casual chic for the office). Disappointed that none of them lived up to my expectations, I stopped looking for awhile.

A few weeks ago, I stopped by the Louis Vuitton store to "browse around" and saw something that immediately caught my eyes. I hastily grilled the SA for more information and he said this design just came out a couple of weeks ago. As much as I wanted to scoop it up and take it home with me, I resisted the urge and went home to sleep on it. Upon further research, I found out that this design was available sometime in 2010 (sold in select stores only). Within one year, the price had already jumped by several hundred dollars. Are you freaking kidding me? So not happy...but...still...want...

Anyway, the color that originally caught my eyes is called Flamme (a deep purple, perfect for fall). When I showed bf some different options, he preferred Ombre (a nice taupe/brown). But those two colors were no longer in the running as I now have my heart set on Orage. It took a week to track down but I finally received it in my little hands last week.

And here's to my first "reveal" on this blog:

Name/Model: LV Monogram Empreinte Lumineuse PM in Orage

Measurements: 17.5" x 11.8" x 7.1" 

Features: top leather handles + removable strap for cross-body wear; zip front/inside pocket; padlock; top zipper; lined with striped textile

As you can see, it fits my stuff nicely...can wear it dressed up or down.

I attended a wedding in Dallas last weekend and used this purse as an under-the-seat carry-on. After the church ceremony, bf & I went to this beautiful park and snapped some pix. No, I did not wear the work bag with my cocktail dress, just wanted to show you how it looks on a 5'2 person. :)

Moi and the "wilderness" :P

This must be my favorite LV purchase yet. What do you think, yay or nay? ;)

NYC Edition

Hello everyone,

Boyfriend and I were in NYC around mid-October to celebrate our 3 year anniversary. I wasn't really sure what to expect since I'm from Hell-Ay...and some friends have suggested that NY is not very different from where we live. But it IS different, soooo different! For instance, I love the public transportation there, love that it's a walking city, love the energy, but most importantly...love that there are restaurants/food carts/shops everywhere. So exciting!

cheesy cheesy with Lady Liberty

(daydreaming in Central Park; p.s. saw these not-so-basic flats on Wendy's Lookbook and had to have them!)

(at Grand Central Station; LOVE sign {it was pouring that day}; and Ellis island {down & dirty to capture the perfect shot :P})

(St. Patrick's Cathedral; Picassos at MOMA; trying on Louboutins at Barneys)

And now...onto the FOOD :D

From top left going clockwise:

1. Shake Shack Burger: oh boy the line was long but thankfully it was moving fairly fast. Food was definitely yummy in my tummy but equivalent to a heart attack waiting to happen lol...
2. cute little cake bites from "baked by melissa"
3. ramen from Totto Ramen. My NYC friends also recommended Ippudo but it was out of our way so we came here instead. This teeny eatery opens at noon, we got there at 11:30am and we were 4th in line! Yikessss! It was well worth it though. (btw, I'm starting to feel like all Asians frequent the same restaurants haha)
4. pastrami at Carnegie Deli--we are still drooling over this :)

1. dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. Verdict: we like it more than Din Tai Fung in LA! Although the skin is a bit thicker than DTF, the meat is more juicy and the soup is definitely more savory/sweet.
2. red bean & lychee ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
3. chicken/lamb + rice at Halal cart on 53rd and 6th (we came at an odd hour so there were only a dozen people in front of us. YESSS!)
4. pizza at Lombardi's, first pizzeria in NY.

1. Italian appetizers at Carmine's
2. coconut rice pudding at Rice to Riches
3. bf's sushi (don't remember restaurant)
4. my "cooked" sushi

That's all folks. ;) We took so many pictures (but of course our faces are clearly visible so I can't share them on this blog). Hopefully the ones posted are small/blurry enough where you can't make out my face haha.

Really, we LOVE New York! <333

Cocktail Attire

Hello world,

It's me...your worst blogger eva! Sorry for the disappearance, but it's really my niece's fault. Babysitting is now officially my 2nd job. :]

Dress: BCBGeneration

Necklace: eBay; Ring: YSL

Purse: Chanel East/West

Shoes: CL Simple 85

I wore this dress to a friend's wedding a couple of weeks ago. I love the hot pink color, lace, and unique pleat placements. Unfortunately, the top part was cut too generously. It was an eBay purchase so I gotta make do.

Hope you all are doing well. Let's hope the babysitting business eases up a bit so I can get back to this little hobby called blogging. <3

Tweed Pants

Top: Banana Republic (PXS)

Pants: Victoria's Secret

Shoes: BCBGirls

Purse: Chanel

Necklace: Monet; Ring: Forever 21

Nothing screams fall like tweed. Although it's just starting to heat up in Southern California, I look forward to cooler weather just so I can legitimately pull out my tweeds. Note that I despise cold weather...but I love dressing for it!

This lace top is one of my recent purchases and I love it. When bf first saw it, he said I have too many similar items already! I had to convince him that I don't lol.

Boyfriend and I are traveling to New York later this fall...and let me tell ya, I can't wait to see some real autumn leaves! If you're from the NY area or around there, please recommend any sightseeing activities and yummy eateries, bf and I thank ya much! ;)

California Girlz

Top: Forever 21

Skirt: H&M

Belt: Fred Flare

Necklace: eBay

Purse: Louis Vuitton

Shoes: Louboutin Simple 85

Boyfriend lives next to a beautiful hilltop park but our busy/lazy selves rarely venture out there. Now that summer is almost over, we're reminding ourselves to take advantage of the beautiful weather and landscape available in front of us.

Palm trees, green grass, view of the city...right in our backyard.

I seriously had the hardest time styling this lace skirt. Something about it is just "off" and no matter how many tops I put on, I wasn't happy. In the end, simplicity won. I'm still not satisfied but whatevers.

On a different note...I first saw Katherine of Feather Factor sporting a long four-leave clover necklace and I thought it was super adorbs. Fast forward a few months, as I was browsing eBay, I came across a similar piece and jumped on the cheapie deal. A few days later, I was flipping through Lucky magazine and literally *GASPED* as I saw the price tag on the real deal. I am a jewelry novice and do not know much about brands/pricings at all. Katherine, please forgive me if you're reading this. All I can say is...Kat is a real baller haha.

California sunset on a gorgeous day...

Happy Monday dear friends!!! Hope you're enjoying your summer. <3

PFC #9: Dressing in the Heat Wave

Ms. Elle of Fast Food and Fast Fashion is our gracious host for this month's petite fashion challenge. She has asked us to "...create an outfit that accounts for the various environmental factors that plague us in the summer. I want to know how you dress when it's 90 degrees outside and 65 degrees inside."

Now, I always carry a jacket around with me even when it's 100 degrees and counting. I get cold and sneezy very easily, and of course that holds true for the office environment as well...

Jacket: H&M

Dress: BCBG

Floral Scarf: H&M

Purse: Chanel m/l

Shoes: Louboutin Simple 85

My normal work staples include trouser pants, pencil skirts, cute tops/blouses, and sheath dresses. In the summer, I often wear more "fun" dresses that are still conservative enough for 9 to 5. This light yellow dress is cheerful, lightweight, and can be worn for both work and fun.

The dress looks lovely on its own when the weather is scorching outside. I pile on a light blazer and scarf for the AC-blasting office. *I must make a conscious effort not to reach for this blazer because I wear it entirely too much!* I actually don't keep the scarf on my neck, but use it to cover my bare legs because they turn purple and blue and full of goosebumps when it's cold. :D

I adore all the pleated details on this number....

....and adore the nude red soles...

I hope I did ok with this challenge and can't wait to see you ladies' outfits. Please head over to Fast Food and Fast Fashion to see all the entries.

Happy Heat Wave but stay cool! :)

A Foodie Birthday Weekend

Me, my sidekick and bf's dog

It was my birthday recently (another Cancer in the house!) and boyfriend spoiled me with food food and more food. When he said that I could eat to my satisfaction all weekend, I litterally started mapping out all the places I wanted to hit up haha...

At first, I put on a cute little dress but was wise enough to change into this "pregnant lady" dress in order to accommodate all the eatings. By the way, I saw the black version of this H&M purse in Lucky magazine and loved it...but after seeing the cognac version on Jean, I am sold! This girl is the shopping guru! ;)

Birthday flowers from mi man. ;)

When I saw this cake, I was like "holy, you're creative!" He filled the basket with my favorite tropical fruits and put the cake on top! Oh heck yesssss!!! <3

He took me to my favorite restaurant, Crustacean. We indulged in lobster with garlic noodles, roasted crab with garlic noodles, and grilled lamb chops. Everything was oh-so-amazing!!! *drools* I want more...

From top left going clockwise:
1. My leftover lunch from Crustacean. Ok I must admit that I'm a food addict; all I thought about that morning was "is it lunch time yet?" haha. I wanted to get to my garlic noodles!
2. Ice cream crepe from Harajaku Crepe. Green tea batter, vanilla bean ice cream, nutella, strawberry, blueberry, whipped cream, almond. Uhhh need I say more?
3. Goodies from 85 degrees. My fav is the marble taro.
4. Look at this gigantic basket of tropical fruits that bf got me. How can I not love him? :D

1. Fresh oysters for bf. I refuse to touch this stuff.
2. Crawfish at Boiling Crab. My weakness can be summed up in 3 words: lobster, crab, and crawfish. Done.
3. We went to OC Fair for the first time and had more food. This is pork ribs with all the fixin' + blue moon beer.
4. Fried avocado and fried twinkies. We wanted to try other crazy fried food but were soooo full. Sucks man :/

We went fishing at night and caught 4 catfish. More like bf fishing while I slept in the tent. :P There were lots more foodies but I forgot to take pix. :( When you put food in front of me, it's hard to think about anything else, ya know? :D

Happy Monday everyone!

A "Tall" Petite

Blazer: BCBG (more than half of my BCBG stuff are from eBay)

Top: Ann Taylor; Skirt: LOFT

Shoes: Christian Louboutin Prorata

Purse: Chanel Jumbo

Watch: Omega; Rings: H&M

Prior to finding the petite community, I've always felt like I'm the shortest/scrawniest person in this world. I was so self-conscious of my stature that I even "lied" about my weight on my driver license...putting me at 5 lbs. heavier than I really was. Most of it didn't come within as I'm a pretty confident person; but hearing those comments from extended family members, peers, co-workers etc... do get to me after a while. I guess I was really skinny which makes for an easy target. At one point during my undergrad years, I weighed 78 lbs. standing at 5 feet 2 inches tall. I couldn't gain weight no matter how much I eat and eat and eat... (I wish I could say the same now lol.)

Since then, I have gained a few (a lot actually haha) so the skinny part isn't so much an issue anymore. Moreover...I now realize that at 5'2, my height actually ranks me as one of the medium-taller petites. I feel so fortunate that my pencil skirts always hit above the knees and I rarely have to hem pants (money saved). Some inseams are actually short on me; for example, the infamous petite Gap legging jeans (made popular by the lovely Jean of Extra Petite). I had to go with regular sizing because P00 barely hit my ankles! Now only if companies would stop offering such ginormous pieces as their smallest sizings, because overall fit is still an issue. I definitely feel for you ladies that are smaller than I am. Shopping must be so difficult (but I hope it's at least fun).

I'm so thankful I've found a community that understands what I've gone through as a "small" person. I'm sure many of us have it worse. Now I can truly say that I embrace my petite-ness, flaws and all! Kinda proud of it, actually. ;)

Jamaican Sun

Hello lovelies,

Boyfriend and I were in Jamaica last week soaking up some sun! Not that we don't have enough sun and beaches in CA, but it's always nice to take a break to nourish the soul. This was probably our most relaxing vacation yet...

From top left going clockwise:

1. Iberostar Grand all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay
2. one of the nicest/biggest rooms we've stayed at
3. fully stocked fridge but we don't really drink boohoo :'(
4. from the reading chaise looking out to our private patio (omg there's a swing!!!)

I feel like the little Mermaid in this dress hehehe....

Overlooking all of Montego Bay...

1. we took a safari jeep tour to explore Jamaican rainforest

2. haunted tree. it was used to hang slaves back in the days so there are supposedly lots of haunted spirits around there *shudders*

3. waterfall & lush rainforest

4. what used to be a slave hospital but now it's an Anglican church

Nooooo don't jumpppppp!!! :P

Some stuff we ate...

1. starter course with potatoes/tomatoes and some other goodies that i forgot

2. lobster salad with tomato sherbet

3. our midnight room service snack complete with mimosas and ice cream lol...

4. candied salmon

1. lobster thermidor

2. surf and turf

3. phyllo dough filled with vanilla cream

4. saint honore. gosh these desserts were to die for!!!

Boyfriend's choice of morning exercise: karate chops!!!

My choice of morning exercise: playing in the water??? LOL...

Life's a beach... ;) Hope you enjoy travelling along with us to Jamaica! <3 Yeah mon!!!!