Purse Addict

Happy Happy Hermes Hermes...HERMES!!!

2011-11-06T23:24:00.000-08:00

A little over a month left before I'm 50% done with law school! I will always remember this semester as the semester when I became an H addict. It was a good "getaway" from school but now I have to read, outline, read, outline, make flashcards, read, and outline. Before I begin my journey into Finals Hell, heres that uber exciting Hermes post I promised.......

Heres adorable Olivia trying to steal the show (I tried getting Libby to do something cute for the camera but she wasn't as into the orange boxes as Olivia..typical):

First, a few more bracelets. These things are so damn addictive but I try to keep them towards the bottom of my list. That way more can go towards the bigger investment pieces:

Gold blk on blk clic clac:

Blk lizard CDC with PHW

I wasn't sure if I was a fan at first. Bulky and not really my style but the more I wear it, the more I love it. I still want something with GHW but for now, this will do.

Next, agenda upgrade! I was finding my regular Globetrotter to be somewhat of a pain. I found myself constantly being paranoid abt the edges getting bent out of shape. After some research, I decided it was time to upgrade to the zipper version.

Rose Shocking Globetrotter with zipper in Mysore leather:

Okay, I need a minute to gush abt the color. I actually gasped out loud when I saw it for the first time. SO freakin beautiful. The absolute perfect fuchsia. I originally ordered this in some other color that turned out to be less than impressive in real life. I asked my SA to go through the available colors with me again and after looking at swatches, I settled for Rose Shocking. Probably the best decision I made that week. Next, I need to gush abt the style. Although its three times as much as the non-zip version, its money well spent. Bc of the credit card slots and zipper compartment, it doubles as a wallet. Now I dont have to worry abt the edges getting messed up AND I have more room in my purse bc my agenda and wallet are now one.

Heres a comparison with my regular Globetrotter which I'm now using as a stay-at-home notebook:

Next, something that has been on my list for as long as I (and all of you) can remember........

.......Say hello to my orange shoulder birkin with GHW in Togo leather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I stopped by the boutique to pick up the zippered Globetrotter, I saw this for a fleeting second before it was quickly ushered into the backroom. When I asked my SA abt it, she told me that unfortunately another customer has been waiting for it. Too bad, so sad. Five minutes later, I'm chatting with my CL SA when my Hermes SA calls to tell me the customer just passed on the orange shoulder birkin so if I want it, its mine. I screamed, ran back down, and proceeded to bounce around the Hermes boutique in pure joy. Seriously love my shopping gods. Orange was my first choice but I seriously thought I would end up with an orange Lindy before I would get anywhere near an orange birkin AND I had recently been playing around with the idea of taking my name off of the regular birkin list for the SBII list. I guess my SBII and I were simply meant to be.

As the name suggests, the shoulder birkin is the regular birkin re-designed to be worn over your shoulders. Hence the squatter body shape and longer handles. The shoulder birkin was first designed by Jean Paul Gaultier in 2005 and introduced as the JPG birkin. The style was eventually discontinued only to be re-released but is now simply known as the shoulder birkin or SBII for short.

A birkin purchase isn't complete without matching twillies:

Obviously, twillies are optional but I think they add character and they keep the handles clean.

Heres my shoulder birkin's bed:

BTW, I'm not calling this her bed just cus I think its cute. Hermes actually does recommend that all birkins remain rested inside the box with their pillow when not in use.

Aaaand her raincoat:

Okay, I'll admit, this is a bit obnoxious. Esp cus I dont even own a raincoat for myself..........

As if all of that weren't enough, I got an unexpected call last week and found myself once again at my home away from home/the happiest place on earth aka my local Hermes boutique:

30cm Rouge Garance Lindy in Clemence leather (sorry for the crappy pics!):

The very first time I met my SA, I told her I wanted a red Lindy. I didn't think she would remember but apparently she did and made sure I got a chance to see this before anyone else. Bless her. The Lindy isn't for everyone but I've loved this style ever since it was first introduced in 2007. I love the slouchy shape and its casual design. A little bit of understated luxury for your everyday :)

I still have a few must-have items on my H-list but for now, must focus 200% on school. I have a million things I want to blog abt but we'll see if I can actually get to them during my study breaks. Speaking of which...it took me over an hour to draft this post!! Back to reading I go.....

Hong Kong, Shoes, Hong Kong and Shoes

2011-10-24T00:22:00.000-07:00

This post is so long overdue I'm almost embarrassed to post it : /

If you recall, I left for Hong Kong immediately after my last final back in May and before I even had time to get over my jet-lag, I was busy pretending I knew how to draft risk factors for prospectuses. I could spend days talking about my summer in Hong Kong but in the interest of time, lets focus on the SHOPPING :)

My first week in HK, just finished dinner with some family friends at a restaurant in Times Square, working my way down the mall's 13 stories via escalator, sees a small ad for the Pedder Warehouse sale on the 6th floor, stops to read the info, checks watch - 30 minutes before event closes for the day, sprints back up to the 13th floor, and grabs as many pairs of shoes as my arms can carry. There was also a lot of screaming and jumping up and down in joy.

I still cannot believe I unknowingly stumbled upon the infamous Pedder Warehouse sale. The Pedder Warehouse sale is HK's answer to the BNY Warehouse sale. Only, the focus is on SHOES. Racks and racks of Kirkwood, Louboutin, Givenchy, Lanvin, etc. The best part - it was up to 90% off. On Pedder, Lane Crawford and Louboutin HK are all part of the Pedder group so theres no need to worry about fakes. The sale happens about 3 times a year (Spring, Summer, and Fall) and its honestly worth planning your trip around. Since I walked in during closing of the second day, I cant even begin to imagine what was on the racks at the start of the first day. However, I'm not complaining...

Louboutin VP - Fuxia Paillettes

Louboutin Decolletes - Blue Paillettes

Louboutin Jean Paul Wedges in Red Patent

Giuseppe Zanotti Blk Suede Ankle Booties

Lanvin Flats

I'll have to update these pics later with the discount amt and the price in USD but everything you see above was bought at 50-90% off. Flippin' amazing.

After the Pedder sale, I was on a bargain-shopping-high and proceeded to spend hours at work researching outlet shopping in HK. My work led to me to the outlets at Ap Lei Chau, where the main attractions are Lane Crawford Warehouse and Prada Warehouse. The Lane Crawford is a hit or miss. They do have rack and racks of shoes but the selection is no where near the Pedder Warehouse selection..probably bc LC's stock are the leftovers from the Pedder sale. I did manage to find 3 highly coveted styles from Louboutin but all were 1-2 sizes too big for me. I had better luck at the Prada store where I managed to fight my way through the sea of Korean tourists and walked away with a buttery soft Gauffre clutch and saved abt $500:

My summer internship was in-tune with the summer sales happening all over HK but after Pedder, nothing struck me as a great deal. The only other sale find was from Lane Crawford:

Louboutin Blk/Beige Mago

I wasnt crazy abt the fact that these were only 30% off but after TN confirmed that they were all sold out in the States, I decided 30% off was better than not having them.

These weren't on sale but I'm sure you'll be able to see why I was willing to pay full price (both are from the On Lan Louboutin boutique in Central):

Cranberry Escandria

LOVE, Love, love these crazy shoes.

Amethyst Python VP

Can finally cross off "purple exotics" from my CL wishlist.

Okay, these I didn't get in HK but I might as well just throw them in with this post:

Chanel flats (SCP boutique)

Okay, now back to my patent law homework.

PS: UBER exciting Hermes post coming soon!!!!!!!!!

Hermes - My Final Resting Place

2011-09-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

When trying to come up with the web address for this blog, I settled for something that I regarded as the ultimate Holy Grail for all purse addicts...the Birkin. I went with "future birkin owner" bc I felt like a Birkin was the light at the end of my shopping tunnel. Today, I am still Birkin-less but I have made progress. Progress in the form of delicious orange boxes and an unnerving obsession with Hermes.

Hermes has done an excellent job in marketing their brand by making you believe you are unable to attain their merchandise. The people behind Hermes realized if you tell women they can't have something, all they will ever want is that unattainable something. Hermes has managed to make you feel like you've won the lottery even though you just handed over thousands of dollars. And the best part - it only takes one little orange box, wrapped in brown ribbon, to convince you that you need everything ever made by Hermes.

For many years, I was content with my one orange box (my black Constance belt). I knew the dangers that came with entering into H territory and so for the sake of my bank acct, stayed away. That good sense somehow all went to hell a few weeks ago.

All I wanted was a cat key chain...

You know, for Libby and Olivia...

But then again, a new agenda for school would be nice...

(I believe the color is Violine and the leather is Mysore)

And maybe something for my keys..

(The leather is Mysore but no idea abt the color...damn Hermes nomenclature is so friggin complicated)

My SA told me Hermes is removing lizard from their exotics line so of course its only right I snatch up the ombre lizard Kelly DT before they're extinct!

But then again, the Kelly DT looks a lot better when worn with friends...

(Blue Electrique Clic Clac)

(White Clic Clac)

And maybe something to hold me over til I finally get my greedy hands on a Birkin...

(24cm Ruby Constance in Epsom leather)

Connie was one expensive bitch but so beautiful. The pictures dont do her justice.

Heres a look inside...

From the side...

And of her bed...

Everyday, I have an incredible urge to drive over to my local H boutique for a quick "look." But I shouldn't and so I spend my days plowing through the H forum, dreaming of all the things I would get if I had a money tree in my backyard. That or I try on my shoes for fun lol. And so yea, thats all the orange I have for today but stay tuned for a shoe update :)

And So It Begins...

2011-09-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

Gimme a sec (or two) and I'll be back with more :)

A Year of Blog Fail

2011-05-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Oh the irony. Apparently the last time I had time for this blog was at the beginning of my first spring semester as a law student and I was facing a dire future in the land of unemployment. Then I got creative. The top US law firms only extend internship positions to the top of the top of the top US law schools. If I'm not top of the top of the top, how do I get into this fabled land of $20K yearly bonuses, $160K starting salaries, chic briefcases, and Chanel power suits? By putting my networking skills into full force. Long story short, my cousin sent my resume to some of the law firms that she works with and as it turns out, they happen to be the top law firms in the world. Before I knew it, I was setting up an interview with SA (since I realized I would love to one day work full-time for this firm, I thought it would be best to stick with initials...) and now I'm slated to start my summer internship with them on May 16th. I also found out that the company that I used to work with is actually a client of SA. I guess it was truly meant to be.

Anyhoo, my blog has all but gone down the drain. Thank you if you still check this blog from time to time. Since August of 2010, instead of Christian Louboutin, CL has come to mean "common law". Instead of picking my favorite styles of the season, I've been busy trying to figure out who my favorite Supreme Court Justice of all time is (FYI: Scalia closely trailed by Cardozo). Rather than following the drama on tPF, I spend my time trying to figure out who scored the A+* on the midterm. And instead of LMAO with DZ on gchat, I get a kick out of civ pro jokes at 8am. Oh the exciting life that I lead. Heres a quick look back:

Me and my gay boyfriend with Mr.Mike Posner at his Redbull after party:

(If I look drunk, its cus I was. That was me after 7-8 drinks. And the worst part...this picture actually made it onto some magazine...fml)

Casino Night:

SLS:

Nobu:

Mozza:

Now with only torts in between me and Sidley, instead of memorizing the duty owed to entrants on land, I've been occupied with the much more exciting task of organizing my BRAND, SPANKIN' NEW SHOE CLOSET :) Welcome to the love of my life (second to Libby and Olivia of course..):

Full view:

Pure love. I look in every morning and just sigh. This was meant to house my shoes and purses. As you can see, my army of shoes won the battle. For now, my purses have hijacked my mom's closet BUT they might get their very own space before the end of summer :)

View from bottom-left:

View from left-middle:

View from left-top:

View from right-bottom:

View from right-middle:

View from right-top:

Missing: my flats and YSL Jeanne Pumps.

I'm not gonna take close-ups of each row since you can find everything under my shoe collection post but here are my new lovelies:

Royal Blue Watersnake Biancas:

(Msr Louboutin had many styles available this S/S season in watersnake. So much so that there was actually a watersnake shortage!)

Leopard Ponyhair Madame Butterfly Pumps:

(pony hair actually = calf hair)

And now for something that bears a close resemblance to the wood carvings on the antique screens my parents have around the house...

Beige Pampas Pumps:

A little pricey for non-exotics but seriously...look at the laser-cut detail on these babies!!!!!!!

Updated shoe collection, click here.

Updated bag collection, click here.

PS: Dedicated to ND. I'm sorry I've been such a crappy friend. I love you.

Inspired

2011-01-11T23:20:00.000-08:00

Before I start the actual post, I want to apologize for not responding to comments! As you can probably guess from the lack of posts, the blog that used to be updated on a weekly basis has been put on the back burner. I see comments as they come in but often after I publish them, I forget to sign onto the blog to actually address the questions/comments. So yah, sorry!

Anyhoo, I was dejectedly looking into options for my 1L summer when I received an email from a fellow Chanel lover. While looking for the answer to her question, I skimmed through a few of my old posts and suddenly became inspired to do a quick post to get my mind off of cover letters, writing samples, etc.

Before starting school, I knew my shopping habit would tone down but between August to December, I actually outdid myself by purchasing ZERO shoes and going on ONE shopping trip. It was pretty amazing. However, as soon as the fall sale season started, the itch came back with a vengeance. After a lot of going back and forth, I ended up with three lovely pairs to get me through the semester:

Bibi - Tanzanite Suede:

Bianca + thicker heel = Bibi. Some CL lovers love the Bibi and some are thrown off by the thick heel. I ordered this pair from NM "just to try it on" and was surprised at how much I loved the thick heel. So of course, I "had" to get another pair...

Bibi - Taupe Ostrich

My SA had told me abt these back in July but when pictures came out, I crossed them off my list. Then of when I realized I loved the Bibi, I decided I was too hasty with my initial assessment of the ostrich Bibi and yah :)

And finally, the pinnacle of my CL-collecting career...BROWN (aka Gold) CROC BIANCA:

I went to CL hell and back for these shoes. Okay, maybe thats a little dramatic. Long story short, I initially ordered the denim blue ones and was in CL heaven for approximately 24 hours. My SA woke me up the next morning to tell me that she just realized that the shoes were two different tones of blue and wasnt sure if she should send them out. What followed was five days of me bemoaning my ill-fated love affair with croc to anyone who would listen and nearly going blind from staring at the blurry Blackberry pic my SA had sent me. Just as I had come to terms with the fact that it just wasn't meant to be, my SA emailed me pics of the brown crocs and life made sense again.

Of course, no shoe purchase is complete without Libby and Olivia trying out the boxes:

I'll have to update the collection post later cus I'm tired : /

My Life As A Infrequent Blogger

2010-09-27T22:47:00.000-07:00

My once beloved blog. Briefing cases for class and outlining for exams has replaced shopping online and stalking SAs worldwide. The other day I was finishing up a interview for a fellow blogger (more details about that later) and I had to look through some of the pictures I had previously taken for this blog. As I went through my pictures, I realized how painfully unglamorous it is to be a student. But then again, no pain, no gain. A lack of shopping now will translate into Chanel suits, more SHOES(!!), and BIRKINS(!!) later on...or at least thats what I tell myself every morning when my alarm goes off at 5:45am : ) Anyhoo, as part of adjusting to life as a student, I had a long and hard battle with which bag to use for school. I came THIIIIS close to purchasing a backpack but when I tried to picture my outfits with a backpack, I decided to go with more fashion-friendly choices:

Longchamp Le Pliage (from the Art Deco collection):

This bag is lightweight and super roomy BUT there are no compartments so you literally have to fish for your keys and cell phone.

LV Totally GM:

I originally wanted the Neverfull but that was sold out so I ended up getting the Totally and looking back, THANK GOD the Neverfull was all gone. This bag is bigger, has a zipper, sturdier handles, and more compartments than the Neverfull. My shopping gods are good to me.

When in Rome...

Heh, I couldn't help myself and picked up the 6 key holder when I was getting the Totally...

Sigh, okay no more procrastinating, time to finish the memo I was supposed to have finished yesterday...!!

School, Wedding, School

2010-08-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

Despite previously promising more frequent posting, orientation, moving, first week of classes, and IC's (I guess IW would be more appropriate now!) wedding took up the bulk of my time, energy, and focus. My move-in day somehow got mixed up with first day of orientation and then my first week of law school concluded with me rushing off to SF for the wedding so yah, I'm pretty pooped. The new apt is beautiful, even if I still haven't found the time to take advantage of our various amenities and oh yea, I'm missing just about my entire shoe collection :( I tried to pick only my "sensible" pairs for school but at this point, I've pretty much decided that my next visit home will consist of me dragging over as many pairs of shoes as I possibly can. If you recall the pic of my shoe closet at home, you can probably understand my pain when you see my current "shoe closet":

I realized early on that it would be extremely easy to fall into the habit of and trudging along to class in my sweats and flip-flops so I'm making a conscious effort to keep up appearances for the sake of my sanity and because yoga pants are not good for the waistline. I'll try to remember not to change into my pjs as soon as I get out of class but for now, I only have today's outfit pic to share:

Dress from H&M and Gucci flats.

Enough about me, lets talk about IW's incredible wedding. For anyone looking for a venue in the Bay Area, check out Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton. A M A Z I N G. And you get to oogle and drool over ginormous mansions while enjoying the ceremony :) Besides the gorgeous venue, the food was delicious, excellent music, HOT pastor, sensitive husband (DW started crying the minute IW started her walk down the isle..HAHA), and of course, seeing IW in her dress was priceless. Just looking at these pics makes me a little emotional and I miss all my Bay Area friends already :(

(I dont know why but I feel like I dont look like myself in any of the pictures...if you're having the same problem, I'm the third one from the left..)

(Our dresses were grey with purple sashes and we were asked to wear our favorite silver shoes. My choice: anthracite glitter NPs by Msr. CL)

(OH YEA, I CAUGHT THE BOUQUET!!!!! And yes, I danced with it the entire night while screaming "I'M GETTING MARRIED NEXT" at the top of my lungs. LOL, good times. The guy next to me caught the garter but he didn't have to fight nearly as hard as I had to for my bouquet.)

If you dont believe all my gushing, this picture is proof that I and D's wedding was one of the best in wedding history...who else had a Stormtrooper at their reception?!?!

What The Flap?!

2010-08-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

I purchased my first Chanel flap in 2007, I paid $2250 for the Jumbo. Today the Jumbo is priced at $3500. The 227 2.55 I bought in 2008 was $2850, today the 227 is $4000. Um, WHAT THE F*CK?! Supposedly Chanel wants consumers to stop overexposing the brand - they want an Hermes-esque rep, not an LV-esque rep. Thats very Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel but seriously, when I can afford to spend $4000+ on a leather purse, I'll make sure NOT to spend it at Chanel and instead, add the money to my Hermes fund (or knowing me, I'll probably end up spending the money on shoes!). Since I doubt Chanel will bring the prices back down to the $2500-3000 range, I dont see myself getting a new flap...ever again. That doesn't mean I wont ever spend money on Chanel again but definitely staying away from Chanel flaps. Very sad way to end such a loving relationship but at least I'll have more money for CLs and Bals now!! Hah, just kidding, sorta.

Remember Me??

2010-08-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

Holy blog fail, Batman!! I think I tried to make up for the past 3.5 years of 8+ hours spent in front of my work computer gchatting, emailing, surfing forums and blogs, watching youtube videos, etc. by avoiding my laptop like the plague. But no worries, the crazy cat girl with the unhealthy shoe habit is back and hopefully will never go AWOL for such an extended period of time again :)

During my hiatus, I actually wrote down a whole list of topics to blog about but what better way to get back into the blogging spirit than with a post on new shoes?!?!!

Clou Noeud:

I H A T E D these shoes when SCP first got them in for the F/W 2010 collection - 150mm, studs, bows, WTF?!!? However, these are one of those must-try-on type of styles...trust me. Most people have been rocking the Clou Noeuds with dresses but these are also ahhhhhmazing with skinny jeans (the pic I posted is horrible but I was too lazy to change jeans). Libby didn't care for the Clou Noeuds but was a big fan of the shoe box:

Gucci flats:

Got these for 75% off during the Nordstroms summer sale...so sensible and comfortable, perfect for school :) Libby also tried to get into the shoe box for the flats but it didn't go so well...

(LOL, you can see Olivia in the background of this picture, watching Libby during her struggle with the box two sizes too small for her booty...)

Chantilly Lace Fifi

These shoes make me want to get married or at the very least, go to a wedding!!

Update shoe post, click here.

PS: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who continued to leave me comments and follow my blog despite the recent shortage of updates! I promise to respond ASAP to all your comments and of course, read, comment, and follow your lovely blogs :)

Buffets, Shoes, and Joel Robuchon

2010-07-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

What I did in Vegas in 5 words or less: buffets, shoes, and Joel Robuchon. I know, I'm more like your typical 65-year-old crazy cat lady than your average 25-year-old single Asian female...

~Buffets~
Hmmm, theres not much to say cept I love Steve Wynn.

One of my Vegas buffet-eating outfits:

(Forever 21 cardigan, random top my mom got for me when she was in Korea, Spanx leggings, Chanel Maxi, and CL Alambra espadrilles)

~Joel Robuchon~
French Laundry and Joel Robuchon are the only two restaurants in the West Coast with 3 Michelin Stars. I figured I would see how JR fared against FL and as much as I hate to say it, JR wins. While Thomas Keller puts more thought into the combination of flavors and the presentation of each dish, the convenience of the limo ride, the splendor of the MGM Mansion, the magical carts (bread, cheese, and mignardises...those damn tangerine marshmallows!!!) , the generous and delicious take-home raspberry cake, and the attentive but not overbearing service all make Joel Robuchon more memorable than French Laundry. I got a little shy with the pictures though cus while it was the norm for everyone at FL to go picture-crazy, I was the only person at JR with a camera...

Joel Robuchon outfit:

(H & M dress, Dior wristlet, and Louboutin Cate Trash.)

My future home - the MGM Mansion:

If you're not on MGM's invite-list, you can also stay at one of the 2 bedroom villas for $5,000 a night. I'm going to start saving like, right now.....

Inside JR:

Pistachio raspberry cake:

~Shoes!~
The three places every shoe-lover must visit when visiting Vegas: CL boutique at The Palazzo, Shoe In at Wynn, and In Step at Wynn Encore. Everything else, you can find at a location near you. The CL boutique and Shoe In were pretty boring but my mom and I had a blast at In Step. Well okay, I had a blast and my mom patiently humored my shoe fetish. As you may recall, I had a slight fixation on the Metropolis by Chrissie Morris (also here) at the beginning of this year. Four months later, In Step is just abt done with its summer sale and the Metropolis in a size 36 was available at 60% off. Yay me!!

In conclusion, buffets + Joel Robuchon + new shoes = excellent reasons to visit Vegas.

Closet Space

2010-07-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

I think I might be taking this whole summer vacation thing a bit too far. The past two weeks have been a lazy blur - only red wine and The Sopranos come to mind. Thankfully I'm leaving for Vegas tomorrow so I'll be forced out of hibernation and who knows, I might even come back with something new for my closet. Speaking of my closet, I finally got around to taking pictures for you guys :) Nothing fancy and the pics aren't all that great but I think you get the idea:

Closet #1: Dresses

Closet #2: Separates

Closet #3: Outerwear and shoes

Looking in from the left side:

Looking in from the right side:

Have a good week and I'll cya when I get back :)

PS: Click here for updated shoe collection.

Summer of Shoes

2010-06-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

Acutally, hopefully not cus I'm abt to hit the triple digit mark and I'm starting to realize that my shoe habit is perhaps...unhealthy?? Or not. Ack, we'll worry abt this when I actually hit 100. Anyhow...

I didn't get out of jet lag hell until last Friday so I've been busy trying to catch up with my life. Emails, blogs, forums, etc, etc. I've also had to put my life on hold because of Dexter. Damn him and his charming habit of slicing people up into bits and pieces! You'll be happy to know my brother and I finally finished season four today so my life is officially back on track. What better way to get back into the swing of things than with a post dedicated to the newest additions to my ever-growing CL family?

I hinted towards a purchase while I was in HK and its finally time to reveal what the HK CL boutique had to offer me and my collection: Talco python Bananas in "Tabacco":

I guess I was living under a rock cus I wasn't even aware that the Talco Tabacco was part of CL Resort 2010. Anyhow, CLs are waaaaaay over priced in China. During my first day in Beijing, my cousin and I went to Lane Crawford and all the CLs were a good $200-300 more than what you would find in the States. I wasnt expecting much when I got to HK but the boutique had me trying on quite a few pairs and I ended up walking out with these purty babies. The Talco treatment is almost identical to the Nabuck treatment...in fact, I really cant even tell the difference between the two. The Tabacco color suggests brown but these are more like a light gray with brown undertones.

The infamous Banana toe box. These have the ability to scare off most CL-lovers...me included. CL is already known for toe cleavage so that tiny strap going over your toes isn't all that reassuring but honestly, you hardly notice when you actually have them on your feet.

Heres a quick comparison pic between the Ardoise Nabuck python and the Tabacco Talco python. Notice how both have a sueded texture. Notice how the Ardoise is like a blue-gray and the Tabacco is like a light gray. Actually, looking at the pics of these two side by side, I can sorta see the difference now between nabuck and talco.

A VERY special pair...better later (try over a year) than never: Cate Trash:

Cate came out in early 2009 and I really wasn't a fan. Collage of seemingly random pieces for $1000? No thanks. Fast forward to early 2010 and I have a small crush on Cate. Too bad they've been sold out for a year...no chance of ever finding them. Well, unless you happen to be me :) TN and I were oogling at the F/W 2010 buy book at SCP back in late April when she spotted a pair of CTs just lying around on the floor. After making sure they weren't actually somebody's shoes, I grabbed them and just my luck, they were a size 36. Turns out the absolute last two pairs in the entire company had been transferred to SCP...how could I not get them?? I bought them, took pictures, and then exchanged them for the Madame Butterfly booties. It was a sad day but at the time, I only had eyes for booty. Pun intended. I made sure my SA knew that I was still interested in the shoes and would be back for them...better yet, can she try to see if they can be put on sale for me?? So what if the CTs were never officially on the CL sale list? What are they going to do with the last two pairs? Give them to sample sales? Actually yes, thats what happens most of the time but my wonderful SA managed to get approval to sell the CTs to me for 40% off. I seriously love my shopping gods. Alright, enough chatter, here are the shoes from the right (each side of each shoe is one of a kind...probably why they were able to mark these up to $995...):

The left:

And the front:

I didn't even know I had scored the Cate Trash on sale until after I got back from Beijing. Of course, when I went to go pick them up, I just "had" to try on a few of the new styles that had arrived earlier that week and well....meet Alambra:

140mm espadrilles? Yes, please!! These are my one and only pair of espadrilles...the fact that they're 140mm makes total sense. So me. Gawd, I love Msr. Louboutin.

Dont they look more like leather wedges instead of espadrilles? Why weren't these out when I was packing for my trip to China?!

PS: I still have to make up my mind abt two more pairs that I scored during the sales so stay tuned cus there might be another shoe post coming in the very near future. And the most unbelievable part...one of them is a non-CL. I know, I amaze me too. Hah, lets just hope I actually decide to keep it.

Summer Vacation: Month 1, Part 3

2010-06-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not the biggest foodie and this blog has certainly never focused on what I eat for bfast, lunch, and dinner but hell, I went to Napa just to eat so might as well dedicate this post to what I ate. Part 3: French Laundry.

En Route:

(Flew to SF and then drove to Napa with IC the day before so we could have at least 24 hours to explore Napa and surrounding areas before French Laundry.)

Carneros:

(IC insisted I take a picture with the vines to prove that I was actually in Napa. Looking at this pic, I think I'm blocking the better part of the vines behind me...)

(Better pictures of the vines!!)

Bouchon Bakery:

(I'm not big on macarons but these were seriously the best I've ever had. TN - these are even better than the ones we had at Marche...lol.)

French Laundry:

(Thomas Keller's garden for French Laundry is directly across the street from the restaurant. I'm pretty sure we saw him gardening but we were too shy to walk up to him for pictures.)

(The infamous blue door.)

(Salmon tartar ice cream cone and brioche.)

(Oysters and "pearls".)

(Cured medai belly.)

(White asparagus salad.)

(Foie gras.)

(Pacific suzuki.)

(Calotte de bouef grillee or the best tasting piece of meat I have ever had the pleasure of consuming...this picture is almost insulting.)

(Lamb rib-eye.)

("Peas and Carrots" is the name but its all about the lobster. This lobster is serious business and who knew lobster went so well with carrot puree?!)

(Rabbit presse.)

(Comte - this was the one plate I didn't devour. Not cus it wasn't good but because I knew I needed room for desert!)

(Apricot sorbet. [Me: Is it good? IC: It taste like cold apricot. Me: Oh my god, it really does taste exactly like a really cold, really fresh apricot!!!.] I know it might not sound like anything special but ask yourself, do you think you can take a fruit, take it apart, turn it into sorbet, and have it come out tasting exactly like how it would had you eaten it fresh???)

(White chocolate sorbet. I could eat this all day, every day.)

(Blueberry sponge cake with buttermilk sorbet. Okay, the one thing I hated from this entire meal was the buttermilk sorbet.)

(Citrus tart.)

(Totally forgot what this was...some kind of wafer?? Sorry, Mr. Keller, I am not worthy...)

(Truffles.)

(Chocolate covered macadamia nuts.)

(Take home gifts - shortbread cookies, a copy of the menu, and our left over truffles and macadamia nuts. Oh!! Almost forgot, also got to take our napkin clips home with us.)

Thomas Keller, I get it, you're a genius. Thanks for the amazing three and a half hours. I'll be back.

Summer Vacation: Month 1, Part 2

2010-06-19T02:38:00.000-07:00

The majority of my time in Beijing was spent with family but I managed to set aside one day to visit one of my favorite places in the city: the Forbidden City. I'm a dork, I know. I think I have pictures of me running around the place as a three-year-old but with close to 9000 rooms, I feel like I see and learn something new each time I'm there. I could write a whole paragraph on each picture but I'll spare you the history lesson and keep the commentary to a minimum :) Part 2: The Touristy Stuff.

The Forbidden City:

(Like my bag??! LOL, I bought it for 25rmb (about $3.60).)

(The old opera house - in all my visits to the palace, I had never known this structure even existed. Kinda cool but also a little creepy...)

(A stray kitty just chillin' in the yard.)

(A forgotten courtyard of some sort...again, a little creepy.)

Qian Men (front gates to the Forbidden City) and remnants of old Beijing:

(This area is where old Beijing used to be. Some of Beijing's oldest and most famous establishments are still in this area but of course most have been recently renovated.)

(Before China became king in the land of mass production, people came here to buy silk cloths for their clothes.)

(Gou Bu Li Bao Zi - Actually a Tianjin delicacy but anyhoo, this place is famous for their steamed buns and the name which literally translates into "Dogs ignore (Steamed Buns)". The founder's nickname was Dog (makes more sense in Chinese...) and people used to say when he worked on his steamed buns, he would ignore everything and everyone around him and so yea, a catchy name was born.)

(As much as China has modernized itself in the past 20 years, you still do see areas in need of some major beautification.)

(This lady got pissed when she realized I was taking her picture and asked what I was doing. I walked away pretending not to hear/understand her. Whoops.)

(You see that little girl off to the left with the paper bag??! There was a bunny inside the bag and the girl kept on picking the bunny up by its ears and then dropping the poor thing back into the bag. Over and over again. Seriously uncool.)

Liulichang (area in Beijing dedicated to art galleries and antiques):

($5 to the first person who can tell me what this figurine is depicting.)

SHOPPING!!!!!!!!

Dont go to China if you want to shop for brand name luxury goods. Go to Europe for that. Go to China if you want to shop for cute, random, useless trinkets at street vendors. As a lover of cute, random, useless trinkets, I was in heaven (yes, I will be posting my cute, random, useless loot a bit later in the week). Heres a tip: always offer the vendor 50% of their asking price. If they refuse, walk away. Walking away is your way of telling the vendor youre serious about your offer price. Most of the time when they see you walk away, they will immediately tell you they accept your offer price. If they dont stop you, keep walking and just remember, there is no such thing as one of a kind when it comes to shopping at street vendors in China. You WILL find that same item again, probably just a few vendors down and you WILL be able to buy at your offer price. And dont worry, these vendors get everything at a wholesale market so at the end of the day, they will still be making profit. One last thing...if you're buying something with a brand name attached to it from a street vendor, you are not buying the real thing at a incredibly cheap price. I dont care how real it looks, what the vendor tells you, or if the vendor had to go to the back to get you the "real stuff"...its fake.

Summer Vacation: Month 1, Part 1

2010-06-18T00:19:00.000-07:00

In the words of Ron Artest: "I want to thank err'body in ma hood!!!" HAH, sorry, I got a wee bit distracted by the game (YAY LAKERS!!!). Anyhoo, time flies and the first month of my summer vacation is already over. I have a million and one pictures documenting the first month but after extensive editing, I've managed to cut it down to 170 pictures. I didn't want to overwhelm you with one ginormous post so I decided to break the pictures down into three parts. Part 1: The Personal Stuff..sorta.

Changan Street right before my grandparents' house:

(Its been six years since I last visited Beijing. Just so happens to be the six years when the city was working overtime for the 2008 Olympics. It took me a good minute to get used to all the new buildings that were just empty plots of land during my last visit.)

Ours dogs (Bobo, Doudou, Coco, and Mei Mei):

(Bobo is a scaredy cat and hates men - basically Olivia as a dog.)

(DouDou means "beans" in Chinese...my mom got him and his sister from her friend and she decided to name them Coco and Doudou or "coco beans". Cute, right? LOL)

(Coco is in desperate need of a haircut but is my favorite out of the bunch. I was ready to stuff her in my suitcase but I realized she would probably annoy Libby to death so decided against it at the last minute.)

(Mei Mei is old and grouchy but is still adorable, esp when he gets all protective of Coco.)

First thing my dad bought me when we landed in Beijing:

(He knows me so well ^.^ My absolute favorite treat of all time. No idea what these berries are called in English but they're dipped in sugar and oh-so-delicious. These used to be available only during the winter but thanks to genetic engineering, they're now available all year-round! My mouth is watering as I type...)

My cousin's wedding:

(Chinese weddings are completely different from American weddings - the reception and ceremony are combined into one big lunch shindig, the bride and groom receive only monetary gifts, and the groom and his side of the family have to go "steal" the bride from her parents' house before they can arrive together at the reception. Hence the pic of my cousin running out of the building with his wife in his arms...and my big, fat, cheesy smile cus I think that was right before we were about to break the doors down at the bride's parents' place. Not literally..more like monetary bribes and maybe just a little pushing.)

(He was our punching bag growing up...whenever my cousins and I got into trouble as kids, we would always pin the blame on him. Poor kid. Needless to say, I got a little weepy during the ceremony.)

Louboutins by the harbor:

(Yes, Loubs are all I ever think about...even when I'm on the other side of the world.)

Saving the world, one kitty at a time:

(Long story short: Some irresponsible retard left this poor kitten with a street vendor and asked the lady to do what she will with it. Fast forward to 9pm, I'm walking home with my cousin and I see this little cutie popping her head out of the paper bag so of course I stop to ooohhh and awww over it. The street vendor told me if she couldn't find a home for the kitten by the end of the night, she would probably have to abandon her as well. After about an hour of calling everyone we knew to see if they would be willing to take the kitten in, I resorted to begging strangers passing by. I was finally able to convince a teenager that cats are easy to take care of PLUS he could score lots of chicks with this cutie or he could give the kitten to his gf as a gift ^.^ When he agreed, I wanted to smother him with hugs and kisses but I decided against it cus I didn't want to scare the poor kid away. Hope the boy and kitten are doing well!!)

This post took waaaaaaaaaaay longer than expected so I'll have to upload the other pics tomorrow :P

Quick Hello!!

2010-05-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

I cant access my blog from Beijing so I wanted to throw in a quick hello post from Hong Kong :) I've been dragging my camera with me whenever/wherever I can but I wont be able to upload anything until after I get back to the States. Hope ya'll are doing well and having fun with the sales!! I got a little something from a certain boutique on On Lan St yesterday. Hint: Python, 140mm. I also just found out that my SA from Nordies was able to secure me a much sought after style from the sale. Looks like the shopping gods are with me even when I'm out of the country :)

Ready, Set, SHOP!

2010-05-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure where the first half of this year went but believe it or not, summer sales are just around the corner. I'm leaving this Friday for my trip to China so that means no pre-sale madness for me but please go and buy a few extra pairs of shoes for me :) Private pre-sales have already started and will continue throughout next week. This means the official start date will be the first of June for most retailers. Have fun and feel free to send me your email address via comment if you want any SA recommendations! Alright, see ya'll in a month :)

The Beginning of the Rest of My Life

2010-05-17T01:19:00.000-07:00

Normally I would be asleep by now but today I have the luxury of staying up to write this post because I QUIT MY JOB AND DONT HAVE TO GO TO WORK TOMORROW MORNING!!!!! YAY ME :) Hah, sorry...I'm just uber excited about my summer vacation and the fact that I'm starting law school this August.

Last Friday was my last day at work and it was bittersweet to walk away from the company that defined my life for the past three and a half years. To this day, I'm not 100% sure how the recruiter got a hold of my resume but in November of 2006, I received a phone call from a job recruiter asking if I would be interested in a full time temp position. The pay was good, the location was five minutes away from my apt, and before I knew it, I was walking into the job experience of a lifetime. I would not be where I am today had it not been for this job - I would not be writing this blog post, I would not have my precious Olivia, I would not have met some of my beloved BFFs, I would not have the "pleasure" of knowing some of the "weirdest" people in America, and I would not have the job experience necessary to survive in corporate America. The past three and a half years have been filled with ups and downs but all the downs made my ups that much better, that much higher. It actually broke my heart to turn in my two weeks notice - just two months before I gave my notice, my VP called me into her office for a heart to heart. I apologized for my immature antics and she apologized for assuming I was only using the company as a temporary gig and for never bothering to get to know me on a more personal level. I told her how much I appreciated working with her and she told me as long as I remained with the company, she would do everything in her power to help me move up - whether it was a promotion within the department or securing a better position in another department. Irony at its very best. Even when we said our final goodbyes, she assured me that if I ever wanted to come back, the doors would always be open and I'm forever grateful to her and her tough love antics.

With work out of the way, that leaves me three months to soak up the good life before the going gets tough. I'm kicking off my summer vacation with a month long trip to China followed by a quick trip up to Napa for the one and only, FRENCH LAUNDRY!!!!!!!!!! After that, I'll be apt hunting, moving, attending to all the needs of beautiful bride-to-be, IC, and hopefully squeezing in weekend getaways to Vegas, Palm Springs, and SF :) In between all of this, I'll be shopping, blogging, and sharing all thats new in my life with you.

Cheers to all the bad that has been purged, cheers to all the good that has been kept, cheers to the beginning of the rest of my life.

Using The Useless

2010-05-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

You all know by now that I'm somewhat of a pack rat. I hate throwing things away - I always think that one day, this one useless item will once again be useful in my life.

I've recently been addicted to buying makeup and as a result, I've had to deal with the issue of how to store everything on top or within my vanity. Having already spent my money on the makeup, I wasn't about to spend even more just to store/organize all of it and so I dug up some of the things I had been hoarding and put them to good use.

When you buy new sunglasses, many will come with a box in addition to the actual carrying case. Here is one of my Tom Ford boxes from a few years ago:

Pretty much useless unless you open it up and use it to hold all of your makeup palettes!!

And to think I almost spent $5 at Target for one of their storage shelves! Hah.

I like to store all of my lip glosses standing upright bc when they're on their sides, the gloss can often times leak out from the cap and you end up with a sticky mess. I didn't have enough surface area on my vanity for all of my lip glosses and so once again, useless items from the past came out to save the day.

Old potpourri jar:

New lip gloss holder:

And for the few that didn't fit into the potpourri jar:

Nice and neat, just the way I like it. In my defense, I didn't keep this empty jar of Philosophy Booster Caps in hopes that it would one day become useful again. It just so happened that on the day that I finished this jar of Booster Caps, I was also organizing my lip glosses. Okay, I'm actually laughing out loud right now.

When we first got our espresso machine, my mom bought an adorable set of espresso cups and saucers to go with it. The cups and saucers went into our cabinets and we were left with an empty box:

Which just so happened to be the perfect container for my NYX pigments:

Since we're on the subject of using useless items, I would like to take a moment to talk about what to do with makeup that you have no use for. Half of the colors in this box, I would never use as eyeshadow but did you know you can use pigments as nail polish, lip color, and blush?? You can also use lipstick as cream bases for your eyeshadow.

Finally, cookies, pastries, candy, etc often come with insane packaging. Packaging almost as good as the goodies inside.

This pretty tin box was originally from a pack of Chinese pastries my parents bought last year. Once the pastries were consumed, I gave the boxes a quick rinse and now use them to store jewelry and of course, makeup.

I know all of the examples I gave in this post pertain to storage but hopefully this inspires you to make the most of everything you own :) Use what you've already spent in order to save from spending again. Of course, this concept doesn't really translate well when it comes to shoes and purses ^_^

A Quickie

2010-05-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I was late to dinner and barely had time to squeeze this picture in. Crappy picture aside, it has been more than a month since I wore a dress to work O.O I dunno, I guess I've been really into my jeans lately?? I made it a point today to pick out a purty dress to wear to work and now I think I might be switching back to my "everyday a dress day" habit.

The dress was a random find at Saks Off 5th for a whopping $18! Cropped blazer from H&M and marine glitter Ron Rons by my main squeeze, Christian.

The Colors Of Summer

2010-05-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

From the inanimate

To our beauty

To delicious edibles

To my closet

My summer vacation is just around the corner...thank the freakin good green earth!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I am uber excited.

Not So Boring Black

2010-05-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

I used to prefer black over any other color and believed there was no such thing as too much black. That ideology officially ran out of gas in 2009. I spent the better half of last year, tracking down the most vibrant colors I could find...the more pop, the better. However, Msr. Louboutin made me realize yesterday that black done right, gives just the same amount of pop as any other color.

Madame Butterfly booties in black kid:

I have to admit, I hated these when I first saw them in the Marchesa F/W 2010 runway show. I tried them on just for fun and immediately knew I was screwed. I absolutely adore these booties. They cut off just below the ankles so theres none of that stumpy leg thing you often get with ankle booties. These babies are 150mm (the new heel height for CL this season) but surprisingly comfortable. The thick platform helps as well as the zipper that locks your foot in place. Another great thing about the MB booties is the fact that you really could wear them all year long. Even my mom thinks these are awesome ^.^

Rosella flats in pewter/black metallic suede:

The metallic suede is a new material for CL this season...basically suede with tiny metallic squares pressed on top. These are my first pair of CL flats...I tend to limit myself to the $200 mark when it comes to flats but I had a $100 GC for SCP (thanks again TN for the tip!) and thought I might as well use it on something I normally wouldn't pay full price for.

I actually have one more waiting to make her way onto this blog but she didn't really go with the black color theme of this post so I'll squeeze her in some other time :) Click here for updated shoe post.

BTW, if you're at all interested in any of the new styles coming out for CL this season, you better hurry up and go splurge yourself silly. The new shipment arrived at SCP on Wednesday, my SA called me on Thursday to let me know that I needed to come ASAP, and by the time I went with my mom on Saturday, many of the styles I had wanted to try on were already all sold out in my size..including half size up and half size down from my normal CL size. Talking to the SAs, we are all agreed that this was the busiest and craziest season thus far and its not even summer yet!!

Bleh

2010-04-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a few days off from blogging bc my grandmother passed away this weekend. It's very up and down for me right now. I'll be fine for a few hours and then for the next few hours, I get an overwhelming sense of heaviness. During the moments when I feel okay, I try to do "regular" things to keep myself busy but I either end up feeling exhausted within a few minutes or feeling guilty/insensitive.

To keep myself occupied, I'm going to go through the list of people who follow my blog as well as all of the comments I have received thus far in order to get to know all of you a little bit more. I will also follow and add people onto my blog roll as I go through the list.

PS: For those of you who have access to my private blog, I will probably start writing in there again within the next day or so.

*Edit* Okay, so I lied. I procrastinated on just about everything this past week including updating my private blog and catching up with fellow bloggers. These are still on my to-do list! The good news: I'm doing much better now..thank you all so much <3 I'll also have updates tomorrow...I'm trying to make them not so shoe-orientated but it looks like CLs will be taking center stage yet again :P

Spotted: Fashion Victim

2010-04-19T22:51:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know it isn't polite to snap pictures of strangers while at lunch and then blog about them for all the world to see but can you blame me? Did she really wake up in the morning, look inside her closet and think "Hum, now THIS would be a great top to wear to lunch!!!" ?? Tragic, so very tragic.

3 Wishes

2010-04-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

I wish...

Number 1: I had legs that went on for days so I could rock these ankle chain Lanvins:

Number 2: I never saw these Chanel pumps in the Saks catalog. I NEED THEM, I MUST HAVE THEM, I'LL DIE WITHOUT THEM. Love is the most beautiful form of insanity.

Number 3: My grandma's condition will improve soon cus I hate seeing my dad sad.

PS: Click here for the updated makeup 101 post (sorry, the updates are sorta spread out all over the place..). Click here for the updated Asian eyelashes tutorial.

Fear Not...

2010-04-15T21:13:00.001-07:00

I am alive and well. Not only did I survive the throat infection from hell, I have new shoes on hand and en route. Double yes! Only thing left to conquer is this damn sinus infection.

Silver cosmo python Altadama:

Um, yea. Enough said.

Magenta suede Samira:

You know when you buy something just because everyone else is and then five minutes later you feel incredibly guilty because you really didn't need what you just bought but then when you finally receive what you bought, you're totally happy you got suckered into buying it because you love it so much more than you ever thought you would???? Yea, thats me with Samira.

Click here for updated shoe collection :)

BBL

2010-04-11T19:18:00.001-07:00

I've been sick since Tuesday night and haven't had the energy to do much of anything. At first I thought I was just tired, then it became a sore throat, and now I can barely talk. I'll be back later this week with updates but for now, back to watching mindless television.

UPDATE 4/13/2010: My throat infection is slightly better but now I have a sinus infection and can't breath. Why me?!?!? To help me feel better, I just got some new shoes :) New CLs help clear my head...you should try it next time youre sick!

April Showers

2010-04-05T21:06:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I had a chance to score 10,000 NM points if I spent $500 on something from their premier designer category. I had a red Burberry jacket all picked out but at the last minute, changed my mind. I figured I shouldn't get suckered into promotional deals like this unless I really wanted whatever it is that they're offering. I've been regretting that decision ever since. This weekend I somehow ended up at Burberry (alright, fine, I specifically planned my shop-a-thon around a trip to Burberry...) and walked out with two new jackets :) Now I can rest in peace. The best part: I had an excuse to wear my new rain trench today cus it was pouring in the morning. Besides being at good at shopping, I apparently can also coordinate my purchases with the weather. Sweet.

What I had on inside the trench:

One of my coworkers annoyingly likes to make fun of this top bc of the over-sized bow. I in turn think hes a bit clueless in the fashion department :P

Some outtakes with the kids:

Yes, thats right, Libby finally decided to make an appearance today to wish you all HAPPY MONDAY!!

Outer: Burberry, Top: Free Generation, Jeans: BR, Shoes: YSL

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T00:19:00.000-07:00

Love,
Me, Olivia (Libby ditched us somewhere between me trying to set up my tripod and me trying to take pictures...), and Samira (my new Loubs)!

PS: I was having trouble with my tripod at first but I ended up liking the test shots better than any of the pictures I took later on...hence the missing forehead..

PPS: I'll probably post better pics of the Samiras later on this week when I get CL #62 (yay!) but for now, I need to rest cus I went on a maaajor shop-a-thon today :)

Black, Gray, and Blue

2010-04-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

The weather has been lame this week. It cant seem to make up its mind on whether it wants to be sunny or rainy. I snapped this picture on my way home the other day...sorta sums it all up:

The problem with this in-between weather is me not knowing how to dress for work. I hesitate on wearing dresses and even my shoes because what if it starts pouring in the middle of the day?? My outfit, shoes, and purse would all be screwed. In short, my outfits this week have been lame just like the weather...jeans and t-shirt with TB flats and a jacket. Today was my first day wearing heels all week!!!

BLACK distressed skinnies from BR, GRAY New Simples by Msr. Louboutin, and BLUE Vince sweater. The most dressed up I've been all week. Sad.

My little Olivia is so loyal. Always gets up from her nap to welcome me home. Libby on the other hand is too lazy...doesn't even bother to open her eyes to greet me :P

TGIF tomorrow!! Too bad I have to get up early for a dentist appointment :(

YSL $28 Eyeliner...Skip, YSL Promotional Clutch...KEEP

2010-03-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, DZ and I went "window" shopping at SCP. While I kept my composure during our visit to CL, I got weak at the Nordstrom makeup counters. In the midst of throwing all my money away on makeup that I dont really need, I ended up walking away with a YSL clutch. Now THAT is what I call skills. Yes, the $28 eyeliner is a complete ripoff but I like to look at it as spending $100 on a clutch filled with makeup :)

Especially when compared against my YSL travel wallet, you can see why this was a sweet deal even with the overpriced eyeliner:

Perhaps the shopping gods were sending me a message, something along the lines of "No worries, keep on buying makeup!" Hah..okay, thats just me trying to rationalize my current addiction to buying makeup :P

Blue From Last Thursday

2010-03-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

Blue H&M sweater, AX jeans, and Chanel pumps at work last Thursday:

You'll be happy to know I finally placed my order for a tripod and wireless remote control so the holding my camera pose should be a thing of the past in a week or two. Yay!

From Zero To Sixty

2010-03-28T21:18:00.000-07:00

I grew up a lot during these past three years. So did my closet. As you all know, I bought my first three pairs of Christian Louboutin shoes in June 2007. Today, I proudly present to you, my 60th pair of Christian Louboutin heels: Greissimo in black and white damask fabric.

I've had my eyes on these every since they came out but I decided to file them under my "wait until the sales" category. Last week, I realized everyone else in the entire world was also waiting for the Greissimo to go on sale. With sizes already running low, I decided it would be too risky to wait any longer :) So here she is. Probably should've just gotten her when she first came out but at least now I dont have to worry come summer sales. BTW, #61 should be here next week so stay tuned! Click here for updated shoe collection.

PS: Dont watch The Blind Side unless you plan on staying home for the next 24 hours. The movie is a little over two hours long. I think I cried for an hour and fifty minutes - straight. The other ten minutes, I was busy lusting after Tim McGraw. Why didn't anyone tell me earlier that he was freakin HOT?!?!? I usually like guys with a bit of facial hair but hes one of the few who actually look better with no facial hair. Finally, I love Sandy but Gabourey Sidibe was robbed!!!

Sock Theory

2010-03-28T00:13:00.000-07:00

Fashion loves to recycle itself. Whether you like it or not, the sock with high heels trend has been resurrected. Last week I was delighted when Morgan from Sock Theory contacted me. After a quick look around the site, I was sold. Adorable socks, tights, leg warmers, and knee-highs at amazing prices. Whats not to love? How about no extra shipping and tax charges?! I'm already regretting not ordering more the first time around :P

Please take a moment and browse around Sock Theory - must-have styles at affordable prices means you shopping to your heart's content without the usual "I"m gonna go broke" talk :)

Black And White With A Little Python

2010-03-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

Was it just me or did today go by super slow? Maybe it was because I had a bitch fit at work over some shoes :P Hopefully tomorrow will go fly by and I'll actually have new shoes to share with you :) As for my outfit: paired my Kay Unger dress with a cropped blazer from H&M and finished things off with my roccia python Miss Boxe.

Studs At Work

2010-03-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

We used to be business casual but about a year ago, HR decided to make "everyday casual Friday". At first I actually bemoaned the new dress code. I loved wearing dresses 4-5 times a week and wasn't really sure if I even had enough tops to make it through a week :P Nowadays, I wear dresses maybe 1-2 times a week and the rest of the time, its all about the skinnies. Today, it was my J Brand skinnies with studded VPs. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love these shoes. And to think, when they first came out, I told people I would never buy them because I have no where to wear them to!! The blazer is aryn k paired with a simple tee from H&M.

PS: I know I should probably look into getting a tripod and wireless remote for my camera (they're on my Amazon wishlist!) but for now, this is the fastest way for me to do outfit pics...

Currently Obsessed With...

2010-03-22T20:01:00.001-07:00

Japanese nail art:

Its the Asian in me...you make a miniature version of anything and I'll want it!! Too bad these would be a bit much for work :(

H Williams:

I've been going back and forth on these python Rueda booties. The price is "alright" but I almost feel like I'm cheating on Msr. Louboutin!!

Chrissie Morris:

Please go on sale.

The Everywhere, Everyday Bag

2010-03-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

Its easy to get carried away with shopping and spending. Thats an outrageous understatement coming from yours truly but my point is...once you start, its hard to stop and sadly, all too easy for your shopping expenses to increase exponentially :) While I would never advocate for the "Chanel flaps are way too much money for a piece of leather" idea, I do think that we all need a good everywhere, everyday bag that wont cost us a whole paycheck..or two. Lately, I've been shopping for a nice canvas and/or nylon (gasp, yes, thats right...me and nylon...) tote in the area of $150 or less. My current picks:

Anya Hindmarch Shopping Tote $98

Yes, the Anya Hindmarch "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" craze got a bit out of hand but theres little doubt that AH continues to churn out some of the best and most affordable totes. The question isn't where can you wear this purse to, it's where can't you?? This would probably only stay home when you're at a job interview or your nights out.

Longchamp Nylon Tote$125-$145

While I despise Prada's nylon purses, I am a big fan of Longchamp's nylon totes. Probably has something to do with the fact that Longchamp has the decency to sell nylon at reasonable prices. More classy chic than some of Anya Hindmarch's totes which means you can even take this to interviews! Yay...that means this bag would really only stay home on your nights out. Sweet.

Miss Marc Tote $188

$38 over my budget but so adorably worth it.

I'll keep looking for just a bit longer but most likely going to go with the Longchamp :)

Look Ma, CURLS!!!

2010-03-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

LOL...yes, it took me 25 years but I can finally curl my hair on my own now :) It took me only 15 minutes to get the curls but hopefully they'll last for the rest of the day.

PS: I know blogging once a week is lame but I've been busy watching downloaded movies (I recommend Inglourious Basterds and Bill Mahr's Religulous) with my brother :P Hes back at USC now so I'll try to catch up on blogging today and tomorrow. For now, you can try to weed through my makeup post to see the updates...they're sort of scattered all over the place :P

PPS: I finally saw Avatar yesterday and now I'm officially in love with Sam Worthington. I thought the movie was absolutely amazing but was it just me or did James Cameron steal the storyline from Pocahontas??

Makeup, Yes I Buy A Lot Of That Too...

2010-03-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

Besides having an expensive addiction to shoes and purses, I am also slightly (EDIT: okay, perhaps the correct word choice is more like "totally") addicted to buying makeup.

My little "makeup area" is fast becoming one of my favorite places in the entire house :)

I decided to put together this post to detail my favorite products, some essential must-haves, the products that I’ve unfortunately wasted money on, cheap thrills, and a few tricks of the trade I’ve picked up along the way. This will also be added to the sidebar for future reference (updates will be organized by category).

Favorites:

Korres Thyme Honey 24 Hours Moisturizing Cream $35 – The texture is super rich so I would avoid this if you have oily skin. Because of the extra creamy consistency, I put this only on my problem areas (under-eye, bridge of nose, and any other dry spots I may have at the moment.

Clean and Clear; Clear Acne Spot Treatment $7 – Salicylic acid at its very best.

Lancome Maquicomplet Correcteur $28.50 – The only thing that really helps diminish the dark circles I have under my eyes.

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler $19 – The only eyelash curler you should ever own.

Orlane Paris Vitalizing Exfoliate $45 – Very gentle; exfoliates without being too gritty. Only negative is the smell.

Davines Defining Hairspray ($20ish??). Run your fingers through your hair as many times as you want - the style will hold the entire day and you wont feel like you have super glue in your hair.

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner $21 - Please do not waste your money on any other gel liner. I'm dead serious. This stuff is amazing. I love it, love it, love it. Please tell me I dont need all the colors cus I'm about to add all of them into my shopping cart.

Philosophy Booster Caps $50 - My mom and I have died and gone to night cream heaven. One capsule every night with your regular night cream and you too can join us up in night cream heaven.

DDF Sulfur Therapeutic Mask $38 - Now THIS is what I call a real sulfur mask. Unbelievable. I kid you not, you will see a difference in less than 12 hours. The directions say to only use once a week but thats only if you use this as a full face mask. Its fine to use this more than once a week for spot treatment. I should probably recommend this to my co-worker who has HORRIBLE acne :P

NYX Eyeshadow $5 - Better than Mac eyeshadow. Way cheaper too. I'm in the process of collecting every color.

Chanel Translucent Powder $60, Givenchy Loose Powder $62 (??), ELF Studio Kabuki $5 - I couldn't decide between Chanel and Givenchy cus both are equally good. Both are VERY finely milled so your fine lines aren't accentuated and you'll never end up with the dreaded cakey look. The ELF Studio kabuki is only $5 but is super duper soft and the perfect size - way better than my other kabuki brushes.

beautyblender Sponge $20-40 - I realize $20-$40 is a lot to pay for sponges but these are magical. I dont even know how to explain how/why these works so well, you just have to try it to understand!

Make Up For Ever Flash Color Palette $95 - I was on a cream eyeshadow phase a few weeks ago and my eyes lit up when I saw the Flash Color Palette at my local Sephora store. I waited until IMATs to get the palette since I didn't want to shell out the $100 but this little thing is wonderful. You can use the colors as is or you can mix them up however you want. Unbelievable color payoff and its just plain fun to play around with.

Essentials:

Face and eyeshadow primers - easier application and allows your makeup to stay in place for extended periods of time.

Makeup brushes should be cleaned after every use or at the very least, once a week. Using soap and water is fine but if you want to decrease the amount of time needed for the brushes to dry, get yourself some brush cleanser:

Have your very own makeup army. At the very least you should own and use a face exfoliant, a facial cleanser, a toner, a day moisturizer, a night moisturizer, and sunscreen...DAILY! Okay, maybe just exfoliate once every other day but for everything else, DAILY USE IS REQUIRED!!! Neck cream, eye cream, clay masks, and moisturizing masks are also recommended.

Whether you are blow drying, straightening, or curling your hair, its all about the sectioning hair clips. Seems obvious but I'm willing to bet that many ppl just use hair ties or regular hair clips without realizing how much more convenient a few sectioning hair clips can be.

Finish with loose powder. I dont have oily skin but I still find that without powder, my concealer will run as the day progresses. Remember to use just a little bit bc too much can mean cakey makeup and we all know theres nothing worse than cakey makeup.

Completely useless:

Benefit Boo Boo Zap $20 – For $20, I think it actually gave me pimples instead of zapping anything off my face. It also smells like bug repellent - yuck.

Benefit Depuffing Action Eye Gel $28 – Absolutely no depuffing action.Save your money and keep two spoons in your freezer.When you wake up in the morning, take the spoons out and put them over your eyes for a few minutes – this will work a lot better than this overpriced tube of chemicals.

Benefit Ooh La Lift $32 – The description claims this is an instant under-eye boost which supposedly gives you an instant eye lift.Yea, no.Save your $32 cus this really is just fancy way of saying “highlighter”.

Benefit Lemon Aid $20 – Color is way too yellow and plus, you can just prime your eyelids and apply concealer instead of paying another $20.

Important Note: I know many of you are big Benefit fanatics but to be honest, I feel like many of their products are nothing more than marketing gimmicks. They give it a snazzy name, add some cool graphics and dream up fantastic product descriptions. You read the name, have no idea what you’re suppose to do with it but you buy it anyway cus it sounds like it’ll work wonders. I’ve even heard some people say they can “feel it working right away”. Really? I doubt it. Its probably because the packaging told you that you’ll feel an immediate change and your mind is playing tricks on you.

Dior Liquid Eyeliner $32 – Avoid like the plague. The damn clicker does not work. You click and click and nothing comes out so you click some more and before you know it, you have globs of eyeliner on your hands cus apparently 49 click is not enough but 50 is too much.

Dr. Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner $45 – Not a very good vacuum cleaner and I think the directions are confusing – tells you that the product will change color and you’ll feel a cooling sensation. Um, isn’t that what you feel with any mask as it dries???

Bobbi Brown Cream Shadow $22 - I'm not sure how Bobbi Brown messed up cream shadow but she did. These are dry, thick, and not very pigmented. Shame.

YSL DESSIN DU REGARD CRAYON YEUX HAUTE TENUE Eye Pencil $28 - I bought this only cus I was trying to spend $100 at the YSL counter in order to get the free gift and I would also like to add that I bought this without realizing it was $28. Overpriced makeup at its very best.

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss $5 - I love me some NYX but I hate this. It smells like cough syrup. Bad cough syrup.

Cheap thrills:

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil $3.50– Use as base or eyeshadow. Very creamy texture, easy to apply, and a nice variety of colors to choose from.

Nyx Round Lipstick $3.50 – Excellent pigmentation and creamy texture. Again, tons of colors to choose from.

[Important Note: Coastal Scents is a popular brand that many consider to be good quality makeup at ridiculously cheap prices. They're well known for their eyeshadow palettes and gel eyeliners. I myself have palettes from them. However, after some research, I discovered that if you type in say "88 eyeshadow palette" on ebay, you will find a certain seller who offers the EXACT SAME products for about a third of the price. Could it be that Coastal Scents just buys in bulk from this seller and then marks up the prices for a quick buck?? If so, wouldn't it be a lot cheaper for us to just buy directly from the source?? I'm not pointing fingers but something to think about :) People are also constantly going back and forth on if NYX is better than Coastal Scents and vice versa. For me, its plain and simple...NYX ALL THE WAY. However, to be fair, Coastal Scents is great for ordering empty packaging jars and their angled liner brush is excellent for gel liners.]

Essence of Beauty Makeup Brushes – Good quality brushes that wont cost you an arm and a leg. ALTHOUGH, the powder brush by Essence of Beauty sucks. Sucks so bad I actually threw it out. Other than that, these are good brushes for incredibly cheap.

ELF Makeup - $1 and up for a wide range of beauty products. You can even get one of everything and still be saving a ton of money.

Tips and tricks:

Buy sets or palettes – allows you to get a bunch of shades for a lower price. Especially if you're like me and have a helluva hard time choosing between all the different shades of brown eyeshadow. Palettes are also a great way to conserve space.

If you're not feeling any of the pre-made palettes, create your very own!

Buy empty jars for shattered eyeshadow or maybe the last bits of your favorite lipstick. If you really hate working with pigments, you can solidify them by adding a few drops of rubbing alcohol.

I personally like to use cream eyeshadow as a base -g ives the powder eyeshadow something to stick onto and the color will be much more vibrant. You can also apply your powder eyeshadow with a wet brush if you want more vibrant colors.

Do not waste your money on lip primer - just put lip balm and a little bit of concealer on your lips before applying lipstick or lip gloss. If you're wondering why you need the concealer - you need to mute the natural color of your lips before you can really show off the color of the lipstick and/or lip gloss. Of course, if you have naturally pale lips, you can skip the concealer part.

Though it may sound kinda gross, vaseline is a great way to keep your lips moisturized. I make sure to apply a thin layer every night before bed.

Right before applying lipstick or lip gloss, run a towel under warm water and scrub your lips with the towel. This should remove any dead skin you may have.

Click here to read my tutorial on eyelashes.

For dry spots, mix concealer with moisturizer or you can apply the concealer immediately after you put moisturizer on ("immediately" as in DO NOT wait for the moisturizer to dry).

Opaque concealers offer the best coverage but they can also be hard to apply. A quick fix is to slightly melt the concealer with your blow-dryer right before application. Key word = slightly = you dont want to turn your cream concealer into liquid concealer, you just want it to be easier to work with. You can also do this with gel/cream eyeliner. Note: Since this point and the point above both deal with applying concealer to dry skin, I think it might be helpful to mention that out of all the concealers I have tried and tested, Bobbi Brown is probably the creamiest. I still like Ben Nye and Amazing best for opaque coverage but Bobbi wins in the creamy category :)

Cover red spots with green concealer – make sure it is a light, creamy green and blend well with concealer that matches your skin tone. You do not want to go for the Wicked Witch of the West look!

If you apply foundation as a normal part of your makeup routine, look at yourself in the mirror and ask "Do I really need foundation?" I used to cake on foundation every single day and then it occurred to me that all I really need is some concealer under my eyes, around my nose, and on any red spots that I may have at the moment. Saves time and prevents unnecessary clogging of my pores.

If you have a hard time blending or applying makeup with brushes, do not be afraid to use your finger tips! I normally use brushes just to load the product onto my face but use my finger tips for the actual blending.

While it may look nice to display all of your makeup brushes out in the open, you really should not let your brushes sit out in the open where they become magnets for dust and other particles in the air. If you keep your brushes in storage containers, make sure to separate the eye brushes from the face brushes.

Conditioning your makeup brushes will not only preserve their quality but will also make them extra soft.

Makeup brushes are expensive. If possible, buy the travel kit versions. Though smaller in size, they work just the same and will help you save a few bucks.

Always apply hair mousse to damp hair and never to dry hair.

Dirty hair or second-day hair is the easiest to style. For example, if you want curls for Saturday night, I recommend washing your hair Friday morning and then styling it Saturday evening right before you leave the house.

Read reviews and look for swatches before buying products – Sephora.com, makeupalley.com, or good ole google are great ways to find out more before you buy. Don’t trust the product descriptions because they will ALWAYS be amazing. Why? Because they are trying to get you to buy their product – DUH!!! I typically spend 1-2 days on pure research before I commit to buying a new product.

Wait for promotions to purchase splurge items that are not for everyday or immediate use. Be honest - do you REALLY need that $58 Dior eyeshadow palette? I'm gonna go with NO.Wait for a promotion before you splurge! Even if a sale or Friends and Family event is not currently going on, often times you can still find coupon codes online (ie retailmenot.com).

Practice makes perfect and when in doubt, watch tutorials on youtube :)

I Love You

2010-03-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

Like, A LOT.

This Year

2010-03-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

The Oscars can be summed up in three words:

Word Number Uno: Red

Word Number Dos and Tres: Slick hair

I dont think I was wowed by any one person...it was a "Really, she chose that?!" type of year...

BUT, uber excited Sandra Bullock won :)

PS: Is it just me or is George Clooney's new gal got a bit of bitch in her? She didn't seem like she could be bothered to stand for anyone...sigh, you aint the first and you ain't gonna be the last.

I NEED Her In My Life

2010-03-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

Lady Gaga + Barbie + Hello Kitty = love. MATTEL, this message is for you: Please contact the artist in Beijing, China and make the Lady Gaga dolls an official Barbie Collectors item. PLEASE!!

On another note - my aunt and little cousin are in town until Tuesday so blogging might not resume until then. Alright, gotta run, HBO is playing Moulin Rouge again :)

Ask And You Shall Receive

2010-02-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

I dont know where to start.

Almost a year ago, a wonderful fellow CL-addict posted pictures of these blue ostrich CLs. Absolutely stunning and they have been on my mind every since.

Fast forward to last Sunday night. Bored and totally depressed at the thought of having to go to work the next day, I started emailing just about every CL boutique in the entire world :) I specifically had python in mind but thought it wouldn't hurt to throw in a question about ostrich availability.

Monday morning, 7:30am. Usual morning routine - wake up and read my emails in bed. Cept that day, I had one email that read "I have a 36.5 in Blue Jean Ostrich, SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!" I have no words to describe the thoughts and emotions racing through me as I frantically responded back. Before I knew it, I was driving to work while on the phone with the one of the sweetest SAs - giving her my CC info along with my undying love and gratitude. I think I was about to burst in my car and my heart beat did not slow to a normal pace until maybe three hours later.

The rest of the week was horrible. I spent all of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday whining to G, J, RP, and just about anyone who would listen. What if something happens and the package gets sent back? What if the package gets lost? What if it gets damaged? Does the package have the correct address on there? Sorry I was so annoying and bless you all for putting up with me this past week. I promise to be just as patient with you if you ever decide to have a 3-day meltdown :)

Finally, after almost a year of longing and 4 days of intensive anticipation, I met my true love:

A M A Z I N G.

I seriously must be doing something right cus the shopping gods adore me.

Buuuuuuuut - thats not all!!!!!!

Besides making my blue ostrich dream a reality, Monday also had me busy making some tough python decisions. I didn't think it was appropriate to place orders for three new exotic CLs in one day and after consulting with G and J, I ended up ordering Roccia Python VPs with red leather tip:

Another long-running CL dream made into reality. Yup, Feb 22, 2010 was pretty amazing for me. A few key points I would like to stress:

1. Dont be afraid to ask. If you really want something, put in the work and do the research.
2. Save your money and skip the items that are just so-so. The amazing ones may cost you more but you will also love them more.
3. Remember to always give thanks for those who are willing to put up with your nonsense :D

**Updated shoe collection: click here.

*RP - I tried to make the pictures less predictable but Libby still managed to do her usual box pose...sorry. LOL

Dear Money Tree

2010-02-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

Please, please, PLEASE grow ASAP. I need you to be ready for Fall 2010 cus the CL collection is already making my head spin!!!! And I have a feeling Chanel might do the same. So yea, hurry up and grow cus I already have SEVEN items on my list for Fall 2010. Thanks!

**UPDATE: 02/23/2010 - Alright, after my VERY exciting day yesterday, I've had to edit my Fall 2010 list. I now only have 2 CLs and 1 Chanel on there :) BUT this doesn't mean I dont want a money tree..esp one that grows extra fast!!

Do Not Support Fug

2010-02-21T13:47:00.001-08:00

We have allowed Prada to get away with selling overpriced nylon bags for years (and years and years and years) but we absolutely CANNOT allow them to sell overpriced plexi shoes and bags. Please do not support the fug.

$1295 for this?!?!? Seriously. Stop it.

You know when you're so frustrated/angry, you actually start laughing? I'm doing that right now thanks to these $990 sandals:

And these $850 clogs:

And finally, who in their right mind would pay $980 for these?!?!?!? If you raised your hand, please do not run away. I just want to sit down and understand where you are coming from. Help me help you.

Again, please do not allow Prada to charge obscene amounts of money for crap material and design by spending your hard earned money on any of the above items. If you're going to spend money on plexi shoes, do it right and get these:

$51.99 on Amazon and they even come with a tip jar compartment.

Currently...

2010-02-18T21:14:00.001-08:00

BORED!!!!!

We still have another month before we even get to the first day of Spring and I'm already bored of the S/S 10 collections. I only have THREE more items left on my list. This NEVER happens to me. EVER. Weird. I have been buying a lot of makeup though. I'm not really sure why cus I only wear eyeliner and concealer. I blame it on YouTube :) Damn tutorials, gets me everytime! Sorry, you can ignore this perfectly random post. Who knows, I'll probably fall in love with something tomorrow and before you know it, my list will be back to its normal length. Til then, I'll be strassing my heart (and eyes) out.

*UPDATE: 02/22/2010 - Hm, I guess I blogged too soon. Today was far from boring.

Conquering Strass

2010-02-15T18:12:00.001-08:00

About a year ago, CL fanatics was introduced to Samira Strass. A Ron Ron covered from head to heel in Swarovski crystals. We swooned, drooled, and envied those lucky few who had the ability to cough up $3000 for ownership rights. A year later, strass has completely infiltrated the Louboutin world. From the many styles being strassed to the wide variety of colors now being used, if you have the money, you can get all the CL strass you want. What remains unchanged is the majority of the population, like myself, who still can't wrap their mind or bank account around the idea of dropping $3000 on a pair of shoes. Does this mean we are forever doomed to a strass-less CL collection? I think not! Recently a DIY phenomenon has taken over the CL forum on tPF and this weekend, I officially jumped on the DIY CL strass wagon :) A snapshot of my workspace:

I promise to blog about this project in its entirety as soon as I finish but for now back to strassing and preparing myself for the remarks and looks I will get at work tomorrow when I respond to the usual post-weekend small talk:

Coworker: "What did you do this weekend?"
Me: "Glued thousands of Swarovski crystals to a pair of my shoes, you?"
Coworker: "Wait, what?"

$100 bucks says this conversation will actually take place tomorrow...LOL

**UPDATE: 02/23/2010 - Okay, this project is taking a lot longer than expected...mainly cus I'm getting lazy :P Maybe another week or two before they're done...sowwee :)

RIP Lee McQueen: 16 March 1969 – 11 February 2010

2010-02-11T20:11:00.000-08:00

Fierce will never be the same.

A Teeny Tiny Rant Inspired By The Last Emperor

2010-02-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

I cried when watching "Valentino: The Last Emperor". Roll your eyes and think what you will but when you see his seamstresses from the 1960s embrace him and breakdown down into tears, you get a tiny glimpse of how much the past 48 years has meant to him...and the rest of the world. I moderate my comments to keep pesky trolls out because to them, designers, design houses, and the fashion industry is "just shopping" and we, the fashion fanatics are simply "slaves to consumerism". Take some time, read a book or two about some of the most famous designers/design houses and maybe then you'll have a better understanding as to why the Valentino red is different from all other shades of red or why the 2.55 is so much more than just a $3500 purse. Maybe then you'll understand why fashion is such a big deal.

After The Rain

2010-02-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

After two days of non-stop rain, sunny So-Cal was back in action today:

I decided it was finally time to let my cats get a little bit of fresh air out on the balcony. Olivia was hesitant to go far and stayed close to the door. She actually freaked out for a bit when my mom closed it on her as a joke...LOL :P

On the other hand, Libby is basically ready to set up permanent camp outside:

But enough about my babies. Time to talk about Poseidon. I found it rather appropriate that Poseidon showed up on my doorstep just two days before the heavy rains hit. Here is my new love:

Lavender Poseidon, a one size run, Horatio exclusive which means I am currently the only person with these beauties in a size 37...IN THE ENTIRE WORLD :) CL fanatics have been anxiously anticipating the arrival of the Poseidon which comes in silver, gold, pearl, aqua, and lavender. I originally had my name down for pearl but the pearl turned out to be almost identical to the silver. I was secretly happy since it meant one less thing to spend money on but when pictures of the lavender Poseidon popped up, I knew my CC was doomed. No pain, no gain. These are so freakin worth it. Made basically with the same technique as the NGs, the Poseidon is satin with pieces of sequins meticulously sewn on. Poseidon because of the fish scale effect. The Toisson will be an SCP exclusive but ETA is still TBD and will be in the Ron Ron style. Okay, I need to stop blogging right now cus I'm too busy running around screaming my head off for THE SAINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!!!!! Before I go, the Poseidon has given me the ability to walk sideways:

And sharing a lovely little gift from my SA. I was going back and forth with her on sizing and she got me some Dr. Scholls padding just in case these were too big for me :) BTW - the fit is perfect but will most likely stretch with wear so these pads will definitely come in handy. Alright back to cheering and screaming my head off ^.^

And PS: GO SAINTS!! Sorry, I'm just really, really, REALLY happy right now :) :) :)

PPS: Click here for updated shoe collection

*UPDATE: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I am officially a Super Bowl lucky charm...HAHA. Best five minutes of my life. Drew Brees (break my my heart why dont you with your adorable son), Reggie Bush, and Scott Fujita (you too, heartbreaker with the cute kids) = L O V E. Alright, I'll stop now. Wait, one last thing, I hope the Manning family isn't too upset over this...SUCKERS.

**UPDATE: 02/23/2010 - Alright, turns out this is not a Horatio exclusive after all. BNY is getting them!!! I guess I can still claim to be the FIRST person with them on in a size 37..lol

LOL

2010-02-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

I have a teeny tiny obsession with makeup. Youtube makeup tutorials by all of those self-proclaimed "makeup gurus" can seriously keep me entertained for hours. These videos however, are probably even MORE entertaining:

LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO

Shame, I was actually going to do a post about some of my recent makeup purchases but now I'm not so sure - wouldn't want Brett and Gloria making fun of me!! Actually, I take that back, I would be honored if they even read my blog...LOL

PS: Make sure you watch Gloria's bonus footage at the end of her tutorial :D

Not Your Average Tie-Dye

2010-01-31T13:40:00.000-08:00

I have a disorder. I can't walk into SCP without buying something. Yesterday I met up with DZ and T for lunch and "window-shopping". No harm if I just run into Bottega and ask the SA a few quick questions about the new Orchid color available for S/S 2010, right? WRONG. Before I knew it, she was showing me a bag that had been set aside for one of her regular customers. The updated Aquilone (Italian for "kite") in Orchid. Heavenly soft leather (as in Chanel Soft-Chain type of buttery softness) tie-dyed to BV standards and finished off with just a teeny-tiny bit of signature Bottega weaving. Uh, how could I not try my hardest to charm my way into getting this purse?! The manager said that the customer who ordered this bag was probably out of the country and since the Aquilone (available in Orchid, Yolk, and Cigar) is starting to trickle into stores, they figured by the time she gets back in town, they will have no trouble locating another one for her. SOOOOOOOOO...presenting my new baby:

The SA told me that I was probably one of the first to own this purse in the entire country. Again, big thanks to the shopping gods and I strongly believe this was due to the good deed I had done earlier in the week :D

Considering its size, quality/color of leather, BV name brand, and THREE compartments, the Aquilone is an absolute STEAL. Lets just say its cheaper than the purple lizards my CL SA had on hold for me.

The technique is also new to BV. The leather is folded and then dyed. Hence the tie-dye effect. Add all of this together and you'll understand why I was jumping and squealing in joy yesterday when I was handing over the CC ^.^

PS: Updated purse collection

Watch It!

2010-01-30T23:25:00.000-08:00

Season 3 starts Monday Feb 1, 2010. Billie Piper, Iddo Goldberg, Callum Blue, and Ashley Madekwe = LOVE!! Mmmm...the English accent definitely helps too :)

One, Two, Three

2010-01-29T21:14:00.000-08:00

Theres not much to say...I've not been very good about staying away from shoes:

Aubergine Goa Lady Lynch Zeppa

120mm wedges :) The color in real life is sort of like purple with some red mixed in...I dont know...it was super hard for me to get a good picture that actually did the color justice.

Joli Noeud Dorcet

After about a year of lusting and searching, these are FINALLY in my closet!

Hardwick Biancas

Pure impulse buy. My fault, should've known better than to "just try on" shoes while out with four other CL addicts :P

Have a good weekend and believe it or not, I have new shoes scheduled to arrive next week :)

PS: Updated Shoe Collection

Quick Hello And Apology/Explanation

2010-01-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

Hi loves! Sorry for the lack of posts. Truth be told, I actually have quite a few updates for you buuuuuuuuuuuuut....#1 my company has amped up our internet filters. Blogger and Photobucket are just two examples of sites that I no longer have access to. #2 bc of this internet filter crap, I have to wait til I get home before I can check up on my daily sites! #3 by the time I get my HARDWORKING butt home, its usually 7-7:30pm. After dinner and visiting my daily sites, I'm usually ready to call it a night. All of that equals no time for posts :(

So the bad news: I'll only be able to do sporadic posts during the weekdays from now on. The good news: I have some delicious new purchases to share with you :)

My First Love....PURSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-01-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

Though greatly outnumbered by my shoe collection, my purse collection has always been and will always remain, my first love. I can't really tell you when or how I first fell in love with purses. I just know that in 2002 (vs 2006 when I bought my first 3 pairs of CLs), I walked into Louis Vuitton and so began my love affair with purses. Presenting my colorful purse collection:

Family Picture

Big thanks to my mom for helping me out with this one :) As I started to take each purse out of its dust bag, it quickly became apparent that there was no good way to display all of these purses together. The above mess you see was the best we could do :P One quick note before I go into each designer family; for a lot of these purses, I have no idea what the official name is. I'll try my best to fill in the blanks but for now, enjoy!!

LV

Speedy 25

Vavin PM

Papillon

Totally GM

Dior

Boston in Girly Pink

Name - TBD

Saddle

Name - TBD

My Dior

Gucci

Name - TBD

Name - TBD

Chanel

Reissue Card Holder

Classic Jumbo - Black Caviar with Gold Hardware

Classic Jumbo - Bleu Roi Caviar with Silver Hardware

Classic Jumbo - White Caviar with Silver Hardware

Classic Maxi - Red Caviar with Silver Hardware

Classic Maxi - Navy Caviar with Gold Hardware

227 Reissue - Metallic Dark Silver

226 Reissue - Metallic Purple

Soft Chain - Peach

Rock and Chain

Fendi

Spy

Name - TBD

Balenciaga

Twiggy - Pourpre

Twiggy - Papeete

Arena Giant Money - Tempete

Zagliani Python

Mulberry - Bayswater in Purple Ostrich

Chloe - Bay

Miu Miu - Name TBD

Bottega Veneta

Name - TBD

Special Order Large Campana in Turbulence

Zip Around in Turbulence

*Updated 01/31/2010

Aquilone in Orchid

YSL

Travel Wallet

Muse - Mint Green

Muse - Teal

Majorelle - Fuchsia

The End (for now!)

Just like my shoe collection, I will be adding this post to the sidebar for easy access. As I add new purses to my collection, I will also update this post.

PS: My Chanel Cambon is MIA but should be coming home soon :)

Update

2010-01-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

Please click here to see a quick update to this previous post :)

PS: I'm going to start using this format if I ever update previous posts just so you are aware that an update is available...

PPS: Now that my shoe collection post is done, I'm going to start working on my purse collection post. Very unfortunate that self-proclaimed purse addict somehow got more addicted to buying shoes than to buying purses....