Sunday, December 26, 2010

boots galore



brown: We Who See Fringe Boot - Urban Outfitters ($78)
black: Xhileration Lace-Up Boot - Target ($30)

I got these two pairs of boots for Christmas, and I am in fake leather heaven.

The brown ones are my treasured babies, as they were obviously fairly expensive (for me, anyway), but worth every penny! I adore them so much and worship their soles down to every stitch. I am stuck between wanting to wear them every minute and not wanting to ruin them in the outdoors.

The black, on the other hand, were a cheap impulse buy. I plan on wearing the bageezuz out of them, using them as more of an all purpose winter-trudge-in-fields-and-rain kind of boot that I don't have to worry about ruining. But I love them just the same!

I just adore the chunky, yet lean look of these midcalf lace-up boots that have been everywhere over the last few months. I spent so long looking up different styles online and finally settled on the UO pair! They are such an interesting hybrid of the more masculine combat boot cut and a gentle Victorian lady's boot, with that added twist of a vintage rodeo boot on top of it all. I really just cannot get over my love of them.

I'm going to try to keep photorgraphing all my [interesting] finds and buys and perhaps revamp my lookbook? who knows! but keep an eye out

xoxo

Friday, December 17, 2010

wardrobe update

I'm fairly certain that this blog is just going to be about fashion from now on, because everything else I care about happens on tumblr. so yes, it is officially decided!

As I've been living in San Francisco for the last four months, my personal style has inevitably evolved. There's so many good thrifting opportunities and effortlessly stylish people walking around hip urban settings that it's almost impossible not to try to catch up. And oh, have I!

I've spent a good amount of time, effort and dollars on fashion since I've been here so I thought I'd share a bit. These are just a few select items that I felt like sharing. There's a good mix of new & thrifted items in here...

(tan leather belt - thrifted)


(tortoiseshell sunglasses - Urban Outfitters)


(embellished gold locked necklace - H&M)


(assorted leather cuffs - SF Zoo & campus bazaar)


(golden animal ring set - H&M)
(semi-precious stone ring, golden woven ring, flower ring - campus bazaar, elephant ring - New York city via my boyfriend)


(cognac oxfords - K-Mart $13)


(red cardigan - thrifted $2, gray & white shawl sweater - Forever 21)


(high-wiasted Levi's denim shorts - thrfited, high waisted black denim shorts - thrifted)


(native-inspired printed tank - H&M)


(light denim button down - Thrift Town, SF Mission district)


- - -

I hope you enjoyed this little taste of my personal style. I hope I can update more and keep this going, because fashion really is something I love and take great care and effort in (I kid you not, I spent an entire day researching lace-up boots the other day). Lately, sharing my ideas and opinions has become more and more appealing to me. I read so many fashion blogs and watch videos and I love seeing what other people do and how they make outfits. That probably sounds lame and self-indulgent/self-centered/etc. to a lot of people, but it genuinely interests me. So I'm going with it. Huzzah!


xoxo

Monday, July 5, 2010

fashion frenzy

So I really like fashion.

I am an addict of browsing Lookbook and style blogs. I can't help it. Clothes make me happy. I don't so much like high fashion or keeping up with legitimate labels or brands, and browsing Vogue holds little interest to me past the photographic aspect. But I can never get enough of street style! I love finding new ideas of how to put old and new pieces of my wardrobe together, finding inspiration from someone I see at the mall or walking down the street.

This all leads to me wanting to be more active in sharing what I'm wearing, mostly on this blog! I went shopping the other day and picked up some new additions.

The main coax in leading me to go shopping was that Urban Outfitters was having a massive sale this week. Usually their "sales" are only alright, with nothing too great marked down (I swear I would wear everything in that store but its too damn pricey for my current income-less existence) but I somehow managed to pick out some great finds for decent prices.


I'm in love with this skirt. It was on sale for about $20 and I was so stoked when I dug it out of the sale rack. The fabric is lovely as well as the print and though you can't really tell from the photo, it has this lovely little ruched, bubble shape to it. I've been looking for a lighter floral printed skirt for awhile and this one finally made the cut.

This was a last minute find. It's a sort of tanktop/tunic type thing (it goes down past my hips!) and was the last one on the sale rack and miraculously my size (also only $9.99?!!) I love the print and unusual color and I ADORE the back. I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo, but the entire back is lace. It's a daring purchase for me and a bit too out there for a normal day out in my town, but paired with black high waisted shorts or skirt I'm sure I'll be able to pull it off for a day in the city.


The accessory sale was surprinsingly good, too. The necklace was only $9.99 (which is pretty inexpensive for UO, trust me) and I love it. Chuncky but very simple. And that opaque green nail polish was only .99 cents!! Definitely couldn't pass it up.

After UO, I popped over to Forever 21 to take a look around because I am a girl and cannot resist plethoras of clothes at reasonable prices.


I was thrilled to find this dress for only about $13. The skirt portion is skin tight and very sharp looking and I love it paired with the baggy white tank. I like how this can be dressed up or down, night or day depending on what I want to do with it.


I bought this tank mainly for the back. It's knotted into a racerback shape and drops down and has this lazy, DIY feel to it. And I do love the Native American-inspired design on the front!


I couldn't pass up another floral skirt. This one is tiered and flouncy and adorable! Definitely a keeper.


I also have been needing a new wallet so I found this adorable little one at F21 too. Only 8 bucks! (can you tell I like floral?)


So that was my successful shopping spree! I want to start posting more lookbook/outfit posts now so hopefully that will keep this blog alive. I now have some cleaning to do.

43 days until I leave for college!

xoxo

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

innermost musings?


Today I was going through some of my old journal entries from when I was about 9-11 years old today and I've realized just how geeky and awkward I was as a child. Every other page is either profusely expressing my love for Harry Potter and Neopets or else explaining the innermost intricacies of my overflowing depth with frequent musings such as, "I'm bored," or "I was listening to Justin Timberlake today." Yeah. Like I said, depth.

My entries were very sparse and far between and at one point skips two years. I guess I was just never the journal keeping type? I wish I had the dedication to remember to document all my thoughts in a more productive way then just tumblr. Which is why I am surprised at myself for buying a moleskin recently. And I've actually been pretty good at filling it up with things. Not so much in the way of words, but more like little notes and sketches. I'm actually really really liking it. This is mostly because I started following "fuckyeahmoleskinart" on tumblr and found the lovely LLYMLRS on Lookbook/Blogspot and both outlets have inspired me to document more of my daily imaginings. Hopefully I keep up the habbit because as we've seen with my journal and this blog, sometimes I'm hard pressed to keep up with a creative outlet. But I'm going to really try to!


I was writing out a list of all the books that I'm taking with me to college in my journal today and it got me thinking...something about college combined with a fresh moleskin makes me really exhilarated. I love the idea that I get to start fresh this coming year. Now that I've defined myself and know at least half well what I'd like to do with my career, I think its going to be a turning point for me. I can't wait to explore the city and the Fine Arts building at SFSU. I am unbelievably excited. But it's very strange to think that college is finally almost here. Now that I have a roommate set up and bedsheets picked out, it seems REAL. Even though I'm a tad intimidated by the idea of living in a big city and making friends with strangers and figuring out bus schedules and holding my own in college classes and having to manage finances and be a GROWN UP...I'm so ready. I really feel like I've been ready my whole senior year. Something about this past year was just off with me. I had a lot of fun with my friends and I don't regret the time I got to spend with everyone, but I felt disconnected the whole time. I knew I was going to San Francisco and I knew what I was going to do so my mind was constantly in the future. And its hard to want to stay in my small town at times. Although it has gorgeous farmland and picturesque views, I really feel like I belong in the city. At least for now. Every time I visit San Francisco I'm reminded of just how much I fit in and how much I love it. Especially at SFSU. Looking around at the people who go there and meeting people through the facebook group for incoming freshmen, I seem to have so much in common with everyone. Which is a LOT more than can be said about my fellow classmates in high school. But oh well, what can you do. I was a bit of a lone reed (props if you get the chick flick ref?) but alls well now. Everyone finds their niche eventually and I think I've found mine. As my old biology teacher said, "San Francisco is like my happy place."


Anyways, I'm going to go watch me some Skins now, so I leave you with:

recently:
read:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
-I haven't finished it yet but so far I love it. I've been meaning to read it for awhile (ever since I saw Everything Is Illuminated years ago and learned that it was based on a book and that Jonathan had written other books blah blah blah) I love the style it's written in. I'm going to aim to work on finishing it soon.
listened to: Tokyo Police Club's new album Champ
-oh my Canada, these boys have done it again. I've always had a special spot in my little heart for this band. Something about their melodies and lyrics stands out to me more than other bands. And I am so happy that their new album lives up and given time I'm sure their lyrics and songs will hold the same meaning to me as their old ones. (favorites off the album: Bambi, Favorite Color)
traveled to: DISNEYLAND. Best three days of the summer for sure. AND WORLD OF COLOR WAS FREAKING PHENOMENAL HOLY CRAP.
wore: I actually posted a legitimate look on my lookbook. go see!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

LIES lies all of it


It seems I lied when I said a "legitimate" blog post was coming "soon".
So much has been going on in the last month or so. I could say I haven't had "time" to blog but that wouldn't really be true. I've had copious amounts of time to blog. But I've neglected this blog for things like tumblr and IRL activities. I know, I know. LAME EXCUSES FROM GEN VERSION 2.0

But seriously folks. Lately in my life, I've gone to Coachella, taken my last ever AP exams, gotten pneumonia, won best in show at my school's art fair, and I leave for Disneyland in two weeks and GRADUATE FREAKING HIGH SCHOOL in four.

I can't believe it either.
I'm just trying to stay afloat in all this madness.
Life is swooshing by like a [insert interesting metaphor here]


So anyway,
to end this meager slice of bloggin' pie, I leave you with some 'recently':

recently:
read: Varieties of the Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search For God by Carl Sagan
-This book has once again reaffirmed in my mind that Dr. Sagan was (and remains to be) a GENIUS. He writes so eloquently and but at the same time his writing is astonishingly readable and enjoyable for casual reading. And I think he brings up enormously poignant and legitiate arguments, most of which I agree with and have helped me form my own views. I want to absorb everything he has said/written ever, which is good considering I also bought Cosmos the same day I bought this book.
watched: The Lovely Bones
-I was very disappointed. And not necessarily because it strays away from the novel. That I could mind. But as a film it was seriously lacking. The flow was choppy and incoherent and in my own little amateur opinion, there were script issues. There were good moments though (Tucci's acting was disturbingly good and Susie and the Grandma were amazazing) but overall it was a big...MEH.
listened to: When I'm Small - Phantogram
-ADDICTED. enough said.

Friday, April 9, 2010

JK Rowling

For one of my local college scholarships, I had to write an essay on who has inspired me most in my life. I chose JK Rowling. I thought it might be nice to share it here :)

*PS: a legitimate blog post is coming soon, complete with anecdotes, recently lists, self reflections and even photos! OH JOY! Anyway.

---

PERSONAL ESSAY:

Joanne Rowling, better known to the world as JK Rowling, author of the phenomenally popular Harry Potter series, has been an undeniable inspiration in my life. She has been a key part of my life since I was seven years old, over ten years ago. Her inspiration, apart from the obvious influence of her novels, has touched me on many levels and her story still motivates me to this day.

JK Rowling came into my life when I was just seven years old. That was the age when I first picked up a Harry Potter novel. Being so young, I initially had my mother read the first two novels of the series to me as a sort of bedtime routine, but as I grew up and developed my love for reading, I started to read them obsessively on my own. I had never before experienced such a detailed, beautifully written book that wholly captivated my imagination and heart. As the years passed, I enthusiastically gobbled up each novel as they were released and much of my imagination revolved around Harry’s world. I would write stories of my own that connected to JK Rowling’s world, I would search the internet for news and hints about the upcoming novels , draw my own illustrations of things described in the books, attend midnight releases for the novels and subsequent films. Harry Potter even led to me bonding with friends at school who also loved the books and films, and many of those friendships have lasted to this day.

My life was enveloped by Harry Potter, and the series is what ignited my love for stories themselves, and I attribute my current love for reading and writing to the presence of Harry Potter in my life. I’m not sure I would have read nearly as much as I do now had it not been for Harry Potter igniting that initial spark for reading over ten years ago. Had it not been for this story, I might not have the deep appreciation for the human imagination that I have today that keeps me passionate about art, literature and stories.

Apart from the novels themselves being a very essential influence on my life, I think the thing that has most inspired my aspirations in life has been the story of JK Rowling herself. I remember that as I developed my love for Harry Potter, I began to look up biographies on JK Rowling to get a better idea of the person who was giving the world this wonderful and imaginative world. I learned that she had written Harry Potter during a particularly difficult time in her life. She was very poor, living off welfare in a small run-down apartment, trying to raise her daughter as a single mother. She had nothing and no one to rely on and was very lonely. But still she pursued her passion for story-telling, despite the very small chance that she would succeed. She continued writing Harry’s story until she finally got the courage to try to publish her story. It was a struggle still to get her story picked up by a publisher, as ironic as that might sound now. But she persevered until it finally was published. And from there we all are quite aware that the book’s popularity grew enormously to the point of an international phenomenon, and she now is a household figure who is definitely no longer struggling for money as she once did.

What has struck me most about her story is her determination despite all odds. To me, that is a quality that speaks true to my future goals. My passion has always been art and creation, ever since I became so enraptured with fantastical worlds like Harry’s. Creating worlds and stories through visual mediums, be it if I work as a conceptual artist for films or as an illustrator for stories of my own, is what I am determined to make a career out of. But this is an unconventional career path that is not known for being particularly successful and financially stable. But it is what I want to do more than anything in the world, and I will continue to pursue it no matter what. And Jo’s example, though extremely lucky and exceptional, has been a driving force in my passion ever since I heard it for myself. Her story has showed me that even if you come from the humblest of beginning and have nothing to your name but an imagination and talent, there is no limit to what you can achieve. As cliché and idealist as that might sound, it is something I believe is essential and true. Her overcoming of odds by using her imagination and passion is an inspiration to people like me, who plan to follow in her footsteps and use my own creativity to my advantage. She has showed me the importance of staying motivated in your convictions and passions, and to never give up on your dreams. Though I have a long way to go before I am anywhere near as successful as her, I believe that if I stay passionate and determined through all challenges as she did, I will be able to overcome any hurdle and make my mark on the world.

Monday, March 15, 2010

what i did today


(Kaya Scodelario)

* EDIT: here's the finished version:

Sunday, February 28, 2010

creativity challenge: update


So far so good on my vow of daily creativity!

Mostly I've been sketching, painting and drawing to fill up my daily quota but I'm going to try to incorporate more photography (I just finally got a lookbook after all!) writing and filming, too.
So far, I've:
-finished a painting (it's a present for Brendan, for our 1 year so I cannot reveal the subject here)
-finished a pastel portrait (posted on deviantArt under 'little blue')
-started a pencil portrait of Kaya Scodelario
-planned out a painting of The Little Mermaid for my sister's birthday present (shh don't tell)
- and I still have my painting I'm working on at school for my art studio class

I think having written my creativity-promise on this blog, it makes it more official and I feel more obligated to do it, oddly enough (even though like, two people read this blog anyway)...there's a slightly absurd pressure associated with actually writing out goals, you know? Like now that it exists tangibly in some form, I will be ashamed if I don't follow through. It's a slightly silly thought, but effective nonetheless!



On another note: it was sunny today so I went for a 4 mile run with my sister around town (and while I say that casually, I assure you I'm TIRED) and the blossoms are really starting to come out now. I could just SMELL SPRINGTIME which I love. Sun and spring in itself make me more excited about everything. I just want to go outside and walk around and enjoy my day instead of staying holed up inside, wasting the daylight hours.

It also makes me excited about fashion because springtime/early summer is my favorite time for clothes. I lvoe floral dresses and sandals and light sweaters and...and...everything. I can't wait to go thrifting on Friday with Brendan to find some cheap and unique springy things!


<3


recently:

watched: I Heart Huckabees
-This is one of the zaniest, funniest movies I've seen in a while and I really liked it. Jude Law is fantastic and my god, it made me adore Jason Schwartzman even more if that were possible. I really liked the light tone it had despite the deep existential questioning it addressed. All in all, a great film that I recommend!
listened to: Another Sun by Malakai
-I've had this song on my ipod forever (I think it was on a LSTN download?) but I relistened to it today and remembered how much I loved it.
and Tonight by Smith Westerns
-I love their lo-fi sound and their studio recordings are ALMOST as good as seeing them live was.

xoxo

Wednesday, February 24, 2010


I have spontaneously decided to set a daily goal for myself. and that is to be directly creative in some way every day, no exceptions. Be it drawing, sketching, painting, collaging, filming/editing video or writing for my long-since-forgotton Nanowrimo "novel"...I have to do SOMETHING. I've been wasting so much time online or lazing around my room after school lately. I need a turn around!

all for now,
<3

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

of baths birthdays and frogs


So, it's Tuesday and my eighteenth birthday is in TWO days. Whaat? I'm slightly not ready. Even though every year, it usually takes a couple months for my new age to really set in, I'm still feeling very much like a seventeen year old. And to be honest, I'm not ready to let this age go yet! Seventeen was probably one of the best years of my life. So much happened, so much changed and I had so many firsts. How can 18 possibly live up to that? But maybe I'll just take it in strides? Sigh.

In other news,
today was hot. I mean, not nearly as hot as it gets in the summer. But definitely warm. And cloudless. And blue. And clear. And it smelled like SPRINGTIME outside. I was on a run around the neighborhood and I caught the distinct wafts of blossoms, grass and general non-winter-ness. I cannot fully express how giddy this makes me.
I have a very hard time surviving winter without frustration an
d longing for sunshine. And I don't even live where it snows or gets colder than what, like 35 degrees? But this January was torture, it rained so much. And February has been mostly the same. The only reason I usually tolerate February is for its shortness and abundance of birthdays! Mine, three of my friends and at least four of my relatives. I always love a good birthday party! (Which reminds me...I have no idea what I'm doing for mine?)

I count down to spri
ng/summer once the new year hits. This winter, I've been going particularly insane stuck inside and compiled a playlist of summer songs in preparation for the months of heat to come. I know, typical me. Making playlists for therapy! If you're interested, I'll attach the list to the end of this post.*

So I have an anecdote I've been dying to share somewhere.
It involves baths. And frogs.
I love baths. I take them whenever I have the time & energy (is that not just the laziest thing in the world? Being too lazy to take a BATH?) I love me a good basin full of hot H2O, some tunes playing on the iHome, bubbles and I even throw in a cute little r
ubber ducky when I feel like it. It's the epitome of leisure to me.

So this one particular instance, I was laying there in the steaming water, just
thinking and soaking. And I recalled this one time when my sister told me that to kill a frog, you must first place them in a pot of water and slowly heat it up, because if you try putting the frog directly in boiling water it will, quite logically on the frog's part, jump out immediately. Now I have no idea if this in fact true but laying there in the tub, I thought how much this was true about me, sans the...death part.

You see, when I take a bath, I lay in the tub as it is filling up with
very hot water. If I do it the other way, letting it fill up and then stepping in, I can't stand the heat. I don't know why its different but it is. It's my process. For example, this one time I turned on the tap and was about to step in as usual, but I got distracted with finding a good song on my ipod and by the time I walked back to the tub, it was half full. So I dipped my toe in and retracted it instantly in horror as my poor little curled toes stung and turned bright red. Yeah. So not gonna happen. So I was forced to combat the hot water by turning the tap to the blue side, adding more cool water and slushing it around to try to neutralize the heat, which really didn't work at all. Now the bath water was an awkward, uncomfortable mix of both. So I gave up, drained it and showered instead. Patience is my virtue, yeah?
Yeah. I think the moral of this story if that I am a frog
(my Animagus, perhaps?) and if you want to boil me alive, do it gradually!

<3



I've decided to attach a fun little segment on the end of my blogs now, entitled:

recently:
read: The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
-This book was every bit as riveting and affecting as I expected. We were reading it in my AP Language class, and I have to admit that it's the first book in a while that I've read completely without any "ahem* "summary resources"...*coughSPARKNOTEScough* I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the US immigration conflict.
watched: Food, Inc.
-This documentary has made me consider vegetarianism more seriously than I had before. And has made me want to boycott supermarkets and live exclusively off my own grown crops from a personal garden...neither of which will probably actually happen but STILL.
listened to: Go Do by Jonsi
-I adore Sigur Ros and am ecstatic Jonsi's solo act is living up.
and Lover's Carving by Bibio
-I cannot express how much I love this song. There's something so whimsical easygoing and sunny about it.
created: three new artworks! see them here!




*my summer/spring/sunshine playlist is as follows:

golden skies =
Summertime // Girls
Suicide // The Raveonettes
When I'm With You // Best Coast
Summertime Clothes // Animal Collective
Unforgettable Season // Cut Copy
Lessons Learned // Matt & Kim
Pulling Our Weight // The Radio Dept.
Lust For Life // Girls
Young Adult Friction // The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Your English Is Good // Tokyo Police Club
Two Weeks // Grizzly Bear
Edge of the Ocean (Duotone remix) // Ivy




Wednesday, January 6, 2010

coastal brake


I cannot get Tyhco's new single, 'Coastal Brake' out of my mind. I loved Tycho before but now...ahh. It has enveloped me.

...have a listen:

Coastal Brake - Tycho