Category Archives: World In My Eyes

Record Store Day Black Friday & Small Business Saturday

The Thanksgiving weekend is always bustling with family, good friends and even better food, but it also means some kind of sale is going on. Typically, we’re in Las Vegas and my mother-in-law and I head out in the extreme early morning to take advantage of doorbusters at places like Target or Walmart. This year, we’re here in San Diego, and last night, my husband and I actually went out after dinner and braved our local mall. He wanted to take advantage of some Funko Pop exclusives at Game Stop and it was just as busy as if it were a regular weekend. It was a bit much, and we headed home after just a round at the mall.

Although I won’t be giving into the craziness that is Black Friday, something we definitely have taken advantage of is Record Store Day’s version of this shopping holiday and participating in Small Business Saturday.

RECORD STORE DAY BLACK FRIDAY 2017

Just like the Record Store Day listing that is put out annually in April, here is this year’s listing for RSD Black Friday 2017:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/recordstoreday/2017/2017_BLACK_FRIDAY_PUBLIC.pdf

Here’s a list of some of my favorite record stores in San Diego. Share some of your finds in the comments below!

Record City

M-Theory Music

Lou’s Records

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY 2017

I am such an advocate of shopping locally and showing the businesses in my local community love and support. You can do the same by shopping small on Saturday and giving back to the community we live in by participating in Small Business Saturday.

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/

Here are links to a few of my favorite local businesses in San Diego, which have been featured frequently here on my blog. Show them some love on Small Business Saturday!

Vocabulary Boutique

Wysh Boutique

Carlsbad Village Faire

Liberty Public Market

Seaport Village

Poway Valley Center Renovation Update!

In the blink of an eye, the renovations at Poway Valley Center have made some incredible progress! Along with the top picture, this is the blog post from just three months ago here. Compare them to the pictures below that my sister snapped this weekend. What a difference a few months make!

All photos by Rholnna Jiao

THE LATEST FROM LEGOLAND®: Happy Halloween!

It’s that time of year for ghosts, ghouls and goblins of all shapes and sizes to celebrate! In honor of Halloween, here are the pictures we took at LEGOLAND® California’s Brick-Or-Treat Party Nights a few weeks ago. Did you attend? Let me know in the comments below and have a safe Halloween!

My sister, husband and I accompanied Dominic and Me-Lin for a truly spooktacular night!

The candy stations were a big hit!

Loved the music all throughout the park, including the “Rock Band” above and the live music on stage at the Heartlake City Fall Festival below!

All kinds of creatures and creepy characters were lurking around the park!

Thanks again LEGOLAND® for another amazing night!

Mother & Daughter Spa Day at Nova Nails!

Last week, my sister spent an afternoon at Nova Nails, located at Rancho Carmel Plaza. Since I couldn’t make it up there due to my busy schedule, Rholnna thought it would be great to take her daghter, Mei-Lin, for some after-school pampering!

Mei-Lin mentioned how wonderful it smelled as they entered, like a fruity-citrus scent. They both loved the color selection and how attentive the staff was to their every mani-pedi need! If you are a regular reader of my blog, Rancho Carmel Plaza is just a hop, skip and a jump away from where my sister lives, so they’re both happy to know that Nova Nails is near-by and affordable: both of their manicures and spa pedicures were $72. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

Nova Nails is located at 10175 Rancho Carmel Drive, San Diego, CA 92128 and they can be reached at (858) 487-2467. They are open seven days a week and walk-ins are welcome, so please visit Nova Nails for a family-friendly nail spa treatment!

Cheers!

Mom & daughter selfie!

(All photos by Rholnna and Mei-Lin Jiao)

FTC Disclosure: I received compensation to patronize a business at Rancho Carmel Plaza. Although I did receive compensation, the opinions in this post are strictly my own.

The Latest From LEGOLAND®: Lego NINJAGO Days, Castle Hotel Progress & What’s Upcoming in 2018!

So much is happening at the LEGOLAND^® California Resort in Carlsbad that I had to get my sister and photographer, Rholnna, to help capture it all. Along with Brick or Treat (more information in a future post), here’s the lowdown on what’s happening at LEGOLAND^® !

THE LEGO^® NINJAGO^® MOVIE LEGO NINJAGO Days

To celebrate the new LEGO^® NINJAGO^® MOVIE , you can Join your favorite ninjas – Lloyd, Jay, Kai, Cole, Zane and Nya – by tapping into YOUR inner Ninja at LEGOLAND Parks LEGOLAND Discovery Centers!

(Click the picture above for more details)

The LEGO^® NINJAGO^® Days Schedule

LEGOLAND Parks

LEGOLAND California Resort (Carlsbad, Calif.): Sept. 23-24

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dates

Arizona: 9/23-9/24, 9/30-10/1,10/7-10/8

Atlanta 10/7-10/9, 10/13-10/15

Boston 9/23-9/24, 9/30-10/1

Chicago 9/22-9/24, 9/30-10/1

Dallas 9/22-9/23, 9/29-10/1, 10/7-10/8

Kansas City 9/23-9/24, 9/30-10/1, 10/7-10/8

Michigan 9/23-9/24, 9/30-10/1

Philadelphia 9/22-9/24, 9/29-10/1

Westchester (Yonkers, N.Y.): 9/22-9/24, 9/29-10/1

CASTLE HOTEL PROGRESS

Earlier this year, Rholnna attended the ground breaking of the new Castle Hotel at LEGOLAND^® . She recently attended the press conference for what’s upcoming in 2018, so below is a combination of pictures from the ground breaking event back in January and the progress so far!

January 2017

September 2017

LEGO^® City Deep Sea Adventure

At the press conference this month, the LEGO^® City Deep Sea Adventure was introduced and Rholnna captured a few pictures announcing this exciting new upcoming ride!

“LEGOLAND^® California Resort’s General Manager Peter Ronchetti announced at today’s press conference that 2018 will be a year of enormous growth! In January, a new 4-D movie launches, followed by the opening of LEGOLAND^® Castle Hotel in the spring and, just announced, LEGO^® City Deep Sea Adventure submarine ride is opening in the summer! LEGO^® City Deep Sea Adventure is Merlin Entertainment’s single largest investment in any LEGOLAND^® Park and will take passengers aboard a real submarine where they will be submerged underwater and immersed in an ocean habitat.”

(All photos from the Castle Hotel ground breaking and press conference taken by Rholnna Jiao)

Vocabulary Boutique’s Come Sail Away Event Recap

At the beginning of August, I attended a fun event by Vocabulary Boutique. It was a shopping event, with a capsule wardrobe curated by Conni of Art In The Find and Kali of In Spades along with boutique owner, Cecelia, who also celebrated the boutique’s 8th anniversary. It truly was a unique event because although I have attended a few of their events in the past on location at the boutique, this one was on an Aolani Catamaran where we sipped, snacked and shopped while sailing the San Diego Bay!

This cake was as delicious as it was beautiful!

A pretty cocktail next to a cute mini-folding chair (I had to take a picture for perspective)

I had a fun time shopping on board, and I’ll share the new earrings I bought in a blog post!

Sharing sunshine and smiles with Kali (photo courtesy of Jenna of Lucky Little Mustardseed)

With Allison of Fashion Week San Diego, Jenna, Kali and Conni (photos courtesy of Kali and Jenna)

Try-Day Friday: Printed Leggings

My friends, family and co-workers often comment on my style, saying that I’m daring and different, which I really take as a compliment. There isn’t much I won’t wear, but whatever it is that I’m trying out for the first time has to fit my edgy style. I’m no stranger to solid leggings, denim “jeggings” or printed jeans (see posts here, here and here), but I haven’t worn any kind of brightly patterned leggings since the bold floral ones I wore in high school. I think I feared that a printed legging was too “revealing” because although they were technically pants, they were very form-fitting and felt like tights that should be worn under a long knee-length tunic or dress. Leggings just hug everything, and maybe they weren’t supposed to be worn by a 40-something-year-old like me and should be left to those leggy supermodels! Black leggings are easy to wear because they are, you know: black. But printed leggings were a bit of a conundrum for me because I wasn’t entirely sure if I loved them enough to wear them outside of a yoga class or at-home-lounge-wear. The athleisure trend is growing more and more in popularity, so integrating leggings into one’s wardrobe has become part of the norm. After promoting Elastic Wonder’s newest venture (blog post here), and being inspired by the “Try-Day Friday” initiative from plus size clothing company Dia&Co, I thought I’d finally put up this outfit post.

I worked on this outfit post with my sister months ago, when one of my friends asked me to try LulaRoe leggings because she was one of their “Retailers” at the time. I decided to finally figure out what all the hype was about because so many of my friends were telling me how soft they were and that the prints were fun. Being the kind of fashion blogger that I am, I just couldn’t picture myself in kinds of whimsical prints that were available through the collection she presented in her online trunk show. After viewing many-a-legging later, I finally found a pair that I felt I could style: star printed leggings.

Truth be told, the LulaRoe leggings are very soft and the elastic is comfortable on the waist. Really, I chose these leggings not only for the star print, but because there were only three distinct colors: silver, yellow and black. I know that the attraction to these leggings are that their prints are unique and bold, but I would rather wear leggings in a variety of bright solid colors, or a simple bold houndstooth or checker print.

I’d like to say a special thanks to Dia&Co for the inspiration to finally have a reason to share these pictures, not only because we should all dare to try something new, but because I really loved the location my sister and I picked to do this photo shoot: Albert Einstein Academics in South Park. Let me know if there are any fashion fears you are willing to face and try out on a “Try-Day Friday” in the comments below. Cheers and have a great weekend!

Outfit: Forever 21 sweatshirt; LulaRoe leggings; Bodhi “Safety Pin” purse; Altuzurra for Target ankle boots; BonLook “Keiko” sunglasses; Leather wrap Depeche Mode bracelet by Little Treasures by Mir; rings by Wendy Brandes; Earrings c/o Kendra Scott (here); Karl Lagerfeld Watch

Pins by EmeraldSora, EmojiPins (purchased from Bobby Pins Co) and PSA PRESS

(All photos by Rholnna Jiao)

Can You Give Me Directions to Mark Hamill Drive?

Not long after Comic-Con, Dominic and I attended a truly one-of-a-kind event: Mark Hamill’s street sign dedication! I heard about the event on KUSI News because news anchor Lisa Remillard mentioned she would be hosting the event. It was a hot day, which made it a tad bit rough on Dominic, but he stuck it out like a (Storm) trooper and we witnessed a cool bit of Star Wars history. For those of you who are wondering, “Why San Diego?” Mark Hamill spent some of his childhood in the Clairemont area, where the street sign is located.

We originally had a strange vantage point because we decided to grab some lunch nearby, which meant had lost some prime real estate where we would have had a better view. As a result, we had to stand in an awkward place behind the media staging area. Luckily for us, my cousin Regi and her son Riley had been in attendance and we moved closer to the action right near the actual stage. I’ve included a couple of videos below, which was Mark Hamill’s speech, the unveiling of the honorary street sign and declaration of July 30, 2017 as “Mark Hamill Day”.

May The Force be With You and Cheers!

Clockwise from the left: Me, Regi, Riley & Dominic

Images from Comic-Con International 2017

Each year, whether or not we actually get tickets to go inside, we visit the phenomenon that takes over Downtown San Diego: Comic-Con International. Here are a few images from this year. Highlights: Meeting Funko Pop founder, Mike Becker, who autographed our Rosie The Robot set and videos from the NBC exhibit one of my new favorite shows, Midnight Texas. Enjoy!

Mike Becker, founder of Funko Pop!

Midnight Texas

Poway Valley Center is Open During Renovations!

Back in March, my sister and I had a wonderful lunch at Bongiorno’s New York Pizzeria at Poway Valley Center (original post here). If you’ve been by there lately, there are some exciting changes happening, with completion planned for this fall. Although updates are underway, all of the businesses are open during renovations! My sister took these pictures this week, and even stopped by and picked up her favorites at Bongiorno’s. We have also made plans to come back and try out Don Pollo, and then get our nails done at Glaze Complete Nail Care.

So if you’re in the area, come on in and visit Poway Valley Center because they are definitely open for business!

Cheers!