Happy Birthday to my Loving Husband


I just wanted take time to wish my wonderful husband, Deon, a happy birthday today. I had a great time with you at the Farmer’s Insurance Open at Torrey Pines yesterday, and now I know why you love golf so much.  Next time, we will take Dominic to enjoy in the fun!

I love you more and more everyday and I am proud to be your wife and the mother of our child. I love you honey!


First picture, in Pittsburgh, 2008

Above picture, in Rome, 2007


Our first year anniversary, 2008


In London, 2008 (preganant with Dominic)


At Sea World, 2009

Randomness

This post is going to be fairly random, since it’s not about anything in particular. I’ll just see where it goes…

I bought this bag when I was shopping at Eagle Rock Plaza a weeks ago in Glendale. This was the shopping excursion I had with my son while my husband played in a golf tournament. It was purchased at a store called Fil-Mart, which mainly had souvenirs, clothing and shoes from the Philippines.

I bought it because it looks like retro book bag or flight bag. I also liked that it had “Philippines” in Tagalog rather than English and the sun and stars on the strap. I’m primarily going to be using it for my media equipment (camera, tripod, Flip Camera, iPod and netbook), but it may pop up in a random pictorial if it calls for it.

My iPod decided to play a fantastic set when I placed it on “Song Shuffle” a couple of days ago while running errands. It was like listening to KROQ or 91X back in the day. Check out this list:

  1. Ordinary World – Duran Duran
  2. Sunset Now – Heaven 17
  3. (Come On Into) My House – The Red Rockers (photo from IdealCopy.com)
  4. Don’t Go – Yaz
  5. All That We Are – Scritti Politti
  6. Can’t Get To Losing You – The English Beat
  7. Lies – Thompson Twins
  8. Just Can’t Get Enough – Depeche Mode

Along the same lines of that song list above, my new late night addiction is a show that I loved back in the 80’s: 120 Minutes on VH1 Classic. I remember thinking the same thing then as I do right now: why oh WHY is this only on after midnight? I guess right now it’s fine because I have a nocturnal son, which means I have to finish up any chores or posts until the wee hours of the morning. As I type this, the videos for “Lips Like Sugar” by Echo & The Bunnymen, “Blue Monday” by New Order, and “I Melt With You” by Modern English just played. I forgot just how “raw” some of the videos were and how young my favorite bands looked back then. Ah, but the song choice was always and still is fantastic. More please!

Finally, “The King’s Speech” was nomitated for 12 Oscars, including Best Actor for Colin Firth. I’m so glad my favorite actor gets the recognition he so richly deserves (photo from Yahoo!).

I noticed that other bloggers have a themed day where they do features on other bloggers or create a list of things that may not each need to be its own post. My Monday posts are usually dedicated to what I did over the weekend. Since I liked the randomness of this post, this may be a regular theme for my posts Fridays. Hope you all have a great weekend!

In Your Room


I took a couple of pictures in one of my favorite rooms of my house. My son was taking a nap while my mom and I were getting ready to go to a family party. I snapped a couple of pictures while I was lounging around waiting for him to wake up so we could get him ready, too. I kept my outfit simple for the get-together. I really love these lace-up Jeffrey Campbell shoes I bought from Bona Drag. They are deceptively comfortable and look great with so many outfits.


We remodeled our house after my father passed away, and I wanted our living room to feel like someone who was well-traveled decorated the room, which is the very definition of my father. My mom suggested the crown molding, which I absolutely love. I kept it very masculine by choosing earthy colors for the walls and couch, which worked with the existing dark woods of the Grandfather clock and piano. I incorporated a lot of the things my father bought during his travels while in the Navy. I then sprinkled in some vintage looking pieces, like five Tiffany lamps and the Hunter fan that looks like a throwback from another era.

The other inspiration for this room was my friend Trudy’s house. She has this very comfortable couch, on which I had slept on a few occasions after late night concerts or parties in Los Angeles. I made sure that we had big fluffy couches and lots of throw blankets so that friends would feel the same way I did in Trudy’s house: warm and cozy.


Outfit: Guess jeans; Old Navy sweater & tank top; Cotton On scarf; Jeffrey Campbell shoes

Dinner With the Girls


As much as the everyday activities and tasks in life seem to take hold and drive our time, we not only need a little quiet time to ourselves, but we should also spend some time with our best girlfriends. So last week during San Diego’s Restaurant Week, two of my best friends and I went to Peohe’s in Coronado to have a little girl time. Regi, Janice and I have been friends for a long time (Regi is actually my relative). At first, we mainly partied together because we were all in a nightclub promotion group. But since those crazy days and weekends, we’ve calmed down quite a bit and have been in each other’s weddings and are Godparents to each other’s children. Rather than the all night party, we now do things like shopping, spa days, children’s birthday parties, movies, concerts and dinners out.

Restaurant Week is always great because participating restaurants will have a fixed menu for around $20, $30 and $40. It’s usually a three course meal, consisting of a starter, entrée and dessert. There were three selections for each course of the fixed price menu at Peohe’s, and luckily enough, we were able to try everything on the menu because we all have such varying tastes. Here was their Restaurant Week menu:

Choice of First/Appetizers Course

Lobster Bisque

Finished with whole butter, sherry and fresh lobster.

Peohe’s Salad

Field greens, mandarin oranges and candied walnuts, tossed in orange-ginger vinaigrette.

Herb-Steamed Artichoke

Poached in seasoned broth. Served with clarified butter and lemon-basil aioli.

Choice of Second/Main Course

Prime Rib of Beef

Slow-roasted to perfection, served with au jus and creamy horseradish.

Crab-Stuffed Tilapia

Coated with breadcrumbs, stuffed with crabmeat and finished with warm caper butter sauce.

Coconut Crunchy Shrimp

Large shrimp breaded in tempura batter, coconut and panko breadcrumbs. Served with sweet yet tangy plum sauce.

Choice of Third/Dessert Course

No Ka Oi (Hawaiian translation: “The Best”)

Macadamia nut ice cream pie in a chocolate cookie crust with bittersweet chocolate sauce.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Creamy cheesecake infused with raspberries and white chocolate.

Macadamia Nut Ice Creme Brulee

Homemade custard topped with caramelized sugar, macadamia nuts and fresh berries.


I’m so glad that Janice chose Peohe’s because it’s right by the water and although it was chilly, it was beautiful. We walked around a bit, getting in as much girl talk as we could before it got too cold. It’s times like this that I’m reminded of how beautiful San Diego is. All in all, it was a wonderful night with my best girlfriends. We’re planning a trip to the Bay Area sometime this summer. More adventures to come!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom’s 69th birthday. I just wanted to post about how much I love her and to wish her a fantastic day. She thinks about my dad a lot since he passed, so I wanted to post a picture of the two of them together.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Photo by Rholnna Jiao

Weekend in Pictures: Ducks at the Driving Range


On Friday, I took Dominic to feed the ducks while my husband shot a few balls at the driving range. If you’re wondering, it’s all in the same place at the Chula Vista Municipal Golf Course, which is 10 minutes from our house. There’s also a park nearby and a run & bike trail.



After we fed the ducks, Dominic had a little golf lesson with his daddy. I know Deon is excited for the day he can actually buy Dominic his own clubs and they can start golfing together. In the meantime, we’ll just have to feed the ducks until he’s old enough.

The rest of the weekend was spent being lazy and watching football. If anyone was following the playoffs, the Steelers are going to the Superbowl again, and my husband is VERY happy! Hope you all had a great weekend!

The Next Big Style Blogger: My Contest Entry to Refinery 29!

I entered a contest for “The Next Big Style Blogger” on Refinery 29 (see the contest information here).  I submitted the “Upcycle & DIY Chic” post as my contest entry because I believe that upcycling and DIY is becoming something fashionistas are looking more towards to make their wardrobe more creative and relevent to the importance of saving our environment. 

I’m not sure what part the voting aspect plays into this contest, but you can also vote if you would like by clicking the banner above to find my entry on the Refinery 29 site.  You must have a Facebook account to vote, so any Facebook fans of Any Second Now, please log in and vote for me!

Here is what the winner will receive, which sounds like fun and will be a fantastic experience:

Also, contestants were asked to add a 15 word personal style tagline.  I wanted to create one that included the fact that I am a new mom who doesn’t want to forget that I can still be stylish and creative.  Here is the tagline for my blog that I submitted.  I think that’s going to be my new mantra for Any Second Now:

Mixing creativity, artistry, leisure, and fun with motherhood to create a full & fashionable life!

I will be adding the badge below to my sidebar next week.  Wish me luck and again thanks for all of your support!

The Story of Libby

I thought I had finally given up on finding a camel coat for this fall/winter season, since I failed to get any of the ones I posted about previously (see here and here).  I had even thought that I would have given up after finding one that I had in my grasp because I was so disappointed when it sold out.  But in the process of searching for any elusive item, I always stumble on something unexpectedly good, especially when I’m not really trying.

I was looking for the Tulle single breasted vintage wool coat in khaki because it sold out on Tulle’s main site and on Lulu’s (I actually had a chance at one more in my size before it sold out!).  It wasn’t difficult to find the coat itself on many other sites, it just wasn’t in the color I really wanted.   I’m sure the reason it’s selling out is because of the camel/khaki color, the very cute vintage feel and the fantastic price.  The highest price I’ve seen for the coat was $110. 

I did eventually find it in the color I wanted on a couple of sites, but they were more than the price on Lulu’s and Tulle, so I continued to search.  If I couldn’t find it for a better price, I would have bought the jacket at Urban Minx (their photo of the jacket is pictured on the upper left).   They had the jacket at $99, which is still a great price for an adorable coat.

That’s how I found Libbystory.com.   I found the coat in my size for only $57, which was less than what I would have paid on any other site.   And I think that my timing was perfect because as soon as I placed my order, the khaki color swatch disappeared from the size medium, which meant I got the last one (which is why I could only include a picture of the green one, pictured right).

Once I placed my order, I started checking out the rest of the site and I really like what I saw.  I’m always driven to sites that have a vintage section (like ModCloth, Lulu’s and Urban Outfitters).  This site has the same type of vintage section, but they also have a “Recycled” section where they sell re-worked items, which tickles my upcycling fancy as seen in a previous post just this week (seen here).   The owner of the site, Libby Story McRight, opened her first two stores in Mississippi, which has new, vintage and recycled items, then opened this online store.

One of my favorite parts of the Libby Story site is the lookbook section.  Check out this picture, which includes the Naughty Monkey boots that I just bought (seen in yesterday’s post), worn in a way that I’m going to definitely have to steal.  The plaid jacket and the exposed knee socks with the little dress are oh-so cute.  It has that retro/vintage feel that I try to incorporate into many of my outfits, which is the way everything on this fantastic little site is styled. 

What a find!  Libby Story is definitely a site that I will go to again and again.  It’s charming, vintage, upcycled and affordable, with a little southern charm.

In The Navy

I’ve fallen in love with my new pair of navy blue suede Naughty Monkey boots that I bought recently on Zappos.com (seen here). It’s no surprise that I’ve worn them almost everyday since I bought them and even wore them shopping all day two Saturdays ago. The mid-heel makes them comfortable for walking and perfect for any outfit. I wore them with jeans and leggings for a few days, then decided to try them with my pretty little bird printed dress (last seen here). The navy blue color just makes them pop against anything I’ve worn, especially black.

Outfit: Erin Fetherston for Target jacket (seen here); Burberry sunglasses; Cotton On dress; Naughty Monkey boots; Zac Posen for Target belt; Kate Spade bag; Juicy Couture ring

Upcycle & DIY Chic

When there’s a small bit of idle time (usually while my son is sleeping), I’ll go on the web looking for something, which leads to one thing then another. That’s how I found the following upcycle clothing site.

I saw an ad for Do-Over Clothes on Facebook and clicked on the link. The back story of Rique, the creator of these one of a kind pieces, is that she hated to see good cashmere discarded by second-hand stores just because of a slight imperfection. She buys those pieces and creates new and beautiful things, which is the very definition of upcycling. This piece here is called “Whisper + Cashmere“. It’s a feather-light tee with a cashmere vest. I really like the juxtaposition of the tee against the cashmere, especially with the asymmetrical lines. I also love the fact that they are two separate pieces.

At the Threads show I went to last year, I really got to know upcycling (see post here) and I’m starting to really embrace the movement. Now that my friend Sara is taking sewing classes, she’s going to help me rework some older pieces that I have in my closet, including a vintage purse that I purchased on eBay awhile ago (which is not the clutch purse that I started last November, which I also need to complete).

Speaking of projects and upcycling, check out a fantastic purse that Sara made (see the picture below). When we met for lunch last Thursday, I recognized the shape of the purse she was carrying because we bought the exact same one a few years ago during one of our many shopping excursions. We each bought these cute leather purses by Dutchy, she had one in white and mine was in my obligatory black. They have these cute reflective circles that are sewn into the leather, which is what drew us to the purses (see picture on the right). The problem is that due to how the large sequins pieces are afixed to the leather, they started to fall off. I don’t think you can see it in the picture, but two have already fallen off, and Sara said most of the one’s on her purse are gone.

Like Sara, I haven’t had the heart to discard this cute little number. I love the shape and drawstring sides, but it pains me that the sequins will all eventually fall off. She and I kept these purses in our closets for at least five years. When we sat down to lunch, I said to her that recognized the shape of the purse and asked her if that was the purse that we bought together in LA. She said yes, and explained to me how she transformed from the purse you see above, to the fantastic creation in the picture to the left. She loved the pom-pom purses of Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney, and found a DIY site called PS I Made This that inspired her to do it herself. The creator, Erica Domesek, is a DIY diva and shows how to do it this awesome project in an easy step by step seen here. Sara actually used a different adhesive, and I will do a demo of this project as soon as I get the pom poms I ordered from amazon.com.

If this project is as easy as it seems, hopefully it will motivate me to finish my elusive clutch purse that I just can’t seem to complete (see the original post of my unfinished project here)!