Tag Archives: blogger

Eternal Summer Snacking with Chobani Mezé Dips!

It’s been crazy busy at the Chen household lately mostly because it’s summer, which means Dominic is out of school and we can travel or attend more family events. Sometimes during the summer, we have impromptu visitors or we end up becoming the meeting place for pre-concert or pre-movie gatherings. To help with entertaining around this time, the folks at Chobani sent me this fun infographic to help either plan a special summer event or help with what to do if you have simple soirees like we occasionally have.

Chobani is my go-to brand for Greek yogurt, so I’m excited to try their new Mezé Dips! They have four great flavors to choose from, but I think Roasted Red Pepper will become a favorite. So cheers to eternal summer snacking and let me know in the comments on how you throw a fabulous summer get together!

Fashionably Late: Catching Up on 2016 Events!

I know I’ve been very laxed when it comes to my blogging lately, and I apologize! My son has been away at his grandparents in Las Vegas for the last two weeks, so I have to confess that I’ve been catching up on some much-needed sleep. But now to get caught up on my blogging, I’m posting about events that I missed over the last few months. I’ll also be putting up my concert catch up posts and I think I’ll be all caught and ready to put up my newest posts about recent events and product reviews!

DANCE DANCE RESOLUTION – 1/31/16

My husband and I were invited by Delicious Buzz to attend the “Dance Dance Resolution” event presented by the international travel company Gogobot San Diego and a local non-profit organization, The Seany Foundation. It was held at The Rancho Santa Fe Motor Club & Storage and although it was quite the storm outside, it was a fun night of food, drinks, dance battles and pug kisses by Chole (with her mommy Heather of The Stylish Bisou).

THE BEAT CLOTHING SPRING FASHION SHOW – 2/21/16

Back in February, The Beat Clothing stylist Astrid Montalvo invited me to check out her fashion show in Carlsbad. Unfortunately due to some scheduling issues, my niece, Mei-Lin and I missed the actual fashion show, but I got to photograph some of the lovely models afterwards, and Mei snapped a picture of me with Astrid!

LATINO FILM FEST FASHION SHOW AT FASHION VALLEY – 3/18/16

Bloggers were invited to attend Fashion Valley’s 2nd annual “Celebration of Fashion” runway show for the 23rd annual San Diego Latino Film Festival. The event was emceed by Paola Hernández-Jiao and Abelardo Rodriguez and featured men’s and women’s fashion. My favorite was the fringed skirt by Scotch & Soda, featured in the video above. Look at that swing!

BERRY BEST CHOCOLATE FEST – 3/19/16

My mother-in-law had a booth for Bathologie, one of her direct sales companies at The Berry Best Chocolate Fest at Liberty Station, so I took that opportunity to hang out with my son and enjoy the festivities. Rather than all of the wonderful chocolate, Dominic decided he actually loved the Belgian waffles from the Marcel Waffle Truck. I wholeheartedly agree!

RECORD STORE DAY 2016 – 4/16/16

I spent Record Store Day this year at Record City in Hillcrest with my friend Rob and blogger friend Laura of Laura Neuzeth. This was probably the most organized RSD I had ever been to, and I think I found a new spot for every RSD from now on! The trick is to get there incredibly early (I got there by 5:30 am and there were still people there before me) to ensure you get your choice of what you want. They didn’t have everything that I wanted from “The List” (post about it here), but I did come away with an awesome haul!

SPRING FLING EVENT AT GO GIRL SPA – 4/23/16

Also back in April, I attended the “Spring Fling Event” at Girl on the Go, a night spa in the Golden Hill area. I enjoyed the free cocktails, hanging out for a bit with Tatum from Love Tatum, and then I purchased a little something from Style on the Go. Of course, since the Marcel Waffle Truck made an appearance, I had to bring something home for Dominic!

Find Your “Summer Essentials” at Fashion Valley!

Can you believe it’s 4th of July weekend already? Where did the time go? If you’re still trying to figure out what to wear or pack for the upcoming season, I’ve teamed up with Fashion Valley to share some of my favorite summer picks and I’m also giving away a $100 gift card to get you started! I recently ran around Fashion Valley to show you some of favorite “Summer Essentials” all available now!

FABULOUS FLATS

There really isn’t a better way to run around during the summer than in flats. I know a recent blogger favorite are a cool pair of sneakers (which I own many of), but my favorite flats for the summer are lace-up sandals, slides and mules. I like lace-up sandals because they can be worn casually with a great pair of shorts or wide-legged cropped pants, or dressed up with a cute little sundress.

Slides and mules are my favorite shoes of the moment because they’re so easy: slip them on and off you go! For the beach, the slides are the perfect alternative to flip-flops. For everywhere else, mules feel so preppy, yet modern. They’re like really dressy bedroom slippers!

Clockwise from Top left: The Bridget Lace-Up Sandal in Thai Chili by Madewell; The Boardwalk Lace-Up Sandal in Heather Soot Metallic by Madewell; The Willa Slide Sandal in English Saddle by Madewell; French Connection slip-on loafers from Bloomingdale’s (no longer available, but they have a great selection of mules and slip-on loafers available!)

SHORT STORY

Shorts are a summer staple, but they don’t need to be basic. Check out the scalloped edge pull-on shorts below at Madewell. Aren’t they adorable?

Denim cut-offs just scream summer to me. I always prefer a raw edge when it comes to my denim shorts, like the ones below from Madewell.

Scallop-Hem Pull-On Shorts in Coastal Blue and True Black; Denim Boyshorts in Thornecliff Wash, all by Madewell

BEYOND BASICS

I have my go-to items that create my “uniform”, which consist of striped t-shirts, great pants and easy dresses. I also choose items that are easy to mix and match, stretching your wardrobe to more than just basics.

Radio Tee in Delray Stripe by Madewell

Cropped Wide-Leg Chinos by Pilcro in Sand at Anthropologie

Cleophee Tunic Dress by Cloth & Stone in Mint at Anthropologie

PURPOSEFUL PURSES

I could spend all day on the subject of purses, but for the summer, I like to stick to the most practical: totes and cross-bodies. Totes provide the room needed to carry all of my loved one’s essentials to the beach or outdoor family gatherings. Cross-body purses are the best for amusement parks and exploring anywhere!

Pomaria Tote at Anthropologie

The Holepunch Transport Tote in English Saddle (leather) by Madewell

The Brisbane Camera Bag in Dried Rose and The Transport Tote in Dark Cocoa, both by Madewell

The Take Two Connor Handbag in Purple Wonderwall and The Take Two Abbot Handbag in Black Island Style, both by Kipling

The New Addison Crossbody Bags by Kipling

THE FINAL TOUCHES

These are my final go-to items for the summer: hats, sunnies, sunblock and lip balm. The hats and sunglasses below are not just cute, but incredibly necessary if you’re going to be under the sun for longer periods of time. You will always find me in a hat and sunglasses, especially at the San Diego County Fair. And if you are going to be out and about in the sun, I highly recommend the Super Fluid Sunscreen and #1 Lip Balm at Kiehl’s, which I restock again and again.

Hat assortment at Anthorpologie

The Row Parquet sunglasses by Oliver Peoples

Super Fluid Sunscreen and Lip Balm #1, both by Kiehl’s

THE GIVEAWAY DETAILS!

1. Find and “Like” the picture below on Instagram

2. Follow @fashionvalleyca and @any2ndnow on Instagram

3. Leave a comment telling me about your favorite “Summer Essential” at Fashion Valley mall

4. Tag a friend for a bonus entry!

Winners will be chosen at random by July 8, 2016 midnight PST and is open to those living in the San Diego area or nearby cities.

Good luck and have a wonderful holiday!

Grayscale

I’ve finally come to accept the style of “tonal” dressing. I think I used to worry about matching shades of colors perfectly, but that is quite an impossible task since even blacks come in degrees of darkness. But with gray, it seems easier to pull off and I find that it also mixes well with taupe and beige.

Although it’s been quite the scorcher lately in San Diego, I will always find an excuse to wear a cape!

Cape Coat c/o Fashion Mia (no longer available); Polished Casual Blouse by Downeast Basics (I got them in two colors, see my haul below from their Henderson location); Old Navy cropped flares; Christian Louboutin heeled sandals from The Real Real (close up below); Rebecca Minkoff purse; Necklace, earrings and ring “rented” from Rocksbox; Warby Parker “Simon” glasses in Tea Rose Fade

(Outfit photos by Rholnna Jiao)

FTC Disclosure: I received product in exchange for a product review. Although I did receive product, the opinions in this post are strictly my own.

Investing in Pre-Owned Luxury

I have never been afraid to own something second-hand, especially if it’s been well maintained. Not only do I shop at secondhand and vintage clothing stores, but furniture stores as well. I have a desk that I adore that I purchased at an antique shop when I was doing up my bedroom in “shabby chic”.

When it comes to clothing, shoes, purses and accessories, I used to solely purchase pre-owned from eBay. Lately, I have found myself really enjoying shopping from consignment or pre-owned luxury shops, both mortar & brick as well as online. Before, I was simply looking for vintage items for the aesthetic feel, but now I’m looking specifically for gently used and well-kept high-end products. One of my first pre-owned luxury items was Manolo Blahnik shoes from eBay. For Christmas, my husband bought me the entire “Sex and the City” series. During my maternity leave with our son Dominic, I binge-watched the entire thing and immediately fell in love with Carrie Bradshaw’s style, because I was hitting that same age range as they were at the start of the series (“nearly 40”).

What I loved about Carrie Bradshaw’s style was the way Patricia Field used luxury items in everyday dressing. She had Carrie in cargo pants and casual tee with Manolo’s and a Fendi baguette while grabbing coffee. My style goal was to be that effortless. It only really looked that way if you had the actual luxury items in the outfit. In the years of trying to accomplish this, but with a bit of 80’s edge, I realized that I needed to step out of my mall habit and start to look at pieces to invest in. But with the job I had at that moment in time, it wasn’t so easy to pull off. My husband helped by buying me my first real Louis Vuitton purse for my 40th birthday (the Palermo PM below), but I was still feeling like a poser, getting it only half right in many instances.

My first true luxury item, when it was new back in 2010 (the leather has become more patinaed since then). Thank you to my loving hubby for giving it to me for my 40th birthday!

With patience and improved income, I finally feel like I can do the “high/low” mix of luxury, vintage and everyday properly, according to my style and taste. I’m researching pieces to invest in that will still look great over time, and will hold their value. One of my first investment pieces was an Hermès scarf from Portero, which was in pristine condition (top picture). It was a smaller scarf, so now I’m on the lookout for a larger piece that I can use as a shawl.

After getting invited to several events for Designer-Vault, I knew I needed to own Chanel. My first Chanel purchase from Designer-Vault was a lovely necklace. I knew I had to get something that would be classic, but still keep within my rocker-chic edge, so I chose a gun-metal color that still had the interlocking C’s. I then made a few more purchases, including the cassette tape necklace (I wore on this blog post), all pictured below.

I purchased my first official Chanel purse from Portero (pictured below). I know it’s not a coveted classic flap with the chain link straps, but it still looks amazing and has the quilting and interlocking C’s I was looking for. I’m currently using as my main purse due to its practical size and shape. It is in amazing condition, and I couldn’t be happier with my first Chanel purse. While in Last Vegas last month, I tried my best Eva Chen with it (with my new Zara platform espadrilles)!

My most recent purchases have been in the luxury shoe line from The Real Real. I was amazed at the condition of both of these shoes. I wore the Chanel maryjane style flats in a recent outfit post, and I’ll be wearing those adorable Christian Louboutins in an upcoming one!

Finally, I found this fantastic Hermès leather cuff bracelet, also on The Real Real. It fits right in with my style because it’s silver and it matched up so well with my Depeche Mode leather wrap bracelet and Jeffery Campbell shoes that I posted recently on Instagram.

My Tips on Finding The Right Luxury Item

I thought I would close out this post with just a few tips on what I do to ensure I find the right pre-owned luxury item for my budget. Hope this helps you and happy shopping!

Know your budget: I have realized in my shopping sprees that I just can’t afford an Hermès Kelly or Birkin purse, so I stick to anything that is in decent condition, usually under $1000. Also, many of these luxury consignment sites have Affirm, which means you can pay for your favorite item over time.
Do the research: I can’t emphasize this enough! Purchasing from luxury consignment sites like Portero, Designer-Vault and The Real Real are your best bets for finding authentic high-end items as they have professionals on staff who can attest to their product’s authenticity. But if you do purchase from eBay or any other auction style site, make sure you know how to differentiate a real from a fake. I’ve made that mistake with mid-price items before, so I’m very particular to know what I’m looking for in a higher end item. This means knowing which items have serial numbers, holographic tags and even checking stitching, patterns, and styles. I only purchase from sellers with at least 98% rating and who provide extensive pictures. If I can find “New With Tags”, even better!
Be patient: It takes time to find that luxury item that is not only amazing, but fits into your style and your budget. I would hesitate buying something just to own it. That pink fluffy Chanel purse may not be worth it if you’re never going to carry it. Take your time, search different sites and even go to a brick and mortar store. There are lots of them out there, and it may be better for those of you who would rather have the item in hand rather than pictures online.

My Flat In London

Ok, so I don’t really have a flat in London. But I do have pieces of a lovely collection from Brighton called My Flat In London, designed by Jan Haedrich. I can’t recall how I first heard about the collection, but my husband gave me a My Flat In London purse for Christmas a couple of years ago. I loved the look because it was very reminiscent of Chanel, but at a fraction of the price (although, I do now have my own Chanel purse, more on that later when I put up my post about luxury consignment shopping). Imagine my delight when I went to Las Vegas recently to celebrate my mother-in-law’s venture into a new career and she surprised me with adorable My Flat In London jewelry for my birthday! Of course they perfectly paired with my purse and I just couldn’t wait to put together an outfit featuring the pieces. I adore French style, and this was my version: mixing high-end with mid-price, keeping it simple but with attention to detail and always a bit of edge. Cuffing my jeans makes them feel more tailored and the whole look feels very put together without being too matchy-matchy. I’m excited to finally have an outfit post up, and I’ll be doing some catch up posts in the next few weeks. In the meantime, cheers and have a great weekend!

Outfit: Downeast Basics cardigan; Old Navy tank top; Madewell jeans; Chanel shoes & Hermes bracelet from The Real Real; Warby Parker “Simone” glasses in Blue Coral; My Flat In London purse, bangle and pendant necklace; Wendy Brandes #@ rings; Suki Bijoux vintage map London ring; Karl Lagerfeld watch

(Outfit photos by Rholnna Jiao)

Catching Up With Any Second Now!

Is it June already? Time is flying, and I know my posts have been trimmed down to once a week, but I promise it’s with good reason! Trying to balance my personal life and work life has been a bit challenging lately, only because I’m still getting used to this new higher profile job that I started last October. It’s wonderful knowing that working all of these years in Customer Service has led up to this point, but I didn’t realize how all consuming it would be. I’m now a Senior Manager of Customer Service at a different lab, and I work hours I never thought I would. Luckily, I love my new job and it actually allows me more freedom to work from home to accommodate appointments and activities I can do with my son, husband and mom. But it does mean sometimes working late into the night, after everyone in my household has gone to sleep. Those nights where I used to work on my blog have become nights where I’m ready for bed!

So I’m playing catch up right now (hence the Depeche Mode photo edit), finding time to put together posts of past fashion related events, product reviews and all of the wonderful concerts I’ve been to in the past year. Just to give you an idea of what I haven’t posted about yet, here’s all of the concerts I’ve been to since my last couple of concert posts (which was Martin Gore and Duran Duran), including upcoming concerts until September of this year.

(Edited 12/2/16 to add all the shows I attended in 2016!)

July 2015: Imagine Dragons, Spandau Ballet

August 2015: Echo & The Bunnymen

October 2015: ABC/Wang Chung

March 2016: She Wants Revenge

April 2016: Peter Murphy

May 2016: Modern English, The Cure

July 2016: Sting & Peter Gabriel, Barenaked Ladies with OMD & Howard Jones

August 2016: Duran Duran with Chic, Rick Astley

September 2016: Chromeo, Blonde, Kraftwerk, KAABOO

October 2016: Tears for Fears, Prophets of Rage, KONGOS with The Joy Formidable

November 2016: Peter Hook & The Light

I’m putting together a blog schedule to map out and plan my posts accordingly. In the meantime, I’m still here and blogging, so hopefully you’re still out there and reading! Cheers and have a great weekend!

How I Got My Feet Summer Ready With The Emjoi Micro-Pedi!

I love when a product review falls in line with something I’ve been wanting to try! As I’ve gotten older, I find that the heels of my feet tend to get dry and become calloused more quickly than when I was younger. I used to get pedicures at least twice a month, but our family weekends have been so busy lately and I know Dominic would rather watch a movie or go do something other than wait for mama at a nail salon. I have been giving myself pedicures at home in the evening, but in order to continue to get that just-from-the-salon feel for my feet, I really needed something between the “egg-shaped” foot file I already had and a pricey electronic one. So of course I was delighted when I received the opportunity to review the Emjoi Micro-Pedi!

The Emjoi Micro-Pedi is battery operated (takes two AA batteries). I’m only showing my use of it on one side of my foot for this review because it truly has been awhile since I’ve taken care of my feet properly, so they are not in the best condition to photograph. But it definitely does what it’s supposed to do and because the rollers spin 360 degrees, it gets to all the places I just couldn’t get to with my manual foot file, especially the callous on the balls of my feet. Since it’s so easy to use and take care of (it comes with a little cleaning brush), I can use it often and get my feet back to where I want them to be, especially with sandal season coming up this summer!

Click this link to purchase your own Emjoi Micro-Pedi at $39.95 (batteries not included). Be sure to check out Emjoi’s other great products to help you build your own salon at home!

FTC Disclosure: I received product from Lipton Publicity and was asked to review the product in return. Although I did receive product, the opinions in this post are strictly my own.

Foodie Fest Encinitas is Tomorrow!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I’ve been quite busy trying to fit everything in and I’m finally getting around to doing some product reviews and concert posts (in fact, I’m going to see The Cure tonight). Before I do, I wanted to share pictures from a wonderful event I attended with my good friend Angi last week, which was the Discover SD Foodie Fest Media Party. It was a preview of Foodie Fest Encinitas, happening tomorrow. At the preview, we got to sample a nice little selection of the vendors that will be there, and the event included tunes by The Fab Lushes and a fun little photo booth. Thank you to Tiffany of Delicious Buzz for the invite, and you can find information about the event below. Did I mention Angi won us tickets to KAABOO?!

Cheers and have a great weekend!

Foodie Fest Encinitas

When: Saturday May 21, 2016

Time: 11am to 4pm

Where: The Lumberyard Encinitas

Buy tickets here!

Delicious Kombucha by Living Tea Brewing Co. Loved the blood orange tea. Refreshing!

Favorite main dishes & appetizers of the night: Poke by Mission Avenue Bar and Grill; Vella Cheese Company Dry Monterey Jack Cheese from Gourmet Culinary; Deviled eggs by Local Tap House; Bacon wrapped pork belly drizzled in honey by Barrel Republic; Pork bahn mi by Frazier Farms Market. Yum!

Ah-mazing dessert dishes by Bistro West & delicious caramel by Cheryl’s Caramels!

The Fab Lushes!

Fun at the photo booth!

Angi had the winning raffle ticket for 2 passes to KAABOO! We’re going on Saturday September 17!

Festival of my Dreams!

Coachella marks the beginning of “Festival Season”, and I know I’ve seen the fashion inspiration pretty much everywhere! I’ve thought about this for quite sometime: what would my dream festival be? Who would be in my line-up? I actually have made several lists in my head before, and they almost always turn out to be some kind of Rewind Festival, to which I’ve already gone to (my first post about it here, and my actual experience here). But I know my tastes go beyond the 80s, and with some inspiration from TickPick, I thought about how much fun would it be to include not just my favorites, but those of my husband and son, plus make it fun for all of my friends and family to attend. Honestly, my list ended up being 30 artists long, but I’ve narrowed it down to what I think became an eclectic mix of 10 artists, which is a combination of favorite acts, spanning several genres. My top three are intentional, based on my all time favorite band, a band my husband is just chomping at the bit to see, and our son’s favorite band. The rest is in no particular order, but includes some wants. If I could turn back time, my list would have included David Bowie and Prince, but alas, that is not to be. But how simply awesome is the graphic created by TickPick (who, by the way, is a great resource if you’re interested in finding Concert tickets, NFL tickets and more)?! It almost makes me want to contact someone, anyone, to actually make my Fauxchella happen!

Who would you pick for your ultimate festival? Let me know in the comments, and here’s why I chose my top 10. Cheers!

Depeche Mode: That was a given (too many posts about them on this blog, but see my review of their Delta Machine Tour here). If their line up could include Dave, Martin, Andy along with Alan and Vince, I think I would just have to drop the mic.

Red Hot Chili Peppers: A band that my husband absolutely wants to see, sometime in this lifetime.

Imagine Dragons: Our son’s favorite band. He knows their lyrics better than we do, and don’t even question him about which song is on which album. He schooled me once, and it was embarrasing…did I mention he’s seven? We took him to see them last year, and it solidified his fandom.

Metallica: Another of my hubby’s favorite. He’s seen them live previously, but would not mind seeing them again.

Duran Duran: They were my first favorite British band, until Depeche Mode stole that title from them. But I still adore them and they produce great music to this day, and are fantastic live (post here).

Bruno Mars: He is a spectacular entertainer and musician. My husband and I saw him two years ago (review here), and it was so good.

Snoop Dogg: Because I just want to see him. Do I need a reason?

Q-Tip: I cannot believe I’ve never seen A Tribe Called Quest in concert (but I did a post about them here). Now that Phife Dog has passed, I know I will never have that chance. But Q-Tip has done some solo work, so I hope I get to see him someday.

Maroon 5: I have been watching Maroon 5 for years because they opened for Guster and John Mayer before heading out on their own. I then went to see a headlining tour with my best friend once a few years ago, and I think she would enjoy meeting them, especially Adam. I have met them before (picture here), this was ages ago.

Chromeo: I thought about a DJ to round out my line-up, and then I realized that Chormeo both DJ as well as perform their own songs! My husband and I have seen them before (post here), and we would see them again in a heartbeat.

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this:

Remix this: