Monthly Archives: February 2013

Happy 4th Birthday Dominic!

It’s so hard to believe that another year has come and gone, and our precious boy is now four years old today. With all the craziness right now in our lives and just starting my new job, we decided to keep it very low-key this year and celebrated this past weekend with my sister’s family at John’s Incredible Pizza Co. at Plaza Bonita Mall. We started the afternoon with food and cake, and ended it with daddy winning 500 tickets! Unfortunately, grandma couldn’t make it in from Las Vegas as was originally scheduled this weekend, so we’re going to celebrate again in March. I’m pretty sure Dominic won’t mind!

With our handsome little man!

My sister’s family with the celebrant. Check out the cool Spider-Man cake!

In the midst of lunching.

Singing to the birthday boy; check out Nana getting into it (on the far right)!

Princess poses!

Concentration is the key to winning.

Daddy won 500 tickets!

A Special Charity Event by The Art Institute of California-San Diego: "Bella Donna: A Makeover to Remember" on March 5, 2013

On Tuesday March 5, 2013 from 4pm to 7pm, students from The Art Institute of California-San Diego will be hosting a very special event called “Bella Donna: A Makeover to Remember”. Pamper yourself for an evening, all while helping out a great cause!

During the event we will be offering participants a day of pampering where all attendees will be greeted with beverage and light snacks, and will be getting their hair, nails, and make up done ending with a fun photo booth inspired shoot. Throughout the event, guests can relax and enjoy the lounge-type atmosphere awaiting their turns to actually sit down and have a one on one session at each station. Tips, tutorials and trials are all just part of the fun that “Bella Donna” will bring to attendees. Also, the event will be organizing a raffle with great prizes to raise money for a charity; “The Princess Project”.

The charity of choice “The Princess Project” is a charity that promotes self-confidence and individual beauty by providing free prom dresses and accessories to high schools girls who can’t afford them. Most of their effort has been done though sponsors, volunteers, and support of others. So far The Princess Project has helped over 20,000 teens throughout the states with the help of over 2,000 volunteers. For the event everyone is welcomed to participate in the raffle of fun gifts and prizes. All of the proceeds will be donated to: “The Princess Project”.

As Patterns Seem To Form

I have developed a few clothing habits lately while I was on my work “hiatus”: t-shirts, jeans and fantastic shoes. It’s a great combination that I know I can wear to any concert and still feel edgy while being comfortable. But these Miista booties are truly the star with the gold capped toes and studded heels. This will now have to be my weekend wear because I recently (and finally) am back as a part of the gainfully employed. I am now a Customer Service Supervisor in billing for a laboratory in San Diego. It was nice to be at home with my boy for the last four months, but it’s nicer to be a part of the work force again. I will have to say, relaxing was definitely a hard habit to break!

Outfit – XTaren sheer moto-style shirt and unknown brand studded clutch from M’s Clothing; Joy Division t-shirt by Hometown; Old Navy boyfriend jeans; Gabriela shoes by Miista; Hot Topic studded belt; Union Jack belt buckle was a gift from a friend; Honeybadger glasses from BonLook; Suki Bijoux rings

(The title of this post is from the song “Digital” by Joy Division)

Blue Bird

It’s now 2013 and my love for the bird print still has not waned. I got this pretty mixed-print blouse last year because I loved the subtle colors. I can wear it casually with jeans, but I’m sure it would also be very pretty with a skirt or slacks. The birds had a bit of bright color in them and I decided to make more apparent by wearing these blue suede bow pumps. I almost chose a blue purse, but decided it was a little too matchy-matchy, so I kept my purse neutral.

Outfit – Bird print blouse c/o The Limited; Down East Basics jeans; Linea Pelle Domed Pyramid Stackable bracelet in rose gold; Shamballa bracelet c/o Cutey; Juicy Couture ring (old); Michael Kors watch; Rebecca Minkoff purse; BonLook Honeybadger glasses; Origami Owl necklace

Photos by Rholnna Jiao

Peter Hook Interview on SoundDiego (I'm on the Telly!)

Check out this awesome little interview that aired this weekend! SoundDiego is a popular local music blog in San Diego, and their show follows NBC’s Saturday Night Live. My hubby and I just happened to be watching SNL and saw the commercial for the upcoming episode that featured a segment on the Peter Hook book signing which included an interview with SoundDiego’s Scott McDonald. We are usually early sleepers, so I decided to DVR the show in case we fell asleep. Click on the picture above to take you to the video for the segment that aired that night (or click here to bring up the interview on a different page). My friend Rob and I can be seen in line inside M-Theory, our new friends Tony and Ian talking with Peter Hook, and finally you can also see my very own interaction with Hooky!

(Picture and video courtesy of NBC San Diego and SoundDiego)

Topshop Goes West!

Yes, it’s true: Topshop has now hit California at The Grove in Los Angeles! The official opening was yesterday, and I just couldn’t get away to check out the festivities. But rest assured that I will make the trek out there one of these weekends to go on a little shopping spree…but only after Lent. I gave up my favorite sport for Lent before realizing what that meant, and now I will have to wait until after Easter to enjoy the spoils of shopping at Topshop. Those of you who are in the area or who are able to make the trip, enjoy and have a great weekend!

(Photo was taken by me at the New York location)

Love In Itself

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and those of us in the San Diego Style Bloggers community are showing how we do up the day. I saw a segment on Refinery 29 on how Aimee Song (of the blog Song of Style) styled boyfriend jeans (article here). She paired them with an oxblood colored tuxedo jacket, a simple t-shirt and fantastic heels. I took note and borrowed her style for something that I would wear for a quiet dinner out with my husband. I decided to add a bit more shine by layering rhinestone necklaces, but kept my edge with the studded clutch. Also, I must bring special attention to the beautiful lace-up pumps that I got over the weekend during the first day of the Prabal Gurung for Target collaboration. I don’t know what it is about shoes, but I fall in love with a new pair a few times a month, and I am completely enmoured with these lovelies. Hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow with their special someone!

Outfit – Ark & Co jacket from Shimmer (seen here at their recent event); Bitten t-shirt; Old Navy boyfriend jeans; Charming Charlie necklaces and earrings; M’s Clothing studded clutch (only $10!); Prabal Gurung for Target lace-up pumps; La Marquise glasses by BonLook

V. Good: New Bridget Jones Novel This November!

I’m quite a fan of Helen Fielding’s beloved thirty-something singleton Bridget Jones. When I was trying to figure out the direction of my first blog, I tried out a bit of Bridget-esque writing after reading the original columns, then the books and seeing the first movie. I absolutely adored “Bridget Jones’s Diary”, and read that book over and over, and even bought the little “handbook” called “Bridget Jones’s Guide To Life” because I couldn’t get enough. I fell madly in love with the movie, particularly because they were able to cast Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, who we all know played Fitzwilliam Darcy in the British mini-series “Pride and Prejudice”, for which “Bridget Jones’s Diary” was loosely based on. Although I liked the book “Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason”, I felt the movie left much to be desired. The first Bridget movie was not exactly like the book, but I still felt that the spirit of Bridget remained intact. Bridget in the movie version of “Edge of Reason” was weaker than I would have liked her to be, and I didn’t care for the direction in which they took the antagonist, Rebecca.

Last year, I’ve been hearing rumours about a new Bridget Jones movie. It would be based on the continuing story of Bridget, Daniel and Mark, taken from the columns that came after the novels where Bridget is now in a bind regarding a baby. On IMDB, it’s tentatively titled “Bridget Jones’s Baby” with a release date of 2013, and some people on the IMDB message boards are up in arms about the direction of the planned story line: Bridget and Mark split up because they can’t have a child, so Bridget turns to Daniel (oh no!). I haven’t heard much else about the new movie, and I’m secretly hoping that they won’t go through with it (I think I can’t take yet another “fight scene” between Daniel and Mark). The good news that I have read is that there will be a new Bridget Jones novel to be released in November of this year, as reported by The New York Times Art Beats blog (post here). The post states from the publisher that new book “represents a totally new phase in Bridget’s life”. I was single when I first read the books and met my husband a year after the second movie, so I’m quite anxious to see if Bridget moves on to being a “smug married couple” with Mark, Daniel or someone new or if she is destined to be a singleton for life.

(The photo is my personal collection of Bridget Jones’ books and movies)

You've Got it Made

This outfit includes a couple of handmade items: the vintage purse I re-worked by adding pom poms from Monday’s post, and a scarf that I knitted myself. Also included in this outfit are pieces made by the talented Suki of Suki Bijoux. In the detail picture below, you can see the vintage purse necklace, the “Recoil” ring and typewriter ring. Lately, I have been wearing her pieces mixed in with my favorite ones, like the @ ring by Wendy Brandes. Pieces like these handmade items give character to an otherwise simple California winter outfit.

Outfit – H&M jacket, sweater and jeans; Tod’s suede boots; Honeybadger glasses by BonLook; Wendy Brandes ring; vintage purse necklace, custom-made “Recoil” ring and “C” typewriter ring by Suki Bijoux; handmade knitted scarf and pom pom purse

Photos by Rholnna Jiao

How To: Pom Pom Purse

Ages ago, I vowed to try my hand at making a pom pom purse ala PS I Made This and my friend Sara (my original post here). I know that was a few seasons ago, but now that it’s winter, it seems appropriate to bring it back up again. In my previous post, I was going to add pom poms to a black vinyl purse that I had where the embelishments started to fall off. I changed my mind, and decided that I would actually use a very cute vintage tweed purse that I purchased on Ebay nearly 7 years ago. It’s been sitting in my closet and I was trying to figure out whether I should just add vintage brooches or appliques to it, or maybe even studs. Because I chose pom poms that were in browns, tans and yellows, I thought that it would fit this purse very well.

Also, rather than use a glue gun, I opted to use a fabric glue, to ensure that the pom poms would stay put (I found Aleene’s Fabric Fusion at my local Michael’s). I first stragetically placed all the pom poms generally where I would like them to be, then used the fabric glue to stick them all in place. To ensure that they adhered correctly, I made sure to add the glue to the pom pom, then pressed the adhesive side down onto the purse. I held it there for a few minutes before moving on. The glue actually dried fairly quickly and I was able to get through the purse in just about an hour.

Check out the finished product (below); I think it worked out quite well! This was a very simple and fun way to re-work a purse that would otherwise have been relegated to the back of my closet or a donation bin. An outfit post featuring this purse will be up next!

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