Barney's New York Wishlist

Playing: Everyday is Like Sunday-Morissey
Reading: "Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton

The holiday season is long over, but I'm still in the shopping mood. After returning three designer purses this holiday season past, I'm starting to think I'm out of my mind. Since when did I return anything designer? Now that I'm trying to find less statement pieces and more clothing that I'm likely to wear for years to come, I decided that it's ok to spend money on luxury products. My wardrobe is small, I continually donate/sell my old clothing, and I wear my clothing for years, so why not save up my money and splurge? Plus, Barney's New York is probably the best thing in my life, so why not thank them by patronizing them? Here are a few things I've been wanting/eying for awhile now:

1. Alexander Wang Serpentine Green Leather and Marion Prisma-I've been wanting another Alexander Wang Marion purse and I've had my eye on the beige leather one for awhile, but while I was looking around Barney's Co-Op, I came across this one and I think it's a must. If people collect Chanel flaps, it's not weird of me to buy multiple Alexander Wang Marion purse. After all, it's one of the best cross bodies I've ever bought!
2. Balenciaga Pocket Zip Pouch-Since I like clutches and am on the hunt for more simplistic pieces, I thought why not a pouch? I've been in love with the Alexander Wang ones with metal hardware on the corners for almost two years now, but I really don't think I should keep on buying everything Alexander Wang otherwise I'll have to go for Alexander Wang rehab pretty soon. Plus, I ought to expand the list of brands I buy from and this bold Balenciaga one is just my taste.
3. Barney's Co-Op High Black Sandal-The single sole heel is in and I own mainly platform heels. What to do, what to do? I know; just get that classic black sandal I've been eying for the past three years. It's so simple and the heel on this is lower than what I'm used to, so I think I can make these heels work as everyday heels. Admittedly, I want the really thin strapped ones from Alexander Wang, but like I said before, it'd be weird if I went on an Alexander Wang shopping spree.
4. Alexander Wang Ingrid-By now, you probably already know all about my oxford obsession. I love them and I can't get enough of them. They're more my style than ballet flats, dressier than my Converse, and comfier than my heels. These super neutral ones from Alexander Wang made me fan girl so much at the Barney's Co-Op store, I caught someone staring at me, wondering if I was insane.
5. Giuseppe Zanotti Covered Heel Lace-Up Ankle Boot-Anything vaguely reminiscent of 19th century England/America will make me happy-dandies, top hats, gilded age, etc. What totally gets me though are Victorian granny booties. I have a tough white pair that don't fit me too well and always end up taking me out of heel action for three to five days, so I'm on the hunt for a pair that fits me better. This is probably the least realistic piece on my wishlist though.
6. Mark Cross Small Grace Trunk Bag-I love super structured purses, especially box purses and this Mark Cross one has been on my mind since Veteran's Day. The only problem I have with this purse is the price. For around $1,700, I don't wait it falling apart on me and my dad told me the last two Mark Cross purses he bought for my mum feel apart within a month, resulting in them returning the purse, so I'm just too lazy to deal with that.

Sarah Jessica Parker once said, “If you're a nice person and you work hard, you get to go shopping at Barneys." Truer words have not been spoken in a long time and with that, I bid you goodbye. I have to finish up my math homework and then study my French.

I Still Wear Clothes

Playing: Midnight Show-The Killers
Reading: W June 2012
Here are some recent-ish outfit photos I've accumulated. I've been into dressing more comfortably lately, so less heels and button ups. Also, I need to get the socks I wear with heels back from Sophie in order to wear my heels, so most of these are non-heel looks. Easier to wear and easier to walk in, I guess...I should just go to Target and buy a new pair of socks.

Left: I wore a BDG cardigan, an Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, a vintage treble clef pin, a Marc Jacobs necklace, Citizens of Humanity jeans, a Burberry purse, and Converse (not pictured) to go hang out with Sophie at Daiso.
Middle: For my grandfather's 88th birthday, I wore an Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, a T by Alexander Wang jacket, MANGO jeans, and an Alexander Wang purse with Alexander Wang shoes.
Right: For a full day of collecting food for a food drive and a tiny bit of shopping at Urban Outfitters, I wore my favorite T by Alexander Wang jacket, a Saks Threads v-neck, BDG floral jeans, and Converse plus a Coach purse (the black thing in the corner).

Left: Once again, I wore almost the exact outfit I wore above only with an Alexander Wang purse and an Ann Taylor LOFT t-shirt.
Middle. To go to the beach with my family, I wore a T by Alexander Wang jacket, a Calvin Klein top, Candie's shorts, and an Alexander Wang purse with flip flops that aren't pictured.
Right: I wore a Calvin Klein blazer, an Ann Taylor LOFT t-shirt, theory shorts, and Juicy Couture heels to go be tortured at school.

Left: To take my California state tests, I wore a Calvin Klein blazer, a Calvin Klein tank top, Marc by Marc Jacobs earrings, BDG jeans, a Gucci messenger bag from my trip to Florence, and vintage boots from the 1970's that kill my feet!
Middle: For my Confirmation, I wore a Calvin Klein blazer, a BDBG dress, Juicy Couture heels, and a Bally purse. I was the only girl at my Confirmation wearing black...Is that bad?
Right: I wore an Ann Taylor LOFT blouse, an Ann Taylor LOFT camisole, BDG jeans, a pocket watch necklace from New York, and my favorite Sam Edelman oxfords to go to school. A boy was wearing almost the exact same thing as me, only his white button-up was too tight for him and he was wearing sneakers. It's awkward to be wearing the same outfit as someone and even more awkward, when it's a person of the opposite gender.

PS There's still a week left to enter my super cute stationary giveaway open to everyone in the world! Also, not many people have entered, so there's a good chance you can win it! Click here to enter!

The World's Cutest Music Videos

Playing: You and I-Ingrid Michaelson
Reading: Outburn 37
I've been listening to "You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson  for most of today and it's just such an adorable song. Listening to it inspired me to compile a selection of some of the cutest music videos I know of. All sorts of different types of cute, so hopefully you'll find something you like.

It's really cute to see Carly Rae Jepsen fall head over heels for a new guy and to see her try so hard to grab his attention. Also, the whole singing in a garage has this seriously cute teenage-garage-band vibe. Plus, she's so pretty and darling looking that you'd think she'd definitely get the guy until you see the end...My friend, Daniela, said this depicts how she feels about the guy she likes except for the last bit.

Katy Perry's over the top music video for "California Gurls" is perfect for all dessert lovers and reminds me of last summer, when all my female Facebook friends were titling their photo albums CALIFORNIA GURLS, thinking they were clever for using the song to depict that they were living a very Californian lifestyle. Other than that laughable incident, I really think Katy did a great job, making a super cute candy land for all of us lovers of all things cute. Right down to her pastel hair and cotton candy cloud. Here's a warning to all of you wanting to visit California, not all California girls wear candy dresses.

My friend, PJ, introduced me to Marina and the Diamonds, since he was singing this song during PE. Since then, I've fallen in love with how this music video forces so many things that I love into less than four minutes. Beautiful chandeliers, pastel retro clothes, big dolly lashes, and heart shaped beauty marks? Can it get any cuter? Also, really digging the 90's girl power feel of this music video.

Kerli's costumes in her "Walking On Air" music video are the best and I love the lolita, ballerina feel to all of them. It's the type of creepy cute that I appreciate that's shown in this music video with the big eyed doll and the house's decorations. It has this intense, dreamlike quality that I love. If you're not into stereotypical cute things and like Tim Burton, then this might be the music video for you.

If you love cute, Japanese things, then you've probably already heard of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Her music videos are always super creative, weird, funny, and just plain cute. I think her "PONPONPON" video is cuter, but I've already shared that with you over the summertime, so that's why "CANDY CANDY" made my countdown instead. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu leaves me with this important question, why is J-pop less popular than K-pop? Maybe J-pop is too weird or maybe it's because K-pop reminds us of our favorite boy bands and girl groups from the 1990's. Which do you prefer, K-pop or J-pop?

Musical Obsessions

Playing: Indie Rock and Roll-The Killers
Reading: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Hi everyone! I'm one of those people that develops a strong liking for things quickly, whether it be music or people. I tend to obsess over whatever it may be until I calm down a bit and then I might be tired of it, still love it tremendously, or  have found a friend, who likes it too and now has someone to obsess over it with. Here are some of my recent musical obsessions!

The Killers-I've been listening to a lot of music from The Killers lately and this is my favorite song by them so far because I love everything about it. The chorus sounds great, the music video is beautiful to watch, the costumes in it are stunning, Brandon Flower's hand movements are theatrical, but I like it that way, and the storyline reminds me of Moulin Rouge. I like how Brandon Flower's voice is kind of punky and smooth at the same time and how it's deep too. Overall, I just like Brandon Flowers a lot and it doesn't hurt that he's good looking. Such a shame I'm too young for him, but he's married, so no point in wishing for something impossible.

"Up the Junction" by Squeeze-I first heard this song, while walking around the miu miu store and ever since then I've been humming this song in my head. My uncle heard me playing this song and was surprised I was listening to Squeeze and said, "That's some old music you're listening to." Yes, I like listening to music that's older than me. But I like the breezy, summer time feel to it and I think you'd like it too.

"Paris or India" by the Midway State-I like the dreaminess of this song and how his voice is breathy and light. It's kind of carefree and has this feel to it that I really dig. It's kind of this light electronica dream feeling. It's hard to explain, but I just like this type of music that sounds breathy and dreamy. I sound like an idiot. Yes, I know.

One Direction- According to a majority of my friends, they can't sing and they look like girls, but whatever, I still like them. I just like boy bands in general because I like good looking guys singing cheesy love songs and wearing nice clothes. I have to admit, I mainly like Louis' face and that's the main attraction for me with them.  I would like it, if they stopped dressing all of them in jeans that are too tight for them though. That'd be nice. Their music is corny, I admit it, but I love cheesy love songs and I like cute guys, so it's a win-win for me. It's so odd how I like boy bands, when most of the music I like is classified as alternative rock or punk pop...

"We Are Young" by Fun. Feat. Janelle Monáe-I really enjoy the chorus and I like how the singer sings, "We set the world on fire." His voice is just very pleasant to listen to and when he sings along with Janelle, it's just incredible. I also like the message of being young and not caring too much. It's just that simple. I can listen to this song again and again.

What have you been listening to?

So You Wear Clothes?

Playing: A Dustland Fairytale-The Killers
Reading: The World At Her Feet by Jason Sheeler
I really don't like taking photos of myself, so I don't think I'm capable of doing the OOTD type of posts. Instead I have collected a few photos from the past seven months from when I was feeling narcissistic enough to take photos of my outfits. These aren't my best or my favorite, just the ones I've photographed. Also, please ignore my death glare that I noticed I have in a few of my photos.

Left: I wore a T by Alexander Wang jacket, a Rodarte for Target dress, and Merona tights to go to school plus Converse that aren't pictured..
Middle: I wore a Calvin Klein blazer, an Ann Taylor LOFT t-shirt, a Burberry scarf, a Burberry Prorsum purse, 7 for All Mankind jeans, and Madewell booties to do charity work for my church.
Right: I wore a Façonnable collared top, an Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, BDG jeans, a Ferragamo purse, and Versace shoes to go grocery shopping with my mum.

Left: I wore my favorite silence+noise blazer in the world with a vintage 1980's pin from my mum, a Burberry polo shirt, a Full Tilt bando, MANGO jeans, and kb socks to run around school plus the Madewell booties photographed up above.
Middle: I wore a San Diego Hat Company top hat, a Calvin Klein blazer, an Ann Taylor LOFT t-shirt, my favorite 7 for All Mankind shorts, a pocket watch necklace from New York, a Gucci messenger bag, and Exhilaration socks to go visit my old teachers and hang out with my friends. I received the best compliment from someone at school, who told me I looked "very European" that day. Also, a whole bunch of senior citizens told me they liked my hat, so I guess I can use the hat to keep senior citizens from yelling at me to turn down my music.
Right: To go shopping with my dad, I wore an L. Erickson headband, a BDG cardigan, an Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, BDG jeans, Sam Edelman oxfords, and a Burberry backpack.

Left: Just for some errands, I wore a San Diego Hat Company top hat, a Calvin Klein blazer, an Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, BDG jeans, a Burberry purse, and Juicy Couture heels.
Middle: To go see the school's production of Beauty and the Beast, I wore my favorite jacket from T by Alexander Wang, a Timo Weiland polo shirt, my dad's old belt, Citizens of Humanity jeans, a Burberry purse, and Alexander Wang flats.
Right: For a boring day at school, I wore an Ann Taylor LOFT sweater, a Barney's New York belt, Citizens of Humanity jeans, and Chloe heels. 

As you can probably tell, I shop a lot at Ann Taylor LOFT and I like to re-wear my favorite pieces way too often. Oh and the title is an inside joke. I was being prepped for a job interview by a friend and one of the questions asked was what do I like to do, so I said, "I like wearing clothes." And they responded, "So you wear clothes? How interesting." Oh my friends...Goodbye everyone!Thanks for reading/looking!

Loves of My Life

Playing: Mr. Brightside-The Killers
Reading: The Chess Machine by Robert Lohr
Sometimes we all are down on our luck and sometimes life messes with our mind, leaving us feeling frustrated and even depressed. I'm sure most of us are occupied with jobs and/or school, which dominate our time and leave us feeling tired, but I think it's important to take a look at the things you love once in awhile to brighten your day. So here's my list of things I love and these can almost always brighten my day.

 

Handsome Men-Being a single girl, I do enjoy the faces of the opposite gender and talk about guys a lot with my friends. For me, I like musicians, models, a designer, (a limited amount of) actors, and princes. I suppose musicians and actors are common interest for girls, but how many girls actually like a model or a designer? In fact, my interest in models, designers, and princes has helped me receive much teasing from my friends. The other thing that gets me teased is the fact that I never go, "OMG, THEY'RE SO HOT!" I always describe men as handsome, gorgeous, cute, beautiful, and/or have wonderful facial features.

Prabal Gurung S/S 2012

Fashion-You've probably figured this out already, but I love fashion. I know that all girls like fashion to a certain extent, but most of their fashion knowledge extends to Forever 21 and H&M only, while I like to watch fashion shows online and go to style.com all the time. I currently subscribe to Vogue, Elle, W, People:Style Watch, and Harper's Bazaar for my fashion fix. Not to mention, I also receive Gucci look books in the mail and whenever I receive a look book or a magazine in the mail, I always get super excited for them. Also, I like to dress up for school because one must always dress nicely, even if it's just out of courtesy to others.

Foie Gras at Marche Moderne

Food-I enjoy foods from all over the world and it really doesn't matter to me whether it's French, Japanese, Peruvian, or anything else because I'm willing to give it a shot at least once. Not only do I enjoy eating, but I also cook with my family every weekend and for my friends occasionally. Most of my favorite TV shows are either fashion shows or on the Food Network. At lunch, everyone at my table will be talking about the new Pretty Little Liars episode and I'll be wondering if anyone saw the new Chopped.

Venice 2009

Traveling-Tying in with my love for foreign foods is my love for traveling. I have been to Mexico, China, Japan, Ireland, Costa Rica, England, Italy, Turkey, all over the USA, and will be going to Spain this summer, I believe. I absolutely can't get enough of Europe and I plan on visiting many more European countries within the future.

Magic-Growing up with Tim Burton, Disney, and many novels, I have always been a fan of magic and whimsy. It might not be the kind that Harry Potter can do, but it's certainly something we can all find in our lives. Whether it's going on an adventure, the circus, the city, or just lights, there is magic and sometimes magic comes in the form of beauty. I think the best part of this is that it can be found in the small things we do and I just like to find whimsy in my life whenever I can.  I would like to know what you love and what can make you smile whenever and wherever you are. It can be something silly or something deep, I just want to know. Life is a gift and in the wise words of Andrew McMahon, "This is to the world and how God damn beautiful it is."

What do you love?

Shoes, Shoes, and More Shoes

Playing: Sinking Ships-General Fiasco
Reading: For Esme-With Love and Squalor by JD Salinger
I was inspired by SEA OF SHOES latest post, where she shows her favorite shoes from this season, at least the sale shoes. So I went through my magazine cut outs, my look books, and my internet URLs that I've saved on my email to come up with this short list of my favorites.

1. Rag & Bone Classic Newbury Booties. I love the shorter chunky heel and that lovely purple color.
2. Yves Saint Laurent Jinny Suede Wedge. I like how the heel looks like it's leaning back and how the suede pieces resemble smooth pebbles.
3. Chloe Embellished T-bar Ballerina Flats. I'm not one to dream about flats, much less t-bar flats, but these Chloe flats look so sweet with their sparkly bows and are perfect for the holidays.
4. Alexander McQueen Sculpted Resin and Leather Sandals. These sandals look light as air to me and remind me of Greek goddesses. What's not to love?
5. Thakoon Velvet Ankle Boots. When I first saw these boots, it was love at first sight. Anything velvet and in navy blue make me want to melt, but a wonderful silhouette and simple buckle detailing as well? Perfection.
6. Alexander Wang Alice Rabbit Heels. This simple ladylike heel gets a real kick with the rabbit tassel. This heel is just too fun, but it's ladylike too.

7. Chloe Wedge Bootie. These can be dressed up or down and actually look like they could be comfortable. Great outdoorsy feel to them, but the leather and sude combo keeps it luxe.
8. Dolce & Gabbana Sequined Patent Leather Shoes. I really adore brogue style shoes and I love the glittery top and the buckles.
9. Marc by Marc Jacobs Mocasso Tassle Boots. High heeled menswear style shoes have a librarian feel to them in the most darling of ways and I really  like the dark chocolate shade of this particular pair.
10. Lanvin Escarpen Heels.  The simple black allows the gold cutout heel to really shine and the double buckle looks doll-ish, but not too dolly. From the front, it'll look normal, but the side will surely have people complementing you all the time. Standout heels that will go with everything are hard to come by.
11. Miu Miu Trompe l'Oeil Ankle Boot. I prefer the glitter pair, but these are beautiful as well and much more versatile. The glitter boots are very much for the party scene, but these can be worn anywhere. I especially love the curved heel.
12. Acne Leather Spin Boots. I am super in love with curved heels right now and I like how the leather cutouts remind me of woodblock printing pictures. In a way, it reminds me of a sea monster.
13. Bottega Veneta Medium Brown Suede Peep Toe Booties. Love the minimalist design of this boot and the shade of brown is a great neutral for your everyday outfit. I think it would look great with blue-ish grey nail polish.

12 By 2012

Playing: No Man is an Island-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: The Laughing Man by JD Salinger
I decided to take part in the 12 by 2010 project by Hello, Friend because I figured that if I posted the things I need to do on my blog, there's more of a push for me to do it because I know that you'll know. If you take part in this, let me know!

bold = finished!
italic = in progress

1. Update my closet and clean out all the junk I haven't used in years and the clothes I probably won't wear again.
2. Go to Christmas mass. Every year my family says we'll go and then we never make it on time.
3. Write short stories about my friends for their Christmas presents.
4. Write more letters to my friends and answer their snail mail faster.
5. Start going through all the recipes I've wanted to try and make them!
6. Go to the desert to take photos with my friend, Sophie.
7. Watch My Week With Marylin with Jackie. There are so many films I've wanted to see and I never got a chance to see them, but I will not be missing this film. I refuse to miss this movie. (Edit-It's rated R, so my mum and Jackie's mum won't let us go!)
8. Go to LA more and all the events that go on.
9. I will try to make my outfits more complicated and fashion forward. I must up my high heel pain tolerance and my going down the stairs in heels ability.
10. Finish reading the pile of books on my night table.
11. Get more interesting blog posts out to my readers and get more followers!
12. Raise my grades in all my subjects because it can't hurt, right?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all have a great meal and a wonderful day! What are you thankful for?

(Last Edited on December 26, 2011-I realized that some of these will never be completely completed because they're about improving something, not actually finishing something.)

What Do You Do?

Playing: Can You Feel It-One Night Only
Reading: Harper's Bazaar August 2011
My friend, Rebecca, was wondering what I do with my time during summer break and it made me think about what I do. This summer I've spent an inordinate amount of time traveling and I'm not quite done for the summer too. I went to Hawaii and Turkey already and I'm still going up to Northern California soon too.

I've been doing charity events like planting plants for my city, where I ran into my good friend, Sarah. When I'm not doing charity events, I'm hanging out with my friends doing normal teenage-y stuff like watching movies, playing sports (badly), going to the mall, and just walking around town. I've also spent time with my partner in crime, Tina, trying to get through all our makeup hours for art class no matter how torturous it feels.

I've been obsessing over Olivier Green because I've been watching Project Runway. Did I mention he has the most charming British accent? An Asian boy with a delightful accent, who loves fashion and can sew! Does it get better than that? I love boys, who love fashion.So far, there's only been two episodes, so I hope he doesn't turn out to be a jerk or a cruddy designer. He won a challenge and seems very pleasant so far. Fingers crossed! Also, I think this is going to be a great season for Project Runway and Tim Gunn makes the show so much more interesting!

I just bought tickets to see Jack's Mannequin with The Academy Is... and Lady Danville. I'm pretty excited to see Andrew for the fourth time. He only gets better for me. I'm trying to convince my friends to go to the A Rocket to the Moon concert with me and the Blink 182 with My Chemical Romance concert. I'm super excited to see My Chemical Romance! It's Gerard Way! He wrote my favorite comic book series and he's part of one of my favorite bands! I saw A Rocket to the Moon already, but I want to see them again, so that I can sing "Like We Used To" really loudly. I hope Breanne and Chelcee can go to the Blink 182/My Chemical Romance concert with me.

I've been doing my summer assignments too for the Honors and AP classes I'm taking next year. Haven't started my science ones yet, but I'm almost done with English and halfway done with History. I should restart on my schoolwork soon. Why would I post a picture of me studying and doing homework, when I could put a picture of Olivier writing?

My friends, Amina and Rebecca, have been writing me letters for years now, so I've been writing letters too! I've started to use all my cute Japanese envelopes this summer, but I can't use them for Rebecca's letter because my letters to her never fit in them. However, I've started to perfume my letters to Rebecca to make them extra nice. For Rebecca, this is our 3rd year writing letters and for Amina, I think we just reached our 1 1/2 year mark?

I've also been watching a lot of the movies that I've been dying to see. Never Let Me Go had three of my favorite actors/actresses of all time, so I had to watch it. The ending was so incredibly sad that I almost cried, while watching it and that says a lot. There's only been two movies that have made me cry. Other than Never Let Me Go, I've also enjoyed Date Night, 27 Dresses, and Red Riding Hood. There were two movies my brother introduced me to this summer that I loved and they're Moulin Rouge! and 500 Days of Summer. I watched Moulin Rouge! three times in one week and it happens to be one of the movies that I cried at.

What have you been doing this summer?

Photos of Olivier are screencaps from Project Runway: Season 9 Episode 2 and the Jack's Mannequin picture is from here and the Never Let Me Go photo is from here.

What I Ate in Hawaii

Playing: All Across Virginia-Cities and Clouds
Reading: Can't Buy Me Love by Jonathon Gould
Most of the places I ate at in Hawaii were places my dad went to as a child or spur of the moment decisions, so I cannot give a thorough review of what the whole island had to offer. While in Hawaii, my family always tries to go to the same places we go to year after year. Next time I go, I will try the Egyptian place and more of the Japanese places.

Zippy's is a chain fast food restaurant in Hawaii that I always go to. I usually get the saimon or the Zip Pack! The food is a good price and great for a picnic at the beach. The saimon is standard, but the Zip Pack is delicious. It includes fried chicken, BBQ beef, and other delicious meats.

Gulick's Delicatessen is my dad's favorite place on the whole island. We always grab some food from there before we go the beach. I got garlic chicken, spam musubi, shrimp tempura with teriyaki sauce, and some sort of chicken noodle. I highly recommend the noodles and shrimp tempura. The musubi is standard, but it still tastes good. The garlic chicken was a tad too tough for me, but the flavor was delicious!

At Shimazu Store, they offer up some delicious shaved ice that's so finely shaved, it feels like powder. They thoroughly soak your shaved ice in syrup, so every bite is fruity and delicious. What you see above is a small guava and passion fruit shaved ice with creamy hapia on top. The small is huge and I highly recommend paying extra for the bowl otherwise your shaved ice will tip over.

If you're tired of Asian food, then head to Good to Grill. I got the Garlic Ahi, which was very tender and delicious. The fries were good and were served with a wasabi mayonnaise. The mashed potatoes I can't really remember, so they must've been average...

At Chibo Okanimiyaki, you get to create your own Japanese pancake with whatever you like and it's the same price no matter what. I got mine with scallop and prawn, while my mum got her's with scallop, mochi, and cheese. Both were delicious and there was actually a lot of seafood in both of them. It's definitely aimed at people from Japan because both of the waiters we had could only speak ok English and most of the other diners were Japanese. The menu was easy to use, but half of it was in Japanese.

Outside Leonard's looks like a dump, but the food is really good. My dad has been going there, since he was little. The Portuguese donuts are extra dense and chewy. There's so much sugar on them that my fingers looked crystallized by the end of eating them.

Tsukiji offers a Japanese/seafood buffet. My grandparents think the food is "classier and fresher" than the food at Todai, but I beg to differ. I thought the food was only ok and a lot of the food didn't taste all that fresh to me. The sushi had so much mayo sauce on it that you couldn't really taste the fish in it and the udon (pictured above) was not freshly made. The fish cake was dried out. However, it is a family place and you could see little kids there and grandparents too. At night, it becomes a nightclub for all you crazy party animals.
I just got back from Istanbul, Turkey and I loved it. At the moment, I'm suffering from jetlag. I woke up at 5:00 AM and in Turkey it would've been 3:00 PM, so I woke up starving. I need to organize my photos, but I'm probably going to do a lot of posts on it because I loved Istanbul!

Hobbies~

1. Embroidery-I am currently working on a pillow case. It has a cupcake, Domo, turtle, mushroom, ladybug, and the lyrics to Swim  on it so far.
2. Knitting-I love to knit scarves and blankets. This year for Breanne and Sophie's gift, I knitted them scarves. For Sophie's birthday I knitted her bows. I also like knitting small blankets and clothing for my stuffed animals. Yes, I am that juvenile. Let's see, the first scarf I ever made was given to Madeline for a just because gift in 2nd or 3rd grade.
3. Reading-Whether it's magazines, comics, or novels, I am almost always reading. I usually read one book for school, one book for enjoyment, a comic book, and a magazine all within a week or two. I tend to read a tiny bit of each and then when I get bored with one I move onto another one and then I go back to it sooner or late. I am currently reading Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Van Alan Legacy, Pandora Hearts, Time, and Vogue. Quite a difference in genres from book to book isn't it?
4. Drawing-I like sketching pictures of people. They're cruddy most of the time, but I always get a compliment from people calling them "cute" or something along those lines. I also enjoy drawing frogs, tofu pillows, and pretty much anything cute. I also like making drawings that consist of symbols and lyrics. Most of the time these word/symbol drawings are dedications to Andrew's music.
5. Painting-I am currently working on a recreation of a Monet painting. It is one of his lily paintings. I could not find a picture of it online though. It is one of his lily paintings, where the water is a pastel pink/purple mixed in with muddy greens.
6. Going to Stores-I like going to vintage clothing stores, vintage furniture stores, and foreign food stores.
I love eating foreign I love eating foreign candy and chips. The furniture store is incredibly fun. You never know what you'll find. The pictures in this post are of things I found at the furniture store. One time I found a chandelier that had frogs playing violins on it.