A Social Celebration of Halloween

Playing: Elle Me Dit-Mika
Reading: "Tim Burton: The Rolling Stone Interview" by David Breskin

Over the weekend, I went over to Sophie's house for a Social Celebration of Halloween aka a movie night filled with Halloween fun. Sophie baked some super cute cupcakes for us to snack on. I love the spider one she did! Everyone there brought snacks and we pretty much just acted like fat kids, while we watched Corpse Bride, Shaun of the Dead, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. We also played Scrabble and Sophie was on my team, so we deemed ourselves Team Kick Ass and unfortunately, we didn't kick ass.

With some leftover icing, Sarah drew little faces on her fingers to make petite people and she ended up licking them all off. Does that count as murder or cannibalism? Either way, that's not good news.

I went to Sophie's party dressed as a female Victor from Frankenweenie, but for the photo shoot we did, Sabrina gave me her kitty ears to match Sophie. We were doing a commercial for water brought to you by Mother Nature and our goal for the photo campaign was to make water look positively seductive. Just kidding. And now is a great time to tell you what I'm wearing. I'm wearing a Faconnable blouse, Bullhead shorts, my dad's leather belt from his college trip to Italy, and my favorite oxfords in the world by the marvelous Sam Edelman.

Sophie and I also practiced the delicate art of bitch facing and being artsy together. It was extraordinarily hot that day, so that's why we look worse than usual. Or it could be the fact that we're just being rebellious teenagers and that rebellion doesn't suit us very well.

But then Sophie, Sabrina and I just got weird. We had Breanne photograph us acting silly, doing parodies of popular poses that kids at school do, and pretending we were a part of Salvador Dali's Le Chien Andalou. Things just got weird. Let's expand on what weird is though. We started by vogue-ing Madonna style.

And we ended by trying to show off our Halloween spirit by holding pumpkins. We also danced around with bowls, mocking English teachers' interpretations of how bowls are a symbol for female sexuality. Overall, we just acted goofy or silly, while getting in the mood for Halloween by watching film after film. This is my second costume so far this year and I'm planning on going to school as cat on Halloween and then dressing up as Boy George. Man, I'm really getting into this Halloween thing.

Photo credits to Sophie, who told me to write this.

"Shoot, Bang, Fire!"

Playing: Heroes-David Bowie
Reading: Elle October 2012

Lately, I've been in a creative mood, where all I want to do is create and draw in my notebook. I bought some tools to help with that last weekend. I have an obsession with colorful pens and markers for multiple reasons. First of all, I like colors. Second of all, I have hoarder tendencies, when it comes to stationary and office supplies. Thirdly, if I take my school notes in colored ink, I'm more likely to soak up the information. It's a win-win-win. Plus, the pastel highlighters are just so pretty. How could I not buy them?

Also, last week was my mum's birthday, so my dad bought a Burberry purse for her that he picked out all by himself. He has impeccable taste, doesn't he? It's a dark turquoise color in really life and when he bought it, it wasn't even available to the public yet, so they had to get it out of the backroom for him. Unfortunately, my mum is thinking about returning it, since it's so heavy.

Anyways, here's another outfit I wore to school. My English teacher has started to notice that I have a crazy shoe collection and will point out my shoes to the class on a daily basis. The boys behind me in English asked me if I ever wear the same shoes twice, so I smiled and told them, "Absolutely not." Haha, their faces were priceless. I hope they knew I was messing with them. I'm wearing a Zara blouse, a Zara sweater, Bullhead jeans, Cole Haan oxfords, and a Topshop backpack.

Here's a close up of my collar, which has metal edges. I was going to use another photo with my hair pulled back, so that you could see the metal edges better, but I wanted to show you how brown my hair is now. All the redness has faded and I'm back to being a brunette. I have a new hair stylist, who gave me layers. He told me he wants me to dye my hair a lighter color and blonde is the last color I need to try, so I'll probably dye my hair back to black and then blonde. What other colors should I try? I feel like I should try different shades of brown and go for a redder color.

Title from "The Magic Position (Sundark and Moonlight Version)" by Patrick Wolf

It's Escada

Playing: Blue Monday-New Order
Reading: The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving

Over the weekend, I make it my mission to do interesting things even if they only take up an hour or two of my time, since I do have to do my homework after all. My dad wants to take me shooting, but the closest shooting range to me is an hour away, so we just haven't had the time. However, over the weekend, I love dressing up because I wake up somewhere in the double digits, which means I'm more likely to be more experimental with my look. Plus, I get to use purses during the weekend and I love purses. Here I'm wearing a Central Park sweat shirt, Mango jeans, Qupid oxfords, necklaces from South Korea and Mexico, and an Escada clutch. I've been into colored jeans since the fifth grade, but I only started wearing them three years ago because before that, I couldn't find any in my size!

I usually carry around cross body purses, but lately, I've been liking the idea of clutches. It's a tad less juvenile and looks dressier with my outfits. This Escada clutch is so simple, but the hardware makes it look so luxurious.One time I was carrying this  purse at a meeting with a bunch of other teenagers and they all asked me if it was designer, since it looks expensive and I told them it's Escada. None of them had heard of Escada, so I felt uncomfortable. I feel like I'm an outcast whenever I talk about fashion because no one can relate with me about how great fashion is other than Jessy and Michael.

I took the clutch to True Food Kitchen and all these women with very expensive purses complimented me on my purse. It made me feel like the clutch was a great buy. I ordered the Cucumber Refresher, which is lemon juice with cucumber and honey, along with the Seafood Caldo, which was a shrimp and sea bass stew with collards, white beans, cilantro, lime, and chili broth. My parents shared the Caramelized Onion Tart with me, which is a must try. The balance of gorgonzola, black figs, and garlic is so amazing.

Oh, and if you haven't figured it out, I'm really in love with my porcupine puffer Jacques. Feeding him is a pain, since I have to cook shrimp and clams for him, but it's worth it. He loves lettuce the most so far and I'm trying to teach him some tricks. My friend, Sagiv, told me I need to calm down because he's "just a fish." Well, let me tell you this, he is a very interactive pet. Almost as interactive as my dog.

Do you own any pets?

It Actually Rained

Playing: Get Lost-Patrick Wolf
Reading: Who Are you Calling Girly? by Eric Wilson

For a few days or so, it was actually cooling off in Southern California, but now the temperature is reaching the high nineties again. In fact, it even rained for a day or two last week, which gave me the opportunity to try a new restaurant, Ken's Ramen. Whenever it's cold, I immediately start to crave warm soups or stews, so I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen with extra chashu pork, which was a bit dry, and corn. Although I enjoyed my meal, I wouldn't say it's a must try.

After lunch, I drove down to SanBar to buy a few more fish for my saltwater tank. I've actually been scouting out the perfect puffer fish for months now and I'm proud to say I found the prefect one! My porcupine puffer's name is Jacques and he loves to eat lettuce and swims up to me whenever I walk past the tank. He's the most interactive fish I've ever had. I believe the other fish is a queen angelfish, but it doesn't look like the other ones I've seen. My mum named it Ninja, since it has a mask around it's eyes. Unfortunately, it's very shy and hasn't eaten for the past two days.

I also bought some pro-American ice cream from Ben&Jerry's that day, since my APUSH teacher is super pro-America and has passed on the spirit to the class. He even has the flag painted on one wall plus various murals dedicated to past presidents. Americone Dream is one of my favorite ice creams of all time and just makes me love Stephen Colbert even more than I already do. The Boston Cream Pie flavor was good, but the texture was a bit grainy due to the cake pieces in it.

 

This post is really incoherent, I know, so I apologize. I wanted to share with you another outfit I wore, which really doesn't suit my pale complexion, but hey, it was trench coat weather. I wore Mango jeans, an Ann Taylor LOFT cardigan, an Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, Converse sneakers, and my mum's Burberry Brit trench coat, which is two sizes too big for me. You can tell the trench is too big on me, but I was just dying to borrow it from my mum and wear my maroon jeans with something navy.

Going back to the topic of APUSH and patriotism, here's a music video of America telling England it's too late to apologize. We watched this in APUSH and besides it being really awkward, it's a great conversation starter. Really, who would've ever guessed that our founding fathers liked to jam together and play their fiddles on the top of a mountain? Check it out. You really should.

From California

Playing: Ruthless-Something Corporate
Reading: Light Boxes by Shane Jones (Reading this for the 4th time. You must read this book at least once.)

This is a bit of an update, I suppose, but over the weekend I tried a cute cafe called Haute Cake Caffe, where I ordered the Orange Ricotta Haute Cakes. It's actually just gourmet pancakes with orange zest and ricotta cheese mixed into it and topped with berries, but it's still good. One of my dad's friends used to come to this cafe every Saturday for their chocolate croissant, so I'll have to try that one day. It's in a very cute area, so I recommend bringing friends here to show them that you know quainter areas than they do.

After lunch, I went to a Kinokuniya Bookstore to buy some gifts for my twin cousins' birthdays. I grabbed them a bunch of cute items, but I really wanted to buy this set of alpaca pirates for myself. I have no idea what I'd do with them, since I don't play with my stuffed animals as much as I did when I was little, but they're so cute.

Talking about cute stuff, my friends brought me back/sent me stuff from their travels. Sophie also visited Cannery Row, so I got a postcard from her, while Vivian sent me a DIY postcard from Taiwan. Jessy also sent me a postcard from Las Vegas, which always makes me think of the Killers. Tina brought back some cobichon from Japan, which she knows I'm obsessed with, plus a pack of stickers and some corn snacks that Vivian says she ate as a child, when she lived in Taiwan. I haven't tried them yet, but they look good. My friends really love to spoil me, don't they?

Some of you have mentioned that I should post photos of my outfits, so here we go. I enlisted my slave my mum to take outfit photos for me from now on. (Please excuse the fact that I rarely smile in photos unless I'm laughing.) I'm wearing an Ann Taylor LOFT collared top, Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, my dad's old belt from his college trip to Italy, Candies shorts (Don't judge me.), Madewell boots, and a Kimchi Blue purse.I got quite a few compliments on my outfit, but I wasn't completely happy with the top. The side flares out to make room for hips, but my hips are nonexistent, so it just made me look fatter.

To make up for my boring outfit, take a look at one of my favorite outfits Rumi Neely has ever worn. I love all of her outfits, but this one is extra perfect. I love her berry velvet blazer from Theory with the not too girly skirt and the clunky, Balenciaga shoes. Plus, the hat! The hat just makes everything look more playful. I could only dream of looking this good during my trip to Paris. By the way, I really am going to Paris this summer. Any recommendations? I want to know how the weather is so I can start planning out extra chic outfits.

"Don't Leave Me Tongue Tied, Let's Stay Up All Night"

Playing: Einstein on the Beach-Philip Glass
Reading: The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Over the weekend, Michael celebrated his birthday with a Disney themed party, which was so much fun. He went as Prince Charming in his mum's vintage band jacket and his new Christian Louboutin shoes, while I went as a punk rock Cheshire Cat. You can also see Jessy as Snow White, Jackie as Nala, and Tina as Minnie Mouse up above. We danced the whole night away to Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, and Madonna and when we got tired, we started playing dress up by stealing each others shoes. We even sang "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl" together. There were actually a lot more people there, but I didn't know them well enough to ask for permission to put their photos on my blog. 

I'm wearing my mum's leotard from the 80s, Leg Avenue tights, Wet Seal tutus, Juicy Couture heels, and a tail and ears from Disney.

"The Fog That Surrounds Us"

Playing: On Top of the World-Boys Like Girls
Reading: Season 10 Q&A: Gunnar Deatherage Predicts the Winner by Laura Reineke

After Cannery Row, my family and I went to Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf to look around. It's absolutely beautiful down there, especially when it's foggy. I like the way the fog looks like it's coming down over the hills in this photo and how the bright buildings pop out.

We walked up and down the pier for fishermen, looking at the sea lions swimming around, and then we went off to the more touristy area just to look around. My brother and I grabbed some roasted garlic from a stand that I can't remember the name of. The man selling them told us to eat it by itself with our hands, but then we saw another group, spreading it on bread. The people with bread probably had the right idea.

The drive back to Berkeley proved long and crowded due to a car accident, but luckily the scenery was beautiful. Once the fog cleared, the sky was open and immense, completely blue and clear. The fields were incredibly green and much nicer than the poor excuse of a farm we have in my town, where everything is wilted.

 By the time we got back to Berkeley, it was dinner time, so we went off to one of my favorite places in Berkeley, Brazil Cafe. They have a sit down restaurant that I haven't been to and then the shack along the road that I always go to. It's really quirky and the food is good, so I always have to go.

 

I ordered Pedro's Favorite Tri-tip Sandwich with a Mango Smoothie. If you're ever in the Berkeley area, this is a must try. The tri-tip is tender and tastes so amazing with the jalapeno peppers, onions, tomatoes, goat cheese, and their special sauce. The Mango Smoothie serves to cool down your mouth, when the peppers get to be too much. On a warm day, you can sit outside the little hut, but for the day I was there, it was too cold, so I sat around in my hotel room, eating. It was like room service, only cheaper.

Stole the quote from Henri Matisse