The Marion Conquest

Playing: Bette Davis Eyes-Brandon Flowers (Love everything Brandon Flowers!)
Reading: John Galliano's Oscar de la Renta Return: Disgraced Designer Gets Second Chance by Rebecca Macatee

Finals is coming up and my grades are all over the place, so I've been spending a lot of time studying lately. Truthfully, my mind is a bit fried right now and I don't think I even have it within me to study, so I thought why not talk about some of the clothing I've bought within the last two months. I picked up two sweaters from Ann Taylor LOFT because I really wanted some thin sweaters for layering. I like the varying polka dot size on the cardigan and the big black bow on the maroon sweater. Although the pale blue Oakley sweater is incredibly thin, it's actually pretty warm.

While walking around the Grove, I literally freaked out over the Barney's Co-Op because that's my favorite store and my brother told me to make it quick, so I left with only this top. It's from their personal brand, but it reminds me of something Helmut Lang would do and I've been wanting something similar from him. It's almost paper thin, which is how I like all my t-shirts, and it's super soft too. I love how the side panels are tricky for the eyes and create an optical allusion of being skinnier. Overall, it's a great top that I'll wear until it's so hole ridden that my mum tosses it behind my back.

Yesterday, my mum took me for a quick stop at Barney's Co-Op in South Coast Plaza to get my mind off of schoolwork. If you all remember, I returned my birthday and Christmas gifts from my parents to wait for something that I was dying to own, so I chose two things I've been wanting for awhile. The heels are 3.25 inches high, so it feels really short to me, since I'm used to 4.5-inch-heels. I like how simple they are and I'm planning on wearing them as my go-to shoes on days when Converse aren't glamorous enough. Luckily, I grabbed the last size 6 the store had.

As for the Alexander Wang Marion purse, all I have to say is that the Marion is the best. It's big enough to carry all the essentials and can be dressed up or down. It's glamorous and luxurious in a low key way and it isn't overdone. It's basically perfect. I wanted to grab the beige leather one with gold hardware, but that's offered almost all the time, so I went for the emerald suede/faux alligator version. Originally, I was really against getting another suede purse because cleaning suede is difficult, but for Alexander Wang, I'd do anything. Next up on my Marion conquest is hopefully a beige and a white one. I'm going to try to study for APUSH now, so wish me luck on all my final exams?

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 Miss NY

Playing: (If You're Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To-Weezer
Reading: Tiffany Jewels by John Loring

My favorite place in New York, New York to go eat is definitely Little Italy. An abundance of good Italian restaurants in one place? I'm there. While I was doing research for school on Wikipedia, even though we're not supposed to use Wikipedia for school, I got distracted and Googled ethnic places to visit in southern California and somehow I found myself a Little Italy in San Diego. One hour away and professing to be the cure to my New York homesickness, Little Italy seemed to be the place to go. For lunch, my family and I chose Cafe Zucchero, where I ordered the Boscaiola, a pasta that came with roasted chicken, mushrooms, and garlic all smothered in a creamy tomato sauce. Although tasty and served al dente, this pasta is common enough that I do believe you're not missing out on much.

Cafe Zucchero also offers an extensive selection of desserts from cakes to custards. My desert of choice was the Il Forno, a baked donut stuffed with ricotta and bittersweet chocolate chips, while my dad chose the Banana Napolean. The Il Forno was great although I wish the donut outside was thinner. Other than being impossibly messy (And what Napolean isn't?), the Banana Napolean is worth getting, if you're into either bananas or puddings of any sort. Overall, the Little Italy in New York is still more impressive and other than the restaurants in San Diego's Little Italy, there's nothing else to look at. It doesn't have a market or any other sort of stores, bu there is a huge farmers market on Saturday.

After lunch, I walked down to the waterfront with my family. Other than having a wide array of boats and ships to look at, it's just nice to walk around. Unfortunately, my brother and I were dressed for winter and it was incredibly hot the day we went, so we ended up walking quickly back to the car. We're probably the biggest wimps ever. We complain when it's too cold and when it gets too hot, we act like we're on the verge of dying.

Fun fact, did you know that San Diego just recently became the second biggest city in California after Los Angeles? One of my favorite things about visiting really urban areas is all the random street art. Rather than graffiti, I prefer murals and silly drawings to decorate the city and add a certain quirk factor to everything.

Before I end this post, I thought I'd share my outfit from the day with you. Ignore my face. I'm not actually mad; that's just how I always look. I'm wearing a silence+noise blazer, a Jason Wu for Target blouse, a St. John brooch, a Burberry bracelet, a Burberry Prorsum purse, Mango jeans, Alexander McQueen sunglasses, and Converse sneakers. It was way too warm for the blazer and the jeans. I really need to get it through my head that California winter really means summer.

Is it possible to be a tourist in a city you've grown up in?

Playing: Champagne Supernova-Oasis (My brother and I sing this on road trips.)
Reading: Art For the London Underground by Oliver Green

It nearly killed me to visit Los Angeles last Saturday due to the homework overload that I had to deal with on Sunday, but it was definitely worth it. My brother wanted to go to the Original Farmers Market to try out new restaurants, so we ended up at Singapore's Banana Leaf. There was this family that ordered all these dishes from there that looked amazing, so my brother and I decided this was the place. We both ordered the Mee Goreng w/ Chicken Skewers and Fried Egg, which happened to be pretty good. I cracked open the egg yolk that way the yolk would get all over the noodles. The chicken skewers were so tender and tasted even better when dipped in the mildly spicy peanut sauce. I really recommend trying the Mangosteen Juice, which has this creamy, almost floral taste to it.

For desert, I shared an Apricot Tart and Lemon Tart with my dad and brother from Normandie Bakery. The Apricot Tart was intensely creamy and cutard-y, while the lemon tart was wonderfully sour. The only thing I would've fixed with the lemon tart is change the chocolate pastry surrounding it to a buttery pastry, since the chocolate one left a bitter aftertaste. However, my dad thought it helped balance out the sourness of the lemon curd, so maybe I'm just crazy.

After lunch, we walked around the Grove that way I could look at Barney's Co-Op, which is just like heaven to me. I ended up getting something there, which you'll hopefully see in an upcoming clothing haul, which isn't quite ready yet because I've been shopping less. Anyways, Nordstrom had Miss Wu in their store windows, which really excited me. I love Jason Wu and I think we're destined to be best friends one day. It was really shocking to see Miss Wu in all of the store windows, since Jason Wu is a relatively new designer and not that well known yet. You'd think Nordstrom would choose a more popular designer like Marc Jacobs or Michael Kors to attract the common shopper.

Afterwards, my dad took us to the Petersen Automotive Museum, since my brother and him are really into cars. One of the most interesting cars there was this airomobile, which was from the 1930s. With its streamlined design, it could reach up to 80mph and 43 mpg. Truth be told, I kind of want one of these that way I can paint it to look like a humpback whale, while saving gas. It's a win-win. The Petersen Automotive Museum is really fascinating, even for someone like me who gets bored at car dealers. It showcases cars ranging from 1897 onwards plus various cars from big movies like Batman and Gangster Squad. One of the best sections in the museum was one on Italian design. Literally every car was beyond perfection and I hope to see my car there one day.

Damn Teenagers

Playing: Hysteria-Muse
Reading: North Korean Posters by David Heather

Over holiday, Sophie and I had an art picnic. It gave us a chance to show off our colorful pen collections and to look at art books together, while drawing our own designs and planning out our adventure zine. We were sitting in the middle of a park and just the way we looked and acted, it made me think of one thing, "Those damn teenagers always have to one up each other with their weirdness." Sophie and I are pretty odd whenever we hang out with each other due to a plethora of inside jokes and a liking for all things pun related. Whenever we go into stores together, we always get stared at and it makes me wonder what the employees are thinking.

Some of the annoying things us teenagers do is order off the kid's menu, even though we're well over 12-years-old, just because it's cheaper. Sophie did just that at Ruby's and bought me a milkshake, which she has owed me for about four years now. The waitress gave us an odd look, when we ordered, so it just makes me want to read their minds.

After Sophie ate her snack, we went to go see The Perks of Being a Wallflower at the dollar theatre and I have to say, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Sam and Patrick were nothing like what I expected, but I think I loved Patrick in the movie even more than I did in the book. The movie did a good job getting all of the book crammed into less than two hours, but there were two or three anecdotes from the book that would've improved the movie. Charlie was also well portrayed, especially considering that Charlie is a fairly complex character. What the movie really made me wish for though was a chance to have these amazing friends that go out with you and do wonky stuff. I really wish I had that sense of adventure and that sense of not giving a damn about life with my friends.

The day after Sophie's and my damn teenagers day, I went to Laguna Beach with London to explore and walk around. We went all over Laguna Beach and while we were walking around, I heard someone shouting my name and who else would it be other than Sophie? So there you have it, Sophie stalks me because she's obviously in love with me. Sorry about this post being kind of lame. I just wanted to get something out for you, since I'm currently searching through my photos, trying to muster up some sort of a post. However, I went back to Los Angeles yesterday, so there may be an interesting post coming up in the near future.

The City

Playing: Out of It-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Plane carrying Italian fashion heir Missoni missing off Venezuela by Laura Smith-Spark and Sarah Aarthun

Spent my second to last day of holiday (aka my freedom) in Los Angeles, exploring the area. Originally I had planned out an architect's field trip, so I could check out some buildings I had been eying online. After our first stop, my parents asked if all I had planned for the day was to look at buildings and when I told them yes, they took the day into their own hands and made it more family appropriate. By that, I mean they made it more interesting for the other members in my family. We went everywhere from Melrose Avenue to Santa Monica and I hope to explore a Fred Segal store once my brother goes back to school, since he hates shopping with me. I have officially been back in school for one day and I can already feel my happiness being drained kind of like Harry Potter and the dementors, you know? Since school is back in session, I shall be studying more, which means my blog posts are going to become less adventure-y and more what-I-do-in-my-next-to-nonexistent-free-time.

By the way, I'm wearing miu miu sunglasses (borrowed from my mum for the photo), a BDG cadigan, an Ann Taylor LOFT tank top, a Marc by Marc Jacobs necklace, H&M jeans, an Alexander Wang purse, and Converse sneakers.

Urban Explorer

Playing: Born to Run-Bruce Springsteen
Reading: My APUSH textbook

Over holiday, I spend most of my time trying to get out of my hometown and my preferable destination is Los Angeles. Not only due to the fact that Los Angeles has better Japanese food than where I live, but also because I feel happier outside of my town. One of my favorite destinations in Los Angeles is Little Tokyo and my last trip there brought me to Wakasaya, which serves up fresh seafood bowls. This time I ordered it with maguro (tuna), ikura (salmon roe), and chopped salmon. Although the salmon is a bit dry, it tastes amazing and has a sweet undertone, making it one of my favorites at Wakasaya.

I was quite excited to see that a macaron store, Lette, opened right across from Wakasaya. I shared these with my brother, since they are too expensive to justify buying multiples of each flavor. We chose Raspberry, Coconut, Passion Fruit, Orange Blossom, Rose, and Violet. Passtion Fruit was by far the best, while Orange Blossom left my brother and me feeling rather ill. If you're to try out the macarons, I suggest ordering the fruit flavors instead of the flower ones.

Since it was rather cold that day, I have a stupid look on my face, but please excuse that and focus on the beauty that is the city. Also, I rather like my outfit and I wore this outfit with the exception of different collared shirts for three days in a row. Here I'm wearing a Zara blouse, a Hawkings McGull sweater, a Burberry Prorsum purse, BDG jeans, and Divided by H&M creepers.

It was my first at Whimsic Alley that day, so I went nuts over the wands and I kept on telling my dad I needed one ASAP. He wasn't feeling it, so my brother and I grabbed some butter beer like good muggles and I satisfied myself with a Slytherin sweater just because Gryffindor is so mainstream. If you're a Harry Potter fan, Whimsic Alley is a must, but it's pretty much a fantasy nerd's dream with stuff from Twilight, The Hunger Games, Dr. Who, and Lord of the Rings.

Los Angeles truly is such a lovely city and I got a chance to photograph a bunch of it during the drive home and to Whimsic Alley. Unfortunately, the photos aren't as clear as I would've liked them to be, since we were driving at around 60 mph, but they're still quite nice to look at. If you want to see more from my trip, click here. I'm planning on going back to Los Angeles tomorrow, so we'll see if I have another interesting blog post for all of you.

New Year, Same People

Playing: Konstantine-Something Corporate
Reading: W January 2013

Happy New Years everyone! I hope your New Years has been amazing and that you've had tons of good food. I spent New Years eve with my friends, Tina and Sophie, at a sleepover over at my beach house. Tina and I have celebrated New Years with each other for two (or maybe three years now) and it's become kind of a tradition. In Sunset Beach, the city occasionally builds these mounds on the beach that are quite a bit of fun to climb around on. Tina and I act like little kids around each other, so we raced each other up the hills, forcing Sophie to photograph us. We spent a lot of time wondering around the beach and listening to music. I woke up this morning and my hair looks rather edgy and Freja Beha Erichson-y right now, so I'm going to go now and dance around the house to the Cure. Bye!