winter appropriate

Playing: Beware the Dog-The Griswolds
Reading: The Human Comedy by William Saroyan

Preparing for my move out to New York was kind of hard mostly because I have no idea what to expect from New York winter. California winters are all pretty mild as in I can wear a tank top with a denim jacket and feel just fine. During my hunt for warmer clothing, I had to pick up a few jackets and sweaters. The quilted jacket I thought would help dress up my jean outfits and the holographic overlay on the geode sweater is what got me. Both are from Zara.

I also picked up a baggy BP sweater, an ASTR scuba skirt, and a Topshop cropped sweater all from Nordstrom. I've been relying on the cropped top and skirt combo lately, so I'm hoping that with a pair of warm tights and a good pair of boots, I can pull the look into colder weather.

While in Japan, I didn't pick up a whole lot for myself. The only other things I bought that aren't pictured is some food and stationary. I'm super psyched about the CC Cream and the perfume-shaped phone case, which is the only one I could find without the Chanel name on it. (Chanel doesn't make these, so all of the ones you see are fakes. I liked this one because it wasn't trying to be something it's not.) The Wego cropped sweater is a nice shade of Slytherin green like the BP sweater and the Topshop crop top is really easy to pair with everything. In terms of shoes, I got an odd pair of sneaker platforms and a pair of ugly yet great Bershka boots.

Back to the winter appropriate clothing. I walked into Nordstrom with the intention of getting a pair of Hunter boots, but walked out with a pair of Valentino boots. The Valentino pair had a deeper tread than the Hunter pair and let's face it, the Valentino ones are prettier too. Even though they aren't lined, I'm hoping that I can wear these when it snows too. Maybe a thick pair of socks will help with that?

stereotypical female things

Playing: Tonight You're Perfect-New Politics
Reading: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

To celebrate my semester break (and finally being a semester two senior), I went shopping with my friends, Tina and Taylor. I got this red skater dress from Topshop and the grey sweatshirt from H&M with them. I wanted a tighter fitting grey sweatshirt to wear with skirts and I figured the dress would be easy to wear. The sweater in the middle is a T by Alexander Wang, which I got for a complete steal. I've been wanting a sweater from Alexander Wang for awhile, but they're always super expensive, so I snatched up this sweater pretty quickly.

I've also been obsessing over lip colors lately. I liked the texture of the Revlon Balm Stain because it is so moisturizing, but I found this particular shade, Romantique, to be too orange for my skin tone. I'm still on the hunt for a bright red, so recommendations would be much appreciated. My dad also got me the Burberry Soft Satin Lipstick Set, which comes with three shades. All three of them have a nice, buttery texture to them and I really liked how wearable the three of them are.

While my brother was home for the holidays, we took a trip to Georgetown Cupcake and got a plethora of amazing flavors. Pictured above are Snowball, Salted Caramel, White Chocolate Peppermint, Lemon Blossom, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and Holiday Lava Fudge. I thought all of the flavors were very good, especially the White Chocolate Peppermint. In terms of looks and taste, Georgetown Cupcake makes some of the best cupcakes out there.

I'm also super excited to let you guys know that I will be spending a month exploring Japan with my friend, Tina. We will be visiting loads of friends throughout the country and it's going to be so much fun. We are stopping by Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nara, Osaka, Okinawa, Kyoto, Fukuoka, and Kobe, so if you have any recommendations for places to go in those cities, please let me know! (Tokyo photo courtesy of FashionToast)