invite me

I need to find a party or wedding to attend so I can justify buying this lovely Rebecca Taylor dress!

The ruffles, the back, the ombre... It's just all too perfect. And it's on sale! *sigh* And I'm not supposed to buy anything.

What's coming up next? Oooh.. I just bought tix to San Francisco in October for a family reunion of sorts. It's my gramma's sister's (grand-aunt?) 70th bday!


Actually, it's going to be my bday too! The big 3.1 for me. Eep! (According to my darling Diabolina, 3.1 Phillip Lim is a wink to his age when he started his line! Love the trivia. Hmmm. Should I get a new Phillip dress instead??)

Speaking of San Francisco, it's been years since I was last there. Where are the good places to shop? I'll be doing a lot of family stuff but am hoping to slip away and do some fashion stuff!

Send me your tips and ideas for unique shops and fabulous finds! Would love to hear from you!

know what I'm doing during lunch?

I think I just like torturing myself.

See you at noon!

recessionista indeed

On a tip from my new friend Style-ish (thanks TamPham!), I rushed over to my neighborhood Rack to rummage through their new shipment of designer shoes. Style-ish was right.

Cute shoes everywhere! A pair of fun, patent Alaias reminscent of those saltwater sandals I wore back in the day, a sky-high pair of snakeskin Nina Riccis, bright blue Balenciagas, silvery, braided Stella McCartneys (actually would have bought these if one of the straps wasn't missing!) The list goes on and on!

Alas, I chose to save my pennies. I liked, but didn't love. Mango was with me and had a very good point - yes, they were all very cute but still at $200+.. Might as well pay the extra couple hundred and get the Lanvins from the other day, if I'm gonna bite the bullet. (I still remember when you could get a pair of Pradas or Missonis for $99 at the Rack! Oh the good ol' days!)

No bullets will be bitten today.

retail therapy is not covered by insurance

But if it was, I would totally get these Lanvins. As I said, over the weekend I was a bit on the grumpy-dumpy-side so I decided that I needed to do a little shoe shopping.

Knowing that Posh on Main was having their 60% off sale (their site isn't updated), I thought I'd take a peek at the goods. Of course as soon as I arrive, I fall truly, madly, deeply over the priciest, most delicious foot candy.

*sigh*

Even at 60% they're still way over my non-budget. Can I have another 30% off?

Please send your donations my way! I'll be your best friend!

truckin' along

My little knitting project is starting to come together. I'm just past the border along the bottom. I tend to get obsessive about my knitting and now my arms are sore. I was also kinda grumpy dumpy this weekend so the knitting kept me occupied.

I'm having some knitter's remorse with the color I chose though. When I was at the knit shop the other day, they didn't have enough yarn for the two (dark) colors that I really liked. For some reason, I really wanted to steer clear of my usual black or grey, which in hindsight would have been a better choice.

And then I saw this grey-ish blue tweed yarn. I mean, it's pretty and all, but it's starting to look really homemade! I mean, if I was in the Savvy department at Nordstrom, would I really buy this vest? (Oh who am I kidding.. This this might be something you'd find in BP - most likely some place like Eddie Bauer.)

Well, it's still early, maybe when I'm closer to finishing I'll decide this vest is wearable and not just a waste of $100 in yarn. (I hate how expensive yarn is! I could buy a couple sweaters on sale for that price! So much for saving money!)

i am this bored

I just signed up for a sewing class. It's a two-part class beginning in September. I'm kinda excited.

I'll be learning how to make a pair of pajama pants. Hopefully, in the process, I'll learn how to use a sewing machine without sewing my fingers together. With my luck lately, I'll do it too.

But I totally think it'd be fun to try to make some clothes for myself or at the very least be able to do some simple alterations and not have to pay someone to hem my jeans!

I've been knitting for a few years now, but only bags, shawls and blankets. I'd much rather buy a sweater then make one myself - yarn can be soooo expensive. Not to mention, a lot of the patterns out there are so dowdy and out-dated. Do I really want to make a something where someone always asks "Did you make that?" The answer is no. I have to admit though, that I am really tempted to knit this little sweater vest by SweaterBabe. I think the shape of it is cute and au courant.

Seems like lofty goals for my Fall season! We'll see how it goes.

UPDATE: This is the last thing I knitted. It's a baby blanket that I made for my bestie and her new baby.

tah-daaaaaah!!!!

It's my hair! Sorry it's not the best photo. I didn't have anyone to take it for me!

As you can see, I now have fun, beach waves! Styling is soooo easy too! Just wash, apply some curl juice (I use Aveda's Be Curly), twist into sections and blow out my bangs. The rest is air dried. Oh and did I mention I did all of that last night?

It still looks good after a restful night. Yay!

perfect ten

So I'm sure you could tell in my last post that I was kinda in panic mode - a touch of Post-Perm Anxiety. I couldn't take it any more! So I sent a frantic (but very nice!) email to the salon regarding my possible hair regrets. I'm not usually a complainer, I'm much more passive-aggressive - would rather tell everyone I know to never, ever, EVER go there.

But it's my hair and it's *gulp* permanent.

The salon owner, Dot, was gracious enough to respond within the hour with true understanding. She quickly invited me to come in the next day to have her take a look at my hair and "see what we can do". Huge sigh of relief!

I arrived at the completely packed TenPachi and was ushered in by Dot. She squeezed me in between her multitude of clients and reassured me that she'd take care of me. I felt so guilty sitting there as the unsatisfied customer but everyone was extremely kind, which totally put me at ease.

What I'd expected was that Dot would just wet my hair and restyle it for me. What I wasn't expecting was being treated to a lavish shampoo and a deep conditioning treatment under the dryer, followed by some yummy scented hair vitamins. Next, Dot sized up my sizable hair and gave me a full hair cut to reduce the weight. Then she applied product and styled my hair gorgeously, all the while giving me tips and reassuring me that a lot of girl get PPA and to not feel bad about coming in.

She also invited me to make an appointment in a couple weeks, after my hair has settled even more, to get my hair shampooed and to get even more tips on styling my new curly coif.

It doesn't end there. As I went to the register to pay (and I really planned to pay because she went above and beyond with the cut and style), Dot declined everything, including my gratuities! Not only that, she gave me two full sized products to take home!

While my new 'do still isn't exactly how I'd pictured it, it's a million times better than what I had going on yesterday. And with the knowledge that the curls will subside with time, I no longer have any regrets.

Regardless of all that, Dot, Yuki and the staff at TenPachi clearly won me over and I plan to be a customer for a long time!

I love happy endings. Photos to come, I promise!

do i love it?

No. Not really. Not yet.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole perm. One the one hand, the luscious waves that I was imagining turned out a lot tighter than I had envisioned or wanted. On the other hand, my natural curls are definitely more defined and smooth, which is a plus. But still not what I wanted. Think Carrie on SATC when she has her wild curly hair - though I've managed to keep the volume to a minimum!

I haven't washed and styled my hair on my own yet, so I don't really want to complain. Yet.

The one thing that really bothered me was when Yuki was starting to diffuse my hair, the curls actually looked decent but then this random girl came over and offered to help her dry my hair. Next thing you know, she's running her fingers through my hair like a comb!

One of the cardinal rules that all Curly-Sues know is that you don't ever comb the curls! You end up with broken waves and frizz.

Am I totally against doing it again? Definitely not. I think my dream waves are still achievable - I just need to be more clear about how big and fancy I really want the waves to be.

BTW Miss Loosy, I asked them about folks who are color fiends, and Yuki said they recommend not coloring and perming at the same time. As long as you give your hair a rest for a few weeks between processes, you can do it too!

Miss Brooke, the style waves they do allow for the grow out to be more natural so I'm hoping that that will be the case for me! And the rest of you, depending on how your hair is, the perm can last anywhere from 2-3 months or longer. Oh and for my length of hair, it was a reasonable $145.

I'll post a pic of the finished product once I can wash my hair and restyle it! I promise! Keep your fingers crossed that the curls loosen up! I have faith that I'll find my perfect hair!

watch out

Did you watch Project Runway last night? I love that show!


Anyway, when they were doing some of the bios, I was really intrigued by some of Leanne Marshall's clothing line, Leanimal.

I kinda love her dresses.

And that coat! It looks so stylish but at the same time, not overly trendy. Hmm. I may have to try to find some of her clothes before she blows up all over the place and stops selling to the little people.

She's from Portland, OR. And I'm planning to spend the day there sometime in October. Why October you ask? Because I can't really, really shop until then.

SPOILER ALERT!

Can I just say that I was kinda disappointed/ashamed that the Chinese guy got sent home first?! He had the talk but not the walk. Sad!

cougar attack!

Okay, here's a little update about my cutie patootie swim instructor.

He missed lessons yesterday, so conversation of course veered to him. It turns out all the ladies in my class have been drooling over him! Hahaha. I guess it's kinda obvious though because as soon as he shows up, we turn into a group of giggling school girls.

After much discussion, another gal shows up and informs us that he was out because he had to do some freshman orientation for college. I hope he's 18.

ROWR.

At least the other gals in class are older than I am! Whew. I'm only 12-13 years his senior.

BOOOOOOO!

here goes..

I'm scheduled for my texture perm in two days.. I know many of you are as anxious as I am to see the results so I thought I'd do a little before/after.


Here's a sad little picture of my sad, frizzy, is-she-really-Chinese hair. It's slightly damp, sans any product or styling.


I'll let you know if my dream hair - luscious, bouncy, smooth waves - comes to fruition. Fingers crossed my dears!

she got it from her mama

As I ruefully perused the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (again!) with mommy looking over my shoulder, I pointed out the adorable Ugg boots and said that if I were to buy anything during the sale, it would be those!

Mommy dearest said that I must get them! She thought they were as adorable as I did and said I could never go wrong with such comfy shoes. Besides, I could always return them if I changed my mind but if they sold out, then I'd be kicking myself. Hmmm. She does have a point.

Honestly, who am I to question her? She's so much more worldly and wise than I.

muy caliente

*Sorry it took so long to write about my trip! I'm pretty lazy about uploading pix. Better late than never right?

We woke up at the un-fashionista-ly hour of 4:30 am to catch our early flight to Cabo. Can't believe I had the sense to actually apply some eyeliner and mascara.

Had a loooong layover at LAX.

I hadn't been to LA in years and I guess I didn't remember what a dump LAX is. Seriously. The shuttle we had to ride between airlines was so sketchy and the airport bathrooms? *shudder* Anyway, after a couple hours of anticipation, we boarded (is that a word??) our plane and by the time I wake from my nap, we'd arrived!


The weather was perfect for hitting the pool right before dinner! Look at just how amazing the pool is! There were swim-up bars at three of the six pools!

Did I mention that we were staying at an all-inclusive hotel? So everything was "free"! I can't tell you how nice it was to be able to just go out and not have to worry about watching my wallet at the pool!

Loved just being able to get food any time I fancied a bite!

Dinners at the hotel were so-so but lunches were absolutely yummy! One day we had the most delicious arroz con pollo and the next day was beef fajitas. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

And by the way, yes that is a huge arse cauldron of beef fajitas!

One night, we ventured out to the city and had dinner at the Crazy Lobster - and crazy it was! $18 for steak and lobster? I'll take two please!

After dinner we took a lovely stroll down to the marina. It really is gorgeous there, if you ignore the slumminess. D'oh.

And being that we're basically a couple of old fogies, we decided it wasn't in our best interest to partake in the festivities at Cabo Wabo and Gigglin' Marlin.

(I'd gone to a bachelorette party several years ago, and I can attest to never wanting to relive those cage-dancing nights.)

Back at the hotel, they had tons of activities during the day. I decided to partake in water aerobics. Little did I know that "water aerobics" is actually just an allotted time for fat people to play in the pool!

Hunny Bunny, whom is usually quite against any sort of participation, even joined in a match of water polo! Oh what a little bit of sun will do to a grouch!

The rest of the trip was taken up by naps in the sun and naps in the shade.

I can't wait to go back!

boo!

This is what happens when I put myself on shopping restriction!

Promesse is having their sale now and hello? Their jeans are buy one get one free! Run to Kirkland girls!

The rest of the goods are on sale between 30-50% off. And some of the past season clearance items are up to 90% off!! They're practically giving stuff away!

Go and buy stuff and then tell me what you buy in detail.. Please?

Illi in South Lake Union is also having their sale! Everything is 50-70% off!

LuvCharlie and Intermix have new markdowns too!

Must.. resist.

help a brotha out

My brother is selling his bike. Does your boyfriend want it?

definitely not

Did you get your Nordstrom Anniversary Sale catalogue yet?

I know I'm soooo not supposed to buy anything and I'm really going to try to be good-ish.

I'm definitely not going to schedule an appointment so I can preview (and PRESALE) all the wonderful fall clothes. And I'm definitely not going to look at the famous maker dress that's pictured. And I'm definitely not going to look at those knitted UGG boots. And I'm definitely not going to see what kind of fabulous makeup collections are available. And I'm definitely not going to take advantage of the double points promotion.

I was really good at last year's sale. I didn't take the day off for the sale and I only bought one Dior makeup palette and a giant bottle of Philosophy's Purity Made Simple. I gotta remind myself that everything is only 40% off. I need at least 50% off to make it justifiable!

Besides, I hate walking down the street seeing five girls wearing the same outfit as me! Yes. I'll keep telling myself that this sale is overrated. Uh huh. Yep.

hmmm

Eeks! The first of three H&M stores in the Seattle area opens in a couple weeks during Westfield Southcenter's grand re-opening - July 25th to be exact. It'd be totally crazy for me to take th day off to go shop, right?

And it'll probably be even more crazy because XXI Forever is opening that day too! (They already have a small Forever 21 store there, I wonder how that's gonna work...)

Speaking of XXI Forever, I finally made it to the new one at Northgate and it's as glorious as people have been telling me! It was so big, I was actually overwhelmed and couldn't buy anything! Actually, I felt bad because Hunny Bunny was sitting outside waiting for me, and I hate feeling hurried when I'm shopping so I ended up leaving.

*sigh* It's for the best though, isn't it? I have to at least try to make it a couple weeks without buying anything.

shiny pretty

I think I'm a little bit in love with these Chanel Camellia earrings..

I wonder if daddy's goldsmith can make me a pair of inspired-by Chanel earrings. *laughs*

They are pretty though, aren't they?

And the fall eyeshadow palette and gold polish that I've been patiently waiting for have finally arrived! My gal at Nordies is holding it for me until the Anniversary sale so I can get double points.

Yay for double points! Boo for shopping when I'm not supposed to..

i think i need cpr

* Note to Hunny Bunny - stop reading NOW.

As you all know, I've been in my second session of adult swimming lessons. It's been going pretty well. Well it turns out that our female instructor was just subbing for the week. Our real instructor is a guy.

And holy crap what a guy! He's soooooo hot! *sigh* Perfect swimmer's body.. Dreamy blue eyes.. ARGH!

I'm such a cougar. ROWR! I'm sure this guy is like 17 years old and thinks I'm this crazy old lady who's so scared of the water.

As an instructor, he's no joke. He had us working on doing the butterfly. Umm. I still don't have the breast stroke down yet! And then he made us practice doing front flips so we don't have to stop when we're doing laps. Dude, I got so much water up my nose I thought my brain was going to burst! Oh, and then he decides it's high time we start diving into the deep end!

He's lucky he's hot. Otherwise I would've said no.

dior delivers

A while back I posted about the DiorDiva VIP program that rewards people for purchasing Dior cosmetics.

Well, I finally accumulated enough points to redeem some goodies. I sent in my receipts and waited patiently for my surprise. And what a surprise it was!

I got a mini-DiorShow Black Out mascara, a mini lipgloss, a deluxe sample of Capture Totale eye treatment and a deluxe sample of j'adore perfume. How fun is that!

I heart free stuff!

i was googled

PazzoKevin had a little post a few days ago about what people googled to ended up at his blog. I was inspired by his witty commentary and decided to list my own. Most people who find me are searching for discount codes or designers or makeup or any number of benign things.

While I'll admit that I frequently use unsavory terms, it's always in jest. I'm definitely not one of those sickos out there.. But there are plenty of sickos that have found me. I'm sure they were sorely disappointed to find that I'm just talking about boring clothes. Here are some of my favorite queries:

suck for a buck- Move on! You ain't gonna find it here!

nice bootie - Thank you very much! I like doing squats.

fart smells like onions - uhhh.. grody...

tights -sex -sexy -porn -fetish -men - I need a shower! I feel dirrrrty!

shauna sand shoe line - Oh lord! How many different styles can there be for lucite high heels??

thick booty blogspot - I wonder if there is such a blog out there.. I'm too scared to find out.

back to blah

Dang. Cabo came and went fast. Now I feel like I have nothing else to look forward to for the rest of the summer. *sigh*

Oh woe is me! I want to go back.

Maybe I should go shopping to make myself feel better! It'll only be at F21, I swear! After my budget-breaking Jimmy Choo purchase, I've been put on a self-imposed shopping restriction until October..

Before you get your panties in a bunch, I'm still allowed to shop (because I would be setting myself up for failure to even contemplate giving up shopping for that many months!) I'm only allowed to spend the cash that I make helping my folks out at their jewelry shop. Whew!

More vacay details to come! Just wanted to say hi to everyone! Missed you!