thumbs up

chanel nouvelle vague nail polish, fjallraven kanken backpack, saint james striped shirt, genetic jeans

My current go-to bag (in my favorite color) and botched nail(s). I like to steal Lulu's nail polish when I see her lol. I'm currently trying to kill time before my aunt, her boyfriend, a cousin, and my younger brother get here from LA. BF is currently in Alaska and I won't see him for another week. This weekend I have to show my family around doing touristy things I never do and missing Wolf Parade. Speaking of bands I liked in high school, anyone listened to the new Arcade Fire? Still not sure what I think about it but I'll get back to you.

In other news, I had a dress named after me, so thanks Modcloth! I'd be wearing that dress right now if the weather weren't so bad in the Bay Area right now. I'm saving it for LA next week. I also answered a couple questions for their blog here and after rereading it I just realized that I'll never be as suave or cool as I'd like to be. Maybe I should have fudged the answers to seem more interesting lol. //sarcasm

hi sorry, i love you

This bag is one of those gifts where it isn't something you would usually be drawn to purchase but then realize later that you really, really love it. Or maybe it's just because it's a special gift from a special someone and while carrying it around you are reminded constantly of how lucky you are to have it. Things can never be 100% perfect all the time but they're pretty damn good nevertheless. I complain a lot but I really do have the best boyfriend ever.

oxfords and stripes

Two exciting purchases that were waiting for me when I got back from spring break. I finally got the Saint James Minquiers top in ecru/marine that I'd been wanting and it fits like a dream! I'm looking at a couple other color combinations but need to take it easy with spending money for a while. I also received these handmade oxfords that I'd ordered from Goldenponies on Etsy. When I'd first seen Erandi's store I thought it was too good to be true but I went ahead and ordered a pair anyway. I've been wearing them all day and so far so good. Maybe I'll try them out without laces like Anabela with her pair of gold ones. Thanks Teresa for finding that link!

condense and conserve

acne top + trousers, h&m wedges

So guess who finally bought that Acne top she was whining about a couple months back? I guess patience pays off since I ended up buying it 50% off at La Garconne. I also scored the perfect black trousers in the form of these Acne ones which are actually wool and not cotton! I'm really starting to get the hang of buying things I can wear over and over again rather than just a handful of times. I can easily see myself wearing both of these items in various ways without growing tired of them (which is something I've always had a problem with since I'm so fickle about clothes). Restraining myself takes a good deal of work especially when I go shopping with others but at least I'm getting somewhere. I'm still cleaning out my closet and just did a mass post of things I REALLY want to get rid of so uhh, go check that out? The latest post will only be up for a week and after that I'm donating everything in the post.

What else, what else? I'm getting really restless with my hair and have been trying new things with it. Today's look is making me really wish I'd taken the plunge and cut my hair short this past break. I even tried pinning my bangs back but didn't have the courage to wear it out... some habits I just can't let go of. I've had fringe for most of my life and it's hard to imagine exposing my forehead to anyone outside my apartment. Oh well.

as close as i'll ever get to a makeup post

I get a good amount of emails and comments requesting that I divulge my makeup routine but sadly, it's really nothing special. For some reason I've only ever been comfortable with buying mostly MAC makeup since I first started putting anything on my face in high school. I've gone through various phases that may or may not involve unnecessary amounts of eyeliner but at the moment I'm most comfortable with the fastest routine I can come up with.

I typically start with the Clinique 3-step system (although I do cut corners by washing my face in the shower, hehe) and make sure to moisturize before anything since I tend to have flaky skin. I then apply concealer to any spots that need coverage before I finish it off with MAC's studio fix which is both a foundation and powder in one. Sometimes I also put on a little blush which sadly is no longer available since it is from the Fafi x MAC collaboration a few years back.

My eye make-up routine varies: when I want big lashes I go with Maybelline's Great Lash mascara (which in my opinion beats out all of the more expensive brands I've tried, even Diorshow) or if I'm really pressed for time, I skip the mascara and just put black eyeliner on the crease of my lower eyelids. I also like to experiment with the cat eye liner look on my upper eyelids every so often, except I haven't been able to recently up until today since I ran out of my fluidline eyeliner in blacktrak. If you like the cat eye look you should definitely try this. I prefer it to liquid liner since it is not as messy and applying it with an angled brush produces more precise lines than a pencil.

As for lipstick, I have a couple MAC shades that I like such as matte ones like Please Me (the pink one I usually wear) but today I also acquired Morange after catching on to the orange lip fever. A lot of you have asked about my red lipsticks: usually I alternate between YSL's Opium Red which is more neutral with hint of lustre and MAC's Russian Red which is a cooler shade with a matte finish. Oh, and finally, I have a really bad problem with dry lips (which BF likes to point out all the time) and I opt for the classic Rosebud Salve for routine conditioning. Okay, maybe not that routine, since the problem continues to persist...

vintage duffle coat

I feel like I just struck gold. I've been looking for a coat like this for ages but the closest I could get were these Gloverall coats which are way out of my price range. It fits me perfectly and didn't cost me an arm and a leg! If you told you guys how much I paid for it I'd probably get rocks thrown at me :3

Check out this neat article about duffle coats via the Lark About blog. Ideally I'd want another one of these coats in red or mustard but my black one is good enough for me! It even has a hood and smells weird after getting wet ahhhh.

shades of gray

vintage top, ksubi jeans, thrifted flats

I haven't updated in over a week? Oops, my bad. Obviously my schedule has a lot to do with it but there's also a broken camera involved. Something is wrong with the lens and it seems like 30-40% of the time it works and the rest of the time it just gives me a giant headache. Is this a sign that I should get my slr? Blegh.

I'm not sure if I explained this yet but when I purchase an item of clothing that I'm 100% infatuated with, I end up wearing it at least three or four times within a week of buying it. I've worn this top in at least three different variations and here's one which I managed to photograph in this photo with my boyfriend. Today's version strays away from my usual black + white combo light gray jeans instead (I refuse to admit where I got them, though). Okay, they're Brent's but in my defense, they were always way too tight on him and they're still pretty loose on me.

Wait, where was I going with this? Oh, the shirt. Here's a cute little story: the whole time I was holding on to it at the store wondering if I should buy it, I thought to myself "This would be ten times better if I could roll up the sleeves..." Lo and behold, upon further inspection a couple hours later at home I discovered buttons midway up the sleeves and, oh my, inside straps to attach to said buttons. As if the lightly printed leaf pattern wasn't already enough to sway me, here's something even better! I deserve a sugar donut for this.

school life and more

Second week of school: still stressing about getting into classes while balancing the work that I'm required to put into them. From my Virgil professor who loves putting the class on the spot with surprise "quizlets" and bare Latin passages sans notes to my Ulysses professor who warned that his class should be first priority above all our others, I can tell this is going to be a fun year. Honestly, it sounds tough but all I can to do is stay on task and be two steps ahead of everyone. I'm a huge fan of leading a structured life with organized notebooks and meticulously planned days (with the occasional surprise here and there, of course). It's a little boring but it works, in my case at least.

So of course it's only fitting that my go-to school bag happens to be a bag with multiple pockets for the organized placement of specific articles, right? The leather on my vintage Frye backpack is faded and completely beat up, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I plan on using it until something legitimately breaks and by legitimately I mean anything that cannot be saved by duct tape, sewing, etc...

On another note, I have a huge soft spot for school supplies and stationary. Last weekend I took a trip to Kinokuniya in Japantown and bought these little notebooks and .28mm pens. Yes, I'm also very meticulous about my writing, both in terms of content and what I use to write and also what I write on. Hmm, I should just label this post "a glimpse into my OCD lifestyle" and end it here. Thankfully I have soft serve ice cream to mellow me out and make me feel less crazy! Okay, that was a terrible transition, I'm sorry. It's almost 1am here and I can't sleep before my 9:30am class. For relevance's sake, these two last photos were taken around the same time and I wanted to squeeze in just this last photo in because, damn, I love soft serve ice cream.

marc jacobs and vena cava, oh my

Finally managed to snap a good picture of the $20 Marc Jacobs shoes. Still in shock and realized how perfectly professional they are for job interviews which should be coming up soon now that I am a senior. Don't get me wrong, I'm into recent trends just as much as any blogger is (maybe to a lesser degree, hmph) but it's comforting to have shoes like these which will never go out of style like say, gladiator platforms. Every girl out there needs a pair of timeless shoes! Did I mention that they're handcrafted? Mmmhmm.

My luck may be terrible in other respects but when it comes to clothes, there is no better word to describe it other than this: PWNAGE. While the circumstances were unfortunate given that the best boutique in the East Bay, August, is closing their store in Rockridge, I took advantage of it anyway and scored this Vena Cava dress for, wait for it... $50. $50?! Not $600?! I looked at the price tag in disbelief, tried it on anyway, asked the girls there if it was really true, and finally purchased it on the spot. I wore it out yesterday for lunch and ice cream with my boyfriend but never managed to take an outfit shot because I looked horrible due to the insane heat. You guys are just going to have to wait... I'll be nice this time and link you guys to the runway picture. Cheers!