French Toast

 

F21 French Toast t-shirt (S) // F21 bow ruffle skirt (S) //

F21 studded beret // Xhilaration for Target Sparkly Dorothy flats (children's 3)

Photographer: My boyfriend

Hello lovelies! This week has been crazy with classes approaching midterms, living and breathing lab work, and dance auditions for my university's Lunar New Year Festival. Though I'm still flailing about like some sightless, unwieldy banshee, I see improvement from last year. Blogging and posing for a camera has increased my awareness of my body somewhat and I feel a little more feminine and confident. Oh how I envy people who did ballet since they could walk, people who are so naturally cool and hip-hop, as I try to move my arms and legs in the mirror in some coordinated fashion.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to shoot a backlog of outfits that I had worn but not found the time to set up camera between classes and work and the minimal sunlight entering the colder season. This is one of my favourite shirts because it's super soft and cheap since F21 has raised their prices ($8.80 USD). It features a kawaii toast wearing a beret and super pink blush, with a curly mustache made of felt! Hehe it attracts lint and all sorts of fuzzies but it's still fun. I unintentionally became a doppelganger for this little fellow by wearing my beret, favourite Parisian skirt, and matte pink blush to boot. My trusty Dorothy flats jazz up all the black and grey. Am I the only one who is amused by sparkly stuff especially under street lights at night? It glitters like crazy and I'm constantly staring at my feet in distraction. Either way, welcome to the third installment of The Battle of the Print Tees! Tuck your favourite print tee into a high-waisted skirt and add spark to your outfit with a cool hat. I am hoping to compile all these outfits when I reach 10 or so into a big post on how-to style a simple tshirt.

Have a great weekend! I watched Robin Hood: Men in Tights and had many a great laugh with friends last night. The next few days are jam-packed with auditions, writing manuscripts, studying brains brains brains, and attending an anatomy lab. I have a few outfits to shoot too - thank goodness for fashion to propel me through this madness. Meanwhile I've also started hitting the gym and eating healthier (I have a strange newfound attraction to beets) to slim down my figure in preparation for Winter Break in Taiwan - girls are so tiny there, I'm afraid I'll be too big to fit into some of their clothes D: That's a problem we never encounter in the States, eh? Thanksgiving break is also approaching and I'm so xcited to go home and see my family and enjoy some beautiful SoCal sunshine in less than a month!

CF Beauty's MAC Venomous Villains Giveaway

Karen of Allure of CF Beauty is having a MAC Venomous Villains Giveaway to celebrate 200+ followers! Check out her blog featuring beauty that does not test on our furry friends and leave her some love!

Fitting Room Review: H&M 10 Year Anniversary Sale

For those of you who didn't know, earlier this month H&M had their 10-Year Anniversary Sale, with many items each day $10 off full price. I hopped on this opportunity a couple of weeks ago on a Thursday night and was so tempted to buy everything I tried on! There were a lot of adorable pieces on clearance as well, so I nabbed everything in sight that seemed to fit and headed for the dressing room.

Here you have it, my first dressing room review! I wore comfortable but unstylish shoes, so excuse the dreckitude :3 Also, I used aquarium lighting in the fitting room ... so I'm glad that my camera even picked up anything. I'll live with yellow.

1) H&M Ruffle chest detail, sheer sleeved chiffon dress in Black (size Euro 2) $25 $15 USD
This is by far one of my favourite dresses I've bought recently and maybe all summer. It's comfortable, work-friendly, and has sheer pretty sleeves and ruffle detailing! Not only that but it's super affordable and looks great accessorized and worn with tights (see styled outfit here). This also came in a black with tiny white dots and a bright red with dots, but I liked plain black best.
- Verdict: Purchased
2) H&M 100% Leather Skinny belt in Camel (size 31"-32") $12.95
My new wardrobe STAPLE. Favourite. Favourite of favourites. Wear it every single day. Get the picture? At first I thought, whoa that is way too much to be shelling out for a belt, but once I put it on I couldn't take it off. Haha seriously this belt is quite small (though it doesn't have enough loops to secure the excess belt-age) and is the perfect colour in the perfect skinniness that adds a nice waistline to any loose-fitting top or dress. Look at the remarkable transformation from dolly nightdress to instant chic for the office. I'm definitely getting my value-per-wear : )
- Verdict: Purchased

 

3) H&M Lace peep shoulder detail long-sleeve top in Beige (size Euro 2), $14.95 (curses, missed the $10 off day)
This shirt is super elegant and I love the "just-enough" peeping effect of shoulder through the lace. There were so many colours available but I chose a colour that I don't already own a lot of.
- Verdict: Purchased
4) H&M Studded waist skirt in Khaki Green (Euro size 4), $29.95 $19.95
I really loved the fit and it was relatively a versatile piece but I reluctantly parted with it at least because of the price. Even with the $10 off deal, it was pricey for a nothing-special skirt and the weather is getting chillier day by day.
- Verdict: Pass

5) H&M Red "Minnie Mouse" Button-up Top (Euro size 2), $10
This top is so cute! I wore it as a dress here and belted with item #2, the skinny belt, but I am trying to shy away from the more cutesy items and summerwear. This would be super cute for Disney World though! (I've never been there, can you believe it?)
- Verdict: Pass

 

6) H&M Black with White Polka Dotted Long Sweater Dress (Euro size 2), $10
This was also a hard object to turn down because it's so cute! I love the felt polka dots and how it looks on camera, but in person it wasn't amazing. [Colour is way off, I know :/] If I reconsidered, I'd probably get this and wear it with sweater tights and boots. I love how the dots taper off and it's quite a good deal.
- Verdict: Pass

7) H&M Navy and white striped flare bottom sweater top (Euro size XS and S), $17.95
See styled outfit here. I didn't know which size would fit me better so I tried both of them on. I actually like the fit of S but it is super loose and hides my shorts. My friend suggested I go with the XS, which has a better fit. I do love draping tops though these days. I like it belted for more shape but if I put my arms down, unbelted looks nice and relaxed too.
- Verdict: Purchased X-small

Small: 

  

X-small:

As you can see, H&M has such wonderful things in store (pun intended) this fall. I edited these photos using PS CS4 Extended by Auto Color, increasing Brightness, and moving the yellow-blue bar far to the blue end for Color Balance. My photoshop and photo-editing savvy friends, is there a better way to get rid of the yellowness in poor lighting photos? This is why I can never bear to shoot indoors anymore xD

Meanwhile in San Francisco ... (brownie points if you've seen The Room). Well, meanwhile in the life of a neuroscience student, we recorded beautiful EJP's from our Crayfish today! Yayyy for science when everything works out : ) I also had a fantastic Monday yesterday, perfect from a hot cup of coffee to the delicious beautiful cupcake from the cafe, to the sunshine floating through the raised window shades in our lecture hall. Love fall ♥

500 Days of Autumn

 

 

 

H&M sheer ruffle dress (euro 2) // H&M 100% leather camel skinny belt (31-32") //

F21 floral tights // F21 red bowtie peep toe pumps (6) //

Photographer: My boyfriend

Whew! Today has been a crazy day and I'm still up past 3 AM, cleaning my room and preparing for Sunday study sessions. All week I've been staring at this beautiful tree with flaming red leaves while running towards the subway station to catch my ride to the med school and I keep thinking, photoshoot photoshoot photoshoot. Today we finally had time and the most gorgeous sunlight, so I put on what I wore yesterday: one of my favourite dresses I recently bought from H&M (for only $15 because of their $10 off anniversary sale deal :D) - a black one with ruffles on the chest and sheer sleeves. I feel like such a doll and mature at the same time, it's the perfect outfit for those warmer fall days when my mind drifts back to summer. I recycled my floral tights and the pattern worked great and traded in the brown oxford flats I wore to work for some fun red pumps I haven't worn all season.

I wanted to make a crown out of the red maple leaves but the waxy stems didn't want to tie together. After much frustration, I just tied a hairtie in a piece of my hair on either side and stuck two tied-together leaves in with my boyfriend's help. It may look dorky but I'm all about the dork. Organic dorkage at your service. This has been my favourite day of fall ever and I snapped a bazillion pictures so that I'll never forget the image. I've always thought it was ironic that when you keep taking pictures, you fail to really look at what you're shooting. So whenever I go somewhere cool like the zoo or a park, I take a ton of pictures and then go back through it with my camera put away so I can really take in the visual effect. Saving a .jpg simply does not supplant a raw memory.

I finally opened up my own bank account and the tellers complimented my dress as well. They ended up turning my awful day yesterday into much happier times with lollipops, a iPod speaker gift, and great customer service. I always love it when good people make your day when you're having an awful one (bikes fell on me and trapped me, woke up late, arrived at work late, didn't have a subway pass, plethora of things not going my way). Yay for being able to keep track of my purchases (and thus refrain) and opening a Paypal account too. I will definitely be gathering up items for a blog sale soon : ) 

My evening finished with a trip to the Asian supermarket with my close friends from college. We've been together since freshman year, all starting out as floormates and becoming couples, best friends, study buddies, moral support. I couldn't ask for better people to surround myself with. All those delicious snacks were no match for us because we bought endless bags of black sesame dessert soup powder, my favourite breakfast cereal mix, sesame ice cream mochi (my first time having them OMG they are sooo good), Japanese cheese puffs, shrimp fries, Calpico and aloe drinks, taro popsicles, almond tofu mix, and mini mooncakes to name a few. We also bought supplies for making dinner together and a grand feast it was. My boyfriend made chicken breast with a scrumptious French brie sauce, I made a tofu and preserved egg (pi-dan) cold dish with cilantro, and my other friends made pork with a creme mushroom sauce + jie-lan with oyster sauce. I was bloated to the max and could only ease my fullness by playing some Final Fantasy XIII, which I had been itching to try forever. Unfortunately gameplay has been lackluster so far and I'm not so sure about the battling system (I actually prefer XII's). Two caramel apples down (also a first time), and much laughter and Mario Kart racing all night. Now this is what I call a Fall Break.