xothxo

The make over and the awkward angles...

2011-10-18T20:05:00.000-04:00

I finally got off my couch and worked on getting my apartment together. By that, I meant, I assisted my friend while he was doing it. I'm just not very good at interior decoration so I got some much needed help from the expert.

Remember the bared wall from all the previous posts, gone baby gone. My husband is not home so I'm actually quite nervous to see how he would react to the Audrey Hepburn's picture. ^_^

I'm still looking and testing different places and angles to put my camera for pictures going forward. This picture might have resulted from placing the camera at the top of my bookshelf. I'm not quite happy with it but I was too quickly changing out of my dress so I'll just have to post the "best" of what I have. Lesson learned!

Please excuse the bags in the background too :) Hope your week is going well!

Wear what makes you happy - Ellen DeGeneres

2011-09-26T19:35:00.000-04:00

With my commute being relatively short, I try to get home in time when I can to catch the Ellen DeGeneres show for some LOL time. I'm cracking myself up watching her latest invention.. the Ellen DeGeneres soup spoon. It's just what you need if you are ever sick of moving your spoon up and down when having soup, here comes your rescue, the turning spoon...Ha..Ha.. HA!She also happened to talk about fashion today and I 100% wholeheartedly agree with her fashion motto: "Wear what makes you happy!". Simple, but so true. I've worn this dress quite a few times on or off this blog and I definitely feel happy every single time having it on. One thing I'm not quite satisfied with myself though, is that I always end up styling it the same exact way...happy, but boring? Ehhh. How would you wear it differently?

Indian Summer!

2011-09-20T20:02:00.000-04:00

I finally get to experience my first Indian Summer here in San Francisco. It is sunny, warm and very pretty, just like I was told to wait for when I first moved here... seven months ago. Where did time go? I was proudly telling my colleague in Boston that for the first time in a very long while, I only needed a t-shirt when I left home this morning. You can't miss all the sun I have coming in my window right now!

So I feel a little less silly taking pictures with my new vintage sunglasses in front of my couch.

One of the things that I picked up from reading blogs is that accessories go a long way. I try to incorporate different jewelries into my daily outfits when I can and really like how they instantly give the same clothes a fresh new look.

Hope your September is going great!

FNO recap.

2011-09-13T01:31:00.000-04:00

FNO was the perfect opportunity to be part of the vibrant scene of San Francisco fashion and bloggers. I had so much fun seeing so many wonderful fashion lovers in one place. Any night that requires party hopping from Macy's to Saks and then to Neiman Marcus is a OK in my book. I was too busy taking mental pictures of every single outfit that I couldn't talk to a lot of fellow party attendants. OK, not quite, I was shy. I'll work on getting over it next year. But I was really taking mental picture of everyone on the street of SF that night. So many inspirational outfits!The incredibly stylish, Ms. Blair of Atlantic-Pacific and some of the looks that she put together. Such a fan of her!I have to recreate this look for one of my upcoming casual Friday!The sweet and effortlessly chic, Ms. Anh of 9to5Chic. Ah, I. Want. Her. Zara. Dress. Please. Yeah, I wore black to FNO. My creative level was -2 on a Thursday night. Here are some of my favorite looks that the talented bloggers put together at Saks.When your bff gave you a grey dress, you add an orange cardigan and some flowers...

Oh Happy Day!

2011-09-06T20:12:00.002-04:00

I feel like it was either my birthday or first day back to school today. New shoes and dress bring you that good feeling. I actually bought this Zara dress on the first day of the mid-year Zara sale but waited almost two months to wear it out. Thinking about returning it a couple of times but somehow didn't manage to and I'm very glad I kept it. These comfortable Nine West heels were waiting for me at the clearance rack at Nordstrom yesterday. Because they knew I was coming. What is my definition of comfy? Just a small requirement: leaving no blister or mark after a day in the office. Double points for being the perfect nude shade that I was looking for.

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-04T17:31:00.002-04:00

My husband, being such a responsible lad that he is, is making a quick stop at his office. Your truly, bored and somehow had an outfit together whille waiting for him to come back, decided that I should take some pictures. I hope y'all are having a relaxed and beautiful weekend. I just picked up this cardigan from H&M on Friday along with a couple of other items that I can' wait to show you. It was so hard to pick and choose of what I should / can buy versus what I'd like to take home with me. I finally narrowed down to THREE items from probably the TWENTY things that I laid my eyes on and the SIX things that I tried on. Shopping with a selective eye(s) is a hard thing to do. Being not very crafty, I'm very proud of myself for re-purposing this too-big bracelet into a necklace. In my rule book, now that IS my accomplishment for Labor Day.

The J.Crew effect.

2011-08-30T23:24:00.004-04:00

It's a bit on the cold side today in San Francisco. But I won't complain because supposedly this long weekend will be gorgeous! Just like J.Crew catalog. Let's just say I pulled all my J.Crew stops with this outfit. Head to toe, sweater to boots, J.Crew all the way, except for my scarf. Now only if I can get a part-time job there to help pay the clothes bills.

I got these boots on final sales at J.Crew probably 4 years ago and still love them to pieces.

I've been playing around with mixing my nail polishes and this was what I came up with last week out of boredom.

Change of plan

2011-08-23T20:13:00.002-04:00

I checked the weather report last night. It gave me an impression that today will be a normal SF summer day, sunny, cool. It turned out to be warm and my tight was too much. Problem: my dress suddenly became two inch short for my office comfort level. Did that ever happen to you?

Sale, you have me at Hello.

2011-08-23T00:41:00.002-04:00

I buy stuff because they are on sale more often than I'd like to admit. I paid either 14.99 or 19.99 for this silk J.Crew dress a couple of years ago. I couldn't walk away. Dress. Silk. Under 20 bucks. J.Crew. You just don't see all of the above in one sentence too often. Sold. Spent another 15 bucks to get it shortened recently because over-the-knee-too-busy-print dress would make me look like a walking curtain.

What do you think, wearable now?

How about those Hugo Boss sandals that I got from Filenes's Basement in Boston for 39.99? I think a trip to a consignment store this weekend sounds like a reasonable thing to do?!?

Safari trip

2011-08-19T19:32:00.004-04:00

I'm not going on a safari anytime soon. I don't get to travel too often so going on a safari will not be at the top of my must-see list. I'm hoping that I can make it to Europe soon, as well as seeing more of Asia, next wishful stop would be Australia / New Zealand. Do you have a wish list for travelling?

Until any of my trips become reality, I'm going to LIVE San Francisco as the city has so much to offer and I'm lucky to have a chance to come along for the ride.

Going Green!

2011-08-10T19:52:00.004-04:00

I have recently ventured out to add some Green to my closet and was so happy to find this Zara dress on sale.

The back of this dress, however, reminds me of a trend that Carrie of Sex in the City seemed to master: the exposed bra style. Something like this...

This look is a big Don't in my rule book so I will not try that. I might wear it with a shorter cardigan next time to show off the puffy skirt that I really love though!

Please disregard my temporary hair style, I'm way over due for a hair cut at Revamp Salon!

Swap me some pleats

2011-08-05T20:54:00.005-04:00

I've been meaning to show off the skirt that I got from the Swap event a while back and finally did it this week. The skirt was actually c/o Lulu*s and I think it was just there waiting for me. Seriously, I wanted a pleated skirt for so long and couldn't believe no one took it before I got to the rack.

White lace could be tricky to wear because I often feel like it's too bridal-ish looking for everyday wear. Of course the statement is incorrect because I see bloggers are rocking this look so well. One of my favorite has to be this outfit by Khatu.

And to say that I didn't copy the sweater from Kathleen is a semi lie. :)

P.S.: A big thank to my sister for sending me some lace blouses :)

Wait a little waist.

2011-08-03T23:13:00.004-04:00

This dress gave me the illusion of a waist that I don't possess. I got this little number from Calypso St. Barth a couple of years ago for a mere $29.99. I can't recall the original price but with the average tag of Calypso in the three-digit range, I think that was some deal that I got.

For the love of lace...

2011-08-02T10:10:00.000-04:00

Last time I checked, it was still July. I forgot to breathe and now it's August 1.

I drafted something last week and meant to come back and finished the post last week, aka July. I was talking about my love for lace...If there is one material / look that I could choose to wear forever (I know, a little stretching the fact here), I would go with lace. What else could be so delicate, elegant yet so fun and easy to wear at the same time? One can really dress lace up and down to fit her liking. I recently added a couple of lace pieces to my closet and slowly introduce them to the world without overdosing my colleagues at work. Daily lace could be a bit much, don't you think?

I actually got this FCUK dress for a wedding in the fall but couldn't bring myself to hold on to it for that long so I wore it the very next day I got it in the mail. Kate Middleton recycled all her dresses for events, I think I can do the same thing.

I got my Morse code necklace from COATT a while back and can't seem to take it off

Hope you are having a great start for August!

Because we all love summer...

2011-07-21T21:07:00.004-04:00

When I first moved to San Francisco, I wasn't aware that summer days would come as often as my paychecks in this city. Obviously, my paycheck did not come every day this week but we are blessed with very pleasant summer-like weather while the rest of the country is boiling.

It has gone from this last week...

...to beautiful blue sky for the past two days

Notice the Target truck? That's right weather pal, you are right on target, well, minus the huge cloud part. Since my summer includes bright sundresses as well as my reliable bottle of Advil, I sure put them out for good use in the past couple of days.

Coral is definitely one of my most favorite colors. That goes back to my belief that I don't have the most favorite color, I just happen to like them all.

When I bought this below dress from H&M 5 years ago, I never thought I still love it as much years later. What can I say? Love(s) at first sight(s)... It does happen to me on multiple of occasions. Again, nothing is wrong with that right?

I walked about 2 miles in these Jeffrey Campbell sandal today. That's rare because I normally don't walk that much, let alone in heels but these are super comfortable and I love to wear them with all my dress. And the bag, I went through my friend's rejected clothing pile last weekend and rescue it because I'm a hoarder at heart.

Hope your week is coming along and have something brilliant planned for the weekend!

Three for the price of one.

2011-07-18T20:05:00.004-04:00

BOGO is good. I'm not selling anything but since I'm combining three days worth of outfits into one short post, my sale sounds much better than most places: BOTEFE, aka Buy one, three free. Obviously my slogan is such a tongue-twister and does not much make a whole lot of sense, it would have been nice if there was such an event.

My outfits were from last Wednesday, Friday and today, respectively.

Do you notice the same pose? I think it sticks out like a sore thumb. Happy Monday!

Wedges. Tuck. Red Rayban

2011-07-08T19:32:00.004-04:00

I'm totally watching the live coverage of Williams and Catherine's Arrival in America. Now that they have arrived at the Beverly Hills Hilton, I can get back to blogging.

This is what I do when I'm out of my comfort zone. I don't tuck my shirt in, I have this weird body conscious thing about tucking that I won't bore you with the details.

I also don't wear wedges that often. And I don't know why I ended up with a pair of leopard print wedges. I'm rocking both looks now, wedges and tucking. So awesome.

And it's Friday so you get this shot for free...Red Ray-Ban. Girl, you are brave today. Happy weekend!

Pose what?

2011-07-07T21:22:00.004-04:00

Let's get one thing out: I can't pose. I could go through all my pictures and see myself doing one exact pose throughout. Lately, I've been reading all things Duchess of Cambride, Catherine Middleton (who's not following her steps?), and I've decided I want to mimick her royal pose. The Duchess has the perfect posture, even when she's walking!

People

Well, while Ms. Catherine looks so royally elegant, I think I look like I'm trying to cover a bump...

Take one...

Take two...

Maybe I should reverse back to my awkward pose...

Swap...

2011-06-29T20:15:00.004-04:00

...Is a new sale! Like I mentioned in my previous post, I had a wonderful time at the Swap Lulu SF. This dress was the first thing that I laid my eyes on. It was tricky and somewhat intimidating to walk into a room with tons of stuff and some fine ladies. I saw pleat and mini polka dots. Hello dress, you had me at Hello!

Until I picked the dress up and saw this...

OK...not quite, just two lovely hearts placing right where I, let just say, would like to bring no attention to. I almost put it back but decided to take a second look and realized that removing the hearts seems easy enough. After five minutes of removing threads, I got myself a nice addition to my closet. Until the next swap!

EDIT: found the price of my DRESS . Oops, sorry, the hearts are still going!

Orange Monday.

2011-06-27T20:06:00.005-04:00

I see you, orange. My shirt. My pillows. My carpet. And my nails.

I picked up this shirt from Zara. Semi annual sale started at 10 a.m. last Friday. I got there around 10.45. Fashionably late was in my mind. I beat the lunch crowd and managed to blow my budget out of the water.

My next little project is to figure out how to hang my super heavy mirrow and frame up without nailing the wall. Super duty tapes? Any suggestion?

Strange much?

2011-06-24T19:32:00.003-04:00

I did a couple of things that I don't normally do. I went to a clothing swap event. Beause I thought it might be a good way to meet people when you first moved to a new city. It was a good way and I'm glad that I went. The items that I got were pretty sweet but meeting super cute and nice ladies is much sweeter. Like icing on the cake. How do you meet people when you move? Do share because I'm clueless.

I also stopped blogger(s) to tell them how much I loved their blogs because it' so normal to follow a pretty lady around the room or a Zara store and started talking to them. No?

I think it's best if I kept the price that I paid for my clothes among you guys and I. My aunt doesn't need to know it. Because really, who would want to know that I paid 1/10 of what she spent on the same skirt? Would you mind?

I plan one outfit quickly before I go to bed everyday. However, I picked two skirts for yesterday outfit because they were hung next to each other in my closet and I wasn't sure how colorful I'd like to be in the morning. Deep thought for 11 p.m., you think?

Purple skirt next week?

Summer?

2011-06-22T20:49:00.004-04:00

Good ol' hot weather is leaving us. No jacket but I ought to put on tights today. And you can always count on chambray shirt if you can't find a jacket to wear with this old dress.

Trying on a new scarf that I'm still debating if I should keep. Now that I see it in picture, I think it's a keeper!

Happy Monday!

2011-06-20T19:51:00.005-04:00

And I thought this day never came. It was warm in San Francisco. By warm, I meant I was sweating disgustingly while walking home and carrying my jacket that I thought I could never leave my house with. It's that warm and I love it!

I obviously did not know summer has paid a visit the Bay Area. Thick fabric and lining is definitely not needed, so besides the bright yellow shade, this dress is so wrong for today. Also I did not wear those sandals to work but it's summer and I think they looked much better than what I was actually wearing, I swapped these in for picture purpose.

Happy Monday to you all!

P.S.: I carried those big pillows home and got some stares along the way. But they are so worth it!

Old favorite...

2011-06-16T20:05:00.002-04:00

This Anthropologie dress is definitely one of my most favorite dresses. I got it about three years ago yet, I'm still very excited to wear it now.

Yes, there's a bag in my daily outfit today. The bag actually makes me feel extra professional. It's my only structured bag. I wasn't fond of it before and tried to sell it on eBay. As you can see, I couldn't sell it and it turns out to be a good thing because I 'm really liking this look. Thank you all the low ball offers!

Check out all the studs!

After a couple days of really warm weather, we got the chilly weather back partially. By partially, I meant no need for stocking but a jacket is required.

I didn't think there was such a clothing item that goes with EVERYTHING. However, this J.Crew jacket goes with so many things that I now doubt this belief. Maybe there's such a thing, I just don't own it yet.

Blush!

2011-06-14T19:40:00.003-04:00

I love this H&M dress. But that didn't stop the fact that I almost ruined it in the washer. The moral of the story is: if something is pleated, do not attempt to wash it. A 10 year-old kid could tell you that, I know.

Speaking of loving this dress, I bought two. Except that the grey version is a smaller size and now I'm having trouble wearing it and breathing at the same time. Maybe a talented tailor could put a plastic band in the waist...Maybe...

Like a lady, I sit on my couch which my plan to dress it up over the weekend has yet to begin. There's always next weekend.

However, I managed to buy some H&M bracelets to accessorize my wrist.

Oh wait, did I say H&M again? I guess so. I bought four bracelets for $3.95 each to create a similar look that I've been loving but can't fork out triple digit dollar amount to buy.

Hope you are having a great week!

Happy Friday

2011-06-10T20:10:00.003-04:00

Friday casual and it's so beautiful out! I'm still processing the fact that it won't be warm in the summer in San Francisco. I'm not complaining that it's never that cold here but then again, I like my hot and humid summer. Speaking of humidity, I'm pretty sure I'm using the wrong kind of shampoo. My hair gets really greasy by noon every day. It's usually at two extreme stage: either too dry or too oily. It probably doesn't help that I blow dry my hair at high heat every morning so I don't look like a wet duck walking to work. I heard people talking about dry shampoo and figured I should give it a go. I marched into Walgreen and got this beauty

Well, after two uses, I have to say it works quite well. I still have to search for that perfect shampoo though. Any suggestion?

Anyway, my outfit today is on a boring side. My scarf is from Gap and I think it matches with my carpet. No?

Have a great weekend everyone! I'm gonna have to try to buy something to dress up my ever-so-boring couch.

Hello!

2011-06-09T20:10:00.004-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been over a year since I last blogged. The last post mentioned that my husband was about to come back from his internship. Well, he was back, graduated and we moved to San Francisco from Providence.

I've been thinking about blogging again but couldn't quite get over my laziness to start. Finally got off my butt and took some pictures on Monday. Yes, today is Thursday and once again, get my act together and I'm typing as fast as I could before I fall back to my lazy mode.

After a year of not touching the blog, here was my first try...

Really? This is really promising, maybe I should not entertain this idea after all.

Couple more tries...Yes, I have a green broom.

Forever 21 dress and Banana Republic vest...Love the lace!

The MK watch that I drove across the city to pick up as soon as it hit the Sale floor.

I'm having a huge smile as I'm typing this. Yay, I think I'm back and will push myself to continue.

Thursday

2010-04-15T21:35:00.003-04:00

Is it really almost the end of the week already? My husband is coming back in two days!!! I feel like I just talked about him being away for 13 weeks yesterday. Time to hide away all my shopping bags, just kidding! Well, not really, I already threw the bags out and all items have been hidden. (I really wish I were joking)

It seems like stripes are making it big (or huge) this summer. It's almost impossible to avoid stripes these day, not that I want to but they are everywhere in the blogging world as well as in stores and I can't get enough of them! My outfit today, minus my shoes, costs me roughly $20.

Skirt: Forever 21 (Clearance for $7)
T-shirt: H&M ($12 for a pack of 2!)
Jacket: The limited (Old and free!)
Belt: Banana Republic (Clearance for about $10)

Walking back to pose...didn't quite make it so there you have my back!

This skirt is too short and I wonder if it's appropriate for an semi-old person my age, your thoughts please? That question leads me to an outfit that I were debating whether or not I should ever wear this style again.

Leggings and long shirt, yay or nay? It's terrifying for me to see young (or not so young) ladies walking around with leggings and a short top. My shirt was quite long but I pulled it down every five minutes just to make sure it didn't roll up while I was walking. I think I know my answer. When something makes me that uncomfortable to wear, it's best that I don't try it again.

Happy Friday everyone!

Monday - The outfit

2010-04-12T20:32:00.003-04:00

This outfit isn't exactly what I wore to work today. My yellow dress and black tights, yes! The shoes and the belt, I cheated and added them when I got home. My original plan had the belt but I couldn't tie it properly this morning in two minutes so I left it in my car. I wore a pair of back shoes and the whole thing just seemed so boring.
I got home and found these sandal in my new shoe organizer. It's great if you don't have space to hang in your closet or over the door. This particular organizer is sort of cheaply made but I guess it's OK if you don't need to move it that often to get your shoes out. I pulled it out from under my bed and all my shoes seem to stay put.

I don't know if you can see very well but I'm testing my new lipstick. I'm not very much a lipstick person. In fact, I had no interest in lipstick until I saw how Elaine wears her oh-so-classic red shade or how awesome Charlie's pink one looks on her, I decided to venture out to the lipstick section and tried some on. Please let me know what you think, I still wipe it off every 10 minutes but I do like how it gives me some color!

I love these sandals. I got them a long time ago but since they are not very comfortable, these are another pair of shoes that I don't wear often, hence they are now under my bed.

Have a great week everyone!

Monday!

2010-04-12T12:23:00.002-04:00

Another slow day at work and my email is buzzing nonstop with all the sale alerts. I think I need to opt out of all my subscribes if I ever want to stop shopping. I was browsing throgh the sale section of Urban Outfitters and none of the clothing items really catch my eyes. However, the apartment sale is another story. They have so many cute stuff and I have to keep reminding myself of the fact that I'm moving soon and really have no space for any additional purchase.

This peacock rug is so cute and would add the perfect pop to any room!

Wallpaper reminds me of old smelly houses sometimes but this is such a fresh take on decorating your empty wall!

How cute are these pillow cases?? I suppose they don't take much spaces when packing but shipping charges turn me off so let's hope for a free shipping code soon.

I was going to put N.E.S.T together with these recycle metal letter hooks but T is sold out. How dare, it is my initial!!

Saturday - SPRING BLOG SALE!

2010-04-10T21:37:00.003-04:00

I know I don't get a lot of traffic here but I figure I give it a try. I was putting my winter clothes away and found a stack of them that I didn't wear once this whole year. I'm looking for a good home for these items because it's such a shame for them to be hidden by me. I apologize for all the wrinkles... they have been sitting my in closet for months!
The small details:
*All items are priced with shipping and negotiable :)*
*Paypal only please*
*20% if you buy 2 items*
*30% if you buy 3 or more items*
*Please let me know if you need more details on measurement or have any question!*
*Please email me @ xothxo at yahoo dot com or leave me a comment here for any inquiry*

Express Trench Coat: Size 0 *Mint condition*$20

This coat also comes with a belt that is not pictured.

Gap Trench Coat: Size XS *Mint condition*$15

ID|entity Tweed skirt: Size 0 (fits more like a 2) *Mint condition*$10

Front

Detail

Back

Express Tweed skirt: Size 4 (fits more like a 2) *Mint condition*$10

Front

Detail

Ann Taylor *Petites* Size 0P *Mint condition*$10

Front

Detail

Express Tweed skirt* Tag is gone but fits like size 2 *Mint condition*$10

Front

Detail

Ann Taylor LOFT skirt * Size 0 *Mint condition*$10

Front

Detail

Ann Taylor LOFT sweater * Size XS * Mint condition* $8

Front

Detail

50% Wool
20% Rayon
15% Nylon
10% Angora Rabbit Hair
5% Cashmere

J.Crew Pants: Size 2, 100% Cotton *BRAND NEW w/o Tag*$10

Front

Back

TGIF!

2010-04-09T23:30:00.006-04:00

I had a slow day at work, too slow it make me do crazy things...like looking online for things that I shouldn't and hit that buy button a little bit too quickly. My outfit was planned last night before I went to bed. I hardly do that even though I should since it would save me at least five minutes in the morning. I'm embarrassed to say that five minutes make a big different if you see me chasing the train, looking not very ladylike sometimes.

I don't think I ever included my bags in the pictures here, probably because most of my pictures are taken indoor so I think it looks silly to include bags. I also have to admit that I have a thing for designer bags and this is one of them. It was bought in London two years ago because British pound hit it low point so I saved at least 25% having my cousin got it for me there. I have a couple of others that I also scored from Ebay or some other trusted websites. I try to make sure that they are all classic styles and got it authenticated especially buying from Ebay. I got scammed once and although I got my money back, it was still such a horrible experience that I never want to repeat.

I got these jeans on sale last week from J.Crew. I bought them because I love the ankle zipper! In fact, Gap is having them on Clearance but I'm not very lucky this time, my size is sold out. But if you are tall, check these skinny ankle zipper jeans out here, they have plenty of sizes left!. For the longest time, I can't find anything to wear with this jacket. I don't wear much white or cream color, I'm too clumsy for them. But at $12.99 at Anthropologie and motorcycle style, I couldn't pass it up. By loading the rest of my outfit with darker colors, I finally find a comfortable way to wear this jacket.

My flats are also from J.Crew. I got them last year and wore them almost everyday last summer. Unless there are visible holes, I'm not planning to let them go anytime soon because they are sooo comfortable!! I don't know who make my stripe sweater, I took the tag out while removing the price tag...It has a really cute sleeve detail that you will see when I wear it alone. Lastly, I don't wear this watch quite often but I love it! My best friend got it for me last year after seeing me drooling at the counter, trying to talk myself out of buying it. She must have felt sorry for my little act and got it for me as my engagement present. I think she just needed an excuse to do it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday!

2010-04-08T23:20:00.004-04:00

I should be in bed but instead, I'm procrastinating since tomorrow is FRIDAY~! We are saying goodbye to our long stretch of nice weather. It was nice while it lasted and the rain is coming back to us tomorrow, hopefully it will just stay for a day and I really don't mind if it won't come visit for a while.

So today is that first day in a while that I didn't wear anything from H&M. But before we get to it, please say hi to Hiiii & Muahzzz. OK, that was cheesy but I felt like I should stop saying H&M.
Wednesday

I love these shoes! They are so comfortable. I bought them last year during the time I was obsessive with designer shoes. I did buy these heels at 60% but they are still about 5 times as my normal budget for a pair of shoes. They go perfectly with so many things, and of course, my H&M dress here!

Thursday

I love navy and yellow together! I used to mix these two colors when I attempted to draw, well, let just say forever ago. I think I wore this combination before without the belt. I love belts! They make everything that I bought on sale fit!

Have a great Friday and weekend everyone!!

Wednesday!

2010-04-07T21:01:00.004-04:00

Hi all!

It's April and the weather is treating us nicely with temperature climbed to 89 degree today! I wish I could say that it was the reason I haven't posted but unfortunately it is not the case. I'm still waiting to get my car back and hope that my insurance will cover everything. The initial appraisal seems to be a bit lower than the actual cost as more damages were discovered when they took the car apart. Well, not the whole thing but just the front of the car. Car is kind of too complicated for me to know what is what so all I'm doing right now is waiting and driving my fancy rental.

So this will be another long post of accumulated pictures.

Wednesday/Thursday?

I can't remember when the outfit was from. This sweater was an XX(X)L from J.Crew kid's section. The dryer must have shrunk it a bit so it looks short on me but when I first bought it, it was perfect fit! The skirt was a score from Anthropologie. I will be very sad if one day I'm moving to a city that doesn't have an Anthropologie store since the prices of the Sale section online are still way too high most of the time and I refuse to pay for shipping whenever I can.

Friday

These four-year-old jeans are my favorite from Gap. They are a little bit tight right now but as long as I can button them, I will determine to make them fit! My T-shirt is from J.Crew for free. J.Crew sent my best friend a $50 gift card and I still don't understand why she couldn't find anything to buy and gave it to me. I always wanted a cool looking leather jacket that doesn't cost a fortune. H&M (again!) came and delivered!

Saturday and Monday

Last Saturday was the beginning of all the warm weather that we've been getting lately. I couldn't remember when the last time I was outside without a jacket, last September?? I was definitely enjoying my Spring time! H&M shirt dress was BOGO and belt was on clearance at Anthropologie for $9.99. One of the best things about Massachusetts is that there is no sale tax for clothing items under a certain price, $200 I believe. So when things cost $9.99, they really are! I got my penny back! Monday was chillier but all I needed to step outside was to add a sweater and a pair of leggings and I was good to go. This is my most favorite outfit of the week!

Saturday and Monday

These leggings are also free from my credit reward with Banana Republic. Although they are petite, they are still long for me but super comfortable to wear. I'm hoping after a couple of sessions in the dryer, they will fit me better. By now, I'm thinking about calling H&M a different name. It wasn't my intention to wear something H&M everyday, it really just happened! I couldn't find a sweater to wear with this H&M dress but it was warm enough for me to only need my crop Tuxedo Armani|Exchange jacket.

I was going to post my outfit from today but it's getting uncomfortable to keep saying H&M so until tomorrow everyone! Have a lovely rest of the week!

Wednesday...and more

2010-03-31T20:05:00.005-04:00

Wow, it's has been a long week starting last Tuesday. I was in a car accident. My car got hit on my way to work Tuesday morning. Someone was definitely watching over me because I was going very slowly which is not usual since most of the time, I drive pretty fast to make my train in the morning. As the result, I'm ok but my car was damaged and finally made it way to a body shop this morning at the other driver's expense. I'm now rolling in a fancy rental sport car which I don't want to give back! So that was my reason for not posting last week in spite of the fact that I was still taking pictures of my outfits everyday last week. I almost didn't post any but changed my mind today, probably because it finally stops raining!!! Did you guys hear about on the flooding in the New England area? Yup, that's where I reside.

Tuesday

I won't be wearing this combination again. Call me crazy but I'm superstitious like that. You can tell, I wore this on the day of the accident.

Wednesday

Everything from this outfit was from H&M. Jacket and dress are probably at least 3 year old, even older. The tights are so fun to wear and I don't think they make my legs look short even with all the horizontal stripes, do they?

Thursday

I don't remember how the weather was last Thursday but I definitely feel Spring looking at this outfit. Cardigan was from H&M, do you see the pattern?

Casual Friday

I was playing with the settings on my camera, hence the funny color of these pictures. Jeans were from Forever 21. They are comfortable to wear but boy, they do make these super low cut. I hope no girl will ever wear these with short top, don't try, it's a bad look!!

Weekend was over, here comes Monday again!

The weather was bad and I got to take my beloved Hunter rain boots out again. I wore these wedges at work though. Aren't they fun? I got them two years ago but barely wear them since I normally don't know what to wear them with except for all black.

Famous Tuesday!

I won't lie, this is my favorite outfit! I'm so in love with this dress. Guess where it's from??? H&M, I want to work for you! Obviously it wasn't fun to deal with all the rain yesterday but this outfit totally lifted up my mood. I can't wait to wear this dress again in the summer, or next week!

Wednesday, aka today!

Are you still reading? This is my last outfit and once again, H&M rocks my world! The tights, ah, were my cousin's. She had to wear uniform in high school and maroon tights were part of the package. My aunt bought these from Express but my cousin never opened a couple and I almost threw them out a couple of years ago. I really never thought that colorful tights would be so big. Well, to my dear cousin, I'm making you proud.

I hope everyone is having a great Spring. I can't wait until it's my turn!

Monday

2010-03-22T20:28:00.004-04:00

I was travelling for a week! It took...almost 13 hours to..."fly" to Dallas. There was a rain storm in New England and the airport was an absolute mess! I ended up missing my connecting flight because my morning flight was delayed. I was there for 2 days but didn't really do or see anything. I also had to pay $40 for a cab to my hotel!

Seattle was another story. I'm so in love with this city, can I please move there? Husband, please make it happen when you are done with school!

Taken @ EMP|SFM

My entire outfit was from H&M, except for the shoes.

I'm back to work today. I was so stressed out about some personal issues that I wasn't planning on taking pictures. Things look a bit better by the time I got home so I decided to step in front of the camera anyway.

Trench: Banana Republic
Dress: Anthropologie
Tights: H&M
Necklace: H&M (at least 2 year old)

Friday...and Saturday.

2010-03-13T17:43:00.004-05:00

I've been spending way too much time and money at H&M. They have the cutest dresses and accessories this season. I normally wear the same outfit for Friday and Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) since I think it's OK to wear your jeans at least....three times(or more) before they go into your dirty laundry basket.

Friday: This outfit was boring in the morning without the scarf. I went to H&M during lunch break and picked this cutest scarf for $6.95 and I waited until I was back to my cube to put it on!

Saturday: Yes, I wore the same things. I went to Gap to donate my old jeans in exchange for a 30% coupon for a new pair. While I was waiting to do so, I saw this studded belt on sale for $10. Well, I think I just created a totally new outfit!

Thursday

2010-03-11T22:11:00.004-05:00

I got home about an hour ago. It's been a long day and traffic wasn't fun, especially at 9 p.m.

This outfit was actually from Monday. I took this picture before fleeing my apartment due to an emergency drain pipe repair. You don't realize how much you need or use water until it gets cut off.

This outfit wasn't from any day. This is my new H&M dress, total copycat from Anthroholic. They also have a grey version of this dress that I'm thinking about getting, if it's still available. This dress is a H&M limited edition and selling out faster than Dunkin' Donuts coffee in the morning.

Where is Spring again?

Wednesday

2010-03-10T21:26:00.003-05:00

I must start by saying that I have no writing skill and can never come up with a good title for my post. So I've decided that I will now name my post whatever day it is in the week. Boring, I know, but until I find my hidden talent somewhere, I have to find a way to make it simple.

Actually, I could have called today's post...crazy tights?

I got these last year at Anthropologie. They are so busy and memorable that I feel like I can only wear them once in a while. I do like them with my new trench coat which after credits/discounts/points, I paid about $25 for it!

I did not want to look like a wall paper so black was my obvious choice for the rest of my outfit.

Trench & Dress: Banana Republic
Cardigan: Madewell
Shoes: Nine West

I hear Spring!

2010-03-09T21:24:00.004-05:00

What a change in the weather, finally something good happened in this department. Please stick around, I like it!

My Spring outfit yesterday.

I'm sad to report that my brand new American Apparel tights are gone after my second time wearing them. They started ripping around the toe seam on both sides. For $28, I expect that they would have lasted me a lot longer than this. I even hand-washed them. I'm so disappointed and mad. I never paid this much for tights! I'm pretty sure I won't come back there ever again.

Happy Saturday!

2010-03-06T23:14:00.006-05:00

It was one productive Saturday for me. I got a hair cut too! I love my hairdresser and he will be number two on my long list of things that I wish I could bring with me when I move away from Boston. I don't know what number one is though. I also went to work and crossed out half of my to-do list. I should be dancing my daily chicken dance now since I'm so happy. {That's a joke, I don't do that.}

However, the highlight of the day was when I went to visit Anthropologie which means the sale rack in the corner of the second floor. That's where I hang.

Anything that was marked down from $168 to $19.99 is fine by me. Please excuse my awkward pose and my pale legs. I couldn't wait to try this skirt on.

P.S.: Lately, I've been obsessed with this before-and-after section on Design*Sponge

Happy Friday!

2010-03-05T18:41:00.004-05:00

I wasn't home again yesterday so it's good to finally be back to my apartment. It's been a busy but good week. I will have to go to the office tomorrow to catch up with some stuff but the weather is supposed to be super nice. In Boston, that means 45 and sunny so I will probably walk around for a bit to enjoy while it lasts.

I love this scarf which I got in Vietnam. It's so warm and it's reversible so it goes with a lot of things in my closet.

Yesterday:

I finally broke down and bought a pair of polka dot tights from American Apparel. Love them!!! You can't really see the dots but if you click on the picture for the bigger version, you will spot them *_* .

Casual Friday and the scarf again.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cold arms

2010-03-03T21:27:00.002-05:00

My first dress didn't work out this morning. Between the last time I wore it and this morning, it shrunk about at least 1 inch, which makes it now a long sweater rather than a dress. Bummer, because I do like that dress. So I had to switch to this H&M dress, except that it's short-sleeved.

I tried to keep my arms warm with my scarf. The first way worked fine, except that I can't really move my arms. The second way was also OK, but the scarf wouldn't stay put. I'm not very creative.

Dress: H&M
Scarf: From Vietnam
Tights: Express
Shoes: Steve Madden

Uh oh....

2010-03-03T12:04:00.004-05:00

I did something and now all the precious comments that I've received from you guys ARE gone. Ok...so I changed my blog name and address...it was kinda a long and silly name: where is my phone??? What the heck was I thinking, granted the fact I said that every ten minutes? Anyone around? It's still me.

About the new name: xothxo is my Yahoo ID for as long as I was introduced to the World Wide Web back in the 80s (totally kidding). T-b0n3 is...my nick name at work. You begin to think of it as your name once it starts showing up in emails, meetings, you get the picture, don't you?

xoxo

Edit: scratch that, comments are back!!!!

Hello, how are you?

2010-03-02T18:57:00.005-05:00

I'm fine, thank for asking! Joking...but don't we start most of our conversations like that? The weather was better today, no more rain boots for me as I'm sure you are equally sick of them. However, I might have to take them out tomorrow again, how fun! Complaining about weather in New England is like talking about salary and bonus, they will never be good enough.

So I wasn't home yesterday, stayed over at a relative's because she was sick and her son was traveling. I, who obviously didn't pack the night before, scrambled for everything in the morning. I ended up being sort of colorful today, not by choice because I forgot my black camisole. I felt like a walking crayon! (And I need a hair cut!!)

Tank top: Purple
Dress: Green-ish?
Tights: Dark navy
Shoes: Black

And I totally wore that tank top again today, meet my outfit on Saturday!

On a random note, I love these shoes!

Steve Madden

And someone please explain to me the appeal of the clogs...(Don't let me start on how much they cost!!)

Rainy day number 3!

2010-02-25T21:10:00.005-05:00

According to the latest weather report, we have only 3 days to go. The trash bins around Boston were literally full of broken umbrellas because of the 35 mph wind. I've given up on finding the perfect strong umbrella, in fact, I broke two last month! Actually, I seriously thought of strapping one of those big patio umbrellas around my waist, that should cover it! So I have a rain coat that I hardly wore in the winter because it just isn't thick enough. On a whim moment of not knowing how I was going to survive this rain storm, I thought of the simplest idea, so simple that I don't know why I didn't think of it before: layering a thick sweater underneath my raincoat (ding ding!). This lovely sweater was the perfect choice!

My bag was a bit wet but at least I didn't end up with another broken umbrella! My outfit minus the rain boots when I'm not running for my life out on the street. I love these tights and can't remember where I got them and there is no tag. Sadly, I had to part with them today because it started ripping.

Cardigan: J.Crew
Dress: Gap
Tights: Mystery

Edit: Don't believe my broken umbrella story, check HERE for a picture. It wasn't taken in Boston but this is how it looked like yesterday, x 10!

What? (I just can't come up with a title)

2010-02-24T20:37:00.004-05:00

I wore this outfit on Friday and didn't get a chance to post it. I wasn't busy or anything, I just didn't think it was anything special....

Until I saw this picture today...

Whoa! My clearance Old Navy stripe sweater from 3 years ago is back in style!

It's been rainy and windy since yesterday and will continue until the end of the week. The weather absolutely kills any little desire that I have to dress up. I can't even remember what I wore yesterday. I normally don't think of what my outfit will be next day. However, I thought about what I was going to wear before going to bed last night, except that I forgot what my plan was after dozing off for 6 hours (note to self: go to bed early tonight!!). Well, I ordered a skirt from Forever 21 and got it in the mail yesterday. I couldn't wait to try it on, so of course I had to wear it today!

It was 6.99 + shipping; Dotted jacquard (?) and about two inches too short. I can't complain though. I secretly like the puff mini skirt look.

Then when I was at work today, I remember what I would have worn instead according to my plan last night...the tights! I would have worn my blue tights that I'm holding in this picture below...

Skirt: Forever 21
Blouse: J.Crew
Cardigan: Madewell
Rain boots: Hunter

Happy Friday!

2010-02-19T19:29:00.002-05:00

A bit of lace detail and HUE do go together.I'm glad that I was brave enough to bring these tights home with me.

Dress: Anthropology
Tights: Hue @ Anthropology
Sweater: H&M
Belt: Banana Republic
Shoes: Nine West (I call them Salvatore Ferragamo wannabe)

Bundle up!

2010-02-18T20:34:00.003-05:00

It's cold and windy in Boston. My attempt to stay warm normally include layering, hat and scarf is a must.

My take with mixing prints, again...baby steps!

Coat: J.Crew
Skirt: Burberry
Shirt: J.Crew outlet
Sweater: American Eagle
Scarf: Burberry outlet
Boots: Chinese Laundry
Hat: Anthropology

I was bored at work today. So I tidied up my cube and took a picture =)

What you see: "Posters": Chanel ad pages from my magazine, old MAC ad. Family portrait. My hat. Coffee mug. Half-eaten Lindt chocolate bar.

At work

2010-02-18T11:11:00.005-05:00

I rarely post at work anymore but it's slow here today so I went through my favorite Etsy sellers since I haven't done that in a while. These items remind me of Spring and how much I want it to come, without the rain of course.

If this dress is not Spring, I'm not sure what is.

From Calivintage

You may ask why I think this drawing said Spring to me. I don't know. It just fits my mood at this moment.

From IrenaSophia

This necklace is so delicate and lovely. Imagine it with a white blouse...you are so gorgeous, I might have to have you.

From Elephantine

Thimbly things

2010-02-17T11:02:00.002-05:00

I've been a huge fan of Thimbly things for a while. Kristena now has a lovely Etsy shop and I want to decorate my empty walls with her photos and signs.

Cozy layering at Rag & Bone!

2010-02-16T10:51:00.001-05:00

From Lucky

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T19:57:00.002-05:00

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine!

Image from Google

Today also happens to be our Lunar New Year, so Happy New Year to you as well if you celebrate it like I do! Since this is my first Year not spending Tet at home in a while, I decided to be a big mushy heart and looked at some of the old pictures and found this...

Someone in my family took the term "cheaper by a dozen" a little too seriously while shopping for our clothes. BOGO maybe?

What is your most comfortable outfit? For me, it's not when I have a pair of jeans on like on casual Friday.

Although I was practicing my zero to none scarf tying skill after seeing this amazing tutorialb by What would a nerd wear via the lovely Elaine's blog. If all nerds dress like this, I'm leaving my job to go back to school! I think I was copying this look. I know it was pretty easy, I still seem to mess it up somehow, my scarf does NOT look like hers!

Between struggling with this way and this one, this is sort of my version.

Jeans: J.Crew outlet
Cardigan and shell: Forever 21
Scarf: Stolen from my sister (She still wants it back after two years)

So you may wonder what could be considered as my comfy outfit. Well, I always feel secured in a dress and cardigan, no matter what the weather is like. I don't have to worry about matching things together, yeah, I'm a big matching-matchy person. I'm petite and most dresses don't require shortening like pants do so most of the time, buying dresses is much easier for me. Something like this...

Cardigan: Madewell
Dress: Bought in Vietnam at my cousin's shop, original Made in China
Pearl necklace: wedding present!

It's snowing outside.

2010-02-10T20:06:00.002-05:00

I got out of work early today, found the highway rather empty because schools were canceled and it wasn't snowing! Those meteorologist overestimated this storm by only 8 inches, an error that I shamelessly took advantage of because all the parents were at home! Please let me enjoy this moment because I just found out that we don't have Presidents Day off (WTH!!!)!

I got this dress a while back from Pinkyotto. It was on sale and I really love the lace design. As you can see from the picture, it's too big for me around the waist area and I struggle to make it work. Normally a belt would work but in this case, the belt would cover the lace. How would you wear it?

Front

Back

I'm wearing a score from The Closet Inc.: a Burberry skirt for $35. I've been looking for a basic black semi-mini skirt for a while. It's funny how sometimes it's really hard to find something so simple: either it was too short, or too cheap looking material, or too expensive. So when I saw this lovely piece, reached out for the size, hold my breath for the price tag and literally ran to the counter as if someone were about to steal it from me. My first trip to this lovely consignment store will not be my last for sure.

Jacket: J.Crew
Skirt: Buberry
Sweater: Gap outlet
Boots: Chinese Laundry (Love!)

Daydreaming...

2010-02-10T10:31:00.001-05:00

It's snowing outside. We are supposed to get up to a foot of snow. It will be fun driving home today.

I have a couple of trips planned in March and April! So excited to get away from the cold and gloomy city! I don't need luggage, but if I do, I certainly would hit that buy button for this beauty.

From Valhallabrooklyn

If you have a lot of time, patience and like reality TVs and juicy love stories, you should read this thread. I spent almost four hours yesterday going through 240 pages (don't judge, my husband is away!). Forget about the expensive handbags, this real love story is so captivated, happened during the course of almost a year and a half. I'm kinda glad that I found it so late that I didn't have to wait to know what happened next.

Oh bright!

2010-02-07T22:28:00.002-05:00

Is it weird that I don't know what my favorite color is? I think that I like them all. I know that I don't own too many things blue or green though.

This outfit was from last Thursday. I was feeling super...professinal because of the tucked-in blouse and my pencil skirt. I can't get the detail of the flower in front of the shirt to show without zooming in too much into you-know-where. J.Crew makes the prettiest blouses. This skirt actually shapes like an Origami buble!

Skirt: A/X Exchange $24.99!
J.Crew Blouse $24.99
J.Crew (outlet) cardigan 19.99

Ruffles...

2010-02-03T22:27:00.003-05:00

I like ruffles. No, I LOVE ruffles. I was very happy with this outfit that I wore on Monday. It's safe to say that when you have a good outfit on, any day is good, even if it is Monday. Can you see from the smile?

Dress: Gap ($29.99)
Cardigan: Madewell ($24.99)
Belt and Necklace: Banana Republic ($8 and $17.99, respectively)

I searched high and low for a pair of affordable Oxfords since last year. I'm serious, especially every time I saw my fashion icon, Elaine has her on,. During a trip to the mall last week, I scored these lovely Steve Madden Oxfords for $24.99. Now I just have to learn how to tie these shoelaces.

Blast from last week!

2010-02-02T20:59:00.002-05:00

It was more like the wind was blasting to my face last Friday. Scarf was made by my mom. She used to knit sweaters, hats and scarves for me when I was little and still does from time to time.

This sweater is huge, maybe it's the style or maybe I shouldn't buy things online anymore...Once again, my belt came to the rescue!

Outfit(s)

2010-02-01T22:49:00.003-05:00

I'm super excited because I have a COUPLE of outfits to show you guys. I've been pretty good with taking pictures as soon as I get home from work, it's becoming a routine! I'm still struggling with editing the pictures though and haven't had time to google instructions or tried to figured them out myself.

I got this coat two years ago at Anthropology. I'm pretty sure that it was the most amount of money I spent on coat at the time. I loved it because of its color and the interesting cut but I'm not sure about it anymore. So if you ask me if it was worth buying it, my answer would be no, sadly.

However, I love this dress that my sister got me in China, very Anna Sui-ish to me! She got it for probably $15! This is what I wore underneath my coat. It was cold last Thursday and I wish that I had had really thick tights on!

There is a section in Lucky magazine that I love. It shows you how to wear one piece of clothing in different seasons and I feel like it's what I've been doing. I'm wearing a lot of my summer dresses this winter with tights and feel great because I don't have to put them away for seven months or however long the winter lasts around here.

So I would put away the jacket when it gets a bit warmer for Spring or in the Fall when I get excited to wear my tights again after the Summer. My belt came with a dress from Banana Republic that I got for $20 from original price of $150!

I can just wear it without the belt in the summer with flats or flip flops.

I also have one last thing to show you. I got this purse at a second hand store called Second Time Around. I love everything about it: the yummy plum color, the long chain (!) and the incredible exposed zipper detail! All for $16!

Have a great week everyone!

A moment of No-No!

2010-01-27T21:04:00.004-05:00

This post is to address a GREAT comment that I got earlier. I have to say, when I first read anonymous comment, my ears got red and hot because I was SO embarrassed. I know exactly "Anonymous" talked about. I noticed it too when I first posted the pictures but was too careless to do anything to them. I have to admit, I don't spend anytime trying to retouch pictures on my blog. Plus, remember Sex and the City? Bra straps were exposed every five minutes or so. However, I KNOW that Sex and the City does NOT make exposed straps OK or any part of your bra for that matters. And yes, the flash does make it look worse than it was in person and I was running late. No excuse! So lesson learned! I really appreciate your comment anonymous. It actually makes me happy because I know that someone out there cares enough about me to make that SWEET comment. Constructive criticisms, thank YOU and please keep them coming!

I edited those pictures and hope that they are OK to look at now. If not, let me know, I will remove them or try working on my very limited Photoshop skill.

My outfit today was inspired by what Jessica Schroeder of What I Wore had on yesterday. Perfect to the T! I'm still taking baby steps in learning how to combine colors so this is what I came up with...

Tights: Express
Dress: Gap
Cardigan: Forever 21
Shoes: Nine West
Scarf: From Vietnam

Random...

2010-01-26T22:03:00.005-05:00

So today post consists of pictures that were taken over the weekend.

First topic, more like another question to you guys: what do you think of this bag? Is it too big for me? Your opinions are much appreciated. Thank you!

Second topic: I have a couple of new purchases in spite of the fact that I told myself not to buy anything. I figure the sale was good so it's OK for me to get them.

I got this long vest from Off Fifth Avenue for $30, a bit too much but considering that the original price was $115...I figure it's ok and I wanted to buy a vest like this for a while, I'm thinking of layering it outside my dresses!

I also got these shoes for $20, they are Steve Madden and quite comfortable. I go through a pair of flats in about two months so when I see cheap flats, I'm buying them!

Lastly, my outfit today! I'm trying to mix thing up for this outfit by adding a couple of flowers pin to the sweater. I don't like the grey shirt underneath though. What do you think of the combination and what would you do to fix this look?

P.S.: I wore grey tights but took them out before I got to take these pictures.

The vintage wedding dress.

2010-01-25T18:50:00.003-05:00

I'm supposed to be at the gym right now. A quick let-me-check-my-email turned into a little stop over at Once Wed and I saw this amazing vintage wedding dress for sale. (No, I have no clue why I still check that session)

Buy it here

Look at all the amzing lace details!! Some tweakings around the neckline, If it were mine, I would make it into a babydoll dress style. You can easily have the most unique wedding dress!

Casual Friday!

2010-01-22T22:33:00.004-05:00

I live for casual Friday in the winter. While I love being in dresses and pretty blouses, jeans are perfect when I have to walk through a wind tunnel to get to work everyday. Today outfit was nothing special: my jeans and...Converse All Star, it's as comfortable as I can get without looking inappropriate for the office =p.

So I wore this below outfit about two weeks ago. I took some pictures but never posted. When I looked at them again today, I don't like it at all, so...question for you all! How would you fix this look, or what can I add to make my outfit more intersting? I know one thing that I will do next time is to lose the belt!

Is it spring yet?

2010-01-21T20:04:00.003-05:00

Not quite...for at least another three months I would say. So the closest that I could feel spring is not that far away was by wearing this dress today. My friend got it on super sale for me at Anthropologie, a place that I don't mind being in no matter how the weather outside is. The dress is a size too big, but that's what belt is for!

I took the picture myself with the timer since my husband is away, so please ignore the present of his shoes at the bottom.

Second take was a bit better!

Since I can't get the shoes in, I figure this shot would do it, my trusted Oxford / Mary Janes.

Help!

2010-01-19T13:50:00.006-05:00

I'm so, so, so in love with this shrug by Holly Stalder but for the price, I want to be able to wear it more often than just to hang it in my closet. How would you dress down this TDF piece? Do you think that it's too much for work? Please let me know, I'm so ready to click that buy button. And the model's hair, too cute...!

If you are looking for a perfect shrug to wear with your wedding dress, this might just be it!

Holly Stalder

A hat issue!

2010-01-19T13:28:00.003-05:00

I have such a hard time finding hat that I like or fit my face, more like they normally look funny on me. Last month, I got a fedora from Urban Outfitters that I love and wear every day since I got it! So when I saw these lovely hats at Anthropologie, I knew I had to go there and tried them on. I walked away with the last one but I'm also in love with the first one.

Anthropologie

A stylish friend

2010-01-16T21:25:00.004-05:00

My husband left today for a 12-week internship. I've been sitting in my PJ for a couple of hours, not quite blog material. While stalking my friends on Facebook, I revisited pictures of a very stylish friend of mine. I hope she doesn't mind me showing them here with you.

I love, love the way she mixed the prints together!!

I want to look like this when I'm on vacation. Her husband is a one talented photographer as well!

Hello again...

2010-01-12T10:49:00.003-05:00

I blame everything on the cold weather...It's only January and I already am so sick of the winter. It's been in the 20s for the past many days, so cold that if it ever gets to 35 degree, I feel warm! I have not yet gotten my act together to unload some of my daily outfit pictures...will do it tonight I promise!! In the mean time, here are some pictures from my wedding. All decorations were done by my very talented family! Yes, I'm very lucky!

Very, very belated Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T12:04:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I know, I have tons of excuses but biggest one is my laptop charger died on me and work was just super crazy so I couldn't post there either. I hope everyone had a super nice Holiday and great start for 2010! Crazy, I can't believe this is my third decade on Earth, no...I'm not 30s yet though =).

I have an outfit to post but until I can get my act together and unload my camera...I still owe people my wedding pictures, I think my friends gave up on ever seeing those. Gosh, talking about motivation! But then, I signed up for the gym and have gone twice since 01/01/10! Go me!

Have you since the new ads for Burberry? Why haven't I bumped into Emma Watson around Brown? After seeing this, I'm very close to wondering around my neighborhood to look for her.

Chic nerdy?

2009-12-22T11:44:00.002-05:00

I have long had an obsession with plastic framed glasses, especially after this guy's face was all over the news

Ok...not so much, but this guy did it right!

Picture from here

I can't pull this look off though, I guess I'm not nerdy enough, or at all. Every time I get a new pair of prescribed glasses, I try and give up. However, I never tried the big round style on and for some reasons, I have a feeling they might work better than the traditional rectangle frame.

I found an Etsy seller that has vintage frames at very, very reasonable prices that even though I don't get to try them on, I'm thinking about getting a pair anyway.

or these

I think I really love these!

At $15 per pair...I can't loose much.

Find them at Chigal on Etsy

The perfect bag

2009-12-16T13:51:00.003-05:00

I normally carry half of my apartment with me to work daily so my work bag are mostly huge. The fact that I could easily fill up a large Longchamp Pilage is to show you I have a massive amount of junk and I don't know why. So I had this idea last week that I wanted a large leather bag as my work bag to replace my beloved Longchamp sometimes. I searched and bought a bag that was way over the budget and I didn't even love it that much, I just needed to buy something that day. Well, it's going back for sure after I spot all these absolutely-to-die-for bags on Etsy. Sorry Etsy, after three weeks, I did forget to check your inventory, bad bad me!

The bag that reminds me Etsy is one of the best places to shop!

Buy here

Then my heart stopped for three seconds when I saw these in my favorites!!! From Etsy seller Valhallabrooklyn,

The winner!

Description from the seller, yes, I love it that much, I already could feel how soft the leather is...
"Lynx bag in distressed burgundy red cow hide
wider than the usual Lynx bag, so extra roomy!
Hide has a great speckled finish (click on pictures for detail)
Beautiful fall color!
3 external pockets on front, to keep smaller items handy and organized
brass hardware

Top of bag closes with a zipper which opens up completely and leaves
gaps at both ends when fully closed (see picture 3)
-Inside is lined with Japanese fugu fish printed cotton
2 inside pockets
Clip on shoulder strap measures: 35.5"

Measures:
17" wide x 5.25" deep x 12.5" tall
-Handles are 20.25" long"

Rosettes anyone?

2009-12-15T20:58:00.004-05:00

I really wish I had a super, duper Xmas party to justify buying this killer clutch. Sadly, I have none. However, I never know, I could get invited somewhere super cool next year to use it, yeah?

From here

Back!

2009-12-14T12:48:00.002-05:00

I've been back from my wedding for over a week. Jet lag wasn't fun and going back to work was definitely hard!

Now that my wedding is over, I don't look at wedding blogs quite as often. It's not because I don't like wedding anymore, I want to avoid any second thought about my wedding. It was perfect thank to everyone in my family!

As to start my blog again, I took the inspiration for this outfit from Instyle magazine. I used to think that most of the ideas from fashion magazines don't apply to me because how would I ever afford $1,000 jacket. Well, I still don't but I've learned that you can have the same look for much less. Umm, hello, I know, nothing new!

Against white background.

My messy bookcase.
H&M brocade dress and The Limited jacket, both are gifts from my aunt years ago!

I didn't wear these heels walking around the street of Boston. I wore my trusted Ugg. Not the best look but it's warm so I like it!

....

2009-11-11T11:32:00.003-05:00

I told myself not to get stressed or angry about anything wedding related...it helped for a while. Time to tell myself again, not sure if it would work this time.

Sad.

Photos credit: sorry, I saved this picture a while back and forgot to write down the source.

Boston is a new Hollywood~!

2009-11-09T12:03:00.003-05:00

It's seem rather frequent that movies get filmed somewhere in Boston. We have Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz on a nearby roof today. I'm surprised to find how well my point and shoot camera could zoom in. It's Cameron Diaz in the yellow dress. The famous Tom Cruise is running back and forth between the two cars. Maybe I can send these pictures to TMZ, yes?

The whole scene from my window!

That's Cameron Diaz in the yellow dress. Don't believe me? Click Here!

I swear they have been doing the same scene this whole morning, pretty boring to watch actually. I can't wait until they are jumping off the building!

Lazy Sunday.

2009-11-08T21:38:00.003-05:00

The weather was very nice today, in the 70s I think. I didn't step outside except for taking my trash out though. I spent most of the afternoon packing for my trip, when you are allowed only 100 lbs for three weeks, life is not easy.

This outfit was from Thursday when it was cooler. My friend got me this lovely jumper two years ago when the jumper trend has just started. It can also be worn as a skirt with jacket or cardigan. Definitely one of my favorite pieces!

With my favorite scarf that I stole from my sister.

Without scarf so you can see the jumper.

The back!

I've been wearing these Mary Jane/Oxford shoes with everything!

Vintage love!

2009-11-06T12:50:00.002-05:00

I have a couple of vintage-ish items, but nothing, nothing like these dresses.

I'm going to Heaven wearing this dress.

Oh Hello~!!!!!

From Thrush

Please pretend that you never saw them and don't click that Buy button. They are meant to be mine.

Outfit from yesterday

2009-11-03T09:33:00.002-05:00

I wear dresses a lot since I'm rather petite and have a hard time finding trousers that fit me properly. Also, it's much quicker to dress in the morning not having to choose a top that goes with a bottom. I really have to decide what to wear in about five minutes each day without risking missing my train.

Gap jacket / Gap dress / J.Crew sweater / Wool scarf from Viet Nam / Franco Sarto shoes

I just got these shoes on clearance recently from Marshall. Good thing about having the average shoe size is that I always find things on sale, not the best thing for my wallet though. They are very comfy to wear so I can actually add some inches to my frame outside the office.

Happy Friday!

2009-10-30T15:35:00.003-04:00

I wish my living room could look like this 5th avenue Kate Spade store.

Kate Spade's Behind the curtain

Ruffle Flower Handbag.

2009-10-29T11:03:00.004-04:00

I love flower embellishment. If I could, I would pin flowers on everything that I own. I'm totally into shopping in my own closet these days, trying to wear things that I haven't in a while by adding a belt, brooch or flower pin.

Speaking of embellishment, how cute is this bag?? I don't think I own any bag that I could pin things on but I wish I did!

Love, love this clutch!

From Mojo Spa Style

Off day

2009-10-27T21:27:00.004-04:00

I woke up today not knowing what to wear except that I wanted to wear my pink trench coat, 4 year old I think. I ended running late, grabbing the first thing I saw that didn't require ironing: my red jersey dress. Umm, pink and red? No...? Well, I made sure to button the coat up so peple wouldn't notice that I had a red dress underneath.

Let's talk about the coat: I lost the belt somewhere so I used one of my belts instead but I don't think it was right. What kind of belt would you use to bring this coat back to life? More importantly, do you dislike it? I know after seeing this picture, I might not wear it again.

(bad picture again, I know!)

I normally stay way from jersey dresses because I feel like they are too thin. I bought this one because it was on super sale and I love the bunchings around my waist. I'm not, however, comfortable wearing it alone so I always need a cardigan to cover my behind =).

Thumb down for bad quality pictures!

A feel-good Monday and a special tribute!

2009-10-26T21:03:00.004-04:00

I hope you all had a good start of the week. The weather was exceptional nice in Boston, amazing since it was snowing last Sunday!

Now on the the special tribute: I've been reading Elaine's blog for the past couple months. She is cute as a button and one of the nicest people! Elaine is rocking her blazers for so many different looks and I'm totalling loving them all. I was looking to buy a new boyfriend blazer but after stalking Elaine's closet, I've decided to look around mine to see if I can come up with the look I wanted without spending some serious cash! Then I remember this jacket that my aunt bought for me when I first graduated from college. It's a size bigger than my normal size and seemed way too long at the time so I never wore it until today! I'm proud to be one of Elaine's many followers, so this look is for you, Elaine! Sorry for the poor quality pictures, the sun didn't wait for me to get home from work!

One of Elaine's signature looks: scarf and blazer!

Without scarf.

I love these boots, I got them on sale last season from J.Crew. They are so comfortable and I can wear them with so many things!

A random Friday.

2009-10-23T13:58:00.005-04:00

I don't watch American football but I do know who Tom Brady is and I think Gisele Bundchen and him make a great looking couple. The New England Patriots team is in London for a game. While the rest of his teammates were in matching sweatsuits boarding their chartered flight, Tom Brady decked out in an expensive suit! I wonder if he felt way overdressed for the occasion.

Pictures from here

I think I need this...

2009-10-22T16:33:00.002-04:00

From the one and only, Holly Stalder

Ring ring!

2009-10-22T11:41:00.002-04:00

No, I wasn't looking for a new ring. But if I were, one of these babies would be mine!

All from Topazery found via East side bride

Ann Taylor

2009-10-21T16:44:00.003-04:00

When I first entered the workforce and was able to shop for my own clothes, Ann Taylor was my frequent stop: blouses, dress pants, pretty wool skirts, you name it, anything that was on sale in the store, they were my grown up clothes! Then the brand lost me for some years after that, clothes were boring, overpriced...

So when I saw these shoes, I made a mental note for myself to visit Ann Taylor. I was at the mall last week and saw this jacket:

It was so, so beautiful in person! I touched, sighed and left. Maybe when it goes on sale that I can buy it. I can imagine myself wearing for years to come.

The website also got an make over, I love the way they list everything thumbnail style, pardon my choice of words, I think that's what its' called (?). Look at the shoes section!

Back to jackets...pretty!!

Ann Taylor

So...

2009-10-21T14:10:00.003-04:00

I've been MIA...family emergency unfortunately. I will talk about it once I'm ready, will I ever?
.
.
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So...I love Etsy, but of course, there are things on there that I don't understand or will never buy. Last week, I saw this wesbsite from Sarah's facebook, I died. See for yourself at Regretsy. Seriously...click away!!!

Have a great weekend!

2009-10-09T21:15:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday. Whoohoo! No...I wasn't that excited. I spent my day at work, trying to hide the fact that it was my birthday but my co-worker tricked me into showing him my license a couple of days earlier when I refused to tell him when it would be. So I got a semi-surprised cake. Well, I knew that when a couple of them left in the middle of the day, they were up for something. I ate my cake and watched this video.

About the top picture: I took it for my photography class. I wanted to take picture of people but was too shy to ask anyone so I ended up...shooting from my window at work. Go me!

Zipper where?

2009-10-07T12:25:00.002-04:00

How fun are these necklaces?

From here

From here

Need a vest?

From here

Monday!

2009-10-05T13:57:00.005-04:00

It rained dogs and cats on Saturday so it's nice to have some sun back to start a week today. On a different note, I was walking on a busy street and I noticed at least one out of four girls were wearing Hunter boots, including myself =). I wish that I had had my camera with me and just line them up for a cool picture. That would require asking people for permission and I don't have the courage to do that yet.

Speaking of gorgeous light, these two photographers always score the best one. I would have swine flu for a couple of days for it. ( I was gonna say that I would die...but not really, swine flu seems fair.)

Denise Bovee

Caroline Tran

Tweed and Suede

2009-10-01T11:31:00.001-04:00

I'd love to have you for my feet.

The pair that started it all.

Kate Spade

Ann Taylor

J.Crew

Banana Republic

You are too perfect for words.

J.Crew

Hello October.

2009-10-01T10:11:00.001-04:00

I kinda love this month and this dress is perfect.

From subrosa123

Makeup tips

2009-09-30T11:43:00.004-04:00

I find some illustrations for makeup tips but I think they are pretty confusing. So I turn to youtube and found this clip that I really like. Her tips are pretty simple and I like how she doesn't mention 20 different brushes that she needs like some of the video that I've seen. While I don't look anything like her and will definitely go easy on the eyeliner and skip most of the highlighting nose steps, I think I'm going to try this out.

GetReadySetGO!

2009-09-29T15:14:00.006-04:00

Dear Santa,

I've been good this year, please drop one of these beauties off at my doorstep.

Or please don't let anyone see them until I save enough to carry them home myself.

Thank you.

If you buy them here, please let me know so I can be happy for you

Kate Towers

2009-09-29T10:16:00.005-04:00

Remember Kate Towers and her Etsy store? She's back and is featured in an Etsy interview here

I love this dress

I dream of this capelet

Flea market anyone?

2009-09-28T15:09:00.004-04:00

My productive level at work is zero to none today. Shhh... I assure you this mood won't be here long. However, once in a while, I need a vacation from my day job. Here it is, my third post of the day!

There are some genius designers and stylists walking around Anthropologie. I always hated science but I fell in love with this decor before from a wedding featured on Style Me Pretty. While I don't have some extra cash lying around to buy these cylinders at Anthropologie, flea markets or yard sales are fine alternatives. A cool science looking living room without all the not-to-pleasant chemical smells!

P.S.: I just remember that fiance was in a Chemistry specialty class in High school. Yes, we had those classes in Vietnam, thank you very much.

You & I

2009-09-28T14:02:00.003-04:00

Forgive me for being such a copycat but this sign is too cute, I think I must have it. Anthropologie, Here I come!

By erinheartscourt via 100layercake

By Jillthomasphotography via 100 layer cake

Monday!

2009-09-28T13:23:00.003-04:00

After a wet Sunday, we get the sun back today and have some perfect fall-like weather. You probably think that I talk to much about the weather but after having a horrendous summer and winter, I really long for some sunny, cool days around here.

The only thing that makes me look forward to Monday is...the return of Gossip Girls. Please don't judge me for this little guilty pleasure. Although I can't watch them on Monday until after October, I still find it comforting that the new episode will be aired and I then can catch up on CW. I'm so thankful for this lovely feature!

I'm taking it slow in the office today and decided to check out Anna Sui's collection for Target inspired by GG. There are some good pieces but overall, I don't think I'm impressed.

I really like this dress

and this one

Something for the Fall

But for $59.99 a piece, I think I will pass.

I'm also confused by this "shirt"

Buy them at Target

Happy Friday!

2009-09-25T11:52:00.003-04:00

Craziness at work this week ruins all my plans to post this week. However, I did try to submit a little Couture de Jour to Lillyella and it got featured today!

Friday Wedding

Have a wonderful weekend!

First day of Fall!

2009-09-22T23:17:00.004-04:00

Wow,

I can't believe today is the first day of Fall! Where did the summer go? Did we even have one?

I love everything about this wedding that Emily of Once Wed did at Design*Sponge. So dreamy!

Photography by Our labor of Love

I really love her necklace and would love to find something similar. The original Etsy artist is sort of no longer making it and I have a feeling that it will be a tad over my budget. If you know of this design somewhere, please let me know!

Necklace by Daughter of Luxury