The Good Life on a Budget

My new blog

2012-01-10T18:21:00.001-08:00

I'm trying out tumblr even though I'm not the biggest fan. Till then, I will be updating here!

Outfit of the Day - Lace Tops

2011-12-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

Todays outfits are brought to you by two lace tops that I picked up this season. Yeah, I know I already did a little spiel on lace trends, but this time I'm putting theory into practice! I saw this first top on Piperlime because of Olivia Palermo's "style picks". I only know Olivia Palermo from The City (spin off of The Hills) and although she comes off incredibly snobby and sort of bitchy, you can't deny that she's got great style. I love that she mixes high and low end brands (as seen on her 30 days of outfits on vogue.com). She's also amazing at accessorizing and putting together a great outfit. Anyhow, this vintage lace blouse by Sabine was one of her picks on Piperlime and considering it was only $54, I snagged it up before it became sold out.

Olivia Palermo wearing the Sabine lace blouse in her style picks video.

LOVE the detail in this blouse. Here's a closeup of the hem.

The goods:

-Sabine Vintage Lace Blouse - $54

-Abercrombie Olive Cargo Jacket - $40

-Citizens of Humanity Hutton Mid-Rise Jeans - $80

-Frye Wanda Shoes - $140

-Longchamp Le Pliage Large Tote - $145

-Forever 21 charm necklace - $7

Here's another lace top inspired outfit where I followed this equation - girly top+leather jacket+edgy shoes = outfit. I tend to do this a lot where I just take a girly/lace/floral top and just throw on skinny pants and a leather jacket and some cute boots, flats, or booties and there you go. You have an outfit.

The goods:
-Forever 21 Lace top - $20
-L.A.M.B. Motorcycle Leather Jacket - $150
-Seven for all Mankind "second skin" pants - $70
-Sweet Life Dolce Vita Boots - $65

Gallery Nucleus: Jim Henson Tribute

2011-12-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

With the new Muppets movie out and the fact that it's gotten great reviews (97% on Rotten Tomatoes), it seems like the Muppets are back in action and maybe even popular again. I have always loved the Muppets - suuuure, you say... but no, really! I grew up on Muppet Babies and fell in love with "The Rainbow Connection" the first time I heard it. It still remains one of my favorite songs ever. And although the Muppets 3D attraction at Disneyland is always empty, I still go see it at least once a year to experience the two old guys who crack jokes while bubbles fall down on the seats.

Today I received this note from Gallery Nucleus about a Jim Henson tribute and fell in love with this piece. I especially have a re-awakened appreciation for Jim Henson since I recently re-watched Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, some of the most imaginative films that I have ever seen even for today's times. Jim revolutionized modern puppeteering and sadly lived such a short life. Seeing this exhibit will be bitter sweet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Uncharted 3 Review

2011-12-05T17:17:00.000-08:00

Given that my work is closed during Thanksgiving week, I started planning my week off. My entire agenda was going to be about one thing - Uncharted 3. I absolutely loved Uncharted 2, which is not a surprise given that one of my desert island movies is Indiana Jones (probably the Last Crusade or Raiders). Uncharted 2 was like watching an Indiana Jones, treasure hunting, archeological adventure type of movie and I could not wait for Uncharted 3. But as you know, life gets busy and I can no longer run out and buy a game the day of release and play it the whole night through until I beat it. Yes, I'm old and tired. I definitely wanted to immerse myself in Uncharted 3 so the 3 days before Thanksgiving was the perfect time to do this.

Uncharted 3 is filled with just as much adventure as it's predecessor. If anything, it's even more epic, more adventurous, and more mind blowingly fun than #2. I especially love Uncharted because it combines two things I really love in a game - puzzles and adventure. The balance of action, story telling, puzzle solving, and character building makes this one of those games that you can't stop playing, but also that you hope never ends.

*SPOILERS STARTING HERE*

My favorite puzzle had to be the one where you had to match up all the body parts. Even though it wasn't very difficult, I found it so creative and unique. The puzzle that took me the longest was probably the one where you have to move the animals to the correct symbols. It was a while before I noticed that the symbols on the floor were actually changing and not just constant! I do wish that the characters would give you less hints though so that the puzzles could be even more challenging, but I could see that being frustrating if you were stuck.

Some of my favorite parts had to be the initial flashback when you're young Drake meeting Sully for the first time, escaping from the sinking cruise ship, or when you're escaping the crumbling city in the last sequence. Considering that my palms get sweaty when I think about heights, I definitely had a few *gasp* moments like when Drake was getting sucked out of the plane, climbing to the top of any high points, or when the city was crumbling to pieces, but that's all part of what makes this game so good.
*END SPOILERS*

I've already gone through the game twice, once beating it and once watching someone else beat it! Surprisingly the game was just as entertaining the second time, which makes it a solid A+ game in my book. I would recommend this game to anyone that likes adventure games and especially to those that always dreamt about being Indiana Jones or wanted to follow a treasure map where X marks the spot. :)

Black Friday Gaming Deals

2011-11-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

Every year I tell myself I am not going shopping on Black Friday! The crowds, long lines, and competing for parking spots is enough to drive me away. But somehow, I always find myself out and about on that day. I guess sometimes there's just nothing better to do the day after Thanksgiving. The only deals I actually wanted to get were the $29.99 games from Best Buy - Uncharted 3 and Batman Arkham City. Top notch games like this are never on sale for this cheap and this early on in their release! I actually had just bought Uncharted 3 a week ago at Target in order to beat over the holiday break (which I did) so I figured I would just buy it again from Best Buy and do the "swap/return" at Target. Since the games were both sold out online, I headed over to BB at 9am on Friday and surprisingly found a parking spot very quickly, no lines, and found both games still in stock! Success!

However, upon arriving at Best Buy, I was very bitter to see that the Fable 3/Halo Reach 250 GB Xbox 360 that I just bought a month ago was on sale for $199!! That's $100 less than what I paid on Amazon! Sigh... and I just missed my 30 day return window by 2 days too! This definitely haunted me for the rest of the day, but at the same time, if I had waited this long to buy a new Xbox, I wouldn't have enjoyed all the hours I put into Gears of War 3 this past month so I guess in the end it was well worth it.

Pre-Black Friday Shopping Haul

2011-11-26T18:07:00.001-08:00

This year, I tried to take advantage of the Black Friday deals early on. Bloomies had one of their "40% off sale items" sales, which in my opinion is one of the best sales for designer items. Not only is their already discounted clothing an additional 40% off, but you always rack up $15 gift cards for every $100 that you spend. Those gift cards can also be used on the same day, which is even better! I strategically purchased about $200 worth of clothing, received two $15 gift cards and then purchased another item for around $30. I've been eying a lot of Free People clothing lately and ended up getting a few great pieces plus a sweater or two.

Free People Garden Dress - ~~originally $148~~, now $20 (I still can't believe this amazing deal!)

Free People Camisole - ~~originally $88~~, now $13

Free People Lace Tunic - ~~originally $98~~, now $29

Aqua Bandage Strapless Dress - ~~originally $118~~, now $35

I know... most of these are totally not winter clothes. But hey, it's california and that's what layers are for, right?

My Review of the Rachel Zoe Sophie Messenger Bag

2011-11-19T22:52:00.001-08:00

You know how sometimes you just feel like you need to reward yourself with a nice purchase (or maybe just an excuse to buy something)? I mean, isn't that why they call it retail therapy? Anyhow, it was about time to buy a cute purse for myself so after much deliberation, I decided on the Rachel Zoe Sophie bag. I had actually been eyeing the Rachel Zoe line ever since pre-orders started online. I was pretty set on getting the larger shoulder bag, but after seeing it in person, decided that I didn't like the way the smaller handles were stiff and didn't drop down while wearing it w/the crossbody style. Also, the leather didn't feel as buttery soft as her other purses and was a little "cheaper" feeling.

The "Sophie" Messenger Bag

I loved the Sophie bag the minute I got it. Luckily, I was just able to get a friends and family discount on it before it sold out, making it around $400 instead of $495. BUT after about 5-6 uses, I noticed that the small strap was starting to crack around the piping! I know this is somewhat normal, but it was cracking a lot and while wearing the purse crossbody style, it started to snag onto my clothes since it was so rough and "scratchy". Unfortunately by the time the cracking got so bad, the bag was sold out so I couldn't do an exchange. I decided to take this back to Nordstrom and they offered to fix this for free, but upon getting the repaired bag back, all he did was glue the cracks back together. This seemed more like a temporary fix, not a permanent one. Within a few days, the cracks were already coming back.

The ultra silky lining

Although I love the buttery softness of the leather, the satiny interior, cool crossbody style, and size, I'm not sure what to do at this point. I almost can't consider keeping it b/c of the poor quality of the piping. I mean, if it wasn't so "rough" and didn't snag onto my clothes so much, it wouldn't be a big deal. But compared to my Marc Jacobs bags or even my 4+ year old Miu Miu one, those have little to no cracks in the piping at all! I'm still on the fence about this one. Obviously if you want the purse just for the style, this is a great one. But if you're like me and want to "get your money's worth", it might be worth waiting a few seasons for Rachel Zoe to get the quality of her purses up to speed.

Example of the cracking on the piping. This is just one example, but there were about 5-6 cracks in the handle and even more on the long strap.

Speed Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-15T13:08:00.001-08:00

This is my final post about pumpkins this year, I promise! Anyhow, I recorded myself doing the whole pumpkin carving and was able to edit it down 6 hours into 5 minutes of speed carving. Apologies for the video quality since I'm using my Macbook camera, but oh well. Next year will be even better!

Gears of War Locust Pumpkin - Part 2

2011-11-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Since posting my pumpkins online the other day, a few people have asked about what it looks like lit up. I actually didn't even consider emptying it out to light it b/c usually with these 3D pumpkins, the skin is so thick that light doesn't show up that well. Maybe it's b/c I wasn't using a bright enough light, but turns out I was wrong. I went home on Halloween and scraped out the insides of this ginormous pumpkin and stuck a bright lamp inside. Here's how it turned out!

Gears of War Locust Pumpkin + Halloween Crafts

2011-10-31T11:03:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween!! Halloween is definitely one of my top 2 favorite holidays of the year, mostly because I get to do so many crafty things during this time. One of my annual traditions has been to carve a 3D pumpkin and since I've been playing sooo much Gears of War 3 lately, I decided to create a locust pumpkin! Enjoy!

I also made a mini Gears logo pumpkin, which was much harder than I thought. I drew the stencil and taped it on the pumpkin. Using those tools that make dots in the pumpkin, I traced the stencil around and then cut w/the knife.

Also on my crafty agenda was face painting since I face painted a bunch of kids on Sunday at my church. Here's my PWNY FTW and my Nyan Cat!

Missing out on Blizzcon and Dragoncon

2011-10-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

I didn't go to Blizzon and actually never have, but I'm always extremely impressed by some of the hardcore cosplayers that dress up there. When I saw the winner of this year's contest, I was BLOWN AWAY by the creativity and awesomeness of this costume! She's the adjutant from Starcraft 2.

Also, check out this cool compilation of cosplayers at DragonCon 2011. Love the feel good vibe of this video! My fave has to be the Indiana Jones and knight from The Last Crusade. Also the dinosaur lady was pretty cool.

Scott C's GREATEST SHOWDOWNS!

2011-09-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Scott C's amazing art, if you're not familiar with his Famous Showdowns series, I've posted a few of my favorites. He has this geeky way of expressing all the movies I've ever loved as a kid and as a huge '80s movies fan, I can't get enough of his pop culture references. I recently re-watched a bunch of the movies below, which is why I was immediately excited when I saw their showdowns.

Raiders of the Lost Ark - by far my favorite showdown. Toht's face is incredibly well done (guy in suit).

Adventures in Babysitting - I always thought the girl's viking hat was so cool! And the older brother was hot (for the 80s!).

I had never watched Army of Darkness until maybe 2003 and I could not get enough of the quotes.

"You found me beautiful once."

"Honey, you got real ugly!"

Dark Crystal - Just recently re-watched this and still found it incredibly creepy and awesome. Jim Henson is a genius.

Kim Cattrall at her hottest. I can never get enough of the theme song. "And we can build this dream together... nothin's gonna stop us now.."

Never Ending Story - what kid didn't want to ride the big white fluffy dog/dragon?

Ah, Officespace, a nerd classic.

Princess Bride - when Cary Elwes was still handsome. "As you wiiiiiish!!" (while rolling down the hill)

Rear Window - love this Hitchcock classic

Rocky Horror Picture Show - just saw this for the first time this year and thought it was crazy weird, but really fun. Loved the songs!

Roman Holiday - so appropriate that this is done in black and white too! What really got me in this piece is that Scott C includes the Mouth of Truth!

Singing in the Rain - by far, my favorite musical. I grew up on this stuff and never got tired of this movie.

Elephant Man - ok, not my favorite movie or anything, but how many references to Elephant Man do you ever see? Just saw the black and white 1980 version this past year.

Zombie in Love by Scott C.

2011-09-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

After 2 years of admiring Scott Campbell's amazing work online, I finally ventured down to the Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, CA and got a chance to see his "Zombie In Love" exhibit. Not only is admission FREE, but the Gallery Nucleus carries a lot of unique knick knacks - from whimsical comic cards to this very realistic lens cup! Most of the things in the store were pretty much things I have or would have seen at comic con. The Zombie in Love exhibit features art from Scott C's upcoming book and is about a lonely zombie named Mortimer who is looking for love. It's so sweet and so dorky at the same time. What's not to love?

Here are a bunch of pics I took from the exhibit:

Fall Trends - Lace everywhere!

2011-09-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

I've been having a small obsession over lace tops lately. I really hate buying into trends, but sometimes those trends are so cute! I love romantic lace and it's even better when it looks vintage or edgy. Here's a few pieces I recently acquired. I pretty much had a huge Forever 21 haul and then I noticed that everything I bought had lace in it!

F21 Pullover with lace sleeves ($17) - dressy but still comfy

F21 Lace Swing Top in pink ($25) - definitely reminds me of the '60s

Then I thought, "Wait, does this look too similar to my other top?" This one is from Juicy Couture's "Bird" line and is a pink crochet style loose top ($70).

F21 Floral Lace Skirt ($15) - I really liked this skirt I saw in the store, but it was a little on the short side

F21 Chantilly Lace Top ($16) - I love when they leave the scalloped bottom hem

Here's the outfit I put together with this stripe grey/white lace top.

The goods:

-F21 stripe/flowers lace top ($12.50)

-F21 olive green banded skirt ($7)

-Banana republic grey suede beaded flats ($15)

-Banana republic dark metal necklace ($20) - honestly, I can't believe I paid more for this necklace than my shoes, but I really liked it.

Side note, BR has some of the best shoe sales ever, but honestly, I think I get lucky w/my size 9 feet sometimes.

And a closeup of the top:

Response to Gizmodo's Article "My Brief OkCupid Affair With a World Champion Magic: The Gathering Player"

2011-08-29T19:41:00.001-07:00

Today someone sent me this article from Gizmodo. At first glance I thought, "Wow, a fun article about dating a pro MTG player". And then I thought, "Holy crap! She went out with Jon Finkel! How awesome!". Even as a casual magic player, I had read about him at some point or another and even wiki'd him. But after reading this, I am pretty disappointed and appalled at "my kind". How could a woman who lives such a tech driven world and writes for Gizmodo still think this way?

Seeing as how being geeky is all "hip" these days and that even Hello Kitty can be seen wearing nerd glasses, it surprises me that some would treat Magic the Gathering like the plague. Maybe she still has the 1980s stereotypical view of geeks and expects that every geek out there is socially awkward and un-dateable. Sure, I understand that he was not her type, that they probably didn't have enough in common, and that obviously there was no love connection. I even understand that knowing that someone is a pro magic player, pro bowler, or even a pro beer pong player could be a turnoff. But for her to say that she should have mentioned playing MTG in his profile makes it sound like he should have warned her of this hobby/profession of his. Seriously? She makes it sound like he has a disease and he should be alerting the female dating community of it. "Be warned! I play MAGIC!". Should someone mention in their profile they they like eating pickles with peanut butter just because it may be weird or you might be grossed out by it? I mean, if you want to be fair, maybe she should update her profile to let people know that she looks down upon anyone with nerdy interests.

I don't expect everyone to get Magic. Even my husband used to stereotype Magic players from his high school as awkward trench-coat-wearing weird dudes, which I of course found offensive since I've played since I was 14! But after teaching him how to play, he realized how awesome the game is and how wrong he might have been about those stereotypes since he himself is now a Magic player (and does not wear a long black trench coat. haha). Its definitely pretty sad to still see people who are so closed minded to nerd culture and I would have really hoped that this author could have used this opportunity to learn a little about Magic rather than feeding her own stereotype of what Magic players are like.

Outfit of the day - Wearing Sneakers with Dresses

2011-08-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Ever since the "Stingray incident" from my trip to San Diego Comic Con, I've been having issues with my foot. And last week my doc recommended that I wear sneakers at least for 1 week to see if my foot felt better. Well, I did, but at the same time I had to make my outfit revolve around wearing sneakers. For the first few days, I wore running shoe style sneakers w/wide leg jeans, but as the week got hotter and I got tired of dressing super casual, I migrated to my Converses (yes, less support, but I swear my foot was getting better!). And as you know, I do like my dresses, so one of the challenges I faced was how to wear sneakers with dresses. Here's what I came up with.

Option #1 - Go Vintage

I definitely think most vintage style dresses go well with sneakers. It's kind of like the 50s poodle skirt with saddle shoes. I mean, not exactly, but if they did it back then, you know it's legit! Since you're already wearing some "alternative" with a vintage style, I feel like throwing on some Converse shoes isn't going to throw off this style.The dress is from Urban Outfitters and is supposedly "reconstructed" from vintage fabric dress ($30). I'm also wearing dark grey Converse shoes.

Option #2 - Go '80s

Back in the '80s, you could really wear Converse shoes or Keds with anything! So why not go that direction? I'm keeping it simple here, but the sweetheart dress and jean jacket definitely add that '80s touch. On top of that, even though the style of the dress could be "fancy", this is actually just a cotton strapless dress with an unfinished hem (RVCA Rocket Dress - $50), which keeps it more on the casual side. I also paired the dress with a white cotton wife beater tank (Old Navy - $8), a really old Forever 21 Denim Jacket ($25) and my black Converse sneakers.

Option #3 - Go Casual

Material is key when wearing a skirt or dress with sneakers, mainly b/c cotton just adds a casual feel even if the design is dressy. I would definitely stick with cotton and other non-shiny fabrics. Here I'm wearing a Marc by Marc Jacobs cotton pencil skirt ($30 Bloomies sale), Forever 21 heart tank ($11), and an old Abercrombie & Fitch short grey cardigan ($20). The Converse looking shoes are actually fake lookalikes that I got in Korea. The shoe even says "Two-Star Canvas"!

Addicted to Star Wars Tees

2011-08-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

Even though Penny Arcade Expo is right around the corner, it looks like cosplay season is pretty much over for me. I still haven't even unpacked and washed my costume yet! Although this year's costume making was super time consuming, I can't help but think how fun it would be to do this full time!! I guess a girl can dream...

Anyhow, back to my usual mundane posts. Here are two cool shirts I picked up while at Disneyland. I cannot get enough of Junk Food shirts. They embody everything I want in a shirt (comfy, long, cool graphics) plus the '80s! This one is extra loose and baggy, which goes perfectly with my oversized shirt post! I bought this one on D Street in Downtown Disney for ~ $30.

Here is my uber nerdy Star Tours shirt that shows a bunch of the locations that you go to on the ride. Even though they had some nicer girly ones with just the Star Tours logo, this one was calling out to my inner nerd. Bought this at store next to Star Tours (obviously) and it was around $30.

As for the ride, the new Star Tours was AMAZING! I had no idea what to expect on the ride, but once it started, I was super stoked to find out that I WAS THE REBEL!!! OMGWTFBBQ!!! I ended up going on it twice and both times were awesome experiences. If you're heading to Disneyland, make sure you get a Fastpass for this first!

Cosplay Tutorial - She-Ra Dress

2011-08-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

Now that I've talked about making the armor and She-Ra crown using Wonderflex, it's time for the basics - the dress! Back in May, I was going through my old closet in my parent's house and found this awesome dress that I wore back in the '90s and decided to try it on for fun. Well, although it was extremely snug, an idea for my next cosplay was born. Two months later, I was cutting all the poof and lace off the dress and shortening it about 24 inches.

Remember this?

Although I originally considered using Wonderflex for the front design of the dress, I shopped around and decided that foam might work better. I was almost relieved that I wouldn't have to be sewing so much in this cosplay compared to my Pikachu and Alice one! I bought a few pieces of plain foam (.99 each) and started planning out the "flower" design on the front - first using paper templates and then tracing them onto foam. FYI - the "jewel" in the center is actually just a round clear plastic bubble that I cut and painted with various nail polish colors to get the right hue.

Next I laid them all out on this gold satin-y fabric from JoAnne's, pinned them down and cut around each piece, leaving around half an inch around each one. Now was the tedious part of the construction - gluing all the fabric to the foam. This wasn't as easy as I thought b/c of the pointy ends and I had to resize almost all of the pieces to not cover the belt (bad planning on my part).

Once I was happy with the size and layout of all the "petals", it was just a matter of glue-gunning everything together. Although glue guns aren't exactly the most "elegant" way of constructing clothing, it definitely beat sewing. I even glue gunned the final piece directly on the dress! Kind of ghetto, I know. I did the same thing for the "wings" on the bust as well.

As for the belt, I found this cheapy H&M wide pleather belt and cut off the buckle and end so that it would connect to a "V" shape. I sewed the "V" ends together, and then cut it in half so that the two ends would connect in the back with a clasp. Then I covered it in fabric, just like the foam.

The final piece was the cape. After some horrible trial and error, I googled cape making and decided to go with the "circle cloak" idea. Some people use a full circle, but I decided to go with a half circle since I wanted the cape to only hang in the back and not cover my shoulders. Basically you just need to draw a half circle on a large piece of fabric. This is how long the cape will be. Using the same center point, draw a small circle inside the big circle (about 4-6 inch radius). This is where the cape will fit around your neck. Then it's just a matter of finishing the edges and adding a clasp. I used snap buttons on a gold fabric collar (since She-Ra wears this gold choker thing).

And... I think that covers everything in my cosplay. Phew! Hopefully these tutorials have been useful!

Cosplay Tutorial - Wonderflex Headpiece

2011-08-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Now, onto the part of the cosplay that I was dreading - making the crown/headpiece. How would this stay on the entire day? Would it make my wig fall off? Could I wear this without looking ridiculously foolish? I definitely did not want to discover my photo on the Cosplay Hall of Shame sites.

I started off by drawing out the tiara piece that would be around my forehead. That was pretty simple since it's similar to the Wonder Woman crown. Then I sketched out the side "winged" pieces. Once I was satisfied with this, I cut all the pieces out that I would need (don't forget you can just flip these over and retrace for the other side - left or right). When drawing these out, I had to remember that the pieces on the side of the headpiece were going to be layered and so I would have to draw them a little bit larger to account for that.

Next, I used the paper templates to cut trace and cut these out on the Wonderflex. Once that was done, I taped everything together on the reverse side.

Next was the blowdrying part. I used the blowdryer just like in my armband tutorial and pressed all the pieces together until they stuck. Once everything cooled, I spray painted it gold just like the armbands. After seeing everything bright gold, I realized that everything looked a little too gold and shiny so I decided to use some rusty/darker colors to make the armor look a little more worn. I had bought a bunch of cheap acrylic paints from Michaels and pretty much finger painted and smudged the pain onto the crown and armor to give it some dimension.

At this point, my main concern was definitely figuring out a way for the headpiece to stay on. Most ideas I came up with revolved around using headbands, elastics, etc. Another good idea I read about a little too late was using a tiara as a base since it already has combs in it. In the end, I decided to use plain metal hair clips from Michaels ($3 for a pack of 20 or so) and duct taped them to the reverse side.

So now was the real test... the first day was definitely challenging. It took a while for me to clip it just right so that I didn't have to keep adjusting it. In the end though, the clips worked out great and I rarely had to adjust. Since Wonderflex is really lightweight, I didn't have to worry about the crown dragging down as long as I clipped enough hair for it to be taut. Success!

For details on the red jewel, I pretty much poked around the Target toy section and came across this plastic girl's ring. It was originally pink, but all it took was a red sharpie to make it red. Since plastic doesn't glue very well on plastic, I glue gunned a light piece of felt in between the stone and the crown to make it more sturdy. Also, the the clear bubble came in very handy for the jewel on the dress. More on that later!

Cosplay Tutorial - Wonderflex Arm Bands!

2011-08-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

While researching what type of material to use for armor, I came across Kamui Cosplay's blog, which blew me away! Her craftsmanship and attention to detail is amazing and her WOW cosplays are to die for! Turns out she uses a lot of Wonderflex in her costumes. So after doing some reading up on the stuff, I decided to buy a large roll of Wonderflex (free shipping too) since I figured it might come in handy for future cosplays.

Basically the stuff is hard plastic that is malleable when heated. Once you heat it, you can bend it, sculpt it, whatever. And once it cools down, it's hard plastic again! And you don't even need a fancy heat gun. I found that a regular blow dryer worked fine. I knew that I definitely wanted to make the She-ra head piece and arm bands out of Wonderflex since those items needed to look for stiff and metal-like.

To make the arm bands, I started by wrapping some paper around my arms in the desired shape. This took a few trial and errors since I didn't have someone to help me. :( I ended up with a "house" looking shape for these. I also needed to make sure they were not too tight for me to slip my hands in/out of since they weren't going to have any clasps to open/close them.

Here is the paper template I made. Once I made sure it fit my arm, I traced the shape onto the wonderflex material. Next, I taped it with some regular masking tape to hold it together while I applied heat.

Once you start using the blowdryer, you'll feel the wonderflex starting to soften. It still remains pretty firm, but can definitely get really flimsy if you keep it under heat for a while. One of the best things about Wonderflex is that it sticks to itself! So one you apply the heat, you can seal the two ends of the arm band together just by pressing down.

Once everything was sealed up, I rounded the edges near the wrist (just so it would be a little more comfortable). Again, just by applying heat, the Wonderflex sticks to itself.

And once everything was cooled down, I used some spray paint primer and some gold tone spray paint from Home Depot to finish everything off. It only took about 1.5 coats of paint and barely took more than 10 min to paint.

San Diego Comic Con 2011 Photo Recap

2011-07-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

Photoblog!! Here are some of my favorite shots of Comic Con 2011! I know there's not a lot, but these were my favorites of the ones I took a la iphone.

THE TOYS:

[This chewy plush is about 3 feet tall!]

[Cloth mask spiderman might mugg]

THE MERCHANDISE

[NYAN CAT! and super meat boy of course]

[Team Edward FTW!]

THE CELEBS:

[Ginnifer Goodwin in the Once Upon A Time Panel]

[Jennifer Morrison in the Once Upon a Time Panel]

[Jim Lee Panel]

[Surprise Guests Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse!!! EW Lost Panel]

[Zachary Levi aka CHUCK!]

[One of my favorite artists Scott Campbell w/an awesome and new Twin Peaks print!]

THE COSTUMES!

[The always lovely Linda Le (Vampy Bit Me) in Jim Lee inspired Psylocke cosplay]

[Had to include this one since I found my little twin!]

For the Honor of GraySkull.... I AM SHE-RA!

2011-07-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

It's only one day after San Diego Comic Con 2011 and I am already missing it. Being She-Ra was amazing and for once, I actually did not mind stopping for pictures (the kids were the cutest!). I loved that people told me I brought them back to their childhood and that tons of women stopped me to tell me She-Ra was their hero.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the way my cosplay turned out. The only uncomfortable bit was the wig since I have never worn a wig before! Maybe next time, I will go as Asian She-Ra. :)

Unfortunately I had to be "casual summer She-Ra" on Friday due to a foot injury, but I was better enough by Saturday to wear my gold boots! Surprisingly the bottom of the boots actually lasted all the walking I did. I will probably have to re-glue some of the fabric down there, but they held up pretty well! And with that, here are some pics from the comic con!

Casual Summer She-Ra

For the Honor of... San Diego!

Found my He-Man!

Also, check out this AMAZING She-Ra sketch by the fabulous Adam Hughes!

She-Ra Cosplay Tutorial - Boot Covers

2011-07-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

So my first order of business for starting my She-Ra cosplay was to make boot covers. I actually thought this would be a simple task consisting of 1) some spandex fabric 2) making 2 pieces and sewing it in a boot shape 3) wearing it like a sock over an old pair of high boots. Well, apparently finding gold spandex fabric is much harder than I thought. Had I known that, I would have ordered some through Spandex World! So due to my bad planning, I was left with some non stretch pleather-ish gold fabric from JoAnnes. My first task was figuring out how the heck I was going to cover a boot. After some thought over how hot it might be or how comfortable my feet would be, I decided to use an old and very worn in pair of comfortable Nine West pumps and cover those with fabric instead (similar to these). I decided to do this in 4 pieces - 2 for the foot portion and 2 for the shaft.

First I used some leftover fabric and attempted to outline the shape of the left and right side of the shoe. I used this stencil to then cut the gold fabric, leaving extra allowance around the edges for sewing.

*Extra challenge points for trying to trace this while wearing the shoes yourself. It would have definitely helped if I could get someone to help me do this since I was the one wearing the shoes!

You will basically end up with a shape like this.

Next, I created the shapes for the boot shaft. If you are just retracing the right/left sides, make sure you flip everything and not just trace the exact shape!

I then sewed the foot parts together, sewed the shaft part together and then sewed both of those together, aligning the middle seam when doing this. At this point, I lightly fitted these over the pumps just to make sure they fit ok.

*Note, you can definitely just make this 2 pieces per boot if you want. I just made it 4 because I was trying to prevent too much wrinkling. If you have stretchy fabric, I definitely think you can just use two pieces of fabric.

Once you know everything fits over your shoe ok, add a zipper to the back. It's best to make this low enough to ensure you don't have problems putting the boot on. Of course, if you have stretchy fabric, this is less of an issue.

I decided to put masking tape over the entire base of the shoe in case I wanted to use the shoes again. Then I would just have to peel off the tape instead of ripping everything off the soles. Once I was done sewing up the zipper, I then used my hot glue gun to glue the bottom pieces of fabric to the bottom of the shoe. Here is my shoe w/the tape and then the results of gluing all the fabric to the bottom. I pretty much had to glue this while wearing the boot to ensure a tight fit around my foot.

Once that was done, I finished the seams on the top of the shaft. I did this last to make sure everything was even length while wearing the boot. AND.... here is the finished product!

San Diego Comic Con Cosplay Preview

2011-07-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

I am just about done with my cosplay for this years San Diego comic con! woo hoo! Here's a preview.

Stay tuned for some tutorials including how to use Wonderflex, boot covers, using foam, and making armor and head pieces!

Outfit of the Day - A Cute Skirt and a Boba

2011-07-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

It's been pretty hot here lately, which of course means lots of skirts and dresses. Although I would love to live in shorts, I still feel like they are a little unprofessional for work, which is why I wear them with tights all the time in the winter. Even though my job is casual enough that I could wear wear shorts and a T-shirt to work, my "professional" self tells me that this is not the time to pull out my casual attire. And since I am really not that fond of capris (they just remind me of older women), my only alternative is really skirts and dresses.

It's a bit challenging to find something to wear with a patterned skirt that is not just a solid color top. I think denim or plain button up shirts, loose blouses, tanks, or a regular fitted jersey tee would work, but in this case, I stuck to a basic white tee. The skirt is Bloomingdale's Aqua brand, which I love b/c it's actually affordable and still stylish. Also, let me point out the awesome pockets on this skirt FTW!

The goods:
-Aqua skirt (Bloomies $20)
-White ruffle tee (Bloomies $15)
-Ugg Cyrpris sandals ($60)
-Boba drink ($3.50) :)

Wedding outfit of the day

2011-07-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

In typical girl fashion, I found myself proclaiming last week that I had "nothing to wear" to this wedding I was attending over the weekend. Well, I decided to hit up H&M to return something and found this great dress for only $20! Even though I am really against wearing white to weddings, I didn't really even think of that when I saw this dress since it's super colorful. And although I usually love strapless dresses, I always have problems wearing them since I don't have much to work with on top. lol. This one fit perfectly and I didn't even have to constantly pull it up! I decided to go darker with this outfit in terms of jewelry and shoes - black chandelier earrings, a grey chain necklace, and black shoes. I think the contrast makes the look a little more edgy and less over the top girly.

The goods:
-H&M white floral print strapless dress ($20)
-Black Michael Kors mesh shoes ($75)
-Black chandelier earrings - Macy's ($5)
-Banana Republic grey strand necklace ($10)

Outfit of the Day - More Oversized Tops

2011-07-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I have this habit of "saving" things I buy until later. For example, I bought this H&M top about 3 weeks ago, but only just wore it today! Not sure why I do that, but here's a great top from H&M that reminds me of the '60s but also has a modern twist w/the open back and cropped length. Plus the mint green color is great for spring/summer!

The goods:
-H&M cropped blouse ($35)
-Forever 21 grey tank ($4)
-Seven for All Mankind second skin jeans ($70)
-JCrew sandals ($40)

p.s. on a side note - hooray for full length mirrors with good lighting!!

Outfit of the Day - Oversized Tees

2011-06-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

Although the flowy top and jeans look is getting a little old, I am still not tired of the slouchy/oversized/baggy t-shirt look with skinny jeans. I found this oversized C&C California shirt from a going out of business Metro Park store for $12 although I still can't fathom that anyone would pay $78 retail! When wearing a huge top, it's definitely key to balance your outfit so that you're not wearing all baggy or all tight. I love that this top is a little cropped on the belly so that your figure has not completely disappeared. I also like paring really basic and plain stuff with more dressy jewelry - in this case a Juicy Couture multi strand necklace.

I also just ordered this RVCA Monster Love tee in charcoal grey. I LOVE the style in the back! Why have I never ordered from 6pm before? It's like GILT, but the sale never ends and things aren't completely sold out! The styles below are both on Karmaloop ($27).

Bar III none

2011-06-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

My friend introduced me to this great new contemporary line at Macy's called Bar III. They easily won me over with this elephant print tank (below) and as you know, I already have an obsession with elephant print tops. Their clothes seem young, yet sophisticated and I am definitely a fan.

This is the Elephant Print top, which is on sale right now ($39.99)!

Here are some other picks from the Spring/Summer line.

Draped Lace Panel Top ($59) & Dot Print Dress ($59)

Striped Full Skirt Dress ($79)

Star Wars Chibis?

2011-06-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

These aren't exactly chibis, but they are sooo cute! I want a print of this!

Vintage Summer is here!

2011-06-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

This week is looking to be about 80 degrees every day, which means I can finally wear dresses w/o leggings! Woo hoo! I recently got this really cute vintagey dress from a small boutique. The brand is "VERY J" which I'm sure is a direct import from China and probably dirt cheap. But once it's in a boutique, the price goes up to $50. :( My friend said it reminds her of the scarf patterns she saw in China! lol. To me, the cuff sleeves, collar, and pattern all remind me of something from the '70s. The only thing I added was this $3 belt from Forever 21.

Please excuse my huge arm in this pic! haha.

And speaking of great vintage looking clothes, Urban Outfitters has free shipping on $50 orders ending today, so hurry! Code is HELLOSUMMER.

Retro Comic Art

2011-06-09T11:04:00.001-07:00

Awesome retro comic art. Full flickr set can be found here! I love retro style geek art. There have been some really amazing Star Wars, gaming, and comic art around the web. I wish I could buy it all!

Outfit of the Day - LaRok love

2011-06-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

It's finally starting to feel like summer, which means I can actually stop wearing a cardigan to work. woo hoo!! Hooray for tank tops and sandals! Today I wore my really lightweight LaRok top. Although some of their clothes have a more feminine ruffle look (like below), many of their clothes also have an edgy/rocker appeal, which I also love.

The goods:
-LaRok ruffle tunic (~$50, Bloomies)
-Muji charcoal grey leggings - $10, Muji store)
-Ugg sandals. I know, you don't think of sandals when you think of the Ugg brand, but these are super comfortable, stylish, and they have tons of cushion on the bottom. The color is a gold/silver/bronze color so it goes with everything! (Nordstroms, $60)

Tough week

2011-06-05T18:14:00.001-07:00

My crazy week with my crazy dog - read it here.

I'm blonde

2011-05-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

My cosplay wig came! This is the first wig I have ever bought so I was pretty excited. It's kinda crazy looking and very golden yellow, but I like it! I ended up looking around on ebay and asking some other wig buyers what their experience was. I guess Asia makes pretty decent wigs especially for the price. This one was about $20.

And while I'm on the subject of blonde Asian girls and Japanese related things, I just started watching Deathnote recently and love it! It's super dark, very smart, and all about mind games, which is really different than a lot of animes I've seen. Can't wait to finish this one. I really hate when some animes go on FOREVER and don't have a conclusion!!

Credit: yukikominazuki on deviant art

Outfit of the Day - BCBG striped ruffle top

2011-05-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

I really love this BCBG top I bought the other day. Even though I rarely wear collared dress shirts, I do love variations of work shirts - like same materials, but a dress version or maybe a sleeveless version. The unique ruffling on this BCBG one is really cute and I love the length.

The goods (even though you can't really see everything):

-BCBG striped ruffle top ($60)

-H&M long grey cardigan ($20)

-7 for all Mankind black skinny pants ($70)

Item of the day - Rainy Day Flats

2011-05-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

My shoes seem to be causing a lot of commotion today. Maybe I am exaggerating a little, but I am getting a lot of comments on them. Although I do wear a lot of drab colors like grey, black, and blues, it's nice to have a splash of something bright once in a while. I really liked these Jcrew rainy day flats that I found the other day and I especially like the color. They are also really comfortable, but after wearing them for the day, I am starting to think that maybe I need some sort of insole inside since they are all rubber and frankly, my feet are not sweat-free. Sorry, TMI.

They are actually still on the website for $58 here although I bought them in the store for $29.99. I have also seen the olive and black ones on sale for the same price.

New Phyrexia!

2011-05-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Now that I've had a couple days to learn the set, I have to say that I am loving the New Phyrexia block! Surprisingly enough, I actually was able to stay up late enough for launch event last Thursday at midnight to pick up my box. But unlike most MTG players, I am pretty slow when it comes to opening my magic packs. I guess you could say I like the savor the moment and open packs a few at a time. It's now day 3 and I still have more than 10 packs left to open. :) So far I've pulled the red, green, and blue legendary creatures (Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, Urabrask the Hidden, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur) and Surgical Extraction, which is a pretty sick looking card.

I actually ended up building a decent infect deck on Thursday since we did what my friend calls a "personal draft". It was more like a sealed draft, but it was pretty much all green/blue infect with a lot of Glistener Elves, Blighted Agents, and Viridian Betrayers. And to seal the deal, the Spinebiter was pretty much a game winning card in addition to Triump of the Hordes with Mycosynth Fiend. I ended up going 2-1 and also beating another deck 2-0 on Saturday with the same deck so I think it was pretty decent.

Outfit of the Day - Neutrals

2011-05-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

Today's boring outfit of the day is b/c I have been biking to work. Since I have to carry a change of clothes in my backpack, I've been trying to think of outfits that don't involve heavy items (things like tights, leggings, etc). Hence, the more "basic" outfit here. Still, I think the colors work nicely even though it is more plain than what I am used to. But sometimes plain is good!

The goods:

-F21 vintage blue dress w/brown skinny belt ($15)

-sheer grey tights

-Dolce Vita Patrick ankle boots

-random cheap oatmeal colored cardigan

Next Cosplay Idea

2011-05-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

Although it's not even the middle of May, I am already excited about my next cosplay!! The other month I was at my parents house being forced to clean out their closet and take home anything that was mine and I came across a white dress. Not just any white dress, but this was my 8th grade graduation dress! It didn't look as small as I remembered (I must have been swimming in it) so I decided to try it on. And low and behold... IT FIT!

Anyhow, I have forever wanted to cosplay as She-Ra, one of my favorite cartoon characters from my childhood - I remember the He-Man/She-Ra 5 episode series when they first introduced her blew me away when I was a kid. So much drama! And she is his SISTER? wtf! So then it finally hit me - this dress reconstructed would be a PERFECT She-Ra costume! The only thing I dislike about dressing as a popular character is that people stop you ever 5 seconds for pictures. But I guess my love for She-Ra is greater than that annoyance. More than anything, I just want to make a kick ass legit costume like Vampy Bit Me or Kamui Cosplay. In the meantime, I am doing all sorts of research on how to build a sword, using Wonderflex for armory, and maybe even expandable foam?? Also, today I bought a blonde wig on eBay. Woo hoo!

Love/Hate Rompers

2011-05-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

I am loving/hating this romper business everywhere. The thing with rompers is that they remind me of clothes that I wore when I was 8 that drove me nuts because you would have to take the whole thing off in order to go to the bathroom! They seem to be making a come back these days, but I still find them a little annoying to wear. They are like adult onesies!! And most of the time they are absolutely not appropriate for work attire since the shorts are usually pretty short. I almost feel tempted to just cut off the top portion and forget the shorts part.

Anyhow, I bring up rompers today b/c I am in love with this one from BCBGeneration. It seems to me that things that remind me of vintage prints always have some sort of birds, owls, clocks, and other random animal silhouettes. Well, this one has birds. The cross style top is really flattering and I love the colors over the pale grey. Retails $108 on the BCBG website.

The $40 wedding outfit

2011-05-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

I went to a super fun wedding over the weekend and figured it was a perfect occasion to post another wedding outfit. It was actually quite cold so I did bring a cardigan, but for the most part, the main part of this outfit was less than $40! Well, not counting accessories. :)

The goods:
-H&M grey/lilac dress ($15 sale)
-H&M black skinny belt ($2)

-Banana Republic Kriste Chiffon sandals ($20 sale)
-Forever 21 rhinestone flower ring ($5.80)
-Forever 21 cube beaded bracelets ($6.80)
-Banana Republic Rhinestone drop earrings ($15)

Here are some details on the shoes and accessories.

Here's the detailing of the shoulder bow w/the black rhinestones and the earrings.

Outfit of the Day - rugby stripes

2011-05-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

I scored this Free People top at the Bloomies sale the other day (from $78 to $30) and although it has two of my favorite qualities - 1) stripes 2) slouchy - I am not completely positive that I want to keep it. I will probably just keep it out of laziness in returning it, but I do like it for it's lightweight fabric since I could probably wear it 3/4 of the year.

The goods:

-Free People Grey/White striped rugby shirt ($30 Bloomies sale - you can get it for $50 on the Free People site)

-brown woven belt that came with a dress

-F21 leggings

-F21 Leaf/Tooth necklace
-Juicy Couture cream embroidered flats ($30 sale, closeup below)

Happy Star Wars Day!

2011-05-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Star Wars Day! This is my all time favorite star wars toy that I got from a Star Wars exhibit at the Moscone Center back in 1995. It's like a typical AT-AT model that you put together, but it has a wind-up function and it WALKS!!! How cool is that? Also, I painted it so that it didn't look so generic grey. :P

Shopping Haul!

2011-04-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Major fail last night. I attempted to go to the big Bloomies Private Sale, but while heading out at 7:55pm, I decided to give them a call just to check the store hours and discovered that they closed at 8pm!! FAIL! What department store closes at 8pm? That's seriously ridiculous.

But since I was out, I decided to head to my local Nordstrom Rack. Better deals anyways, right? Anyhow, I scored a few cool pieces and still can't believe the deal I got on this sweater!

Juicy Couture Pointelle Cardigan ($60) - it has a cowl neck collar, POCKETS, and I love the loose fit. Also sits below my hips, which is a plus b/c I can just throw it over leggings. Sure, it's not quite cold enough to wear wool anymore, but I just couldn't pass it up for the price! The best deal I found online was about $120 from shopbop. Also comes in a cool tan color on the Juicy site.

BCBG Striped Cotton Ruffle Top ($60) - I can't pass up the ruffles! Also, love that this shirt is long and I could wear it belted over leggings. Still on Bluefly for about $100.

I've been looking at a lot of spring dresses a la Forever 21 so when I saw this one for $20 (by Lush, a Junior's brand), I knew I had to snag it up. I'm kind of picky about floral patterns but I really liked this one with the black buttons and front "bib" style. I might have to modify it a bit on top granted this is not my ideal size, but that should be easy.

New Dice!

2011-04-27T15:14:00.001-07:00

Aren't they pretty?

Rebecca Taylor - Spring Florals

2011-04-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine that back in 2003, I was just a Volcom, Roxy, and Hurley wearing youngin' and barely knew anything about designers, haute couture, or clothing that retailed more than $100. But when my friend took me shopping at Bergdorfs in NYC for the very first time, I was blown away. Once I was exposed to all this amazing and beautifully crafted clothing, I was hooked from then on. Don't get me wrong though - I still shop high and low and I still wear the occasional Volcom shirt. But I guess from that moment, I had just expanded my fashion horizon (as well as wallet). I bring this up only because I wanted to mention one of my first favorite designers that I discovered while on this fashion awakening. Rebecca Taylor is known for her ultra feminine and flirty style and finding out that she was a former ballerina completely makes sense when you look at her clothing. I especially love her tops and dresses, her floral prints, and all the feminine details she puts on her designs. Here's a few of my favorites from this season. Granted, these all retail around $300, but it's ok, I can still admire them from afar. :)

Sunflower Cami Dress - $325. Would love to have this in the summer. Although silk and BBQs do not mix well especially since I always drop food on myself.

Strapless Floral Dress - $385. The only thing I dislike about this dress is the bust area. I just think anything with underwiring is not ideal for a smaller chest imo.

Sparkle Strapless Dress - $495. I love that this is not too pastel and has a greyish/taupe hue to it.

She even has corset versions of a few of her dresses. I love the added "skirt" to the bottom of the corset.

Charlie Dress - $325. I think this is my favorite one b/c of the pattern. It reminds me of an early 1900s or something you would see in Paris maybe?

Comic Con Blues

2011-04-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

I feel ashamed to be saying this, but I only just discovered this Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee book today. AHH!!! Where have I been? Anyhow, I just ordered it. EXCITED!! I am probably on a comic book high since I just caught up to the latest Walking Dead issue #83 (OMG! what a twist!!) and am still wishing there was another convention to look forward to before San Diego Comic Con. I guess I am having comic con withdrawal since I just went through major highs last week and am now still mulling over pictures from Wondercon this week. Le Sigh!! I'm trying to find something good to read now that I can't go through 5 issues of The Walking Dead at a time anymore. Any suggestions??

In other news, I was thinking about this Jim Lee drawing I did many years ago and freaked out b/c I could not find it! I eventually found it hidden in one of my many sketchbooks, thank God and decided it was about time to update my Deviant Art account with some sketches (even though some of them are over 10 years old). lol. Anyhow, enjoy!

Wondercon 2011- Pikachu Cosplay How To + Day 2

2011-04-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

After a super fun Friday at Wondercon, I had no problem waking up bright and early for another geek filled day. But instead of putting on yet another Star Wars T-shirt, today I was going as... dun dun da dahh... PIKACHU! Here's my original concept art for it. Professional, I know!

I basically bought a sewing pattern for a fleece hoodie, made it longer than normal, and had to make some adjustments for my size. Total cost = $15. Total labor = about 12 hours? I lost track.

And here are a few progress pics. I initially thought of making a how to video, but got lazy. Sorry! As with every pattern, first I cut out all the templates and fabric. Then I worked on the hood first since I needed to lay out the face/ears first before anything else. I lightly stuffed the ears with stuffing and sewed them on to the completed hood.

Then I attached the hood to the "vest" portion of the jacket. At this point, I hadn't sewn the "face" on yet since I had to hand sew that part anyways. I left that for the end just in case I changed my mind. At this point, I sewed the rest of the jacket on in this order - zipper, pockets, bottom hem, 2 brown Pikachu stripes in the back, sleeves, sleeve hem.

Once the main hoodie was done, I had to figure out what to do for the tail. I saw a few renditions of Pikachu tails where people attached them to belts or even just left them limp. But then I saw one girl safety pin the tail to her back. I thought that was brilliant so I used that idea. I cut out 2 giant zig zag shapes and sewed them together, leaving 2 generous sized openings for stuffing (one at the big end, and one towards the middle of the tail since I knew those small areas might be difficult to stuff). I decided to use a mix of stuffing and cardboard to structure the shape of the tail. I put in maybe 5 small pieces of cardboard for the whole tail and then I closed up all the openings. Then I safety pinned the tail to the back of the hoodie.

And... TA-DA! The finished product!

Overall Saturday went by in a blur. Coordinating with 6+ people is ridiculous and trying to stick together on the floor is even more ridiculous. I mostly checked out the Artist Alley, the Super panel with Rainn Wilson, and proceeded to compete in the MTG 2 headed giant tourney, which went way too fast. They barely gave us enough time to make our decks (even less than the previous day's draft) and my partner and I both could not get our 2nd land color for over 10 rounds. Sigh!! I kinda thought the 2 headed was a waste of time in the end b/c we didn't really get our money's worth. But oh well! It was still lots of fun and we even got approached by a creepy wizard in a sequined cape and a strange guy trying to show us his rat deck! lol.

Wondercon 2011 - Day 1

2011-04-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

I couldn't decide all week if I wanted to take Friday off work just to go to the Wondercon. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how ridiculous I sounded. Wondercon vs. Work?? That made the decision pretty easy. It was a pretty warm day in SF so I wore my trusty Star Wars Princess tee I got from Star Wars Celebration IV and some shorts w/tights. You never know about SF weather so I didn't think twice about dressing a little warmer. Yes, those are actually stars on my tights! I have a thing for stars on clothing. <3 the 80s!

I got there at 10:30 thinking the floor opened at 10AM, but it actually didn't open until 12! Luckily they opened early at 11:30 which meant that I had enough time to pick up my 6 guest badges, eat some food, and read the program. Oh, and I also met this really weird girl who I had this conversation with:

her: I don't know about meeting guys at this place...
me: huh?
her: so.. are you like into this stuff?
me: comic con? yeah, totally.
her: oh, i'm not at all.
me: so, what are you doing here?
her: I just wanted to show off.
me: oh... ok. well, have a nice time!

"Show off"? What does that even mean? I had a feeling she was there to snag up some guy. Is this a place where people actually go to meet men?? I was so confused.

Anyways, once in the show, I proceeded to any and all booths that had trades for 50% off. After thumbing through hundreds of trades, I eventually came out with this haul. I am trying to buy all of Powers and Y: The Last Man since those are two of my favorite comics. The Spiderman book looked pretty cool since it's written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale and the Bone series I have known about since the 90s but never bothered to read. Can't wait to get through this Bible sized book!

I also bought this amazing print by Bobby Chiu of Imaginism Studios. Chewy's lunch box actually has the Star Trek Enterprise on it! Gah, sooo adorable. I can't get over how cute this print is. Can't wait to put it up at home.

So besides cruising through the floor, I also played in my 1st MTG draft. It was super intimidating as I walked into a cemented room full of tables, wandered to the back, and signed up for the 1pm draft ALL ALONE. Eek! By 1pm there were 16 people playing and I was sitting at a table with a bunch of strangers and no idea what to do. Luckily there were a few other new drafters and he explained the rules, which way to pass, etc. 30 min later, I had built a blue/white deck. Although the first card I pulled was Darksteel Plate, for some reason I started focusing on Metalcraft when in the end, I realized that I only had about 25% artifacts! Doh. Also, I pulled Contagion Engine and Contagion Clasp, but then only had 2 poison creatures. Yeah, my deck was kind of a mess and I went 1-2 in round 1 with single elimination. Oh well, it was definitely a great experience and I learned a lot. I will definitely be going to some FNMs in the future.

I stuck around until the end of the day in order to hit up the 5pm panel for Robert Kirkman, writer of the amazing comic The Walking Dead. Woot! I don't think I've been to one bad panel yet and this was definitely at the top of my list. And I didn't regret one bit that I missed the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern Panel, which was also at 5pm. haha. I actually just read the entire Walking Dead series this past month or so and am now caught up which is incredibly painful since now I have to wait issue by issue to see what happens!! Noooo...

Anyhow, Day 1 was a blast and it was sooo worth it to beat the Saturday crowds. Stay tuned for more on Day 2!

Wondercon 2011: cosplay preview

2011-03-31T11:05:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE: For the finished product and instructional How To, click here!**

This year for Wondercon, I am straying from the scarier themes of cosplay (I was American McGee's Alice for 2 occassions last year) and going with something cuter. I was inspired by this postcard my friend gave me last year with a cute drawing of a girl wearing a Pikachu vest/hoodie. I thought it was so adorable that I wanted to make one for myself.

I was initially thinking of making one big Pikachu pajama onesie like this one, but decided against it b/c it would be so damn hot especially if I ended up wearing this in San Diego Comic Con too.

And I absolutely did not want to dress like a sexy Pikachu. Uh, is that even a costume?

I decided to make a really long fleece hoodie with Pikachu's face/ears on the hood, stripes on the back, as well as a tail. And since I LOVE legwarmers, I wanted to also make myself a pair of those too.

Here's a preview of a few things to come!

Dress of the Day: Charlotte Ronson

2011-03-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

Charlotte Ronson is one of my favorite unaffordable brands. Her style is girly yet laid back and still unique. I randomly bought this dress off Gilt even though I don't even have an occasion to wear it to yet! But it was one of those weeks where I just needed some retail therapy and I just can't resist lace especially the way it's draped on this dress. Plus you can't go wrong with sweetheart necklines!

This dress retails around $350, but I ended up getting it for something around $170. Sigh! I feel a little guilty, but hopefully this dress won't go too out of style any time soon.

Outfit of the Day: Spring Floral

2011-03-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

It's been raining for what seems like forever now, but I decided to screw that and wear something more Spring-like today.

The goods:

-Forever 21 floral dress - they have a bazillion on their site. This one is just a t-shirt style loose one that was less than $20.

-Forever 21 thin brown braided belt - $2.50 (I still can't believe how cheap this was)

-Banana Republic navy tights

-Dolce Vita Patrick shoes - $70

-LA Made long black cardigan - $25

I also dug up an old denim jacket that would be great for this outfit when the weather actually gets warmer. This thing is almost 10 years old, but I figured it would probably eventually come back in style. I actually spent forever bleaching a darker denim jacket into the one in the pic. That's a whole other story though. :)

FNM: Drafting Zendikar

2011-03-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

My friends have been trying to convince me to go to FNM at this huge MTG store in San Jose, but I've been reluctant to go b/c I don't know the Besieged block all that well and I hate going into an event unprepared. Plus they said the store was full of nerd stench with zero ventilation. Eww... So instead we decided to buy a box of Zendikar and do a draft ourselves! Although Zendikar won't even be standard anymore in another few months, I really just wanted the draft experience. We ended up doing 2 sealed drafts and I surprisingly ended up winning most of the night! Well, that is until we did FFA and they started ganging up on me. :P

Zendikar is definitely all about Landfall and even Allies if you can pull that off. I decided to play Blue and White and was really excited to pull a Luminarch Ascension although I ended up rarely using it. It was really more about the combos of Living Tsunami, Windrider Eel, and Steppe Lynx that ended up being the most useful cards in the deck. Even though with Living Tsunami, I would get stuck on only having around 4-5 lands, the early hits was pretty worthwhile. Kor Hookmaster actually came in pretty useful as a defensive move and Archive Trap proved to be a really fun card to play especially since you knew that an opponent was bound to search for land. Shepherd of the Lost ended up being one of my buffest cards and equipment like Adventuring Gear, Trailblazer's Boots, and Trusty Machete were extremely powerful.

All in all, I really enjoyed drafting Zendikar. Maybe now I'll have the confidence to look into drafting Mirrodin Besieged at Wondercon 2011! I can't believe the prizes they are giving away!

Outfit of the Day - more shorts

2011-03-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you are probably thinking that I wear a lot of shorts to work, but really I don't. I just happen to find the outfits that contain shorts more interesting hence all the outfits with shorts. Today I wore my slouchy Asian inspired T-shirt with this pair of shorts. I did wear tights since I was at work even though I'm not wearing tights in the picture.

the goods:
-LA Made long black cardigan - $25
-Forever 21 pink tee - $15
-Forever 21 charcoal grey shorts - $20
-Guess Solar Boots - $110

Outfit of the Day - stripes

2011-03-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

I think no matter what season it is, stripes will always be in. And now that spring is right around the corner, I'm not even surprised to see nautical trends return. I mean, when are we NOT seeing nautical trends in spring/summer? Anyhow, I just think you can't go wrong with stripes - striped cardigans, t-shirts, tanks... but that's probably about it since you don't want a stripes overload.

This beaded striped tank top is one of my favorites. I love the beading detail and it looks great with a military jacket, blazer, sweater, or whatever.

the goods:
-Forever 21 beaded striped tank (navy/white) - $20
-Seven for all Mankind Black Second Skin jeans - $70
-Beige cardigan from Loehmans store - $5
-Abercrombie & Fitch military coat with fur hood - $100 (don't remember since it's so old)
-Dolce Vita Patrick ankle boots - $70
-Juicy Couture heart necklace - gift from my fabulous girl friends

Game Night Fail

2011-03-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

The other night I played some team Settlers of Catan, which was an interesting experience. Although I refer to Settlers as the "gateway" board game to other more nerdy board games such as Dominion, Agricola, Puerto Rico, etc, I guess even a simple game like Settlers is not for everyone. I thought I did a pretty good job of explaining how to play to my team mate, but maybe not b/c by the end of the game, I think the only thing he understood was what resources to pick up when our numbers got rolled. And even though we did win (hooray!), it was so anticlimactic since he didn't even realize we had won!

Oh on top of that, I actually had this conversation:

me: So, do you play any other table top games?
him: What, like magic the gathering?
me: (slightly excited b/c maybe he plays MTG!) well, that's not really a board game, but yeah, sure, Magic. Or maybe Agricola?
him: I actually look down at the people who play Magic.
girl sitting across from him: ME TOO!

Then they hi-five.

I then proceed to point to my few boxes of MTG cards on the floor along with a bunch of the mythic rares I keep in binder sheets. Awkward...

What to wear - winter weddings

2011-02-21T17:24:00.000-08:00

It's always tough to figure out what to wear to a cold weather wedding. Pants? A sweater dress? Wool dress? Do I have to sacrifice warmth for fashion? I figured tights was definitely a must, but decided that sleeveless or short sleeve would still be fine since I would be indoors most of the day. I decided to throw some outfits together to get a better idea.

Outfit #1 below seemed like an obvious choice b/c it has capsleeves and is wool blend. Although I love the fit of this dress and I especially like it b/c the length is more 1930s, I decided against it b/c the red/black plaid looked a little too Christmas-y to me.

Banana Republic Wool Plaid Dress - $35 on sale

Outfit #2 is from the days when I was obsessed over the L.A.M.B. clothing line. The L.A.M.B. sweater is a short sleeve cream colored cashmere cardigan with rhinestone cut outs on the front and sleeve. I love the vintage look of it paired with this satin-y mermaid shaped L.A.M.B. skirt.

L.A.M.B. rhinestone cut out cashmere cardigan - $100

L.A.M.B. ruffle mermaid pencil skirt - $80

Since I was already looking at skirt/sweater combos, I tried to see if I could pair my fancier black lace skirt with a sweater. After seeing it on, I don't really see this as a good option since it's just not that dressy.

Flounce Lace/Ribbon Cardigan - $60

JCrew Lace Skirt - $35

I ended up choosing this outfit b/c you can't really go wrong w/wearing black in cold weather. Plus this black dress isnt' too harsh looking since it's a babydoll style w/ruffle sleeves, lace texturing in the front with cool wavy patterns on the bottom. I wore my sheer tights with bows for a more dressy touch.

BCBG Black Dress - $120

Sale! Victorian/Military Ankle Booties

2011-02-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

I can feel the Winter Clearances starting to happen! Today while I was browsing on Urban Outfitters site, I came across some of the military style boots that I recommended. I had to call it out b/c these are some great deals!

Jeffrey Campbell Lace-Up Ankle Boot - ~~$178~~ now $99

Deena & Ozzy Tread Boot - $68 now $29.99

These boots aren't on sale, but I recently came across them and am putting them on my list of maybes. I've bough 5 pairs of boots in the past 4 months so I really cannot have more boots. Well, I can, but I definitely shouldn't!

Forever 21 Buckle Combat Boots - $35.80

Forever 21 Victorian Boots - $34.80

Definitely a cheap alternative to the above boots.

New Bag - Marc by Marc Jacobs

2011-02-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

New bag alert!!

I got this Marc by Marc Jacobs bag at Barney's SF for a STEAL over the holidays. Normally retailing around $328 (I think), I debated on buying this at $200 at a Bloomies sale. But good thing I didn't b/c it was at Barney's for $99! Sweet! It's a great casual bag, really roomy and I adore the red/tan striped strap.

For me, I've always been the type to wait for a sale. Rarely does the item I want sell out and if it does, there are always ways to hunt it down. I spent almost a year hunting down the Marc Jacobs Petal to the Metal Sasha Bag and I eventually found it! Of course the down side is that I had to wait ONE YEAR and it was in such high demand that I almost paid full price anyways, but that was a rare situation. If you're not living in New York and not competing with other fashion obsessed people to have the latest and greatest clothing item, waiting one season is really not that bad.

The expandable side zipper

Buckles connecting the strap to the bag

Interior

Evil Sloth

2011-02-10T16:02:00.000-08:00

God, I love sloths!! They are so adorable! On my bucket list - see a sloth in person before I die!

Lost Valentine

2011-02-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

lol. oh jack.

Outfit of the Day - Young Fabulous & Broke

2011-02-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

Today's dress/tunic/long shirt item is brought to you by one of my favorite brands - Young Fabulous & Broke. I love the laid back and comfy style of this brand added to the "subtle sexuality and simple, understated elegance." This top is actually a huge black t-shirt with gold dust diagonal stripes, but the best part is the open back. It's also super comfortable, kinda 80s, but still stylish. I like that this could easily go with a pair of boots in the winter or sandals in the spring.

-Young Fabulous & Broke tunic - $50 (sale)
-F21 black leggings
-JCrew belt ($20)

Star Wars Plushies

2011-02-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

I'm super excited that My Life As Liz is coming back for season 2. Woo hoo! And even more excited to see this picture of Liz holding... MY EWOK!

I've had this ewok since... well, since my parents bought it for me from a toy store back in 1984ish. I even wrote my name on the bottom of it's foot, which obviously makes sense as a 6 year old wanting to make sure no one steals her Ewok!!

Of course Wicket the Ewok still lives with me in my guest room, but don't worry. He's not alone. He has Vader to keep him company. Plush Vader here says all sorts of menacing things when you squeeze him. I can't imagine that he'd be very comforting to a kid who hugs him at night and then starts to hear Vader breathing sounds. eek! D:

The Legwarmer Shoe

2011-02-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite Japanese cosplay looks is the "loose socks" look. No, I am not a old Japanese guy with a Japanese school girl fetish, but I've always been fascinated with Japanese culture and fashion ever since my first visit in 2001. Back then the loose sock look was VERY in and you could buy 20" long socks on every street corner. The longer, the better. Anyhow, I always thought this look was really kawaii plus it kinda reminds me of the 80s legwarmer days, which is probably why I'm even more drawn to it.

This is probably one of the reasons that I really like the Classic Cardy Uggs. Of course being Uggs and incredibly soft and comfy doesn't hurt, but I love that they have the feel of legwarmers over shoes without looking over the top. I found these at Nordstrom Rack the other day for $90 (down from $140) and have been wearing them lots with leggings and a big baggy top.

I also have a pair of these LAMB boots which are a similar concept, but I have only worn them once as they are pretty funky and hard to pair with stuff. I am a huge Gwen fan and followed her clothing and bag line way back when it started. I know that she got a ton of inspiration from Harajuku and Tokyo fashion so I would like to think this pair of shoes could be based off the cosplay look.

Vader Shrine!

2011-02-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

Here's the Vader Shrine. See? I wasn't exaggerating! It really does look like a small shrine to Darth Vader, no?

From L to R:

-13" Darth Vader by Kotobukiya

-Random Darth Vader valentines box that came with yummy candy of course

-Vintage Darth Vader coin bank - drop in a coin and the Imperial March plays, Vader breathes, and he says a few encouraging things

-Metal Darth Vader given to me from a craft fair

-8" action figure from one of the more recent lines

-And of course, Darth Tater, the baddest spud in the galaxy

The hanging art is actually printed cloth. I bought it in Japan last year from an amazing toy store near Harajuku. Who knew Vader in Japan could look so poetic?

Vader Typography

2011-01-31T14:54:00.000-08:00

Amazing! Which reminds me I should post a pic of my Vader Shrine one of these days...

Outfit of the Day #17 - Lace skirts + T-shirts

2011-01-28T15:14:00.001-08:00

I found the most gorgeous lace skirt last month from JCrew here. The cut is especially flattering b/c I have a boyish figure with no hips so it actually gives the illusion of curves b/c of the puffier sides and the elastic band. Plus the detail of the lace is incredible, but also extremely dangerous for me since I am super clumsy! I've already caught myself getting the lace snagged in various things. Grr.

I decided to pair this ultra fem skirt w/a rocker T-shirt. In this case, my Weezer shirt from the Memories Tour. I couldn't really find a good cardigan to go with the outfit so I threw on my default hoodie+leather jacket combo. Add some tights and ankle boots and we're good to go. This is an easy example of how to pair your regular old band/80s/funky/retro T-shirt with something more dressy. I love the combo of casual and dressy attire and hopefully this example works! There is nothing wrong w/pairing this lace skirt w/a dressier top, but it's definitely a different and more sophisticated look.

Details of the skirt. This would be rad if it had POCKETS!

The goods:

-Black Lace Skirt (JCrew $40)

-Weezer shirt ($30)

-Leather Motorcycle Jacket (L.A.M.B. $150)

-Grey hoodie (Hollister $20)

-Tights (Target $5)

Dress of the day #16- BCBG generation

2011-01-26T11:05:00.000-08:00

I recently started noticing a lot of great clothing by BCBG Generation. I've always been a fan of the larger MaxAzria brand but never bought any of their stuff. They have great fancy dressy, but again, they are fancy dresses. I find that the BCBG Generation patterns are fun and hip with a hint of retro/80s. Take for example this dress.

The confetti like patterns plus the discreet hearts totally remind me of the 80s without overdoing it. I also absolutely adore the pockets. Seriously, I LOVE POCKETS!! >.< It also comes with this "hidden belt", which I've seen in a lot of their casual dresses.

And the cost? A little under $50 since it was 50% at Bloomies!

Forever 21 finds

2011-01-25T19:12:00.000-08:00

I snuck off to Forever 21 yesterday and found a few cool items. A lot of these are a little early for spring, but it's never too early to get a head start!

Pleated lace/ruffle blouse - would look great tucked in a black pencil skirt or just with skinny jeans and heels.

Collared blush pink blouse with pixelated flowers - ok, I think the pixely flowers really did it, but I also loved the Peter Pan collar. The only thing I didn't like was the waist tie. I kinda wished it was just a blouse so I could tuck it in and wear it w/skirts.

Reverse heart tank - This is really just a printed tank, but then sewn with the fabric reversed. I have a weakness for hearts and stars so I bought this one. I figured it would be pretty versatile with my wardrobe.

Heart print dress - This screams Marc by Marc Jacobs to me. It totally reminds me of the heart print hoodies and sweaters I have seen him put out over the years.

Here's an example of the MJ one:

Grey jersey asymmetrical dress - love the ruching on this as well as the cascading ruffles. I kinda wish that the dress had sleeves on both side though, but it's still cute and very comfortable regardless.

Grey Floral Print Oxford Flats - Love these! But obviously not super versatile. I am still thinking this one over since I've bought way too many shoes lately.

Banana Republic Kriste Chiffon Sandals

2011-01-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

I had a huge score at the BR store the other day! These gorgeous and super feminine sandals were $41 at the BR store with extra 50% off! You can't beat $20 shoes especially with the really pretty detailing in these. The strap color is a pinkish taupe. I was debating on getting both the black and the light colored ones, but decided on just the taupe one since you can't really see the flower design on the black ones as much. Deals FTW!

Outfit of the Day #15

2011-01-24T13:27:00.000-08:00

It's starting to warm up a bit so I'm starting to wear a lot of tights and skirts. I find that having ankle boots really helps since I got really tired of wearing flats with skirts all the time. I would love to wear more heels, but find that I get lazy in the mornings and want to take it easy on my feet. On this day, I built my outfit around this navy corduroy skirt that I got from JCrew's winter sale. In deciding what top to wear, I wanted something lightweight in either off white or black. For some reason, I just thought lace detailing would be good for this preppy look.

Here's a close-up of the tank where you can see the lace detail in the center:

The goods:
-Navy corduroy skirt (JCrew, $25)
-Black Banana Republic Lace Silk Tank ($19)
-Black 3/4 sleeve cardigan with lace trim (JCrew, $30)
-Sheer grey tights (Target $5)
-Dolce Vita Patrick Ankle Boots ($70)

Outfit of the Day #14 - slouchy and skinny

2011-01-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

I went shopping in SF over the weekend (surprise!) and found the exact top I was looking for. Of course at the time, I wasn't really looking for anything, but when I saw this top, I knew I needed it. :) As all outfits need balance, I paired this super slouchy 3/4 sleeve olive sweater tunic with skinny black jeggings and my military inspired ankle boots.

the goods:
-H&M drapey sweater tunic in olive ($25) with dark Abercrombie olive tank top underneath ($8)
-7 for all Mankind "second skin" pants/jeggings/leggings/whatever they're called at this point ($70)
-necklace from Bloomies Aqua brand ($10 clearance)
-Nine West Cuzza boot ($50 on ebay)

I Heart Junk Food

2011-01-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

Even though I talk about a lot about brand clothing items on this blog, I should make it clear that I love all sorts of clothing - from high end to low end to the nerdy end. Take for example some of my favorite tees in my closet. This is my collection of Junk Food tees, which run about $15-30 a shirt. Junk Food makes great vintage looking shirts that fit really well and are extremely soft.

I bought this Vader shirt in Berkeley somewhere and loved it b/c it looks like a Vader pez dispenser. The one on the right, I just purchased at Disneyland recently. I loved it b/c it not only shows the Chinese movie poster of Star Wars and has a different v-neck style, but I also heart the rainbow colors on a navy shirt. Gotta love the 80s!

These two below I bought at a Celebration event. Celebration IV I think? Celebration is the biggest con for all things Star Wars in case you're wondering. I wouldn't be caught dead in anything with the word "princess" on it unless it was Princess Leia.

My non-Star Wars Junk Food tees. I am pretty sure this collection will just keep growing. Honestly, I don't think I will ever get enough of the 80s!

Outfit of the Day #13

2011-01-14T11:04:00.000-08:00

It's winter and yes, it's really cold outside, but it doesn't mean that I can't wear floral print.

The goods:

-Floral print top from Shibuya 109 ($25)

-Random long beige sweater from Loehmans that I bought on super clearance - $5

-Frye Celia over the knee boots - $150

-Charcoal grey leggings from Muji ($10).

If you don't know what Muji is, it's like the IKEA/crate and barrel of Asia but they also sell clothes? I guess that's the best way I could describe it. They sell everything from makeup to furniture, picture frames, stationary, socks, sweaters, and even food - all simple and neat packaging.

Outfit of the Day #12 - Shibuya Coat

2011-01-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

This outfit is basically just to showcase one of the winter coats I got in Japan. I love that this coat is:

1) long

2) Sherpa lined hood so it's super fluffy.

3) Split-zip hood so you can have the hood lie flat on your back. Just like this Oakley example

4) Has removable fur trim (on cuff and hood)

5) Huge pockets at a perfect length to keep my hands warm!

The goods:

-Coat from Shibuya 109 ($90)

-Blue/Black striped tunic - Urban Outfitters ($10)

-F21 dark denim jeggings ($10)

Outfit of the Day #11- the lost elephants

2011-01-04T17:06:00.000-08:00

You know when you see something in the store and then for some reason you convince yourself not to buy it and then when you get home you can't stop thinking about it? Well, this happened to me with this Paul and Joe's Sister blouse I saw at Barney's almost 1.5 years ago. Wow, I didn't even realize it had been over 1 year until I just wrote that out. Anyways, this is the aforementioned blouse. This is the dress version of it, but the print was the same - white with blue elephants printed all over. The blouse was also a button up short sleeve type, although I clearly remember the buttons were purposely off-center.

And since I saw the blouse while I was on vacation at the time, I never went back to buy it and of course I completely regretted it. I searched all over the internets, but my only hope seemed to be eBay. I decided to do a "save search" for "paul joe sister elephant" and just recently, something finally popped up - a blue silk version with the same pattern (but reversed)! OMG. I almost died. Of course I used Buy It Now and bought it right away, fulfilling my lifelong elephant dreams. This version is cinched at the empire line, also has the off-center buttons, and has puffy sleeves.

The outfit:

-H&M long grey cardigan ($20)

-Paul & Joe's Sister Elephant blouse ($60)

-7 for all mankind black second skin legging/pants ($60)

-Dolce Vita Patrick boots ($70)

Flat Ankle Boots

2011-01-02T23:12:00.000-08:00

Ever since I decided to return this pair of East Village booties from Gilt, I have been hunting down another pair of ankle boots. Well, lucky for my wallet, I found 2!

I came across this pair of Nine West Peroxy boots in a grey suede at Nordstrom Rack and immediately fell in love. They look great with leggings or skinny jeans and of course, they are grey so they fit right into my collection of dull grey clothing. :) On top of that, I shopped for an entire day in SF and my feet didn't have a single complaint.

And while doing said shopping, Saks Fifth Avenue was having one of their "40% off sale item" sales and I found the one pair of these Dolce Vita Patrick boots in Taupe that happened to be in my size! Yes, they look a little similar to my other suede flat ankle boots, but as any girl will tell you, "They are entirely different!" They are actually still online here with the extra 40% off included in the price! They are not as gold/tan as they are in the Saks pic and are really more of a lighter Taupe color.

Anyhow, I love them both and am hoping that they will carry me through winter/spring!

Outfit of the day #10

2011-01-02T18:12:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo! I made it to outfit #10. This is definitely not as regular as I would like to be, but not having easy access to good lighting and a full length mirror anymore has made this more difficult! I will definitely try harder though.

I have always had a thing for the long socks w/skirts look. I see it all over Japanese mags every year and ever since I saw a page out of this winter's Bloomies catalogue with long socks galore, I really wanted to try it out. It's definitely not a good "work look", but for occassions like going out shopping, I thought it would be fine. I have to say though, I got lots of stares on the street. It's kind of like the stare you get in New York when people are checking out your outfit, but you never can tell if it's a good stare or a bad stare!

My inspiration from Bloomies:

I decided to pair my long socks with shorts. I did wear tights underneath the socks as well, but for visibility purposes of the photo, I removed the tights.

The goods:
-Juicy Couture puffy sleeve coat (older season, around $300)
-Banana republic black silk lace tank ($20)
-F21 grey plaid shorts
-thigh high long black socks (real socks, not like stockings)
-Nine West peroxy boots ($40 at the Rack)

Gifts for your geek

2010-12-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

I've been seeing so many cool geek toys lately that I thought I should just put together a wish list of must have toys this year. And maybe even great gifts for your favorite geeky guy/gal!

1) Star Wars lego mini fig clock - This is a win b/c it's a GIANT mini figure!! I love those mini figs so much that I even put some on top of my wedding cake! The only thing that this clock is lacking is that the alarm itself should be the Imperial March. How could they not think of that??

2) Delorean Hard Drive - The Back to the Future trilogy is one of my all time favorites and definitely on my list of desert island movies (#2 especially). Not only is this a great desk display, but it's functional too! GREAT SCOTT!

3) 108 objects from flight 815 - If you're not sure what this is about, then seriously stop reading. Paying tribute to one of the greatest shows ever made.

4) Lego iPhone Speaker - It's a toy and speaker in one! Plus you can build on it (I think).

5) Trigger Mug - Another awesome thing to bring to work. You can pretend to shoot people while in meetings.

6) Board games - I would recommend Settlers of Catan, Bang!, or Agricola for the "beginners" who have never played these sort of so-called table top games. Middle level might be Dominion and more advanced ones would be Puerto Rico or Race for the Galaxy.

6) And if all else fails, just get them a Taun Taun Sleeping Bag - You can't go wrong w/this one b/c it's just so awesome and ridiculous. Wada Wada.

Outfit of the Day #9

2010-12-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

I have been buying way too many clothes lately!! I think Black Friday really did it and here's another purchase from that weekend. I first heard of the brand Vena Cava while shopping at Bergdorfs in NYC (more like browsing and not really buying anything). Whatever this brand was, I bonded with the patterns that reminded me of the 70s and 80s and a style that reminded me of something urban or European. Fast forward to Black Friday at Bloomingdales and I ran across this cute geometric patterned top from Vena Cava for Aqua! I didn't even know they did a short line for Aqua, but I loved this top and snatched it up right away.

I paired the top with an olive asymmetrical Forever 21 skirt ($8.50), charcoal gray sheer tights, a long black LA Made cardigan ($25) and my new over the knee boots!

Closeup of the Vena Cava top (on sale for $40, regular $98). It's actually a tank with snap buttons on the front.

I also got a steal on these Guess Solar over the knee boots. With the help of the sales rack, an extra 20% off sales, and a $25 off $100 coupon, I got these boots for about $110 after tax! And with that, here's my outfit of the day.

I've been searching for a pair of flat OTK boots FOREVER and I really liked these. Normally I wouldn't really buy Guess shoes, but these actually fit really well, were flat, and pretty good quality. On top of that, they are really comfortable and I like that they stay up and are stiff (versus the long boots that are a slouchy leather).

Outfit of the Day #8 - The Chunky Sweater

2010-12-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of sweaters in general. I think it's because I feel like they are so plain. But on Black Friday, I came across this awesome patterned wrap sweater from BR that I thought was really cute. I was actually shocked that I would like something like this b/c it reminded me of fair aisle print, which always reminds me of yuppies, people who live on boats, and maybe just old people in general. Then I thought, “Oh no! Am I starting to dress older??” I mean, how long can I really keep shopping at Forever21? Haha. Anyhow, on Black Friday, the entire Banana Republic store was 40% off!! So I took advantage and bought the sweater right away. I guess in the end I didn’t care if the sweater looked “old” as long as it was cute.

The outfit:
- BR wrap sweater - $105 after the 40% off
- Basic white tee - mine is from Hollister and was $5
- F21 leggings - always a good deal at $4.50
- Frye Celia over the knee boots (in taupe) - another Black Friday deal for $150

Outfit of the Day #7

2010-12-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

Today's outfit was built around this vintage inspired taupe-ish/lavender lace dress from Free People that I bought during Black Friday. And yes, it was a great deal!! I decided to pair it with my black leather motorcycle jacket and some black boots. I also threw in a pair of funkier print tights.

The parts:

-Free People Lace Neck Dress - $98 online, but I got it for around $45 at Bloomies

-L.A.M.B. motorcycle jacket - $150 (explanation of the ridiculously low price here)

-Timberland motorcycle boots - $100 (normally I wouldn't think of Timberland boots to be that stylish, but I bought these a few years ago and they are super high quality leather, waterproof, weatherproof, and just awesome)

-plaid tights $5

Weezer! \o/ =w= \o/

2010-11-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to the greatest show on earth - the Weezer Memories Tour at the SF Masonic Center. It was A-MAZING! The venue was small and intimate and a tiny bit odd b/c I imagined that they normally used this place for theater plays or maybe orchestras? Everyone had assigned seats and we happened to be in row E (but technically the 2nd row b/c the first 3 rows were closed). This was now my 8th Weezer show and the best one yet! And just so I can keep track, I have seen them at RIMAC (UCSD), Cox Arena (SD), oakland arena (or somewhere in the Bay Area but I remember this show b/c I was sick and still jumping up and down), oakland arena for Foo Fighters Tour, San Jose State for Angels and Airwaves opening, Shoreline in the rain for Blink 182 Tour, and then this one.

The first half was the greatest hits, which included some of my favorites such as:

-I Want You To
-Pork and Beans
-Keep Fishin
-Island in the Sun

And like he's been doing in the past few shows I've seen, Rivers worked the crowd and ran around the stage and even into the crowd MANY times, but only in the first set. He even hung out on the second floor for a while! But the best part was when he came to our side of the stage and started fist bumping and hi-fiving people. I couldn't resist so I ran up and HE HI-FIVED ME!!!! I could have died right then and there.

After intermission (yes, intermission), there was a slide show. Seriously, a slideshow! But it wasn't your normal boring "vacation" slide show. Weezer gave us a glimpse into their past and where they came from - their first flyers for their first shows, pics of THE garage and everyday life of the band. Here's a collage of a bunch of pics I took of the slideshow.

Of course the Blue Album set started with My Name is Jonas (since they start almost every show I've been to with that song), but then what surprised me was that they went through the whole album in order! Which of course meant that "Only in Dreams" was last. I have only been lucky enough to hear that song sung live only once and ever since they announced the Blue Album tour, I've been looking forward to that moment again. Well, it was worth the wait. That is definitely my top favorite Weezer song live and it was a great way to end the show.

I feel really grateful to have even gone to this show. I remember buying the Blue Album on cassette when I was around 15 in my "teen angst" years and listening to that over and over on my walkman - oh yes, my ultra cool walkman. The first time I heard "In the Garage" and the lyrics "I've got Kitty Pryde... and Night Crawler too", I knew this was the band for me. Even 8 shows later, I am still not tired of seeing them live.

Mirrodin lunch box

2010-11-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

One of my old coworkers hooked me up with this Scars of Mirrodin lunch box. I have a thing for lunch boxes, mostly because it reminds me a lot of the 80s. This lunch box comes with packs inside as well as 2 starter decks - not sure if they are all different, but this one had a green poison one and the metalcraft one. After playing the poison deck a bunch of times, I'm finding that they are too cheap unless your opponent has the cards to remove counters. I dunno - I really have mixed feelings about it. I'm liking metalcraft though, but have yet to explore more with it. Happy gathering!

Ruffly cardigan love

2010-11-10T22:53:00.000-08:00

Growing up wearing men's clothing until the end of high school, I really never though I'd be wearing something like what I'm wearing below. I hated bows, lace, ruffles, and anything overly feminine. But somehow it's like I'm drawn to all that crap now. Weird how that happens. Then again, I thought I would grow out of the Star Wars, video games, and comic books, but that unexpectedly didn't happen, which is odd too. Anyways, back to ruffles. I am really digging this Jcrew ruffle sweater that I just got during an awesome sale. It's pale dusty pink, which I find goes really well w/grey jeans. This is now my fifth ruffly cardigan, which just means I have way too many cardigans. :P

I honestly think JCrew makes some of the most beautiful cardigans I have ever seen. Unfortunately this season, they are not so great, but they do have a few good ones still left on sale including the one I'm wearing!

Merino Cielo Caridgan - $34.99

Traversa Cardigan - $29.99

And surprisingly, even Abercrombie & Fitch has some pretty cute ruffly sweaters as well!

Kaylie cardigan - $58

Josey cardigan - $58

East Village Booties

2010-11-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Just got these Jeffrey Campbell East Village booties from Gilt. I really like them, but they are incredibly thin. We're talking like one piece of leather for most of the boot! The outside is a nice soft leather and then you basically see the suede part on the inside of the boot. So needless to say, they are a bit thin and flimsy for a boot. Although I read that this runs a little big, these fit me a little tight. I have pretty narrow feet and even these are a little narrow for me in front. I got an 8.5 and that's what I normally wear for heels. But since the heel on this is lower, maybe I really needed a 9. Also, I wore them around the house and the back of the ankle part started to dig into my skin. Maybe this is also b/c they are not a perfect fit. Overall, I still like the shoe but am debating on returning it if I can somehow get a size 9. Gilt at least has free returns, but damn that $10 I just lost for shipping! lol.

Victorian/Military Ankle Booties

2010-11-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite boot trends that I saw in Tokyo last year was the victorian/military ankle boot, complete with laces and buckles, specifically a buckle over the front of the boot. I especially like the look of this boot b/c the front buckle makes your foot appear shorter. And with size 8.5/9 feet and not being able to fit ANY shoes in Asia b/c the largest size they carry is an 8, I searched high and low for something similar. I finally discovered the Nine West Cuzza boot, which happened to be 1-2 seasons old meaning that they were only available on eBay. They ended up being extremely comfortable for the height plus they have cushioned soles, which is awesome for my feet.

And now with boot season approaching, I have started seeing this style boot pop up here and there in magazines and runways. As always, trends are always much more up to date in Europe/Asia and then slowly trickle over to the states. Remember when I mentioned seeing military jackets with fur hoodies all over Tokyo last winter? Well, now I'm seeing these all over the place! Regardless of how slow trends are over here, I still like seeing them come into the "ready to wear" mainstream world.

Here are a few boots comparable to the Cuzza boot that I would recommend.

Jeffrey Campbell Lace-Up Ankle Boot - $178 from UO (and another 20% off right now)

Deena & Ozzy Tread Boot - $68 (and 20% off at Urban Outfitters right now!)

Nine West Donley - $129 at Piperlime (which usually has good coupon codes). I love the cool buckles on these booties! The army green color gives it a very military look too. I've always found Nine West shoes to be extremely comfortable too.

Dolce Vita Josh - $245 at Piperlime (15% off when you sign up for emails!). Not only do these look great and go with everything, but they have fur lining! I can imaging these would be great for winter.

Outfit of the Day #6

2010-11-03T10:34:00.001-07:00

The weather in CA is being weird lately and I don't know whether I'm dressing for cold weather or warm weather. Today was definitely warm enough to wear a skirt with some tights so I basically planned my outfit around this awesome skirt from Forever 21 ($8.50!). I love the pleating on this skirt.

Since I'm more paranoid about wearing anything too tight to work, I paired it with a long cardigan and a flowy top to balance it out.

The goods:
-Forever 21 Asymmetrical pleated skirt ($8.50)
-Yumi Kim flowy top ($50)
-LA Made long black cardi ($25)
-Dolce Vita boots ($65)
-Forever 21 heart necklace
-tights
Total cost: ~$150

Facehugger Pumpkin

2010-10-29T15:02:00.000-07:00

This year I was inspired to make an Aliens themed pumpkin. I was too chicken to watch the Alien movies when I was a kid so the first time I actually watched these movies was in high school. I recently decided to watch Alien and Aliens again and realized how much I enjoyed these movies. So with that, I decided to make a Facehugger pumpkin.

For those who have no idea where to start caving a 3D pumpkin, I wanted to provide some tips from an amateur pumpkin carver. This is now my 3rd 3D pumpkin and I *think* I have improved a little every year. I do draw for fun, but I have never done any sort of 3D sculpting of any sort, nor do I do anything creative in my professional life.

Here is my very first "3D" style pumpkin. Not truly 3D, but I really liked the brain.

I was trying to go for something a little scarier my 2nd year, but it turned out more comical I think. This is a Wampa from Star Wars. Hair is courtesy of a stuffed dog toy.

So on to carving 3D pumpkins... I have no idea how to choose a good pumpkin so I won't even go into that. I did read that you want a heavy one, but aren't all pumpkins heavy? I would just say to make sure you go to an art store or preferably a clay store and pick up some good tools.

The fat triangular one is good for scraping the skin. But since I bought it on my 2nd day of carving, it was too late anyways. I mostly use a good cheese grater to get all the skin off. It's messy, but it works. Other than that, you need a small and medium loop tool to do most of the carving.

So once I had a design in my head, I started mapping out what areas to carve. Here, I knew that the human head needed to be the deeper part so I just started carving out some sections. The dark parts w/the skin on are going to be the Facehugger's fingers.

Then I started detailing the fingers, one by one. I don't think I ever want to carve anything with 8 fingers again. :( Since you have to be careful not to take too much off, I started with fat fingers and then shaved off little by little until I got the shape that I wanted. Here are the first 4 fingers.

I finished up the rest of the fingers and decided to do the body on Day 2. By that time, I had done about 4-5 hours of carving and my arm/back/neck was starting to hurt. lol. I would love to prank someone with this in their fridge though...

Day 2 was finishing the rest of the body which I didn't think would be as tough as the fingers. I decided to buy some proper carving tools (especially the small metal one in the pic) and that was basically all I used for the rest of the Facehugger body. Digging deep is key to making the details stand out. This ended up taking another 2-3 hours (while watching the World Series on the side). Go Giants!

The biggest challenge I faced was making this look like someone's head. I guess this was a bad choice of pumpkin shape, but at the time I didn't know what I was making! Anyhow, I figured I would have to carve some ears and maybe even add hair to make this more like a human head. I ended up taking a really cheap wig and cutting strips of hair out. Then I stapled it in rows to the pumpkin. I guess this guy is kinda balding. Oh well, he's dead anyways.

And basically that's the finished product! A little ridiculous looking, but I am fairly happy with the results.

Outfit of the Day #5 - Elizabeth and James

2010-10-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today's outfit is centered around this Elizabeth and James beaded shirt that I just bought at Nordstrom Rack, which I usually refer to as "the rack". Looking at the price tag, I could not believe that the original price of this T-shirt (yes, I said T-shirt) was $260. The rack price was $125. And the only reason I considered buying it was b/c it was an additional 75% off of that, making it only around $30.

I love the beading detail on the shoulders. The shirt itself is just a regular old grey jersey T-shirt, nothing special. In fact, it is very much Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen style in that it's slouchy, a little grungy, but still stylish.

The Goods:

-Elizabeth & James beaded shoulder Tee - $30

-Forever 21 black Jeggings ($15)

-Forever 21 Double buckle belt ($6)

Outfit of the Day #4

2010-10-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! I'm on a roll with my outfit of the day posts. It definitely helps to have finally gotten an iphone. Loving the PictureShow app too. I think it's one of the better vintage camera apps out there b/c you can customize a lot of stuff. Even though you can add certain filters, you can still do things like brighten a picture, add contrast, yellow/red/blue tones, etc.

Fall days seem perfect for tights. Skirts with tights, shorts with tights, dresses with tights...

The goods:

-Banana Republic cardigan (it's a greyish purple with grey trim) -$24

-Abercrombie tank with attached pearls/chains - $15

-Charcoal grey plaid shorts from Forever 21 - $20

-black tights

Total cost: ~$60