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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Buddie is back in da hizzy!


Budz is back! We picked him up from the veterinary hospital. The oncologist was so sweet. We were all teary and hugging by the end. He was obviously well-loved there. It makes me happy to know how much he was cared for while he was so far from me.

It was a shorter drive this time around since it's too warm for snow (thank goodness!) But Budz was more restless on the way back due to the pain from the moist desquamation (side effect of radiation). I think the wound from the surgery looked visually more painful than now, but the radiation side effects seem much more painful to Budz. My poor boy! His pain may get worse this next week but, it should hopefully start getting better after that. Our poor guy could use a return to normal!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Target Shoe Review

Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments on my hair from the last post. It's such an easy style, that it'll be nice to have that in my repertoire for some variety. :)


So, if you haven't heard, Target has a buy one pair of shoes, and get the second pair shoes 50% off promotion going on. So, I thought I'd check out a few new pumps including a couple nude/blush colored heels for Spring.

Women's Mossimo® Pearce Leather Pumps- -Black

I love these pumps. Of the Pearce pumps line, these were the only ones that were real leather, so I saw them as the best value. I was tempted by the patent camel version as well, but I thought I should try a couple of the other pumps to see how they compared with one another.

The heel on this pump is pretty high for me at 3.25" and no platform. But somehow, IT'S COMFY! I mean like wear-all-day-and-dance-around-in-'em comfy. I actually did wear these all day to my friends' wedding and reception. I even danced around in them a little, and my feet didn't hurt at all afterward. WIN! I have decently wide feet (especially in the toe area), but the toe of the pump didn't squish or pinch or flatten my tootsies. I apologize for not taking a picture of the tread. The bottoms of the shoe are rubber with some tread on the heel and sole. The rubber makes these very stable, so I have no worries about slipping! Sweet.

I took these in my normal Target pump size of 7.5. I highly recommend these pumps. They also come in Camel, Navy, Dove (gray), and Taupe.

Women's Mossimo® Black Versie Pumps - Natural Patent

The Versie Pumps are a pretty light pinky blush color. The shape of these pumps reminded me of the Pearce, so I had high hopes for them. They have a taller heel than the Pearce (3.75"), but they have a slight platform which should help make the heel feel shorter. But somehow the platform or the shape of the shoe made standing in them a bit awkward and squished my toes. The top of the shoe dug a bit into the top of my toes (it may be that the toe box was just trying to reel my wide feet in). I also felt more precarious in the taller height. These would NOT be comfortable for me or a wider footed gal for a long period of time. The fit of the 7.5 was TTS, but it was too uncomfortable for me. Pass.

Women's Mossimo® Peony Pumps - Blush Patent

The shape of these feels much more retro than the standard pumps like the Versie or Pearce. I thought the thicker heel would make these more comfortable. I was SO wrong. These hurt my feet. They were stiff, and squished the top of my foot a bunch. (It appears I'm not the only one who thought this... see them on Stuff Jewish Girls Like).

I also was not a fan of the blush color of these pumps. The Peony Pumps were a darker, muddier pink than the Versie Pumps. I much preferred the color of the Versie pumps (see below for color comparison). These run TTS but are not comfy. Pass!

The tread on the Peony Pumps:


Color comparison between the Versie (Left) and Peony Pumps (right)



In other news, I won one of Tara's (Little Girl Big Closet) Anthro gift cards from her Portrait of a Woman drawing! I'm super excited, this one plus the Anthro gc from my MIL will go toward a new summer dress as yet to be determined :) See some of the beautiful portraits other ladies submitted.

And the lovely Aki! of 7% Solution awarded me a Stylish Blogger award. I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself, and pass the award to other bloggers. But I know so many lovely bloggers out there, it's just too tough to choose. So I'll just tell you 7 things about myself:

1. I love finding gifts that I think are perfect for a particular person.
2. I try to call my Nai Nai (grandma) every week
3. I love to clean and organize
4. Drinking coffee doesn't keep me awake or wake me up (sadly)
5. I'm fairly shy in large groups of people
6. I prefer savory to sweet things, but it's best to have salty and sweet at the same time!
7. Cardamom is my favorite spice

We're off to drive to pick up Buddie soon. Well, we actually pick him up tomorrow, but we need to drive out there tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing him, but not to the long stretch of time in the car!

Here's my outfit from today (it was a wet hair morning :) )


With this look, I was trying to dress this pencil skirt down by pairing it with a t-shirt and leatherette jacket.

OOTD specs
Bebe Mini Studded Shrunken Moto Jacket sz XS ($20)
Green pencil skirt (thrifted $5)
J.Crew flamingo tissue t-shirt (thrifted $3)
F21 necklace
Merona Madalena Suede Ballet Flats - grey ($7.50)
grey tights

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Birdie Belt reviews


I loved the look of Anthropologie's feather-clasped belt (pictured above), but I didn't want to spend $58 on a belt. So when I saw a $24 Ecote Skinny Metal feather belt on Urban Outfitter's site, I thought I'd give it a try. I have a lot of brown belts, so I opted for the black leather and silver feather version.


reads: 100% Leather RN#66170 CA# 32054 Made in China

The belt part is actually leather, which is nice. Not super supple leather, but I prefer skinny belts to be a little stiffer than wider belts. The black was actually black. Unfortunately, the metal feather looked fairly cheap. The silver tone was too bright. It didn't have the nice antiquing that the Anthro version had. The metal of the feather was a turn-off, but I would have been tempted to make it work had the belt fit.

I ordered the the belt in a size small (the smallest size), but it was about 4 inches too large for me on the smallest hole. I have a belt punch, but because this is a skinny belt, I worried about making a mistake and ruining the integrity of the belt itself (perhaps leading to a tear at a newly made hole). I returned this belt.


If it had fit, it would be super cute...see: (I'm holding the belt taut behind me)


Overall, if you missed the Anthro version, this version could be a cute cheap replacement, but smaller-waisted ladies might be sized out.


The other birdie belt I tried was the Ecote Stretch Sparrow Belt from Urban Outfitters (also $24).

This is a wider elastic belt. I ordered the S/M and I didn't have any size issues. The metal sparrows clasp at the beaks via a small hook and eye type of closure:

Because the belt fits snugly with the elastic, I wouldn't worry about the belt snapping open.


Like with the feather belt, the metal on the sparrow belt looked fairly cheap in person. I was less bothered with the gold-toned sparrows than I was with the silver feather though. I thought the belt was fairly cute.

Side note: I can't help self-mocking and thinking of the Portlandia "Put a bird on it" skit while wearing it.

I ended up returning this belt as well. The elastic was already unraveling/coming undone where it was sewn/attached to itself behind the sparrows. That was a little disconcerting. I suspect poor quality control. Hopefully if you order one, the elastic will be intact. But I returned this one. Overall, this was another cute belt, albeit a little cheaply constructed. When worn, the cheap construction may not be as noticeable. :/

OOTD

How appropriate that I tried on birdie belts with my bird and deer dress (aka Anthropologie Southward Stop Shirtdress)! I wore this out to Costco on Saturday where I ran into some faculty from my department. Y'all know I try to dress down when I go to school, so I felt oddly over dressed (not for Costco mind you, but for seeing faculty, lol. I'm a weird cookie).

I've also been trying something new with my hair. Jean of Extra Petite posted how she gets some loose waves in her hair. I figured since I also have Asian hair, I might give it a try. I only had a 1" barrel curling iron (she recommends 2"), so my curls are tighter than hers. I can't decide how I like it on me.

It really reminds me of when I was little. I was always trying to curl my hair. I'm not exactly sure why I had a fascination with it. I know my mom always wanted me to do it for special occasions, so I think I thought it was a way to get super dolled up - a way for me to be "pretty." I used warm curlers or curling irons. I even had that special wash and curl shampoo that made my hair more likely to hold a curl. There was a time in middle school where I rolled my wet hair up in rags every night so I could have "curls" in the morning. It never looked great. This looks better, but we'll see if I like it over time.

OOTD Specs
Emmelee orange cardigan sz S (it's more like burnt sienna, but came out brighter in the pics)(thrifted $7)
Anthropologie Southward Stop Shirtdress sz 2 ($75)
Hue bordeaux sueded tights ($6.50)
Target black leather Pearce Pumps ($30)

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Spring growth

Happy Spring everyone (in the Northern hemisphere)! Yesterday, I popped into my backyard and I noticed that things have started to grow. When the heck did that happen?

These are some mini daffodils I bought a few years ago to brighten up my office at school. When the flowers died back, I dug them out of their pot and stuck them in a corner of my yard. This is the second year they've popped up since relocation!

I planted three clematis last year, and one of them is already going crazy with regrowth and flowers!

I never noticed Euphorbia much until I moved to Seattle. But I love the plants architectural shape and the flowers look like a bijillion little alien space ships. So cool!

Hellebores make me so happy because they start "blooming" so early! They do really well on our back hill, so I've planted quite a few of them out there now. Ev doesn't like them that much tho, so I kept myself from buying more when I saw some gorgeous large ones at Costco yesterday.

It's funny, because I was out in the yard just two weeks ago, and I didn't see much going on back then. But now my peonies have pushed through the soil, and there's a ton of new growth everywhere. (of course, my allergies are starting to go haywire now too!)

Btw, it was definitely weird to pop out to the yard a couple weeks ago for a quick pic and not have Buddie running around me. But we pick him up next weekend! I can't wait to hug him!!!

If you're wondering 'what the heck is she staring at in this pic?' Well, so am I. I know there are lots of weeds back there. Think of that look as a look of dread... dreading having to go out there and dig up all those dandelion roots!

Weed staring OOTD Specs
J.Crew wool windowpane blazer Fall 2005 sz 4 (thrifted $5)
Loft striped 3/4 sleeve shirt ($4 thrifted)
Lisa Skinny Jeans by Fire Jeans sz 5 (thrifted $7)
Dr. Scholl's boots ($20)


In other news, I met up with fellow style-blogger and Seattle-ite, Oui Sammie, on St. Patrick's day. Sammie is such a sweetie, and she is just as gorgeous and stylish in person as she is on her blog. But we were both bad bloggers and forgot to take pics (we got really caught up chatting about Seattle, California, and life) :D

I hadn't planned on wearing green, but last minute I threw on this green dress. I hadn't ever winterized this dress before, and I'm not sure I was so successful this time.


St. Paddy's Day OOTD
BCBGMaxazaria green dress sz XSP (thrifted $7)
Martin & Osa Birch Rose silk tie-front top sz L ($15)
Ann Taylor Loft Cocoon Sweater sz XS ($25)
grey tights
Brown Franco Sarto knee-high boots

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Wearing green and looking yellow...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! And no, I'm not being racist against myself. But I looked through these pics, and my face is SO yellow. Not sure how the lighting worked that out. Although, my parents did always warn me that AZNs don't look good in green... but still, this looks extra wonky.

These pics also remind me how much make up could help me. My lips kinda just blend into my face here. I know lipstick helps, but it's hard for me to put something on that I know I'm going to have to think about reapplying, etc. I prefer to be low maintenance, but the lip-face blending here is pretty unacceptable. But I've never really found an all day lasting lipstick that doesn't rub off onto clothes or dry out my lips like crazy. Any tips?


In full disclosure, this was actually yesterday's outfit (although my friend Jeanny convinced me to wear green again today).

Have a great day everyone!

OOTD Specs
Grey dress (thrifted $8)
Banana Republic green button-up shirt sz XS ($10)
H&M black leggings sz 6 ($10)
Lands End Duck Boots ($19)
Buffalo check belt used as neck tie

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Loving a good book

I was never one of those people addicted to candy or fatty foods. But my impulse control fails when it comes to a good story. Once I engage in a story, I want to know more. As a child, I walked around with my nose in books (literally, I actually walked around with a book in front of my face, somehow I was able to avoid oncoming obstacles...).

My parents used to scold me for reading all the time. And I had to be forcibly extricated from the pages of whatever tale I was reading to do normal things like eat, sleep, go outside. Of course, even after my parents told me to go to sleep, I'd creep under the covers with a flash light so I could finish my book. (I guess that's how I got used to surviving on very little sleep...and how I developed really dark circles at 9 years of age).

It didn't matter the kind of book - fantasy, biographies, trashy teen novels, or great works of literary fiction - I consumed them all relentlessly.

I'm the same way with stories on television. I can't stand to have stories meted out, episode by episode, spaced weeks apart. That's why I love it when series hit DVD - or better yet, online distribution through Netflix or Hulu. Then I can watch a whole season unhindered while doing data analysis or created graphs.

And when a season has aired on TV, but hasn't made it to DVD or online, I search out synopses of the episodes (much to Ev's chagrin). I still get excited to watch the story unfold when the shows go online. I just get caught up in the story all over again.

Sadly, nowadays, I haven't found time to read many books. I read scientific articles (which on their own can be quite interesting stories). But someday, I do hope to bury myself back into some hardbound pages.

I actually picked up these two books for photo shoot props based on a photog tip from Little Girl Big Closet. Unlike Tara, who always looks gorgeous, warm, and contemplative with her photo props, I seem to mostly get goofy with mine. I'm apparently incapable of not being silly :/

This vintage book isn't even a story book. It's Esquire's Handbook for Hosts. It tells how one should throw a party, shin dig, hootenanny... what to have on hand, salads to make...


Stories OOTD Specs
Vintage black accordian pleated Woolworth's skirt ($4.80 thrifted) (now hemmed! woohoo!)
brown v-neck tee sz M
reddish braided belt (thrifted 99 cents)
tan BCBG cardigan sz S (thrifted)
H&M black leggings sz 6 ($10)
black lace necklace DIY
Franco Sarto boots ($15)
F21 polka dot flower pin ($1.50) (placed on a plastic headband)


I've told y'all about my drug of choice. How about you? What are you addicted to?


As an aside, I've been using Polyvore more as a tool to create outfits. I'm hoping to get my whole wardrobe loaded into Polyvore. And for those items I can't find online, I find a look-a-like to add to my sets. Here's the one for this outfit:

Monday, March 14, 2011

A cat, some ducks, no pup!

I'm half-way there! Half way through my time without Buddie! The vet emailed today and told us his treatment will be finished by next Friday (the 25th!). The vet also mentioned that Buddie is starting to experience some of the side effects of the radiation treatment :( It will be worse by the time we pick him up, and should last for a couple weeks afterward.

I have a whole slew of OOTD photos for the blog. Hopefully, I'll get to posting them. Such a backlog!! And taking pics w/o chance of Buddie photo-bomb is a very sad state of affairs. So I nabbed Tungsten for a few pics yesterday.

This little/big fella has been a good night time snuggler lately. Maybe he senses I'm extra needy of furry friend companionship these days.



I'm extra silly in these pics because the hubby was actually around to take them...
wait, what's that? you say I'm silly all the time? naaaaaah....

Did I mention my husband knows parts of the dance from Katy Perry's 'California Gurls'? Yah, I have no idea how the dance goes. The pic above is me pretending I know how to dance to the song (the song was playing when Ev was taking the pics!)

Now meet my new ducks:

Saturday, I spotted these when was making some Lands End Canvas returns (I love that they have no time limit on returns. It makes it so much less stressful knowing I can do the returns when I get the chance!).

I was way jealous of my hubby's expensive Sorel's earlier this winter, but I didn't want to shell out more money for rain boots when I have my Hunters which I love. I had eyed the ones on LE Canvas, but even though they were cheaper than Sorels, I didn't want to shell out $70. But in store, these had been slightly discounted, and they were now on 50% off clearance. Plus, they had a 25% off all Lands End purchases promotion going on. That made these ducks ring up at less than $20 including tax! (online they're still full price! I guess that's the benefit of shopping in store, which I almost never do! They have them available in a green, chocolate, and navy rubber version)

I like them a lot! It's been super rainy in Seattle, so it's perfect to test these out. My feet have stayed dry! I expect Seattle weather will allow me plenty more wears out of these ducks this season.

These are warmer than my Hunter boots. The upper is leather and supposedly lined inside somewhat (I can't actually tell whether they actually are lined or if that's just the back of the leather. Either way, they are not as thickly lined as hubby's Sorels). The soles are super padded and extra comfy! They don't have half sizes, so I'm wearing a size 8 (I usually run an 8-8.5 in boots). The opening is a bit snug unless you loosen the laces a bunch. I definitely have to use the pull loop on the back to get them on, but they fit perfectly once my feet are in there.

Overall, for the price I paid, I'm really happy with them. We'll see how they hold up. These are a bit comfier to wear with skirts than my Hunter boots, as they don't bend while I'm sitting at my desk, etc.

Duck Boot Intro OOTD specs
Ralph by Ralph Lauren striped sweater sz P (thrifted $5)
Gap Shirred Blouse sz XS ($8)
Gap wool camel skirt sz 4 (thrifted $6)
grey sweater tights
Charlotte Russe feather headband ($5)
Lands End Duck boots ($19.80)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Journey through worlds

It's now been almost two weeks since we brought Budz out to WSU to begin his radiation treatment. The drive was crazy. It was supposed to take six hours, but with all the snow in the pass, the way out there took 7 hours and the way back took 8.5 hours!

The trip also felt incredibly surreal. The crazy weather patterns made the trip feel like we were passing through entirely different worlds.

The pass was snowy, and cars w/o chains were slipping and sliding out. But Budz had a great time running through the snow when we stopped at a rest stop.



When we came out of the pass, it was like we had entered some sort of warm, peaceful paradise. Or at least some sort of old western... The wind really brought out the tumbleweeds and dust storms!




Of course when we started getting closer to Pullman, WA (where WSU is), the snow was really coming down again.


Buddie was a trooper. He did well on the trip out there, and only got a bit anxious in the last half an hour. But, who knew he was so portable?! He was so good in the hotel room - he slept next to the bed in his little doggy bed!

We met with the vet who would be handling his radiation treatments, and the vet student in charge of taking care of Budz during his stay. The good news is that the CT scan showed no metastases in his chest or hind quarters. So he was cleared for radiation treatment. He's basically getting radiation treatment every weekday now.

I really REALLY miss him! I keep looking around for him, expecting to see him. And, I was getting really sad thinking about him out there, wondering where we were.

BUT, the vet student and vet have been amazing. They email me everyday with updates on Buddie. They even send me pictures! This morning, Emily (his vet student caretaker), sent me these pics. Apparently, Budz has been hanging out with all the students while not getting radiation. This picture of him sitting on a chair next to Emily cracked me up! Plus, he looks happy, so that makes me feel a little better.