Let's take a holiday.

I'm marveling and enjoying my current situation. No school until Tuesday (teacher workdays!), also, the Godiva addict I am, I'm also hitting up the mall to satisfy my chocolate addiction. I am having some difficulty with my winter wardrobe...it seems like whenever winter hits the scene, I become clueless regarding my outfits. I'm really starting to miss summertime...with its outrageous shorts, butter-soft camisoles, and translucent sweaters. Time to resort to the internet!

Completely tomboy chic...leggings under daisy dukes? Genius!

Check out those killer shoes! Accessorizing with pops of color.

We've all heard of a statement necklace...but what about a statement jacket? Definitely on my wishlist.

Mix and match different patterns to create more visual interest amid the frosty conditions.

(via The Sartorialist)

I'll probably nose around the stores later on...but as for now, I'll stick to swaying along to the Across the Universe soundtrack and gazing out my window at my own winter sunset.

NEW BUYS!!!

My parents went majorly bargain-hunting the other day...and totally left me at home. How typical. Anywayss, they got me these Betsey Johnson earrings on the cheap. Super duper excited...sometimes when I get stuff completely out of my normal choices, I like to think of who would own the articles. For this piece, I'm thinking of a super chic chick who attends London underground raves every night after finishing up a desk job. Completely hardcore with its chains, but a little sweet heart detail.

ALSO, I got this completely cool, ultra midnight-black Calvin Klein winter coat(?)/outerwear. Double-breasted  with the shiniest buttons (one aspect that first attracted me to it).

My mom ripped out the label on the exterior sleeve. She thought it was "tacky" and contrasted too much. I stayed indifferent.

And outfit I wore on Saturday. YNQ jeans, shirt and vest (Christmas!) from UO. Ralph Lauren belt which I love love, and the Cole Haan.

Out of all my outfits, I think this one has the coolest back ever!

Also, two catchy songs I've been obsessed with over the past weekend:

Sunday night reflections.

Yesterday, I visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC and participated in a guided tour  along with some classmates. What I saw was perhaps one of the most influential events in my life. Usually, very much unlike my parents who scrutinize via magnifying glass , I breeze through museums exhibitions, long paragraphs, and artifacts, my mind completely navigated toward only the highlights of attractions. But this tour, with a peer ambassador of the USHMM, opened my eyes to otherwise unnoticed details (the architecture, the shortest sentences, the destruction).Some images are too graphic to not be engraved in my mind. The various "medical experiments" on 8-year-old children done by "esteemed" scientists, the capacity of the gas chambers and its ability to kill so many in so few seconds, and the shells of living men, too frail and too tainted with immorality to ever be their old self again, have all been branded into my memory bank, never to be forgotten, never to be considered anything less than significant.

Sometimes, I think in retrospect the inhumanity that has happened, and I question whether it is real or a nightmare. Why do humans want to inflict such pain to their own kind. "Are we all humans? Or are some humans more human than others?"- Romeo Dallaire (UN LGen stationed in Rwanda).What is history without personal accounts? Biographies? Letters, newspapers, photographs? We all say that the holocaust shall not happen again as long as such information is not forgotten. But genocide is happening as we speak. Halfway around the world, in Darfur. Men, women and children are being killed shamelessly everyday by their government, the very officials they are supposed to trust. This almost reminds me of Fahrenheit 451 or 1984, a dystopia of some sorts. I will encourage myself to do more for humanity; I may not have the power to bring world peace individually, but by raising awareness and organizing fundraisers, I can do as much as I can to stop such a despicable event.

New Smile to Match my Style.

Bonjour! It's been especially busy these past couple of days with exams, after-school activities and loads of homework, so unfortunately, I could not spare time to record my inspirations/thoughts about much anything. But alas, I am free again!
Amazing news: 1. getting my braces off (!!!) 2. Michael Kors trench HAS arrived.

After a loong day of school and assignments, a surprise was delivered onto my doorstep (actually, next to the garage). It's my new winter coat I've been waiting for for the super, duper longest time!! Like opening gifts on Christmas morning (but without snow).

Double-breasted. V. nice.

Completely adorable little buttons bordering the collar. This coat = perfect rainy day outerwear.

Finished with Science Fair (note the nerdy get-up/inspiration)!!! And showing off my teeth. Is it normal to love your teeth? I think not. But then again, I'm not completely normal.

On a more serious note:

Looking back on these past few weeks, I've realized that I worried about the littlest things. Isn't it the same to buy a coat at a store and to ship it home, with the exception of a slight waiting time? Is it fair for my parents to pack on immense responsibilities while I remain carefree? I reflect on my behavior and realized just how inappropriate and unappreciative I have been. A major newsflash that created such thought was the tragedy in Haiti:

 

I date back to the first time I learned about this country. It was in Year 1 French-when we had to memorize french-speaking countries and their capitals (Maroc-Rabat, Luxembourg- Luxembourg, etc.); I remembered my surprise upon discovering this tiny chunk of a country in Central America with "the coolest capital name eva", Port-au-prince.  But back then I looked at this minuscule spot of land as just another exam question- an speck that unified itself with other Francophones in an ambiguous clot needed to ace a 10 point quiz. Just as indifferent regarding its circumstances, people, and culture as the tiny chunk of a country, Rwanda, which served the setting of  a massive genocide with over 800,000 citizens dead, back in the early 1990s.

Mind you, Haiti was not home to a civil war, but a destructive source punctured the lives of its every single person on January 12th, 2010. A detrimental earthquake shook the island nation, leaving thousands dead, and many more struggling to stay alive under mountains of debris. What did these people done to receive such unspeakable torture? I ponder through the various photographs in the Washington Post, some too gruesome to even conjure in my mind, and I realize, this people, this citizens of the world could be you or me. They scrape up what they can to provide households for their loved ones, go to work in the morning time and return home to converse with their families over supper. Imagine them to be you AND me. Imagine the number of men and woman who walked in the Shadow of the Valley of Death.  Imagine the end of the world.

I'd like to offer my gratitude to the men and women who joined together and donated over $1 million in one day for Haiti. It is assuring to know that even though so much destruction could occur in 24 hours, even more hope can shine through the cracks of said destruction. Please pray for the welfare of Haiti, pray for humanity and our abilities to overcome the biggest obstacles, and pray for assistance for those in need before their time burns out. The clouds may have cleared, but the battle for survival has just begun.---

I will be going with my school's STAND (an anti-genocide coalition) chapter to the Holocaust Museum on Saturday!! Kind of excited.

The New 2010.

Want to know what I did for New Year's Eve? Well, to narrow down the obvious activities... no, I didn't count down to midnight with friends like I normally do, and no, I didn't need advil or aspirin the next day. Instead, I decided to tag along with my parents and go to a party that consisted of endless chatter regarding taxes and hyper childern bouncing off the walls from too much Mountain Dew. Needless to say, I ditched as soon as I got free dibs at the buffett table and went home. However, my warerobe choice was a little...eccentric.

I decided to put my Avatar 3-D glasses to good use by getting rid of the frames and sticking tape in the middle. Perfect temporary joke glasses. Wore with a Forever 21 lace top, Urban Outfitters vest, YNQ jeans and my festive, long holidays socks to ring in the season. Completely hilarious? My mother thought so, too. As for my dad and attendees of the shindig (rocket scientists and the like), it seemed to be a little mocking to their warerobe. Their faces were...a little uncertain as to whether or not the dress-up was just for fun or if my regular warerobe (glasses included) were for real and my aspiration was to become America's next top nerd.

In waiting for my trench coat, I decided to do a little browsing on New Year's Day and took advantage of the best best deals of the year. I got a Cole Haan clutch and a Tommy Hilfiger cardigan for major discounts!

Aussi, looming around the house and discovering completely vintage (meaning, maybe twenty years) technology is a definite benefit. Check out the radio's channel screen and needle! And the walkman (which one of my friends is completely oblivious to its existence)! They may look rather junky, but I somehow miss their presence in modern times. They look beyond cool and eclectic!

Here's to the new year, with new surprises, gifts, and blast-from-the-past discoveries!

Bye Bye Braces

I'm getting my braces off January 7th!!!

Considering this as a New Year's present.

:]]]]]

New Years Cheer

I'm so excited about 2010! How round and perfect the year sounds! Sadly, no new year's party for me, my parents and I are going to watch the ball drop via our television screen, eating lots of homemade treats and sipping savignon. Have you thought about your New Year's Resolution, yet? I always formulate a list that never quite becomes reality. Well, I'll try my hardest with this one:

1. Get Straight A's on my final mark.

2. Be accepting of others, despite their flaws.

3. Never be frustrated with situations, no matter how difficult matters become.

4. Get at least a 2200 (2300 is my goal) on the SAT's

5. Be cheerful, delightful, fantastical, brilliant.

FINISH.

The Fate of the Trench.

I witnessed an act of unbridled injustice (but utter hilarity) today. My mother and I were at Nordstrom shopping for a winter coat for me (a feat I have waited for since October in order to get in on after-Christmas sales!). And as fate would have it, Nordstrom had an immense collection of coats for 33% off in the Women's Apparel! As estatic as I was, I managed to narrow it down to two delightful choices around the store (both completely, insanely amazing, and both below my budget.): a beige/ivory Michael Kors trench coat (more than 66% off its retail value!!) and a very french-like winter button-up from the teenage department en bas. After a deliberation over lunch, I decided to stick with Michael and return to purchase the trench. Digging through the racks in search for the only double-breasted MK trench on the premise, I realized, from the corner of my eye, a rather beady-eyed lady eyeing the trenches, proceeding to snatch one off the racks, and by chance it happened to be the double-breasted I lusted over! Really, now that I'm typing it, I realize just how immature and ridiculus the whole thing is, but at the time I was quite dissapointed.

I mean really, she had a ten-fold stack of coats she tried on (rather domineeringly) in the closest mirror while grasping onto the trench so hard, I swear she was drawing blood from her palm. Anyways, I was rather paitent, but like a cheetah crouching down, I was waiting until the perfect time to pouce and grab the coat. Multiple methods conjured in my mind" creating a distraction and replacing the trench with a different one of the same color, broadly asking for it back, or even allowing my mother to pretend to be a sales clerk and persuading her from buying it. Well, Mission failed when I realized she managed to swipe her credit card without a "Credit Card Declined" signal, or even some type of message from God that obstructed her objective of snagging multiple coats. (Seriously? I thought it was one coat for each winter, not one for every day of the week!).

I sighed, and realized it was time to let go. But, it certainly reminded of a movie scene in Confessions of A Shopoholic when Rebecca puts down a pair of pink Gucci boots only to find someone immediately snatched it away. Remember that? So, I gathered up whatever Rebecca Bloomwood-ness within me, praying for one more chance. Another alternative fell from the heavens, and now, I am currently awaiting the arrival of my new beige/ivory Michael Kors trench from the Nordstrom warehouse in 5-8 business days! Fantastic? I think, yes.

Such an act of savagery! (completely kidding of course...) Yes, and when I relayed my situation to my dad when I got home, the only response muttered was "That's nice, honey." before his attention diverted onto the evening news. Thank God I'm a fighter, thank God I'm a woman.

The Shapes. The Colors. The Frenzy.

Inspired by Teen Vogue December/January Edition article by Jane Keltner:

You're at a Balmain Fall 2009. Models casade down the runway in glittery, spiky, monochromatic minidresses, be sure to donned by Kate Moss and the like, along with black, killer-high ankle booties. Why yes, the artist/designer's inspiration clearly comes through the beautifully crafted garments and design. Tres rock-and-roll. Perfect for concert attire or cocktail parties or even certain winter days when black seems to be the most reasonable (warmest color of all) and stylish to pick from. But life is not just a black-and-white screen (thank god for technicolor!) and despite Little Black Dresses, I believe there should be Little Pink Dresses, Little Neon Yellow Dresses, Little Looks-Like-A-Rainbow-Threw-Up-On-You Dresses among the mix (though moderation in accessories is certainly key in the latter :]).

Papermode, my new obsession, offered me another editorial to be obsessed about: Memories of Tartam by Serge Leblon for Vogue China (Jan. 2008). The elaborate use of color and texture really inspired me to look within my closet and pick out the brightest of the bunch. Drowning in pools of neon. Perfect.

Perhaps it's because I can read bits and pieces of Chinese or just because this clothes are so unlike the street clothes of Beijing, (by which I don't really dig anyway. Too much artifical hair color, permanents, lace and "cutesy" warerobe choices) I found it inspirational. Real-life example:

Taken when I went to New York City for the summer to tour NYU and Columbia. I've always loved this lady's style. Her get-up is a little kooky, but the idea behind it is genius. I think I'm going to find some florals in my closet. Chao.

So this is it...

It's a definite holly jolly Christmas! I convinced myself to post more over the holiday, seeing that some days without any plans are instead filled with food, television, excercise, internet, and practice. Not much glamour. However, I seem to find the most interesting things on Youtube whenever I randomly search. Take this for example:

Have you ever entered a high-end store just to...look around? Because you realize that you'll never be able to, in a million years (or until a major salary increase), purchase that absolutely glamorous gala dress or, jacket, or skirt, or shoe? Once, my mother and I entered Bloomingdale's just to see if there were any irresistable sales (mind you, Bloomingdale's may not be Barney's, or Bergdorf, or Neiman Marcus, but it can be as enthralling just the same), hoping to maybe strike gold. We somehow wandered upstairs into the Women's Department, where Dior, Marc Jacobs, and Chanel roamed beyond the escalator. There, in the little slice of a section dedicated to Michael Kors lay one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen. A LBD with white lining and gold buttons. It was...fascinating. But also $2000. Thus, I had to leave the beloved dress on the hanger.

So imagine my surprise when I typed in "Elle fashion" into the beloved Youtube searchbar and discovered the work of Elle Muliarchyk, model (discovered by Patrick Demarchelier, after all) and an incredible photographer beyond words. She sneakily hides a tripod stand, camera, props into her large canvas bag and starts work. Her medium, inspiration, as she dives into another world, a dream land where expensive designer garments can be just within reach. The means? She ducks under the watchful eye of employees at couture shops, and take photos of her in gorgeous outfits in fitting rooms!

 All this amidst crammed backgrounds! Amazing.

C'est la video.

Her collaboration with Bella Freud (Sigmund Freud's great-granddaughter)

Presently indulging in Carvel ice-cream cake. Enjoy lots of meat and carbs ( I know I am!),

R.