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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Oriental Fashion from Elle Sweden, July 2011

I think I'm all "shopping-ed" out, so let's move on to some pretty pictures.  Here's some from Elle Sweden, July 2011:










I love all the neutral color and beautiful floral prints.  However, being asian, I find it harder to pull off oriental fashion.  Weird, right?  I think it kinda makes me look too asian, if that makes any sense.  That is basically the reason why I won't buy any of those cute kimono like tops or big floral prints, but I told myself that I will take some fashion risks this year, so maybe it's time to try it out.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Overstock.com Designer Handbag Sale

Why did I put a spending ban on myself?  Oh yeah, it's because I spent so much money on my bags already.  I blame the ladies on the PurseForum.  Ever since I found them, I've been checking their Deals & Steals thread here.  They come highly recommended by other bloggers, and now they've been nominated for Blogger Business of the Year 2011.  Make sure to vote for them!

I've stumbled upon something big.  I've never really thought to look at Overstock.com for my designer bag purchases, but I might have to rethink that now.  Check out what I found:




I don't know how they "overstocked" on these items, but more for us!  ^_^

Proenza Schoulers and Celines aren't your cup of tea?  How about some Fendis, Guccis, Longchamps, Versaces, just to name a few.  Check it out here.

Did I also happen to mention that if you're a new customer you also get 10% off all items purchased?  And even if you're not, you'll get $30 off a $600 purchase, which you can find all that here?

*rushing of feet*  *crickets chirping*

Um?  Guys?  Is anyone still there?

Sunday, January 29, 2012

My Lucky Day

I feel so lucky today!  Although it didn't feel like it this morning, my day got better as it went along.  Here's what happened:

I almost didn't get a chance to go shopping today, but when I finally managed to get my T (aka train or subway, as us Bostians would like to call it) pass, I quickly rushed to the subway station.  The train basically immediately pulled right in front of me as I paid my fare.  If that wasn't enough, when I got to the mall, I snagged a shirt and this pearl necklace (shown on the left).  I went to pay for my purchase, and the price came out to be significantly lower than what I thought it was going to be.  I didn't think anything about it at the time, because I thought it might be a sale or something, but when I checked the receipt, it looks like the sales girl completely forgot to ring up my necklace purchase!  I was surprised the alarm didn't go off or something.  Oh well.  ^_^;

The second thing that happened to me was when I went shopping at Gap.  I was just browsing though their shirt collection when I saw a picture frame drop down not 5 feet in front of me.  The wood from the frame cracked and splintered in different places, but I was completely fine.  A sales rep came out from behind the counter to ask if I was fine, and I just smiled and said I was alright.  I left the store after that.

Later I went to T.J Maxx, and I found this adorable white lace vest (shown on the left).  It reminded me so much of Jean's (from Extra Petite) lace vest that I decided to snatch it up and try to style it my way.  See how Jean styled it here.  It was the last size small that they had as well.  I also saw a Prada dress that was marked down in my local T.J Maxx.  I really need to start shopping here more often.  ^_^

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Setting Up a Blog Roll

I've recently spent the last couple of hours trying to figure out how to set up a blog roll of all my favorite bloggers.  Isn't that supposed to be easy?  You'd think so.  However, after spending hours online with Blogger Help and doing searches in Google using various key words, I finally managed to figure it out, and here's the final product:


(You can see this up top too, but I thought that it deserved its own picture and tutorial.)

There is a gadget in blogger called Blog List that will post all the bloggers that you are following (either alphabetically or the most recently updated, depending on what you want).  It's actually very useful, and I wouldn't actually have to type a list of all the blogs I followed all the time.  However, you can only post it on your sidebar.  I didn't want it on my sidebar, but on another page or horizontal tab under my header, and that's what made it so much harder.  At first, I thought I could just drag the gadget under my header, but that turned out looking really weird, and it basically listed all the blogs I followed underneath my header (not like in a nice, condensed page).

While searching on Google, I came across an article called Create a Custom Feed Reader with Blogger Blog List, which you can find here.  The author basically created a website on Blogger, added the Blog List gadget, and got rid of everything else, making the Blog List the only thing you could see on that site.  I thought that it was simply genius, but I couldn't seem to figure out all the html stuff she was talking about (a computer science person I am not).  Nevertheless, I gave it a shot, so follow the first two steps on that site, and here's how I "strip[ped] the Blogger blog layout of everything that isn't necessary."  Please note that I am using the newer version and not the classic to set everything up.

1.   After I got rid of every gadget that I didn't need, by clicking on the Layout > Edit > Remove buttons, I'm left with my header, Navbar, Favicon, Blog Posts, Attribution, and of course, my Blog List. Click on Template Designer that's located just above the Navbar.  You should see this:


I just clicked on the Simple template since that is what my original blog layout uses.  If you have a complicated, custom layout design however, I'm not really sure if everything will be setup correctly, but give it a try, and if it doesn't work just follow the steps I'm using.

2.   Next, click on Layout, and select this for the Body and Footer layout:


Click on Apply to Blog, and once that's saved click on Back to Blogger on the top right.

3.   Go back to the Layout page so that you can arrange your gadgets to look something like this:


The most important part is probably that My Blog List is on top of Blog Posts.  You can arrange your sidebars, headers, and footers as you like.  However, if you want your Blog List to show up on your original blog as a tab beside the Home page (like I did on my first picture from above), you'll need to add the gadget Pages.  For me, as you can see I put it under my Header.

4.  Click on Pages > Edit, and change your Home tab to Blog Roll (or whatever you want to call it; this is just basically to say it's our Blog List).  Click on New Page and select Web Address.  Label the Page title Home and copy and paste your original blog's web address.  Click on Save.  Move your Home tab so that it comes first.  Finally, for Show pages as, I choose Top tabs.  It should look something like this:


Click on Save arrangement on the top right.

5.   Log out of your Blog List blog, and log into your original blog.  Follow the instructions from Step 4, except you want to copy and paste the web address to your Blog List and save it as a tab.  Now you're done!  ^_^  Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Review: Creme de la Mer


With a history as long and successful as La Mer, it really goes without saying that this is not a paid or sponsored  review.  (They really don't need it.)  However, I'll start off with the standard disclaimer.

This review is based on my own opinions and experiences only.  I will always keep my reviews honest and if they are sponsored by anyone I will make note of it in my review.  Please note that any items provided in a sponsored review will not be returned.

Creme de la Mer started with a NASA scientist, Max Huber, when he was involved in a chemical accident, which left him with severe burns and scars.  He decided to invent a cream that would help with his wounds, since he found other methods to be lacking.  He created this signature cream by fermenting kelp (a process by which can take up to 3 to 4 months).  La Mer has since been bought by Estee Lauder and is one of their signature products.

The results of this cream really speak for themselves.  There are literally hundreds to thousands of people who have praised this cream over the years, and they have been calling it the miracle product that promises to make your skin softer and firmer with virtually no creases almost overnight.   The key to activating this product is to first warm the product on your fingertips by rubbing them together, and then putting it on your face.

My personal experiences with this cream has been equally as effective.  At first, it really didn't look like it was doing much, so I left it alone on my bathroom counter for a while, letting it collect dust.  However, because this winter has been especially harsh to my face, I decided to pick this cream up again, and overnight my skin looked smoother and softer.  Let me also say that I have acne prone, sensitive, and combination skin.  I personally think it works well to seal in all the other products that I've layered onto my skin (toner, serum, etc.), so I put this cream on last.

This cream does cost a pretty penny though.  The smallest (1 oz) jar costs over $100, and the biggest (16.5 oz) costs over $1000.  However, I've always valued my skin, so I thought it was a good investment.  I would start off small though, and find out if you can have a smaller sample size to try out at home.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Aiming for a Green Thumb via Aloe Vera

For a change of pace, I've decided to buy an Aloe Vera plant to grow at home.  This is basically the first plant that I have ever personally taken care of, so we'll see if I have a green or black thumb.  From what I've heard, it's a relatively easy plant to take care of.  It is similar to a cactus, since it doesn't need a lot of watering.  It has a lot of medicinal properties, as it is used to heal burns, rashes, cuts, etc.


I bought my Aloe Vera plant from my local Home Depot for around $5 (including tax).  It's a lot smaller than the stock photo above, so I guess that's why it's a bit less in price than the one shown here.  According to the little thing that they stick in the soil (I have no idea what it's called), it looks like I need to water it weekly, fertilize it after every fourth watering, and place it in bright, filtered light, and warm weather (50-90 F).

Since it's winter here, the warm weather part might be a bit hard to accomplish, since my room basically feels like an ice cube most of the time.  I'll try putting it under florescent light for right now and see how that goes.  How do I even fertilize a plant?  Looks like I need to do some research.  Wish me luck!  (I'll probably need it.)

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Burberry Prorsum Fall/Winter 2010-2011

The reason why I am currently obsessed with Burberry coats is because of their Fall/Winter 2010-2011 line.





I absolutely love this line of coats, and with the weather getting colder, I'm in need of something both warm and very stylish.  My current coat collection is simply a bunch of big, puffy coats.  While they're warm, they leave much to be desired in the style department.  I will be heading into my local Burberry soon.  Wish me luck in finding my it coat!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

J.Crew: 50% Off in Store 40% Off Online

Update: I'm not really sure why I got an email saying that in store clearance is only 40% off for J.Crew, but pictures don't lie:

 
But honestly, without this picture, I would have thought that I dreamed this sale. ^.^

Yes!  It's true!  J.Crew is having 50% off final sale items in store, while if you shop online, you are getting 40% off.  I browsed through my local J.Crew right after work, and it seems most of the nicer pieces (with my size) have been picked out already.  I did notice one piece that I liked online though.

Brompton Hobo in suede, $278 $229.99 (sale price) $137.99 (after 40% discount)

I've been looking for a cross body bag for a while now, since I've worn my Fossil one down.  Although after my Chanel and another recent bag purchase (I'll blog about this one later as well), it seems hard justifying to myself to buy another bag, although I'll probably carry this one much more.

Monday, January 23, 2012

The Year of the Dragon

Welcome to the year of the Dragon!

As per tradition, you cannot wash your hair today, because you don't want to wash away all your good luck.  Try not to say anything negative today either, and wear lots of red!  Here's some of my favorite current red pieces:



Sunday, January 22, 2012

NYE @ Love Culture

Happy Asian New Year's Eve!

My family and I went out for lunch today.  Well, it felt more like two to three lunches combined together.  We had a grand total of 11 dishes (and that's not including the soup)!  Usually on this day families come together and have a big meal.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, so I don't have any yummy pictures for you guys.

Anyways, I went shopping right after lunch, and I noticed that a new store opened.


 I remember this store when I went shopping last week, and they were still doing construction on it.  Since I didn't have my camera with me, I'm going to show you the pictures I took last week when it was still under construction.



I would say that the store is more like a Forever 21 in terms of the quality of clothes and styles.  I bought a pair of black sunglasses for around $6.  I would have bought more, but they only had their spring clothes out, and it's still freezing here, so I passed.  The clothes there are really cute though.  Check out their website here.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Victoria's Secret Swim 2011 Catalog

It's on days when it's snowing, and I'm looking through the beautiful models in the Victoria's Secret swimsuit catalog that I dream of summer.  Check it out:









Friday, January 20, 2012

Sailor Moon

I can't talk about all the anime or mangas that I love without talking about Sailor Moon.  I actually started out collecting Sailor Moon cards even before I knew what Sailor Moon was.  Then, they started broadcasting the show early in the morning on weekdays.  I would get up super early right before going to school just to watch a repeat episode.  If you know how I absolutely hate (and that's putting it mildly) getting up early in the morning, then maybe you can begin to understand (just a bit) how much I love this series.


The video above is the actual Japanese opening to the series.  The American version has pieces of it cut and put together.  It wasn't until much later that I found out that the American version had cut out a lot of the original Japanese version.  They apparently did that because they wanted to make it more age appropriate for girls, since the main character, Serena, is only 13-14 years old.  Although even as a child, I noticed that some scenes didn't appear quite right.  Nevertheless, I was hooked to the show.  I loved the amazing artwork and songs, even the American ones.  One of my favorites is probably during the last battle with Queen Beryl called Carry On:


It's very cheesy, I know, but I love it anyway.  Among my other favorite songs are: Rainy Day Man, The Power of Love, and She's Got the Power (all of which are currently on my mp3 player).

While there were many series to Sailor Moon, my favorite was probably Sailor Moon R (which stands for Romance).  Like the title suggests, it mostly deals with the romance between Serena, or Sailor Moon (aka the Moon Princess), and Darien, or Tuxedo Mask (aka the Prince of Earth).  They also get to travel to the future to visit their future selves, and although I didn't think it was possible before, I loved Neo-Queen Serenity's dress even more than the Moon Princess one.

It wasn't until I discovered the manga that I completely appreciated the artwork that went into this series.  Check out the pictures below (some of which are from the artbook).








The official artbooks (there's four of them) easily sell for over $100, and it's not hard to see why.  Sailor Moon will always be my hero and fashion inspiration.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Amazon: 30% Off $80 Orders of Select Handbags

Imagine my surprise when I went to place my order today for my Final Fantasy XIII-2 game on Amazon and I came upon this:


Look through the selection and see if there are any bags that you want here.  I see some Kate Spades, Rebecca Minkoffs, Juicy Couture, and a whole bunch of other bags that are worth looking at.  Make sure that they have this on the bottom of the bags to qualify:


Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Final Fantasy XIII-2

Update:  I just wanted to include some pre-order specials for this game.  What are pre-order specials?  They're basically bonuses to a game that you wouldn't otherwise find in the regular version.  From what I hear Square Enix has three different extras depending on which store you want to pre-order at. 
  • GameStop:  You will get a new costume for Serah.  [Not a physical one that you can wear for Halloween or cosplaying though.  Just a new one for her in the game.  :P]  You can also receive a better weapon for Serah called the Genji Bow, which has a new look and allows her to attack more frequently.
  • Best Buy:  You will get a hardcover novella titled Final Fantasy XIII: Episode I which ties together what happened in Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2.  You'll also receive 15% off the official game guide book.
  • Amazon:  You will get a code to get access to a unique coliseum to do battle with the boss Omega, and you will be able to use him in battle after you've beaten him.  You'll also receive a $10 credit, and if you purchase the guide book, you'll get 5% off the total.  This is probably where I'll pre-order my game. 

I love playing RPGs (role playing games), and none top the charts more than Final Fantasy.  From what I read, it seems like Square wasn't doing so well before the first Final Fantasy came out.  Nothing was really expected of the game, hence, the Final in front of Fantasy.  However, it was a big hit, and with each new installment of the series, it brings the world of gaming up to a whole new level.  The newest installment to the series is Final Fantasy XIII-2 coming out at the end of this month in North America.  (The Japanese version has been out since last month. >.<)


The story takes place after Final Fantasy XIII.  This is the second 2 series that Square Enix has come up with (the first is Final Fantasy X-2).  Ask any gamer that's played FFXIII, and they'll tell you that the problem with the game was that it was too linear.  Personally, I didn't really mind that it was so linear.  I didn't buy the game for the storyline, surprisingly (usually FF has great storylines, eg. FFVII, FFVIII, and FFX).  I bought the game for their battle system, which was awesome to try to master.  Usually when you can't beat a boss, you just need to level up.  However, with the battle system they had devised for this version of Final Fantasy, it actually takes quite a bit of skill to beat a boss (and a whole lot of quick decision making).

What does Final Fantasy XIII-2 bring?  From what I hear, it keeps the same battle system with the addition of Gil for money when you defeat monsters.  In addition, while there is only one true ending, there are also several optional endings to the game that you'll just have to work a bit harder to unlock.  There's also going to be a monster capture system, when after they're captured a player can use them during battle.  I also hear that Square Enix has taken gamers' opinions to heart, and the game will be a lot less linear.

In my personal opinion, I think FFXIII-2 is going to be what FFXIII should have been.  People were waiting years for this game, and I thought when FFXIII came out it was kind of a disappointment.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't as great as everyone was hoping it was going to be.  Nevertheless, I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel!  I'll leave you all with this trailer: