The Life and Times of Anna Kadabra

I've Changed.

2010-04-25T07:15:00.001-07:00

Nick Gentry via Tidbit Du Jour

Hey everyone. I haven't posted since November... wow. A lot has changed since then. I didn't realize how quickly 5 months goes by. But here I am, once again (I'm torn into pieces, can't deny it, can't pretend... oh come on, humor me!)

In realizing the length at which I have left this blog and anyone who reads it, hanging, I figured I owed everyone a sort of update as to the events which have transpired since my seemingly random disappearance.

My boyfriend and I of almost 2 years broke up. It was a little messy.
I have a new boyfriend. He's my ex's polar opposite in every respect.
I have grown, physically. I'm taller, and thus, many of my dresses are too short now.
I don't shop quite as much, because I don't have much money coming right now.
I turn 16 tomorrow.

So, I see no better time to start a new blog with a new beginning than right now. As I turn 16. I want to post one time as a 15-year old girl and then see where me being 16 takes my life. There'll be more videos, photos, interesting quotes, ideas, inspirations, poems, thoughts. Tons of images, always- I love eye candy. But it'll be a slightly more intrapersonal blog than this one, where all I do is post what I wear. Let's try something new, shall we?

http://soul-explosion.blogspot.com

BRB

2009-11-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

My life is a little messed up right now.
I'm gonna be right back with this blog.
But for now, it's on hold.

Pumpkin Pankakes and Saucy Dresses

2009-10-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! This sunday was a really nice, relaxing day for me. I started the day by trying a Pumpkin Pancake recipe from Free People's AWESOME bog! I made the batter from scratch, flipped, flopped, and burned several, but ended up with some yummy pancakes for my family!

my pumpkin pancakes! check the recipe out at Free People's blog!

Also on sunday, I realized that I am extremely low on party dresses, and this is the year in school when everyone is turning 16... So only naturally, SWEET SIXTEENS ARE IN BLOOM! And I had to get an outfit. My darling friend Daniella is having one, and I plan to wear this to hers:

Left to right: Both items together, Cheetah-print slinky tube dress from Forever 21, Gold and black mesh top from Free People.

I love the dress and top both, but I'm not sure if it's a little too short to wear. Also, the issue with wearing only a tube dress is that the stomach always sticks out, no matter how skinny you are, which draws me towards wearing the top over it, too. But I want to look SPICY! any comments about it?

Actually the most comfortable pair of heels i have ever put on.
Item: Black suede and patent heels by Steve Madden for Madden Girl.

Also, while out shopping, I got the StrapPerfect!

You basically just put the little device on your bra straps, and they hide the straps if you;re wearing a racerback top or something like that, and also add a full cup size. They're really neat!

What's up with you? Comment me!

Weekly Roundup 10/20-10/25

2009-10-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hola Kids! Quick weekly roundup for you, probably going to post again on Wednesday, so check back!

Outfit 1 Info: Green peasant top- DKNY, Antique owl necklace, floral skirt- H&M, black leggings- Charlotte Russe, Yellow pointed toe flats- In Italy
Outfit 2 Info: Lavender top- Charlotte Russe, Silver rope necklace- Forever 21, Fringe necklace- Something Else, Floral leggings- H&M, High-waisted skirt- American Apparel, ankle boots- In Italy
Outfit 3 Info: Green cami - Something Else, White Aztec dress- Topshop, Silver gladiator wedges - TJ Maxx

There are only 3 images because I only had 3 outfits worth posting, lol. Next post: look foreward to lots of new goods to check out!

Renee Flemming Master Class

2009-10-24T06:12:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry this post didn't go up until today! I've been incredibly busy this week, going into the city, several exams, etc. It was pretty hectic for me! But I'll quickly post this, and the weekly roundup will probably go up Monday so that I can get time for some feedback on this post first.

Just outside Avery Fisher Hall, this is the Juliard School!

This was my first visit to Julliard, on tuesday after school. I jumped on the train with my friend's little brother, an acting protege who takes dance classes in the city, and we voyaged to Penn. I met my mom at the station so we could grab a bite to eat at Barnes and Noble (got a hot chocolate, hot sourdough pretzel with asiago cheese, and a marble cupcake) up on 65th and Amsterdam, and then I went across the street to see the class.

Renee towards the end of the class

The class is explained very briefly: "This special event is a benefit for Juilliard. The master class features performances by students from Juilliard's Vocal Arts Department and also marks the dedication of the School's Peter Jay Sharp Theater." Basically what happened was, four students from Julliard prepared an aria, and they went on stage one by one and sang for us. Then Renee critiqued them, and gave them tips on improving breath support, pitch modification, etc.

These are the notes I took; click the image or HERE to see them, straight from my Moleskine!

Here's a little snippet of Renee answering questions at the end of the class:

Oh, sidenote: I was in a theater of elderly people (the types that go to the Met every weekend for a new opera), college students, and myself. I ended up sitting next to a student from a school in New Hampshire, who lived in Europe for 5 years and is pursuing a singing career in New York!

Roundup coming monday!

Weekly Roundup: 10/13- 10/17

2009-10-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

the third Weekly Roundup ever! I only had four days to work with here, so here are only three outfits. But as promised, the Free People lace top I mentioned is featured in the second look this week.

Which outfit is your favorite? Where do you like to shop?!

Ah.. What did I do this weekend. Well as you know, I saw Where The Wild Things Are with my friend Ryan on Friday. Saturday, I had my school's homecoming and I went briefly with my friend Amanda after geting our nails done per usual. Then we went to my boyfriend's hockey game (her boyfriend is on the team now too, actually!) and after, we went for onion rings and ice cream, and visited the beach in the bitter cold!

Me and my boyfriend, Anthony, at the beach in the freezing weather!

Sorry for the bad quality, I took it on my phone with blustery winds messing my hair up and forcing us to squint our eyes.

Where The Wild Things make Wilder Cupcakes!

2009-10-16T19:59:00.001-07:00

I went to go see Where The Wild Things Are tonight! (: It was a great time, I went with my friend Ryan and a few other people. Based ona 12-line children's book, it was a very artistic film- something that wasn't really for children directly. It was semi-dark, and psychologically stimulating. Ryan and I both take AP Psych and we were both thinking to ourselves about the symbolic merit of the movie, aside from the funny jokes. It was a simplistic movie in the thought processes of the ccharacters, and I really enjoyed it! Do watch the trailer:

In other news, I made some cupcakes this week. But NOT just your ordinary, every-day cupcakes; mine were TYE-DYE! Take a look!

I love them! A while back I scoped these groovy little treats on Baked By Melissa's flavor page! But instead of a recipe for cupcakes, I took some white cake mix and just added some food coloring!

I separated the batter into 6 separate bowls, using different colors (red, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white) in each bowl. I just added some food coloring and mixed it up.

I took different spoonfuls of the colors and mixed and matched them in their little individual cupcake holder things so each cupcake was different, stuck them in the oven for 20 minutes, and let their magic happen!

Yummy, no?

Finally I took them out of the oven to cool before putting on some vanilla icing and packing them in a bright pink Betsey Johnson giftbox to bring to my chorus rehearsal! (: Aren't they cute?

Weekly roundup is coming on Sunday, stay tuned!

Free People Obsession

2009-10-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

Hey all (: It's tuesday night after my chorus rehearsal for the metropolitan area- It's from like 7-9:30 and absolutely exhausting. I haven't even thought about the looming AP Euro exam this week (potentially thursday, kill me now)! I'm absolutely desparate to go to NYU and every test counts... (lol, not really... right?)

Anyway, I was reading an article about organizing a closet or clothing space and I got some good ideas from it. Here's a picture of my tee-shirt drawer, currently organized by color instead of just mishmashed in there:

I like this way of organizing because it allows me to direct my eye to the color I want to wear, and because it consolidates and saves a lot of space. Doing this allowed me to use one of my other drawers for skirts!

The only downside right now is that you can't see every individual tee-shirt from the front- but, then again, is there a system (other than a virtual closet like Cher's from Clueless) where you can? And another thing is that since I have so many shirts, it's a little annoying trying to pull one out from the rest. But that's a quantity problem, not the organization.

My closet is also organized by color- to be honest, I prefer it organized in this way because it makes everything more easily accessible. Also, if you don't want it in rainbow order (ROY G BIV), you cvan just separate them by color and then put them in order from most to least accessibility. I tried organizing by type and then color this weekend, but it didn't work out because it was just not aesthetically pleasing, and because I knew I wouldn't keep up the system. BLEH.

Last word before signing off, I really need some sleep- later this week in the Weekly Roundup i'll have a look featuring a gorgeous new Free People lace top that i've been eyeing for ages:

I went shopping with my grandmother who I haven't seen since Christmas and I decided I wanted this top over anything else in the mall by her. She was suprised, but I'm very happy with it (: Definitely stay tooned to see how I wear it!! Also, if you get a chance, check out the FREE PEOPLE BLOG! I love Nylon Mag's and even Juicy Couture has a cool website, but Free People is the most... bloggish, of them all. The least business-like, I suppose. Free People obsession to be explained later this week!

This weekend: Nothing really special, I went to my grandmother's upstate for the day with my father. Sunday I just sort of lazed around and did nothing productive. Monday (a holiday in the US for you out-of-towners) I went to get a manicure/pedicure with my friend Daniella, and then we went back to her house... I'll defintely attempt a feature on her house soon! (:

What did you do this weekend?

Weekly Roundup: 10/5-10/9

2009-10-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Another weekly roundup!

A note on outfit #2: It looks heinously short, but I actually have shorts underneath my skirt. I wore little black spandex ones to school, but they ripped so i had to get rid of them since they kept falling. I got yelled at by the assistant principle to put shorts on but I was on my way to anyway... go figure.

Why yes, I did get that skirt at the same place I saw these awesome necklaces. And I wore those cowboy boots because they're my mom's, and she was out of town this week, giving me the perfect opportunity to wear them. (:

Enjoy, expect another post much sooner than last week!

Minimart and Amanda's

2009-10-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

Quick little post, just because I actually finished my homework before midnight and I'm a little keyed up, what with having all this stuff that needed to get done... and actually doing it all. Ever feel like that after finishing a lot of work?

Anyway, this past weekend was quite a fun one for me! Saturday I went to get a manicure with my friend Amanda, went to my boyfriend's hockey game, and then went back to Amanda's. She has the most amazing house ever, and I'm actually featuring some of my favorite stuff from there; HER BATHROOM!

her entire house is absolutely beautiful, nestled away off the beaten track of a very nice neighborhood near where I live.

The sink and entire piece of furniture... It looks like something out of a fairytale and is beautifully ornate.

Most amazing sink ever. Amanda was telling me about how she picked this sink out as a kid and she wanted it in her bathroom off her bedroom, but her mom put it downstairs and she cried. I cry now because I DONT HAVE THIS SINK AT ALL.

The inside of the sink reads the story of Sleeping Beauty. Do you get much cuter than that?

On another note, Sunday lead me to different adventures; a yearly streetfair in my town that seems to progressively suck more and more, lol. I noticed that many of the venders were selling big jewelry though, and here are a few of my favorites (apologies for crappy quality, I used my cell phone to take these):

This really caught my eye for a few reasons. First and foremost, its price tag; $75! To be honest, I could make one of these types of jewelry, or at least find a much cheaper one at a discount store or something. however, I loved the embellishments on this one, and I rather like that it's all black, no?

I was sort of being sketchy and taking these pictures when they vendor wasn't looking, so this is a pretty bad image. But these necklaces were both made completely out of wire and beads and I thought they looked really cool! I would have loved to purchase one but they're in the range of $40, and that's really not great for me since I have less than that in a year, lol. But I like the way that the one on the left looks the best. Perhaps because purple is one of my favorite colors?

I also got a cute corderoy pink miniskirt (picture in the weekly roundup to come!), a black pashmina, and a New Zealand necklace in the shape of a fish hook. I thought it was bloody cute and pretty cheap. you'll be seeing it soon.

Thanks a lot for your feedback on the roundup, guys! Don't forget to tell all your readers about my blog because my audience continues to change from post to post...

Weekly Roundup: 9/29-10/3

2009-10-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

Holy crap, it's been over a week since my last post! :(
I'm starting a new thing though guys, don't worry. I'm going to do a Weekly Outfit Roundup of my favorite outfits that I wear and change during the week. So it'll be a cute little collage of pictures and details of outfits that I wear! :) It'll be fun and a good way for me to discipline myself on taking a picture every day, and posting my blog at least once a week. Here's this week's:

I'll be doing this once a week, so there should be four or five photos per roudup, out of 7 days. I hope you guys like this new thing I'm trying!

Which is your favorite outfit? Do you like this idea?

HYPE MY LOOK HERE AT LOOKBOOK.NU!!!!!

FREE STUFF FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone (: I haven't posted in a while, due mainly to the fact that I was very sick this weekend and earlier this week. I went to school late on Wednesday for the first time all week in an effort to do something useful with my time. But instead, I send a quick post your way because I haven't bought much lately (am saving up for my trip to South America in February, and Christmas shopping...) but I just got two awesome free things!

First, yesterday I recieved some Dylan's Candy Bar lotion from LOCKERZ.COM! The site has NOT gone public yet, so if you would like an invitation to join the Lockerz community, just post a comment with your email address and I'll send one your way.

Now, at first I was a little skeptical of Lockerz- the main point of a website to give away free stuff? Seemed pretty sketchy... But, they followed through this week! When they refurbished their prizes last week, I grabbed some of the DCB lotion that smells like a chocolate cupcake and put that down for delivery- AND HERE IT IS!

YUMMMMMMMMY!

Chocolate cupcake (:

A little Lockerz thank you notice for using the site!

Also, my girl Nubia from her blog NubiaNonsense sent me a little gift from her giveaway! Since everyone who participated got one, I was very excited to be part of the lucky group (: It's a cute little headband and I'll get used to how it sits on me soon- so expect an outfit post about its awesomeness again soon!

Cute little box it came in...

The headband, business cards and discount information

Blatant advertising for her (:

Closeup

Me in the headband! Do you like the painting in the background of the Beatles?

Nubia's awesome headbands are from gla.MAR.ous and are fantastic! If you use the discount code NN117 then you can get a nice 10% off your next purchase there! Check out their stuff, or even just their cute headband-wearing tips!

My love of polyvore!

2009-09-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Ever since I first started stalking my online idol, Gala Darling, I have found a great love in my life- Polyvoring about a specific person! Here are some of my favorite looks, and the imaginary stories that go with them.

Loretta...

Is the lead singer of Fibbonacchi, the only semi-punk band to come out of 4 London-born New Yorkers under age 20. She grabbed a cup of black coffee, pinned back her hair, and walked out of her flat to catch the F-train.

Casey...

...was not exactly a PETA advocate, but she didn't like animal cruelty. She scoffed at her mother's new fur stole and rushed home, aghast that anyone approved of such cruelty. She belted her slightly rainy yellow and green dress, and picked up her new leather bag... and then she realized what it was made of as she snapped on her new canary yellow earrings.

Nina...

...Lived for horseback riding and stargazing. She shopped till she dropped to the grassy knoll near her small home every evening to see what stars would come out to play. She hated conformity and hated crayons even more, but loved her animal patterned leggings like nothing else.

Jessica...

...was a foot model by day, fashion entrepreneur by night. She used tin foil, feathers, beads, gluesticks, pencil sharpenings, you name it, she would use it for her aspirations. There was really nothing quite like making something out of nothing.

Jenifer...

Had always wanted to go to the Circus. She was always too busy though, with her indie record store and off-the-beaten-track cafe job. She was always dressed to impress though, because you never knew when the right clown would come in for a spot of coffee.

Which is your favorite look?

Vivienne Tam Spring 2010 Coverage!

2009-09-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! In case you didn't know (which you really should), It's NEW YORK FASHION WEEK! :D The most amazing week in the year for fashion and fun. Shopping is always a blast (Fashion's Night Out, anyone?), models and celebs are crawling the neighborhood, and bloggers from all over are flocking to get their seat at designer shows!

This year though, Stylecaster.com and HP Computers teamed up to produce the FIRST EVER LIVE INTERNET FEED BROADCAST OF A FASHION SHOW! And that show was broadcasted tonight at 8pm, with pre-show interviews and full coverage of the Vivienne Tam showing of her new 2010 line. Guess who tuned in to watch? ME! (:

Yuli Ziv, the host of the feed, interviewing Meg of StyleCaster.com

Wendy Lam ofNitrolicious- Describes the line with "Asian influence" and "East meets west."

Morgan from Running With Heels

Carmindy from What Not To Wear, who just finished her third book, Crazy Busy Beautiful

Jessica Stroup from 90210 wearing Vivienne Tam! I love this dress.

Now, onto some of my favorites from the show!:

I saw this model in SoHo last week by Topshop!!!

Beautiful watercolored silks, butterflies, tons of fringe, sequins and amazing colors! I love the collection and can't wait for it to come out. Which is your favorite picture?

Oh, and if anyone wants an invitation to Stylecaster.com, just comment with your email address and i'll send you one! (:

Quick post!

2009-09-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to prove I'm not dead. I had my first day of school on tuesday, which I absolutely hated because I'm so introverted sometimes, bahaha. Here's what I wore:

To see the product information, click the image.

I'm very nervous for my schedule- I'm only in my sophmore year and I'm already taking two Advanced Placement classes, AP European History and AP Psychology! It's going to be difficult... I hope I survive, ugh. My schedule is so demanding, I barely have time to eat!

Anyway, for Labor Day my boyfriend and my family all went to a family friend's house and I wore this:

Gotta run, will comment all your blogs and everything soon!

New York City Excursion

2009-09-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks a lot to Aquiles Damiron from Minute By Minute for awarding me the Honest Scrap award!:
1. I'm afraid of really big dogs.
2. I wish I was a good artist, but I know I'm not.
3. I love going through and cleaning out my closet, because it lets me find things I don't usually wear.
4. I like very few girls.
5. I want to live in New York City- but I'm not sure that I want to just yet.
6. I'm scared of the first day of school, because I want to make new friends.
7. I still cry when I have a really bad nightmare.
8. I'm seriously not physically fit.
9. Sometimes I think my boyfriend determines what I do, and I don't like that.
10. I love stealing my mom's Nikon D60 (:

and the bloggers I'd like to give this to areeeee:
1. Lina at All My Love
2. Lexy at Girl With The Bow Tie
3. Come Over To The Dark Side, We Have Candy

ANYWAY....

I went to Greenwich Village and SoHo today! (: Since it's still up in the air as to whether or not I will be attending Fashion's Night Out, I decided to take a trip in just in case I don't get a chance to go in on Thursday. We started at my parents' friend's apartment and walked to 4th street and the Stand, where there was a street fair. I got some yummy fries!

A cute little dress stall

AWESOME headdress!

the street fair!

Then we made our way to Forever 21 and Topshop where I got a few cute little things:

New tights and the Kate Moss handout, Topshop, $12

floral cardi, Topshop, $70
My father used to work on Orchard Street at a jacket and dress store. In his prime, he sold all sorts of coats, dresses, and general clothing that needed to be fitted. So, he still has his gift of fitting and sizing people; therefore, he is a pleasure to buy a coat with. I got this cute Kelly Green coat and he kept making me try different sizes- "Medium first, now the Small!" "Hmm, maybe the sleeves are too short on that one..."

Kelly green peacoat, Forever 21, $50

And here's what I wore the whole time:

PLEASE HYPE MY LOOKS ON LOOKBOOK.NU!

What did you do this weekend?

I'll miss you, summer!

2009-09-03T21:16:00.001-07:00

Me, in my room
Hi! Wednesday was a lot of fun- met up with my girl Ava, who I've known since she moved to my school from a private school, and before that, London! She came over while a Phineas and Ferb marathon was on, bahahah. I wore one of the outfits I posted earlier this week, but this picture is of me that day. First we walked around my neighborhood for a little bit, then we met a friend for some drinks(slurpies... [:) and then went out to a japanese restaurant in the next town over.

Ramune, Japanese Soda!
A few months ago I went to Pearl River, an asian department store in SoHo, and had a Japanese Soda- Ava ordered one and I followed suit. They're these really cute little bottles of Sprite-esque soda, and you have to press a cap into the opening to release a marble so you can drink! It's so cute, and It's a good serving size- just a little bigger than an old-fashioned glass Coca-Cola bottle. I had avocado rolls and ava had those as well, in addition to shrimp rolls. We also had yummy miso soup, which I haven't had in ages! I love Japanese food.

We were walking around my neighborhood and just sort of catching up, when we caught sight of this hydranga plant- Now, if you remember, a few weeks ago I went to work with my neighbor, a party designer and planner. So I've seen hydrangas at their peek and am spoiled. But look at this plant- all the other flowers are drooping while one blue one shoots up. SO DEPRESSING!

Sad little hydranga!

But anyway, it was a very good time had by all, we'll have to do it again soon! But yesterday, I went to get a manicure with another friend to this cute place near my house- I always go for a light pink on the nails because it matches everything. I go WILD on my toes though! And afterwards we decided to take my very small, precious turtle (named SQUIRTLE!) outside. He's a red-eared slider, which means he is an aquatic turtle with red ears. He's a little bigger than the size of a quarter!

This is me and my baby Squirtle!
After she left, I went to what we call the "uptown" part of my neighborhood, saw some old friends, and met my gal Amanda; this blonde, cute girl, who just spent her entire summer with family in Greece! We then went to my boyfriend's house and had a get-together with other friends and spent the night watching movies and eating quesedillas. She's such a sweetheart, she brought me back a cute little box from Greece!

little trinket box in Greek wrappings

Oh, and as promised, here are two of my purchases from the other day:

Steve Madden floral dress, ridiculously cheap at a boutique in town

White necklace from Charlotte Russe

What did you guys do on one of the last days of summer?

How to smell good.

2009-09-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

Bonjour friends! I'm so happy I've been getting so many comments and reads lately. If you'd like to trade links just let me know and I'll be happy to :)
Anyway, I did some shopping this week. i'll post more pictures as the week goes on (outfit post is coming and a few other things) as well as other stuff. Tomorrow I'm going to be hanging out with my friend Ava and a mutual friend Nicole, who I went to the city with last year. I haven't seen either of them in ages, and they're both the types of girls that would take tons of pictures and have a good time, bahah. So a definite outfit post by then!

Anyway, over the last week or so, I boughtttt:
1. A zipper-flower top (pictured below) from F21- I saw the zipper-flower thing on a necklace at Urban Outfitters a few months ago, and now they've appeared everywhere!
2. A pair of gold flats with the zipper-flower things on them from Madden Girl by Steve Madden, purchased at Annie Sez (See here)
3. Neon pink necklace with silver pendants from Free People(pictured below)
4. Grey lounging shirt from Victoria's Secret
5. A white sweater and black tank from the Gap- I NEED BASICS! And American Apparel is just too freakin expensive sometimes, you know?
6. Two products from the Victoria's Secret organic line, Pink Body- After reading the review from CollegeFashion.net, I decided to try this out. So far it makes me feel a lot cleaner and it's a pretty good moisturizing lotion, but it seems really similar to their other products.
7. This Snake Chain Necklace from F21
8. A white necklace with a ribbon, from Charlotte Russe
9.Eyeshadow by Urban Decay- Ecofriendly and awesome colors!
&other stuff.

Zipper-flower top from F21 and Free People necklace

Also, I was reading my personal bible, How To Walk In High Heels by Camilla Morton and one of the most important things that she explains in a woman's routine has to do with their personal scent, in the section about How To Get Dressed In 5 Minutes:
"Think of Patrick Suskind's novel Perfume the narrator of which is on a 'quest for the intangible scent of a woman.' Okay, so in this case it leads to murder, a little extreme, and not the effect you are after, but perfume is one of the few remaining (legal) sorceries we have left, so use it. Laywer a few squirts over the body before your clothes go on so that it can soak into your skin. It should be applied right after deoderant, masking any cheap synthetic scent that this may have left, and blending with soaps and scented body lotions to create your own unique odor."
That's just step one.
So obviously, perfume is very important.

My lotion shelf.

My perfume shelves and sections of life, bahah.

So obviously, I take my scent very seriously. But I mean, think about it- who likes anyone who smells bad!? First, I shower and use a yummy-smelling body wash, then wash with shampoo and delicious conditioner, then lotion up (different scent for torso&legs, chest&shoulders, and face), and spray one scent under my clothes, one over my deoderant, one over my clothes, and then one on my wrists and the usual spots. PHEW!

What do you do with your smell!?

Gee London, I Just LOVE Everything You Do To The World...

2009-08-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

A view of the London Eye from underneath it!

I was supposed to go to Southampton today to see the Betsey Johnson Exhibit at Guild Hall, make a trek to the Le Sportsac store to see their latest collections and see the sales, and go out to lunch. But thanks to the weather gods, THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. Instead I sat at home and did nothing productive but watch Spongebob, and take random pictures.

And so, I thought it would be a good day to dig out some pictures I took from my trip to London, and look at the street fashion from one of my favorite cities in the world. When I visited London, I noticed a lot of awesome clothing and accessories, mixed in with the awesome history of the city.

Look at her shoes! I just love them. This was taken right by the London Eye on a weekday evening. She looked so put together but I had to be discreet with my camera...

The woman on the right with the dreadlocks?! Amazing! I love her cut-off tights and the boots. She and her friend both look great here. Taken by the London Eye.

HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE HER LESPORTSAC BAG!?!? She was standing right up against a beautiful background and it would have made a much better picture... But she wasn't aware of me taking her picture. Bahaha.

After eating some Souvlaki at a nice Greek restaurant near the Millenium Bridge, I spotted these two walking past me. The blonde is rockin' her white flat oxfords, and I absolutely love the floral dress.

AWE! Saw these cute little kids touring the Tower Of London, I'm assuming with their school teacher. I'm a sucker for a baby with a British accent!

Now, yesterday I went to the mall with my longtime friend Cayde, who I see a few times a year for random shopping sprees, concerts, and fun activities (: I bought a few cute things including some floral leggings, a Free People necklace, eyeshadow, and some body products (pictured tomorrow)- and while we were there, we noticed a new store...
Radley! For those who don't know, it's a luxury handbag and accessories store. The ONLY USA store is here, in New York! So as a Grand Opening party, they had little tea tables set up outside the store.

The sign outside, explaining why they were there.

A few people having nice, cute little tea parties without me :(

To learn more about this store, check out their website!

Nerdy Glasses

2009-08-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

I was planning to go to my school today and help out the chorus teacher set up his room- I'm a novelty to the choir because I'm not really friends with their group (they stay to themselves a lot) and I'm one of those girls that sort of is friends with everyone. And I'm also apparently a singing legend because they were all pleased when I got into the select chorus... go figure xD But I didn't end up going because I would have had to walk there, and I didn't want to shower and everyhing. Meh. So I stayed home and tried on a few outfits because the dreaded FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL is almost upon me. Which is also not very good because for my AP Euro class, we were supposed to read a very lengthy packet... which I haven't finished annotating yet.

I made another lookbook, PLEASE HYPE IT OH MY GOODNESS I HAVE NO HYPES ON LIKE ANY OF MY OUTFITS :( I BEG YOU! bahah.

The stuff:
-Lacy knit dress from F21: the first time I wore it, I intended to wear it in London... I didn't even bring it with me, bahaha.
-Nerd Necklace from Fred Flare
-Wallet from Anthropologie, like YEARS ago. I use it as a clutch...
-Shoes from Baker's: Are these really that ugly? I was with a friend when I bought them and she said they were hideous. But I sort of like them, you know? What do you think?

my feet are so gross, I hate them...

Wallet on my favorite granite in the kitchen.

I also took a few pictures of tentative first-day-of-school outfits, which will be raping the next few posts I'm afraid. Look at these two and tell me what you think of both!

Sort of a short skirt, yes I know. But it's going to be HOT still, in such early times of September! I love these shoes even though my camera didn't get them in the shot :( but HERE THEY ARE!

I bought this at the beginning of summer with the intention of wearing it for the first day, but is it too summery?

BTW, If anybody wants an invite to the site Lockerz, please let me know! Lockerz is a website that lets you earn PTZ, or points, and you can redeem them for awesome prizes like a Marc Jacobs bag, concert tickets, designer shoes, and tons more. The website isn't open to the public yet, so if you want and invit, just comment me with your email address and you'll recieve one.

I love my Dweeb tote.

2009-08-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ciao friends (: I'm blogging a lot lately, since my boyfriend is on vacation for a bit and this week is going to be busy of fun things to write about: What's to look foreward to? Another mall excursion, Italian lessons, the Hamptons, a trip to the SoHo Topshop, and more stuff! But until then I'll be burying your feeds with news of cute clothes and such.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I attended Warped Tour and got tons of stuff. In this outfit is one of my purchases from there. I plan to wear this outfit to school in the fall, but I needed to model it to see how it looked and everything. Don't forget to hype it on lookbook!

The published Lookbook result

They're drawn-on oxfords from Delia's

Closeup of the Muji shirt and necklace

The Dweeb Tote

Product Information:
- Wrinkled Cotton T-Shirt from Muji- They're packaged in cute little squares so that they're perfectly wrinkled for the right texture.
-Floral heart pendant from Forever 21, gifted by a friend.
-High-Waisted Denim Shorts from H&M
-Dweeb Tote Bag from Glamour Kills, which I got at Warped!
-Oxford-drawn ballet flats from Delia's... I think they're my own version of the Oxfords trend, and they're about as close as I'm going to get, thanks to the publicity.

Also, look at this awesome jacket from Anthropologie! I wanted it but it's $300 so I wasn't really feeling its price tag. But I HAD to try it on, you know?

New Lookbook!

2009-08-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

-Made the shirt by cutting a deep V-neck and drawing with a fabric marker, long vertical lines to elongate the V. Michael's sells t-shirts dirt cheap!
-Owl Necklace from Charlotte Russe, because I love owls.
-I got a new gold braided belt from AA, because I lost my much cooler, metallic one :(
-Ruffled skirt from Lester's
-These awesome gold, paisley sneakers from H&M for $15. Come on, how do you expect me to resist?

American Apparel Screenings

2009-08-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, American Apparel has been facing a lot of questions concerning their practices in hiring employees. Particularly this brief post by NYMag's blog, AA has been beating down a lot of rumors about its suspected prejudices against those that are less... aesthetically appealing. Check out the article and tell me what you think.

If you do a bit of research, you'll see that AA provides a lot of information about its policies, requirements, goals, and everything else you could possibly want to know. But I mean, you can't really trust a coorperation, anyway. If you check out their official Youtube channel, ou can see interviews with their CEOs and all sorts of other things. Go figure what their actual policies are.

But back to the original article: I think it's an interesting point where they said, "The line consists of a tremendous number of colors that are more like art supplies than fashion, so when we're hiring, one of the things we look for is an ability to take our products, make them exciting, and show how cool they can look, which doesn't have much to do with just being pretty." I think there's something to be said for that- I don't go to AA looking for a potential outfit, I go looking for a particular piece I'd like, or something I think would match another item nicely. What's so wrong with that?

Tell me your thoughts. next post, I'll have lot's of fun things to display!

A Day In The Life With An Upscale Party Coordinator

2009-08-15T20:59:00.001-07:00

Centerpieces Closeup

I'm actually an incredibly lucky person, sometimes. My next-door neighbor, Sheila, is a party designer. So this means that her job includes the interior design of extravagant parties; think Platinum Weddings, since one of her parties was featured on it! She works for the floral company, Atlas, which is based in New York City. To make this a slightly easier day to follow, here it is, broken down in sections:
6 A.M.: Wake up, shower, 3 sips of shitty, homemade iced coffee. Throw on jeans and a teeshirt. First time wearing jeans in 3 months due to the weather.
7 A.M.: Meet Sheila outside my house in her BMW, and we make our way into the city over the 59th street bridge easily. Casual conversation including her recent trip to France on a wine tour with her darling celebrity friend who I shan't discuss here, fascination with foreign languages (Japanese, primarily), and warnings about the people we would soon encounter.
8:15 A.M.: Park the car in a garage near her office, get $5 worth of breakfast gas for the two of us. Rush to the Taj Pierre, incredibly ritzy hotel on the Upper East Side (i.e., not my stomping grounds...) where the wedding reception is taking place.
9 A.M.: After eating breakfast, Sheila introduces me to the rest of the crew: Joe, a spanish guy who has a cute, potato-shaped head; Buddy, a coca-cola addict who never shuts his russian guts up; Urico, this absolutely precious Japanese woman who has worked for Atlas 15 years; Amy, an angry Chinese woman, and Barry, the boss's son who got stuck being an Atlas manager after graduating college.
9:10 A.M: Meeting the bride's neurotic father, who had 12 separate coordinators meticulously every second of the entire wedding procession from up to three days before. I saw the master schedule; it was harmful to my health. Had to talk to the happy trillionaire.
9:20 A.M.: Shadowed Shiela, who basically walks around and makes sure everyone is doing as she designed. Centerpieces begin to assemble, and I get stuck with meeting random people, etc. Eventually fall into the rhythm of alternating between stalking Shiela around the space and building flower arrangements. I also realized that the family was Jewish and that they would be married under a giant canopy made of live birch trees that had been cut THIS MORNING.

Closeup view of the Huppah
12 P.M.: Lunch. Barry and I are sent to retrieve the Italian orders of salads and pastas (and his hero...) from downstairs. Not permitted to use the front entrance because we are "staff". After, we continue building. I find myself sprawling moss underneath clusters of hydrangea and roses in the center of tables. I learn to use a clipper without killing myself.
2 P.M.: During a stalking trip with Sheila to visit the room where the Huppah is located, we realize that the idiots who are putting it together cut some of the trees up. After a minor brain hemmorage, Shiela guides the laborers to safer shores.

Huppah
3 P.M.: Recruit Barry to help me create small clusters of flowers to go around the base of the centerpieces. After he repeatedly insists that his 23-year-old self is not a florist in any way, I continue to talk to him as the only normal laborer in the room, and make him help me finish them anyway. We were one short. But we had a nice bonding session, talking about relationships, being young, going to college. Living?
4:30 P.M.: Flown in from Los Angeles, the set director for the soap opera The Young And The Restless is here at the wedding, another coordinator working among the busy bees. She has a runner monogrammed with the date and names of the bride and groom. She is blonde and middleaged.
5 P.M.: Deliver the bouquets to the bridal party suite. Each bridesmaid wears a different color (turquoise, navy, salmon, silver, pink, burgundy) with a respective bouquet that compliments their color. All the dresses are made of the same fabric and wear the same shoes. Sheila feeds me a very soft, yummy, chocolate chip cookie from the suite before we escape back to chaos. Dadzilla is back, asking me and Barry to show him what the centerpieces will look like when they're finished... because we had a product to show? No...

Wrought-iron gate for the bride's entrance
5:30 P.M.: The bridal table is too small to hold the bridal arrangement! Buddy must now muster his dignity and find a larger table- after much searching, he does. He makes the arrangement smaller. The turmoil is dealt with while Sheila and I visit the wedding cake, which was created by the famous baker Sylvia Weinstock, who is basically a huge cake bigshot who has a lot of awesome choices for her cakes available. All the flowers on the cake were handmade of gum paste, and are completely edible. It smelled so tasty walking by.

The wedding cake!
6:45 P.M.: Finishing touches, adding miscellaneous flowers around the room. Buddy and Joe want me to join them tomorrow for a wedding at the New York Botanical Gardens, but I politely decline. I stalk Sheila, who makes her rounds and lets us see the escort table, and throws more flowers on the gate.

Closeups of the flowers on the gate
7 P.M.: Final checks with the neurotic family before Sheila and I quietly slip out.

Final shot of the centerpieces
7:30 P.M.: We make our way to the Time Warner building, very close by. We decide to eat at the Landmarc, a very chic and non-touristy restaurant that neighbors the #1 most expensive restaurant in New York City, Per Se. However, Landmarc has a great menu (which I stole...) which includes cultured cuisine that everybody can find a meal from. They sell wine by the half-bottle. Sheila has a chicken burger while I have a hamburger; both were absolutely amazing, thick and rich in flavor.
8:40 P.M.: We order dessert after rapid speech about the Hamptons, lifetime philosophy and travel affects on mental health. The menu offers creme brulee, bluberry crumb cake, lemon tart, tiramisu, chocolate mousse, and several yummy other treats, along with a smattering of ice creams and sorbets. We got a tasting tray of coconut, apple, and milk chocolate sorbet/ice cream, and a small slice of lemon tart, a cup of chocolate mousse, and a delicious creme brulee. To my surprise and delight, a "bread basket" of cotton candy came too! It was absolutely divine and it made my day.

Cotton Candy in a bread basket
9:30 P.M. Leave the city for our neighboring homes, smooch goodbyes, and rush inside to write about everything!

Now, be honest: Can you really imagine how much a wedding like that costs? They had a ton of money's worth of flowers, lighting, and sound systems instituted in one of the most expensive hotels in new york. They had girls dress up in kimonos and serve sushi during the cocktail hour. They had two separate teams of photographers; and a painter, all to capture the wedding in every way. It's ridiculous. It's awesome. Designing such parties is a dream job for anyone, no?

John Lennon Exhibition

2009-08-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

I went to the John Lennon Exhibition in Greenwich Village this week. It has been described as "[an exhibition that] explores John Lennon’s passion for music, art, politics and film, with New York City as his backdrop" by the Rock Annex itself. Here's a look inside:

Skip ahead to :40 for the actual exhibit stuff.
One of the most interesting things, for me, was the look at the book illustrated by Yoko Ono, Grapefruit. CHECK OUT THE READING ONLINE!

Warped Tour 2009!

2009-08-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I went to Warped Tour 2009. Warped tour is great because truthfully, people don't go that can't handle it. Sure, you have the average teenybopper who thinks they can handle it, but other than that, it's good about weeding out true fans of the music from those people who just go to be able to say they went. Between the people who walk around with FREE HUGS/KISSES/HOOKUPS (remove as needed) written on their shirts, the girls who were smart enough to wear a bikini top under their shirts knowing the weather (like me, hah), the slip-n-slide which i'm not entirely sure about having everywhere, it's difficult not to have a good time. Sure, you'll get ripped off when you try to buy food, water, or sunblock: but the easy way out is knowing what you'll need to bring, and knowing how much money to bring so you don't pass out. I had a great time this year, even better than Warped Tour 2008.

Another awesome thing about it is all the free stuff you get- there are all sorts of booths set up for your perusal from organizations like Peta2 (new campaign), SocialVibe, and To Write Love On Her Arms. Other booths represent different merchendise for bands (example from the 3OH!3 tent below, which my friend bought), independent bands looking for new fans to sell their CDs to, and places for temporary stamps so that when you walk around the concert, other people go looking for the source of the stamp.

Then there are the companies who sell their own products at warped tour, like New York Couture and Glamour Kills. Among my friends, I am notorious for spending as much time peering through these booths, because quite frankly, I get a beter deal buying their stuff at Warped Tour than online, because there's no shipping cost, and I get to like, actually SEE the garment or accessory in question. You know what I mean? Anyway, I ended up with a NYCouture necklace and a GK bag.

$15

But the iPod men are the best. They're people that walk around with a backpack, an iPod of some sort, and a jack of like, 3 pairs of huge headphones. They walk around and then you get to sample some of their band's music if they're a band member, or if they're a streetteam member, they advocate even stronger about the band they're playing for you. They'll usually ask, "who are you here to see?" and depending on who you say, they'll play a song or two to make you want to buy their CD. I love the iPod men, and my usual bargain with them is that, "I will buy your CD if you take a picture with me." And they usually respond flirtatiously, my friend takes the picture, I get a CD, it's all good. I love the iPod men.

As far as the bands I saw:

1. 3OH!3: Most famous for the song, Don't Trust me. The way to tell the difference between true 3OH!3 fans and the ones that came directly from radio exposure, is which version of Don't Trust Me they sing. If it's with every curse and unedit, they're real. If not, they're new to the craze.
Chokechain (Yeah, I recorded it... lol)

2. Jeffree Star: Come on, everyone's favorite transvestite singing?! Unheard of! His merch line at his tent included Hilarious tee-shirts with varying innapropriate slogans dealing with Cunts and Cupcakes. Most of the best stuff isn't available online, sadly.

3. Ice Nine Kills: I actually heard about them at the last Warped Tour, because their bass player was an iPod man last year. Here's a picture I took with him last year (YOUTUBE THEM IF YOU LIKE A LITTLE ALT-SCREAMO):

4. Sing It Loud: Not quite as well-known as the others. My friend Alex and I actually found Sing It Loud because we're considered Myspace Music Whores; as in, EVERY BAND IN THE WORLD adds me or her on myspace. But they're actually quite good, and I took a picture of them having a small acoustic playing outside their booth:

For a full list of the bands that played, check out the Warped Website's List.

In total, I walked out of warped tour with a pair of these KKBB Shorts, my GK bag, NYC necklace, tons of free stickers, a Warped 09 Program, Free MP3 passes, a free 25-song iTunes playlist, 7 CDs (3 were free) a Peta2 DVD, momento photos emailed to me, KKBB sunglasses, lots of flyers, a vans hat and tank top, a Bhagavad Gita (don't even ask.) and a lot of great pictures, posters, and business cards. I can't wait for next year, already!

Tunes To Try (VIA WAPRED):
1. The Original Mack by Uh Oh! Explosion- A little of this and that. For lovers of 3OH!3 and TV/TV.

2. I'm Not Crying. You're Not Crying, Are You? by Dear and the Headlights- Very throaty, for lovers of Nickelback's vocals and the Rise Against's semi-scream quality that you all know about, even if I can't really describe it.

3. The Brightest Green by Anarbor- Similar to Family Force Five on a non-screamo day, and Envy On The Coast on a not-high pitched day.

4. Every Indecision by Erickson- For lovers of NeverShoutNever and All Time Low.

Daily Outfit- July 12, 2009

2009-07-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

I don't usually post my daily outfits here... Obviously enough, since there is enough of a lack of posts to see that. But you know, I got a really annoying e-mail today from Lookbook telling me that their fucking moderators "flagged my look for deletion" because apparently I didn't abide by the rules.

The rule I broke?:

"5. No more than 3 views of an outfit.
Collaged posts are allowed but must contain no more than 3 separately combined images."

Well, why not? Here's my original picture of my outfit (and I'll add annotations for the outfit beneath):

-Fred Flare Sunglasses, $2 at their Sample Sale (see prev. post)
-Owl pendant, $12 at Claire's
-Lace Tank, $5 on sale at Urban Outfitters
-Boho white dress for 10 pounds at Primark in London
-Mustard Belt for 3 pounds at Primark in London
-Terracotta-colored sandal heels for $40 at Anthropologie
-Leather pouch bag my mother got me in Italy for something like 20 euro.

Like honestly, what is wrong with that picture (excuse personal flaws) in its layout? Because it has FOUR photos, it must be deleted?

Fuck it. I just reposted it without the 3 little side photos.

Too mad to talk about anything of interest (i.e., recent trip to london...).

get this badge→

2009-05-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well, another voyage to Fred Flare took place last weekend, during their amazing sample sale! ;D I walked in and there were tables of stuff waiting to find a new home: mini robovacuums, quirky notebooks, language tapes, sunglasses, jewelry, socks, flats, roller skates, and tons more! Highlights for sales were a few of my favorite FF items:

I bought all those for under $5 each. Pretty great, no? (: The sale was packed all day, but I had a blast for the time I was there and the people were super friendly!

I also found myself a bit further into Williamsburg, near McCarren park, where I discovered the cutest place, Artists & Fleas. Basically, it is "a weekly marketplace to bring artists, collectors, designers and anyone seeking a place to play show and sell together," where the most amazing vintage or original pieces of clothing can be found. The weekend I went (5/16-17), the theme of the shop was Texas finds and inspirations. Vintage nd distressed cowboy boots, leather goods, and Texan finds from thrift stores filled the space, and I had a ball trying on these amazing white, tall cowboy boots scarily resembling those shown here. Quite cute.

I ended up purchasing an extremely soft, silkscreened shirt from India & Purry because it was just $15, and I barely own anything red, quite honestly. To see [a little of it], I wore it here. I also bought a t-shirt by Sea Sick Mama, reading "Hey little bird, fly away home/ your house is on fire and your children are alone," from the Tom Waits song A Jockey Full of Bourbon.

On North 6th street is one of my favorite restaurants for Thai food, Sea. When you walk in it's an extremely modern atmosphere, with Thai twists everywhere including their small seabank setting in the main room, with a giant statue in the middle. We ate basil springrolls, vegetable dumplings, Ginger chicken, chicken curry, and iced tea, all for $20 for two people. Nice, no?
I also couldn't get over how cute the menus from that place were, so I took one home with me to keep (after asking, obviously) because it's like a little postcard book! Too bad I misplaced it or I'd show you what I mean...

Paradise in Betseyville.

2008-12-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

My apologies for a lack of writing! I've been pretty busy at school and stuff, and fashion had to take a back seat to my intellectual life for a little while there. But it's Holiday break and I've got new stuff to share! But just to start, MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY CHANUKAH! HAPPY KWANZA! HAPPPPPPY HOLIDAYS! :D
bahaha.

I just wanted to go through my make-up bag because I just adore it, and I think a lot of things in there are pretty useful. Maybe I'll inspire you!

1. Neutrogena Shine-Control Blotting Sheets: I hate feeling oily and sweaty, so I use these pads to wipe myself whenever I'm feeling gross. The more oil on your face, the more transparent the sheet becomes. I'm sure there are cheaper versions, but these are a good type.

2. Mirror: For those on-the-run make-up fixes.

3. Covergirl Trublend Pressed Powder: It's just powder foundation, really. It blends so easily with my skin and it lasts SO LONG.

4. Sugar Eye Shadow Palette: This eyeshadow has eight different colors and it's so easy and versatile to use. The colors last a really long time too, so it's worth the $15.. but search your local TJMaxx, because that's where i got this FOR FIVE BUCKS.

5. Nars Mascara: I never bought this, my mom got it and decided she didn't want it, so I got it. It doesn't clump too much and it lasts FOREVER. But it fades after a day at school. I wouldn't say it's worth the money.

6. NYC eyeshadow in Purple Rain: It's so cheap, I thought, why not go for it? It's color lasts a long time and blends really well. I love the fact that it can be light, dark, or just a mix of everything.

7. Covergirl Trublend Whipped Foundation: It's really smooth going on, and it's great for covering up blemishes and stuff. It matches my skin so well, I use the Ivory because I'm so pale. MUST HAVE!

8. Burt's Bees lip balm: Winter sucks for lips. So when I was way younger, my mom brought home a GIANT case of these from somewhere like costco, and I took a bunch and stuck them in all my bags. Ever since, I've used this lip balm to cure chapped lips. Get the minty one for a good smell, too!

9. Covergirl Eye Slicks: I use these eye slicks as eyeliner mainly, because they go on smooth and thick. I use the black one for nights and big occasions because it's so bold.

10. Sugar Lip Gloss: I hate tacky or bold colors for lips, I always use a neude color or a pale pink. This light pink by Sugar is really sweet, and it smells good too.

11. NYC Eyeliner in Plum Perfect: I have brown eyes, so purple brings out the highlights in them. Their eyeliner is easy to use and it stays on, so I use it all the time during the day with any color.

12. Sephora Make-up Brush: Regular application brush. It's smooth and I love it :D

13. Eyebrow shaver: NOT TO SHAVE MY EYEBROWS... but like, when they're outta control and I don't have time to wax.

14. Tweezerman Tweezer: While this isn't the exact one I have, I used to have that one and it was the best one I ever used. It was sharp, and the sharpest tweezers are the best.

15. Juicy Couture G&P Roll On: My friend bought this for me earlier this year and I fell in love with the smell. I know scent is a personal thing, but this is always nice for a light, feminine scent.

That's all in there, in that tiny Alice In Wonderland bag. I got a lot of it at CVS and Sephora, but some is from TJ Maxx and it's all easy to find online. And almost all of it lasts SO LONG!

Ever heard of her? I love Betsey Johnson. She's absolutely inspirational and her fashions are positively zonky and amazing! I love everything about it, from the hot pink signature wrapping to the detailed BJ on every item. So far I have a few great Betsey pieces including:

-Checkerboard luggage bag
-Purple and Pink striped Betseyville studded clutch
- 4 pairs of tights: Basic black, Zebra-print, cheetah print, and floral.
- That absolutely DAHLING bow pendant and something similar to this, but way less expensive and different.

I got most of it for Christmas, from relatives and what not. But TJMaxx has a great selection of discount Betsey stuff, and it's mot like all last season or anything. It's actually all really cute, and there was this silver Beteyville bag I wanted but I bought it as a christmas gift for a darling friend for $40.

That's about it for the moment, I'll update more in the new year !

Twilighting my glory.

2008-11-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

Happy late Thanksgiving!
Let me start with these cool bracelets that i put together the other day and was very proud of:

I love this. I feel so concieted saying it, but I am very proud of the way that I can put nine totally different bracelets together from different parts of the universe together and make them look fucking sexy. If I do say so myself.

I'm just showing off now. But I wore this great bracelet combonation on Tuesday to school because I didn't want to wear anything very fancy or uncomfortable, so I brought my style through my bangles, of course. And all day I just wanted to tell everyone the story of how I got them all. And show off. So you get to learn about them all ;D

1. Kikui Nutshell Bracelet: I went to Hawaii in August, for a cruise. On Oahu as we were getting on the boat, they were selling these and my mom got me one from this absolutely beautiful, valumptous hawaiian woman who was making leis... one day remind me to write an article about that, it's really cool. Lei-making, I mean.

2. Betsey Johnson Leopard Charm Bracelet: My friend Laura lives in NYC and thinks she's the shit for it. Her mom works as a luggage exec in Bloomingdales and gets a really good discount on their stuff; so christmas the year before last, I get a little blue box with this inside. Ah, the days where I didn't even know who Betsey was...

3. Gold nametag bracelet: Four years ago, my mother went to Italy without me for two weeks. They found this small store in the rural countryside of Umbria and she saw this, along with a gold necklace which was stolen in a burglary last year, and knew I would love it. Which, of course, I did.

4. Bronze, silver, and gold bangles: When I was about eight years old, a friend of mine took us to the mall and we had a scavenger hunt around the mall. At Claire's Accessories, which basically personifies the dreams of every 8-year-old, they were having a sale for these little gift bags for a dollar, and they included A necklace, bracelet, earrings, and a little make-up. So this came in one of mine and I've kept it a long time.

5. David Yurman Heart Charm Bracelet: My darling boyfriend of 9 months got this for me. He was going to give this to me for my birthday, but when he did something nearly unforgivable, this helped us stay together... a little. &By the way, it wasn't $300 when he got it for me.
6. Silver bangles: My great aunt gave these bracelets to me from Nordstroms, before she died. I never wore them until Tuesday.

7. Mt. Vesuvius Lava Bracelet: I'm extremely Italian, know lots of Italians, speak it (not fluently at all, trust me), etc. My mother's interpreter speaks spanish and Italian, and they became good friends. So when he went to Sicily to visit his relatives, he picked up this bracelet with the beads made of the lava, for me.

8. Murano Glass bracelet: My mother's friends who live in the gatehouse of a beautiful estate bought me a set of bracelets from glass blown in Murano. One had yellow/gold beads, the other had violet beads, and the last had a very pale color which I don't remember at the moment, haha.

9. Ribbon: I was bored and thought that it added even more diverse texture and color.

Yes, I know you're glad I'm done rambling about that stuff. So moving on, I must express how happy i am about my current favorite movie...

I'm sure everywhere you go, you're sick of seeing Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart... but I'm not. *sighs* I went on the US's premire, which was friday, 11/21. And I'd just like to say that I saw approximately... four men, total, in the theater. And most of the people who showed up were wearing their own tee-shirts that either they made or bought, but who cares, because they all had something about twilight on them. Here were ours, which we made from one of the movie posters:

It was so easy to do, you just buy iron-on paper at staples, put it in the printer, design whatever you want to be ironed on, and then make a mirror image of it so it's backwards. Then jkust print it out and iron it on, then peel it off and BOOM! You have an awesome shirt! :D

Anyway, I loved the Twilight books. The only reason I read them was because I had FOUR six-hour flights to deal wiht from NY to Washington and then to Hawaii, and then back. So I bought the first one at the airport and couldn't stop reading the whole time! And I got everyone in the above picture hooked. (Left to right: Me, Amanda, Lisa, Imani; you'll read more about them if you continue to visit me)

Also, I thought it was funny because the boyf, Anthony, told his mom that I was obsessed with the books, and now she's borrowing the first one. I think it's so funny how universally appealing they are to women. And another funny note, I know of a few guys who read the books to get pointers from the characters inside! Hah!

Before I go, I just want to link you to a few cool things i've been stumbling on across the web lately:

-Do you use a Mac and have tons of applications you never use? Are you tired of crowding up your dock? Todos is great for you then!
-CollegeFashion.net breaks down how the stars of Gossip Girl get their amazing looks with their 5-part article series on how to do it yourself at cheap prices.

-Want cool ideas for outfits by messing with someone else's? Check out RoiWorld to choose a doll and go through their closet!

-Love Japanese Fashion? Check out Japanese Streets for videos about the Japanese style, Photos of some really interesting outfits, and the ability to share your own cool creations and looks.

Next to expect: A look inside my make-up bag and other life updates. have fun!

George Lopez beats Family Guy.

2008-11-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

So there's this little thing I do called the 365.

I take a picture every day, and have been since May 25 2008. It's just a little way that I can see what I do every day, who I spend my time with, where I go, and how I've changed. So I'm used to taking tons of pictures every day to determine which one I'll ultimately post. So when I found my new muse for life on LookBook, I really wanted to join and take pictures of all my cute outfits! I mean, here are just a few of my ultimate favorites:

So due to these images and of course tons more, I just HAD to be a part of LookBook! So I tried to register... but it turns out that you need an invitation to get in, or you need to apply. So what I'm doing, is I'm taking a picture of my outfits every day and posting them on my Flickr in a group called Wardrobe_remix. And I'm definitely putting them here, as well! So here are the latest ones.

Yesterday's. I found this Juicy Couture shirt from two years ago and figured I'd utilize it because it IS cute and it's not terribly obnoxious to the point of suicide. So, why not? And i just had to add my own little flashes of color and stuff.

Today it was so cold here in Long Island... So i wore these INCREDIBLY warm knit tights, with a long-sleeve shirt and this great dress I got at a bargain from Delia's. But it looked really awkward without a belt, so I grabbed one from my coat, lol... yeah.

I was also partially inspired for the Daily Outfits by one of my absolute favorite blogs, iCiNG. The hostess, Gala, frequently posts daily outfits and I actually googled "Daily outfit" and her site was the first to come up. Go figure.

Tons more to say and show, but I'll do that tomorrow; I have a killer bio exam tomorrow about the plasma membrane and know nothing about it.

YanYan and Jamie Oliver

2008-11-12T18:14:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I went to Greenwich Village with my darling friend Nicole, took the subway down to SoHo and went to my favorite Asian store in the world, Pearl River. Then later, we went to Union Square to see Jamie Oliver talk about his new cookbook that recently came out and my mom got hers signed.

The signs on the polls didn't say anything about prohibiting recording during the discussion, so I have some videos for you if you're interested (I was seated so they're not TOO terrible, but you may want to turn your volume up because his accent distorts the sound a little):

Oh, he's dreamy :]

The display in Union Square with Obama and McCain made us crack up because Obama's a sharper dresser than McCain even as a cardboard head!

A poor man on the side of the street... You know, I don't have a problem with people sitting on the street like that at all, as long as they're not being an asshole and like begging you for money by being rude. So last night Nicole and I were walking out of Ricky's and this guy starts like walking after us with a taco bell cup saying, "don't walk away pretty girls, I wouldn't do that to you!"

I understand that they need money, but really I just wanted him to leave me alone... I would've been more likely to give him money if he was just sort of sitting and not harassing me. Ugh. Men.

When we were walking back to our original destination, We passed Parsons, the school of design. I'm excited to say that this spring/summer, I'm planning to take a class there in fashion design because that's my latest big thing... It looks good for college resumes to take these sorts of summer intensive programs, and it's what I'd love to do. Nicole is planning to take an F.I.T. class in business and marketing over the summer for two hours a day as well, so she invited me to join her :] and I really might, if my mom allows it.

So we went to Barnes And Noble to see Jamie Oliver speak of course, and Nicole and I left when my mom wanted to go up and get a signature from him. So we tracked downstairs and I found this book, The One Hundred: A Guide To The Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own by Nina Garcia. It's got all the necessities from A-line dresses to the Zippered Hoodie, and is a great read. I'll make a stylish reading list soon, along with other things like that.

In B&N, we also grabbed MK&A's new book, Influence (To read a great review, click here). We both snatched one off the shelves and settled in a corner to flip through them and read some of the interviews with John Galliano, Christian Louboutin, etc. For a snatch at what's inside the book, check GlamChic for some basics, there aren't a lot availible... I'll to my best to upload some when I get my copy. We got yelled at for taking pictures, lol.

Also, I'm filling out the Proust Survey that's currently being filled out by every conciebable blogger I'm sure, so I'm joining the pack: scans up soon.

Greenpoint is the place to be.

2008-11-09T05:41:00.000-08:00

I just want everyone reading this to know that one of my all-time favorite spots to purchase little doodads and original accessories is Fred Flare. They have so much stuff! Two weeks ago, I went to their door store and had a hella-great time in Greenpoint. I love Brooklyn!

That's me at Fred Flare. I bought This nerd necklace, and this CD set to learn Japanese. It's got three CDs and a booklet for reference... I've learned 15 words (see later)!

They also gave me a free homemade hot chocolate mix and a 25% off card :] It really made my day. Then Jen, the chicarita who works behind the desk, told me, my mom, boyfriend, and mom's friend to go across the street to see this place Eat Records. It's absolutely tiny and adorable, and the front room has like, 6 tables filled with chic people. Then there's the itty-bitty hallway of records of all different genres:

And I was looking through. They even had some 78's (the REALLY big records)!

But the guy who like ran the place ( didn't catch his name, sadly) brought us into the back of the brownstone, through the kitchen:

and outside, where there were two cafeteria-like tables stretched out. We sat at one and saw the chalked-out menu on the ledge propped by the door.

So my mom's friend and I got hot apple cider, my boyfriend Anthony (you'll hear a LOT about him) got some natural lemon soda, and my mom got water. To eat though, My boyfriend got bacon and toast, Mary got this goat-cheese and plum jam sandwich, I got scrambled eggs and veggies with toast, and my mom got this REALLY good rice salad with greens and chick peas. And I'm not one for that type of thing but it was so good! And we shared a potato frittata. Here's some pictures because the stuff was so good to look at:

Then we just explored the different neighborhoods, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and Dumbo even. Went to Jacque Tores to get some chocolates, and then went to a pier and I saw these french watercolor painters and these asian brides getting their pictures taken. I have more pictures but I wouldn't want to totally bore you to tears, when I have so much other stuff to say.

Yesterday my mom came into my room and gave me a late Halloween present which I wasn't expecting at all containing the Halloween philosophy set with Black Licorice, Candy Apple and Pumpkin Pie flavors of body wash/shampoo. It smells so good I have to stop myself from eating it!

She also gave me a black loofah and some candy packages and string to make those friendship bracelets everyone used to make at camp... yeah, people like when I make them. Haha.

Anyway, Just wanted to brag :] And make note that, if you've heard about Mary-Kate and Ashley's new book, Influence, you'll know that inside it they filled out a very thoughtful, interesting survey. I'll post my own answers to that once I finish making it all pretty and well-thought out. Stay tuned :]

Anna Kadabra starts her journey.

2008-11-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

I'm Anna and I added the Kadabra on myself. So cleverly.
And here I begin my blog.

I'm not new to the bloggosphere. I've had my fair share of Livejournals, I'm a frequent MySpacer and Facebooker, I even had a Xanga and Friendster phase... I've ran 21 websites that my capricious nature lost all interest in, made graphics that have never surfaced again after being created, and illegally downloaded many copies of Paint Shop Pro 7.

So Imagine my suprise when I see myself typing up my own little blog on Blogspot.

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately which might explain my sudden yearning for my own place to post photos and life stories. Quite honestly, I've been looking for a reason to spend even more ridiculous amounts of time online, and this is a good one because it's sort of therapeautic in a weird way... In the sense, of course, that it helps cleanse the mind of miscellaneous stress that really can just be channeled into a diary-like form. But it's more public.

I'm excited to start here. But now for those who will actually read this... If you've stumbled onto my page, thanks for getting this far, I suppose. Now on to reach out to the rest of the world.