late brunch

10:54 AM
The girls and I after our filling brunch.

There was a wine festival going on in town.

I got my calendar for 2010 =)

My new Glamorous magazine and complimentry facial services from Shiseido!


to the night

10:22 PM
a picture from last night...


Virgin Mobile Festival 2009

9:42 PM

Ever heard of the Virgin Music Festival? It's very BIG in the UK. We have one annually in Maryland, and this year tickets were FREE! Last year I was lucky enough to get 2 free tickets ($100/each) to see Kanye West.

This year, since it was free, all 35,000 tickets sold out within half an hour. There was no way I could attend. Until, a little birdie got me in touch with the staffing agency responsible for staffing the concert. These would be people you see with mics of giving out free stuff during the concert. I just attended the training tonight and am more than excited to be a part of the event tomorrow.

In addition to getting paid on an hourly basis to party at an all day music festival, I got designated to be in the VIP Lounge. It's not really work when you get to sip on complimentry green tea-infused vodka, lay on nice IKEA funiture, and watch Flavor Flav and Richard Branson pour beer all day.

There's more! We got complimentry red converses to go with our red t-shirts!



I'll do my best to document the whole adventure.


ViVi October with Nicole Richie

9:36 PM
for vivian =)
click on images to enlarge





and for those of you who cannot purchase ViVi locally, or like saving trees, did you know you can download them online? Some of my favorite sources are as follows:



Enjoy!



Buses to New York from Bethesda

1:06 PM
When I usually go to New York, I hop on the Vamoose Bus, which used to be $25.00 a trip (roundtrip $50). Most DC/NY buses depart in the middle of DC which can be sort of a hassle if you do not live in the capital. This one picks you up right in Bethesda, Maryland, 2 blocks from where I work. I'd usually just walk over with my luggage on a Friday and get to New York by midnight.

The problem is Vamoose recently raised their fares from $25 to $30, which upsets me a little. We aren't exactly living in a lively economy right now, so it boggles my mind why they would raise prices considering that most other buses cost an average of $20 per trip. Vamoose has always been a mixed bag in terms of quality. They lease some of their buses from 3rd parties so sometimes you get nice posh buses with Wi-Fi capabilities, and other times you get broken lights, stinky bathrooms and horrible drivers. Some are rude to the point of indecent and some are so nice you want to kiss them. Some consistency would be nice. But if you like the danger of the unknown and taking gambles, Vamoose will hit the spot. Along with this extremely bad business decision, the consumers are starting to complain and you can see that their Yelp reviews have been slowly going downhill in the past month since the fare change.

The solution: Tripperbus.com is a new company that recently opened up to cater to those in the Bethesda area who travel to New York. They are still new so they have kinks, but they earnestly are trying to improve in order to compete with Vamoose in such a downhill market. Their fares are $25 a trip and after 4 trips, you get a free one. (You can do this with Vamoose too, but you now have to sign up to be a member online in order to reap this benefit.) One of the best things about Tripper Bus is that it leaves right from my office. Well, down a few steps...but now I can forego the two block hike with heavy luggage.

I love capitalism.

Happy Friday

6:17 PM
The new October issue of ViVi with Nicole Richie on the cover.


the art of gift giving

10:02 PM
One of my favorite things to do is give presents, but the best part of gifting is the part where you choose the wrapping paper and cards. Being the sentimental sap that I am, I like to choose things that represent the giver or the person receiving the gift. I like every aspect of my gift to be personal and have some characteristic to it.

This was for one of my best girlfriend's birthday. Her and I both share a love for traveling and overall general wanderlust so I picked out a beautiful wrapping paper that had a atlas printed on it. Another was a vintage image of the Eiffel Tower which is, more or less, very me. It's OK to put a little of you into your gifts. I highly encourage it. You want the person to know who gave them the present as long as it doesn't take away from the gift, itself. I added a little flower garnish because we are both extremely girly. I loved the details on it and it could be recycled and reused as something else, perhaps she can put it in her hair later, who knows?

One of my best advice to those who have a hard time finding the perfect gift is to get anything that reminds you of the person. In this case, I got my friend a few items that just made me think of her, and in the end she loved them all because she had actually planned on purchasing some of the items. So I guess it was a good thing to follow my intuition and pick out things that just screamed her name.

The flower garnish, card and wrapping paper were all purchased from Papyrus.

I think I enjoy the wrapping part a lot more than picking out the present. It's all about presentation and I like to put thought into every little detail. In the end, the smile on her face was all worth it!










i ate too much....again

4:45 PM
Just got back from New York. I drove the Prius up there (4 hour drive), in which I only had to fill up the tank once because I started with half a tank. The beau and I share a love of delicacies. Things like pig's blood, bone marrow and all the strange ethnic dishes that an average person would cringe over is the stuff of delight for us.



Along with Bone Marrow, Beef Peen was on the menu, which we passed on.


soft shell crabs in a vinaigrette sauce and vinaigrette onions. an ingenius combination.

My bowl of bone marrow. It was delicious to say the least, and I am craving some so bad right now.

P.S. I did not get the shoes.... I tried them on at Bloomy's in Soho and they did not look any prettier on my feet, unfortunately.

the Vietnamese Banh Mi

1:19 PM
if you haven't tried this amazing vietnamese staple, you are missing out on something amazing. Once you get a Vietnamese Banh Mi, a regular American sandwich may never taste the same again. Credits for the image above goes to the New York Times and for this article on the Vietnamese sandwiches.


apres moi le deluge

3:22 PM
There was venerable storm outside my office that threatened to take me along with it. Within ten minutes it stopped and the world was still again, like a storm never happened at all. The humidity and intense sun dried the pavements, removing all signs of its presence.

But you can still tell something has changed. Bushes and floral shimmered in the sunlight, blinding me at certain angles. If you look close enough, you can see the change.


happy friday!

1:22 PM

this has honestly been the longest week of my life. and now that I got my paycheck today, i'm wondering if I should treat myself to those lovely shoes from Elizabeth and James... You'll just have to see what I post on Monday. =)


Tokyo Girls Collection S/S 2009

8:25 PM
I love reading my Japanese magazines (Vivi, Glamorous) because they are just loaded with great fashion spreads. Anyways, heres some of my favorite models (Lena & Jessica Michibata) in the Tokyo Girls Collection show for spring/summer 2009:




scarlett sings!

5:07 PM

Sisley Supremya At Night

4:40 PM
I just discovered Sisley, and oh my gosh, was I in for a treat. They are an independent French skincare company and they use only the best ingredients. Not only that, but their packaging is also eco-friendly.

So in my monthly mail from Neimans, I get a complimentry sample of this amazing night cream called La Nuit. The packaging looked fancy enough, but I tried La Mer before and was unimpressed with their results. That night I put on La Nuit with little expectations. I woke up and noticed an immediate difference. As opposed to looking sleepy and tired, my face looked dewey and smooth. Firmer even. I couldn't believe it.

I finished the sample in three nights and searched endlessly online for the price; $750....!

Sigh, I guess youth does come in a bottle, but only if you can afford to fork over $750 for a few ounces. How ludacris.


I love blogging, but I suck at making friends

2:57 PM

I started this blog because I wanted to share. Share clothes, movies, books, stories, fairy tales. Magic.

What I got in return has been numerous and unprecedented amounts of encouragement (for my writing), and feedback on the things that I've been lucky enough to be able to introduce to you.

I've also been lucky enough to be approached by some great sponsors who have offered me with some amazing gifts all for a simple link to their site. And lucky enough to say that the experience has been nothing short of a delight for a girl like me who revels in all things free.

The comments keep me going, yet I am so terrible at responding. I am a lazy baby when it comes to keeping up with others blogs. I find beautiful blogs that I want to follow and add them to my list here on the left side, but rarely do I ever get a chance to go to them. And when I do, and if I have the time to respond, I'd like it to be relevant to the entry, not just a random comment for the sake of leaving a comment. I want the author to know that I read their entry.

I want to say thank you everyday to those who visit my blog and take the time to leave insightful and meaningful messages, to those who email me and reach out to interact with me. I appreciate it deeply, I just wish I was as good as returning the favor.

In my own little way, I just post more entries in hopes that you will like them.

tough times

2:11 PM

balmain tweed military jacket $5,780
balmain leather quited skirt $8,915





just a sliver

1:55 PM

maybe it's my admiration of geishas, but I am enamoured with all things open back. cleavage is over-rated. its all about the curves and arches of a woman's back.


turn me inside out

1:52 PM


Somehow, even though I am entremely low on funds, I am convincing myself that I need this jacket for the upcoming winter.


off the shoulder dress

12:07 PM


draped off the shoulder dress fromUrban Outfitters



Elizabeth and James Send Dip Side Wedge

4:33 PM

This has such an interesting shape. It's unattractive in color and alone, but I am falling in love with it. I can't explain it. The shoe is so ugly that it's beautiful and the shape of the whole piece really hooked me.


*edit*

I found a picture of Ashley Olsen (guessing) in the black ones... Now I want them even more!!




bullet proof

4:28 PM
Isn't she beautiful? So rough yet so supple and soft. The blue is inviting and I just want to use it like a pillow.



change

2:29 PM
Yet another little gem of wisdom from salon.com:

I know simple things. I know things that I have observed. I have observed many people make small changes if they try hard. I have seen this.

I do not know why. I know what. The what is: Most people can make small changes if they try.

And when do they try? Again, what I know and have experienced is this: People try to change when it hurts too much. They try to change when they have had enough pain.

But each of us seems to have a different and unknowable capacity for pain. Some of us will die before changing.

our new baby! the journey to a new car

7:03 PM


It's not as exciting as it sounds, we just purchased a new Toyotal Prius today. My mom just traded in her gas guzzling SUV for a hybrid car under the Cash for Clunkers rebate program, and I couldn't be happier! We got back a lot more than the actual trade-in value of the car.

The Toyota Hybrid gets an estimated 48 miles per gallon. We were told to expect to fill up our gas tank on average about 2 times a month. It drives smoothly and the engine is so quiet, I couldn't even hear it under strained ears.

At first we went to 355 Toyota in Rockville, Maryland. We walked into the show room and it was packed full of customers. No one came up to help us so we had to go to the receptionist and ask for assistance. The salesman that was introduced to us wasn't friendly, welcoming or pleasant to talk to. He was short (in responses too lol) and unwilling to negotiate on the price of the car with us, which he quoted $1,000 above M.S.R.P. (or retail price) of the car. I asked him to give me a total price on the car, after tax, titles and the rebate from the rebate program and somehow, he magically came out with $25,000. If the sticker was $23,000, and the rebate gave us a total of $4,500, it would be around $18,500, plus 6% tax, factory transfer fee and title (around $1300), it should be less than $20,00. How ridiculous was that? Since he was so rude, we decided we did not want to do business there, nor with that particular salesman.

Our journey took us to Jim Coleman Toyota next and the experience compared to the last was as different as day and night. The showroom was not crowded. I was greeted as soon as I walked in the door by the receptionist who was welcoming and friendly. Immediately the manager of the dealership came over and introduced himself. I told him exactly what I was looking for and the price range. He was upfront and honest with me and gave me honest quotes that were A LOT more reasonable. All in all the experience was pleasant and amazing. We got exactly what we wanted without having to haggle and it all took a total of about 1 hour.

We are picking up our new baby tomorrow and I can't wait to name her!



Who else owns a Prius?


Jessica Alba


Sarah Jessica Parker


Owen Wilson


Miley Cyrus


Emma Watson


Leonardo DiCaprio


That guy from Entourage lol


Cameron Diaz (my favorite!)


Ryan Gosling


Gwyneth Paltrow


Orlando Bloom