You may be seeing this dress for the first time here on this blog, but I've owned it for many years now. You will come to understand that this is the case with a lot of the outfits I post on this blog. It was during H&M's spring end-of-season sale and I snatched it up for only $10! I was a huge bargain shopper back in the day when my college life ruled my wallet. I am still am now, but to a lesser extent. I've built my wardrobe from the ground up and it's full of the clothes I love. I cycle through my old clothes and wear the same exact outfits again and again - only I don't photograph them all the time. As to acquiring new clothes, I don't go out and buy much nowadays.

 A return to my usual look after the previous outfit post. I certainly feel much more like myself in this. Anyway, we've begun the first of March and it seems like spring is already here. As soon as I walk into the streets, I see pink blossoms staring straight back at me. The new spring leaves have protruded from their buds - well nourished from this winter's abundance of rain. There is a spring in my step and a certain lightening of moods. And I can sense its presence affecting everyone around. More laughter and glee. Brighter countenances and happier voices. We emerge from the darkness on fleeted foot as if we were a baby deer bounding into the meadows, basking in the warmth of sunlight. And before we know it, the searing heat of summer will come and blast these pleasant feelings into oblivion (can you tell I really like summer?).

Now this is not my usual style that you typically see posted on the blog, which isn't an entirely a bad thing. I do like to experiment with different looks, which often depends on how I'm feeling that day. It's apparent that my style has evolved somewhat. Especially since my bangs and hair have grown out quite a bit. While I'm enjoying the long hair, I'm not really digging the whole fringeless look. I don't believe it suits me or my style at the moment. It doesn't feel like me. I've stuck with it for many months now and I feel it's about time to chop them off.

 If you had asked me this when I was still in elementary school, I would have blushed a bright tomato red. I was so self conscious of the moles on my face. They were the bane of my childhood. I was often teased and told that my face would be covered with them when I grew up. There is a saying in my culture, "When a fly lands on you, a mole will appear." As a kid, I thought I was terribly unlucky to be the only one to have all these horrible flies landing on my face and leaving unwanted gifts.  Unfortunately, I grew up learning that a girl is supposed to have a flawless, spotless (acne included) face and felt like I was the only one who had these "beauty marks". I would often get told that it was such a pity - that I would be pretty if it wasn't for those gosh darn moles. A plastic surgeon's assistant even insisted I come in for a consultation to remove them! Huh, imagine that for a girl's developing self esteem.

 If I've got to describe my style, I wouldn't be able to put a finger on it, but it's definitely influenced by British fashion with Alexa Chung being one of my biggest style icons. The cool LA city chic and 90s grunge fashion doesn't quite click with me the way British/European fashion does. I'm drawn to the casual chic, which looks classy and put together. Can be dressed up or dressed down while still retaining that touch of class I adore. While I consider this particular outfit casual chic, compared to the people around me, I'm definitely overdressed. And sometimes it sucks because I hate to be the one constantly overdressed all the time. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. I mean, I've dressed this way for how many years now? And I'm still trapped in that limbo of worrying whether I stand out too much and battling it in my head and wondering what others must be thinking about this silly girl all dolled up. Some days, I don't care and some days, I get those stares that just obliterate my confidence. It's really not supposed to matter what others think but when the anxiety gets you, you just can't help it! But on this day, I didn't care and I was a happy girl because I got to wear this super cute blouse with embroidered kitties playing all over it.

 In a desperate attempt to bring more moisture into the dry winter air, I bought a few indoor plants - particularly English ivy, pothos, and aloe vera - this past weekend at a local orchard. My skin and scalp gets so dry during this time of the year. Turning on the heater doesn't help either. I have to immediately slather copious amounts of lotion after showering or my skin gets super dry/flaky/itchy. I thought cowashing would be moisturizing enough for my scalp but apparently it's not. So, I have recently resorted to oiling my scalp with an olive/castor oil blend the night before I wash just to get relief from the dryness. I did try spreading a couple of drops after while my scalp/hair were still damp but that made my hair kind of greasy looking so I stopped doing that.

 I never thought it was strange to wear florals during the winter season as I wear them whenever I feel like. Interestingly enough, I recently came across a few articles (here and here) stating that winter florals were now a fashion trend and examples of how to style this trend. I guess it didn't have as big of an impact on me because I've always had a thing for florals (and I don't really follow fashion trends too closely, I think?).  All the more reason to wear it, I suppose! Now, it does make sense to pair floral prints against darker fabrics. One tends to gravitate towards darker colors during the colder seasons. I do like a pop of color here and there, however. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of wearing a wholly dark attire. I also find it rather interesting that these darker hues are suggestive as being "gothic", "Victorian" or  even "vampy", which I can understand. You don't see vampires in movies wearing bright pinks and corals, do you?

While this particular outfit isn't as festive, I wanted to do a remix of this dress I wore around the same time last year. Unfortunately, the scrunched part of the dress sits higher than my natural waist so it protruded above the skirt in a rather unsightly way if I wasn't careful. Rather than worry about that, I decided to wear it anyway just because I really liked how the outfit turned out (just don't look too closely! :P). And just look how beautiful this little ginkgo tree is. Once a shade of light green now a lovely gold. Almost like a tree with thousands delciately gold-winged butterflies resting on their branches. I would love to come across an enormous full grown ginkgo tree. I remember when I was very young, one of my teachers told me that some gingko trees give off an odorous smell when it sheds its berries and its leaves start to turn yellow, signifying the coming of fall. I've never been at the right time at the right moment to experience this and honestly, I'm not sure I want to. I heard it's quite putrid!

  I apologize in advance for the brevity of this past as I've got to catch up on all the fox scarves I promised friends and family I'd knit and give away as presents this Christmas. As it is, I'm super behind and have finished only a few. Anyway, a little bit about this vintage cardigan: I discovered this lovely gem some time ago before I banned myself from thrift shopping (I go way too often). My eyes were drawn to the color and pattern like moths to the glow of light. I don't think I can find anything else like this and that's what makes it so special.

  I cannot express how happy I am that autumn has finally graced our sunny Southern Californian region. A blanket of dark, grey clouds stretched over our blue skies this past Thanksgiving weekend and unleashed a torrent of gusty rain. The temperature dropped significantly, requiring all to dig out their thick, warm coats and blast the heater inside their homes. I always thought the city looks so beautiful after a bout of rain. The smog and pollution have been temporarily washed away. The snow-tipped mountains now loom tall and dark behind the city - vivid and striking, no longer forgotten. The air is cold and crisp. The streets glitter, remnants of rain still lingering. And the plants and trees produce the most lush, vibrant greens.

Indeed, a silly fool I was. I was excited to do this shoot because it was finally cool enough to wear this mustard beret I knitted last week. I had left my home and scampered off into the park without bothering to check one very important thing: my camera battery. I happily set up the tripod, managed some test shots, and watched a couple of squirrels play in the trees. All was ready. I ran on over to my spot and posed a few times while the self-timer went off. Ran back to check the photos. "Not bad," I said to myself as I deleted all the fails. As soon as I returned from a second round of photos, I saw that awful blinking warning on the display that tells you the battery is low and can't take anymore pictures! So, these were all that I managed to take. It really was unfortunate because I was quite eager to practice different angles as I don't always want to depend on someone else to do it. So, let this be a lesson for us all. Don't forget to charge your battery and always check before you leave!

 It's been a rather stressful week to put it lightly. Things didn't work out the way I had hoped. I moped around for some time but eventually roused myself from the lethargic lull following a certain momentous event. I needed to get mind off things and this post was not going write itself. As famously quoted in Moulin Rouge (one of my favorite movies of all time), 

 As stated by the title, that is exactly what we did last weekend. I needed to drop off my phone at the Apple store to get it fixed and knew was going to take several hours. I'd planned to do some shoots while we waited. What I hadn't planned on was for it to rain! When I left the house, it was nice and sunny. After I dropped off the phone and walked out of the mall, it was pouring. Normally I do check the weather but I truly thought I was safe. Didn't bring any umbrellas or jackets. We decided to wait it out and get a bite to eat. By the time we were done, the rain was letting up a little. Luckily, we found this grove of bamboo trees and were surprised the ground beneath was completely dry.

 Remember what I said about owning 3 different versions of this dress? Well, on display for you today is her darling older sister! Sweet and demure grey with a familiar A-line shape. Scrunched cap sleeves as lovely as can be. Of course, hidden side pockets also run in the family. While not as bright and fresh as her younger sister, she's got all the charm to make up for it.

 What I love about this dress is how it cinches at the waist, which lifts the weight off my lower body. Thus, contributing to an overall more flattering look. I don't think I have a very defined waist. It's just kind of...there. Just imagine a pear and you've got it quite perfectly. I've learned long ago that anything that accentuates the waist is key for me. But sometimes, during those particular days, I just want to wear babydolls or shift dresses - essentially look like a blob because I feel like a blob. And that's okay, too. I don't think I could bear stuffing my bloated belly into a fitted A-line dress anyway!

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What I wore:

Dress: H&M

Bag: ASOS

Flats: Corso Como

Photos: John & me

 As I type this, my right index finger is resting snuggly inside a DIY splint that I made. What in the world happened? Well, let me just simply say I received a nasty, deep cut right at the second knuckle. I won't go into details as to how it happened because it was rather gory. Let's just say 8 hours later, I was still bleeding. But that's because I kept forgetting and moving so it would reopen, So, now it's in a splint! Typing is rather cumbersome now so I won't write much today.

 And as the title indicates, it still feels very much like summer here while the rest of the world is already experiencing beautiful autumnal weather and colors. So, wearing this H&M chambray dress felt quite appropriate. I've had it for over 5 years and liked it so much that I got it in 2 other variations - both equally as old! Perhaps I'll feature them in the next posts.

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What I wore:

Dress: H&M

Sandals: New Look

Bag: ASOS

Photos: John & me

 Looking at this skirt, you'd never know it was once a maxi skirt with awful, tacky looking frills at the hem. I had purchased it many years ago during a sale at H&M during the holidays. Not sure if any of you would recognize it now. Makes me kick myself for not doing a before picture, but you'll understand soon enough. I love a good sale (and you know I can't resist floral prints) so I figured I'd just cut off the frills and fix the hem myself.

 Well, I did cut off the hem, but it wasn't until recently that I got around to hemming it. By this time, much of the fabric had horrendous fraying (they looked like tassels) and I had to cut all that off. Maxi skirt no more! I honestly think knee-length skirts are very flattering for us shorties. And really, it didn't take very long to sew the hem. No more than 10 minutes max. I really don't know why I put it off for so long. Remind me to kick myself again. I could have been wearing it all this time!

I think I've finally found my niche: thrifted/vintage clothing. Took me long enough. A year of blogging without any real direction. As you already know, I've always had a great love for vintage clothing, but never really put myself out there and aggressively search in thrift shops like I do now. This increased activity is actually serving me a purpose, but more on that another time. Until then, it's a secret! Anyway, this skirt I'm wearing was from a recent thrifting adventure. It was so interesting that I pondered over it for a while, thinking what a peculiar and clever thing it was!

While I normally never wear tank tops, I do make gracious exceptions during the sweat-inducing summer months. With this solid 90 degree weather we've been having, I don't want to wear anything at all!  But because tank tops are so thin and lightweight, they keep me cool. And because they are so thin and lightweight, I can't help but feel a little naked. They're something that I would wear underneath a see-through top or at home as part of my pjs.

 I almost didn't want to wear this outfit just because I felt like I was showing too much skin. But then I realized that this was nothing compared to other people who wear super short shorts (I can literally see their butt cheeks!) and revealing tops in the summer. I figured I was safe. Anyway, I would only wear this sort of crop top if my bottom piece was high waisted - like this H&M skirt (I wore it once here). I'm not one to feel terribly comfortable baring my midriff for all the world to see. However, I couldn't loved the marsala color and eyelet details so much that I was determined to find a way to work it into my wardrobe. There was a matching skirt but all the ones in my size were gone (and I didn't think it was worth the price anyway).

 Right after these photos were taken, we were chased off by security. While it's not private property, it's not exactly public property either. I've been here multiple times with and without permission so I was surprised when the security lady told us to leave. I probably won't be coming back to this area anymore as I'd rather avoid trouble. It's too bad though. Such a pretty little place with tons of photo opportunities! And as it was, we didn't get to finish the shoot so we went to our local library that's got this lovely grassy area with beautiful trees.

   Now that I'm determined to grow my hair to at least waist length after 4+ years of shoulder length hair, I've finally started using conditioner.  I remember my mother blasting the waves out of my hair with a blow dryer set on high heat in an attempt to control my wild mass of frizzy hair. Let's just say, that was not the answer to controlling unruly hair. I truly believed conditioner was going to weigh down my hair and make it greasy. Was it any wonder why my hair often looked like a rat's nest (or one of those straw brooms according to my mother)?

   Well, after 8 years without it, I now saturate the length of my hair with Yes to Carrots Nourishing conditioner every time I wash my hair. The frizz is much more manageable and the waves are more defined. Took me this long to realize that my hair had been screaming for moisture all these years. I almost feel bad.

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What I wore:

Top: Forever21

Skirt: thrifted

Sandals: ASOS

Photos: John & me