outfit details – dress: American Rag // boots: Charles Albert // belt: Xhileration (came with another dress) // bolero: I have no idea! // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // purse: street faire find // cocktail ring:vintage // necklace: Once Upon a Smorgasbord

I forgot how terribly irksome it is to take your own outfit shots via self-timer and tripod. I’ve been very spoiled by having Tim take my pictures whenever he’s in town (he’s oh-so very patient and even gives me directions on where to look or how to pose), but since he’s in Ohio for a week I need to go back to the way I started. And damn, it’s been a bitch!

In the process of trying to take shots of this outfit I wore last week (it’s been a busy weekend full of wedding festivities so I haven’t been able to do a write-up until now– mah bad), my tripod got knocked over by a sudden gust of wind while my 3-month old camera was still mounted to it! Thankfully, the camera only has a bit of a scratch. *PHEW* But the little removable part that the camera screws onto totes broke. I superglued it back on, but now I don’t have the convenience of taking it off and whatnot. Oh well!

But enough of my moaning, check out my purse! It’s a friggin horse saddle!!! I found it at the Lodi Street Faire earlier this month and fell in love immediately. Whenever my mom and I go to flea markets or street faires, I usually have a certain thing I’m looking for. A quirky bag wasn’t on my agenda (now that I think about it, I didn’t really have anything on my agenda), but once I laid eyes on it I knew I had to bring it home with me. I’d be a fool to pass it up, right? It was originally marked at $55, but mom (a total haggling pro), asked the vendor what her best price was and she said $45. SCORE!

Tip: When bargaining with vendors at street fairs and whatnot, throw out phrases like “What’s your best price?” or “What’s the best you can do on this?” if you’re interested in an item because then it sounds like you’ve been doing this haggling thing forever and have it down pat. Plus it sounds a lot better than, “Can you go any lower?”

I made the necklace I’m wearing with a little horse toy that I adorned with pink ribbon and some flatback Swarovski crystals. I dubbed it my “Neapolitan Pony” since the colors go along with the ice cream flavor. ERMERGERD, doesn’t a bowl of that sound super tasty right now?! I actually made quite a few of these necklaces with other animal toys, but have yet to put them on my Etsy store ’cause I’m lame like that. But if you’re interested in ordering a custom one, don’t hesitate to ask me! I’ve actually done three custom orders for these little animal necklaces already via Instagram; four if you count my mom’s birthday request for a hippo

Cheers,
Nina

outfit details – glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // pullover: Out of Print Clothing (buy here)

Hello, Old Sports!

With the recent release of the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, I wanted to re-read the novel before seeing the movie… ’cause that’s how I roll. My expectations aren’t too high for it though; I already have a feeling that it’s going to be one of those the-book-is-better-than-the-movie kind of deals. And Christina Hendricks should’ve totally been cast as Myrtle Wilson, am I right?! I mean, Isla Fisher is gorgeous, but Myrtle’s described as having a bit more of a figure. Plus Christina Hendricks and Carey Mulligan are my lady loves, so it would’ve been mind blowing to see them in a movie together! Anyhow, I found my old copy from high school with notes dated from May of 2002 (#hellaold!) hidden within the pages, but both of my part time jobs have kept me busy and so has my Etsy store, so I haven’t really found a whole lot of time to sit down and read. RUGH. But thankfully audiobooks exist ! I just bought the version Jake Gyllenhaal narrates on Audible (it’s $6.95!!!), and I’m listening to it as I type this very blog post!

The glasses I’m wearing might look familiar — I put them on my “Wishful Wednesdays” post awhile ago. I bought them immediately after I wrote the post too. Waste time I do not! The frames are a lot smaller than I’m used to, but I really like them. I’ve always wanted to try out cat eye frames too. And just like my first order from Coastal.com, the glasses came in a nice case and also came with a bottle of glasses cleaner, a cloth to wipe them with, and a screwdriver to tighten/loosen the glasses. I was a little freaked out when I first put them on though because they were really narrow and had the sides of my face in a tight bear hug. I thought, “OMG, NOOO! I don’t want to have to return these!” And then I remembered that I could go to LensCrafters and have them adjust the glasses for me, and for free nonetheless. Crisis averted! I’m over the moon about these glasses, and I loooove the fact that they have semicolons and colons on them. It’s a subtle detail, but as someone who majored in Creative Writing I can’t help but be super excited about it. Haha! If you haven’t checked out Coastal.com, they have smorgasbord of fantastically wonderful frames and first-time customers get their first pair of glasses for free. Well, you pay for shipping, but other than that they’re FREE!

And don’t my new glasses look just dandy with my The Great Gatsby pullover?  ;)

Cheers,
Nina

From now until May 20, use code OOPS10 to get 10% off your purchase

Here are some of the latest additions to the store:

Padme Amidala necklace

Queen Elinor from Brave necklace

A vintage illustration of a mother and child on a French chandelier crystal pendent

My Little Pony – Coconut Dream necklace

My Little Pony – Skywishes necklace

Hello Kitty necklace

Adventure Time – Jake the Dog necklace

Donald Duck necklace

Cinderella & Prince Charming earrings

Jawa earrings

Cheers,
Nina

I just wanted to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas in the world!

Whether your baby be human, fluffy, or still in your tummy, I hope you have a stupendous day with your loved ones!

Cheers,
Nina

outfit details – pullover: Forever 21 // dress: BCX (buy here) // ring + earrings: Once Upon a Smorgasbord (buy here and here) // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // shoes: Mossimo

I was looking through my wallet the other day and noticed that I never took out my Annual Pass to Disneyland despite the fact that it expired two months ago. *cries* A key to happiness with an expiration date is the saddest thing ever! Wah wah wah. #firstworldproblems

So today’s outfit is a “what I’d wear to Disneyland” kind of a thing, but really — I’d wear Disney related clothing ANYWHERE.

I actually wore this lacey navy blue dress on my last trip to Disneyland (seen here). Annnd, this is the dress’ third appearance in an outfit post (seen here). Sorry I’m not sorry for recycling! I got my lavender Cinderella pullover a couple years ago when Forever 21 first started selling them. Naturally, I went ape sh!t and bought almost every friggin’ one they had, except for yellow Lion King pullover which they never had in my size every time I stumbled upon it. RUGH!

The jewelry I’m wearing is made by yours truly and I just put them up on Once Upon a Smorgasbord! Don’t worry, I’m just wearing them for show in this outfit. I didn’t actually go out and about wearing them! And with Mother’s Day coming closer and closer, it’s too late for me to have a sale like I originally intended. Mah bad.

So bad news: if you want to buy something for your mama from Once Upon a Smorgasbord, it won’t ship out on time.

Good news: I’m going to start a sale ON Mother’s Day! I’ll be adding more things to the store, so be on the lookout for more info on that and a code to use at checkout

Cheers,
Nina

I know, you don’t care about that! So who won?

 Here are the folks whose names I pulled out:

The first name I pulled out was Rachel’s, so she gets the third place prize!

Second name was Caitlin’s, so she gets the second place prize!

And the Grand Prize winner is Margarita!!!

Thanks to all who participated in this giveaway, and a GINORMOUS thank you to LeSportsac for sponsoring it!

To the winners, please email your mailing info so I can send your pretty purses to you ASAP!

Cheers,
Nina

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

outfit details – skirt: Xhileration // belt + cardigan: Merona // t-shirt: Super7 // Peter Pan collar necklace: MStyle // Stormtrooper bow: Abby’s BowTique (buy here) // Stormtrooper ring: it was on a cupcake! // shoes: Dirty Laundry // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY!!!

In the nerd world, May 4 is Star Wars Day as it plays a pun on the famous saying, “May the force be with you.” To celebrate Star Wars Day I wore this outfit to work — all clad in my Star Wars gear, complete with Stormtrooper hair bow and ring! It’s not exactly “business casual” (our dress code), but I got tons of compliments from some customers and co-workers! One of them said, “So all I need to do is wear a cardigan and I can wear my nerdy shirts to work too?” Somehow I managed to get away with wearing my Luna Lovegood shirt by Megan Lara a few days before, so yes. Cardigans + nerdy shirt + nice skirt (or whatever fancy bottoms) = work appropriate. Huzzah for loopholes!!!

May the Fourth be with all my fellow geeks and nerds on this joyous  holiday. YUB YUB!!!

Also: Happy Free Comic Book Day and Happy Birthday to Audrey Hepburn

Cheers,
Nina

PS: Here’s a fun little ditty to celebrate the day.

@(*__*)@

Hey everyone!

I  just wanted to let you all know that I’ve extended the deadline for the It’s a Small World LeSportsac giveaway until Saturday, May 4 @ midnight (PST), that way it’ll give everyone more time to enter and give me more time to be able to print out the comments page, cut out all the entries, stick ‘em in a bowl, and pick 3 random winners that I can announce on Monday! *PHEW*

If you have yet to enter, what’cha waiting for?!

Click here to see how you can win a It’s a Small World LeSportsac bag of your own.

Cheers,
Nina

outfit details – dress + belt: Xhileration (buy dress here) // boots: Charles Albert // watch: Timex x Disney // glasses: Brooks Brothers (buy here) // necklace: Authored Adornments (buy here)

Yesterday was a bit of a rarity as I had the ENTIRE day off! Rather than sleeping in and bumming it up at home, I hit the road bright and early to visit Tim at his new casa (which is an hour and 20 minutes away from me)!! We hadn’t seen each other in what feels like months, rather than weeks, since our free time never matches up to allow either one of us to make the drive to visit the other, so yesterday was completely amazing and much needed!

Tim told me there were tons of country roads with lots of places that would look cool for an outfit post, so I dressed for the occasion with my black and white horse dress from Target (damn you, Target and all your adorable clothes). While driving down the road we tried to find horses to be in the background, but all we saw were cows. Also, to change things up I wore my Brooks Brothers glasses that have been M.I.A. since October! I found them a few days ago when I was setting my bed up on bed lifters. And my necklace is from Authored Adornments. Does it look familiar? I had it on my wish list last Christmas (seen here), and I decided to take matters into my own hands and buy it for myself! It contains a line from John Green’s novel The Fault in Our Stars which says, “I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” Swoon.

BTW, Krysten of Authored Adornments has shared a code for me and all my lovely readers to use to get 10% off an order! Just use the code BOOKSHOP.

Tim and I did the usual stuff we do when we’re together — eat (we went to Jimboys for lunch and Smashburger for dinner), go to Target (it’s the go-to thing for when we wanna go out but don’t know what to do), do an outfit photo shoot for my blog, watch TV shows and YouTube videos (I brought season 1 of Chuck with me in hopes that I could convert him into a fan), talk about random stuffs, nap, and cuddle. <3

Sorry I’m not sorry for the partial mushiness of this post. I  love my boyfriend a helluva f*ckin’ lot x infinity & beyond then some, and I’m really proud of us for making this whole long distance bidness work. And that’s all I shall say about that since I gotta keep some things private, y’know?

Cheers,
Nina

1. Kurt Halsey x Art Star Philly “Dear Friend” necklace

I have an affinity for deer and I love the art of Kurt Halsey (he just might be the next artist I feature on Curator’s Corner ), so it’s only natural for me to pine over this necklace, right? Art Star Philly had an Instagram giveaway for two of them but I missed it! That’s what I get for being out of the loop. *wah wah wah*

2. 127 Flowers Dress from ModCloth

If you look in my closet, you’ll see that 90% of my dresses are floral print. This mint dress with pink and peach roses is perfect for spring and I’m contemplating on whether I should save up a few paychecks so I can get it for my cousin’s wedding next month. This is appropriate for a wedding… I think? It’s going to be in SoCal and I do believe the ceremony is going to be outdoors. Maybe it’s more of a tea party dress though. I guess that means I’m going to have to throw a tea party and that will justify my pending purchase of this dress. Yeah? Yeah. I knew you’d agree.

3. Unicorn sweater by Skip ‘N Whistle

Skip ‘N Whistle has some of the most clever duds. My family wore coordinating tacky Christmas sweaters by them during the holiday season (seen here) and we easily won the Best Dressed Family On Christmas award. I made that award up, but we won, so don’t even try to argue with me! This lightweight sweater features a vintage looking unicorn design that looks like it should be plastered on velvet and placed in an ornate gold frame. Right?! I have a penchant for the delightfully tacky. And luckily for us, this piece of art is wearable and not on velvet (I’ll wear a velvet dress, but not a sweater. The line’s gotta be drawn somewhere)!

4. Cat Eye frames from the Derek Cardigan Grammar Collection

You can’t really tell from the picture, but these glasses have a colon on one side and a semicolon on the other. HOW EFFING PERFECT IS THAT??? When I first saw the Derek Cardigan Grammar Collection I fangirled so hard and have been drooling over these glasses for months. I have a pair of wayfarers from their regular line that have mathmatical symbols, and I loathe that subject, but those glasses were too awesome, so I set my hatred for all things math aside.  Of course seeing a pair of glasses with symbols that I give a sh!t about is ridiculously exciting! For new readers, I majored in Creative Writing. Just thought I’d throw that out there in case you’re wondering why I’m so damn passionate about colons and semicolons. : ; ; : ; ; : ; ; : : ; : ; <– semicolon and colon par-tay! Honestly though, I’m a bigger fan of the double dash when I write — that’s just my preference. BTW – coastal.com is having a sale on their designer glasses and the Grammar Collection is available there! Use the code EXTRA50 to get half off of your glasses. But HURRY, you have until April 30!

5. Thranduil v-neck shirt by Cloud & Victory

I came across Cloud & Victory after they started following me on Tumblr awhile ago. They have the wittiest t-shirts with ballerinas, and characters from The Hobbit, Downton Abbey, and Game of Thrones. Since the image is so tiny, you can’t really see all the amazingness of their Thranduil shirt. My apologies. But it has Lee Pace as the racist elf king wearing a fine pair of pink stunna shades, a lavender Birkin draped in the crook of his arm, and it says “Get In Loser, We’re Going Shopping.” The Hobbit x Mean Girls. LOVE IT!  Which reminds me, it’s Wednesday. That means I should wear pink, otherwise I can’t sit at the table with the cool kids. D:

6. Melie Bianco “Nina” bag

Not gonna lie. My main reason for lusting over this faux ostrich Melie Bianco bag is because it’s called “Nina.” No, it’s not named after me, but for someone whose name isn’t very common and can’t be found on souvenir name keychains (what the hell, Disneyland? Y U NO have my name anymore?!), it’s a really exciting thing to see an adorable product that bears the same name as you! And it has a little bow, and as we all know bows are cool. Specifically bow ties, but whatever.

What items are you guys wishing for?

Cheers,
Nina