The Snow Show

outfit details – skirt + hairbow: H&M // blazer: Living Doll (Crossroads Trading Co. find) // dress: BeBop // belt: Xhileration // boots: Steve Madden // necklace: Once Upon a Smorgasbord (buy similar here) // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

Since Tim and I both had Monday off, we headed to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco to check out the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic exhibit. The show consisted of original concept art from the film and I’m such a nerd for that kind of stuff! Well, I’m a nerd for pretty much anything Disney, but I digress. Concept art from Disney movies are absolutely stunning, so it was an amazing experience to be able to see some of these sketches up close and personal. The details on some of them are incredible — if you look close enough you can see each pencil stroke the artist did and see just how hard they pressed their pencil against the paper.

I also got to learn a few things about the film that I never even knew about (and I know a lot about Disney)! Though Snow White is a beloved classic family film, Walt Disney originally intended that the movie be for adults. He told a journalist, “Before seven or eight, a child shouldn’t be in a theater at all. But I didn’t make the picture for children. I made it for adults — for the child that exists in all adults.”

Upon learning that Snow White was originally created for adults, I now understand why it scared me sh!tless as a child! I still like to refer to Snow White as my favorite “scary movie” or “horror film.” Hell, even the ride at Disneyland scares me! In my defense, it is called Snow White’s Scary Adventure, so… yeah. I think the Evil Queen is absolutely terrifying. Her transformation scene still gives me the heebie-jeebies, and during the exhibit I learned that artists studied the the transformation of Dr. Jekyll in order to truly get the Evil Queen’s done just right.

And of course, I had to dress accordingly to our trip to the museum by wearing the Snow White necklace I made featuring concept art by Gustaf Tenggren, whose art was shown and used on the banners and posters to promote the exhibit (up-close shot of necklace pictured below). I still have a similar one available in my Etsy store :)

If you find yourself in San Francisco before the 14th this month, definitely make a trip down to the museum. The show is insanely gorgeous, so definitely check it out if you can!

Cheers,
Nina

Tale As Old As Time

outfit details - jacket + flowers: H&M // earrings: Once Upon a Smorgasbord (buy here) // dress: Mossimo (buy here) // belt: Merona // boots: Madden Girl 

Last week I FINALLY got to watch the Beauty & the Beast musical in Sacramento! I’ve been wanting to watch it since, oh… I dunno, since it first came out in the 90s? It’s come around my neck of the woods a few times within a 10 year span, but for some reason I’d always miss it. Since my annual pass to Disneyland expired earlier this month, I was in dire need of some Disney magic, so I couldn’t let this pass by once more! I ended up going with Shanice, my mom, her bestie, and my Auntie Clemen. So it was kind of like a mother/daughter + besties + sister/auntie night out! WOO! I really enjoyed it, though I was a bit thrown off by how the Beast came off as “wimpy” and humorous compared to how serious and stoic he is in the movie. But, whatever. I still love that furball either way!

I opted to dress in theme, so I put together an outfit that was inspired by both Belle and the Beast during the “Tale as Old as Time” sequence in the movie with a navy blue military-esque jacket, yellow lace dress, rosey hair clips, and a pair of earrings I made with Belle and the Beast! They’re actually up on my Etsy store, so if you want to check them out you can click here. I really wanted to wear something like this to Dapper Day last month, but I didn’t have a yellow dress that could pass off as Belle’s then, plus the jacket isn’t ideal for sunny SoCal weather. I’d be sweatin’ a storm!

Cheers,
Nina

Dark Side of the Garden

outfit details – dress: H&M // belt + cardigan: Merona // boots: Dirty Laundry // purse: Coach // r2-d2 pouch: Target // Stormtrooper ring: from a cupcake! // Darth Vader necklace: Once Upon a Smorgasbord (buy here)

OMG, an outfit post! I haven’t done one of these in awhile, so I suppose it’s time to fix that, right?

This is what I wore on Tuesday, so it’s not exactly an OOTD, but it’s coo, baby. It’s coo. I tend to wear dresses, cardigans, and boots A LOT because it’s pretty much my fail safe. I don’t know what I’m going to do when the weather gets warmer though. Ugh! I don’t even want to think about spring!

With this particular outfit, I was feeling very Lisa Loeb-y circa 1994… despite the fact that I’m not wearing my glasses. I misplaced them on Tuesday morning, buuut fun fact time!: they’re reading glasses, so I don’t particularly need to wear them all the time. I just like wearing them a lot because I love glasses and things look a lot nicer when I wear them. And of course, I had to add some geeky elements, so I threw in my Stormtrooper ring that I got on a cupcake, and I found this super rad R2-D2 pouch at Target last month! It came with a bunch of Lemon Head candies, but I just gave those suckers away. It has a little clip on it, so I attached it to my purse and stuck my chapstick, lipstick, and a compact mirror in it for easy access. I don’t know what else it could possibly be used for besides that. o__0

Also, I just added the Darth Vader necklace I’m wearing with this outfit to my Etsy store, Once Upon a Smorgasbord! I thought it might be a good idea to incorporate some of my pieces into my outfits just to show y’all how they can be worn and whatnot Darth Vader looks quite lovely amongst the floral print of my dress, does he not?! For a better view of it, you can check it out here.

Star Wars + Floral prints = EPICAL GEEKY GIRLYNESS!!!

Cheers,
Nina

PS: Shout out to my Dark Side Sister, Nami who loves and finds the Sith Lord to be a fashionable entity just as much as I do!

Da Na Na Na Na Na Na Na BATMAN!

outfit details - dress: Material Girl // cardigan & belt: Merona // earrings: H&M // watch: Disney x Timex // hair bow: upcycled from a broken headband // shoes: Target ballet flats I DIY’d with Batman fabric // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

Batman’s been my favorite superhero ever since I was an itty bitty thing. I didn’t necessarily read the comics, but I watched the old campy version with Adam West all the time with my grandpa, and of course I loved the Tim Burton movies that came out when I was around 5, and Batman: The Animated Series was an after-school staple! My sister and I even had hair ribbons and shoe laces adorned with Batman’s emblem — I guess I’ve been doing the geeky-girly thing since I was a little lady. Ha! Anywho, I attempted to do some color blocking and pattern mixing with this outfit by mixing my kelly green lace dress with royal blue and hints of yellow to compliment Batman’s logo on my shoes that I DIY’d myself! I made them in August by using acrylic paint, Mod Podge, and Batman fabric on an old pair of ballet flats that I  found a bit boring. They looked really awesome after they were done and I was extremely happy with the way they turned out, but after wearing them twice the paint and bits of fabric started falling off. NOOO! I still need to figure out how to salvage them. Are there any crafty folks that might be able to give me some sage advice? I did manage to salvage the hair bow I’m wearing though — it was originally on a headband that Jen and Shanice picked up for me in Japan Town, but when I found it behind my vanity it was broken! I ripped the bow off and attached it to a clip and voila — insta-accessory! And the polkadots are kind of comic bookish since the illustrations on some of them, particularly the really old ones, were pretty dotty.

 

Cheers,
Nina

Birthday Wishes

My birthday is this Saturday! AHHH!!! My original plans to go to the Happiest Place on Earth fell through, so I won’t be dining with Minnie Mouse for a birthday brunch or scream to my heart’s content on the Tower of Terror *cries tears of sadness* But I do believe that the boyfriend and I will do some exploring out of town, possibly Sacramento. I’m not sure yet. I have a few days to figure it out. I just know that I want the consumption of cupcakes and/or macaroons to be involved!

Anywho, I thought it’d be fun to create a wish list for things I hope to get for my birthday. Just like the Christmas wish list I made last month, I don’t expect to get anything off this list. This is all for funsies

1. Can’t Wait to Be Queen dress from ModCloth

You can’t really see from the picture above, but this dress has horse drawn carriages, horse shoes, and castles all over it! Isn’t it magical? Isn’t it stupendous?! I wanted to wear this dress so badly when I went to Disneyland for my 1yr anniversary in November, but it was either be cute-and-broke or have money to spend around the park. *sigh* Needless to say, I’ve been eyeing this dress for months. Oh, and it’s FINALLY on sale!

2. Gift cards

Who doesn’t love a gift card? I’d specifically like one or two from Joann and/or Michaels since I really need more craft supplies. I have all sorts of things planned out in my head for pieces I’d love to make for my Etsy store and myself!

3. Doctor Who: Adipose stress toy

I get stressed very easily and I love Doctor Who, so this a no brainer, right? Annnd… I think this would be a super awesome thing to have in hand when I attempt to make Adipose pendents out of clay!

These can be found at Think Geek and Hot Topic

4. Doctor Who: TARDIS socks

Tim got me the Doctor Who ankle sock set as an early birthday present and they are ridiculously fantastic! But the weather is still cold, so these knee-length TARDIS socks would be an ideal way to keep my feet and calves warm and wave my nerd flag all at the same time.

These lovely socks can be found at Hot Topic

5. Little Black Bag

I think Little Black Bag is a pretty awesome concept — you get to pick out 3-4 designer accessories (bags, jewelry, beauty products, etc), but first you take this quiz to see what your style is and then a “stylist” shows you some things you might like, and then you pick what you like, and if you’re not crazy about something you can swap an item with another member online! I think I explained that correctly…? There’s a video on the site that explains it all better than I can.

6. Lady & the Tramp pullover from H&M

If you follow me on Instagram, then you know how desperate I am to get my paws on this beautiful knitted pullover (sweater, jumper,whatever you wanna call it)! I bugged Tim about it during the holiday season by dropping plenty unsubtle hints about how much I wanted it for Christmas. I thought it would be perfect because I love Lady & the Tramp and Tim calls me Pidge just like Tramp. So perfect, right?! But he couldn’t find it! He did his damnedest to find it too — called the ones around him, asked if they could special order it (they can’t), looked online. I ended up calling thirteen H&Ms that were at least an hour and a half away from me to see if they still had any in stock. Every store I called was COMPLETELY sold out, and it’s nowhere to be found on the interwebs. Well, there’s like one eBay listing, but it’s not even the right size. UGH.

Soo… if any of you happen to stumble upon this in a size 10 or 12 LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY.

And I know Forever 21 currently has a Lady & the Tramp pullover in stock, but I honestly think it’s on the fugly side, soo… yeah.

Alright, well that just about sums up my list. I hope you all have a happy Monday (if that’s possible)!

Cheers,
Nina

Outfit Post: Bestie Edition

My bestest bestie Shanice’s birthday occured a couple weeks ago and we headed to Sacramento to celebrate with a day of shopping and yummy foods at the Tower Cafe followed by cupcakes at Esther’s. She looked SO cute (and it was hell trying to help her find the right birthday dress — her mom came to the rescue in the end though), so I just had to take pictures of her ensemble to share on my blog.

Shanice is the only friend I have that LOVES animal print. She’s also the only person I know that managed to rock snake skin and leopard print and not make it look like a hot mess. Obviously, that’s not happening in this outfit, but she’s mixing leopard prints and it looks pretty damn cute.

I got her scarf at H&M a couple of Christmases ago. I’ve seen her wear it on a number of occasions, so I’m glad she really likes it

Shanice’s outfit gets a pop of color with the vibrant hue of mustard yellow from her bag, which was a birthday present from her mom (I think…?).

I found this bracelet at World Market (or Cost Plus, whatever that place is called) and knew immediately that I had to get it for Shanice! To some, it’s just a cute yellow, green, and gold braided bracelet, but I immediately thought of Link from The Legend of Zelda. Like me, Shanice is a HUGE nerd (one of the many reasons why we’re friends), and she’s a ginormous fan of video games — The Legend of Zelda being her favorite.

I make geeky connections to everything.

Our friend Jen gifted her with an earring cuff that she crafted herself with chains made out of 14 k gold fill. If you’d like to rock one of these, you can order one on Jen’s Etsy store Walrus of the Sea. <– plug for the other bestie. Woop!

Shanice has made a few appearances in my blog before, but I don’t think I ever mentioned how we became friends. We met about 5-6 years ago in the newsroom of our community college’s paper where we both worked on the entertainment section. Fun times! Well, not always. Tons of drama was always happening and we somehow got dragged into it. So lame! But we often walked across the street to Barnes & Noble after class and ate cookies and sipped on Passion Tea Lemonades with a pump of raspberry (she taught me how to order fancy Starbucks drinks) and we talked about our fandoms and actors we thought were hot… y’know, regular ‘ol girl things. And she’s been my bestest friend ever since <3

Cheers,
Nina

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outfit details

Dress: Miss Chievous (Marshalls) // Jacket: Xhiliration (Target) // Boots: Charles Abbie (Ross) // Headband: from some cute store in Japan Town that we can’t remember the name of // Scarf: H&M // Bracelet: Cost Plus/World Market //Ear Cuff: Walrus of the Sea // Bag: Steve Madden

D.I.Y. Minnie Mouse Costume

Minnie Mouse is by far one of the easiest costumes a lady can put together for Halloween — especially at the last minute (like what I did last year)! All you really need is a good pair of mouse ears, cute accessories, and fancy duds. Or casual duds. Whatever interpretation of Minnie you want to do is fine with me!

Keep in mind that Minnie Mouse doesn’t neccesarily equate to red & white polka dotted dresses and skirts. The girl has other colored dresses and bows, y’know? Earlier this year I bought a pair of Minnie Mouse ears at the Disney Store that came with 4 different detachable bows — a floral print, white with little pink dots, pink with big white dots, and a glittery silver bow. In case you’re wondering I bought it for Disneyland purposes. It’s no longer available there, but they do sell all kinds of mouse ear things on the Disney Store website. Or if you’re super crafty there are tons of tutorials on how to make your own ears, like this one I found on YouTube.

I based my costume around the floral bow and came up with this:

outfit details:

• Ears: Disney Store
• Cardigan: Target
• Peter Pan collar necklace: YesStyle
• Dress: H&M
• Shoes: American Rag
• Ring & Bracelet: I have no idea. o,0

For the costume party I went to on Friday I wore black tights with a long sleeve black shirt underneath my dress just to get the full Minnie Mouse effect, but for this blog’s shoot I ditched the tights and undershirt because I was lazy (at least I’m honest). I got my dress at H&M last year because it makes me feel like a princess. Wee! I think every girl should have something in their closet that makes them feel regal. Anywho, I got the cardigan at Target eons ago, the Peter Pan collar necklace is from YesStyle, and the t-strap heels are by American Rag, which I got last year.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to Minnie Mouse! You can pretty much put any cute outfit together, throw on Minnie-esque accessories (I think Minnie is a pearl kind of girl), some mouse ears, and call it a day! Black nose is optional, but please, please please, do not draw whiskers on your face. I don’t understand why some girls who dress up as Minnie Mouse draw whiskers on their face when Minnie doesn’t even have them. You know she gets that ish waxed!

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween tomorrow!!!

Cheers,
Nina

PS: To all on the east coast, stay safe!

PPS: This post will be submitted to IFB’s Halloween Project. Keep your fingers crossed for me please!

Preppy Sith

Sometimes I like to make subtle nods to my geekdom in any outfit I wear, like with an accessory that reminds me of something from Doctor Who or a Disney character. Other times I’m very abrasive about it. Case in point, the Star Wars outfit I threw together when I went to San Francisco with my two best friends last Saturday. I’m usually all for the good guys and underdogs, but when it comes to Star Wars I can’t help but be drawn to the dark side of the force.

I don’t know what that says about me as a person. o_0

I found the Darth Vader pullover in H&M’s mens section a couple years ago. When I saw it, I felt like I couldn’t leave the store unless it came home with me… despite the fact that the money I spent on it should’ve gone to groceries. Speaking of groceries, the Stormtrooper ring I wore with this outfit was found on a cupcake from a grocery store! I seriously only bought the cupcake for the ring. Best $1.99 I ever spent! The collared shirt I’m wearing underneath my pullover was purchased at Marshall’s when I was a freshman in high school. I graduated in 2004, so that shirt is pretty fuggin old. I got my grey pleated skirt on sale at the Gap earlier this year during my local stores’ “Going Out of Business” sale. *cries* Stockton can’t have nice things, EVER! At least we have Dillards — it’s the only store location in California! My Kate Spade typewriter purse was given to me as a graduation present from my mom and dad last year. It is easily the coolest purse I own. And now a little Arpakasso (or Alpakasso) guy dangles from it. Jen bought it for me while we were in Japantown as a super early birthday present (my birthday isn’t until January). Since he’s wearing the German flag colors, I named him Han.

Our trip to SF was pretty awesome, despite the fact that my outfit shoot totally got interrupted by a mumbling crackhead. No, seriously. She was high and asked Shanice if she was a witch. She said some other things too, but they’re way too inappropriate for my blog! The picture above is the only decent shot that came from the shoot pre crackhead. I suppose it’s for the best — it would’ve looked odd if I smiled while clad in Empire gear, right? But before that nonsense we stopped by Berkeley first for food, because that place is just full of delicious om noms like Top Dog! Then we headed to Japantown where I found a Tokidoki cardigan that had buttons that looked like donuts. DONUT BUTTONS. I damn near died from the kawaiiness of it all. Afterwards we hit up Haight Street so I could sell some DVDs at Amoeba (but I decided to keep them because they only offered me $8 in cash), then we ran into the crazy lady, and ate dessert at Akiba Cafe. They have waitresses that dress up like lolita maids, but there weren’t any when I went. Booo. We ended the day at Stonestown Galleria, which is right across SFSU. When I was a student there I found myself wandering around Stonestown before, inbetween, and after classes. I often went home with an empty stomach and new shirt (or dress, or sweater, or whatever).

And that was my day, and that was my outfit. Hope you all have a great weekend! <3

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outfit details:

• Collared shirt: Express
• Pullover: H&M
• Skirt: Gap
• Boots: Madden Girl
• Purse: Kate Spade w/an Alpakasso keychain
• Ring: I got it from a cupcake at the grocery store

Autumn Attire

I started this blog with the intention of documenting my cute ensembles, but it gets awfully tiring taking pictures of yourself! It also doesn’t help when you gain weight and all your cute clothes don’t fit the way they used to. *Wah wah wah* I’m working on that though! And I’ve been getting back into the swing of things clothes-wise too. I came up with this outfit for the Grizzly Bear show I attended on Tuesday.

Outfit details:

• Cardigan/Belt/Skirt: Mossimo (Target)
• Shirt: H&M
• Necklace/Earrings: Grouse & Badger
• Bracelet: Invisible Children
• Boots: Steve Madden (thrifted)
• Purse: Louis Vuitton (inherited from my mother)
• Glasses: Brooks Brothers (optometrist)

A few people complimented my outfit and told me my color palette was very fall-like. It wasn’t my intention when I threw it together, but I suppose the sudden change in weather inspired me. I thought I looked a bit more like a walking thrift store as some of my pieces remind of things that could be found in one — my bird shirt from H&M (I found it in the dude section!) looks like a page from a vintage encyclopedia, the pattern of my skirt has a retro vibe going on, and my jewelry from Grouse and Badger are made from upcycled bits like typewriters, watches, and old keys. I also found my Steve Madden boots at the American Cancer Society’s secondhand store. I’m not sure how old the Louis Vuitton bag is, but my mom has had it since I was kiddie (I think)!

My reed bracelet (pictured below, which I hijacked from my boyfriend) is from an organization called Invisible Children. They’re handmade in Uganda and 100% of the proceeds support “civilian protection and the rehabilitation of children abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army” in Africa. You can read more about their mission statement here. The bracelets come in different colors and each one represents a different child, and they also come with a DVD to see the kids’ story! I have yet to watch a DVD… perhaps I should ask my boyfriend if I can borrow one, as he basically bought a bracelet in every color.  :)

Fin.

Get along lil’ doggy

The holiday season has really gotten to me — and by that I mean my waistline. Fuuuuuu… Curse you delicious stupid cookies and cakes that magically appear out of nowhere during this time of year! CURSE YOU. You know I can’t resist you!

I started going back to the gym over the weekend and also started taking Rory out on walks. As a result, I am SO. RIDICULOUSLY. SORE. Oh, and I’m totally drinking some hot chocolate with whipped cream as I write this. Heh…

I remember being really excited of the prospect of having my own puppy to cuddle and take out on walks before I brought Rory home in September. I even contemplated on cancelling my gym membership since I figured walking Rory would be my form of cardio. Um, I was so wrong. When Rory finally came home, I was crushed when I learned that I had to wait until he got his rabies shot to take him anywhere. 4 months — that’s how long I had to wait! In the meantime I tried attaching a leash (one of those retractable ones) on him a couple of times so he could get used to the feel of it, but he ended up chewing it which was all kinds of frustrating. He’s a puppy, so I should’ve seen that coming. *sigh*

Recently, my dad and aunt have been nagging me about taking him out on walks, so I bought regular leash and took him on a short walk to the mail box last week. I expected him to just sit there as I tried to drag him along, but to my pleasant surprise he actually walked with me and by my side (dogs are always supposed to walk by you, not behind or in front of you).

The following day I took Rory out around the neighborhood and he did fairly well. He did bark at a couple of Rottweilers though. x__x

And a few days after that, Tim took us to a trail where him and his sister used to ride their bikes.It was pretty nice, and we found another dog park along the way.

Here are some pictures from that walk:

Another thing that surprised me was when Rory let me put clothes on him and didn’t fight me about it or try to chew them off! I was so crestfallen the first 5 times I tried putting on his grey jacket and other various articles of clothing I had gotten for him and he would just not have it. I was like, “Dammit, I’m going to have one of those dogs that hate clothes!” But alas. He doesn’t!

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outfit details:

me:

• hat: H&M
• shirt: Gap
• jacket: Xhiliration
• pants: Old Navy
• shoes: Madden Girl
• purse: Kate Spade

Rory:

• Martha Stewart for PetSmart

Tim:

• shirt/sweater/blazer: H&M
• shoes: Aldo
• pants: ???