Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New Year Resolutions

So it's New Year's Eve and resolutions are on my mind. I tried last year to start taking vitamins...and lasted almost 5 months! But once the vitamin bottles were complete, I never made it back to the store for refills. LOL.

This year, I'm thinking of making a fashion resolution. I usually don't wear make-up nor much jewelry (I tend to like simple stuff like pearls or studs and an occasional ring). But maybe this is the year that I make an effort to look more polished. Which resolution should I *TRY* this year? I'm afraid doing both would be too stressful...haha.

Are you guys planning to make any resolutions for 2009? Maybe I should just go back to my vitamins. :P

Though, today I did take the initiative and wore a necklace!

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Outfit: UO grey dress, BR sweater, Seychelles shoes, Tibetan necklace

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Mouse Shoes

My new flats remind me of mice...they're grey and have little ears!

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Outfit: Old Navy lace skirt & swing jacket, Zara grey flats

Le Petit Prince

I just found out from my friend, Tokyo Star Girl, about these totally cute shoes from Melissa! They're currently sold out, but hopefully I'll get them once they're back in stock. Do you remember reading The Little Prince for the very first time? The story is so timeless and reminds me of the innocence of our youth.

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Sunday, December 28, 2008

101 Dalmatians

This skirt reminds me of Dalmatian spots, no? We went out to dinner last night and I forgot to bring a purse or even a wallet. It was disconcerting...made me feel naked without any of the usual staples (cell phone, ID, lip gloss, keys) and yet it was also surprisingly very liberating. You guys ever go places without your purse?

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Outfit: BR sweater & sandals, Black Market/White House skirt

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Hot Pot in 70 Degree Weather

Over the last few weeks, I've been craving hot pot. Probably because when we were deciding to relaunch our blog, one of the names we were thinking was "Style Hot Pot," and since then it's been on my mind. Well...lucky me our Christmas dinner was one HUGE hot pot affair.

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This was my outfit for the dinner and I got my sister to pose for me as well. She has such cute clothes and always has great style.

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My outfit: black Gap sweater, rose Ann Taylor blouse, BCBG mauve skirt
Jenny's outfit: Ralph Lauren shirt, black Citizens jeans, Tory Burch flats, Bally clutch


Then after dinner, JW and sis played beer pong...but with water?!?!? Jenny ended up winning.

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Merry Christmas!

We're spending Christmas in the Land of Mickey this year. Luckily there wasn't too much traffic as we drove down, but I guess it was late on Christmas Eve.

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The family decided to open presents tonight - despite it being midnight - since we weren't too keen on getting up early Christmas day. Almost all of our pictures came out blurry and made it look like we were frantically tearing open the presents...LOL. Here's a couple of the non-spastic ones.

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I got a beautiful orange cashmere scarf and Caleb got the cutest sweater from his aunt.

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Hope everyone will have a wonderful Christmas with their loved ones too!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Me and Barak

So, guess who came to visit our offices? Why, Mr. President Elect Obama! He's shorter than I thought he would be.

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Haha...ok, so I saw this cut-out as I was passing by the elevators and couldn't resist taking a picture with it. Mr. Obama was actually wearing a Santa hat (why someone would bring this in and put a hat on him, I don't know), but I took it off because THAT would be too much, eh?

Outfit: sweater from Ann Taylor, skirt from BR, Nicole shoes

Sunday, December 21, 2008

From Scratch

I don't know why, but I've been fascinated with baking lately. I love how the house smells when something is in the oven...it makes the holidays complete.

A couple of weekends ago, we went to a Christmas potluck and I wanted to try making pecan pie from scratch. It turned out beautiful with a honey brown crust and a delicious glaze to the pecans. Unfortunately...it tasted not as good as it looked. LOL! The crust and top layer of pecans were fine, but the filling was kinda gooey and...custardy? It made me kinda sad because I was truly looking forward to my first pecan pie this year, oh well-o.

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So, after this failed attempt at making the pie I was pretty nervous to make red velvet cupcakes from scratch. I found a Paula Deen recipe and here is the end result, decorated with chopped pecans and chocolate morsels. They tasted awesome to my biased palate :), but we'll see what my co-workers think tomorrow!

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

All Packed Up

I'm ready for our winter 2008 trip to Taiwan, Hawaii, and California!

Packing was a pain as usual, since we had to pack for weather ranging from the 30s to the 80s. For some reason, both K and I packed dressier clothes this time instead of the usual jeans & tees. Hopefully I don't get lazy and just resort to wearing the same comfy thing over and over while on the trip -- this is what I usually end up doing when it is hot!

Anyways, I always knew that I'm really dependent on Excel - it seems like I can't think outside of it. So when I started a packing list for this trip, I ended up relying on trusty ol' Excel again to organize my thoughts. Check it out. . .

The top section lists the packed items by category, the middle section details out the outfits with winter layering options, and the bottom section helped me make sure I had the appropriate outfits for travel & party days. The bottom section also helped me roughly estimate how many outfits I needed for the other days -- I doubt I'll strictly follow the schedule, but it should save me some time in the mornings. This packing method really helped me to make sure I didn't overpack! It was also a lot easier to use Excel than to make scribbles on a notepad.

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I usually wear jeans/sneakers for flights, so it'll be interesting how my boots & tunic/dress & legging combo goes tomorrow - it better be comfy because I'll be stuck with that outfit for over 24 hours! Did you know that I used to wear shorts, tees & slippas on flights? So weird, now thinking about it.

Hope you all enjoy the holidays, and take it easy!

Dark Dresses

A couple of dresses I've worn this week...also, my new shoes.

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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Re-Launch!

When we first started our blog as Shopaholic Homebodies, it was done on a total whim and we learned many things on the fly. Now, we are re-launching ourselves with an additional friend (who has the same name as Thao, so they're going by their nicknames) and would like to introduce our group:

Isis, Lilo, Miyu, and Shasha. . .
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We were all together this past weekend for a Christmas party and late night of Rock Band!! Here's our awesome girl group:

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Perfect outfit for a BIG meal

Thao and I went consignment-shopping this past weekend, where I found the perfect outfit for the holidays. Behold. . .the magical expandable tent-style dress that will accommodate big tummies after huge meals, topped off with a corduroy blazer with a leather closure. I felt slightly like a school girl with the completed outfit, but it was so comfortable!

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corey lynn calter dress, Borne Jacket, UO tights & shoes

I used to be a little squeamish about used clothes (other than the ones from family members & friends). This was because I was turned off by the low quality options that were sometimes dirty and majorly overpriced in the places I did check out. However, I recently became much more open to consignment & vintage items after visiting Beacon's Closet and Buffalo Exchange, thanks to Apple. Considering that there are fashion cycles and most things, if not all, come back into fashion, I'm realizing what a great idea vintage/consignment-shopping is! Not to mention it's eco-smart. Now I'm all up for recycled clothes!

GAH! I have to go pack soon. K and I will be heading off to Taiwan later this week, then Honolulu, then onto Cali to visit my bro, sis-in-law, and their newest addition! Hopefully I'll be diligent enough to take tons of pictures and eat tons of good food. I also hope to play in my momma's closet :)

Monday, December 15, 2008

Mackage is seriously macking :)

I had never heard of the brand Mackage until I saw Lilo's winter coat this past Saturday (hopefully she'll post pictures of it). Coincidentally, Apple sent me an email the next day, with a note about how she saw some incredible Mackage coats. And they are indeed INCREDIBLE! They induced some serious drool, even from the hubby.

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K & I were in the big city this past weekend, and we took some pics - recognize the location? I just had to post this pic, in case you thought that I perhaps never went outside the house, since all my outfit pictures are in my house! By the way, yes, I was wearing that Uniqlo heat tee AGAIN :)

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Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Sandman

Hey girls, sorry this is my first outfit post this week because of two reasons: 1) I was sick earlier this week - so I didn't feel like much except sleeping after work, and 2) last weekend I bought a new pair of shoes that are really cute except when I wore them out I tripped twice and sprained my ankle (kinda ironic because they were only 1 inch heels...whereas I'm fine in my 4 inch pumps today).

Today's outfit is a blast from the past. Shasha, do you recognize this red skirt? I wore it so often back in college...and after all these years, I'm finally bringing it out again.

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Outfit: BR coat & vest, JCrew skirt, Brooks Brothers shirt, striped tights (though hard to see)

And here's a picture of Lilo and me at work...though this actually isn't either of our offices, but we thought it would provide a good idea of our work environment.
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Also, I completed my collection of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman graphic novels. Squee! I always get a thrill when I complete a series...and these Absolute Sandman volumes are so beautifully designed.

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