Catch-Up

For the past 17 months I have been blessed with another cousin, countless delish foods and more laughs than I can remember. Of course I haven‘t strayed very far from the currazay-dog-lady who loves foods, family, fweennds, books and shoppin (i.e. cardio). Here‘s a little picture overload to catch-up the last 17 months. You‘ve been warned... photo overload commencing!!!

1. Hot pot rice

2. Tobey huggin his toy twin

3. Mulling over sandal choices. Hmmm....

4. Tobsters suspiciously eyeing the new bonsais in the garden. 

5. My dream garden (i.e. The Huntington Library) 

6. T-shirt gold! Only two dolla each! 

7. Teddy bear latte my friend ordered at Urth cafe

8. Bananers choco chip cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frostins‘ . Yum. 

9. Disney themed mani

10. Fresh wild atlantic salmon sashimi

11. Hello Kitty l/s shirt.. Fall, when will you be here? 

12. A drlish pear cocktail that I need to recreate pronto

13. Tobleroni‘s bday spread :)

14. My scrunchi-faced cuzin Marianne wearing the most adorable outfit

15. Rice vermicelli with crab, mushrooms, onions and black pepper made by my gran. Psstt... i took the leftovers for lunch and dinner. Leftovers FTW! 

16. Bruschetta

17. BBQ ribs I could smell cookin from down the street

18. Amazing fruit tart. Mangos & berries & peaches, oh my!!! 

Phew... 

Prolonged hiatus... oops...

Oh Maiii Sheeesh.... has it really been 17 months since I last posted anything? Yikes. A couple weeks turned into months and then BLAM!! Honestly, I just tired of my own blog. I set out to try and give myself some time to think about my wardrobe and use what I already had in an effort to save some dough. Mission accomplished. However, like most resolutions it lost steam and faded into the kitchen fan. I think I need to regroup and slowly introduce segments that will encourage me to try new recipes, activities and fill my otherwise routine-habit-forming life into more of an adventure. I also believe that if I don't set up a goal of trying to blog everyday, this venture might prove more enjoyable and less tedious. On a somewhat related note, I have been instagramming in place of blogging...

Welps, I wanted to jumpstart this sad little blog again so I thought a check-in would be less pressure and a way to ease back into blogging. I will leave you with this one picture of chocolate caramel brownie cupcakes that have left me drooling while ignoring the sad little handful of pistachios by my desk. *le sigh*

Sunshine Yellow, Starfruit and Newspapers

I think this is going to become one of my favorite new tops. The color and lace are both so stunning, I can leave the accessories to a minimum and still look pretty put-together. I have to admit though that a couple years ago I would not have picked anything in this hue since I thought it washed me out. But..... I am trying to embrace color in order to temper my already pretty dark/gloomy closet. I'm sure everyone is tired of seeing the same ol' necklace from Anthropologie but it seems to be the perfect complement to everything lately. Might be time to start crafting some new accories with a "ocean" theme perhaps? We'll see. I wore this to work this week but with a light gray cardigan to cover up for the office.

 A closer shot of the detail in the lace. I love the hem of the shirt with the two different shapes.

 My snack once I got home. I thought it was a funny coincidence that I chose to eat bright star-shaped fruit whilst wearing a bright yellow shirt. Silly me.

A very happy maltipoo playing with a new toy. (Dog Gone Times Newspaper Toy with headlines about wrecked hydrants. The wordplay on the newspaper is hilarious. Yes, I read the Dog Gone Times.)

Lace Shirt: F21
Tank: F21
Pants: BDG via Urban Outfitters
Flats: Nordstrom Rack (AGL)
Necklace: Anthropologie
Earrings: Francesca's Collection
Dog Toy: Ross stores

Family from Texas

This past weekend, I had some relatives come to visit from Texas. The highlight was not just being able to see both my aunt and cousin but also to partake in the monstrous dinner that inevitably comes whenever it concerns a family get-together. We ate at Hop Li Restaurant in Chinatown which never fails with the monstrous proportions and delicious foods. Our small group of ten (small for us), ordered 13 dishes including some peking duck, crab, noodles, rice, beef, squab, and fish to name a few. Easy to say, that everyone was extremely full and got to take home some leftovers.

 Halfway into the meal I finally remembered to take a picture. Whoops.

 My favorite dish... NOODLES!!

These weird puffed up chips came in a variety of pastel colors. They don't really have any flavor but they somehow go well with the squab.

Overtime

Quick weekend outfit update. I wore this new lavendar shirt and realized that it kept in heat like sealing something shut with saran wrap. I'm so glad the air conditioning at work was functioning right. I wore this to work some overtime on a Saturday and can say that once I got home, I took out a minute to photograph this outfit before changing into something more sensible. I also may have stood in front of the fridge for a couple seconds before I changed...

 I love these new earrings. Inexpensive and cute. F21 certainly makes it hard to leave their store empty handed.

Top: Foreign Exchange (On clearance right now! Got this and a bright green clutch for $20)
Tank: F21
Pants: H & M
Flats: Nordstrom Rack (AGL)
Earrings: F21
Necklace: Anthropologie

Comfy Casual Fridays

I've been a bad blogger but I promise I've been taking outfit photos! I forgot I took these photos of an outfit from LAST friday. Yup. Running a bit behind. I was definitely going for something comfy and casual and still put together enough for work.

 Sorry the shirts a lil wrinkly. I had been sitting in the office for almost ten hours at this point.

Top: H & M (only ten bucks!)
Cardigan: F21
Jeans: BDG via Urban Outfitters
Flats: Nordstrom Rack (AGL)
Necklace: Anthropologie (Can't seem to stop wearing this!)

Jewelry Lust

Anyone who ever meets me or even takes a peek at my blog will know. I LIKE JEWELRY. A lot. Like a lot a lot. It should come as no suprise that my parents run a little boutique selling jewelry. I wasn't the most careful and graceful child (I have a stack of broken watches to prove this) so jewelry was not necessarily a part of my life. Fast forward 20 years and KAPOW! Jewelry love/lust hits hard. I actually bought my first diamond ring about six years ago. It's my beloved leaf ring that I feel naked without. I am always lusting after things in my mom's shop and so I thought I would share a few drool-worthy items. :)

The FLOWER ring. I love. I want. 14K white gold setting with diamonds, pink sapphires and more diamonds set in the center with yellow gold.

14k yellow gold setting with an amethyst stone. The deep purple is stunning.

 

Does this look familiar? It's one of the rings I love wearing. The green tourmaline stone is what originally caught my eye. 14K yellow gold setting with small white diamonds and a sea-green center stone.

 

My mother's newest leaf ring addition. The prettiest one I've seen since the one I picked up for myself. This one is a daintier version of mine and I think a little more "organic" in feel. 18k yellow gold set with small white diamonds. I WANT!!

 

This ring is definitely one I would feel nekkid without. This is the first diamond ring I ever bought for myself and I did so once I finished with university. 14k white gold with pave set white diamonds. I adore this ring.

 

A beautiful setting that has a more modern take on the three stone ring. 14k white gold set with diamonds in a cluster form in the center and around the cluster. This ring looks simple and elegant and definitely looks lovely once worn. The diamonds catch every possible ray of light and shines like crazy.

 

What a beauty! Yellow sapphire ring set in 14k yellow gold with small white diamonds set around the center stone as well as pave set diamonds on the band. The center stone is almost 3 carats! The basket setting also has an art-deco inspired carving throughout but I forgot to get a pic of it... D'oh!

 

Multi-colored pearl necklace with pinks, peach, and white pearls. It also has one very beautiful tahitian black pearl hanging on the end of the strand. This necklace is interesting because the snap is adjustable so you can adjust how long or short you want the center piece to be. So unique and beautiful!

 

My mother's shop always has at least one simple, statment diamond bracelet/bangle. This is one of them and is a timeless design. This design is nothing new but used frequently since it showcases the diamonds and their quality so well.

 

Last but certainly not least.... Jade earrings. These babies are a bit big for my taste but they are stunning because of the quality of jade. They are such a vibrant green and the pieces are large but not paper thin. The diamonds set on the sides in 18k yellow gold help accent it with the antique design. The setting of the earrings are reminiscent of a lot of older chinese jewelry and is often re-used since it showcases the jade so well.

Phew! Thanks for letting me share a bit of my obsession with jewelry and that you enjoyed the little peek into the treasures at my mom's boutique. :)