Maybe I'm an open book because I know you're mine.

This is how I looked on Saturday:

jacket: Wilson's Leather, a gift from Brian's mom.....dress: Charlotte Russe
tights: JC Penney.....booties: Payless

A close-up of the dress fabric. I bought this dress with the sole purpose of wearing it with my leather jacket. (Cough, Erin, cough, you inspired this!) I'm still surprised that a dress from Charlotte Russe actually fits me.

I wore bright purple tights with this dress. Totally random choice. I wasn't in the mood for my usual black tights.

What was the occasion? I celebrated my birthday in Las Vegas with Brian. And we went to Las Vegas for one reason: Sheena Easton. Omigah, I love her!! Seeing her live made my birthday so awesome.

I was too young to see Sheena when she first came out with her big hits. Obviously, I was way too young because I used to think "Sugar Walls" was about Hansel and Gretel and a house that was really made of sugar. Then, randomly in late 2009, I got really into her. I got all of her albums and was completely hooked! So, seeing Sheena at a show in Vegas was like making up for lost time.

Confession time: I totally cried when Sheena sang "For Your Eyes Only." It was pure magic.

By the way, I turned 32. :)

By the way, she did perform "Sugar Walls", and hearing those high notes live sent chills up and down my spine.

It must seem like some crazy dream that you're living through.

This is how I looked on December 28, for my doctor's appointment:

I called in sick on Wednesday and, other than the GemsTV spurts, I basically spent the day passed out the couch.

Because I'm a hypochondriac, I went to see my personal care physician at Kaiser on Thursday. She said I just needed to take ibuprofen for the migraines and Claritin for the sinuses. And she scheduled me for an ultra-sound to check for gall stones.

It was such a relief to know that I don't have meningitis or Reye's Syndrome. Yeah, I shouldn't self-diagnose the heck out of myself.

I wore baggy comfy clothes to my doctor's appointment.

The original plan was for me to go home right after the appointment and change into another outfit. That all changed when I got stuck in traffic and saw how horribly backed-up my exit off the freeway was.

So, I went to work as is, except I changed out of flats into boots to hide the leggings.

Yes, I wore leggings to work, and I LOVED IT.

For those not in the know, I keep several pairs of shoes in my car. Two pairs of flats for driving stick shift, a pair of pumps, a pair of boots, and a pair of booties.

sweater: H&M.....top: Kohls.....skirt: Ross
leggings: Target.....knee-highs worn under leggings: Target
flats: Payless
wide-calf boots: Payless

Because I have grown accustomed to wearing tights, I cannot stand having bare feet in shoes. So knee-highs if I wear pants.

Don't send flowers --- just give me some hours.

Last week, I received two rings. Both smoky quartz. Both size 7.

Let's start with the big bauble that's on the right side. A 15-ct Portuguese-cut round set in a crown of silver.

I purchased this on GemsTV for the GTFO price of $22.00. YES! $22.00! This was the first purchase I've made from that network, and it was a ring I saw on-air.

Because this ring was being sent UPS, I had it shipped to work. When I opened the package, I couldn't believe that the ring was so huge and that it was only $22.00. One of the awesome tenants at work saw me mesmerized by my ring, and she came up to me and said, "So, you like smoky quartz? I have a crap ring that I don't wear any more. Do you want it?" My response: SURE!

A few days later, she brought it in and gave it to me.

This is the "crap" ring.

What? She thinks of this as "crap"? Yeah, seriously! She was so relieved to give it to me because she's only worn it once.

Going from the description of the pendant-version of this on Zales.com, the cushion-cut stone is 10mm. I'm guessing that's about 3 to 4 carats. The accent stones are white topaz, and it's set in 10K gold.

The rings slide off my thumb, so I'm getting them resized. The silver ring was sent to the GemsTV resizing department, and the gold ring was added to a bunch of rings I've been meaning to take to a mall jeweler.

I still can't get over how lucky I was last week!

When you took away the fire, all you left me was the truth.

This morning, Brian and I had breakfast with Emily and Dave at the lovely Hayes Mansion in San Jose.

Here I am, standing in front of the mansion's reception facility.


sweater: JC Penney.....dress: H&M.....tights: Loehmann's
shoes: Payless.....right-hand ring: gift from the nephew!

What was the occasion? Dave proposed to Em the day before! We had breakfast to celebrate!

My nephew gave me this seed bead ring for Christmas.

Bonus indoors shots:

manipulator, you're a trickster

Today was a rare sunny day, yet I wore all black. I just don't make sense.

After dropping off two boxes at Goodwill, Brian and I rewarded ourselves with lunch at The Counter at Santana Row. As much as I love red meat, I always order the veggie burger at that restaurant. Their veggie burger patty is just that good! It's a mix of vegetables and black beans. What makes The Counter even better is the full-service bar. I had a mojito and Brian had two Patron Silver margaritas with our meals.

sweater: JC Penney.....tanktop: Ross.....skirt: NY & Co.
leggings: Target.....socks: Target.....boots: Bakers Shoes
scarf: Thank you, Alannah!
crossbody purse: Dooney & Bourke, zappos.com
right-hand thumb ring: a Christmas gift from the niece!

A wonderful client at the office centre where I work gave me a zappos.com gift certificate for Christmas. Of course, I had to get this D&B crossbody purse in my favourite green tartan. I love it! I can't fit my huge-set of keys into this, but that's what the pockets in my wool coats are for!

My niece gave me this play-ring as part of her Christmas present to me, and it's the perfect size for my thumb.

It's time to leave her dreams on the Underground.

Because I'm going to Vegas on my birthday to see La Diva Sheena, I decided to title each post leading up to that wonderful moment with a lyric from a Sheena song. I started this with yesterday's post.

I've used lyrics from her songs for titles for previous posts, but, for these two weeks, I'm making an actual effort to do this. Sheena = Love.

This is how I looked on December 18:



Pandas!!

sweater: H&M.....tanktop: Nordstrom Rack
pajama pants: Dear, Steve & Barry's.....slippers: Eddie Bauer, gift from my lil bro

This is my lounge-about-the-house outfit for this week. I actually wore that sweater and tanktop with a grey skirt and black tights to work. This proves how lazy I am --- slip out of wool skirt and tights, throw on pj pants and slippers. Voila!

She only gets her kicks from 50,000 watts.

This is how I looked on January 15:

sweater: Nordstrom.....top: Kohls.....skirt: Ross
tights: JC Penney.....shoes: Payless

That night, Brian and I walked over to the Center of Performing Arts to see Avenue Q. We've had the soundtrack for several years, but this was our first time seeing a production of it. Avenue Q is raunchy, hilarious, so wrong, and friggen good all wrapped up in one! Seeing those puppets was quite the experience! The Bad Idea Bears were an awesome surprise.

Fave numbers, in order of performance:
"The Internet Is For P..."
"Everyone's A Little Bit Racist"
"There's A Fine, Fine Line"
"I Wish I Could Go Back To College"

My lounge-about-the-house outfit

This is how I looked on December 10:

I picked this outfit to wear on the non-stop 4-hr plane ride home from DFW to SJC. Leggings and a boucle sweater. What can be more comfortable than that combination?

Because it was still chilly in Dallas, I wore tights under the leggings.

scarf: Thank you, Alannah!....sweater: Target
leggings: Target.....tights: Target
shoes: Aerosoles.....shiny face: Paula's Choice sunscreen


Emo self-pic.

This outfit is what I've changed into for the past week, right after getting home from work. I may need to go back to Target and buy this sweater in different colours and buy more leggings.

Too much absence makes my heart go frantic.

This is how I looked on January 9:

I'm wearing something I only wear for special occasions: make-up!

And a special occasion it was! Brian and I went to his cousin Hannah's wedding in Duncanville, TX. The wedding was beautiful, and the bride was gorgeous!

I quickly took off my jacket for this shot, then put it back on asap. I think it was around 34-degrees F that afternoon.

I bought these grey shoes when I went to Ross in Sacramento with Rachel. Today marked the first time I wore them in public.

coat: Target.....teal shrug: Macy's.....dress: JC Penney
scarf: thank you, Alannah!.....tights: JC Penney
shoes: Ross.....necklace: Tiffany & Co.
lip colour: "Berry" lipliner by Chanel (discontinued, I think!)
foundation: Paula's Choice
eyeshadow: MAC.....blush: MAC

Bang! You're so evil, baby.

Notice anything different?

sweater: H&M.....pants: Wal-Mart
socks: Payless.....shoes: Aerosoles

Oh, bangs! How much I've missed thee!

I've always had bangs to cover up my five-head, but I had to grow them out for my wedding last June. After getting tired of seeing my big forehead for the umpteenth time, I decided to get them back.

Crimson socks with lattice patterning.

water under the bridge -- let it flow out to the sea

According to my iPod, the last walk I went on was October 22, 2009.

Due to my inactivity, this is what my NikePlus Mini looked like this morning:

That's really sad.

That 1.96-mile workout was a walk I did on a lunchbreak. I'm trying to figure out why I stopped going on my usual lunchtime 30-minute walks. Around that time, I was having indigestion issues that depressed me. Around that time, the weather started to suck. Around that time, I was reading magazines on my lunchbreak. Yeah, excuses, excuses!

Well, today, I went on a 20-minute walk on my lunchbreak, and it reminded me why I did them in the first place. It was to wake me up. The sunlight definitely brought me out of a flourescent-induced stupor.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's 20-minute walk.

(Why yes, I outfitted my NikePlus Mini in pink sneakers, grey pants, a black shirt with the Canadian flag, and bonus blue eye-shadow. I'm just random that way.)

heartbeat drumming double time

This is how I looked on January 4,
right after the Sharks super-mega-lost to the Kings, 2 to 6:



cabled knit cardigan: JC Penney.....top: Marshalls.....skirt: Ross
tights: Loehmann's.....shoes: Aerosoles

I actually prefer this sweater paired with skinny jeans, but I threw it on today because I wanted to be cozy at work.

These Aerosoles are certainly getting a lot of mileage since these are the only flats I feel safe driving stick-shift in. And I've been driving stick-shift mostly everyday. I'm really particular about my driving shoes. It's bad enough I drive 80mph on my commute to work, the last thing I need to worry about is my feet being uncomfortable as I shift gears. Yeah.

Wait, what's keeping this sweater closed?

A mini binder clip!

My chest was cold at work mostly because the top I chose was low-cut. I grabbed a binder clip out of my desk drawer and just clamped it shut. Like I said, I wanted to be cozy!

And, for the heck of it, a detail shot of the moving box behind me:

Yes, the packing tape has the Canadian flag all over it. That was my most favourite souvenir from our trip to Toronto back in 2007 because it's so random yet so functional, yo.

New Year's Day, continued.

This is how I looked on January First, right after cleaning up our old place:

Jem & The Holograms hoody: Hot Topic.....grey shirt: PacSun
jeans: Steve & Barry's.....Nike sneakers: Kohls
slouch and smirk: due to extreme exhaustion and sore muscles

Our official last day in the apartment was December 31, but we took full advantage of the New Year's Day holiday to do a total cleaning overhaul. We got every nook and cranny clean, except for behind the washer/dryer. There was no way we could move it without an appliance dolly.

We were so happy to finally turn in the apartment keys to the leasing office on January 2nd.

Out with the old (apartment), in with the new (condo)!

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!

This is how I looked on December 31, 2009, right after coming home from work:

circle scarf: Thank you, Alannah!
teal coat: Target
under-eye baggage: due to lack of sleep.

***

This is how I looked on January First, right after midnight:

hat: courtesy of Brian's friends
top: Ross
sweater: JC Penney
cocktail: Margarita made with Patron Silver and freshly-made sweet-n-sour!

I found you one day with a mouth full of attitude.

This is how I looked on December 30, 2009:

hoody: PacSun.....skirt: Ross.....tights: Target
boots: Bakers Shoes

I had a Sharks game to go to that night, so I just threw a hoody over my work outfit. I can't remember what I wore under that hoody. Most probably a black sweater and a top.

By the way, the Sharks whupped the Capitals, 5 to 2. WOOHOO!

You came to my show, and I saw you in the crowd.

This is how I looked on December 29, 2009:

sweater: Nordstrom.....top: H&M.....skirt: Ross
tights: Target.....shoes: Aerosoles.

For the heck of it, I wore green sweater top with my charcoal skirt with pink pinstripes. Random note: The last time I wore this particular top was in Spring 2008. What a shame because the tie detail on this top is fun.