Tuesday, September 15, 2009

We are speaking here in circles again.

Another day of cheesing it up for the camera.

But this time in my fave outfit: green pullover + black skirt.

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pullover: H&M.....skirt: Ross.....shoes: payless
peridot & topaz ring: silverjewelryclub.com
floral band ring: silver booth @ Bayfair Mall


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I really like pairing this floral band ring with gemstone rings.

Monday, September 14, 2009

....also, he's a ninja!

I totally cheesed it up in today's pics.

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cardigan: PacSun.....tanktop: H&M.....skirt: Ross
shoes: Payless.....bracelets: home-made


Maria's apartment complex had this random fence, so the following pose was totally appropriate.
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***
Lucky supermarket carries a line of $1.99 wines called Fox Brook. After doing a little searching on the web, I learnt that Fox Brook is owned by the same folks who put out Charles Shaw, aka Two-Buck Chuck.

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I was so excited to try this wine because of the price. But after drinking half of the bottle of cab sauv over this past weekend, this is what I ended up doing tonight:
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:(

I hope Fox Brook merlot fares better.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

smile pretty, thrill me

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top: Charlotte Russe.....jeans: Charlotte Russe
shoes: Aerosoles.....bracelet: home-made


***
Yo! Check out what was in my mailbox!

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A bunny bracelet I purchased from Love Erin Designs on Etsy. :)

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I really love this bracelet! It's tiny, delicate, and cute.

Thank you, Erin~!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Live life, breathe air --- I know somehow we're going to get there.

Today marked the debut of all the pieces in this outfit.

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cardi: Ross.....sleeveless top: Gap
jeans: Charlotte Russe
.....flats: Target


(I didn't have to work my Photoshop mojo to make the top stay green!)


I bought the tanktop on clearance at Gap back in early June but didn't like how it looked with clothes already in my closet. The cardi was purchased at Ross back in late June, and I couldn't figure out what to wear with it.

Well, last week, I saw those two items hanging next to each other in my closet and thought that they would look good together, but I just needed the right jean to wear with them. Thus was born the idea to buy a dark-wash skinny jean. I went hunting for skinny jeans on Labor Day, and I hit the jackpot at Charlotte Russe.

The flats were purchased at Target on Thursday. I like this pair a lot because of the slight-heel and because of the buckle detail. The orange-red trim made me want to pair these shoes with the outfit.

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Oh, by the way, these shoes were on clearance for $6.48!

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I really love how these jeans fit and feel. LOVE.

I took my sister out for lunch at Merritt Bakery & Restaurant in Oakland. Here I am in the parking lot of the eatery.
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I am so friggen excited to finally eat at this restaurant!

We ate chicken & waffles. I'm a wing-person, and my sister is a leg-person. (That doesn't sound right.)
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The food was soooooo good!

Most recently, I've had a huge hankering to go to other states to eat soul food. Uhm, hello, why do I have to travel to far off places when Oakland is only a 40-minute drive from SJ? So my latest thing right now is looking for soul food places in the Bay Area on Yelp.


Friday, September 11, 2009

I'm waiting and fading and floating away.

I stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit by not pairing the usual black shoes with my mostly black outfit.

This photo was taken by my coworker Maria right after we got off work. I look so friggen tired and drained because I really was friggen tired and drained. Going to bed at 2am and waking up five hours later can do that to a person. I was so out of it that I couldn't even stand up straight.

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cardigan: Nordstrom.....secret tanktop: Marshall's.....skirt: Papaya
flats: Target


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I bought these flats because they weren't black and because they were $12.99.

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The embroidery on this skirt is lovely.

Maria and I then went off to Sear's at the nearby mall for a little retail therapy. There was plenty of fitting room time, and we both bought sandals that were on clearance for $2.98.

I tried on a teal ruffled sleeveless top and a shiny polyester skirt with my trusty cardi. I liked the outfit but wasn't jazzed enough to buy the pieces. Yep, I was tired all right.

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***
Oh, before I forget...

Even though Roger hates my guts, he kindly posed for a pic.
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He's such the prima donna.

September 10, 2009 -- I got a date with the night.

Because I had some time to kill before going to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show in Oakland, my coworker Maria and I indulged in a little retail therapy at New York & Co. at the nearby mall.

I ended up buying nothing, but it sure was fun trying on clothes.

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I'm talking on the phone with my lil bro about seeing a local production of 'Spamalot'.

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Of course, I had to try on a teal top!

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I actually tried on a baggy sweater that wasn't black.

I met up with Rachel and her downstairs neighbour Jason at the venue in Oakland, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs rocked our world!

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~~ Karen O is amazing! ~~

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Oh, you're not going to crack. No, you're never going to crack.

Yesterday was black baggy sweater day.

Today was not-black tight sweater day.

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cardigan: Papaya.....tanktop: Nordstrom Rack.....skirt: Steve & Barry's
shoes: Payless.....right-hand ring & necklace: silverjewelryclub.com


I'm not one for pockets on sweaters, but the little ones on this cardi are ace. They sure did come in handy for my lunchtime walk --- I put my iPod nano in the left one, and it didn't fall out as I strutted my stuff to Girls Aloud.

Also, this sweater is this odd shade of jewel-tone green that keeps photographing as teal, even with all the Photoshop colour correcting I've done. I'm fine with the teal-ishness, but I admit, I bought it because this particular shade of green really caught my eye.

If you click on the link for the sweater, you will see that it is, indeedy, green!

(I'll tag this post under 'teal' because of the photos, though.)

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***
Bonus geekery:
Okay, I remembered that I had to do several layers and a mask to keep the sweater looking green while colour-correcting the rest of the image. And while I was at it, I decided to make the white wall look a bit more like white.

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The end result looks so off to me.

Yeah, so not re-doing the rest of the images.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

a post before i go to bed

My coworker Maria and I both wore baggy sweaters and dark slacks to work today. She wore a nice aubergine one from Target. I wore the usual black.

We had a proper girl's night out after work --- margaritas at Chevy's, then shopping at not just one, but two! Targets.

I got home at 10:30, which is my bedtime. Oops!

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sweater: Nordstrom.....top: Ross.....pants: Wal-Mart
shoes: Aerosoles....bracelet: home-made

Monday, September 7, 2009

"About Leina" - installment the third

Special Labor Day edition, where Leina proceeds to embarrass herself~!

Today's installment: sings Heart and Pat Benatar in the car.

Summer 2007 - my first time playing "Rock Band" at Rachel's place. Before we start, I tell Rach that I'm an alto and I sang alto II in university choir back in 2000. After singing a few songs (including Radiohead's "Creep), she tells me, "You're not an alto --- you're a second soprano."

This would be the start of the road to self-discovery. It made me realise that I sang alto II in university choir only because I hit Low-C in the audition and because the alto II section needed people. Rachel telling me I'm actually a soprano was like the lead pipe that fell on Mama Cass's head.

I had a mental block for seven years and just needed to see the light.


And one way I worked to overcome this mental block was singing along to Heart and Pat Benatar in my car -- on commutes to and from work, on solo road trips to Sacramento, or just driving anywhere. If I'm going to learn how to be a proper soprano, I have to sing along to the greats.

Because it's hard to write this post without any examples, I recorded myself singing while stuck on a horrific 2.5-hr drive up to Sacramento. On a good day, it takes me 90 minutes to get to Sac from SJ. OH NO, not on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, when everybody was escaping the Bay Area and clogging up Interstate 80 East while doing so.

I apologise for the boring footage of the speedometer. I was not in the mood to have my face on camera for youtube.

Singing along to Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker"


Singing along to Heart's "What About Love?"


If I'm ever stuck in yucko traffic on a lone roadtrip again, I may do another installment or two of "Stuck in traffic, singing in my car". It probably may be something other than Heart or Pat Benatar since I sing along to anything that plays on shuffle. And let me tell you, I have a lot of random stuff on my iPod.

Oh, here are some tidbits --

- I sang two Pat Benatar songs on karaoke night on my honeymoon cruise: "Promises in the Dark" and "Heartbreaker".

- A while ago, I scored 100% on "hard" singing "Heartbreaker" on "Rock Band". Last Saturday, I did that song on "expert," but because I was stupid-drunk, I managed to get 86%. OUCH!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

And all I can do is avoid my mind.

Ouch. I woke up badly hung over this morning. Well, Rach and I did have two bottles of red wine last night. Yeah.

Rach, her husband Shawn, and I had breakfast at Vallejo's. The chorizo, huevos y papas burrito is so friggen good. I also had a small bowl of menudo to see if it is a hangover cure. After a few spoonfuls, the headache subsided.

The drive back home was a bit excruciating because I was just feeling yucky. Thank goodness that Girls Aloud and Dannii Minogue kept me company on my stereo.

And, now, today's outfit photos~!

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cardigan: H&M.....top: Kohls
jeans: Steve & Barry's.....shoes: Payless