My latest thing are baggy tops. I just bought 5 from ASOS.com and I can’t stop. They all are so huge and billowy but I love them. But I need to belt everything or else it looks like I’m just wearing a really ill fitting shirt. I’m kinda over belting everything, I need a new way to style it! Some are actually a bit TOO big that I might take it to my tailor to get them slighty less baggy. Altering a baggy shirt to only semi-baggy? Yup, that’s something that I would do. Anyway, I love the print of this shirt and isn’t the blue so pretty?
Leopard! I’m not a big animal print girl but couldn’t resist this pink leopard top. I also broke my rule of no top to bottom Forever 21 but sometimes when it works it just works. I often get asked how I know what to buy at Forever 21 and the easier answer for me is what I don’t buy. There are a few things that I never buy from “fast fashion” places like Forever 21 which are, sweaters (they always get misshapen), pants (I hardly find pants that fit nicely, plus I alter all my pants and would rather not waste my money altering something cheap), evening dresses (you can really tell with cheap materials), jeans (again with the fit), shoes (the smell of that fake leather… And the plastic on my feet – so uncomfortable) and nice winter coats (they never seem to be warm enough and the buttons always fall off!) but everything else I’m totally for it because you can pair it with your items that have better fit and material. Mixing high end with low end is definitely something that I’m all for! But if you do end up going full on Forever 21 like I did with this outfit, fit is everything and also, keep it simple. Nothing too fussy as I’ve noticed that Forever 21 does a great job with certain cuts and style but details are not their forte which is where things start to look cheap (embroidery, lace details, structured shoulders, etc…)
What I’m Wearing
Top: Forever 21
Skirt: Forever 21
Shoes: L.A.M.B. Necklace: Forever 21
Watch: gift from Michele Watches*
Bracelet: DIY
I recently lost about 5+ pounds and I don’t think it’s very noticeable except when looking at these pictures of my face and how round it is! (Well, I notice it because it’s my body and my clothes fit differently but I don’t think other people notice it.) I took these pictures in August when I was at my heaviest but I will tell you that it’s nice to have these lookbook pictures just to look back and compare to how I look from time to time. It’s quite interesting! I’ve looked back at my lookbook pictures and at the time I loved my outfit but now I think “um…not so great!” or “what happened to that shirt?” LOL. It’s a fun little diary to have and I feel like I will like looking back at it long after I’ve stopped blogging and see how I dressed back then.
As you may know, we recently took our first trip to Washington DC and really had a wonderful time there. I was there for work but made sure to do some sightseeing and eat some really delicious food. Just thought I’d post a little photo journal of the sights we saw. No explanation is really necessary for travel pictures!
J taking a picture of me taking a picture.
(dress by Yumi Kim, flats by Louboutin and bag by Rebecca Minkoff – my work bag)
And here’s the picture I was taking!
The suite we got at the W hotel was pretty amazing. View of the Washington Monument right out our window, the white house practically right next door and the room itself was just huge! I really could live in that bathroom.
We didn’t get many pics of the room so to give you a better idea are some iPhone pics below…
The sitting room with a computer area behind it (and $20 gummy bears in the mini bar – LOL!)
The bedroom! Love the pretty wallpaper.
Don’t you love big hotel bathrooms?!
We really had a great time and I am so glad that hubs got to come on this trip with me to see everything that we got to see. Thanks again to everyone that left me comments and emailed me with suggestions. It was definitely one of my most favorite cities that I’ve been to!
all photos taken by me or my husband with a Canon 5D Mark II, 24mm f/1.4L or 35mm f/1.4L lens (except for the bottom 3 as noted)
I get lots of hair questions, so thought I’d do a post on my favorite products and how I manage my hair.
A few facts about my hair:
I’ve never dyed my hair, ever.
I’ve been growing out my hair since before my wedding when it was around shoulder length so about 2.5 years now, with 1 inch trims at about every 3 months
I’ve had 2 digital perms (a little less than a year apart) and probably due for another one
My hair is super annoyingly thick so I have to get it thinned out every few months.
My hair has become drier since the digital perms and I tend to get more split ends now.
So, everyone wants to know if my hair comes out like this because of my digital perm. The answer is, No, but I wish it did! What the digital perm did is give my hair texture and the ability to hold a curl. When I don’t curl my hair and use a diffuser to blow dry my hair, it comes out more wavy than curly, like in this lookbook. To get these curls, I use this curling iron (which you can read about the other tools I use in this hair tutorial)
All photos below are clickable and will take you to their respective links to buy!
I’ve tried several shampoos and my hair seems to like Bumble and Bumble the best. I like this gentle shampoo as I don’t need anything too harsh on my hair since it’s generally pretty healthy.
I also really like using this Sunday shampoo to get that really clean feeling. They call this shampoo a “detox” which is a great word to describe it. You can really tell the difference when you use this, it gets super sudsy and just feels like it’s getting all the product residue out of your hair. Hard to explain but once you try it, you will know what I mean. I use it only once a week or once every other week depending on how hard I was on my hair.
After my shower while my hair is wet I like to put in one of these two sprays to keep my hair healthy. I also think it helps keep it full because if I don’t use it, my hair tends to get a bit limp. I blow dry my hair after I spray these in.
When I want to curl my hair with a curling iron, I prep my hair with this Curling Lotion (it’s called lotion but it’s really a spray) from Lucido L, a Japanese brand. I buy mine at Uwajimaya (a Japanese grocery store) but I hear that you can get it at a lot of Asian type of markets. I haven’t seen it elsewhere in Seattle though. I really like this spray because I think it really helps curl my hair yet it still leaves my hair very soft to the touch. It’s like hairspray without the stiffness.
Also from the same line, I use this hair cream to smooth my hair after styling. It’s really lightweight and doesn’t leave my hair greasy feeling like some hair creams can.
When I don’t want to curl my hair, I spray my hair with the Tigi Curls Rock spray before I blow dry to give it some texture.
When I’m not working out every day, I’ll only wash my hair every other day (sometimes even 2 days). I hate washing my hair every day just because it actually makes it harder to style and manage when it’s squeaky clean. It’s so true that dirty hair is easier to style. On some of the days where I feel like my hair feels a bit dirtier, maybe from product build up, I just put a bit of dry shampoo in and my hair instantly feels cleaner. I’ve mentioned this Stila Hair Refresher before and I want to note that I’ve used many dry shampoos since but none that I have liked more than this product. It’s just the right consistency and has a delightful fragrance. Also, a trick I use is when I want very voluminous hair like you’ve seen here, a bit of hair powder really helps your hair stay “big” after teasing.
So there you go, my “dream team” of hair products. I experiment a lot and am a sucker for new products so I do try out a lot of new sprays/lotions/creams, etc… but those above are the ones that have really stuck with me for the past few months, years even, that I really like.
In the pictures above I’m wearing Elizabeth and James blazer, Forever 21 top, Earrings by Marika King.
First of all, thank you so much for all the birthday wishes, here, on email and over twitter! I had such a great birthday weekend and it’s extending into this week too because we all enjoy extended birthdays right? 🙂
I’m all about lace for the fall so was delighted when Threadsense sent over this top. It’s cute on it’s own, but I wanted to dress it up for the fall. I never buy sweaters from Forever 21 because I always find that they get so misshapen even after one wear which I think happened to this sweater. I only wore it once and hated how it looked on me but I think I kept it around because I liked the color. I remember reading on Love Maegan that she had cut up a v-neck sweater down the middle to make it into a cardigan and decided that is exactly what this sweater needed.
Madewell Legging Jeans
I love love these jeans. They are most definitely my newest favorite and plan on getting another pair in a different color. I got mine at Madewell, but I just saw that Shopbop has them on sale for $66.50! I didn’t even know that Shopbop sold Madewell. Anyway, I linked to the shopbop ones if you want to check them out!
This lookbook was taken in August which you’ll be seeing a bunch from August/early September since I haven’t had a chance to post them yet. Gotta love the last days of summer!
What I’m Wearing
Vest: Madewell
Tank: C&C California
Skirt: Wilifred (from Aritizia)
Shoes: Miu Miu
Nail polish: OPI Shorts Story and China Glaze Heli-Yum
I got this vest at Madewell when I was visiting NYC and it was before Seattle got their very own Madewell store which I absolutely adoooore. I’ve already bought way too much stuff from there but this vest is one of the best buys as it was on super sale!
It’s a perfect topper for a little bodycon outfit like what I’m wearing. Covers up all the parts that we’re a bit self conscious about unless you have a body like Marisa Miller for which I envy you 🙂
Trying to get hubs to take different angles for the lookbook shots but then he just ends up making me laugh!
China Glaze Heli-yum and OPI Shorts Story I have way too much nail polish and can’t manage to wear all of them so I’ve been painting my nails multiple colors lately to solve that problem! I just alternated these two colors for a fun manicure but subtle enough to wear to the office too.
You know I couldn’t stay away for too long right? I missed you guys! I’m not back full time but wanted to share this lookbook and a great deal that I have for my readers.
I stopped by Anthropologie this weekend as I saw this cardigan on sale online and had to see if they had it in the store as I wanted to try it on. While I was browsing, hubs is looking at a rack and says “How about this top? This looks like you.” and I agreed and brought it home with me. Good pick hubs! (I did end up getting the cardigan, in both gray and pink, it’s really cute!)
Wanted to show you the cute bows on the top, what a fun detail!
We stopped by Uptown Espresso for a latte and walked around the area to enjoy our drinks. BTW, my ring finger is painted with a glitter top coat, it’s cuter in person, the picture makes it look weird. 🙂
For my readers, they are offering a 20% sitewide discount (excluding watches, engagement rings and sale items) plus $1 shipping. Use the code: FBFAL Check out their Fall Style Guide according to these four trends to find something perfect for you. My ring is from the “Drama Queen” collection, which I love the mix of the black with the jewel tones of the collection. Make sure to check them all out!
Skirt: H&M
I love the lace on them! If you like my Gucci’s, Bluefly has these that are similar.
Necklace: Forever 21
Can’t pass that price up.
This watch is 
Shoes: 
Bracelet: 
it is on sale… hmmm I think I need to add it to my cart now.
Metallic? Love it!
I have way too much nail polish and can’t manage to wear all of them so I’ve been painting my nails multiple colors lately to solve that problem! I just alternated these two colors for a fun manicure but subtle enough to wear to the office too.
Ring: Gift from Ice.com** 
I really like these slim skirts that you can wear with flowy tops. This one 
