Sunday Funday!

It's kind of funny that I took Friday off work to just chill and do nothing, and yet I've been extra busy this weekend!  I did manage to go to the Alo Sport sample sale on Friday, and got tons of stuff!  The prices were too good and I couldn't help myself... hehe.  More about that later!  And then yesterday I was running all over town trying to get this damn Swarovski skull keychain for my friend's birthday present.  He loves this skull stuff, and I couldn't believe that it was so hard to get!  Sold out all over LA... I got the last one in stock at the Century City store.  I'm not really a skull person myself, but I must say it does look pretty good in person... not sure if it's worth $140 (that is all relative anyway) but it's a lot better than this picture online at least:

I wanted to share one of my favorite meals that I've been making for dinner which for some reason makes me feel so good afterwards!  It's pretty easy to make as well.  Chicken pad thai noodles with kale and peanut sauce!  I start by boiling some chicken breasts, and then shredding them so they look like this afterwards:

I also blanch a bunch of cut-up kale for about 30 seconds in boiling water, as well as making some pad thai noodles at the same time... yep, 3 pots going altogether!  Although I have no pictures of those.  =(

And then I make this amazing peanut sauce!  I just combine about 2 tbsp of peanut butter (can be smooth or chunky) with 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 2 tbsp of rice vinegar, a few drops of sesame seed oil and hot peppers to taste, and then mix it all until its smooth!

Before

After

And then I mix together the noodles, kale, chicken, sauce, some cut-up pieces of cucumber, green onions, and sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, and that's it!  It can be served either hot or cold too.  It just makes my stomach feel extra good after eating it for some reason.  I'm not sure which ingredient it is or if it's a combination of different ones, but I can't complain!

Ok, enough about food!  Moving onto the workouts of this week!  

Monday 4/15

What I did:  I took pilates class at Pilates Plus.  

What I wore:  My new Lululemon cool racerback in ocean stripe mellow lemon, which is super soft and I love it!  With the Centered Energy bra in flash.  OMG it's still bleeding after all this time!!  Ok provided I don't wear it that often, but it bled onto my new cool racerback a little bit!  Last time it did that, it came out during the wash, so I'm hoping it will again on this one.  Anyway, I wore the Wunder Groove crops, and my Zigy Kickin wedge sneakers as to and from.

I also wore the concord grape Dance Studio pants and white swiftly long sleeve shirt to and from.  I  love yellow and purple paired together, so here is what the cool racerback and pants look like together.

And I'm still loving wedge sneakers with the pants completely let out!  Well, and wedge sneakers by themselves too.  And the white swiftly!  =)

Tuesday 4/16

What I did:  I did a tough whole body weight workout, and ended with 100 burpees.  Ugh, hate those.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in electric orange with new Free To Be bra in laceoflage polar cream black.  Run A Marathon crop, and Nike Frees.

And I wore the white swiftly as to and from again!  I just love it with electric orange.

Wednesday 4/17 - Rest day, but I took a picture of my work outfit.  It was the first time I wore my white sheer sleeve Esley blazer.  I wore it with Express chiffon overlay ruffle cami and Express pieced pencil skirt in navy.  Shoes are Ivanka Trump pinkish pumps!

Thursday 4/18

What I did:  I ran 8 20-second sprints, did 3 weight supersets - squat rack with 100 lbs, kettlebell bicep & shoulder lifts, and kettlebell twisting lunges.  Then I ran another 8 20-second sprints and went to mat pilates class!  Fun stuff.

What I wore:  Lululemon pearl luxtreme cool racerback in pigeon and Free To Be bra in faded zap.  Coal/chirp Team Spirit crops and Nike Frees.  I like the light and dark gray tone on tone look.   It was the first time I wore luxtreme bottoms to pilates!  I usually opt for luon.  It was fine, I don't know why I was so adamant with the distinction before.

Wore my mellow lemon swiftly for the first time too!  Gray and yellow together is one of the best color combos in my opinion!  

I also took a picture of my work outfit from the same day too.  I wore my Tahair ASL outfit from Ruelala!  The Vala top and Thelina slim ankle pants in red! The shirt is very casual, so I had to add my Calvin Klein blazer over it.  I think it works!  I used my cute little Marc Jacobs Ashley bag as well.

Friday 4/19

What I did:  A really really tough but great yoga class at Equinox.

What I wore:  Lululemon Flow and Go tank in faded zap, with the new Lulu lab Perennial tights!  Yellow and gray again!  Well, close enough to yellow.  And loved the crops for an actual workout too!

I wore the Splits59 Cameron jacket and to and from.

Saturday 4/20 - rest day!

Sunday 4/21

What I did:  I ran a mile, then did 4 sets of TRX workouts, and ended with five 1-minute sprints on hills.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in heathered angel blue with white Flow Y bra, and Splits59 Ginger 3/4 crop in marianna blue - love these!!!  I love the tone of tone blue look too!  But I didn't go crazy with blue shoes too, but wore my white New Balance Minimus Road shoes instead.  =)

There was a girl working out next to me wearing aquamarine/ discover stripe Practice Freely tank, and beaming blue wunder under crops.  Her boyfriend said to her as they walked past me: you guys are wearing the exact same outfit.  WHAT!!!  I was so tempted to tell him that aquamarine is a lot lighter than heathered angel blue, not to mention Practice Freely tank is quite a different fit from a cool racerback...?!?  And I'm not even wearing Lululemon crops!  But I didn't want to appear to be a crazy person so I kept my mouth shut.  Still don't appreciate this type of comments though, and I think she didn't like it either lol.

I wore the Zella Stripey Melange Hoodie as to and from.

Ok it's almost 11:30 and way past my bed time!  Yikes!  I have to be at work early all next week too, which means I need to be up at around 5 am.  Super sad face!!!  My Monday blues is spilling over to my Sunday!

Swarovski Tanzanite Nina Earrings Purple Crystal

For my wedding I bought these awesome Swarovski earrings in vintage rose, I love them so much that I wear them all the time.  I bought them in the store at the time for $75 + tax, and I remember seeing and liking the purple color as well.  But since my whole wedding color was pink, I had to go with the pink earrings.  Recently though, before I left for China, I actually saw the same earrings in purple on Gilt for only $39.  So of course I bought them too!

I think these earrings are so gorgeous.  I really do wear them with everything.  I can dress them up or wear them with a more casual outfit and they work both ways.  They are just so pretty and delicate!  You really can't go wrong with Swarovski.

I'm so glad that I now own them in both colors.  If they would come in more colors, I would buy every single one.  Lol.  

Swarovski Paloma Round Drop Earrings

I just bought some new earrings from Gilt and I am absolutely in love with them!  They are Swarovski, of course.  I just love Swarovski earrings.  These are called "Paloma Round Drop Earrings".  They are light pink swarovski crystal surrounded by small clear ones.  They are super light and comfortable - I wore them all day the other day and couldn't even feel them.  Sometimes I had to feel my ears to make sure they were still there!

Here they are:

The light pink crystals are interesting because they kind of reflect whatever the background color is.  That's why they look lighter on me than they do in the box with the dark blue back drop.

Anyway, so I really like the size and style of these earrings.  They can really be dressed up or down.  I feel comfortable wearing them to work or to a night out.  They were on sale on Gilt for $40, down from $75.  But I had credit so I ended up only spending $20 on them.  A great deal!  

Found the Perfect Earrings for My Wedding!

This weekend has been CRAZY!  My friend Brad aka my Man of Honor wanted me to go shopping with him for a shirt to wear to my wedding.  So what started out as a simple little shopping trip turned into a huge production because we managed to change my mind about the dresses of the bridesmaids.  My original idea of having everyone wear a different colored dress that they already own was not working out so well, since it turned out that the dresses are made of different fabrics.  One is all satiny and one is more cottony.  I just really don't think that would look cohesive.  The other friend was going to buy a new dress anyway.  So, with the help of Brad, I decided to just pick a color/dress and have everyone wear matching dresses.  It's just easier that way and will look more put together, even though I still think having different colors would be fun!  But that also may back fire even if they are the same dresses in different colors.  I decided to just play it safe and chose a very pale powder pink type of color.

I wanted a flowy romantic looking dress.  But boy it is hard to find!  We literally went to 3 different malls and countless number of stores and just couldn't find one.  Of course I don't want my friends to spend too much money either so that also makes it harder.  So now I think David's Bridal might actually be the top choice since they have lots of different colors to choose from and the prices aren't that expensive.  This dress shopping process is rather stressful, I never knew I saved myself so much trouble by letting them wear their own dress.  But now I just created even more headache by changing my mind at the last minute!!  Less than 2 months left................

Anyway, so in the midst of my crazy shopping weekend (I also went to yet another mall and shopped more today), I did find the perfect pair of earrings for the big day!  And they are pink!  How perfect, that will match the pink of the girls dress that I haven't picked out yet.  They also come in purple which are very pretty too.

They are from Swarovski, and they are called the Nina Vintage Rose:

They look very feminine and delicate in person.  The close up picture may show it better, but there's a white bow on top of the crystal.  It's super cute.

The pink of the crystals in person is very faint, which will go well with my white dress.  I have dark hair so they really stand out and are very eye-catching.  They are pretty sparkly in the light, and I think they are the perfect size and sophistication for the look I'm going for.  They are also very comfortable on because they are very very lightweight, I can't even feel them actually!  Kind of worrisome because I could lose them and not realize haha.  They are about 2.5 inches long.  I originally wanted something that is maybe 1-1.5 inches long, but I don't mind this length at all.  Here's what they look like on a real person:

I think they enhanced the color of the pink in the above photo, because they are definitely lighter than that on me.  I'm really happy with them, and they were $75 which doesn't break the bank.  At least one purchase from this weekend went well... maybe I used up all my shopping luck with the earrings that I don't have any left for dresses!  Let's just hope they will turn out ok...

Betsey Johnson Earrings from Ideeli

I kind of have a mild obsession with Betsey Johnson earrings.  I just find them so out there and fun!  Perfect for a night out on the town, and a great way to dress up an outfit.  You just can't wear them with matching necklaces - that is just way too much stuff around the face.  Bracelets would work though.  Anyway, when I saw the Betsey Johnson sale on ideeli for such great deals, I just couldn't help myself!

I got 3 pairs, and would have got more if the ones I wanted didn't sell out so fast!

So first, I got the Crystal & Pearl Studs:

How fun are these!  I love the different textures and colors clustered together.  Together they make a heart shape, but you can't really see it in person - they just look round, or oval shaped.  But I really love these and think I can get a lot of use out of them.  They are a little bit understated but still fun enough to be noticed.  I don't usually like stud earrings, I like more flowy and dangly types (see below).  But this one is so cute.  They were only $14, down from original $30.

Next I got these pearl drop earrings:

They have the cute leopard print little glass crystals which is very different.  I have many earrings in this dangly style (a lot from Betsey Johnson), and I love every single one of them.  Betsey Johnson is known for her mismatch earrings, but these are identical.  I like how she always combines very feminine designs like crystals and bows, with more harder and edgier elements like black roses, or skulls, etc.  I also really like eurowire closures because they stay put better and feel more comfortable on.  I like my earrings to make a statement (but nothing too crazy), because I don't wear really "out there" necklaces or rings or anything.  Her stuff has the perfect subtlety for me. They are also very light - much lighter than they look - which is nice as your ears will not be weighed down.  Great for all day wear!  I got these for $18, down from $40.

Lastly, I got these bow and crystal drop earrings:

These are kind of girly and princessy, but that's ok.  I like the medium length on them.  I think they would work well with certain outfits.  It's funny that all the earrings I got this time are gold plated.  I don't normally like gold in jewelry.  I'm much more of a white gold person.  But I guess this is actually antique gold.  I like gold in fun ghetto jewelry.  Not that I think these are ghetto.  Lol.  But you know.  They also got eurowire closure.  They were also $15, down from $35.  

These were great deals!  I stalk Betsey Johnson's website and store quite often, and they don't ever get marked down that much.  When I've seen Betsey Johnson on sale sites like Gilt, Ruelala, Hautelook, etc. they usually just have her shoes and dresses (and always the same ones too).  They don't usually have earrings, at least not cute ones that you'd actually want to buy.  So I'm glad I got them from ideeli!  It pays to keep track of sales on all these sites I guess. 

Swarovski Stonehenge Gold and Crystal Drop Earrings

Ok I guess I'm now a fan of Swarovski jewelry since I keep buying them on Gilt.  My latest order came through and I loooooove them!  I'm not that big of a jewelry person.  But I do love earrings.

The Stonehenge Gold and Crystal Drop Earrings:

I don't think the picture really does them justice.  They are so sparkly and pretty in person!  They are about 1.5 inches long and half an inch wide, and relatively light weight - I was a little worried that they would be heavy and weigh down my ears so phew!  It's got 23K gold plated base metal with the gold colored crystals.  The crystals are actually a very light gold color, and pretty transparent.  They look so pretty with dark brown hair.  When I bought them I thought they would be strictly night time earrings.  But I think I can rock them during the day too.  The Swarovski's site says: "Wear it during the day or to an evening gala. Bold and elegant, the earrings instantly create a sophisticated, classy look."  I must agree!  Hehe.

And the best part is, I got them for free since I had Gilt credit!  They weren't too expensive on Gilt anyway, at $45 vs. $95 retail.  They are actually still on Swarovski's website for full price.  So I feel like these were definitely a deal.  I like.  

So happy about these and can't wait to wear them out! 

Betsey Johnson Earrings

I'm not that big of a jewelry person, but I do love earrings.  I feel like they can dress an outfit up instantly and they can show a lot of personality.  I'm a big fan of Betsey Johnson earrings, because they are so funky and fun!  To me they are kind of like Juicy Couture jewelry, but with a darker edge and not as teenage girl-like.  I love all my Betsey Johnson earrings and always go back for more.  The price point is usually $30-$50 a pair, so I can get tons of different ones and not feel overly indulgent.  A lot of her earrings are mismatched which I think is really cool.  I have these asymmetrical dice / key / bow and other dangley earrings that I love to pieces.

I went to the store again, mostly to get a present for a friend's bday coming up.  She likes skulls and monkeys and things like that, but she's also girly at the same time.  So I figured Betsey Johnson would be perfect.  And of course while I was there, I had to pick up a pair of earrings for myself.  I tried them out and I think they might be a new favorite!  They are very light so it feels like I don't have anything on.  Sometimes when I have heavier earrings on, my ears hurt after a few hours.

Anyway, they are called the Tulip Hook Earrings:

I love how she always combines feminine touches with darker edge.  Too bad I can only wear Betsey Johnson earrings when I go out.  They are just too much for my work.  Boooo

I got my friend the Rhinestone Skull with Rose Drop Earrings which I wouldn't wear personally, but I still think are really fun:

I think these are the absolute perfect thing for her so I'm pretty happy with this little find!  I also was able to get 10% off my purchase because I'm in their system and have signed up for email distribution.  So I ended up paying like $80 for both after tax, which I can't complain! 

Swarovski Genuine Bangle

My mom gave me another present for absolutely no reason - the Swarovski Genuine Bangle.  I wonder what she's up to!  It's perfect though because I haven't had any time to feed my online shopping addiction lately since I've been super busy at work.  It's really unfortunate when you are too busy to mess around online at work right?  Having to actually work... Who does that?  Speaking of which, this is rather OT, but I heard rumors about some very high up, supposedly happily married, male executives surfing porn sites while at work all day long.  Ugh.  To think of how many millions they are getting paid to do that...  I better be getting a big bonus this year. 

Ok back to my bangle...

I don't think I own any bangles, I'm more of a earring and necklace person as I normally find bracelets bothersome.  So I'm not sure why my mom chose to get me this.  But she said she just thought it was very pretty when she saw it and that I'd like it.  I agree.  I do think it's pretty, and I like the subtle color of the Azore crystal.  The color actually is a pretty good match to the Swarovski Erin Crystal Drop earrings I got from Gilt a while ago that I absolutely love and wear a lot.  

I have to say though, this bangle is pretty tight.  Most of it is very rigid, you don't really need the loose chain closure to secure it because the hardware will clamp to the wrist.  It didn't feel uncomfortable or anything though when I tried it on briefly.  I just thought it was odd that they didn't make it slightly bigger and looser.  So I think I will to wear it to my company's holiday party.  My company is known to have very extravagant Christmas parties.  It's all formal attire so people go all out.  They give out really nice prizes.  Like a couple years ago they gave away things like 2 year car leases, or checks for thousands of $$$, fancy vacations, etc.   Doubtful they will go that fancy this year though.  It's all very nice and all but I don't qualify for the raffles because of my title so I guess I'm not really interested in that part (I know, I'm just bitter).  I am just wishing for a big bonus!!  Last year was great, even admin people got over 100% bonus and made about $150k on average.  But again, doubtful it will come close to that this year (lots of drama happened and we lost some assets, though making a comeback now).  I've learned to always keep my expectations low so I won't be disappointed.  Lol.

Why am I talking about work again?  I need to stop it now.  This must be a sign that I've been working too hard.  I even had dreams about some data queries last night.  Wow.  Let's hope it won't be a repetitive theme tonight.

Swarovski Erin Crystal Drop Earrings

My latest Gilt purchase came in the mail today.  I had used my credit to get the Swarovski Erin Crystal Drop Earrings.  They were selling for $48 on Gilt instead of the retail $125 price tag.  I had $50 credit, so I got them for free except $5 more for shipping.

Though I've never owned Swarovski jewelry, I always thought their stuff is really pretty.  Maybe because of the lighting and display at the stores, but they always look so shiny and delicate!  

Well I'm very happy with these earrings.  They are this gorgeous faint green color that kind of reflect other colors around it.  The size of the crystal is exactly what I expected - a little less than an inch long and about half an inch wide.  They don't feel heavy on my ears, and the way they move and catch the light give off pretty sparkles. 

The rest of the earrings are made of rhodium plated base metal.  Total length is 3.5 inches long and 0.6 inches wide.  Fishhook closure.  They fall right around my shoulders.  

I love these!  And I love the pretty deep blue signature Swarovski box they came in too.  I think these can be dressed up or down.  Maybe not for work, but they can be worn during a night out or to a cocktail party or something.  With jeans or dress/skirts.  Very versatile!  And very classy.  Can't wait to wear them!

Juicy Coutour Midnight in the Garden & Steve Madden Xenonn Boots

Juicy Coutour Midnight in the Garden

The Juicy Coutour Midnight in the Garden line is really beautiful.  This line has bracelet, earrings, necklace, cocktail rings, hair clips, and a headband, as far as I've seen.  I've had my eye on them for quite a while now.  I first saw the bracelet at the Juicy store on fifth avenue in NYC last September, and fell in love with it. 

It's very romantic looking, and I love the colors and different flower shapes together.  I also love how it doesn't scream "Juicy" since it's quite different from their other stuff (i.e. not screaming "I'm 13 years old").  I didn't buy it though because it was $98 and I'm not really a bracelet person.  But after I got home, I went to the Juicy store in Century City to try it on, with the intention of actually buying it.  But it was WAY too big, I think it's supposed to be loose fitting, but it was so big that it would really bother me.  The chains can't be taken off either for adjustment.  So, I didn't buy it again.  But I bought the headband from the same line instead.  It's basically a thin metal band with the same flowers from the bracelet arranged on one side.  It's very pretty.  But I must say it is the most uncomfortable headband ever!  Because the band is thin round metal, it dug into my head way too much and I think made a temporary imprint on the side of my flesh... great.  My head started hurting from it so bad, and I never wore it again.  Should've returned it, for $50 it was definitely not worth it.  But I was too lazy to go back to the store and now it's been too long to go return.

Well, I got the earrings from the Midnight in the Garden line from my boyfriend as one of my Christmas presents.  They look sooo pretty too, and I would definitely wear earrings more than the bracelet or the headband!

But when I put them on, I was so disappointed!  The way they are made, I don't know why exactly, but when I put them on, the hoops turned sideways instead of staying straight on.  So from the front with them on, I saw two big circles hanging from my ear lobes instead of just the front part of the circles.  I don't know how to explain it really.  But basically the flowers are only on the outside of each hoop, and the way they got turned when worn, the flowers ended up facing the back.  So I had a hard time seeing them myself even if I looked at my own profile.  The only way anyone would see the flowers on the earrings was if they stood diagonally behind me.  How stupid!  So after a long time, I had to go return them to Nordstrom today.  Hey good thing Nordstrom has amazing return policy, since I've had these sitting around forever now, I'd be stuck with them otherwise!

Well, I found out that they actually had a price change from $68 to $46.  The bracelet also went down from $98 to $64.  It's very weird, because they are not "on sale", the prices just got adjusted.  I think I've noticed this a lot lately from different stores.  Everyone seems to be doing it.  It's weird though, because I thought retail sales were better in 2009 than 2008.  Maybe it's still not as high as the stores would like so they are trying to get more people to buy by lowering prices.  I guess.  I mean it's a good thing for us consumers!

Steve Madden Xenonn Boots

Anyway, I returned the earrings and got the Steve Madden Xenonn boots in black suede instead.

I already have these in grey suede that I order from Steve Madden.  I love them!  I had been looking for a cute pair of over the knee boots that didn't cost an arm and a leg for the longest time.  I was really glad when I got the grey ones on black Friday last year.  But grey is just not as versatile as black.  Speaking of price adjustments earlier, these boots were $169 at the time I bought them, and now they are $149, and not "on sale" either.  Well I had a 30% off coupon thingy on black Friday so I only spent like $110 or something.  But yeah, this price adjustment thing seems to be everywhere!

The grey ones I have are size 6.5.  I normally wear size 6 in shoes, but the 6.5 in these are still a bit tight in the upper foot/ankle area.  So I got a size 7 in black today, and they fit much better.  These boots are pretty hard to put on still.  They only have a little zipper on the inside ankle part about 3 inches long.  The rest you just have to squeeze.  The legs aren't very tight, but not much room there either, and my legs are pretty slim.  I don't think somebody with thicker calves can fit into these comfortably.  They may have to size up one more.  I really wish Steve Madden designed the ankle part of these boots wider so that they would be more comfortable and easier to put on.  But that would be my only complaint about these boots.  Otherwise, I love how they really go over the knee, and can be scrounged down too if you want them a little shorter.  The top portion of the boots fold down with a cute tie in the back for a more feminine look.  They are pretty thick too, there is a layer on the inside that makes them warm and comfy to wear.  I've worn them with a dress as well as over jeans.  They look really cute either way.  They would be cute with shorts too when the weather is a bit warmer.  They are very tall though, I think the website says 5 inch heels?!?  They are pretty comfortable all things considered.  I could stand in them all night without any problems.  But I've had a lot of practice with my high heels!  I definitely think the look of these heels would scare many women away before they would try them on.  They really aren't that bad!

So I'm excited to have the black ones now too.  I've found that when I really like something, I should just get multiples in different colors I want before they are gone.  Because even if you have the money, many times it is very hard to find the perfect whatever you are looking for.  Like I said, I had been looking for a pair of boots like these for a long time, and have finally found them.  I know I would regret it later if I didn't get the black ones as well.  Now I need to go find some suede spray so I can spray the sh*t out of both of them.  I wonder if my Koolaburra spray would work??