Military Chic

Weekend passed by fast. I gotta admit that I made a personal record (am not sure if it's my bf's record though) - we woke up 5 to 5pm on Sat. When I was having my morning oatmeal, it was dark outside.

Today is the third day that I am in my parka.
My dad is a retired general. Having seen him in uniform my whole life, I found it was pretty hard for me to embrace the trend. In the beginning of the season when every fashion editor started to show up with parka, I always imagined myself say "attention" if I were on the spot. However, fashion is such a weird thing. The more I see it, the more I adore it. Eventually I began to think "this dress will go fantastically with the parka...if I ever have one." This is how parka made its way to my closet.

I have been hooked ever since. I have mentioned several times how much I like stripe; parka is the equivalent in the outwear area. I have paired it with the sweat shirt (surely works), floral dress, LBD, tunic & leggings; it works like charm every time. I bet most of you have tried several parka outfits since your dad isn't in military (no complicated feelings then); if you haven't, go get one! No regret, I guarantee.

Ann Taylor cardigan, Theory Tunic
Jcrew belt, Plenty by Tracey Reese boots

 for outdoor: Boden parka (on sale now)

Stuffed Mushroom

Eilo...Happy Friday! Though I have endless meetings today, I am very happy to remind myself that tomorrow I won't have to wake up before 2 PM.

Yesterday I made stuffed mushroom. I know I should have taken pictures but it is just not in my gene. I always remember "oh I should have..." after the whole process has been done 85%. Anyway, just imagine any stuffed mushroom you have seen.

I followed this easy recipe. I used white mushroom for the dish. I didn't use onion powder but adopted other readers' suggestion of chopped green onions. I also added chopped parsley to add color. In addition, with my own experience, you want to get rid of the water coming from the baked mushroom in the beginning; otherwise the stuffing will become quite disgusting. So, before the whole process (after removing the stems), I put the mushroom in the oven for 20 mins to get rid of extra water, take it out, wait till it cold and get it stuffed.

Boden parka, Jcrew tshirt,
Gap jeans, Jcrew necklace

This is my outdoor outfit!

Parisian Chic

Why the title? Easy, check out my red lipstick + bedroom hair. Isn't every Parisian girl having this signature look? In my defense, I got the lipstick as a gift, hence the experiment. Hair? like I ever brush it - everyday is bedroom hair day.

Shumaq dress, Boden Parka & necklace
Talbots cardigan, Max Studio Boots

I rarely wear lipstick for a simple reason that the speed I eat lipstick is incredibly fast; it is gone like in a second. But I have a small story about my dog and lipstick. She was the love of my life; her name was do-do. We called her whatever came to our mind: yu-me-hu, chiu-be...One day I gave her a kiss on the cheek before leaving for a flight. When I got back, I noticed there was something red on her face.

"Mom, what did you feed her? something red?"
"all brownish color."
"She didn't take medicine right?"
"She is okay; why medicine?"

It turned out to be my lipstick - long lasting tomato red lipstick. I took her to wash her face but it just didn't come off so I had to cut one part of the face hair off. She was pppppppissed.

Bargain Fashionista

Since I have figured out where to live in the future (on the street, presumably some warm places, say San Francisco), I embraced my inner calling and went for shopping. I didn't have a lot of time shopping around so I only made one stop at H&M (gladly it was H&M so maybe I still will be able to afford a small barn to live). I know people have been speaking ill of H&M: the quality is so bad that the first time when I wore the cardigan, one bottom fell. Oh please! The very expensive Catherine Malendrino dress I have also came with a broken piece of gem deco when it made to my house. So? Stitch it back if you really like the cardigan. I can tolerate a cardigan needed some stitch work if it only costs 35 dollars. Give H&M a break!

Aren't they cute? 

Stripe stripe more stripe please

Today I am wearing two of them.

                                                                         

Xmas Tree

My friend laughed at me about the Xmas tree standing in the back of my picture.

"Throw it out! Americans throw it out on 26th."

The problem is that I am not an American; throwing out a $50 dollar worth of a perfectly-fine tree just doesn't make sense. Plus, it is damn cold outside. I don't like any outdoorsy labor activity including moving trees. So, prepare to see it till mid-March.

F21 dress, HM long cardigan
Boden necklace, Plenty by Tracy Reese shoes

Hotel Manner -- for adults only

I just came back from a business trip. All business trips are exhausting. No matter how comfortable the bed in the hotel is, you just feel you are being ripped apart. In the morning when I was having breakfast in the hotel, my colleague walked in looking tired.

"Rough night?"
"I have been up since 4 this morning."
"Why? "
"My headboard started clicking at 4:19!"
"4:19? wow you think they just came back or they just woke up? "
"This I don't know but I do have the rest of details."
"You should have knocked your headboard."
"Oh no they are just having good time."
"How long?"
"Standard, 30 minutes."

Who doesn't have such experience? During my flight attendant years, I spent 50% of my time staying in hotels so I know exactly what I am talking about. Of course most of the time crew stayed on the same floor (so if the above situation happened, at least I knew the returning trip would be interesting) but I have experienced it from time to time. 

The timing of action taken depended on my mood. If I was generous and not sleepy, go right ahead, it's a free show. If I was not in the mood, sorry man, not even the first round. Don't judge me - I am just a human.

nono it is not the headboard being affected

Yikey Scallops

To continue my success with the scallops, I bought another pound, found a Daniel Boulud's recipe and was in the mood for a restaurant-y dinner. My boyfriend wasn't as enthusiastic as I was-can't blame him; the poor boy has been having stomach flu since Sunday. Since there was no audience, I had zero interest of spending 2 hours preparing one dish so I cooked exactly the same dish as last time. I very generously put 12 huge scallops on my plate and started to dig in.

"mm yummy..." the first scallop
"Gee..I am like THE chef." 2nd - 6th 
"mm..it taste a little bit like fat." 7th
"Oh it does taste like one big piece of fat."" 8th
"Yikey yikey yikey there are more? ..."9th
"Just swallow it. Just one..."

I finally understand why there are always only 5 pieces of scallops on my plate whenever I order the dish in restaurants. I used to have nasty thoughts when I saw the teeny tiny portion; now I know these are people who know what they are doing. I don't know if it would make any difference if I used Daniel's recipe; maybe yes, maybe no.  I am just certain it will take a while before scallops show up on my dining table.

Everything Loft except
Plenty of Tracey Reese shoes

Virus Attack

Virus is spreading in my house. My boyfriend and I both have achy bodies and tired souls; however, I still need to drag myself to work this morning.

Jcrew sweater, Talbots cashmere open cardigan
Loft cargo, Plenty by Tracy Reese boots

On Saturday, we went out for a cozy dinner in a small town which reminded me of towns in Europe. I decided to beat the cold with a very spring-y cardigan and dress. My boyfriend wore a shirt with a Canada Goose parka which he claimed it was so warm that one shirt underneath would be good enough to walk in Antarctica.

Jcrew Cardigan, vintage dress

Apparently both thoughts were just jokes since we are both sick now...

Cooking cooking cooking

This is a small extension of my involuntary new year resolution. Today is the third day of my saving plan; I am itchy all over. I never smoke but right now I totally understand the feelings of a smoker's being forced to quit. One reason is that I subscribed all sources of fashion newsletters so in the morning they are flooded in my inbox. Season change is such an evil thing; "Orange is the new black?" then I start to ponder how many oranges I have inside my closet...it's a never ending cycle.

Since it will never end, let it be...

I made scallops yesterday. It was so easy and tasty. Rinse the scallops and pat them dry. Put butter into the pan and wait till small bubbles come up. Carefully put the scallops in the pan, each side 1.5 -2 mins until they brown. Season with salt and pepper. When it's done, put in the plate and decorate with lemon zest and chopped parsley. Make sure the scallops are fresh, otherwise it will be a disaster to your kitchen odor. The delicate smell of lemon zest and parsley brings out the taste of scallops...me likie.

Another thing I made was chicken liver pate. Again, an easy dish. Clean the chicken liver and cut off the extras. Saute the liver in pan with the butter, add red wine. Wait till it's done and put the liver aside, use mid flame continuously boil the juices until it becomes thicker and put liver and juice into the blender. Blend well and put in frig for half an hour. There are so many versions of chicken liver pate; most of them need onion, thyme or other ingredients. I have tried some but don't really like them. I personally like this pate which is very silky and rich flavored. Put on bread with capes and parsley. A great appetizer, not to mention it goes well with your favorite red wine.
 

Autumn cashmere, Zara blazer
Anlo jeans, Enzo brogues

Involuntary New Year Resolution

I learned a shocking truth about my spending last night by going through my bills. My realization is that if I don't put a stop to it, I will be living on the street when I am old. Why? I am a full-dimensioned shopper; I can shop by impulse, by careful consideration, by occasion, by anything, which is good to economy but bad to my bank accounts and health, like the stroke I almost had yesterday when I saw the number.

That being said, I just officially put "saving" into my new year resolution, alongside with eating a lot of vegetables and fruit, starting to do yoga and lots of others.

p.s. I just tested my determination by entering Ruelala's final sale. First, it is like Murphy's Law. When I can't buy anything, there are so many things which I want and come with my size. Second, eventually I had to leave the site to eat my fruit which I hate. It is just too sad.

Zara blazer, Zara sweater
American Eagle pants

Shopping on Piperlime

Yesterday when I got home, there were several big boxes from Piperlime waiting for me. I was very excited; if you are also an internet shopper, you will understand - though you pay for everything, it still feels like Xmas when the packages come.

I like this pair of brouges, Enzo Angiolini, very much. It is my first pair of brouges. After resisting the trend for a long time and finding out brouges still going strong in spring collections, I give in. No matter what, it never hurts to have one more pair of shoes in the closet.

I also bought a pair of suede ankle boots, so comfortable that it will definitly be of a lot of uses.

Hive & Honey from Piperlime

Jcrew cardigan, HM sweater dress
Boden belt, Jcrew necklace

Overall, I am quite happy with this purchase (keep 2 pairs out of 5); the only thing that pissed me off was I just found out both pairs were on sale plus additional 20% off. Dame you piperlime.

Such a black horse

Some sports miracles happened last night - Russia won over Canada in World Junior Hockey Championship in final! My boyfriend will disagree with me at the choice of word "miracle" because it's "what's supposed to happen" but Canada was really the heat in the tournament.

Semi -Final

Why I said this game was a miracle is a simple fact that till the mid-third period (final period, 10 mins to the end), the score was 0 to 3, Rus vs Can. With all arena full of shouting and screaming patriot Canadians, it just did not seem very optimistic for Russians.

Same thing happened at the previous two games, Russia vs Finland & Russia vs Sweden. During both games, I wanted to cover my eyes because Russian was in such bad situations almost throughout the games until the very last 3 minutes I think the players decided to wake up, fight and win.

I have watched too many hockey games recently that almost made me a half expert; I can easily tell people " each team has 22 players on the bench each game" or "Come on, this is an off side." ...what am I talking about? This is not sports center. I need to go back to girlie topics before I start to chew tabacco.

P.S Just got into an expected discussion about the use of "miracle." The information source indicated the only miracle here was that Russia recovered in the LAST minutes (4 points at 10 mins is a miracle!!) while my assertion of miracle that Russia won over Canada was crap. The source even cited the historic stats; okay, this victory is "what was supposed to happen." Go Mother Russia! 

I am trying on a "reckless dressing" today. Reckless means "don't care about what others think." i.e. wearing hoodie and jeans attending important meetings if you don't work in IT industry or fishnet and skyhigh heels for sports event. I don't have the nerve to do either so I compromise by wearing glittering skirt to work :) Not that inappropriate but enough to make people (boss) raise brows.

Jcrew turtleneck, Gap bling skirt

BR cardigan, Gap ballerinas

 

 
 

Nothing but murmur

I work in a relatively traditional/serious environment, business casual or business formal attire is required. Sometimes the atmosphere is more relaxed (aka, head is not around); I will sneak in wearing jeans. I always have several pairs of trousers in my office so it's no big deal if boss suddenly shows up (to be fair, she is a very nice lady. It happened more than once she saw me wearing jeans around and was totally understanding "young people love jeans"). However, I still enjoy the guilty pleasure.

I really like onion dressing. It allows me to keep my summer clothing in the closet four season. In winter, I wear my undergarment ( a wool one I bought in Australia or Uniqlo heattech, as my recent favorite), add a piece of silk top, a cashmere cardigan and a blazer, a coat; I am ready to go. Often times by knowing I won't take off the cardigan, I don't even bother to find the tank top style of underwear to wear underneath the silk top; long sleeves are warmer :)  What matter is what's seen from outside, correct?

 Uniqlo cashmere cardigan, Forever 21 top
True Religion jeans

Madewell Blazer on top of everything

                                       

Congratulations!!

The best news I got during new year was my very good friend, Irene, was engaged!

We were actually talking on the phone on new year eve.

"He may propose soon." - her
"When do you think he is going to propose? Please tell me it's not today; otherwise it is so cliche!" - me

I got her message at 1:25 AM on Jan 1st that he proposed!!

Last year exactly the same day, Jan 1st, my another good friend, Janet, told me she was engaged. Her boyfriend proposed in/on Empire Building.

What's wrong with these boys? Don't they know that the standard procedure is to rent a yacht and propose to your girlfriend in Mediterranean Sea? Apparently they didn't get the memo......

...Of course I didn't think so. I am so touched every time my friends share with me their engagement news. In fact, Irene's is very special to me. I am the witness of their love story (more precisely, I was a big supporter of her going into this relationship, so hey, Mr. J, next dinner is on you!). In the beginning she wasn't sure if she wanted to start the relationship because she wanted to go back to Asia badly. Eventually she decided to give it a try and she has found her soulmate. I couldn't be more happy for her.

Congratulations Irene baby!! And Mr. J, Sushi Yasuda would be nice.

Happy New Year!!

For certain reason, I was home counting down instead of standing in Time Square or any other spots in NY as planned (I was actually couting down by phone with my good friend, Janet, and her fiance in west coast, lovely!)

Anyway, this is the dress I originally planned to wear for the coming of 2011. It is also the 100th year of Republic of China. Taiwan gogogo!! Thank you Janet darling! Happy New Year!!

Alexander Wang dress, Pucci shoes