Category Archives: My Outfits

Happy Birthday, Dad! – Las Vegas, NV

10/20/2011 – 8:55 PM

So my dad’s birthday (along with the photos in this post) was actually nearly two weeks ago, but I’ve only gotten to posting this now. Apologies (as well as for the lack of posts).

With that said, my dad’s birthday was on the 8th of October, and he decided he wanted to take a little mini trip to Las Vegas that weekend to celebrate. My aunts, grandma, cousin (Reycel), and the boy went with my parents and me.

These photos are from days two and three of our trip. Day (or rather, night) one was spent arriving in Vegas, checking into the hotel, feasting on a buffet, and walking the Strip.

We had a few photo ops at The Palazzo and The Venetian.

Can’t go to “Italy” without getting some gelato!

I couldn’t help but stop in front of the Givenchy display at Barney’s and drool.

Top – Forever 21, Shorts – (I forgot :p), Tights – Banana Republic, Boots – Sam Edelman, Bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs, Watch – Movado

The October Draconids were supposed to be at their peak on this evening, the 8th, so after dinner, we separated from the parentals and drove off, further into the desert to attempt to get a peek at the meteor shower.

Aside from successful seeing a few regular shooting stars and one humongous one (must have totally been part of the Draconids shower), one of the major highlights of my evening was seeing these signs everywhere along that narrow highway into the desert. Burro crossing! Next time, we are going to attempt to take one for ourselves… mayhaps.

Urban Outfitters ads, anyone? And yes, I did indeed change out of my boots into flats (Michael by Michael Kors) for our trek into the desert.

My takeaway from wandering the desert late into the night – Joshua trees are creepy at night.

The next day, before heading back home, we all stopped by the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Gardens in Henderson, NV. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend stopping by. Not only do you get to take a gander at their chocolate factory and cactus garden (which is apparently one of the largest cactus gardens in the U.S.), but you also get a free chocolate sample at the end of the chocolate factory tour!

Seeing as it is currently the year of the rabbit (based on the Chinese zodiac) and I was born in the year of the rabbit, I found this Bunny Ears Cactus rather amusing.

All in all, a successful family trip filled with lots of food, photos, and gambling. Well, the older folks gambled quite a bit. Ironically, we were in Vegas, and this time I didn’t even touch a slot machine once.

Tags Cactus, Cactus Gardens, Draconids, Ethel M, Ethel M Chocolate Factory, Ethel M Chocolates, Family, Las Vegas, Marc by Marc Jacobs, October Draconids, Regina Reycel Reyes, Regina Reyes, Reycel Reyes, Sam Edelman, The Palazzo, The Venetian, YL | Comment (0)

Fashion Food Me Movies My Outfits Restaurants & Cafes

Work Break at the Park & La Creperie Café

08/13/2011 – 2:49 AM

I’ve just settled down in bed after getting home from watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. The Perseid meteor shower was supposed to peak sometime after midnight, but unfortunately any plans to watch said meteor shower were impeded by the fact that the sky was just too cloudy. And so the last segment of Harry Potter was the replacement. But more on that later…

Let’s back track a little bit to about 12 or so hours ago, when the sun actually decided to come out. Work’s been rather busy lately as we are in the crunching period of our recent project, but the good weather that happened to emerge around lunch time was too good to pass up. BeiBei, Allan, and I decided to walk over to the nearby park and eat lunch there while enjoying the fresh air.

chiffon top – H&M, jeans – Verdugo jegging by Paige Premium Denim, bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs, high-heeled clogs – Sam Edelman

“Is that the obligatory pose?”

Our current obsession is Mexican soda, sold in glass bottles. Nothing beats soda packaged in the old-fashioned way. I’m not a fan of carbonated beverages, but I must admit the real sugar (as opposed to the high-fructose corn syrup found in most sodas manufactured here in America) highly improves the drink, reducing the overly artificial sweetness typically found in American sodas. I’m still not too keen on Coca Cola, but Sprite will do just fine, thank you.

Fast-forward to post-work time, considering how the sky was not being too friendly to us for meteor shower watching, Allan, BeiBei, Tony, and I decided to go with Plan B – finally watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Our theater of choice – AMC Marina Pacifica 12 in Long Beach. Tony had two free AMC tickets, and I figured we could easily find some good eats around the Belmont Shore area.

Hungry and determined to eat something delicious prior to our 10:10 PM movie showing, our trusty good friend, Yelp, once again came to the rescue. We found La Creperie Café, located on action-packed 2nd Street in Long Beach. This French restaurant has four stars at a whopping 1082 reviews on Yelp. I love the 2nd Street area and I love French restaurants, so you can only imagine my delight at discovering this venue.

Their menu is extensive, filled with breakfast, lunch, and dinner items all at reasonable prices (they have a $$ price range on Yelp). It is no surprise that the majority of their menu is crepes – sweet and savory. Not to worry for those who aren’t too keen on crepes – they have a great selection of non-crepe foods as well.

Menu aside, I found their interior to be well-decorated to the theme. I was especially delighted to find that they had live music! This restaurant definitely gave off that cute, romantic type of ambiance.

After oo-ing and ahh-ing to myself about the interior of the restaurant and attempting to take decent photos with my point-and-shoot camera in the dimly lit room, I finally decided to pay attention to the menu in front of me. Choosing a dinner item was tough, but I eventually settled on the Dipollo savory crepe – fresh wild mushrooms, herbs de provence and mozzarella with chicken in a sherry cream sauce. I was pretty much sold upon reading “fresh wild mushrooms” and “sherry cream sauce.” I’m a huge fan of food with alcohol-based sauces – love the flavor the alcohol infuses. Tony chose the same dish. BeiBei ordered a side of garlic fries, which comes with three sauces – chipotle aioli, ranch, and ketchup. For her entree, she decided on a savory crepe that consisted of lobster and had a lobster-based sauce. I have unfortunately forgotten the name of the dish, and I can’t seem to find it on their online menu. The presentation of her dish was interesting. Instead of one whole crepe, it was served in mini crepe medallions. Allan ordered the steak sandwich – marinated rib eye, romaine lettuce, chipotle aioli, provolone cheese, tomatoes, red onions and avocado on toasted ciabatta, served with garlic French fries and a Caesar salad.

Pictured above in descending order: Garlic fries, sauces for the garlic fries, BeiBei’s lobster crepe medallions, Dipollo crepe, Steak sandwich. I took a taste of every single item we ordered, and I must say that each item on our table was delicious! I’m not a huge fan of lobster, but BeiBei’s dish was pretty good. You can definitely taste the lobster. I absolutely loved my dish. The Dipollo was infused with the flavor of the wild mushroom and sherry cream sauce, much to my enjoyment. Allan’s steak sandwich was tasty – not your average steak sandwich. The steak marination deserves two thumbs up.

I would definitely visit La Creperie again and give their other menu items a try.

Following our dinner, we headed over to the AMC Marina Pacifica 12 to watch Harry Potter. It was a long movie, as expected. The awkward kissing scenes they put into the film still weird me out. Overall, I suppose the movie was alright. I’m not a huge fan of Harry Potter, really, and the whole time I kept thinking “Why? Why? Couldn’t they just do this? Couldn’t they just do that?” Regardless, the movie was still entertaining.

Summing up the day, I’ve arrived at a few conclusions: (1) I definitely would like to spend more time around 2nd Street in Long Beach and try out all the different little restaurants around there. (2) I love French restaurants. (3) Harry Potter will always just be “alright” to me. (4) I am extremely exhausted.

And with that, I bid you adieu.

Tags Allan Chiou, AMC, BeiBei Chen, Coca Cola, Coke, Crepes, Fashion, Food, French, French restaurants, H&M, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Jeans, jeggings, La Creperie, La Creperie Cafe, Long Beach, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Marina Pacifica, Mexican Coke, Mexican soda, Mexican Sprite, Movies, My Outfits, Paige, Paige denim, Paige premium denim, Restaurants, Restaurants & Cafes, Sam Edelman, Soda, Sprite, Tony Huynh, Verdugo jegging | Comments (3)

Fashion My Outfits

Genie Denise

08/11/2011 – 10:08 PM

Today was Genie Denise day, and by that, I am referring to the harem pants I decided to wear today. I have three pairs of harem pants – two that I bought from Zara in Hong Kong and one that I bought from Target. They were all purchased three years ago, and believe it or not, I have never worn any of them. Well, that’s not entirely true. One of the pairs I purchased from Zara is knee-length while the other is full length. I wore the knee-length ones on the plane on the way back to America – nothing beats comfy harem pants while on a fourteen-hour flight.

Back story aside, I decided to wear the pair I had purchased from Target. It’s simpler than my full-length Zara pair; the Zara ones have beaded drawstrings and are looser at the top. Enter Genie Denise day.

harem pants – Target, Cooperative leather tie oxford – Urban Outfitters, sequined top – Ross (purchased many years ago), cardigan – Victoria’s Secret

Let’s ignore the scab on my lip that won’t go away.

So who wants me to grant them three wishes? You’ll have to wait, though; I’m off to watch Suits now.

Tags Fashion, Harem pants, Me, My Outfits, Target, Zara | Comment (0)

Fashion Life Memories My Outfits

Manhattan Beach & Polka Dots

07/15/2011 – 11:25 PM

Summer has finally picked up – the temperature is warm and the sun is shining. What better way to enjoy this weather than hitting the beach?

I found this sign to be awfully ironic, considering right behind me you can see that people are clearly swimming in the ocean. I suppose that’s Manhattan Beach, for you!

Polka dot dress – H&M, cardigan – H&M, hat – Ross, Bag – Tylie Malibu, Sunglasses – Prada, shoes – Ralph’s

I was glad to finally have an opportune moment to actually wear my hat within an appropriate context so as not to look silly. It was also a great day to finally wear my thin, polka dot H&M dress that I had purchased a few weeks ago!

I was actually wearing my L.A.M.B. Guru wedges today, but found that the $2.99 jelly flats I bought at Ralph’s (yes, you heard me – Ralph’s, the grocery store!) that I had packed in my purse came in very handy for hitting up Manhattan Beach.

Cheers to 15 and counting.

Tags Beach, Fashion, Life, Manhattan Beach, My Outfits, Summer, YL | Comment (0)

Fashion Food Life My Outfits Occasions Restaurants & Cafes

Annum: Redondo Beach Pier

04/15/2011 – 11:14 PM

On this lovely day, I found myself at Redondo Beach Pier, just in time to see the sunset.

As a side note, Redonde Beach Pier was also used multiple times in the no-longer-running TV show, The O.C., as the “pier in Newport Beach.” How funny. For those who are not aware, Redondo Beach is definitely not Newport Beach. In fact, they aren’t even in the same county. Redondo Beach is in Los Angeles County while Newport Beach is in Orange County.

3/4 sleeve camel trench coat – Zara, Lace dress with bell sleeves – independent boutique in Manhattan Beach, shoes – Michael by Michael Kors, bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs, sunglasses – Prada

In my attempt to have a complete outfit shot taken, of course I failed and felt like I looked absolutely silly. As usual, I had to end the shoot with a silly face. At least the background looks nice. As for the outfit, I absolutely love these shoes. I love the style and they are extremely comfortable. Hurray for comfortable heels.

Redondo Beach/Redondo Beach Pier isn’t necessarily part of my list of favorite beach areas, but it was still a great day with a great sunset. I loved watching the pelicans dive straight into the water to catch fish. Those birds are crazy!

Please ignore my tired looking eyes and direct your focus onto the area in the background. Redondo Beach Pier has an interesting triangular design. Pictured above in the background is one side of this triangle, with restaurants along the waterfront. The one with the second-story pagoda-looking structure is Old Tony’s.

The cemented portion of the pier has these awesome sea-life related embossments. By the way, if you’re familiar with The O.C., this portion of the pier may look familiar: note the trees in planters and the circular logo on the barriers.

I love me some giant ice cream. Over by the older region of the pier, where the walkway is made of wooden planks instead of the newer cement, there is a nice little ice cream shop with this awesome giant effigy of an ice cream. They serve many different kinds of desserts. Although I didn’t try any of them myself, this place seemed pretty popular, so I would assume their stuff is tasty – and for a good price too!

This here is my little seagull buddy, who decided to stop on the barrier and pose for a camera shot! I love the lighting in this photo, by the way.

Dinner venue of the night: Kincaid’s Fish Chop & Steak House on the pier. I wish we had gotten a window seat, which has a view of the ocean, but those filled up rather quickly.

Oven-roasted dungeness crab and artichoke dip

Sole (fish) stuffed with dungeness crab, served with truffle mashed potatoes and greens

Smoked steelhead (fish), served with roasted potatoes and greens. This had an excellent woody flavor.

Check out the giant trout on the wall!

Finished the meal off with a latte and warm bread pudding topped with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. The consensus was that Kincaid’s isn’t anything special, but there was nothing necessarily bad about it. The food is good and reasonably priced, and the atmosphere is nice. My only complaint would be how long it took for us to get our food. Even the starter bread took forever to get to our table.