Smile! for [COD #10 and Colorful Adventure] Inspirational Wendy

Wendy Nguyen from Wendy's Lookbook is an inspiration for me. I pretty much see her and Mystery Man as my role models. Their journey is incredible and their story is just so amazing. I don't think I've ever been so nervous meeting someone! >A<

 Once I entered the Diane von Furstenberg store at South Coast Plaza, I first recognized her younger brother and immediately realized that I was so incredibly lucky. Her and her brother's story is just so touching, and it had dawned on me that I was so close to someone who I admire so much. I pretty much procrastinated going up to her and kind of wandered around the store first. Thanks to Thomas, who nudged me and patiently encouraged me, I finally had the courage to end up hovering around her and kind of spluttering noises out of my lips. It was a little embarrassing, but I couldn't get anything else out at the time. (enter nervous laugh)

 Wendy was wonderfully kind. She patiently listened to my story and just how she inspired me. She was so very elegant and so very sweet, that I couldn't help but shake in excitement and happiness. I am really grateful that she accepted my present for her as well! ^^ So many reasons to smile!

 

Coinky-dinkly, the very friend who introduced me to her videos used to live in the same college dorm with one of her closest friends, and also the man who started out taking pictures of her on her blog! It's such a small world! Time flew by as we talked and he gave me many kind words of encouragement, as well as Mystery Man. It was a very educational night! (:

 South Coast Plaza has fantastic Christmas decorations! The lights flicker against the roof like stars and it's just amazing. (:

 Pictures taken by the wonderful Thomas Liu. (: Thank you!

 Would you believe that my red "belt" is actually a red cardigan from Forever21? I spent about 20 minutes in front of a mirror the night before trying to figure it out and this was the ending result! What do you think? I think I'll make a video of how I did it soon. (:

Can you guess what character I'm channeling through my outfit? P: The answer to that will actually be revealed in my 100th video. Stay tuned! <3

Today was beyond my dreams and it was just so wonderful. My cheeks have never been so sore from smiling. Everything was so great. Thank you Wendy and Mystery Man! Thank you David! Smile today! (:

Their pumpkin cheesecake on a mini cone dessert was really yummies! :3 Can you see the little smiley face on mine? P:

I personally think that Thomas captured me being really nervous, but really excited really well here. Pre-meeting-Wendy-and-pre-smile-parade.

 Aren't the Christmas lights on the roof surrounding the colorful stained glass magical? :]

= What I Have On =

Top = Styles for Less zippered vest, Wet Seal cream duster cardigan
Dress = H&M
Outerwear = Wholesale-Dress
Shoes = Styles for Less
Accessories = Forever21 silver belt, Forever21 red cardigan, New York and Company black tights, Styles for Less necklace (It's actually a belt borrowed from a dress that came with it.)

Smile! for [COD #9] Wreck-It Hero

 Ever since watching Sourcefed's The New Movie Thing Show (Yes, it's really called that.) review of Wreck-It Ralph, it confirmed my need to watch it. The movie was great! Adventure, humor, touching story-telling and visuals was all there! I highly recommend it! (:

 While going to the mall to see the movies, I wanted to reflect the character's colors into my outfit so this was what came from that. (: My outfit was based off of the colors of Wreck-It Ralph's clothes with the gold belt to top off the color of gold coins that is commonly found in old video games. In order to downplay the outfit because of the bright colors, I wore a dark grey cardigan inside the red pleather jacket. 

 My photographer, Thomas Liu, was very supportive and accommodating as we snapped a few pictures of what I wore before the movie. So wonderful props to him! Thanks for reading! Smile today everyone! (:

This was an image in front of a recently opened store and I just thought it was so amusing. X3 Scrunchie face!

 

                       

(Disclaimer: The pictures and character itself definitely do not belong to me.)

= What I Have On =

Top = hand me down green tank (inside), hand me down grey cardigan
Dress = Styles for Less
Outerwear = Sidecca
Shoes = Banana Republic
Accessories = Forever21 belt

Smile! for COD #7

Hello smileys! (: It's tiiime fooooor another C-O-D! (:


Purple Lace Tank - Styles for Less

Sheer Ruffle Tank - Styles for Less
Brown Pleather Bomber Jacket - Papaya
Light Tan Flare Jeans - Wet Seal

Brown Ruffle Boots - Styles for Less

(same jacket in this COD)

[Right] Entire outfit
[Left] [Colorful Tip] When finding jeans that flare out at the bottom, I like finding a pair that just almost touch the ground. Why? Because it gives the illusion that you're taller...and for me personally, I've always wanted to be taller. Petite people represent! :D Especially since these pants don't start at your hips, it has three buttons and it starts just barely above the belly button. By tucking in my purple lace tank top into my pants, it shows off where the pants start through the sheerness of the taupe colored top and it gives the illusion that my legs start somewhere higher. Therefore, it gives the impression that I'm tall.

Because I have been just wearing skinny jeans as my go-to bottoms ever since the beginning of the summer season, I was extremely excited when I saw these paints at Wet Seal in the buy-one-get-one-for-a-penny clearance section for two reasons.

One: I have been on the lookout to adding more lighter bottoms to my wardrobe and up until this purchase I have only been successful in owning a white pair of shorts from Styles for Less and white skinny jeans that I bought off from a friend who had her own little Facebook closet sale. (AKA they were only 3 dollars) Cue the wallet approved thumbs up? :3

Two: I am finally able to experiment with different types of jean shapes. Hopefully, I'll be able to match these jeans up to create other future outfits. (:

Hope you enjoyed this outfit! (:


Smile today!

Smile! for COD #6

COD time! (: Let's jump right in!

White Collared Button Up - CottonOn
Dark Blue Skinnies - Styles for Less
Utility Jacket - hand me down from a friend
Black PolarMax - Christmas present from a friend

Black Heeled Boots - Styles for Less

(same boots and white shirt in this COD)

[Right] Entire outfit
[Left] Close up of all the layers the outfit has

This season, I've been experimenting a lot with layers, especially since the weather is starting to get a little more consistent. In this case, consistent means when the sun starts to drop, the weather gets pretty chilly. During this kind of weather, I like getting cozy in thin layers so it's not so overwhelming. My PolarMax really helps keeping me nice and warm during the fall and shall become my best friend during the upcoming winter season. In one of my previous posts, I talked about some tips on how to stay warm this season. I was fortunate enough to be given a PolarMax set from a friend last Christmas and they have really been good to me when the weather starts to test the tolerance of human sniffles. If you don't own PolarMax, I would suggest wearing a tighter fit tank top and then a black top (preferably long sleeved) on top of that. I would've really hoped for the black layer of this outfit to be the longest of the three layers to really extenuate on the layering concept, but then again working with what you've got is pretty much what this blog is about. (:

Smile today!

Smile! for [Colorful Trends] Winter Warmth

It's been getting pretty cold where I live, which means that winter's coming around the corner. I hope that none of you smileys have been getting the sniffles. Here are some tips to stay warm this season!

1. Layering
If buying new clothes is too expensive for you, there's always an alternative to staying warm with your summer or fall wardrobe pieces.

For Top: Try putting on two tank tops + cardigan + jacket. The cardigan trailing underneath the jacket behind you creates a very effortlessly chic look.

For Bottom: I would suggest wearing tights and then putting on skinny jeans or long pants. It might feel weird at first, but the tights underneath really does make a world of a difference. If you're still cold, you can add legwarmers too! (:

2. Borrowing
I've come to realize that guys usually own a lot of jackets, and guy jackets are usually the ones that can actually make you warm. There's a reason why girlfriends always like wearing their boyfriends jackets! If you have a friend or sibling who have plenty of jackets, ask if you can borrow it for the winter. It never hurts to ask and if you do get the green light to borrow it, remember to wash it before you return it to them. A kind deed for another. (:

3. Polarmax
Last Christmas, my friend gave me a set of Polarmax. Polarmax is technical based layer appeal. So..that's what it says on the website, but in just plain English? It's a thermal layer that people who take part of snow sports wear. Polarmax products are available at stores that sell outdoor sports products. I often wear my Polarmax pants as tights. Again, it might feel weird at first, but having them on really keeps you warm, even more so than tights. It's a good investment. (:

4. Scarves
Scarves really help out with the weather getting colder. If you don't own a scarf, there are fairly cheap ones at Styles for Less and Target. With the Black Friday sales coming up, it'd be a good idea to also invest in a scarf too, take advantage of the cheap prices! ^^

5. Shoes
I try my best to avoid wearing sneakers on rainy days, simply because I don't like the feeling of wearing wet socks, plus it takes forever to get sneakers to dry. I wear boots instead because then it's harder for the rain to get in. (: Hah! Take that rain!

P.S. I love rain, I just don't like wet socks. Heh.....^^''

7. Moisturizer
You may ask what does this have anything to do with being warm? Winter is the season where it dries out many people's faces and when it gets cold it gets horribly uncomfortable. I really suggest to keep your face hydrated with some sort of hydrating mask, moisturizer or simply just drinking lots of water. Water is your friend!

8. Soup
Drink soup! Soup is your friend too!

Those are all my tips for staying warm this upcoming winter. I hope you don't get sick and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday. (:

Smile today!

Smile! for COD #5

Oops....I haven't done a COD bloggy entry in awhile huh....?...I'll try to do them more often. Hopefully once a week? or three times a month at least...ANYWAYS! Without further ado..tah dah!

Leopard Print Scarf - Styles for Less
Brown Knit Cardigan - Styles for Less
Grey Tank Top - Papaya
Brown Pleather Bomber Jacket - Papaya
Striped Shorts - hand me down from a friend
Black leggings - Christmas present from a friend
Brown Ankle Boots - Styles for Less

Here's a close up of my ankle boots. I really like them. (: I've been trying to find ankle boots that I like since I saw a YouTube video from Wendy's Lookbook. I'll add her information in the Colorful Links section below. It's already hard enough to find a pair of ankle boots that I like because I'm very picky with shoes because they're so expensive. Then, it's even harder finding shoes my size because my feet are tiny. ;^;

That about wraps it up for this COD! Stay warm!

Smile today!



[Colorful Links]

Wendy Nguyen
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook
Blog

Smile! for [Haul] November 2011 Black Friday Edition

Black Friday and Cyber Monday just finished! (: Did you guys buy anything? Hopefully you weren't a part of that pepper spraying for Xbox 360's that I heard about at that Walmart in LA. Jeebeeies, that's pretty scary!

On a much brighter note, this year was the first year that I participated in the Black Friday sales. I went to Ontario Mills and then near the afternoon, went on over to South Coast Plaza to do some looking around after a very restful nap in the early afternoon. I arrived with company at around 10PM or so at Ontario Mills. We waited in the cold until 11:30PM and then everyone swarmed in. May I first say that I have never experienced crowded up to the point where we're like sardines. I honestly didn't have a preference because all the things that I wanted to buy, have already been bought and I just needed to ask for a price adjustment from the cashier. This year was to solely experience the whole Black Friday.....I'm trying not to say fiasco, but it seems like the word fits quite nicely. There was a point where when Abercromie and Fitch opened up and people rushed in, I was quite literally lifted and squished into someone so tightly that I was in the air about a good minute and then finally put down. As my high school friend would say, "Awkward flying turtles!" Oh well, besides that, all and all it was a good experience. The only thing I bought were some H&M purple tights for about 5 or 6 dollars, while waiting in line for about half an hour, which doesn't seem very worth the wait, but I was going to wait for someone anyway, so I figured it'd be fine. Well, that's enough for story time. Let's get into the haul. (:

This month, I've finally been purchasing pieces that I've been wanting to get for awhile.

- trench coat [ check! ]
- chunky brown belt [ check! ]
- statement jewelry [ check! ]
- red cardigan [ check! ]
- leopard print scarf [ check! ]
- ankle boots [ check! ]
- grey tights [ check! ]
- eye shadow primer [ check! ]

Yay! (: So that's all the things that Santa doesn't have to get me for Christmas this year. What are some things that you want for Christmas?

First up is my wonderful discovery of the wallet-friendly store Wet Seal, at least it's quite wallet friendly when their clothes are on sale. (: In their clearance section, they were actually having a buy one and get another for a penny sale. I clearly took advantage of that. Haha.

[Right] $15

[Left] $0.01 (:

[Left] $16
[Right] $0.01 (:








I also bought some things from Forever 21 as well. Of course..right? Haha. Although, in my opinion, Forever 21 doesn't really have Black Friday deals. They mainly just have the buy one get one half off in the sale section. But on another brighter note, I finally got a trench coat that I liked + my size + a price that I could afford, so at that point I just grabbed it and then instant LOVE! Haha. :3





[Left] $6.80
[Right] Belt - $8
Jewelry - $5.80/each








I got these ankle boots from Styles for Less. (: I did a COD entry with them here. They were less than $30 too! (: Thank you Styles for Less VIP card. (Scroll all the way down for full details of how the VIP card works.)
















From Sephora, I got this brush wand that was $10.
[Left] Close up of how the brushes in the wand look

From HauteLook, I made my first purchase of Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer that was also $10, but with shipping it came out to be about $16.













For those that can afford to shop at more higher end places, but still need to watch their spending, Banana Republic is a very good place to buy wardrobe pieces from during Black Friday. My few of my friends bought trench coats from there where normally the retail price would be around $200, but besides of the Black Friday sale, they were about $110 instead. I, myself also bought a T-shirt from Banana Republic that was $10 from the clearance section, but after the Black Friday deals was about $5. Yay! (:

Smile today!

Smile! for [Haul] October 2011

So since I don't really buy many pieces every time I go shopping, I figured that sharing my hauls every week or every month would be better, so let's try this out! ...Usually I spend it on food. (Cue the corny cartoonish, innocent smile, complete with the sound effect ding!) Although, I'll figure out a better schedule once I try this out a few times.

In October, I've actually bought more things because it was when all the sales and Halloween sales came up. It's usually like that for me in October, so usually I won't really buy as many things. Also because my nail art obsession started around the beginning of fall, so it's very obvious that I went nail polish hunting throughout the entire month of October. I've had friends borrow a lot of my nail polish too because I'm growing quite a mini army of them. Heh heh. :9

[Top Left] Express - $30
Found it in the Clearance section, normally it would've been much more expensive. It's very soft and versatile for Fall and Winter layering to keep you nice and warm. (:

[Top Right] PopKiller - $32
I was on the fence with this dress, but when I tried it on, it totally fit like a glove. I'm a tiny person and the fact that I found a dress that had a waist that fit perfectly and shoulders that was stretchy made me super smiley faced. The dress had a very European feel too. Currently, I'm on the look for a nice, thick brown belt, for this dress. (:

[Bottom Left] Styles for Less - $14.99
I'm very happy to have found such a bright, plaid shirt. With a simple white top on the inside and some darker pants, it's a nice outfit to go out with your friends. It's very Western as well, don't you think?

[Bottom Right] Forever 21 - $25
Doesn't it look very office like? I bought it when my friends and I were buying items together for the shipping deal that was over $21 purchase get shipping free, not that any one of use needed help with that, but it seemed like a fun thing to do together. (: It's very business-formal with a blazer and some tights, and matches well with black heels. Now if only I can find the ideal blazer to go with it.........

[Left] Styles for Less - $20

[Right] Styles for Less - $20

I've been wanting Capri's for the longest time, but it seemed difficult to find them around this season at a price that I accepted. Since I found these two in the sale racks of Styles for Less, I absolutely felt like I needed to get them. :3

[Left] Generation V - $18

I was shopping around with my friends when I found these heels. The size for this brand runs a lot smaller than I thought, but the price was definitely something that I appreciated, since they had fitted so well and were the kind of heels that could pull off a casual look and a formal look as well.

[Right] Styles for Less - $30

Boots are very in style right now, and the fact that normally boots go for at least $50 made me think about these boots even more. I liked the distressed feeling of the boots and how the buckles on the side weren't over the top, but nice and simple.

[Top Left] Styles for Less - $2/each (Blending Eye Brush - Foundation Brush - Eyelash Curler)
I'm not a make-up person, but I do go all out for costumes on Halloween and whatever Expo that I happen to decide to go to. These brushes were cheap and are a very helpful addition to that endeavor.

[Top Right] 99 Cents Store - $0.99
My friends and I were wandering the 99 Cents store when I found this great find! I absolutely love skinny ties, even though I have yet to find a use for them, but for 99 Cents and the last one left, I didn't see the harm in purchasing it. (:O

[Bottom Left] Styles for Less - $6
My previous wallet was a My Neighbor Totoro wallet and I absolutely didn't find a need to part with it, but I couldn't deny how fat and unpractical it was getting to carry it around, so I've been looking around for a replacement that was longer. Perhaps my wallet was glaring at me then for a different reason. I found this next to the counter at Styles for Less and I've been using it ever since I bought it, with my Totoro one safe in my bedroom. (:

[Bottom Right] same as Bottom Left



And then the additions to my nail polish army! Maybe I'll do all of the swatches of the colors I have in a future bloggy entry.















I actually haven't used all of them yet, but Confetti's Silver Slippers is a really nice shiny silver without having sparkles in the polish. I used it for a Catwoman costume for Comikaze Con for her claws, which reflected nicely in the pictures. It's also good for details with nail art.

I love love LOVE the Sinful Colors' Hazard. It's a very coral, muted orange and currently my favorite nail polish color. (:

Salon Perfect's Glow in the Dark polish is extremely sheer and needs at least 4 coats to make the glow in the dark effect visible. Fortunately, since I'm only going to use this polish for Halloween purposes, it's slightly forgiven.

Most of these polishes, I found at either drugstores, Target, Walmart, or local nail salons that had a cabinet in the back where they made the polishes $3 a bottle, which isn't bad at all.

And since October is the month of costume buying. Here are the costumes I got this year. I ordered another one that was super cheap on Yandy after Halloween because let's face it, it's the best time to get a costume afterwards because of all the cheap deals you can get. I will be getting that costume some time this week and I'll share it in an upcoming costume collection bloggy entry. (:

[Left] Facebook Store -$55
I've mentioned this before in a previous entry that this was my Halloween costume this year and it's from a Facebook boutique called Jessie Shops.


[Right] Leg Avenue - $20
I actually got this costume cheap through connections, but I would really suggest to get Leg Avenue costumes when they're on sale AFTER Halloween when they're having blowout sale in the costume boutiques that pop up all over town or definitely online.

That's it for October's haul. (: Hope you enjoyed it and had a very fun Halloween!


Smile today!



[Colorful Links]

Express
Official Site
Twitter
YouTube
Facebook

PopKiller
Official Site
Twitter
Facebook
Flickr
Blog

Forever 21
Official Site
Twitter
YouTube
Blog
Facebook

Styles for Less
Official Site
Facebook
Twitter

Confetti
Official Site
Facebook

Sinful Colors

Salon Perfect
Official Site
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

Comikaze Con

Jessie Shops

Yandy
Official Site
Facebook
Blog

Leg Avenue
Official Site
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook

Smile! for [Colorful Trends] Colorblocking: Synchronize and Analogize

Hello smileys! (:

[Reading a previous blog entry that introduces the technique of colorblocking will help understanding this bloggy entry better. Happy reading!]

Colorblocking is very in style right now and we're going to start off with explaining the analogous colored technique on your wardrobe pieces. To review, analogous colors are colors that are similar hues that touch on the color wheel. Today, we'll play with three color combinations:


All right then! Let's get these outfits started! (:

T-shirt - Talbots
Lace Tank Top - Styles For Less
Jacket - from a friend
Corduroy Pants - from a friend

Our first analogous colors outfit includes the colors yellow, yellow green and green. When you wear similar colors, it's important to not look like a solid blob of mish-mesh. Why? It's just not flattering. To make similar colors work together to create a decent outfit means taking different textures and patterns. Here I layered my bright yellow lace tank top with a pastel yellow t-shirt. Both colors are yellow, but they have different textures, and the pastel yellow dulls down the clash of colors on this outfit. I had the tank top peek out from underneath the t-shirt to make it more obvious that I'm wearing yellow.

[Colorful Tip] Having bright lace tank tops peek out from underneath your top really gives the entire outfit a pop of color.

The lighter green utility jacket with the t-shirt really mellows out the darker corduroy pants and the bright lace tank. (:

T-shirt - Anchor Blue

Capris - Styles For Less

Cardigan - Express

Our next outfit includes the colors red-violet, violet and blue violet. This combination was easier because I have a pair of jean capris that's very dark, so in certain angles it looks like it's a very dark shade of blue-violet. This outfit is a lot more relaxing for the Fall time. If it's chilly outside though, I would definitely suggest darker blue jeans. Skinny jeans for me are warmer than jeans because skinny jeans hug your skin more. (:

[Colorful Tip] Pairing pieces with jeans for any outfit is pretty simple, so if you're trying out the analogous technique with your outfits. It's a lot easier to start out with blue jeans and matching it with purples and greens.

Top - Causeway Mall
Lace Tank Top - Styles For Less

Capris - Styles For Less

hand-me-down Jacket - Hollister

This last outfit will have the colors red, red orange and orange. Since this color combination is very bright and congregated in one area, I used white as a neutral color to dull down the outfit with my jacket and my white capris. By using my beige jacket and my white capris, this balances out the brightness with the bright red and bright orange. Again, if it's chilly outside, I'd wear neutral colored long pants.

[Colorful Tip] Think of neutral colors as background colors. Neutral colors include white, grey, black, ivory, beige and taupe. Another way of identifying neutral colors is to think of greyscale colors. These colors can dull down and make an outfit more casual looking.

I had my bright red lace tank peek through from underneath my coral, red-orange top. Then, since the Fall season is coming around full swing, I added on my Hollister furry hooded beige jacket that had a bright orange quilted pattern on the inside.

[Colorful Tip] Causeway Mall is actually a very cheap and fun way to shop. This online store is a little different from other stores. You actually have to buy two of each thing that you buy, so buying with a friend is very wise. (: In high school, my friends and I all ordered together and bought clothes together and when it was Twin Day at school, we'd talk about dressing up the same!


That's it for this entry. I really hope that this was helpful to you. One of the ways to express yourself is through the way you dress, so don't be afraid to try out new combinations. You might just find a new style that you enjoy. (:

Smile today!



[Colorful Links]
Colorblocking: Intro