Avenue of Stars

My first full day in Hong Kong!

HK is suchhhhh a beautiful city. The view of one side from the other is absolutely beautiful (whichever side)! In the morning, we came from the Hong Kong Island side to the Kowloon side by ferry.

In the background, you're seeing the Kowloon side; we're standing on the Hong Kong side. It's SUPER close... seriously like 1 or 2 mins by ferry. (and real cheap to get to, too.)

Theory Exceed Narisa Dress (Nordstrom- The really cool faux sleeves that you tie around your waste are what really got me! Click here for detail.), Target bib necklace & socks, Steven by Steve Madden Intyce boots, Burberry bag & rain jacket.

Went to the Museum of History and thought this was pretty cute!

Lots and lots of shopping done and this is what I see the most of... Phone charms! HKers are CRAZY about phone charms!

Food there was delish (cheap, too!)! On the left is egg whites with shrimp and some kind of fried pork slices. On the right is some kind of sweet ginger tofu with almond jellies and strawberry. Yum!

There was a maze made out of bushes I thought was pretty cool... But I think it's mostly for kids because I'm too tall for it and can see exactly where I'm going. Lol.

Before heading back to call it a day, we stopped by a place called "Avenue of Stars," where you can check out the view of HK Island at night from Kowloon. The view is amazing. Also, at 8 o'clock every night, there's a light show, where a lot of the buildings participate. It's really cool!

Ahhh, I miss it already! Enjoy!

Jet-lag FREE!

NI HAO! I just got back from Asia about 1 week ago! I went there for about 10 days for holiday and it was so fun! I've traveled all over Europe, the States and Mexico but this was my first time in Asia! I spent time getting to know Hong Kong and Tokyo and it was all very interesting. Things are so different there, it's like another world!

Anyway, I loved it! It'll take quite a few blog posts to cover the main parts... I took a LOT of photos (785 after reviewing and deleting to be exact!). Obviously, they won't all be on here but I'll pick my faves!

So... 22 hours and 10 mins later, after having lunch in San Francisco and who-knows-what meals on the Boeing 747-400, I finally arrived in HK. I was super excited about getting my passport stamped, after it not being touched for a whole YEAR!

With no jet-lag AT ALL, we headed to the hotel, cleaned up and went straight out to explore!

Checking out the neighborhood near our hotel (Causeway Bay area). Stores sure stay open later in Hong Kong! It had to be at least past 10:30 pm there! See how busy it is!


They go crazy with Xmas decorations!
Forever 21 top and chandelier necklace, Sparkle & Fade sequin skirt (Urban Outfitters), Christian Siriano for Payless booties, Zara studded bag

We finally picked out a tiny place to eat that had beef noodle soup and wonton soup! They also served fresh mango juice, my fave! Both the soups and the mango juice were SOOOOO good! California can't compare!!!

The temperature in HK was pretty high. About 70something degrees... but very humid and foggy. At least I didn't have to lug around my jacket and big boots I had to wear for the past 22 hours on the plane (because they took up too much room to pack!).

Anyway, please follow-up for the new posts coming up! There will be lots of photos!!! :)

Won't you take me to... FUNKY-TOWWNNNNN!?

I love random trips to Austin, TX! They're the best. Austin is the second best city in the U.S., followed by the one NYC (IMHO). It's my go-to city when I'm bored of Dallas! Close enough for a weekend road trip, far enough to just get away!

So many things to do there! Outdoors, indoors, shopping, food, whatever you want! I go there about 8 times a year (if not more) and I love it and have SO much fun EVERY TIME! (That's where I spent my Halloweenies for the past 2 years!)

Anyway, took another random trip down with a few girlfriends a few weeks ago (right before my big vacation to Asia) to get some shopping in! Boy, did we shop. I got a call from my bank just minutes after one of my transactions to verify my suspicious activity/irregular high dollar purchase.... ugh, we can talk about that another time! =X

Here are some pics from the weekend!

Happy hour at Trio's (in 4 Seasons)

Trailer food: Hey Cupcake!
Forever 21 top & necklace, A&F denim shorts, HUE tights, Movado watch, Zara bag, Kelsi Dagger wedged oxford booties

Pre-drinking! My friend has the sweetest high-rise condo you could imagine, with the sweetest view of downtown Austin. That's why we drink Svedka! (plus, we love it.) :)

BestWurst!

Chilantro: YUM! Always gotta hit up the food trailers after 6th!


Brunch at Taverna downtown
F21 top, BDG denim (UO), Charlotte Russe necklace, Dolce Vita for Target combat boots, Gucci Boston bag, Ray-Ban sunnies

Walking around downtown and Smores at Halcyon (really cool place)!

Seriously, ATX is the place to be! If you're ever there and don't know what to do, ask me! If I don't know, I'm sure my sis does (she lives there)!

Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh, OH MY GOSH!

Usher and Trey Songs concert!! Everyone and their mamas was here... But it makes perfect sense, since Usher is a BAMF. I orginally didn't care to go but my boyfriend L-O-V-E-S Usher so we went to see him at the American Airlines Center! Pretty good seats, too. I'm glad I did because it was really good! He sang a mix of old songs, the ones I love!! I actually knew a lot more Usher songs than I thought! Anyway, it was a great time! I recommend seeing him if he's in your city during the OMG tour!

(Because I haven't updated in awhile, my posts are all outta whack and not in order! This was pre-Lumix GF1! Lol)

Trey Songs! (Random- Doubt that's his real name, but too lazy to fact-check.)

Of course Ursher baby comes out on a thingy in the air over the crowd! He's so flyyyyy!! Ahhh!!

Forever 21 leopard print tank & pleather skirt, Zara studded bag, Nine West suede bandage heels.

I curled my hair with a new styling tool I got: Conair "You Curl" wand. It's really easy and gets really hot fast!

Girlfriends!!

On holiday in... 29 mins! Yippie!

'Tis the season!

I know I haven't updated in a long time... Shame on me! But I've been super busy with work, events, travels, etc. Also, I've been lazy to upload/edit pics. =X

But during my little hiatus, I got something new to make my blog a little better: a Lumix GF1 camera! I'm still learning how to use it since I'm not really familiar with all its functions and capabilities yet but so far, I love it! It takes great photos (when I know what I'm doing) and has all the functions of an SLR without the huge body of one (Good for us girls!). I'll still have my Samsung point-n-shoot with me mostly when I go out since it's so compact.

I'm ready for the holiday season with this baby! Here are the first few images I've captured as practice...




I can't wait to become a PRO fessional and have really cool pics! Stay tuned! I'm officially on holiday in t-minus... 1 hour and 9 minutes! Hooray!

Happy Halloweenie, Halloweiners!

For Halloweenie this year, I decided to get a group and head down to one of my favorite cities in the U.S., Austin! I've never dressed up as part of a theme or anything before so I thought it'd be fun to try it out this year.

It was hard picking something that worked. Our original idea (Super Mario characters) had fallen through due to lack of time we had to make costumes. The costumes (for the princesses, at least) seemed too detailed and hard to make from scratch (we only had a few days bc we procrastinated). Then, it was either Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland. We decided on Alice since there were more characters that the guys and girls could be. I was supposed to be the Mad Hatter! I was so excited for this but after we heard word that another group of friends were doing the Alice theme, we decided to change... again. So, after searching around, my friend and I decided we should do a superhero theme! Everyone was in, and at this point, it was only like 2 days to Halloween so no one really had a choice!

We didn't plan it to be a "Justice League" theme (honestly, I didn't even know what that was before all the comments I got on FB) but apparently, we were all members of it except for Spiderman!


Hahaha, taken in our hotel lobby! Isn't this sweet!? The Justice League + Spiderman!
Left to right: Peter Parker aka Spiderman, Batgirl, Superwoman, Batman/The Dark Knight, Wonderwoman, Robin, and Clark Kent aka Superman


Girls pic! (except for I'm actually dressed as a boy hehee)
I dressed up my costume w/ Sam Edelman over the knee 'Sutton' boots from Nordstrom. Super comfy!

I must say... We've got a pretty shiny group! The costumes had so much plasticy shiny pleather going on... it was weird... but it makes us look so cool! LOL


Team Batman! Batgirl, Robin and Batman! We made a rule that night to only call each other by our superhero names... HAHA!

Here are a few photos from my past Halloweenies (can't find all of them):


Halloween 2006: Bunny
Halloween 2007: Angel
Halloween 2009: Burlesque girl & Madonna

I was a French maid in '05 but I can't find any photos!

Anyway, it's much more fun when there's a theme... and more amusing, too! Gonna start thinking of good ones for next year!

Happy Halloweenie, hope everyone got a lot of treats and tricks! Hehe

Crazy about Nhã Khanh!

Ugh, I've been wanting to upload pics from this event since they night of but I've been so busy!! Last Wednesday, I went to a debut fashion show for Nhã Khanh at the Meyerson Symphony Center (PERFECT venue, btw). There were 36 looks and every single one was nothing less than stellar!

Here are a few from my camera:

There are several more but I couldn't capture them all. Plus, a lot of my photos turned out blah.

Here, Khanh and Nini are giving their speeches. They're so cute!


F21 silk top & belt, McQ by Alexander McQueen silk skirt, Steve Madden pumps, Banana Republic clutch, Saks 5th and F21 rings.

Great event. So glad I went! Congrats to Khanh and Nini!

Taking it back...

Earlier this week, one of my fav. couples asked us if we wanted to watch Shakespeare in the Park with them. I personally am not interested in Shakespeare but thought it'd be a good experience since I've never seen it before.

Pluses: Hot cocoa, free chips and salsa from Freebirds, good time with good friends.
Minuses: Mosquito bites, COLD!, and well, Shakespeare isn't exactly exciting!

It was so weird how the temperature changed so fast! It was nice warm weather and then suddenly went into the 60s!


Speaking of the 60s, I used this edit feature on this photo called 1960s. Looks old school, huh?

You can sorta see the cool backside of my sweater in this photo. The front looks like a normal sweater but the back is made of black lace. I heart almost anything lace.


This is righhtttt before I knocked out. I managed to stay awake through the first half and during intermission but right when it came back on.... Zzzzz.


This is after I woke up from my little nap. Hehe
F21 back lace sweater and flower connector ring, A&F denim shorts, Mossimo peace sign leather belt (Target), Dolce Vita for Target lace-up boots (love this item!), Zara studded drawstring pouch.

These boots are so fab! I bought 2 pairs of Docle Vita boots this month, one from Neiman's Last Call earlier this week and one from Target. How funny! (and one Sam Edelman from Nordstrom! Hehe.) I wore my DVforT boots 2 days in a row and got so many compliments from friends and random peeps! People love them!!

Anyway, back to Shakespeare. It reminded me a lot of high school when we had to read it and I always dreaded it so much. Ugh. I think I still feel the same way about it after all these years.

Twas a good experience, though. I like sitting in the park and doing stuff outdoors. Sometimes it's good to just relax, no matter what you're doing! :)

I'm just a girl in the world...

So, all my friends have been making fun of me for quite some time now when we're at fancy dinners and whatnot, and I pull out this oldie Velcro wallet out of my nice Gucci/Burberry/LV/etc... Even sales clerks and waiters make comments about it. Usually, they say something along the lines of, "Awwwww... how cute!?" And I'm like, "I KNOW, RIGHT!?" And my friends are like, "Ugh. I hope you know they're lying." LOL!

It's actually quite cute (imho). On it is a pretty orange with kissy lips. I'm not an Orange County girl, but hey, I loved Gwen so much back in the day (and still do!) when I couldn't afford L.A.M.B. so this was my only way to go!

Anyway, I never cared too much to upgrade my wallet. I loved the size and it did its job! I'd rather spend that hundred or 2 on part of a bag... or shoes! This Sunday, I went to an outlet mall with my friend and found that Neiman's Last Call and Off Saks had some pretty good sales for Columbus Day weekend! I picked up just a few things: Dolce Vita boots from Neiman's (SUCH a good deal, btw and SUPER cute!), a cute blouse from Saks, denim shorts, 2 drinking glasses from Neiman's (long story, tell you about it later!), and this Gwen Stefani L.A.M.B. long wallet. I always love Gwen's crazy designs and this wallet was so cute and ON SALE!



I love my new wallet! I don't feel so bad since it was so cheap for L.A.M.B.!

I've been a fan of Gwen since I was little. I had the No Doubt Tragic Kingdom CD! "I'm just a girl int he world...." LOL! I think that's why I loved my Harajuku Lovers wallet so much! It reminded me of good times! Here's the cover so you can see the kind of resemblance:


Gahhh, I love her! I think I'll make a pact to always have wallets by Gwen and Gwen only! Hehehe it's silly but I don't care!

Here's are some old photos taken at the No Doubt Reunion Tour concert I went to in 2009:



Gwen's SO freaking talented and awesome! Love her forever!

Birthday Boy!

Today is my #1 boyfriend's birthday (or my only boyfriend, rather)! I threw him a surprise party and let me tell you... it was NOT easy! This kid seriously has like 4,000 friends, easily. It's SO hard to get 4,00 people to keep a secret, you know!? Ok, maybe not 4,000 but like 50! I didn't make any Facebook events, E-vites, etc. I was a little unorganized at first... I started telling people individually... then put the rest in little groups... and anyway, I don't even know HOW, but I DID IT! It was SUCH a great turnout! Probably a good 35-40 people showed up! Thank goodness Uncle Julio accepted my 25 people reservation... and let me change it to 30... and sat 35-40 peeps! Lol and the best part? Joe was ACTUALLY SURPRISED!! How often does that happen!? Ahh, I must say... I'm really proud of myself and everyone that helped me!

Pretty much everyone in this room is one of our guests. Lol. Some are actually not pictured!

Ok, REWIND. The night before the party, I told my bf I was having a "girls' night" at my house... That secretly meant... "I'm running a gosh darn sweatshop over at my house to make your damn Mario cupcakes for your surprise party you don't even know about!" LOL but it was enjoyable. A friend came over to help me (which I am SO thankful for!) and my brother and his friend happened to be there to lend a helping hand.

They turned out pretty fab for 1st time fondant users!

With a huge bottle of wine and great friends, anything can be done!

It made me so happy to see everyone having so much fun! At that point, everything I'd done to plan was totally worth it! From talking to a billion guests, calling twenty restaurants begging them to accept my party, the fondant Mario cupcakes, being all sneaky... All worth it!

Birthday boy making a wish!

Isn't his cake the bestest?

I think he really loved them because when he went around passing them out, he was really into it... like... "Don't eat the poisonous mushroom!... If you eat this one, you can go through the secret passageway!... If you eat this one, you'll be able to fly!... If you want to grow bigger, eat this one!" HAHAHA Priceless.

Trouvé silk shirt (Nordstrom), F21 faux leather mini, Steven by Steve Madden Winka wedges, Papaya necklace.

After the dinner at Uncle Julio's, we loitered outside like good Asians for a good half hour or more... Then finally got everyone to come out to Ghostbar. It was the best birthday EVER (IMHO)!

And the best part... His present from me! I'm jealous, myself!

Happy birthday, love!