Jonathan, Oh Jonathan.

Winter is very weird this year. One day it's raining/flooding and the next day it is hot and sunny. I never know what to wear but these looks by Jonathan Simkhai are so inspiring and amazering!

The wool skirt, thick leather tee, and cuter than cute oxfords make a great warm winter outfit.

I love this wrap dress. It's chic, sexy, and oh so classy.

My inner old man is in love with this look. The sweater, the pants, the buttoned shirt!

Who doesn't want this sweater? 

via Jonathan Simkhai

nostalgia.

This past weekend was the USC vs UCLA Football game and I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. I'm not the biggest football follower but it played a huge part in my college life. I went to every single USC vs UCLA game while I was in school and I went to almost every home game in my four years. I miss the camaraderie and the love that is shared between all people wearing cardinal red and gold. Some of my most fun memories of college were going to games, walking down Trousdale, kicking the post, waiting in lines. I remember my first game was vs. Ohio and we were sitting 10th row at the 50 yard line. It was the first time I saw people willingly get thrown in the air 20+ times and it was the first time I sang the fight song with thousands of other students/alumni/fans.

The last couple posts were about individuality and beauty and so I'm posting pictures of myself from my college years. I'm really bad at taking pictures so putting up dorky college pictures is a big step. I get really awkward so I end up pulling a face or pulling a weird pose at the last minute. If you have any tips on how to be still for a photo please let me know! 

 Junior year with the roommates and our friend who dressed up as Iron Man for every game. (I'm the one in the gray being twitchy) Yes, we think we are cool.

it's amazing.

Let's start the week on a good and happy foot with a start-of-the-work-week inspiration post!

I have to constantly remind myself to wake up! There is beauty all around me.. I just have to look for IT.

I'm not the biggest Kanye fan in the world. I'm actually annoyed with him most of the time but that's because I really enjoyed/respected his earlier work and I'm confused with who he is now. But boy do I love these pictures of Mr. West taken by Tommy Ton of Jak and Jil at the MoMa Garden Party earlier this year. 

I think this just shows I'm a bigger Mr. Ton fan than a Mr. West fan.

A magical pathway of books that I would want to follow any day:

 via here

Beautiful hydrangea cupcakes that look too amazing to eat:

DIY found here by Glorious Treats.

In my last post, I talked about embracing our own individual quirks and I loved this article on Miranda Kerr from New York Magazine. I think Miranda Kerr is one of the most beautiful and stylish women out there in the celebrity world but she is still a woman and deals with her own insecurities and self doubt. In the article, Ms. Kerr says, 

"I just remember, like, the first time I met Adriana[Lima], she was so beautiful. I was like, ‘Why would they want me? I mean, look at her. She’s incredible.’ And then I met Heidi and Gisele and I was like, ‘What am I doing here?’ "

...

“I can’t feel bad about being who I am, just like the girl next to me can’t feel bad about being who she is,” she says. “Because a rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose.”
Later, backstage at the show, she repeats the sentiment like a mantra. “I want to encourage women to embrace their own uniqueness. Because just like a rose is beautiful, so is a sunflower, so is a peony. I mean, all flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too.”

Anyone else crushing on Ms. Kerr?

I'll end this post on a very simple note.

You are Beautiful.

to be and to love.

I don't think it's a secret that I love clothes, style, shoes, fashion, happiness and I love getting inspiration from others. I can spend hours on different fashion blogs and collect my hodgepodge of favorite images. But I think the most important thing to keep in mind is to keep it personal. 

Embrace who you are and love your style.

That random note isn't completely random. I have a friend who I don't understand. She takes on what I believe and all of my favorite things and adopts them as her own. She has become me and I miss her.

This drives me batty because I think she's awesome all on her own.

Why can't people see that their individuality is what makes them beautiful?

Be yourself and love yourself!

I'm a major dork and proud of it! Therefore, I will share a picture with all of you of myself wearing no make-up and waiting at the airport for my flight.

and now I will share a picture of some style inspiration.

Love this look. It's such the perfect fall outfit (aka SoCal Winter). via stylesight

Happy Black Friday!

The tradition this time of the year has always been:

eat Thanksgiving early (around 2PM) 

sleep around 10

wake up at 3

hit the mall at 4

shop shop shop

eat breakfast

watch a movie.

This year, my poopie sister broke tradition. She and her husband went up to NorCal to spend Turkey day with his family. Yes, I wanted to be that selfish! Thus she left me without a shopping partner. Luckily, I did all of my Christmas shopping early this year so I didn't have to go. As you may or may not have guesses, I am really frugal but I have a major shopping problem. And a bargain-hunter/shopaholic cannot sleep during the ultimate shopping morning of the year.

So I dragged my butt out of bed, dragged my mother out of bed, and went off to the mall.

 This was the crazy line for h&m. I was across the street but still could not capture the entire line. Store opened at 6AM and this was taken at 4:30AM. The line wrapped around Americana and into the parking lot. Yeah, I was not prepared to wait in that line.. so I didn't.

The massacre at the Macy's boot department. Luckily I bought my beauty boots online the day before.

Oh yes, another theoutnet.com steal. Boots were originally $495 and I paid a whopping $180! I cannot wait for these badboys to come in the mail.

Got this coat from Macys. $235 for $80

Damage also includes:

-a sweater from anthropologie at 80% off

-scarf from AE at 40% off

But it's not over yet! 

My heart is swooning for two more items..

Black or Gray? What do you think?

and this Hooded Gillet from Asos..

My tiredness is coming out in spades now. I think I should sleep before I make anymore rash decisions!

Happy Black Friday Y'All!

hello winter! hello bruises!

I am a klutz. I am one of those people who will trip and fall while standing still. While I love the rainy weather and the gray skies, I hate all of the moisture in the air and on the ground. I welcome winter this 2011 with a big fall on my behind after running around in boots that clearly weren't made for rainy days.

Living in LA, I never had a real need for rain boots. In my whole entire life, I only owned one pair. Knowing how clumsy I am, I think I need to invest in a better pair. 

I love these from Moov Boot but I really love these...

They're kind of rugged no? I think I may have a shoe problem. No wait... I know I have a shoe problem.

Any other suggestions out there? Thinking cute, affordable, and slip resistant!

The Laptop Case Closed.

I've been searching and searching for a year for the perfect laptop case. Why has it been so difficult?

1. I forgot the size of my laptop case and bought a case for a 17inch macbook

2. Tags on laptops lie and say that they a 15inch laptop when they clearly do NOT (see picture below).

3. I am very frugal and refused to spend more than $25 for my laptop case. 

However, the perfect laptop case was waiting for me and I knew this in my bones!  A few weeks ago, theoutnet.com was having their clearance sale and I saw the most gorgeous laptop case ever. Genuine leather, beautiful brown, and it said it fit a 15 inch laptop. Not only that but the price was originally $155 and it was knocked down to $23

Immediately clicked purchase and tried to check out. However, the site was so swamped that checking out took forever! I was ready to give up when the order finally went through. Two days later I received an email from theoutnet.com apologizing for the inconvenience and gave me $20 credit. Making my $155 laptop case only $3! I wasn't excited just yet. There would be major disappointment if the case didn't fit so I waited patiently for the mail. When it finally arrived....

It Fit! 

any boy-oh-boy was it worth the wait!

looking into the past.

from the Looking Into the Past collection on Flickr

reality?

As the work load increases my blog posts decrease. I still love reading what everyone else in this world writes about and I'm having so much fun reading other people's blogs and reading other people's comments on their blogs. I sound like such a weirdo but anything is better than spending the day just work-work-working!

As I was "working" hard, I saw these pictures and they reflect how I see the world as well. These images are from Ben Heine's pencil vs camera.

via flickr

Dream a Dream.

I don't want to work today. I want to look at pretty pictures and dream of lands far-away.

The Rippon Lea Estate is located in Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia.
Built in 1868. 

photos taken from life student via flickr

Yes I do want to go to Australia. Vacation time anybody?

wishing and wanting

The holidays are a-coming and my list to Santa keeps getting longer and longer.

This dress is gorgeous. The high slit with the sequined skirt is such a beautiful touch. from Gryphon NY

Also loving this dress and dinosaur-like cape. from Lauren Moffat

I am also completely in love with these cute polaroid coasters! 

remember

For those of you who don't know, I work in television and I eventually want to make the move into working in scripted television and then for films. I think this passion stemmed from my desire to create and make and be. However, after growing up and taking off the rose-colored glasses I'm realizing that this industry is driven by money. People don't want to create, make, and be. They want to make money and beat competitors. 

There was a recent article I read that stated that the Universal Studio Chief stated,  

"your first obligation is to make money and then worry about being proud of what you do." (via here)

This breaks me heart and I hear this repeatedly from coworkers and from people around me in the Hollywood industry. We're all so focused on the initial gross, the paycheck, and the bottom line that we forget about heart, joy, and passion. I include myself in this group because I get sucked into that same school of thought. I constantly forget what it means to have integrity, dignity, honor, and love. 

This weekend I went away to the mountains and I came back down refreshed and renewed. I need to constantly remind myself why I'm doing what I'm doing. I need to remind myself that I have something (someone) greater than a dollar sign followed by lots of zeros. I need to stop selling myself to this world and I need to devote myself to the ultimate Creator. 

Happy Pepero Day!

Today is 11/11 and in Korea that means Happy Pepero Day! I know in the States we honor the veterans so lets combine the two and in honor eat some Pepero. 11/11 is Pepero day because the Pepero snacks look like the four 1's. In honor of this joyous day I brought everyone in the office Pepero. Got to spread culture around to the hard working folk at America's Got Talent.

Side note: I've been having a close to hellish work week. I keep getting thrown different tasks to do so I have been ineffective at the job I was actually hired to do. Hoever, my sister sent me this video of parents who told their kids who ate all of their Halloween candy. I promise you, you WILL LAUGH.

I loved the last girl and the last 2 boys at the end.

On another random note...I want to show you my new kicks I bought and finally wore out! I had my eyes on these bad boys since MAY but there was no way I was going to buy them at $150 so I waited and waited.
The price went up to $180 and I was miserable.
On a random shopping excursion with the madre, I saw these kicks for only $60 and in my size! Scooped them up and we live happily ever after

Have a very KICKY weekend!