Start the Fire

I've been trying to wear more prints lately - slowly but surely. But because of Fall and Winter, I've gravitated towards plaid, houndstooth and other graphic prints, versus floral and softer prints. I have to admit, it makes an outfit much more interesting and is easier to pair with a lot of my solid tops. Easiest outfits ever!

It was my good friend's (and groomsmen) birthday, so we went to Sayers in Hollywood, where we proceeded to run into Jamie Foxx. Did I talk to him? Nope, I'm too chicken! But I do say I've partied with him now...SO LA.

f21 plaid pants, fruit of the loom men's wifebeater, max azria jacket, charles by charles david booties

And randomly, KEN JEONG was in the place. He overhead me saying, "Hey I want a picture with him," and graciously took a photo:

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Gobble Dat Up

Sorry these will all be personal pictures...at least you know what I wear for family events and when I go out right?

This Thanksgiving was a lot of fun (and exhausting)! The Sunday before Thanksgiving, my sister came into town and I bought my wedding dress with friends, then Monday and Tuesday my sister took Ryan's and my engagement photos complete with props and Dallas! (Those photos to come later).

We had Thanksgiving at Ryan's family's house, which was nice. It was good to see my close friends (who also happen to be Ryan's cousins). You'll see some familiar faces.

banana republic dress, hue tights, nine west heels

Big Distraction

I've been bad, guys. I have all these cute outfits (I mean, KYOOT) and I haven't posted any photos because I've been bad about taking photos. I also kind of blame Ryan. I don't know what he did, but I blame him.

Another big distraction? My families have been in town - first my sister, then Ryan's sister, then my sister again, and my bestie, Sarah, moved from Chicago to LA! She's still staying with me until her stuff arrives to LA tomorrow...so you know, having a hostel can be very time-consuming.

But, those pictures to come!

Until then, I've been REALLY on the ball about the wedding planning, so hop over to the Wedding Page to read the latest entry! Gawd, has it been 8 months since my last entry? Well now that I'm actually less than 12 months away from my wedding, I'll be able to write more. Also the latest post is a good one - I found my wedding dress, guys!

Until tomorrow, here's a picture of Dallas and me at Mandeville Canyon Park. My favorite go-to hiking spot.

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Famiry Time

You might have noticed I've been gone. And you would be right. I've been sick for the past 10 days (WTF) and on top of that, Ryan's eldest sissy, Jenny, got married last weekend! I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid, but with that comes a lot of responsibility/running errands, etc. I just basically did whatever Jenny wanted me to do. Luckily she was far from a Bridezilla, as she had everything under control.

Here are some pictures leading up to the wedding!

First up: a family get together at Ryan's parents' house:

yvette (ryan's sister/matron of honor), monty (yvette's infamous pug who flew in from NY), jason (yvette's husband), jenny (ryan's sister/bride), gilles (groom), me (wearing william rast shirt, seven for all mankind jeans), ryan

groom, bride, groom's sister, groom's sister's bf

jason, yvette, monty. a good family picture of you ask me. look how heppy monty looks.

i'm the bride's to-be-sister-in-law, she's the groom's sister...does that make us sisters-in-law too?

YOUGUYS. chinese-style lobster with pancit. DROOOOL

Your Eyes Are Like Mine

I recently was able to spend some quality time with my beautiful family - my older sister Nina, her husband Drew, and their two adorables, Ripley and Ryder. You might remember Ripley from a few posts a couple of years back when we visited DC and they came to visit us in CA.

Nina is my older sister (technically half-sister, but we've dropped the "half" formality a long time ago) and I'm always so excited when they come into town. Ryan and I only visited them once in DC, and with the impending wedding coming up, it looks like we might not be able to until after it (just so we can save up).  Being 1 and 3, I was surprised when Ryder and Ripley remembered us - or at least, wasn't afraid of us. Nina mentioned that it was partially due to the fact that I made Ripley a picture book of our trip to DC and since then, she knows our faces and names. I'm telling you - it was the best present, especially when you're an auntie who doesn't live locally. It's great for them to recognize you and there is no "warm up" period. Couldn't recommend it more for gifts!

Ryan and I took some family portraits for them...and unless you have a 1 and 3 year old, you really have no idea how complicated and difficult it is to get two faces looking at the same camera at the same time (without crying that is). We tried as hard as we could...wasn't that successful but we got a few!

Hands-down, one of my favorite moments was when I was sitting with Ripley and she looked in the mirror and said, "Hey! Your eyes are like my eyes!" I melted. We bonded.

Needless to say, I cannot wait for these two to be walking down the aisle in front of me as flower girls and having my older sissy as a Matron of Honor. Gonna be a good time.

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Love/Hate Thing

This literally describes my sister's and my lives right now:

But then...

Hearts You

LA has been beat down with a heat wave lately, and the unfortunate part is that working full-time does not allow me to enjoy the last few weeks of Summer! Admittedly I'm kind of over this hot weather (averaging high 80s everyday) and am looking forward to Fall fashion with scarves, boots, and leggings!

On a casual Friday, I wore these shorts and I think they run that line of SLIGHTLY inappropriate for work, haha. Oops. I can't help it, it's SO hot here!

I rarely wear pastels (I prefer bold and basic colors), but this baby pink tank was so cute and can be dressed up (imagine it with a pencil skirt) or worn with my denim shorts as seen here.

zara tank, f21 shorts, f21 belt, f21 socks, coach oxfords

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The Persuasion

So you may be tired of seeing me with one of my besties, Sarah, but I am so excited that she decided to move from Chicago to LA! My week of persuasion worked wonders! As a hostess, I knew she was using this week in LA as a test-run to see if she'd like it...so of course I did everything possible to make sure LA was the BEST PLACE EVAR. And you know what? My scheme totally worked *evil laugh.*

If you have friends/family coming into LA, hopefully these activities give you some ideas!

We started off with gel manis and pedis at Lovely Nails in Culver City (super cheap for gel mani + regular pedi = $35!), waxing at Sassy Ladies Beauty Bar in Westchester, and she got spray-tanned for the first time at Glo Studio in Venice. Obviously I didn't need a spray tan - I've gotten pretty tanned this summer just from running outdoors. Later we went to Sonoma Wine Garden in the Santa Monica Place for dinner, then to The Other Room for a finishing glass of 10-year tawny port wine.

we found these rings at the beauty salon and thought they were too hilarious to not put on

huge glasses of port at sonoma wine garden

attempting to pose turns into awkward laughing

To avoid the longest post ever, read more after the break!

What's In My Bag

I was just asked on AskPhivy to do a "What's in my bag" post since the reader wanted to downsize her bag. I currently am toting around a relatively small LAMB purse (it's about 12" long, 8" tall) so it's a great grab-and-go bag. 

I try to keep my purse relatively organized, since nothing is more annoying than searching for your keys at the bottomless pit that is your purse. When I emptied out my purse, I realize I only keep the essentials and try to compartmentalize things as best as I can (especially beauty supply stuff):

1) Keys - car keys can be separated from home/work keys in case I valet my car. My Henri Bendel keychain was given to me by my mom because I was born on the year of the pig!

2) Wallet - this LAMB wallet is a bit larger, but that means I can carry coins and not have to fold any bills/receipts.

3) Canon PowerShot - a great point and shoot camera that I can carry and have accessible at all times.

4) Samsung Nexus - obviously I'll need my phones at all times.

5) Hair tie - I'm a girl!

6) LAMB wristlest - I put all of my beauty supplies (see below) in here so that they don't get lost or leak everywhere.

7) Extra Gum - I mean, come on, we all need gum.

8) Samsung spare battery - One of the perks of not having an iPhone is the ability to switch out my battery to a fully charged one so I never worry about my phone dying.

Inside the wristlet, I put my lipgloss, chapstick, etc so that I don't have to continue to search for things in my purse. I normally just wear Vaseline or chapstick to work, but if I decide to go out to happy hour or somewhere after work, I carry lipstick with me to give me a little extra pop of color.

1) Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm in Crave - I use this lipstain as a lipliner for my pink lipstick.

2) Vaseline Lip Therapy Cocoa Butter - How cute is this tiny little Vaseline container? I love it!

3) NARS lipstick in Funny Face - I love this pink color, though the formula is a little drying.

4) Neosporin Lip Health - I'm addicted to chapstick and will keep 1-2 different types of lip balms at any given time on me.

5) Viva La Juicy perfume - I carry samples with me in case I need to freshen up on the go

6) Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie - One of Tramanh's top picks that compliment my NARS lipstick and gives it a little bit of sheen.

7) Kotex U - Somewhat discreet.

The one thing I left at home is a red Moleskin notebook that I always have to keep thoughts, reminders, and lists. 

Hopefully that helps give you a sense of what I'm always carrying around and if you have excess things that make your purse 15lbs, you can see that really, all you need are a few essentials to go about your day! 

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Darrastein

Made this with the help of Disney's Frankenweenie app. I just had to post it!

Before:

After:

I can't stop laughing.

All Saints

Sarah bought this All Saints dress (which, by the way, I keep typing ALL STAINS) last year in Chicago and just didn't like how it looked on her...so she donated it to me to see if it I'd like it any better. It had all of  my favorite elements: Sequin! Low-cut! Black! Loose-fitting! The only drawback was that it was kind of long (and since I have short legs, it wasn't hitting me at the best angle). Though that may be the case, I still wore it because I wasn't feeling my typical black tank and black skirt combo. So a black dress was better? Yes. Shuttup.

Surprisingly, the dress never shifted (I think the sequin makes the dress super heavy so it sits in place) and my tatas never made an appearance! Good thing because ain't nothin' could go under this dress. We wore these outfits for our night of CLUBBIN' - we went to Pure in Caesars Palace where Travis McCoy (Gym Class Heroes) performed. In true Vegas-fashion, I have no recollection of him there. Apparently it was a good show? *shrug*

steph: all saints dress, lamb heels / sarah: topshop top

And of course, an outtake of me messing around while Ryan tests out the lighting. My posing skills just get better and better!

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