Lookin' Back: July 2013


I feel like i say this every month, but seriously, where did the time go? It feels like i blinked and July was over--just like that! It's so crazy! This month was probably such a blur to me since i spent most of it reading. Nothing quite like living in la la land to help you forget those unpleasant situations. Sigh. But let's see the recap here:

  • we ate a ton of asparagus. lol. my sister brought a box full of asparagus bunches to my parents house and neither one of my parents like asparagus so i gladly took it home with me. it did stress me out a little though, like how many ways can i reinvent an asparagus dish!? haha. i did want to make an asparagus tart that i saw in one of those martha stewart cookbooks but i didn't have time for it. sad,  i know. so i ended up pairing a lot of dinners with peppered asparagus. my favorite was eating it as a snack--cooking it in some olive oil and (tons) of pepper and serving it with some lime and proscuitto and avocado slices. and i know you wanna ask about the pee...i can't smell it so i dunno what ya'll are talking about.  ahahhahahaha

  • we had a very nice and quiet fourth of July. we made bacon wrapped hot dogs and finally perfected those garlic potato wedges. (i'll have to repost that with updates sometime). i did miss seeing my nieces and nephew though. i'm afraid they'll just all grow up and i'll have missed out on their youth. my aim is to be a good aunt like mine was, but i'm proving to not be such a good one. sigh.

  • as i mentioned, i spent most of my month reading. i read a friend's play and helped him edit the spanish he was using, tried to catch up on magazine articles, and obviously i read some novels. I came across this beautiful book entitled LoterĂ­a by Mario Alberto Zambrano at work, and i have to say it was quite something. it really was unlike anything i have read, and i've read a lot of books. I'll be honest i originally purchased it because the cover was so beautiful i didn't care if the story was bad. good thing though that it was awesome. i want to dedicate a post solely for the book itself so i will leave it at this.

  • i sadly had to part ways with my companion, the d1rty m4nt4 r4y. it's been really hard to deal with not having a car, but also in many ways it has been liberating. okay who am i kidding, it's really effing hard! i'm really lucky though that D is willing to share his car with me. Not going to lie, organizing our schedules has been a major pain in the butt. I've also had to lessen my availability at work to just the weekends, which in the end leaves me with a petty paycheck. it's okay. not to worry. there's lots to worry about given this situation, but i'm choosing not to.  i'm trying to stay positive although it's been ridiculously hard. i'm crossing my fingers so hard that my internship will hire me because aside from really enjoying my time there, in real terms, i NEED a job. so send me your positive vibes everyone!

  • the day we had to give up the m4nt4 r4y D took me to Vinaka Cafe in Oceanside for a pick me up. they have the best banana splits everrrrrrr. i mean, since we were already in the area, why not? plus i'm sure i looked like i needed a major pick me up. i mean come on guys i had to watch my car (read: freedom) be taken away from me and get vandalized right before my very eyes. D is super thoughtful, and i'm grateful, although i'm pretty sure i was being a major grump that day. sorry!

  • enough bad/sad/angry news, let me tell you about trivia nights! every wednesday Bootlegger's Brewery in Fullerton throws a trivia night and a few of my friends have been going for quite some time now. I had been getting invitations and i kept denying them because i had been going through some weird i-dont-feel-like-being-around-anyone type of phase, but one day just decided to go and i'm soooo glad i did. trivia nights are something i look forward to every week now! there's one tonight so i'm super stoked haha. I never get to see any of my friends anymore since they all have moved away (or really i guess i'm one who moved away too) so this is a good time to see some friends. i don't actually drink anymore (gasp! i know, i know. sorry but i can't handle alcohol anymore) but i love going because i'm very competitive and i've pretty much got any literary category in the bag. haha. the first time i went we even won first place! i got to take the home the glass since it was my first time and well, everyone else already had one haha. yay social events!

  • i spent a lot of time at the park reading where D skates. i found a new reading spot by the baseball field since there are no games going on right now and it's been really peaceful.

  • D & i got hooked on Hemlock Grove. and i have to tell you guys, it's so bad that it's good, then towards the end you realize it was good. i mean, it is what it is. i'll have a separate post for this just wait for it. i also read the book which inspired the show because i just couldnt wait for some answers. reading it simultaneously was actually pretty cool. it's the type of show that if you didn't pay attention it's good to be reading as well because it will help you figure some stuff out. it's kind of a weird thing to do i guess, but it works.

  • and lastly, it was hippie day at work this past weekend, which meant i could just wear whatever i wanted to work. haha. hippie day was really like any other day. hahaha. it's probably the costumer in me, but i really enjoy these themed dress up days at work. so. much. fun. i wish more people at work participated though but whatever!
geez, what a mouthful. haha. i hope you guys all had a pretty good July!
p.s. you can find me on Bloglovin' by the way...just sayin.... :)

In Dreams: Midsummer Wishlist

Midsummer Night's Dream

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currently obsessing over these little guys. Got an email from Ruche highlighting this little dress so i know it will be gone by the time i'll have $ for it so i'm already sad about it. haha. but i can still dream! this cute fit and flare style is so flattering for everyone and always in fashion. And that print! man it's quite something. I would totally pair this dress with this rad anorak from Nasty Gal and i'm pretty sure if i bought it i would probably want to live in it forever haha. Also, these shoes. ugh. THESE SHOES. dear Madewell, why must you always always always be out of my price range? If you guys know of any similar shoe styles for a broke-ass let me know!

Summer Florals


On our days off D & i like to spend time doing "me" things but together. does that even make sense? he likes to skate at the park and i'll just bring along a book and sit and read while he goes and does his thing. watching him skate is fun but sometimes i feel like an uber creeper just watching him. there was a short time when i would bring my board and try to skate with him but the place we go to now has the roughest ground ever and i'm so afraid of tripping over a rock and breaking my arm or something. i'm definitely not as confident on that rough ass ground. we definitely need to find a new skate spot so i can join in on the fun but i mean, i'm in no hurry---i love spending this time reading. my goodreads goal for this year was 15 books so i could focus on my movie watching, but that hasn't proved to be as fruitful. but i still have til the end of the year to catch-up--we'll see!
dress: minkpink via threadsence, sweater: tulle, ankle boots: dolce vita (via macys), heartbeats necklace: erica weiner, glasses: derek cardigan via coastal.com, lip color: mirenesse lip bomb no. 4 via ipsy bag

Remember when i mentioned the weather was being really weird? It's still being super weird. I think it's living so close to the beach now that i feel very thrown off about the "summer" weather. i have spent most of my life living more inland in the SGV and every summer there is SCORCHING hot. so naturally i expected murderous heat this year and nothing yet. just weird humid stuff. today was windy and kind of chilly, hence this sweater. mreh, at least the weather's unpredictability keeps us on our toes!
i love this MINKPINK floral dress! my hair covers most of the top (sorry!) so you can't really see the sweetheart top but that's really my favorite part of this dress. also the fact that it's not too short and it's not long! just right. sometimes i wear it with my docs but that sort of makes it look reeeeallllyyy 90s so i tried something different today. haha.
...and what is any outfit of mine without my signature erica weiner piece, right? haha. here is probably my favorite Erica Weiner piece, the Heartbeats necklace. you can't really tell but it says "This Must Be the Place"---my favorite Talking Heads song. You can see a closer image of the writing here.

okay, leeds out! have a happy monday everyone!

Bauhaus Print

Remember that time I mentioned I bought a pair of those crazy print "casual" pants? These are the pants! They're ridiculously comfortable--i want to wear them every day! They were on super sale and I'm glad, otherwise I would have never even thought about giving them a chance. Also, they were called "bauhaus" print pants...so naturally, i was more inclined to purchase them. Lol. isn't that silly? like secret marketing. those copywriters man, they know what they're doing. 

Pants: threadsence (last ones!), top: target, boots: dolce vita (via macys), rings: erica weiner & thrifted, key necklace: jens lekman merch, bat necklace: moon raven designs, lip color: nars in scarlet empress
Ummm, I love bats. I know it's weird but i just think they're so cute! The folks over at moon raven designs make amazing jewelry and I have been dying to have more of their pieces. For example this little number just killlllssss meeeee. 
I got this key necklace at a Jens Lekman show a few years ago and It's seriously one of my favorite necklaces.  So i just tell everyone that i have the key to Jens Lekman's heart. hahaha. his name is written on the side...but you can't really see it. I wish more artists/bands sold more interesting merch like this. A tee shirt or a tote bag is great and all but sometimes a little surprise like this is pretty neat.

I don't know if you can see the color but I'm super loving this nail polish color from nailtini. It's like this orange/red and it's so bright and summery. I have a knack for liking nail polish colors that are completely inappropriate for my skin tone but whatever, I like this color regardless! This polish came in my ipsy bag for july and I have to admit I'm so glad my last bag was at least somewhat decent. You read that correctly, my last bag. It just wasn't working out. Out of the ten months I've been a subscriber I've only enjoyed two bags to the fullest. Every other bag I would only find one sample I liked and my sister would reap the benefits with the rest of the samples and the bag itself. Mreh. No qualms about cancelling, at least now I can have netflix again with that money. Haha

After D took these pictures for me, we headed over to the Segerstrom lawn for their outdoor showing of Mulan. I was super stoked--i mean, Mulan was only like my favorite movie when I was ten, buuuuuuut, we didn't stay for the screening after all. There were waaaaaayyy too many kiddies (I don't know what we were expecting) and D got uber creeped out so we had to bounce. But it was for the best really, the "lawn" was on concrete and we only brought a blanket to sit on which would've been way too uncomfortable for an hour and 28 minutes of sitting. We went to 25 degrees in Huntington Beach for some delicious burger time instead. No complaints here! We're gonna try to make the next screening, they'll be playing Phantom of the Opera, so hopefully not that many kiddies and we'll be prepared with beach chairs.  Fingers crossed!

Humidity, You Know

Miao. The weather has been so bizarre lately. Hot and humid one day, sprinkling another, sunny as hell, then cloudy but hot. But mostly hot and humid. I'm such a wiener when it comes to hot and humid weather. Blah. My hair just doesn't like to cooperate during times like these and I always end up really close to cutting all of my hair off. But I know better now, because I always do that and then in the fall I'm crying because I don't have long hair! It takes me foreverrrrr to grow my hair out so this year I'm gonna try my hardest to restrain myself. Probably have D hide all the scissors we own too, for extra prevention. Lol. 

Urban Outfitters had a sale recently and I wasn't really expecting to buy anything but this crochet top definitely grabbed my attention and for $20 I had to have it!

dress: thrifted, crochet top: urban outfitters, sandals: saltwater via stride rite, sunglasses: cheap monday, jewelry: erica weiner

If you guys hadn't already noticed, I'm the biggest Erica Weiner fangirl. I love all of her jewelry and rep her constantly. All of her jewelry pieces are so incredibly beautiful it's really hard to refrain from going super broke on her site. Like seriously, just take all of my money, I want all the pretty things! 

This wrong angle necklace is one of the latest purchases I made on the E.W. website and it's become one of my go-to necklaces recently. I love the simplicity of this necklace and it's really fun to play with, lol. 

As for this directions bracelet, I want to wear it every single day! But it's so ridiculously delicate and i would be forever sad if i lost it. This bracelet had to get replaced because the first one i bought broke on me on my first day of wear. It was so crazy. I thought i had lost it but thankfully when i got home i found it in the kitchen, the chain had snapped off. I emailed the good people at Erica Weiner and they sent me a replacement. Their customer service is top notch, and i would know, i've dealt with them several times haha. I really want to buy the other bracelets with the crazy lace agate and the rhodonite stones. SO PRETTY!

And i'm because i'm seriously psycho, this knot ring is also from erica weiner. You thought i was kidding about my fangirl-dom weren't you? Hah

This book was amazing by the way, different post for that though, coming soon!

In Dreams: The Little Black Dress

little black dress

little black dress by atthisvolume featuring a rouched dress

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Currently obsessed with these little guys. I know it's Summer and the whole point is to gravitate towards colorful numbers but I just love black dresses. Suitable for almost every occasion how can you go wrong? My favorite of the bunch is this Dolce Vita number (1) but i'm 100% sure i'm not daring enough to wear it as is. I would probably add fabric to the inside of the bodice and make it a little bit more modest ;). Also i know number 6 here should probably not count for this list considering it's a maxi length buuuuuut i'm super obsessed with it either way so i included it anyway. Deal with it!

Quite Crafty: Renegade Craft Fair L.A.

The Renegade Craft Fair is in town and i'm so freaking pissed off that I have to work! I worked yesterday and i'm working again today! BUT i suppose it's all right, because apparently it's supposed to sprinkle again today and i don't play that game. Too bad, because i super enjoyed last year's fair and i bought some awesome soap from Bambu Earth that i wanted to get more of this time. I would order from their site but from my experience i feel like it would be best to smell all the soaps beforehand. I'm very picky with scents!

If i did however, have time to go check out the vendors this year, these would be my top picks:
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Luckily, they all have etsy shops or website you can order from! So hurray for all of us!


Also, while i was lurking through the web to see vendor websites from those who will be at the craft fair, i came across this photo of yours truly from here
glasses: warby parker, diy cut off cords, vintage crochet vest, Ladytron tee shirt,straw tote from Guanajuato,MX
lol. 

semi important question: should i re-dye all of my hair to the root again or just leave the tips growing out like they have been doing? hmm.

Good Reads: Tales of the Jazz Age


Everyone knows Fitzgerald is my man. But not many know I'm not the biggest fan of short stories. I find them lacking, especially in their endings. I often find myself super immersed in a short story only to be drastically disillusioned by a subpar ending. So naturally, I was not really enthused to read Tales of the Jazz Age because although I love Fitzgerald's novels, I just have learned to stay away from short stories. But how could I not? Have you seen that cover? Coralie Bickford-Smith is a genius! And honestly, I should have known better than to fear Fitzgerald's short stories. They're amazing!

My favorite in this collection was "Bernice Bobs Her Hair". Bratty girls in the 1920s--i meeeeeaaannnn, what's not to love? It's like a flapper girl Mean Girls! You have to read it. I can't wait for The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night to be published in the US with the Coralie Bickford-Smith covers. Debbie gave me This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and the Damned for my birthday last year and they're just so beautiful when they're together! I just have to have them all.

rings: erica weiner & thrifted

OAK Life

I know. I know, you've seen this dress already! And it was almost styled the same way! So sue me! I like to wear similar outfits sometimes, okay? Okay. Now that we got that out of the way I really have to admit that i'm obsessed with tying button ups and sweaters around my waist--it just gives so much depth to an outfit.  But you already knew that. I'm full of repetitions today. whateverrrrrr.

Since you've already seen the details of this dress, let's just ignore it and move on to other things. Like this O.A.K. Apparel Co. snapback for example:

Homeboy Ernie O. started O.A.K. back in 2006 and he's going strong. I can't wait to see what new things he's thought up for fall. I love the O on this hat--i know it's silly but it makes me think of a quail bird? do you know what i mean? ahh, i'm crazy i know. I can't help but love snapbacks, they just remind me of my childhood. However, I will admit, they get me in a lot of trouble. I just don't understand why every time i wear a backwards baseball cap someone will be rude to be, or they will get crazy with me. Just because i look like a hoodlum doesn't mean i am one! I just don't get it. I'm never disrespectful to strangers and i try to never judge anyone off the bat, but in turn i always get discriminated against because of my clothes and my hair (and probably my permanent bitchface). When will it be enough to just be myself?
Seriousness aside, can you see my hamburger necklace? My twinsie gave it to me for my birthday this past year. A baby burger for a burger grrrl. I just. I LOVE HAMBURGERS. Burger time is my favorite time! Two of my favorite things in one: necklaces and burgers. Ah, my twinsie knows me well. I'm not exactly sure where she got it from--but i think it was an etsy shop. I'll ask her sometime and update this whenever i find out the deets.

And while we're on the subject of quirky things, check out this suuuuper cute baby tote i got at Daiso:
I know, i'm a third grader. But seriously, how could i NOT get it? It was only $1.50! And i use it alllll the time. Whenever i have to bring a lunch to work i bring it in this little tote. Or i drag around my books & nookHD since usually my camera is in my purse. I need to buy those camera dividers for Kanen backpacks so i can use my yellow backpack more often. Side note: Daiso is the best store ever. So many trinkets and what nots that are ridiculously cute and super cheap. Japanese stores foreverrrr. It's seriously like disneyland. For me anyway. Hahah.


Anyway, sorry for the semi-repeated outfit. I can't help it! This is my favorite dress ever!


boots: thrifted (timberland)
denim jacket: thrifted (ann taylor)
glasses: derek cardigan via coastal
rings: erica weiner & thrifted
button-up shirt: liberty of london for target
dress: unknown, fashion gal boutique (lol)


Trend Spotting: The Casual Pant

Do you ever find yourself hating really hard on a trend and then out of curiosity you try it and then realize that you've been such a fool because it's actually a super comfortable and awesome trend? Yeah. That just happened to me. I really disliked that "casual pants" trend but then i found a pair with a really cool pattern AND they were on super sale so why not right? Then I wore them to work and I was completely convinced! Super comfortable and super easy to dress up if you're worried about looking way too casual in the workplace--although, you shouldn't worry since wearing pajamas out is de rigueur nowadays. Anyway, now that I'm convinced I want to only wear chill pants like this alllll dayyyy errrrr dayyyyy! If i had the dough, here are some pretty good options:
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Window Shopping: J. Crew Jellyfish

You guys. I love creative displays. Usually I don't even look at what's on display at stores because I prefer to style my own outfits, but when I do look it's usually because there's some impressive artistic element to the window display design.  As you would guess, usually the winner in this category are all Anthropologie stores but this past week D and I went for a quick stroll at the mall and came across this display at J.Crew:
 Paper jellyfish! At first glance I thought it was wax paper that they used, but after some close inspection I'm gonna have to make an educated guess and say it's actually vellum. Expensive little art project eh? But don't worry, I'm sure you could use wax paper to attempt recreating these jellyfish. 
One of these days I'll give it a go, I have sheets of vellum leftover from drafting class that I certainly won't be using anymore. Will let you know if that pans out!

Leeds out!

In Dreams: Free People Wishlist

free people july 2013 catalogue wishlist

free people july 2013 catalogue wishlist by atthisvolume featuring high-heel clogs

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Free People's July 2013 Catalogue dropped earlier this week and it is full of stunners. I just can't help being in love with everything from Free People! I sure wish it was more within my budget though :/

Sigh. A girl can dream though! So here's a wishlist of my top six items from the latest catalogue. Those shoes though...they haunt my dreams. Major want!

'Murrica

Well, Happy Birthday America! I never usually dress patriotic on Independence Day, because well, i'm too lazy and I don't go anywhere on holidays anyway and it's just too much effort if i'm not going anywhere. ahhaha. I had to work today though, and we were told we could wear sneakers if we wore something patriotic so I jumped at the chance. Wearing sneakers at work is the best thing ever because i'm on my feet all day! I just don't know why it's just not allowed to wear em. But whateeeeveeerrrr. Please ignore that my socks don't match, it's become an issue ever since graduation. 

Also, I never realized just how pale my legs are right now. I need some sun apparently. Yikes. If you know me at all, you know i don't like the sun. I just. I can't. It's too hot. I don't like getting sunburnt. Sigh. But my legs...they're like vampire legs! I guess it's time to go to the beach. ayyy ay ay. 


I love the collar detail of this sheer waist tie shirt from ThreadSence. AND it's now on sale for muuuuch cheaper than what i got it for so you should probably jump at the chance while it's still there!

This is my please just take this picture so i can go face. Can we also note how it looks like i'm standing in front of a green screen or something? lolololol. 

Anyway, i hope all you fellow Americans are having a good and safe Fourth of July. Yay, freedom! I didn't get to go see my lil babies today so i'm a little bummed. But that's nothing bacon wrapped hotdogs won't fix! hahah. Okay i better get started on those! Adios!

striped boatneck long sleeve shirt // banana republic
chambray skirt // tulle
red sneakers // converse (duh)
3 stone cuff // gift...but i think it's from UO
glasses // coastal

Snapback Summer


I love stealing D's hats and wearing them all the time. Snapbacks were my favorite when I was kid. I loved pulling the snap and then hearing the click when you put it back in place. All of my dad's hats were snapbacks so I had plenty of fun doing that all throughout my childhood. haha. 

This is my favorite dress EVER. I bought it on a whim several years back when I was going to the grocery store and found that next door there was a little boutique called "Fashion Gal". Super generic but there were plenty of gems there. Anyway, not until after college (since two years ago) have I been brave enough to wear it as is. I used to always wear a tee shirt under the dress just because I was so self conscious of bare arms. I just don't have the energy to care that much anymore quite frankly. And honestly, it feels so much better not to care. I mean, in this heat, it's the best thing, did you get a look at that back cutout? So good for real hot days. 

 

Serving up some grunge girl realness.

Sunglasses // Ray-Ban "Meteor"
Heeled Boots // Doc Marten's "Clemency" Boots
Men's Chambray Button Up // H&M
Sleeveless Dress // ? Fashion Gal
Lakers Adidas Snapback // from D (but I think he got it on amazon)
Mimi the Cat Necklace // Ruche