two baffling realizations this morning:

one. that i am actually awake at this hour. it's been a while.
two. that i will be off to canada in less than a week.

and they both mean one thing: that christmas is less than two weeks away!

yum! doesn't think look like such a yummy bento?

i am so excited-- this is my favorite holiday of the year.
i think it obviously branched from my love of presents as a child, but as i grew up, i came to appreciate less and less the gifts i received
and came to appreciate more and more the time i got to spend with my family.

i have family scattered all over the globe... and it is only during this time of any given year that someone decides to visit us... and it almost always means that we're off somewhere traveling. it's such a blessing that my family is like this; given it's not the most traditional of christmases, it is my family's tradition, and it's probably my favorite.
and they all wonder why i love traveling. pshaw.

counting down the days...

Goodness. 

it's been forever since I've stepped foot in a Zara... and now my store deprivation has caused my sleep deprivation, and now I am stuck on their American website drooling over everything. 

and then... bingo. it hits me.

ladies & gents, I present to you the court shoe. 

cut with a sexy open side, subtly racy yet sophisticated... oh Zara you did it again. 

& the cap toe here is such a gorgeous touch! Definitely echos of Chanel here. 

& it even comes in a lower heel... 

oh, plus its covered in glitter. I repeat... glitter. YES!

ohmygod.
its jessica rabbit in real life.

picture credit

i absolutely love breakfast. i think it's my favorite meal of the day... and i can also have it for lunch & dinner as well! i can never get sick of pancakes and waffles and eggs and coffee... so imagine how hungry this video made me at ten thirty at night, right as i had finished brushing my teeth... and now i am hankering after some of those flying strawberries and toasts... yum.

love.

how beautiful is this?
my dream picnic lunch/dinner/party/wedding dinner/anything.
i love anything that mixes food, lights, and the outdoors.
the combination just never seems to fail me.

family 

friends 

love 

&foodfoodfood!

i am so blessed. 

happy thanksgiving!

so lo and behold, yet another french fashion house comes up with my latest obsession... 

ladies and gentlemen, i present to you... 

opaque, matte black with glossy, shiny black tips. 

so ridiculously gorgeous, and yet so ridiculously simple. 

i only wish i had thought of this sooner! 

sheer genius

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i'm realizing a lot of things about myself lately that i really don't want to admit.

i'm selfish.
i'm vain.
i have superficial tendencies.
i have materialistic tendencies.
i feel insecure.
i throw bitch fits & tantrums.
i'm impatient (but it's getting better!)
i can be greedy and insensitive.

but one thing that i am happy about is that i am just about getting comfortable with admitting this to myself, let alone broadcast this out to the internet.
i see this as taking one step closer to embracing who i truly am.
do you ever feel this way? what are your flaws that you're ready to admit to?

The Artist Game

Pick 10 artists that you love before reading the questions.

1. ellie goulding

2. the beatles

3. florence & the machine

4. deathcab for cutie

5. train

6. neutral milk hotel

7. bon iver

8. ratatat

9. local natives

10. matt costa

What was the first song you ever heard by 6? 

two headed boy

  What is your favourite song of 8? 

loud pipes

What kind of impact has 1 left on your life? 

his music brings me back to a time when i first felt heartache, and how his music was always there to cheer me right up

What are your favourite lyrics of 5? 

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there

“How many times have you seen 4 live?  

twice!

What is your favourite song by 7?

re: stacks & holocene

Is there any song by 3 that makes you sad? 

no, all her songs are so powerful and beautiful, they empower me rather that make me sad

What is your favourite song by 9? 

Airplanes, Wide Eyes

When did you first get into 2?

forever ago. i love them. 

How did you get into 3? 

my friend Celine

What is your favourite song by 4? 

I will follow you into the dark

 How many times have you seen 9 live? 

once!

What is a good memory concerning 10? 

seeing him live with one of my favorite people, courtesy of one of my other favorite people 

 Is there a song by 8 that makes you sad? 

hm, i'll have to say loud pipes, but only because it reminds me of a certain event. maybe sad isn't the right word, maybe more like regret.

What is your favourite song of 1? 

the writer, lights, and your song

stupid sexy dream shoes.

why are you so unattainable?

i never thought i would see the day. 

the man of my dreams apparently has a younger lookalike. what!?

ta-da!!! 

in this above photo, i give you
... Alton Brown!!!
 (minus 15/20 years or so)

too bad that's his new wife next to him.

oh well.

yes, i love Alton Brown.
i was addicted to his show Good Eats on the food network for a while.
i mean, how can you not love his nerdy quirkiness? 

especially when it's involving food and how to make it better. 

obviously i need a man who loves food as much as me haha

photo links

calling all iphone people!

is this not the coolest phonecase ever?
this website has an amazing plethora of aesthetically gorgeous cases for iphones...
i'm in love, i can't pick which one i like most!
they are all so different and unique and awesome all at the same time...

this one's particularly beautiful for the water coloring, don't you think?

i find this one both traumatizing and ridiculously hilarious at the same time; yes, my friends, that is Steve Jobs' body "encapsulated" in the phone case;

don't you just love this one for the subtle rainbow color effect?

absolutely love this one's Beatles reference!

& this one simply because it reminds me of someone ;)

this one reminds me of the dirty projectors for some strange reason;

the gorgeous natural silhouette of trees i am unconsciously obsessed with is so perfectly captured here

& of course, as necessary, the ultimate hipster version here

for the book nerds;

i think the photo used in this one reminds me of paris so much

there is something so intense about this wolf's gaze

i love artwork like these, and i'm so excited that they're being incorporated into iphone accessories! now i get to carry around all my favorite artwork everywhere with me! hope you get to find one you like without as much difficulty as i did haha! xoxo

cheer up music 

maybe my youtube crush will make it all better?
I mean, he knows all my favorite yann tiersen pieces
not to mention he can definitely make accordians look so hot.

yes, this fear's got a hold on me.

that video above was like my london theme song while i spent four months of my university career there; it brings me back to my first white christmas, my first snow storm, walking across hyde park and watching the snow flakes slowly float... sometimes you cant tell if it's going up or down...
even though it's about death, i loved the idea of floating in such whiteness...
and i've been hooked on the song ever since.

oddly enough, though, it seems i've only listened to remixes of this band's music,
and only recently have i begun to listen to their own, raw, original music
and i wish i had done it sooner. here's the original 'death':

i've always liked the editors, the bravery, interpol even (good comparisons, wikipedia!) so naturally enough i discovered i was quite keen on them. must be the accent; i love that gritty clashing of the guitar and the contrast of the seemingly proper and sophisticated british accent...

this one above is another original i liked by them. just beginning to discover the treasure trove of white lies music...

fall makes you think of the changing leaves on trees... the chill in the air... and pumpkin pie shots!?

yes, this woman has done it and it is now next on my list of things to try... maybe a party is definitely a good idea this year :) check out the full recipe on her site!

...i wonder how it would be like to try it with MY FAVORITE instead of the normal, plain old pumpkin pie?

taking a photography class in college has really made me appreciate the art even more for its unspoken complications of finding the right subject, getting just the right lighting, establishing the right mood, and the ability to capture just exactly the right expression to produce the most extraordinary photograph. all that, and having to actually expose the damn film roll, but i'm sure this is something Tom Selby may not have to deal with by using today's modern technology. but nonetheless, i find his work admirable, and this new concept project that he has undertaken with the NYTimes has me oggling at his page for hours... i think its the combination of two of my loves that makes it just so darn irresistible to me (art & food)... 

 

    

    

    

if you're anything like me and am borderline obsessed with food, i think you should check it out! it's totally cute. 

i don't know much about Asian celebrities 

but my trip to Shanghai two years ago changed all that. 

i was sitting in my godfamily's living room 

watching the only semi-english program on tv (mtv)

and was magically introduced to this man

wang leehom, you are one gorgeous fella. love your voice. 

and this one, above, is the one i saw that fateful afternoon in Shanghai. 

like a Chinese Jason Mraz. 

love. it. 

babblings.

this is a fascinating article I found on the NYTimes website, and it really addresses the struggles that women in my generation are seeing more of, and having to deal with: the struggle between family and career. no doubt it's been something that has been of considerate debate all the way from society itself down to the individual female herself. i mean, why does a woman have to feel stigmatized if she's happy being a single, successful careerwoman? why does her mother, her father, her relatives, let alone anybody else, have the right to scorn her for this decision? it's probable that they have such views as a result of tradition, but when it becomes society's expectations for her, it can be overwhelming. why try to oppress the single? is it really that awful to be alone?

i understand that humans are meant to be social creatures... but i wonder if it really is so bad just to do the Oprah and have a committed, monogamous relationship rather than go through the whole marriage deal?

so tell me, just how insanely beautiful is Coco Rocha? 

i hate the dress, but i absolutely love how it draws you to her eyes 

her beautiful, green eyes! 

safe to say that i am positively enamored by this dress. 

if it were in white, it'd be the perfect wedding dress. 

but i absolutely love love love the red... it's just so beautiful! 

as if she were wearing nothing but flower petals all over... 

gorgeous back, with the draping, and the subtle way it shows off the body

i love dresses like these... it's like a tease! 

it's celebrities like her that make me wish i were blonde

the red color really complements her look so well! 

yes, i think i've reached a borderline obsession with this piece haha...

just how fantastically beautiful would it be to do this with all your friends?!

& of course, paris.
no matter where i go or what i do
i somehow always get drawn back to this beautiful french city.
not just the history, not just the art, not just the food, not just the fashion...
(all of which i absolutely love, without a doubt!)
but just the vibe of the city,
so chic and so effortless... so sophisticated.
ever since i discovered the movie Amelie, i've unconsciously lived my life
attempting to emulate a parisian girl.
i know, how original.
i hate that every other girl is just as obsessed with this city
but i can't help it.
i love what i love.

it comforts me, somehow.
when i am upset, when i need to escape, when i want something to uplift me,
i inevitably turn on my french tracks.
i realized i had stopped doing this for the past year now...
and it was only just last week that i threw on l'amoureuse 
and non, je ne regrette rein
and moi je joue
and la vie en rose
and comptine d'un autre ete... 


i think i might just love the way the titles sound just as much as the songs hehe :)

someday i shall return, i hope.


photo credit 

ten reasons to go to new york.

oh joanna! now you've got me dying to leave LA again...

must go to visit Hudson Clearwater... it's like a secret garden restaurant! 

and how wonderful would it be to be able to sip your own vino under the Tartine canopy? i hope it will make for some great people watching :) 

a fabulous breakfast AND a cutesy setting? i'm sold, Cafe Cluny! 

'nuff said. going to Mary's Fish Camp. 

yeah i know i basically took like the first four listed places, but really, just based off of these pictures alone, how could you NOT want to go? despite having been to europe and asia, i still regret not having explored much of my own country. we're a land of diversity and co-existence... and coming from such a city as multicultural as LA, i would absolutely love to compare and contrast this with NYC, check out the east coast take on the clash of cultures. how fantastic would that be?