Rosa Branca

May 13, 2012

For our romantic date night in Cuba, sem amigos, I decided to impress John with this number. Simple combination of white and gold but I love the back detail, the deep cleavage (he loved these two things too) and of course all the jewellery detail. I had intended to wear super tall strappy heels but decided I would go for a more laid back look with flat sandals instead. So here it is. =]

Outfit Details:

- Maxi dress by Venus (clothing is very big from Venus - always requires altering)
- Aldo necklace
- Aldo & H&M Accessories
- Aldo sandals

(This post was supposed to go up two days ago but Tumblr uploaded my “Nude Glam” post instead!)

whatshouldwecallme:

Lol

Nude Glam

May 14, 2012

It was nearing the end of our trip when I decided to pull this dress out. Its definitely one of my favourite most recent purchases (dress from My Counter Collection - I feel like it is a copy of something else though).

I apologize about the poor photo quality and lack of showing the back of the dress and other details but it was dark, it was just after dinner and I just wanted to go kick it with my friends and hubbie and knock the drinks back til the sunrise.

Cuba was awesome.

80s Vintage

May 11, 2012

I wore this to dinner at the resort. Definitely has an 80s feel to this outfit ‘cause the dress is vintage from those years and the shoes, ear rings and purse definitely has the same vibe.

Yay or nay? Sometimes all you need is an LBD.

Learning to Trust and Have Faith

May 13, 2012

As you already know I was away recently on vacation to Varadero, Cuba with some close friends. My long time boyfriend came too - that tag along.

It really was a special experience for us. We have never gone so long just being in each others’ company so continuously. You know when you’re on vacation and it’s fantastic because you have nothing to stress about? Well that’s how I felt only even more so because for the first time ever I was and felt free. This has to do with the way relationships in some highly traditional and conservative Asian households work. This needs a little more explaining so I’ll explain later…
_________________

It was beautiful. As the sun dipped below the horizon it repainted the sky gold and purple. The breeze, gentle and warm grazed my cheeks as the cool waves lapped at my feet, the bubbles tickling my toes. But what I remember most is how warm his hand was in mine; his eyes filled with sincerity, kindness and longing. I did not know I could love a person this much.

I did not think that I could really let it all go and put all my faith into this one person, without fear that they will cause me pain. But it’s true that when you love, you do not fall in love with the perfect person. You accept all their imperfections and in that way, you learn to love them perfectly.

I am just beginning to do that right now. Truly, after sooo long, I am finally letting go so I can love him more perfectly. And I understand that it seems naive to some of you and ridiculous to others that after a week in dreamland Cuba – in paradise – that I could possibly fall in love. How long would that last? How real is that realization?

It is a very real realization of how important he is in my life. We have grown so much. We are two completely different people now. We are older, more mature and we see our lives more clearly. He has never wavered when it comes to including me in his life. It is a veritable fact for him. It cannot be changed. He seems so determined.

I don’t see the same fourteen year old boy that I first met and fell in love with any more. I see a young man that I love more, see more clearly, and know that I can depend on. My pillar.

A week away from the stresses of our lives – from all those factors trying to tear us apart – and I realize that we are not the problem. Everything that has been hurting us is external and my energy to fight against all that – family restriction/rejection/disownment/dishonour – has been renewed.

Something about the salty clear blue waters, the golden sun that honeyed my skin and the sweet warm breezes has made me learn to trust and have faith in my love and my lover once again.

As we enter this new chapter in our lives and begin our long distance relationship, I feel stronger than ever. He’s always there, always there.

Tropical Punch

May 9th, 2012

I wore this outfit for dinner on our first day in Cuba. It was bright and fun and that’s just how I felt inside finally on vacation with some close friends and with my boyfriend.

I hope you like the colour combo. Its a favourite of mine. I had been saving the skirt for a special occasion. I have a weird habit with clothing. Its a social possession ritual sorta speak. For me to really own something - make it mine - I have to sort of “break it in” the first time I wear it. That is to say, that I have to wear it to something special the very first time. From then on I can wear it whenever. But the first time I wear it it must be a special something.

Now that I’ve broken the new outfit in, I can finally mix and match these items. Do you have any weird habits with your clothing too?

Outfit Details:
- H&M Blouse in hot pink
- Duo Skirt in minty blue
- Aldo skinny yellow belt
- Aldo white sandals (Cardiel size 37)

La Flor

May 11, 2012

Flower on my dress, in my hair, and everywhere.

Cuba was beautiful and this is not exactly an outfit post but I love the flowers and the tree that was around me when I wore this dress so I decided to make a post out of it. Plus my boyfriend and I were matching that day (note the orange striped tee and orange bikini).

Hola!

I am back from vacationing in Varadero, Cuba with a number of friends and my boyfriend. It was definitely a big deal - I have never been able to go away with friends. That’s right never. No camping trips, Island School (similar to camp but you did it with your class/school), or trips to a friend’s cottage. Nada. So that I could go on this trip - with friends AND with boys (that’s a whole other ordeal) to celebrate graduating from university is a big deal.

So lets get some of the vacation details out of the way. The beach and weather was amazing! Watch out for mosquitoes, they will eat you alive. I read else where that the food would be horrible but if you come with reasonable expectations it won’t be that bad. We stayed at Breezes Bella Costa (Four Stars) and the staff were friendly although the resort itself could use some upgrades. Don’t expect the same quality for a four star resort in Hawaii or something like that. Keep your expectations reasonable and you’ll really enjoy yourself. Besides food won’t be that big of a deal since you’ll be soaking up sunshine most of the time anyways!

If you’re crazy about food though perhaps the best thing to try to do is get off the resort and visit the city. While in Havana we managed to eat at a local place that offered delicious Cuban food - and soooo cheap (the image you see above - that whole plate of food - only $4 CUC which is basically $4 CDN).

But asides from the food, we all had a blast and had numerous adventures. I had the opportunity to snorkel at the coral reef off the coast of Varadero, go swimming with dolphins in the Atlantic and snorkel some more and see some beautiful fish that tickled your tummy when they swam by.

Can’t wait to go again…just can’t wait! Oh and I’m super tanned now (for me the colour you see above is SUPER tan). I will have a few outfit posts from my vacation up soon.

Cheers!

whatshouldwecallme:

If he’s cute:

If he’s not:

whatshouldwecallme:

The morning:

The afternoon:

I am reading Twilight – finally – and I can definitely understand why it’s so popular among young girls: the allure and excitement of forbidden and dangerous love is a universal, if overplayed, fantasy. I’m buying into it right now since, despite my actual dislike of the book as a literary underachievement (to put it lightly), I too have fallen prey to the fantasy Twilight presents: the desire to have a protector – a chivalric knight in shining armor, or a sensitive and romantic a prince charming – always at the ready to rescue you, always faithfully admiring you, the damsel in distress. Bonus: Edward is hot.

Unfortunately, Meyer is an unskilled writer and that may have something to do with the fact that this was her debut. Nonetheless, she lacks the ability to reach real emotional depth, and fails to truly touch the reader or connect them to the characters except in a superficial way – the same superficiality characterizes Bella’s love for Edward, but more on that later.

Meyer also fails to depict details in an intricate and interesting way. Instead, she drawls on often times about minute details that are not worth writing or reading since these efforts to show off her literary skill actually highlight her still amateur style. I say this because I was so annoyed when Meyer decided to describe in detail the desks in the office at Bella’s new school on her first day. Everyone knows what an office looks like! It seems so unnecessary to use this moment to describe in such detail the office that Bella stands in only briefly.

Of course, I have other criticisms but I don’t want to seem like I’m taking a knife to the book. I like the story, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the concept I like not the book itself as a literary work of art. To me, it isn’t artful at all. But the play on this concept of forbidden or tragically doomed romance redeems Twilight and shows that Meyer is a business woman who really understands her teen-girl target audience (if she had one in mind when she wrote this book in the first place).

Yes, it’s been done before and yes, in Twilight its written in a superficial, and nauseatingly mushy gushy sort of way that it turns you off here and there, but it’s still universally appealing. When done right, this theme can help turn a story into a masterpiece: Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet (that one was obvious), Shlink’s The Reader, Coetzee’s Disgrace etc. (I add to this list Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, and Bronte’s Jane Eyre but wanted to save these to rant about with regards to Bella later lol).

Perhaps it’s just the nature of Meyer’s flippantly style dialogue that is turning me off. I mean, even though the story is being told through Bella’s eyes there is something lacking. We do not know enough – we do not FEEL enough for her. I don’t feel sorry for her ever, nor am I jealous, but I find her extremely annoying, dull and shallow. Is it Bella, as a character, lacking deeper more compelling internal struggles and thoughts or is it the way Meyer is presenting her that makes her seem so unconvincing as a real person to me?

This really bothers me because I want to like Bella, I do but I can’t! I hate her personality. I hate it! She is so annoying. People call her the strong and silent type but all I see her as is weak, dependent, and boring. Even her melancholia isn’t passionate! She’s always confused or dazed, tripping or antagonizing herself. She has no self-confidence and no agency whatsoever, and I can’t possibly understand why Edward – cultivated, educated and over a hundred years old – would be drawn to someone so insipid. (I sound jealous don’t I – perhaps I am, just a little lol) She reads Bronte and Austen for goodness sake! Novels that tell stories of strong heroines capable of asserting independence, triumph and defy even though they live in a male dominated world. Elizabeth Bennet is free spirited, even wild some say, and she walks on her own – doesn’t trip at all – because it symbolized her independence. That’s how strong she is. Now compare with Bella -_- You get my drift?

She is always waiting for someone to save her. Yeah, yeah, I get it that’s the attractiveness of the theme, damsel in distress but whatever, why can’t she save herself sometimes? She tells Edward she doesn’t need him to help her but really, she does. She’d be dead by page 5 probably if he wasn’t around. Fine, I exaggerate a little but she really is annoying. When she’s attacked by those guys she thinks that if she runs she’ll just trip and fall anyways so that doesn’t seem like a sensible thing to do. Oh wait you say – she is strong – because she thinks of fighting them off instead of running? Yes, you’re absolutely right until I point out the fact that right after she finalllyyy asserts herself as an independent, heroine she doubts herself once again. She thinks “I can do it!” only to immediately think “wait no, I don’t have a chance” … Then who swoops in to help her? The handsome Edward of course.

She’s so contradictory! Meyer presents her to the world, and make other characters perceive her as strong and courageous, but inside she is so weak. Is this supposed to make her appear humble perhaps? The reluctant heroine, or reluctant beauty? No, it doesn’t come off as her being humble about others admiration. What Bella appears to be to me, when I read her internal thoughts, is quite frankly empty, lifeless, without fire – so ironic that she hails from Phoenix and seems to live for the sun. She is just lacking. Lacking what exactly, I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Then there is the problem of Bella’s relationship with Edward: it is superficial or at least it begins that way (I shall have to judge it when I get to the other books). Their relationship is supposed to build towards unconditional love or whatever but fails to reach that degree of passion in this one even by the story’s end. Meyer presents this sort of magnetic pull that brings Edward and Bella together – its inescapable. Edward can’t read her, but she can read him like a book but she’s still not reading him emotionally, internally, mainly because she is too preoccupied by his exterior.

This is where I see superficiality. The attraction Bella originally has for Edward has nothing to do with anything substantial, it’s just that he’s beautiful. She’s always admiring him, he’s so fucking beautiful. If not his face then his perfectly formed body, his car, his clothes. Jesus Meyer, not all teenagers are like that! And anyways, after you mention how perfect the god damned beautiful monster is once or twice (shout out to Gaga), you can stop, we get it! But the wholleeee book through Bella is ogling (she actually uses that word) by his looks. It gets so tiring after a while.

Its contradictory too, he’s a monster right. Which means people are supposed to shun him. Which they do but only because they think he’s intimidating, they all want to be with him though because he’s beautiful (that’s probably the vampire effect). But then why would that make Bella any more special than other people? She thinks the same thing as them, he’s intimidating but he’s so beautiful, I want him. She is not unique therefore for seeing the beauty in his monstrosity. If he had been ugly, but she still loved him even though everyone else shunned him, then we have a truly virtuous and penetrating heroine deserving of our praise. Bella actually reminds a little of the uglier side of Esmerelda in the Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame but I want her to be more like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, or Pocahontas in the Disney version who saw through John Smith’s otherness, or even Christine in The Phantom of the Opera (Christine is disgusted by Erik’s ugliness at first, but she then falls in love with her abductor).

Besides, wouldn’t this whole beautiful monster thing work better as a metaphor rather than literally, making him all shiny in the sun and stuff? I mean after all these years, it’s kind of sad that Meyer single handedly made the vampire look soft – and shiny and sparkly too (if you google sparkly vampire you get Pattinson as Edward).

There is so much potential in Twilight. Yes, it’s already garnered so much success with the movies coming out (and in half parts too to make some more moo-la), but then again there is so much lacking. If only – oh if only – it was better executed. What a great piece it could have been. Maybe its cause its set in the modern era that it has lost some of its appeal for me. Meh.

   

I shall go read Interview with a Vampire and Dracula to make myself feel better. When I get my hands on The Hunger Games series, I shall rant about Katnis and how much cooler she is than Bella. Oh, and HP all the way!! (The book not the movie HP, Daniel Radcliffe was a horrible HP when he grew older).

April 20th, 2012

Blue Lace

I wore this out to dinner with my boyfriend for our anniversary/his birthday dinner.

I adore the lace collar mixed with the sky-blue (more of a minty sky blue in real life). I had originally planned to wear this the day before when we had our full day date but the shirt hadn’t come in the mail yet.

Definitely something I will wear again and definitely can be mixed with other items you might already have in your closet like a light pair of jeans or pants in sorbet tones like peach, or in white, or a skirt in similarly sweet colours. It might be a bit challenging to make this top wearable for an edgier outfit but then again I am up for. I will post once I have an idea of what I’ll wear for a fiercer spin to this outfit.

What are you wearing that is super romantic and sweet this spring and how would you re-style it to make it edgier?

Outfit Details
Makmaks blouse in minty, sky blue (All South Korean Brands)
Dodostyle pleated chiffon midi skirt
Kimberly white pointed toe heels

If you like what I’m wearing check out yesstyle or romwe and I’m sure you’ll find the brands I’m wearing or things that are similar =]

April 19, 2012

On the 19th, my boyfriend and I decided to spend the day together to celebrate our 7th anniversary. The usual reaction when I tell people that we’ve been together for that long is either: “wow, that’s incredible to see now a days with such young people too” or “dang, that’s a marriage” lol. Girls usually go “aweee, that’s so sweet” while dudes have a tendency of bulging their eyes and holding back an awkward comment only to say “whoa.”

I don’t mind either responses ‘cause both make me proud and happy.

I still gush over us, and over him. We still laugh and do the romantic thing but you know what’s the best about us after that many years? Its the comfy stuff. I warn all single folk now: you become extremely gross being with the same person for a long time. No joke! I am fatter, undoubtedly, (we spend a lot of time in restaurants - food is mutual hobby, keeps us together lol) and more importantly I am no longer hesitant to be gross in front of him!

It only took 7 years babe, but you’re the only one I want to have a burping contest with. We fight, we gas, we punch and kick, we kiss and make up with violent passion.

Who knew one person could bring you so much joy? Make you love so wholly and fix you again?

April 19th, 2012

Ballerina

This is the outfit I wore for our full-day-out anniversary celebration (more on the actual date later).

Romantic, lovely, sweet and princess are definitely the words that come to mind when I see this outfit. I just love pink haha and the setting for our shoot during this date was just beautiful! Don’t you love the blossoms?

I paired a chiffon pink blouse by Ozzi with gold details with a puffy a-line gauze skirt and although I wanted to pop on a pair of white heels to really finish it off, I knew it was going to be an active day and we would walk through High Park so I opted for flats. I would’ve worn a pair of ballerinas but couldn’t find the one I wanted in my stockpile lol I added some gold hardware to finish the look with some detail and of course curled my hair! Popped on some falsies on the edge of my eyes too.

Felt like such a doll in this outfit - reminded me of being a kid again and wanting more than anything in the world to become a ballerina.

Is there an outfit that you wear that reminds you of being a kid again?

Outfit Details

Ozzi Blouse with gold button details
Accessories: vintage, e-bay finds and Forever 21
Gauze skirt from wholesale-dress.net

a-MAZ-ing colorblock combo I LOVE this jacket…I really need a light coloured edgy/leather jacket for the spring/summer but I’m not gonna make the investment until next year…=(

maybelline:

This Christopher Kane jacket is so perfect for spring.