Random Musings

I feel like I've been wasting so much time on the internet the past few weeks and accomplishing nothing.  I kind of just scan blogs, check facebook and twitter (even though I rarely post anything), and read celebrity gossip websites.  I've started writing some yelp reviews, with hopes that maybe one day I'll become elite.  I'm not sure if the amount of reviews I have so far deserves elite status, but it would be really cool!  A few of my friends are elite but I don't want to be all like "help me become elite!"

The problem with not working the entire month is that my mind has just been wandering like crazy.  Absolute crazy.  I'm also not making money so I'm finding it hard to justify spending money on myself.  Plus there are purchases I can't avoid like my $81 bus pass for August and a birthday gift I still have to get for my dad (I have until August 4th!).  I found him a father's day gift already (he is getting a late combined gift due to the Canada Post strike) but my first idea for a birthday gift fell through so now I'm stumped. 

I also think my running shoes are wearing out.  Today when I was running my right foot started hurting.  A lot.  When my endurance crapped out and I walked the last kilometer home, my foot stopped hurting.  I hope that it is pain from shoes and not my actual foot.  Another note about my run today: I couldn't figure out why everything was so quiet, and then I realized I forgot my iPod shuffle at home!  I tried to keep going but it's amazing how much of an impact music has on your workout, so I had to come home, grab the iPod, and continue my run. 

My iPod shuffle and headphones my boyfriend bought me.

I realized today that I haven't actually posted a picture of myself in an outfit from my actual closet in awhile.  Here is the H&M dress I am wearing today.  This dress is easily 2 years old.  Funny story about it.  I originally tried on this dress in a smaller size, and I got stuck in it!  I didn't know what to do so I grabbed my purse and walked out into the store to try and find my boyfriend and his roommate at the time and had to announce "I'm stuck in this dress, can you please come to the change room to help me?" It was quite embarrassing. Needless to say, I bought the next size up. 

Sorry this picture is a bit blurry.

I know I'm late with this, but hearing about Amy Winehouse's death made me upset. When I was going through a really rough time a few years back, I bought her "Back to Black" album.  I identified with a few of the songs on the album, particularly the title track.  In fact, I quoted some lyrics on my facebook status.  I was subtle like that.  Anyways, it is a magnificent album.  It's such a shame she died so young, but she was clearly troubled.  May she rest in peace. 

Every Shoe Has A Story

When it comes to writing blog posts, I feel I've been lacking inspiration lately.  Not one to abandon posting entirely, I decided to go through my iPhoto library to see if anything jumped out at me.  Fortunately, my shoe collection did.  Before I moved, I took a picture of each pair of shoes I have in my closet that I only wear on special occasions.  I've amassed a nice little collection over the years, so as a test to myself I am going to write about why I bought each pair. 
 
Burberry Platform Wedge Shoes:

I bought these on a break from the first chemistry conference I ever went to.  I was looking for a nice summer shoe that I could wear with a dress or a skirt.  Unfortunately these shoes are absolutely painful!  I wore them for one day of the conference and within an hour I had to hobble over to a store to buy bandaids for all of my blisters.  I haven't worn these shoes since, which is a shame because they're really nice.

Le Chateau Black Heels:

These were purchased for a New Year's Eve party in my hometown.  I found out last minute the party was formal, not casual, and Le Chateau was the only place that was open and had a nice stock of dresses and shoes.  I hardly wear the dress anymore, but I wear these shoes to the bar or club every so often.  If you look at the right shoe, a piece of the silver is missing.  These shoes have been around, but they're super comfortable.

Ugg Boots

I love Ugg Boots.  I love them so much that I have two pairs, one short and one tall.  I ordered both from the Victoria's Secret catalog.  I practically lived in these during my undergraduate because where I went to university it would get down to -40°C in the winter (once it even got down to -50°C) so warm boots were necessary.  I can't wear these when the temperature is above 0°C because my feet get too warm.  I'll never understand how girls wear these in 30°C heat. 


Stuart Weitzman Cachet Satin Black Heels:

These shoes were on sale at Holt Renfrew a few years ago.  I was hanging out with my friend and I made him drive me there so that I could pick these up.  These are my go-to black high heel shoes.  I wore these to the wedding I attended recently, conferences, and many, many other events.  They're wearing out, and sometimes they still give me blisters, but I like them too much to stop wearing them.


Coach Harmony Heels:

These are my break-up shoes from about 3 years ago.  Break-ups are never fun, even if you do the breaking up, so I was a bit down and decided to go to Holt Renfrew to buy myself something nice.  I ended up going with these shoes.  They're comfortable, but they slip off really easily.  


J. Crew Estella Grosgrain Espadrilles:

These are summer shoes that my mom bought me, but I haven't worn them yet.  What a shame.


Jimmy Choo Nova Patent Leather Slingbacks:

These were a present from my dad for graduating with my chemistry degree (with first class honors).  He promised them to me before I started my degree and held true to his word.  I only wore them for my grad but they were very comfortable and didn't give me any blisters.  I need to stop being afraid to wear them and start enjoying them more.

Jimmy Choo Lantern d'Orsay Pump:

I actually won these in a contest at Holt Renfrew!  My mom was browsing the cosmetics counters and taking a long time, so I decided to enter a few draws.  About 3 months later I got the best voice mail message I've received in years, saying I won a pair (with a value up to $699).  I had to order these in from a different store because apparently size 8's are very popular, but they're gorgeous and all mine.


Tory Burch Reva Flats:

My latest purchase.  I blogged about wanting to buy these shoes earlier.  I haven't worn these out yet, but I've worn them around the house and they are quite comfy.  Much love for the Tory Burch flats :)

In other news, my picture was included on Anthroholic's Blogiversary Bash post.  Talk about awesome!

Growing Up/Item Lusting

I made the mistake of walking into Lululemon yesterday when I was waiting for friends at the mall, because I fell in love with the new Method Wrap.

I tried it on and it fit wonderfully.  The only thing that isn't wonderful is the price.  It's $118!  That's really high for a wrap.  I just can't justify spending that right now.  I think what's also stopping me from purchasing it is that I don't like how it looks when it's not zipped up.  I'd have to commit to wearing it zipped up at all times.  Even with this, I still want it.  It didn't help that the store staff were like "you look amazing in it!" (yes I'm aware they probably say that to everyone that tries anything on).  Let's see if I can resist buying this, at least until the inevitable price drop.  Maybe I'll luck out and find it on the Lululemon Exchange on Facebook in a few weeks.

I'm also wanting a new purse.  My old one that is seen in a lot of my previous blog photos has a rip in it.  I know that I can take it to a coach store and they can repair it, but the whole purse is going downhill (probably because I take it everywhere and overfill it) and I fear if I get this fixed another part will rip.  I've been looking at purses online and the one I like the most is the Chelsea Signature Jayden Carryall, which retails for $298.

Then I go and have thoughts like "well if I don't buy the wrap then that saved money can help pay for the purse".  Which is a really good point, and shows I'm growing up.  Grown up me also believes I shouldn't be buying anything since I don't start work/graduate school until August and I've bought enough things lately. 

I think the biggest problem is that now that I'm grown up, I'm no longer interested in a lot of my high school/undergraduate wardrobe.  I suppose it's a blessing that my top half has stayed the same size for the past 7 years while my bottom half has shrunk, but that means I have a ton of clothes that I've acquired over the years, plenty of which is old and not my style anymore.  I've started revamping my wardrobe to make it more adult, but because I was an emotional spender during my undergraduate I have a lot more clothes that I could part with.  I got rid of 10 bags before I moved to California, and a gigantic tote bag worth before I moved back to Canada, but I still have a lot.  Perhaps it's time for some ebay action.

Personal Update

I feel really bad that I haven't had much time to write new posts for my blog, even though I haven't started graduate school yet.  Somehow my days are becoming filled even though it feels I haven't done anything worth mentioning.  Plus it doesn't help that every day I've had to spend an hour on the phone dealing with something, whether it's my cell phone provider charging me for 4 GB of data in one day that I didn't use, a broken phone jack (which is getting repaired as I type this), or problems filling out form after form after form.  I never moved anywhere where I had to reset up everything, so the amount of work that went into setting up my life again was unexpectedly time consuming.  I'm finally at the end of my to-do list, all I have to do is finish writing a report on work I did at my previous job in June (I realize now I should have done this one first, but it just got pushed to the back burner).

One thing I've been enjoying is being able to get back in exercise and running after a 3 week hiatus.  The building I live in has a small cardio gym with an elliptical, stairmaster, and all of the weights you could ever want.  I also live close to the seawall, which has encouraged me to get back into running.  Yesterday I broke my personal record and ran 8.34 km (or 5.18 mi) straight.  I tried out the Lululemon Turbo Run Shorts I blogged about last week and they worked wonderfully.  My ultimate goal is being able to run a 10 km race, and now I think that I can actually accomplish that by next year. 

Another thing I am excited about is having a library card again.  When I lived in California, I lived near a store called Half Price Books that sold tons of books for less than $3 each, so I ended up buying a lot of books instead of borrowing them.  I found out I live relatively close to a branch of the Vancouver Public Library, so I got a library card and placed a bunch of style books on hold that I've been wanting to check out for awhile, such as Lauren Conrad's "Style" and Whitney Port's "True Whit".  I also put "The Four Hour Body" on hold, mostly because I am intrigued by what he has to say and Dr. Oz didn't say the entire book was garbage.  I also put "The Hunger Games" on hold, but I'm hold position 139 so I'll probably get that next year.

As a final note, here is a picture of my absolutely wonderful boyfriend and myself at the wedding we attended almost two weeks ago.  Enjoy!

Lululemon Lab: Big Circle Scarf

One thing I've been coveting for ages is the circle scarves offered at the Lululemon Lab.  Now that I'm in Vancouver, it's really easy for me to travel there.  A few days after I moved here I made a trek to the lab to finally purchase one of these coveted scarves.

I ended up buying myself a black big circle scarf.  I also purchased two green scarves (well my boyfriend bought one), one for my mom for her birthday and one for a friend in the Bay Area who's Lululemon collection and desire for a circle scarf matches mine.  The scarves are very similar to the Vinyasa Scarf that was on sale a few months ago (minus the snaps), and feel absolutely fantastic. 

Actual size of the scarf (it's a circle, so it's kind of folded in half):

It's absolutely huge!  In order to wear it, the first thing I did was fold it in half twice to make it 1/4 the size.

That looks much more like a scarf.  Once it is folded, then I wrapped it around my neck once.

If you make the loops more symmetrical, you can make this look:

If you want to use this scarf for more winter weather, wrap it around twice and your neck will be nice and toasty warm.

I think this scarf is fantastic and I look forward to wearing it when it's a bit cooler outside.  I actually sent these same pictures to my mom to show her how to wear the scarf.  If I could find a purple circle scarf at the Lululemon Lab that would be fantastic, so I'm going to keep my eyes open and watch their facebook page.

A quick story about the t-shirt I'm wearing in the photos.  I saw it in a store on Pier 39 of Fisherman's Wharf in May, but I wasn't a huge fan of it.  A few days before moving, my boyfriend and I went to the Ferry Building at Pier 1 to go to Boccalone to get one last cone of meat.  For some reason, this shirt popped into my head.  We only had 3 hours between arriving at the Ferry Building and having to be home to sell some kitchen supplies, but I really really wanted this shirt.  I managed to convince my boyfriend and the friend we were with to walk with me to Pier 39 (this was not a short walk) so I could buy this shirt.  In exchange, they got some mini donuts and I got this awesome shirt that I absolutely love. 

Lululemon Goodies

This post is a bit late because as I've learned the hard way unpacking and other items on my to-do list are extremely time consuming.  Anyways, in the span of everything I managed to make a trip to a Lululemon store.

Two items that were missing from my Lululemon collection were running shorts and an exercise bra.  I own a pair of shorts for hot yoga (which I never do), and one pair with a padded bum for the exercise bike, but no pairs that could be used for running.  I normally run in groove crops, but in the summer they're simply way too hot.  As for the bra, when I run I normally layer a Push UR Limits or another Lulu tank underneath one of my running pullovers, but I found I was getting overheated.  Thus, a bra is now necessary.

I started with searching for the bra.  My chest isn't large by any means, but I needed support especially since I would be using the bra solely for running.  The bra I ended up going with was the Shape Me Bra, which has similar straps to the Push UR Limits and offers a lot of support.  I tried it out for a run the other day underneath my Mind Over Matter Pullover and it worked out wonderfully.  I didn't feel overheated and the bra was super supportive.  I didn't feel comfortable posting a picture of me in the bra, so here is a stock photo from the website.

For the shorts, I wanted something mid-length because I don't like having a lot of my backside exposed.  I also wanted a pair that had a pocket in the back where I can zip in my keys so they're not rattling around in my pullover pocket.  I ended up going with the Turbo Run Shorts because they felt super comfortable and were also recommended by one of the sales staff.

I'm only 5'2, so these shorts are a bit shorter than mid-thigh.  The shorts are really lightweight, and I look forward to trying them out on a run next week.

I've been debating whether or not I should pick up a Run: Sunbeam Pullover.  I noticed it just went down to $79 CAD and it is getting great reviews online.  I'm just not a huge fan of the colors (but then again I wear black or pink most of the time when I'm working out).  I might have to try it on in store and see.  If anything I'd probably get the blurred grey pullover since I'm not a huge fan of white anything and I really don't like the toothpaste color.

On a side note, I'm glad that the Deep V Tank is back.  I have a hot pink one that I bought years ago and I wear it quite often when I'm doing cardio.  I wish the color selection was a little more exciting but I'm just glad to see Lululemon is selling them again.

Wedding!

I love weddings.  I've only been to a few, but every time I've gone to one I've enjoyed the experiences.  It is nice to see families and friends reunited in celebration of two people falling in love.  The wedding of my boyfriend's sister and her now husband was a wonderful experience.

Here is the outfit I ended up wearing:

Dress: Anthropologie Beau Ideal Dress
Cardigan: J. Crew Jackie Cardigan
Necklace: Tiffany Heart Key Charm
Watch: Gucci
Shoes (can't be seen): Stuart Weitzman Cachet Heels in Satin Black (seen in photo below)

These shoes are super old and broken in, which is why I wore them.  They still hurt after wearing them for hours.

Here is the absolutely stunning bride and groom:

It was sunny when it needed to be, and then it became cloudy not even 20 minutes after the ceremony.

Here is the awesome teacup cake and cupcake spread.  They had this honey cinnamon cupcake there that was AMAZING.

As a joke at the wedding, some of my boyfriends/brides family made some hats that were inspired by Princess Eugenie's and Princess Beatrice's worn at the Royal Wedding.  I couldn't help myself and decided to try them on:

All in all, it was a wonderful wedding.  I ended up scoring a teapot and two teacups from the centerpieces since they were going to be donated to Goodwill.  I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I will love them just the same.  I also ended up going to a nightclub after the ceremony.  I'm pretty sure it was one of the few times an Anthropologie dress has stepped foot in a nightclub.  Hopefully I will be able to attend more weddings in the future!

Fitting Room Review: Beau Ideal Dress

One of the first things I did after moving to Vancouver was check out the Anthropologie store on Granville Street.  I must say it is a fantastic store with lots of stock.  It was definitely comparable to the stores in Berkeley and San Francisco, and I will definitely be going to the store regularly, if only to do more fitting room reviews.

I've mentioned a few times on the blog that I'm attending my boyfriend's sister's wedding really soon.  Well, really soon is this weekend!  I wrote an earlier post that I had decided on the Whirligig Dress to wear to the wedding, but I couldn't stop thinking about the Beau Ideal Dress.  When I saw on Anthroholic's blog that the Beau Ideal Dress was on sale for $79.95, I immediately made this Anthropologie store trip a priority.  It took me over 15 minutes of searching, but I managed to find it hidden in the back of the sale racks on the second floor of the store in a size 0 (hello fate!). 

I absolutely love this dress!  It's very light and airy, which makes it super easy to move around in.  It has a side zipper so I can actually zip it up by myself.  I wasn't sure if I would be a fan of the asymmetrical design, but I ended up loving it.  The only downside with the dress is that I can't really wear a bra underneath, but the top of the dress offers really nice coverage.  I'm just glad that I can easily pair this with a black cardigan and heels and it's immediately dressed up.  I bought this dress immediately.

I will be sure to post pictures from the wedding and of myself all dolled up in this dress.

I'm still here!

Hello readers,

I wrote a post well over a week ago mentioning that I am moving to Vancouver from the San Francisco area of California. Well, I officially arrived back in Canada on July 1st (how patriotic for Canada Day) and am almost settled in my new place. The drive was long (2 days of driving) but my boyfriend and I made it in one piece. We are getting Internet tomorrow, so I will be able to write regular posts again. I have already made a trip to the Lululemon Lab and will write a much better blog post when I am not writing on my iPad in a coffee shop. A more interesting post with pictures is on its way!

Martina