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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Full House, Golden Gate, and other San Francisco Treats!

I completely dropped the ball and didn't write a blog post this entire long weekend!  Apologies for this delayed blog post, but a lot of exciting things are going on in my life right now.  With that said, here's the post on San Francisco that I meant to write last week.

One thing I have always wanted to do is walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  That finally became a reality two Saturdays ago.  My mom and I are quick walkers, so we decided to challenge the full length of the bridge both ways.  According to Wikipedia, the bridge is 1.7 miles long, which is reasonable to walk across and back (at least in my books).  We started on the San Francisco side of the bridge, and it took us roughly 40 minutes for the entire trip (with stops for pictures). 

Before walking across the bridge.
View of San Francisco from the bridge.
On the north side of the bridge.  It was very windy!

Our next San Francisco stop was Lombard Street.  My boyfriend and I drove down it once before at night, but we wanted to do it in the day time as well.  

View from the top of Lombard Street.
View going down the street.  It's really narrow and steep.

Our final stop worth writing about was full of nostalgia for me (and certainly a lot of other people).  Do you remember the show Full House?  

 

The show aired between 1987 and 1995, and was on for an hour every day when I was in elementary and junior high school on TBS.  I'm certain I've seen every single episode at least twice.  Anyways, the show was based in San Francisco, and they always showed the front of the house in every episode.  The house actually exists in San Francisco, so we decided to locate it.  It's actually located at 1709 Broderick Street, and can be seen at the end of the video I posted.


I'm in front of the house!
It was a great day of sightseeing.  I'm still trying to figure out if there is anything else I should see in San Francisco before I move, other than Golden Gate Park which is next on my list.  Do you have any ideas?



Friday, May 27, 2011

Lululemon Fitting Room Review

It's been such a busy week for me.  Between visiting with my parents and training a graduate student at work, I haven't had any time to write a proper blog post.  A post about sightseeing over the weekend will come soon, but until then I will blog about my visit to Lululemon this past weekend.

Scoop Neck Tank/Run: Speed Skirt

I've been looking at the scoop neck tanks for a while now and finally decided to try one on.  I chose to try on one in Black/Fruity Tootie (Fruity Tootie is a really nice hot pink, but it doesn't photograph that way on my camera).  I wasn't sure how flattering it would be, but I think it looks great.  It feels really comfortable in the bust area.  I would definitely wear this tank at the gym.  I also decided to try on the Run: Speed Skirt because my boyfriend commented that it looked really cute.  I didn't realize the skirts had shorts underneath, but the shorts are really comfortable and the elastic isn't ridiculously tight around the thighs.  As you can see in the image, the skirt comes down to about mid thigh, which is a comfortable length for me but I'd recommend the Tall version if you wanted a longer skirt.  I ended up getting both items and I'm really excited to try them out in the gym.

 

Pranayama Tank in Pink Mist

I have been in the market for a light pink workout tank for a while.  I thought this tank top looked really cute on the rack, so I immediately tried it on.  I was tempted not to post this image, but I think it's a good example of the bad qualities of this tank top.  For one, I could not get the design on the bust area to sit properly, and a few of my friends have said the same thing.  Another flaw is the sheerness of the top.  I know pink mist is shown to be sheer in the Run:Sun Blocker Long Sleeve but I know I would layer it with either a cute workout bra or a tank top underneath.  In this case, the bust area wasn't the issue (it is thankfully not sheer), but the actual shirt itself.  I don't know about other girls, but I prefer a little more coverage with my workout clothes.  I passed on this shirt.


Mudra Wrap


I've been really into wearing cardigans and wraps lately, which is why I was excited to try on the Mudra Wrap.  I had only tried on the Iconic Wrap from Lululemon before, but a sales associate had to help me put it on properly and my mom told me that if I got it I should never take it off if I'm drinking because I'll never get it back on.  Needless to say, I didn't buy the Iconic Wrap.  Anyways, I was really excited about this wrap when I saw it on the rack, and it is incredibly soft.  However, I found that the fit of the wrap was awkward.  I also didn't find it to be very flattering.  I read through the product reviews on the Lululemon website, and if it's pilling as much as reviewers say then this wrap is definitely not worth $118.

   

I also got the Black Run: Mind Over Matter Pullover, mostly because of the zip pocket in the back that my Run: Pacesetter Pullover is missing (it only has a front pocket that doesn't zip, which makes it difficult to carry keys).

I attempted to try on the Loop De Lulu dress, but the store I was at only had a 4, and the bust is ridiculously tight.  I fit in size 4 Lululemon clothes for every other item in the store, and I just could not get it on.  The dress feels quite heavy for a summer dress.  I know this is because it is reversible, but it would be way to hot in the summer heat.  If you don't mind that, then I would recommend you size up.  If I see a size 6 later on I'll try that on but I don't think I'd ever purchase the dress.

It was a great shopping day at Lululemon.  My mom was kind and bought me the three items I wanted, so they do not count against the Anthroholic Shopping Ban.  I also convinced her to get a Spirit Tank in green and some Groove Crops because I practically live in mine at the gym.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Fitting Room Review: Overwhelmed Aster Dress

As I mentioned in my last post, the Overwhelmed Aster Dress from Anthropologie is my number one pick for a dress to wear for my boyfriend's sister wedding.  I went to Anthropologie yesterday and tried it on.  I still don't have a good idea about what my regular size is at Anthropologie, so the sales girl brought me a size 2 since it was the smallest they had in stock.

View from the front.

View from the side/back.
This dress is absolutely gorgeous in person.  It has cute white flowers sewn onto the bust area.  One downside to the dress is that it has some weight to it and feels a little heavy.  That doesn't change how wonderful and flattering the dress is.  I only wish the store had a size 0 in stock, because I would have picked it up immediately.  I highly recommend it.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

In Search of a New Dress...

My boyfriend's sister is getting married in under two months in Vancouver.  The wedding's theme is a tea party, which is very exciting.  However, I do not own any dresses that would fall under this theme.  This means it is time to start dress hunting. 

Here are some of the contender's so far:

Overwhelmed Aster Dress - Anthropologie


I really like the pattern on this dress.  I also like the great A-line shape of the skirt, and the fact that it has a side zip.  I'm just not sure if black is an appropriate color for a wedding.  I'll definitely have to try this dress on.

Beau Ideal Dress - Anthropologie


This pattern is adorable!  It screams "summer dress" to me.  I'm just not sure if I'm a fan of the asymmetry on the front of the dress.

Sweetheart Floral Dress - Forever 21


I think this dress is great, I just wish it was knee length instead of a mini skirt.

I also like the Sleeveless Squareneck Jersey Dress from Victoria's Secret, but they won't let me post the picture in this blog.

I still have over a month to find a dress, but from where it stands now I think Anthropologie will be my best bet in order to find a great tea party dress.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Barnes and Noble Doesn't Know My Name

I decided to get a Barnes and Noble card a few months ago.  This turned out to be a very good decision.  Not because it saves me money, but because I ended up getting a book for free when I bought it because the cashier forgot to scan it (I didn't realize this until a week later).  When I got the card, I filled out my name in block letters on the application.  I thought block letters were really easy to read, but then I received this in the mail:


According to Barnes and Noble, my name is Maroma.  Not Martina, Maroma.  It's not even the same number of letters.  They did however manage to spell my last name correctly, which rarely happens (I blocked it out for security reasons)I talked to a cashier at Barnes and Noble and they told me I can't change my name, for whatever reason.  I will forever be known as Maroma there. 

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Saturday Adventures in San Francisco

After watching Man Vs. Food when Adam Richman was in San Francisco, we saw that he went to Ike's Place, a restaurant that offers over 50 different sandwiches.  We decided to trek to San Francisco and check this place out.

Adam Richman was here!
We ordered our sandwiches which came with a free bag of chips, which I thought was really awesome.  Since there are no tables at Ike's, we decided to go back to Union Square to enjoy our sandwiches.

My sandwich: [Favorite Sesame Street Character]
My boyfriend's sandwich: Spiffy Tiffy
Both sandwiches were excellent.  Ike's dirty secret sauce was awesome.  Here is a picture of me enjoying my sandwich:

It was such a good sandwich!
After that, we decided to go shopping.  As I posted earlier, I joined Anthroholic's Shopping Ban Challenge, and it was really difficult to go to Lululemon and not buy anything (well I bought my mom a green headband but that doesn't count).  I did however buy my cheat item.  I noticed that my swimsuit bottoms were way too big when I was in San Diego, and since that swimsuit is over 4 years old I decided it was time to replace them.  I could have waited until June, but I couldn't pass up this awesome swimsuit from Victoria's Secret.

We ended the afternoon at the Beer Zone, which offers over 100 beers.  I decided to have a Lost Coast Strawberry Wheat beer, because it is amazing.


All in all, it was a great afternoon.  I'm looking forward to having a relaxing Sunday and finally catching up on laundry.

Louisiana Cuisine and a Great Chicken Recipe

A few days ago I was looking for an easy chicken recipe that wouldn't require a lot of preparation or buying a lot of ingredients.  It turns out that many recipe's on the internet that are labeled "simple" are not the case.  I finally found a recipe that didn't require a ton of ingredients and turned out great.

Ranch Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1/2 inch thick, I bought chicken breast filets which worked great)
1/2 cup of flour
1 egg beaten
2 Tablespoons Powdered Ranch Dressing
1 cup dry bread crumbs
3 Tablespoons Butter
Parsley flakes

Mix 2 tablespoons of powdered ranch dressing with 1 cup bread crumbs
Put bread crumbs on a plate
Put flour on a small plate
Put beaten egg in small bowl
Melt butter or margarine in frying pan over medium heat
Make sure chicken is dry. If not then pat dry with paper towels.
Coat chicken in flour, then dip chicken in egg, then coat chicken in bread crumb mixture
Cook chicken on each side until golden brown and the temperature is at least 160 degrees F.
Add more butter as needed to prevent sticking
Sprinkle with some parsley flakes and serve.

Here is the finished product.  Note that the coating is a little bit burned on some pieces, the other half of the batch turned out fantastic.


On Friday night my boyfriend and I decided to try Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen, a restaurant that all of our friends recommended.  My boyfriend received a gift certificate for his birthday, so we had to check it out.

We started out with Hush Puppies because I never had them before.  They were great, especially with a little bit of honey butter.


For dinner, I had a Shrimp Po' Boy and my boyfriend had Buttermilk Fried Chicken.

Shrimp Po' Boy
Buttermilk Fried Chicken
We finished off with a Banana Foster Bread Pudding, but we ate it all before we thought about taking a picture.  We were completely stuffed from the meal, but it was delicious.  We would definitely go back.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Recommended Beauty Products for a Sunburn

It's been almost two weeks since I got sunburned in San Diego.  My skin is still a little bit red and peeling, but it no longer hurts and I no longer have to hide it with scarves and layers.  I'm sure it wouldn't have healed as quickly without some TLC and some wonderful beauty products.  Here are my recommendations for which products to use when you're dealing with any sort of sunburn.

Aloe Vera Gel
Any brand of this will work.  The one I purchased was from a souvenir shop in Sea World, and I'm sure it worked just as well as one I could have purchased at any other store.  This is a must for any sunburn.  I recommend putting it in the fridge so it is extra cooling on sore, burning skin.  I like the thicker gels because I find they go on easier and help prevent the skin from drying out and peeling.

Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion 
This is my favorite moisturizer at all times of the year.  It's great because it isn't sticky or greasy, it's all natural, and it works great on sensitive skin (I get allergic reactions really easily from scented beauty products).  I grew up in Northern Alberta in Canada, and in the winter when my skin was dry this worked like a charm.  Highly recommended.

St. Ives Collagen Elastin Facial Moisturizer
My boyfriend's mother gave me this moisturizer when the skin on my face was severely dry over the holidays.  This moisturizer worked great and my skin felt infinitely better after a few applications.  When this sunburn happened and I ran out of Aveeno lotion, I decided to try this out on the sunburn.  My logic was that if it worked on my face, it should work on my shoulders.  It worked wonderfully.  Highly recommended.

Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Foundation With SPF 15
I forgot my concealer in the USA when I went to visit family in Canada, and needed to borrow some.  My mother was a make-up artist for years and has a make-up collection that rivals Sephora.  She recommended this foundation, and now it's the only one I use.  I like it because it's a powder, so it's really easy to apply and it covers absolutely everything.  I tried it on my sunburn and it worked wonderfully, you couldn't even tell I was sunburned from a few feet away.  My only complaint is that it goes on a bit thick, so if you're not careful it can look like you're wearing heavy stage make-up.  With that said, for $25, you won't find a better powdered foundation anywhere.

As a bonus, here is a DO NOT BUY recommendation:

Clinique: Cool Lustre Body Moisture
I found this in my beauty product stash when I was looking for moisturizer after I got back from San Diego.  I really like Clinique products, and I use Clinique toner regularly, but this moisturizer is terrible.  I will agree that it did give a cooling sensation, but I do not feel it was an adequate moisturizer.  My skin felt moisturized for maybe 2 minutes (it didn't even last an entire commercial break).  Also, it turned my dry skin a greenish color, which made it look more diseased than anything else.  I see it is no longer available on Nordstrom's website, and this is for good reason.  If you ever see this, DO NOT BUY.

Monday, May 9, 2011

San Jose Playoff Game

Yesterday I went to my first NHL Playoff Game in San Jose.  My boyfriend and I went with another couple that we've been wanting to make plans with for ages, so we decided to make a day of it.

We started by going to their house where they served smoked salmon, cheese, crackers, and the best red wine I've ever had.  It was a bottle of Casa Nuestra Cabernet Franc from Napa Valley, and it was fabulous.  It's a bit pricey, but highly recommended. 


Afterward, we went to a Thai restaurant where I got to try coconut milk, coconut meat, and coconut milk mixed with iced tea, which was awesome.  Where has coconut been all my life? 

This drink was called the Young Coconut.
Then, we went to the hockey game.  I was really surprised to see that over 95% of people at the game were wearing San Jose jerseys (my boyfriend and the friends we went with also bought jerseys).  I ended up buying some black and teal beads from a girl who was raising money for a marathon for $5, which I was more than happy with.  What was also cool was that when you enter the stadium you get handed a towel to wave around at the game.


Here are some shots from the game.  We were a bit disappointed that San Jose lost 4-3 to Detroit, but it was a great game anyways.  I'm still hoping that San Jose wins the series, and that Vancouver wins against Nashville so that we can attend a Vancouver vs San Jose game.



Sunday, May 8, 2011

House of Prime Rib

When my boyfriend and I were in San Diego, we had friends from Canada staying in our apartment.  When we got back, they wanted to thank us by taking us out to the House of Prime Rib.  I never had prime rib before, and we saw this restaurant featured on No Reservations, so we were pretty excited and made reservations for 5:45 PM on Friday night.  I include our reservation time because I went through quite the adventure in order to make it to the restaurant on time.

I had to go to work on Friday because of a meeting at 3:00 PM, and I had to bring my laptop because I had a lot of data entry to catch up on.  The meeting ran for an hour (it is normally shorter, but one girl monopolized the meeting), and I didn't want to bring my laptop to San Francisco (especially if we were walking around at night), so I raced and caught a bus at 4:05 PM, and walked home as fast as I could in ballet flats.  I was smart enough to be dressed for the reservations, so I dropped the laptop off and ran for another bus to take me to the transit station at 4:30 PM.  Unfortunately people took forever getting off of the bus, and once I got to the station I had to run as fast as I could in order to catch the train.  I found my boyfriend who was nice enough to buy me a train ticket, and we ran and caught a train just as the doors were closing.  We got to San Francisco just after 5:00 PM, met our friends, and it took 10 min for us to find a bus stop so we could catch a bus for our restaurant.  Of course when we got on the bus it was completely jam packed, and we stopped at every single stop on the way, so what should have taken 15 min took almost 20 min.  By some miracle, we arrived at the restaurant with a few minutes to spare.

I was so relieved to see this sign.
We started off by ordering a bottle of wine.  My boyfriend chose this Cabernet Sauvignon wine from the Andretti Winery.  If you like red wine that doesn't have a strong tannin taste then you should try this wine. 



I ordered the City Cut, which was a 6-8 oz cut of meat (the smallest size).  The meal came with bread, salad with sherry vinaigrette, the choice of mashed or a baked potato, yorkshire pudding, and either creamed corn or creamed spinach.  I chose the baked potato and the creamed corn, and I can honestly say the entire meal was excellent (especially the salad).  I was very happy with the prime rib.  I ordered mine well done, and it was great.  Everyone left full and was happy with their meal.

The chef cutting the prime rib.
The prime rib, in all its glory.
After the meal, we decided to get some ice cream sandwiches.  Mine was two chocolate chip cookies with strawberry ice cream in the middle, and it was really good.



Then we went to a corner store, where I bought some Leninade, mostly for the name.  It was a surprisingly good lemon-lime soda.  The best part of the soda was definitely the label.


I know this post had nothing to do with fashion, but if you are ever in San Francisco and want to have a nicer meal, then you should definitely check out the House of Prime Rib.

Tonight I am going to see the Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks play in San Jose for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  This is my first playoff game and my second hockey game ever (the first was the Edmonton Oilers against the Calgary Flames), so I am incredibly excited.  My sunburn is still peeling, so this is a good day to wear my Vinyasa Scarf

On another note, Happy Mother's Day!  I am going to call both my mom and my grandma before I head out to the game.   Unfortunately the card I sent my mom hasn't arrived yet, but I'm sure she'll be happy to receive a phone call this morning.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Conference Outfits


The one bonus of being a guest at a conference is being able to wear a lot of nice clothes, without the stress of presenting a poster or giving a talk.  My boyfriend was nice enough to get me in to the mixer at the Wave House, and for the speaker's dinner at Casa Guadalajara, and I have also been able to check out some talks of previous supervisors and big names in the capillary chromatography field.

Here is my outfit I wore for the Wave House. 

Dress: FCUK
Necklace: J.Crew
Watch: Gucci
Bracelets: Charlotte Russe
Shoes: Stuart Weitzman

Unknown to me before I got there, the floor is mostly sand, so I ended up walking around barefoot and carrying my heels instead. The sand felt great though (and I ignored the fact that there was probably tons of spilled alcohol and other germs in the sand).


For the speaker's dinner and for attending talks, I decided to go with an outfit a little more business style.

Blazer: JCPenny
Blouse: H&M
Tank Top: Abercrombie and Fitch
Skirt: Talula line at Aritzia
Sunglasses: Coach
Shoes: J.Crew black ballet flats (though you can't see them in this image).

The speaker's dinner was pretty great.  They even handed you a lime margarita on the rocks as soon as you walked in the door!  The mexican food was pretty good, which is what I expected considering how close San Diego is to the Mexico border.

I have decided to do the Anthroholic Shopping Ban Challenge, so I will not be adding any new clothes to my wardrobe for the remainder of May.  Hopefully I will have enough conference clothes for the CSC conference in Montreal (where I will actually be attending the conference as a scientist, not just a guest!).  If not, there's always the beginning of June!  My income is a bit lower this month due to this San Diego trip and Montreal coming up, so hopefully this will help my bank account out a bit.

My first Anthropologie purchase!

As I wrote in an earlier post, I saw the Apothecary Skirt on the Anthropologie website and wanted it.  Lucky for me, the hotel I'm staying at for my boyfriend's conference is a few minutes away from the Fashion Valley Mall by walking, which has an Anthropologie in it.  I decided to go over there on Monday morning and try this skirt on for myself.

I was sad at first when I finally found the skirt in the store and realized they only had size 6 and higher (the size 6 was uncomfortably large).  The sales associate dug in the back and could only find a size 0, which I decided to try on anyways (I'm normally a size 2 or 4 in everything).  Lucky for me, the size 0 fit like a charm!



Apologies for wearing my Lululemon Define Jacket over this.  The sunburn on my shoulders was and still is incredibly red and painful, and I refused to remove my jacket, especially for fitting room photos.  It hurts to even put on a jacket or bra in the first place, so let this be a reminder to wear lots of sunscreen or a cover up when you're going to be out in the sun all day.

Anyways, I was very happy that the skirt fit, and immediately purchased it.  I am now a proud owner of an Anthropologie clothing item, and hope to add more to my closet in the future.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

San Diego!

I have finally found an internet connection I don't have to pay $10 a day for!  As you can tell from the title of this post, I am currently in San Diego.  My boyfriend is presenting at a chemistry conference here, and I decided to tag along because flights with Southwest are super cheap (~$150 round trip) and the hotel stay is covered by a travel grant.  $150 for a 5 day vacation is super awesome, especially because my boss is also at this conference and gave me the okay to be here.

We arrived on Saturday and spent the evening at the hotel pub watching the Vancouver vs Nashville playoff game.  It was a long game (2 overtimes!) and although Vancouver didn't win I'm sure they'll do great at game 3 tonight.  Luongo made a ridiculous amount of saves, so the loss can't be pinned on him.  Anyways, that's enough about hockey.

On Sunday we decided to check out Sea World since the conference didn't start until the late afternoon and I have wanted to go ever since I moved to California.  We arrived at 10am when the park opened, and it was so quiet!  We got to enjoy a lot of the aquariums before the crowds came, and even got to ride on the rapids ride by ourselves!  We also found a great place for lunch: Seaport Marketplace.  It offered some great reasonably priced sandwiches and salads and a large selection of beer.  If you're ever at Sea World in San Diego, I highly recommend it.  We checked out the Believe show (which I found a bit pretentious and didn't have nearly enough whale tricks) and the Sea Lions Live show, which was really cute.  We had a great time, but I ended up with a horrible sunburn on my shoulders (lesson learned: wear a cover up instead of a Lululemon Push UR Limits tank to Sea World).  

Update: I found a stable internet connection outside of the conference center.  Here are some photos from my Sea World adventures: 

Feeding the sea lions.  The birds around this area were very aggressive!
A random encounter with Bert and Ernie.
Photo from the Sea Lions Live show.  They were very talented.
Photo from the Believe show.  Never enough whale tricks.