It's always summertime here in my mind

This past Monday, my friends and I celebrated a birthday (and the beginning of summer vacation in general) by gallivanting around Indy. 

Oh wait, did I say... summer vacation? Hell to the bleepin' yes I did. The weather seems to have gotten word of it, too. Literally as I type this, my legs are stuck together like Velcro, thanks to the humidity that seems to have blossomed overnight. But I'm digressing.

As I've so briefly started earlier, Monday was set aside for a whole day's worth of adventuretime with good friends. We laughed, we walked around in circles, we vintage shopped, we shopped in general, we ate copious amounts of food... and I fell in love. Yes, I can't stop thinking about the (to steal a term coined by my friend) deliciously quaint subdivision of the city we hung out in. The setting was perfect, really. There it was in all its artsy-fartsy-downtown-college-student-area glory, and I had no chance. Little eateries/cafés and shaded neighborhoods? Ugh, I'm so there.

Meet Hotaru Lola somethingoranotherIhavetofigureoutherfullandfinalname. Pink gave her to me and this little buddy traveled with me wherever I went. Think of her like the gnome from Amélie and/or Travelocity commercials, only much smaller and cuter. You'll be seeing much of her in this post.

I ended up buying one of these au natural soaps at the local health food store because its scent reminded me of Thailand. Nostalgia, thy name is me.

Indulge that sweet tooth, dear

Imagine a sunny and unbelievably warm Saturday afternoon. Imagine the one thing that'll make it better.


That's right. HOMEMADE CUPCAKES. 


Brandi, I officially made the cupcakes and I officially apologize for how delayed this baking experience has been. In the end, it was totally worth it. 

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who thought of Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus when I saw this....

But did they turn out well?! Dun dun dunnnnn...

Luck o' the Korean

This may be a day late, but I figured I should put it up to preserve the luck o' the Korean. What, you never heard of it? 

It's that thing where you eat kimchi every day for the rest of your life and never get sick.
It's that thing where you ride on a swing while standing up and wearing a wide-brimmed hat made out of horsehair so you can ensure your invincibility.

It's that thing where you take a tiny, irate Korean leprechaun and carry him around in your pocket until some gold falls on your head.

It could be none or all of these things. Either way, I invented my own luck, with a little help from the Irish. I always like dressing for the occasion, so green was in order. I also didn't want to get pinched by a slovenly stranger, because that's unsavory. 

My St. Patrick's Day last year was when I opted for an alternative choice that delineated away from the standard fish 'n' chips + booze fare with Lizzie. Vegan food and taking pictures downtown. Ah, how lovingly quaint.

This year, my mom and I ventured to Indy where we looked at high quality department store items with the prices to match. Have you ever done that thing where you walk into a very high class store, such as Chanel or Burberry, and try to "act like you belong" and pass by clothing you can only dream of purchasing and casually peek at the price tags, casually put them down and then casually walk away with a bemused air of "yeah, I can totally buy that now if I wanted to, but I don't feel like it." 

Hands up, that was me.

Is this a good enough disguise to shake the department store heads off my tail?

Painted/Funny Face

Shirt- American Apparel  ::  Skirt- Forever21  ::  Scarf+Socks+Boots- TJMaxx  ::  Jacket- garage sale, chyeah

This week has definitely been a test to my mind, body and paper-cutting skills. The latter of which is evidently very poor. Curse you, box cutter!


Random cursing aside (which is my life, really), I'm all sorts of haywire right now. I feel like I'm in the state where my mind urges to leap and scatter itself around so many different subjects, leaving my body sluggish and stupid. Just when I thought that the hump of the week has been crossed, another huge camel of a challenge lands in my way. In this analogy, my problems are represented by a large camel. Just go with it, OK? And oh no no, not the movie. I don't mean that. Don't go with that. 


Spring break is so close that I can taste it. Or is that a Girl Scout cookie (specifically a Thin Mint) I taste?

twenty one.

It's official. Since yesterday on the 30th, I'm now officially old enough to get royally pissed (in the English sense) and then feel jaded about it a few days later. Oh, twenties.


Even though I had to work on the night of my birthday (it wasn't that bad), I plan to make up whatever wild, raging party I missed by next weekend (fingers crossed). Because you know what a wild, raging party animal I am. The only thing I'm raging on this birthday is diabetes brought on by the plethora of sugar (whether in free cookies or cookie cake) my friends so generously provided me. Ain't I the luckiest? xD

Chi-Town: 2 days in 20 pictures

What was Lovely for December 27, 2010:

I'm waiting for a train, a train that will take me (fairly) far away to Chicago for a couple of days. 

Welcome to Spectre

Oh, first off: I just joined this new-fangled thing called Bloglovin'. I'd be much obliged and tickled if you'd follow.

I swear this frightfully yellow/blurry-looking picture doesn't do the sushi platter justice...

What's Lovely for October 8, 2010:  How a happenstance run-in with a friend (whom you haven't seen in awhile) pushes away any previous frustration and anger you've had so you can all enjoy a long overdue sushi dinner together

I like this picture because it reminds me of that mysterious town in the movie Big Fish. 

Remember my What's Lovely from last Friday? No? Something about artificial and real stars? Yeah, that wasn't just me trying to be poetic. Well, it was a little bit. The point is, I wanted to share some of the photos I took that night-- it was a small arts/music festival that lured all the local hipsters out from their hovels and coffeehouses into one tiny area. In short, it was a grand ol' time, I really enjoyed it. Click to see more indie goodness. 

Forgotten Indian Summer

You know how this is used to be a daily style blog (along with some other random bits and bobs on occasion?) According to the tradition of "here's what I wore today," these photos are truly LIES-- these were taken sometime last week when the weather was unusually warmer, my nails were white (they're black now) and my schedule was less crazybusyandfilledwithBeatlesillustrations. Somehow, they never found their way to the internet 'till now-- which actually works out well for my sporadic blogging.
Don't you hate it when your schedule becomes clogged up? Especially with the Beatles illustrations. I'm sure that happens to everyone all the time.

In other mundane news, I found a new photo spot! This is exciting for someone who's been posing in front of brick walls. Now it's brick walls and PILLARS. Variety, people, variety.

Entering the Empire State of Mind

What's Lovely for Saturday, August 14, 2010: The overwhelming relief that you're headed on a plane towards that city with the Big Apple

Little Italy proved to be as delicious as they say. Heavenly bread and cannolis? Yes, please.

(lame) anticipation

What's Lovely for Tuesday, August 10, 2010: The deep rich colors of a deliciously healthy snack

What's Lovely for Wednesday, August 11, 2010: Connecting with someone from the blogosphere in real life-- thanks for putting up with my ramblings and occasional stutters, Emily!

What's Lovely for today, August 12, 2010: Seeing the full capacity of how wonderful and talented and pretty-much-basically-amazing Joseph Gordon Levitt is in this video clip (note: the site is Chinese, so do not be shocked if you may or may not be able to read it)

Hodge Podge, Schmodge Podge

I always feel guilty when I'm behind on my What's Lovelies. Let's amend that in a backwards manner, shall we?

To Vuvuzale

What's Lovely for July 11, 2010: The vuvuzela.

That's right, THAT thing.The buzzing trumpet that sounds like a mix between a horde of bees and a wailing Wookie. I personally think it's tons of fun, even though I haven't been following the games at all (my cable wasn't working! I got behind! aaghhh I usually love this international-sports-gathering-every-four-years kinda thing). But as you probably know by now (spoilers if you don't): Huzzah Spain! I know a lot of people are crushed or ecstatic. I certainly know you're the latter, right Jess? What about you guys, have you been following it religiously as I know some fans have?


Fact: my friend Anthony is a proud owner of a collapsible blue vuvuzela.
Fact: much like the traditions we all held as children, if someone has a cool thing, he/she must share it with his/her peers.
So naturally, we took advantage of these facts and vuvuzaled (the verb form of vuvuzale) the hell outta that thing. Some facts about the vuvuzela:

Playing the vuvuzela in your downtown area might garner you many stares and the occasional "fuck you, asshole!" from an irate and bitter passerby. Instead of insulting them back, just blow on your horn and go "BRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO." (Anthony's vuvuzela doesn't really buzz)

No matter how collapsible they are, vuvuzelas are not meant to be put in the back pocket.

They can also double as large eardrums.

And now you know everything there's to know about vuvuzelas. You're welcome.

Check out that wonked up expression! I think I was trying to be serious, and ended up having this prematurely bad Zoolander rip-off on my face.

I really must thank Lizzie for being patient with me, seeing as how I tell her to go stand in various places and just stand. She's not really used to this whole "fashion blog" thing. But isn't her dress pretty? I got it for her in Thailand at JJ Market. It instantly reminded me of her because it was blue and has elephants on it.

So it's incredibly and unbelievably fortunate that I didn't lose my balance in those heels and fall into the fountain. That's what I get for trying to be a pseudo-wannabe-Glamourai...
[outfit] Skirt (as dress)- Mom's :: Scarf- Limited :: Belt- Thailand :: Heels- Steve Madden via TJMaxx

What's yo flavor, tell me what's yo flavor-- no seriously, tell me what's your favorite flavor ice cream/yogurt! I don't have just one, but today it was mint chip. Yummmmm.

Thank you to EVERYONE who entered in my first giveaway!!! I'll reveal who the winner is in the next post!

Living the Americone Dream

Happy belated 4th of July to all the Americans (and non-Americans too, I hope you enjoyed the boisterous hullabaloo, too!)!! How did you celebrate yours? I usually never know what to do on that day because I don't really have a big family, so there's no big BBQ while singing 4th of July carols around the fire or something. However, I did eat terrible greasy food (a Happy Meal, to be exact), scarf down ice cream and watch fireworks. Pretty patriotic, huh?

(The Thai Jewelry giveaway is going on until July 11, so you can still get your entry in!)

I'm sure we CAN be graceful and whatnot... but our main concern was not to fall into the pool...

What's Lovely for Saturday, July 3, 2010: Having the worst pool photoshoot ever with dear Meeshell after gorging on hot dots and corn (aka good ol' Americana)

On Michelle:: Dress- Charlotte Russe
On me:: Romper & bow- Thailand

What's Lovely for Sunday, July 4, 2010: What's more American than eating eating Americone Dream on America's supposed birthday?

I'd like to think that my hero, Stephen Colbert, would be proud.
Shirt- Zara secondhand : Shorts- Thailand : Belt- Goodwill

I didn't really have the "white" in my red, white and blue-- then I remembered my dog is roughly that color. Hail America!

What's Lovely for today, July 5, 2010: Shopping at the mall when you see things like a large mall cop on a Segway and two men holding hands-- both made me smile in totally different ways

Tank & Flats- Old Navy : Shorts- Thailand : Cardigan- TJMaxx

And now.... marathonWhat'sLovelyahhhhhlet'sgo!

What's Lovely for Thursday, July 1, 2010: Fries and a long talk and walk with a group of friends

What's Lovely for Friday, July 2, 2010: Fries and a long talk and walk with one friend-- I'm real 'riginal.

Gee, that was a short marathon.