Go Ahead, Try Something New

What's Lovely for November 16, 2010: 
After having a talk with my professor that left me a little frustrated, I discovered that simply switching up a daily routine-- whether it was finding a new spot to take photos or paying an unexpected visit-- can end up surprising you. 

Blouse- thrifted at local store  ::  Vest- remnant from Pink's closet  ::  Jacket- JouJou via TJMaxx  ::  Skirt- Forever 21  ::  Tights- We Love Colors + Target  ::  Shoes- Jeffrey Campbell from Thailand 

Start wearing purple, wearing purple

Guess why I donned all purple for today?

What's Lovely for October 20, 2010 (10/20/10!):

In continuing my penchant for finding things in unexpected places, I'd like to point out this heart made out of ... space fabric wrapped around heater. Screw Valentine cards, nothing's more romantically sweet than this.

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.

Life and death in a Wal-Mart checkout lane

What's Lovely for Friday, September 17, 2010:  Ending a raucous night of partying with a short walk in the dark that leaves me feeling like a "beautiful girl" 

What's Lovely for Saturday, September 18, 2010:  It's a tie between a) feeling like a true college student by being sore all day from sleeping on a futon or b) enjoying a slice of both little Mexico and Korea through food

What's Lovely for Sunday, September 19, 2010:  Feeling grateful (yet at the same time, strangely guilty) for the life I have... also wondering how I can change it

How would you carve your mark?

What's Lovely for September 14, 2010:  Learning about the power of the carved word

It all started with the purple eyes...

tangerine memorabilias in the indigo way

What's Lovely for July 22, 2010: Awesomefantabulouslovelyamazingandotheradjectivesthathaven'tbeeninventedyet package from...

I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw this bright yellow box on my front porch. How excited? THIS EXCITED!!!!!! Though I wasn't literally jumping up and down, I was wide-eyed as an eight-year old kid on Christmas day. Only it's better, because it's Christmas in July. Christmas in July is amazing in every way except one (Santa will be throwing off his snowsuit for a pair of boxers, yeesh).

My, I got sidetracked.

We've been planning this package exchange for awhile-- and now, with the blissful emptiness that is summer, it has become possible. Not only is getting mail exciting, but mail from blogger friends who live far away? Priceless. And since I have several questions from Indigo that I need to answer, this post shall be entirely Tangerine Umbrellas on an Indigo Day theme!

Look at how neatly and prettily Indigo wrapped up her gift! All purdy like, I tells ya.

1.If you were to change your name, what would you pick?

I actually like my name, is that too vain to say? Charlene isn't a name you hear every day (though I have called it the name that only 50-year old women in menopause commercials have). But I have thought about this before-- if I had to change my name, I'd go with Irene. Boring, right? It rhymes with Charlene. I'm like the poor man's poor man's Shakespeare.

Out of the magnificent menagerie I've been blessed with, one of the most unusual(ly awesome) were the pig popper and a pink feather.

2. If you had to decorate your house floor to ceiling in one pattern (wallpaper, furniture, picture frames, sheets, as if your name was Olive Snook...) what pattern would you pick?

I'd definitely go with varying shapes and sizes of stripes. Pinstripes, fat stripes, you name it. Can you imagine how streamlined and ridiculous my house would look like??

Cami enjoyed the pig popper (hopefully I'll share a video of her playing with it later) immensely, but wasn't amused when I tried to put Tangerine's gift of the pink feather in her collar.

3. You are trapped in a room filled with rising dough with only an apple, a handkerchief and a non working toaster. The walls are soundproof and there is a door, but it is locked, and it is 15 feet a way and the dough in front of you is already 6 feet high. In two minutes the dough will have risen so high that it will suffocate you, how do you escape?

I'll obviously realize upon polishing the non-working toaster with the handkerchief that it's in fact the Brave Little Toaster who's just sleeping. I'll lightly smack him to wake him up, and though he'll be a little perturbed that I slapped him awake, he'll be more than glad to help me. He'll then dive into the rising pile of dough and use his toaster powers to electrify the dough and then summon millions of toast that we'll both use to crush the dough into a corner. The Brave Little Toaster will allow me to use some of his inner wires to fiddle and open the locked door and in our triumph we'll both share the apple. And if all that doesn't work, I'll use magic and then eat the apple. The end.

Tangerine sent over these beautiful Chinese paper cut-outs that were so delicate and fragile that I felt like I was holding a real butterfly.

4. You are offered the job of your dreams. What is it?

It's always been a problem with me to focus on one set career path, and the number of choices has always daunted me. However, at this point, I'd love to be offered as a graphic designer/artist at a fashion magazine or be a part of the making of film and television title design like this. Of course, there's always that dream I once had to be a singer on Broadway. Ah, pipe dreams, don't we all have them?

5. What, in your opinion, is the best thing since sliced bread?

No offense to sliced bread, but you know what, there are a fecking ton of things that can beat it. For example, this package. It's fecking awesome and it's full of love. Is a bread full of love? No, it's full of bread and carbs. Though I love carbs, so whatevs.

I keep all my letters, postcards and miscelleneous things with writing on them in this box. It's gradually yet surely getting fuller.

If I may be so bold, I have one more thing to say.

The second song on Indigo's CD (Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco") was playing when I read this comment over at Ruby Slipper Journey's blog-- "It makes me so happy that someone is considering taking up sewing, possibly partly inspired by little moi!"

That's when it hit me (albeit softly).

Blogging brings us all together. If it weren't for blogging, then that blogger wouldn't have been affected by the other blog. If it weren't for blogging, then I wouldn't be listening to this Andrew Bird song (he's currently trilling his violin and whistling, of course). If it weren't for blogging, then my room wouldn't be littered with many treasures and I wouldn't be quite so full of thanks, grace and a little bit of guilt (mind you, there's only a bit of guilt because Tangerine and Indigo are so generous to give such amazing gifts that I feel like I don't deserve this at all).

This is when the music swells, figuratively if not literally.

When I really stop to think about this, I'm overwhelmed. My chest feels heavy with feeling, but it's not overbearing. It's light yet has a steady weight at the same time. It's hard to put how happy and thankful I am quite succinctly into words that aren't blatant signs of flowery poetry, but I'll try. Thank you, Tangerine. Thank you, Indigo. Thank you, blog. Thank you, followers and blogger friends. Thank you for supporting me and replying to my neverending questions. You like me, you really like me (and this is when they drag me away from the stage).

Contrived melodramatics aside, I'm happy. It's enough to make you want to laugh, cry and hug a puppy all at the same time. But that sounds a bit too hazardous to try at home. Thanks y'all.

PS: I got what-- five?!?!-- mix CDs total. And they're all amazing. I really should share them with the rest of you guys in future posts. Last time thank yous and bear hugs for Tangerine and Indigo! :)

Lingering on the precipice of consciousness

What's Lovely for Thursday, April 22, 2010: Having the sweet soft-serve ice cream become sticky on your lips-- the best kind of lipgloss. Actually, no wait, the best kind of lipgloss is poppin', it's cool, it keeps the boys jockin' and chasing me after school. (Please say you got that reference, otherwise I'm just that crazy person singing about lipgloss)

Here are some pretties taken from rummaging through my "Visual Inspirations" folder to make up for lack of photos. Please enjoy. :)

Disney meets Art Nouveau? Yes, please. I only wish they did Belle, otherwise I would've put her here. [source]

Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten the exact place where I got this. If anyone recognizes this/knows where I stole this, please let me know!

Never have I ever been more tempted by fluorescent pastels and bunny ears than by this shot from the Melbourne Fashion Festival. [source]

This photo captures that noir film feeling perfectly-- so why do I have ABBA's "Slipping Through My Fingers" stuck in my head when I see this?? [source unknown, sorry!]

Isn't this perfectly haunting? [source]

What's Lovely for today, April 23, 2010: The moment when you come home and you jump right into your pajamas. Ahhhhh~

I usually am skeptical if an actress tries to break into the music field.. but... I can't... help... but love this song. It's perfectly mellow in all the right ways!

Outfit pictures were taken today, I promise. No, I pinky promise. Only I have no means of putting those photos into my computer, unless a certain amount of magic is involved. In the meantime however, I need to go pass out for the night so I have enough time to run errands and take a day trip tomorrow. Happy Friday, everyone!

You make me feel like I am just a child

[Picture source from here]

I have to confess: I have yet to see 500 Days of Summer (what was that-- a collective gasp of the blogging community? it's like that one time when I confessed I never saw Forrest Gump or the Matrix or ... well apparently anything). However, I do have much love for Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (what was that-- my indie-o-meter is going off the charts?).

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always wanted a man in a skinny tie to literally rob my bank.

I wouldn't be the first girl to schmooze about Zooey on a blog. She's the wide-blue-eyed gal who all the little indie girls want to be, and all little indie boys want to be with (or vice versa, I ain't discriminatin'). Though I've briefly mentioned this song before, I didn't say how I was always inspired by Zooey's outfit in this video. It made me want to wear full skirts and dance around a bank with a boyishly handsome man in a suit (oh God I can't help it-- I've succumbed to the charm of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's everything; he's the boy next door who'll rob your bank HOW CUTE AND VAGUELY DIRTY-SOUNDING IS THAT).

Ahem. So I couldn't really get the man in a suit part, but I did come up with two versions of one inspired outfit.

Fire & Ice! Which one do you prefer?
This might be the most scandalous you'll ever see me; look at those underskirts! The Amish would be horrified at my lechery.

The first version was more of a literal interpretation of Zooey's outfit. What I noticed was that her cardigan seems almost granny-like, but the 1/2 sleeves give it a modern girlish look. I was fortunate to find this light blue sweater in my house, but it's pretty full blown Granny. Like, I'mma-give-you-hard-candy-and-talk-about-cats-and-beets Granny. The headband was a nice touch, but headbands and I have a problematic relationship. This particular one was troublesome, not knowing that it should stay on my head instead of slipping off.

[First outfit]
Shirt- garage sale : Sweater- Mom's : Underskirts- Old Navy & Korea : Skirt- JCPenney? : Tights- We Love Colors : Leggings&Shoes- TJMaxx : Brooch- gift from Rome : Headband- Icing? : Belt- Walmart

So I switched up the cardigan and belt, into my version of Zooey's outfit (which is sort of a remix of this outfit). While she seems to have an attraction towards blues, I identify more with reds. I was aiming for similar silhouette and shape, if not color. This was definitely fun and interesting to wear, since it was more 50s rather than the 60s I always blab about. On the other hand, I wasn't about ready to go wear pearls in the kitchen while making my man a sammich (yes, sammich).

The only thing missing from my outfit was hair flippingly cute Joseph Gordon-Levitt. So I tried to improvise. Badly. I can't promise that I don't always make this face while dancing.

[Second outfit]
Same thing, only differences are // Cardigan- Gap : Belt- secondhand

What's Lovely for February 26, 2010: Taking photos when you realize that your dog has been staring at you for some time.

"wut."

Here comes the sun, doo doo doo doo

Yes, it's the return of the "huge-ass books" and my "huge" ass.

Blue skies everywhere! Hallelujah!

No kidding, the weather was still pretty oh-let's-wear-the-skin-off-your-nose-please cold, but it felt deceptively warmer thanks to the sun popping out. Thanks to that regular human set of mind that's too easily affected by weather, I didn't feel so gloomy anymore.

Despite a busy news day, there wasn't much for me to do. So I actually sat down and got some other work done. And I took the occasional pictures that didn't end up looking awkwardly posed at all.

Look at me staring off into the distance, contemplating justice while gazing at the wide expansive blue. THOREAU YOU GOT NOTHING ON ME.

I'm actually wearing babies in these photos. These babies, that is. It's a bit of a cheat, since I mainly wore them to keep warm, but they were so unbelievably smooth-soft that I should stop gushing. The only problem was, for all my enthusiastic layering, the waistbands of my under-layers have been so tight that it felt like my stomach was being squeezed like toothpaste from a tube. Does anyone else have this problem, or have I somehow managed to wear tights incorrectly?

I like to call this "Crouching Tiger, Pregnant Crane."

Patterned blouse- TJMaxx : White blouse- magic? : Shirt- American Apparel : Peek of red tanktop- Juniper : Black leggings- secondhand? : Gray leggings- magic? : Tights- We Love Colors : Shoes- Gap

What's Lovely for February 25, 2010: Sitting at a table with all your work strewn out in front of you and sun streaming in through the window when you look up and look at the clouds slowly drifting away and you get lost in that one moment, realizing that you miss autumn.

(Warning: lots of blah-blah words)

Also, I've been watching the Olympics (has anyone else been following the events?). I'm really interested in the figure skating, especially the women's. Kim Yu-Na won gold-- again! First figure skating medal for Korea! I'd make a snarky joke about how typical it is for Korea to not only want to achieve a medal in an event for the first time, but a gold one at that... but I'm too damn proud.

I honestly enjoyed the other performances though-- Mao Asada, the silver medalist, has one of the most emotively elegant movements I've ever seen. But she looked none too happy up on that podium; thank God for Joannie Rochette, who you really can't help but support (who isn't? only douches and pigeons, I'm guessing).

Anywayyy, that was my amateur Olympic review. Or my Bob Costas impersonation. Either way works.

Ask not, Want not

First off: a moment of silence.

RIP Alexander McQueen. Here's to you, hopefully you're in your own disco ball heaven where no heel is lower than 10 inches and no fashion is fiercer than your drive.

Let's ignore the fact that Esquire would not only NEVER feature me, but will never spotlight women's fashion. Oh, and ignore the hubris. A girl can only strive to be the next Esquire cover girl in her heart.

So all those awkward "high fashion" photos from the previous post was actually meant for something after all! This is the...

What's Lovely for February 10, 2010: Working on a project until 2:30 in the morning with other classmates who are in the same situation as you are.

And this is the result of that experience (we bonded, I assure you, the stuff you see in sports films). Though I'm proud of all the tedious tweaking it went through, I'm (again) not 100% pleased with this the more I look at it. The right side competes too much with the left, more black margins, etc.etc.etc.

What do you guys think? Constructive criticism is more than welcome, but like Teddy Roosevelt said, "speak softly and carry a big stick." Well, speak softly. You can carry a large 2x4 if you wish, but stay at least 10 ft. away from me.

Please ignore the boots, please ignore the boots, please ignore the boots, oh damn you've noticed the boots.

Sweater- hand-me-down : Bomber- Joujou via TJMaxx : Skinnies- Gap : Boots- magic? : Pearls- gift : Beret- Target

Now that snow is a seemingly permanent fixture outside, I've adopted a shoe system where I trudge around safely in sturdy boots (that aren't the most cutting edge), and switch to comfy flats indoors. With that explanation, please pardon the boots. Otherwise, today's outfit is basically a remix of what has already been featured on this blog. I had fun adding an unexpected twist to a casual outfit with a set of pearls, however questionably real they may be.

What's Lovely for February 11, 2010: Despite a really, really, really long day, there are always friends and... this fortune cookie saying.

Great, just what I needed. A fortune cookie that rips off JFK.

Oh, and bonus video! I just had to share, it's so.... just click "play."

I know that this is supposed to be the year of Tiger, but this is ridiculous.



PS: I'm so sorry that I'm behind on blogging! and comments! ach! You miss a day, you miss a freakin' year.

Flirting in the Magic World

If you squint your eyes a bit, then both sides appear equally blurry. Optical illuuuuuusion maaaaaagic wooooo ok I'll stop.

Since today was such a blustery, blizzardy (is that a word? ok yeah, it's a word now) day, I counteracted the dreariness by avidly searching shoe porn on the internet.

Despite how relentless the pretty snow kept on falling down, my mood wasn't the greatest. Solution? Listen to a song that's literally called "Happiness," of course.

You might have also heard this song from this amazingly enchanting SyFy promo that came out awhile ago.... which is my What's Lovely for February 9, 2010.

I don't know about you guys, but this is what I call a house party. And Tracy Morgan looks a little bit too happy with that joystick,if you know what I mean. And I mean, he shouldn't be around T-Rexes.

If you were invited to a house like this, which room would you go into? Which would be your favorite? My personal favorite is the vortex carousel. :)

Merci, danke, 감사합니다, however you say it

What's Lovely for February 6, 2010: A shout-out (hey!) from the dear Ms. Indigo

Can anyone believe it? I can't?! My little blog was mentioned amongst well-established bloggers who all have amazing photography and style skillz (with a z, mind you). Needless to say, this is my reaction:

In a less dramatic tone: thank you! :) I really need to up my ante, don't I?

In other news, I've been taking full advantage of this Saturday by being one of the most unproductive sloths you've ever seen. With this upcoming Olympics in Vancouver, I feel like that this laziness should be made into a sport. But what I lacked in productivity (I'll get to my projects in due time, dammit), I made up for youtubing inspiration.

I haven't blabbed about how I'm in love with the swingin' 60s quite enough, but I really do love the shift dresses, the colors, the rebellious style, the eye make-up, the music-- that's a good amount of blabbing, right? What about you: is there a particular decade that speaks to you?

The Bird and the Bee is one of my favorite bands, and they fit perfectly with the 60s kick that I've been having. Inara's voice is simple euphoria, light on the notes but not on style. Coupled with Greg's music, they're 60s-inspired pop that's just lovely.

This song is entrancing and great; but I really did go "what the CRAP" at 2:15-2:21. Really, what. the CRAP.

Hopefully I'll do an inspired outfit post about them later. I've been wanting to do so for awhile...

I've also been alternating Bird and Bee with some Edith Piaf, who's another huge favorite of mine (only a lot more classic). The movie about her life might have been a bit extensive, but it really did capture how difficult her life was. As they say, her beautiful voice holds all the tragedy she had endured. And dear God, did she endure.

This live show happened one year before she died at 48. The tragic thing about this video is not her voice, but the fact that she looked about 30 years older than she was.

OK, I really need to go tweak goldfish now (it's for a project, I swear), but I'll probably go sneak a watching of An Education instead. Wish me luck! ;)

Welcome to the Monster Ball

Rah rah ah ah ah : Roma roma ma : Gaga oh la la : DANCE YOU MOFOS

"Welcome to the Monster Ball."

Like Lady Gaga, I seem to have suffered from a sudden illness, preventing me from blogging. And by sudden illness-- well in my defense, I was before-- but then I was stricken with extreme lethargy, followed by time constraints and excuses. So like Gaga, I shall apologize (sorry!), move on, and rah-rah-roll on with the show. :)

Last time I had Egyptian cat eyes with heart lips; this time I decided to go with "kewpie doll gone bad romance" (haw haw get it)

Boots- TJMaxx : Tights- magic? : Swimsuit- I want to say JCPenney : Turtleneck- American Apparel : Lace tank- Mom : Belt- secondhand : Scarf- Urban Outfitters : Mask- Walgreen's : Various necklaces- all over the place

Fun fact: My fellow Gaga co-worker and I attended our mandatory call-out dressed like this before we ducked out early to attend the show. We may or may not have a reputation to live up to now.

Since the temperature returned to its proper freezing degrees in the 20s, I couldn't very well imitate the no-pants exposure style that Gaga usually wears. But I was determined to go pantless for the day-- solution? Layer like crazy-like-Jack-Nicholson-The-Shining-crazy. Guess how many layers I wore. No, seriously, I want people to guess! I'm wearing three layers of tights on the bottom if that gives you an idea. Just imagine how many I was sporting on top. ;)

When my co-workers saw this outfit, they gave their stamp of approval, saying I looked like "an Asian Lady Gaga." I got some "uh... uhm, wow"s, most likely for the make-up. My mom, upon seeing what I wore for the first time after the show, literally howled in terror. I'm going to consider this a success.

Of course, again like last time, I must share a couple of monster outfits with y'all.

These are beautiful, beautiful men; I met them last time, when they weren't so dressed up. Gaga Redux gave them a chance to go ALL out.

The funny thing about this picture is that after it was taken, I was chattering excitedly "AREN'T YOU PUMPED?!" to which they stonily replied "Oh my God, YES." Turns out that their face paint makeup effectively gave them Smurf Botox, disabling them from showing how truly pumped they were (and they were!).

If you want to see more crazy costume pictures, you should click here arbitrarily.

As Christian Siriano says, they were a "hot tranny mess fierce" ... for lack of a better term.

After Semi Precious Weapons howled and blasphemied their way to our hearts (nothing is more endearing than having the lead singer strip in the middle of the stage during a song), we were pumped for Gaga. Only we had to wait... nearly an hour?? I was actually really worried that Gaga would fall ill on us again. A lot of pictures and texts were made during this waiting period.

Until. Finally.

OH MY GAGA.

These are the few photos that you can actually see anything; not only did I get a good view of Gaga, I saw all the camera and phone products in the room.

There were these three giant screens that were set up like a diorama; instead of a science project spewing fake lava, Gaga diorama featured regurgitating blue liquid.

Near the beginning, Lady Gaga apologized for canceling. She told us that when she had asked earlier how many people returned their tickets, the answer was:

"One."

Would it be too cliche to say that the crowd went wild?

I could go on and on and talk your ear off about how ear-splitting it was for me. It was tangible ecstasy; I loved how I was so immersed in the act that I felt like I was trapped in this strange, surreal world that wouldn't be too far from an arthouse concoction (wow, I'm so weird). Which I guess isn't too far from the truth. I called Michelle at various points of the show to share the experience with her-- because who else to share with but my fellow gaga for Gaga friend?! (we both wished she was there with me)

Sad thing is, my camera totally bailed on me near the end. I tried everything I could to revive it, but to no avail... (noooo) So I didn't get any great "Bad Romance" grande finale pictures. But you bet your bottom dollar that I rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ed with everyone else!

In short, I'll say what I sent in a text to my friend Lizzie the day after: "So my ears are still ringing, but I thought to myself that last night it's like I saw God and God said I was sexy."

Long live Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Lady Gaga aka Mama Gaga aka Lady Gay Gay aka Best Thing Ever

What's Lovely for January 26, 2010: I think that goes without saying.

What's Lovely for January 27, 2010: Watching videos of a performance you recently saw, and re-remembering the crazylove.

What's Lovely for January 28, 2010: This is lame, but-- sharing the experience with you all, I hope no one's too annoyed with me by now.

*Note: Not up to stellar standards as they be, these photos were all taken by me. If you are to use them, please link back to this site and give me credit, thank you.