Scenes from the Season, Part 2

These are just a few snapshots from my family's Christmas party and Christmas Eve. I already miss getting dressed up for holiday parties.

November Recap

It's funny how quickly time flies now that I'm older. (Haha. I sound like an old lady, don't I?) It seems like it was just yesterday I was putting together my October Recap post. I mentioned before that November is probably my favorite month of the year. Even though I didn't take the time to blog about these events as they happened, here they are: the highlights of my November!

Yes, Election Day. While I do care about politics (I'm a proud Democrat, by the way), I was beyond relieved when this day was over. For one thing, I despised watching political ads on TV and listening to them on the radio. I also hated logging on to Facebook and seeing pointless debates going back and forth between people who hardly knew what they were talking about. Despite the extreme annoyance that Election Day brought upon me, I was quite happy with the results. I promise I won't get any more political than this on my blog, but I do support President Obama. :)

I know what you must be thinking: "But Gayle! Breast Cancer Awareness Month was in October!" I know, I know. Despite being a month late, I couldn't resist these fabulous pink items from Target. I purchased this adorable glittery pink clutch/wallet, a Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in "Smitten", and a Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in "Berry Smoothie." The lip butters are my absolute favorite drug store makeup items ever. I own 5 or 6 of them - yes, I'm just a little bit obsessed. Haha. I think I'm wearing "Raspberry Pie" in this photo. 

This lakeside date was one of my favorite moments of November. One day, I sat down with Lucas and said something to the effect of, "You know, a lot of our friends do things like work out together and stuff. You and I eat and sit on the couch watching TV." He responded by suggesting we take a walk around the lake and watch the sunset. (Who said couch potatoes can't be romantic?) 

Another awesome November memory is from when Faustina and I - along with some friends old and new - had dinner and went dancing in Downtown Fullerton. I don't want to brag, but I'd also say that this was the night I perfected my new signature "going out" hairstyle: loose curls pinned to one side. Interestingly though, I have my hair in the exact same style in my profile picture. My hair just happens to be long enough now to make this style not look like an updo.

This month's Disneyland trip was quite interesting. Everything was already decorated for the holidays, which was the good news. The bad news was that we went a couple of days before Thanksgiving. It was so crowded that we only went on two rides before we decided to go home. And here's something else that's kind of random: We saw Mitt Romney. Lucas and I joked that this was the first time we ever saw a famous person at Disneyland and it wasn't even anyone cool.

Thanksgiving! I'll be brief here since I already have a Thanksgiving Style Post. I will say this though: It's already the first week of December and I still want more turkey and crescent rolls and pumpkin pie!

Speaking of food, feast your eyes on this glorious display of meat! Faustina had free tickets to The Laugh Factory in Long Beach. After watching a very funny show with her, we were starving. It was already around 11:30-ish by the time the show ended, but we still managed to find great food at a Korean BBQ restaurant that stayed open until 1 AM. Note the picture on the bottom right. Yes, those are giant slabs of bacon.

We celebrated the last night of November by having dinner at a Turkish restaurant and going to a club in Anaheim. (I hope you don't think that all I do is eat and dance!) I recently rediscovered this high waisted peplum pencil skirt in my closet and it has quickly become my new favorite wardrobe staple. For this night of dancing, I paired this fairly conservative skirt with a sheer lace top and a black lace bra. I'm thinking that this outfit would also be great for family parties too if I wore a tank top instead of just a bra under the lace. ;)

October Recap

Hello everyone! Before I begin blogging about the wonderful parts of November (which is probably my favorite month ever), I thought I'd share a little recap of what I did this October. It was a busy and eventful month full of pumpkins and Disneyland and DIY Halloween costumes. Looking back on all of these Instagram photos makes me remember exactly why I love fall so much. Enjoy!

I couldn't resist taking these pictures at the grocery store while Lucas and I were looking for pumpkins to carve. Although we both got traditional orange pumpkins, I loved the idea of gilding a white pumpkin with gold spray paint or gold leaf like these white pumpkins I took a picture of at Anthropologie. Maybe I'll use this idea next year. Also, I really loved the rich fall colors I saw in the grocery store's floral section. These pinkish-plum mums looked amazing with the preserved oak leaf wreaths that were also for sale. Gorgeous!

These were the pumpkins that we carved later that night. The happy and goofy looking pumpkin was mine, the scary looking one was Lucas', and the cat was one that his brother Zack carved. We made a huge mess on the dining room table, but it was definitely worth it for three awesome jack o'lanterns and tons of toasted pumpkin seeds.

Because Lucas and I are Disney Annual Pass Holders, we try to go to Disneyland and California Adventure as often as we can (usually once a month). Disneyland looked incredible last month. There were pumpkins, orange banners, and oak leaf and Indian corn swags everywhere, as well as characters dressed in fall outfits. My absolute favorite part was the Haunted Mansion. The ride was completely redone with A Nightmare Before Christmas theme, which I honestly liked better than the original ride. I haven't been back to Disneyland yet, but I really hope that they keep the ride this way up until Christmas.

Here's my "enchanted" costume from my last post. I mentioned in that post that the headband that came with the original costume was pretty ugly. I still love the new headband that I sewed together with leaves from Michaels and I've been thinking about making more of them in different colors, just for fun. Do you think I could pull off wearing one of these headbands during non-Halloween time if I made them smaller?

This is what I wore on the actual day of Halloween. I know what you're thinking: THREE Halloween costumes?! I agree that having three costumes in one year is a bit excessive, but I didn't have to purchase anything extra to put together this witch costume. I used my own top and long tulle skirt to make a basic dress and the huge witch hat is a Halloween decoration from my house. I love love love the glittery gold pumpkin on it too.

And that's it. I'd love to know how your Octobers were, my dear followers. Let me know in your comments. :)

An Arabian Princess and a Referee

Somehow, during this busy yet pleasant month of October, I completely forgot to share pictures of my first Halloween costume and Faustina's as well. We went to a costume party on October 5th (I know, so early!) Obviously, neither of us really had that much time to think of - let alone put together - anything super creative. Luckily, we managed to find these costumes at a Halloween store two days before the party.

My best friend, of course, looks gorgeous. I was actually surprised by how much I loved my costume too. This is definitely the greatest amount of skin I've ever shown in a costume (or anywhere other than a pool). I'm not going to lie...I felt pretty sexy. ;)

My favorite part about Halloween is actually not the dressing up part, but rather the opportunity to try unique makeup looks that I never would any other time of the year. While it definitely wasn't anywhere near as dramatic as my Black Swan makeup from last year, I really liked this Arabian inspired look I created. Even more so than the makeup, I thought the sheer purple veil really made this outfit.

You don't really think that's it, do you? As I've mentioned, these were our first costumes. Faustina and I are going to another Halloween party tomorrow night and I will definitely share pictures of those costumes as well. Until then, have a lovely weekend!

San Diego Zoo

If you've seen my Facebook or Twitter updates, I'm sure you'd know by now that our road trip to Sequoia National Park was a complete failure. I can't really explain exactly what happened (at least not in technical terms), but on Monday morning, something in Luke's car broke while he was changing the oil, causing tons of oil to squirt out all over him and his parking space. Yikes. He did end up fixing the problem, but we didn't want to risk having to get towed all the way from Fresno, nor did we want to have to drive my gas-guzzling SUV. Luckily, we were able to cancel our hotel reservations. I'm not going to lie; we were pretty disappointed that we had to cancel our trip. However, we didn't let this little hiccup ruin our week. We simply took another look at our "Places to Go" list and decided to take a second trip down to San Diego the next day. This time, we spent the afternoon at the zoo.

We couldn't have picked a more perfect day to visit the zoo. San Diego always has perfect weather. It was a warm but not too warm 75 degrees and sunny. I did remember to wear comfortable clothes and shoes for the day, but I completely forgot to apply sunscreen. The result? I am now sporting a mild sunburn. Oops.

How adorable is this panda? There was a really long line just to get into the panda exhibit, but it was worth it. I could have spent hours watching this guy nom nom nom on his bamboo.

This huge grizzly bear reminded me of my own humongous teddy bear, Bubba. Are you sensing a pattern? Three out of six of my animal pictures are of bears, my favorite animals. :)

Did you know that the San Diego Zoo also has a petting zoo with farm animals? Since Luke and I didn't get a chance to go to the Orange County Fair this past summer, I jumped at the chance to visit the sheep and goats. This cute little guy was following me around the pen.

After hours of uphill walking around the zoo, Luke and I were STARVING. Yes, I know that all that walking was a good workout. And yes, I know that eating a huge BBQ pulled pork sandwich completely undid all of that hard work. And no, I did not feel guilty afterwards. (I probably should have, but this sandwich was literally too delicious for me to care about calories!) This was just our second visit, but Phil's BBQ has become one my favorite parts of San Diego.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention this: we drove past the San Diego Natural History Museum on our way to the zoo. We've added the museum to our list of places to go in the future. :)

August Recap

Happy first day of September, dear followers! I don't know about you, but September has always been an exciting time for me. There was always the anticipation of starting school again and the promise of cooler weather. I do (kind of) miss being in school, but I know there are still exciting times ahead...and of course, job hunting. For now, I'd like to share all of my favorite August memories. Enjoy!

Beach day with Lucas. Believe it or not, this day was the first time we had gone to the beach together in two years. I know, we're not the typical Southern Californians. I am really glad we went on this day about three weeks ago because the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We started the day off by having lunch on the sand at Newport Beach, but we left right after because it was way too crowded. Afterwards, we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway and found the most perfect little beach in Corona Del Mar. It was quite a long and exhausting walk to get down there (see the middle photo), but the crystal blue water and endless sunshine were worth the hike. Oh and by the way, I almost lost my bikini top while trying to swim under a wave. Even with that embarrassing moment, this beach day was amazing.

Several days later, Lucas and I decided to go on a nighttime adventure. We usually just go on short walks or bike rides, but on that night, he drove us to Laguna Beach. We drove past a eclectic town full of art galleries, gay bars, and little boutiques and ended up in a very nice neighborhood with very expensive houses and a private beach. Is there anything more romantic and magical than walking along the beach at night? I think not. It was so dark that we couldn't tell where the sky and ocean met. I am pretty bummed that it was too dark to take any pictures that night. Still, I figured it was worth sharing this story with all of you. :)

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that one of my favorite places to shop is the Irvine Spectrum. About a week ago, I had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory with my mom, grandma, and brother. I have a few favorite dishes from that restaurant, but on that day, I was in the mood to try something new. I ordered the Moroccan Chicken which is now my new favorite. Seriously. It was grilled spiced chicken breasts with couscous, asparagus, onions, tomatoes, and almonds. I ate every last bite and my taste buds were singing the   entire time. After having lunch, my mom and I went shopping at one of our favorite stores, Anthropologie. Even if I can't afford half of the things in that store, I always love exploring every nook and cranny. I like imagining how I'd decorate my future house with mismatched plates hanging on the wall and whimsical touches like this tassel light fixture. Isn't that chameleon dessert plate the cutest thing ever? I use mismatched plates and bowls to store and display all of my jewelry. I'm thinking that maybe I want to add this plate to my collection.

Oh yes, and discovering a new bakery that sells French macarons was another highlight of August! I remember how excited I was when I discovered that other local bakery that sold macarons. (See this post.) This new bakery is in the middle of a very busy Asian shopping and dining center so I was surprised that they actually sold macarons too. I love how these are slightly bigger and have more filling than the other ones I got before. I also really love the packaging that these little lovelies come in. This purple box is almost as pretty as the famous Ladurée box! I still have this box and I have no idea what I should use it for - I don't know, maybe a pencil case? - but for now, I am content with having it sitting pretty on my desk.

My mom's favorite bakery is also in that shopping center. 85 Degrees is almost always ridiculously crowded. I remember one evening we waited in line for over half an hour just to get inside the bakery! They don't sell my precious macarons here, but they do have several savory buns and other types of bread. My mom purchased three orders of their Brioche, which is delicious with jam or just by itself. After stocking up on fresh bread and other baked goods, we had a quick sushi lunch. Pictured here are two of my favorites from that revolving sushi place: seared mackerel and fried sweet potatoes.

A few days ago, I ran some errands at Target and Rite Aid. I came home with these four lovely shades of pastel green and pink nail polish. (In case it isn't obvious yet, can you tell that pale green and pink are my favorite colors in the world?) I had a really hard time deciding which combination of pastel and sparkle to try first. After all, who can choose between two favorite colors? In the end, I ended up painting my nails with my new pink Essie nail polishes. I used "Sugar Daddy" as a base and topped it with "A Cut Above." I must say that so far, I am really impressed by Essie nail polishes. I'm not sure why, but almost all of the pastel nail polishes I own tend to bubble. I'm happy to report that my nails were bubble free!

To conclude an amazing month of August, I went to a Angels game with my boyfriend, mom, and brother. I've lost count of how many games Lucas and I have attended, but it was my mom and brother's first game. We had AMAZING seats. Like, almost in foul ball territory amazing. I don't remember what the score was that night. I want to say 9-2, but whatever it was, YAY! The Angels won. I know I've been complaining about the heat and wishing that fall would just get here already, but to be honest I'm really going to miss summer mostly because of baseball season.

By the way, I hope you don't think I look too creepy in the bottom right photo. Why yes, I was posing with a huge picture of Dan Haren. And yes, I was wearing a t-shirt with his name and number on it. Creepy? Yeah, maybe just a little. Haha. The best part was that my wonderful boyfriend took this photo. He told me that the next time we go to the mall, he's going to do the same thing with a picture of a Victoria's Secret model. I told him that somehow that would be a whole lot creepier than what I was doing. ;)

So that's it! Those were some of the best moments of August for me. How has your summer been?

Pixel Me Pretty

My life in photos 8.06.12 - 8.19.12. See more of my Instagram photos here.

Hello, dear readers! I'm sorry that my blogging has been rather sporadic lately. I have no real excuse other than I've been enjoying my summer, but haven't been taking enough pictures to document it. Oops! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my latest round of Instagram photos anyway.

My parents decided that they wanted to eat Filipino food one day, so we drove up to Cerritos to try Salo Salo Grill. I have a confession: I don't really like Filipino food that much, even though it is the food of my people. Haha. Still, this little restaurant did have some yummy dishes.

My order came with some kind of egg drop soup. I know that this picture probably doesn't make it look very appetizing, but it was pretty good. I enjoyed the mushrooms in this soup. 

This was the combo plate that I ordered: chicken, pork, and shrimp skewers, mussels, egg rolls, and rice. It was all delicious and I ended up eating everything but one or two egg rolls.

Oh, and here's something that totally brightened up my day. My friend Gaby sent me a letter in response to the letter I sent her. She received her letter just fine. I on the other hand...well, I think the picture speaks for itself. It arrived looking just like this, complete with an apology from the US Postal Service. If you can recall, this isn't my first piece of mail that has arrived looking like this. Remember this postcard? On the bright side, even though the entire envelope was literally torn in half, Gaby folded the letter in a way that left about 90% of the text intact. Yay!

Here's my Starbucks cup (with my name spelled correctly again!) from yesterday's shopping trip at the Spectrum. It was a Mocha Cookie Crumble, which was perfectly yummy and indulgent. I was a little disappointed though because the Starbucks by my house makes this drink with chocolate whipped cream!  

Every time I'm at the Spectrum, I always have to pop into Anthropologie and admire pretty much everything in the store. This bed made my heart flutter. Isn't it gorgeous? It reminds me of a gypsy wagon or a super fancy Bedouin tent.

Pixel Me Pretty

My life in photos 7.23.12 - 8.05.12. See more of my Instagram photos here.

You might remember seeing the original version of this photo from this post. I was playing around with the different filters and effects on Pixlr-o-matic and I came up with this super simple, yet neat edit. It reminds of dancing with glow sticks at clubs with my best friend. And yes, that does say "sexy" because, well, we are. Hehe.

This photo of me and Lucas had been stored on my phone for over a year. Once again, I was bored and I decided to try out the filters on Pixlr-o-matic. Call you tell that I really love the ombre trend?

Just in case you were wondering, yes, I can cook a little. This was a meal that Lucas and I prepared one night: garlic seasoned pork chops, mashed potatoes, veggies, and crescent rolls. Yum!

There are always lots of inspiration to be found in Anthropologie's catalogs. I love the unique geometric necklace that was featured on the cover. Anthropologie is always one of my favorite stores to browse while shopping.

Speaking of shopping, I have always and will always love Forever 21. I think the one at South Coast Plaza is my absolute favorite. Why? One, because it's HUGE. Two, because they have the best selection of jewelry I have ever seen. And three...just look at this sparkly display at the checkout counter! This is glamorous.

Lucas and I made a date out of our visit to South Coast Plaza. It's always fun to come hear to people watch and gawk at the super expensive and often unpronounceable shops they have here. What's really neat about this mall is that there's a bridge that takes you to the other side, which has even more shops and places to explore. We crossed this bridge to walk over to Barnes and Noble. By the way, the bridge - and the entire mall, really - look amazing during the holidays. Even on this ordinary August evening, I enjoyed the view.

Here is a photo of what I spoiled myself with during our visit to South Coast Plaza. I found two adorable necklaces at Forever 21 and this beautiful edition of the three Brontë sisters' novels. I'd say I did pretty well. :)

I am so in love with this gorgeous book. Admittedly, I have never read Agnes Grey, but I love Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. I got the Jane Austen Seven Novels edition last Christmas and I'm very happy to add the Brontë sisters edition to my collection. One of my goals in life is to collect beautiful editions of all my favorite books.

Here are the two necklaces that I found at Forever 21. Since I simply couldn't choose between my two favorite colors, I ended up leaving the store with both of these cute lace covered bottle pendants. 

So how else have I been spending my time? I spent hours designing a new blog header to match my new profile picture. If you've been following me for a while, I'm sure you've noticed that I have a habit of changing my blog around quite often. I hope it doesn't bother you too much! That said, I'm very happy with how my blog looks now, so I think I'll keep this design for a while. :)