Weekend Snapshots

This weekend I...

1. Stopped by Ikea to stock up on some of their Tindra candles which not only smell divine, but are so cheap. Each candle is $1.99 people! Get on it. I also bought several picture frames because I want to (finally) print pictures of my favorite places I've traveled to around the world and have a wall at my place dedicated just for that.

2. Experimented with some Valentine's day baking. I love chocolate covered pretzels because it has both the sweet and salty component to it. I also decided to add Valentines Days colored sprinkles to give it a nice finishing holiday touch. This was easy, tasty, and cute--what's not to love? Will post recipe later this week

3. The boy cooked dinner for me. He made a delicious dinner of a Chinese noodle dish that consisted of bok choy, pork and mushrooms, along with egg drop soup. Unfortunately in the process he ended up cutting himself pretty badly but that's a whole another post in itself. Sigh.

4. Squeezed in some "me" time which consisted of catching up with my favorite magazines and drinking chocolate wine. Taylor Swift makes me want to buy a big, floppy hat and trim my bangs. Note to self: I'm not Taylor Swift.

5. Bought more Essie nail polish. Hehehehe. They have a line called "Essie Luxe Effects" which consists of glittery polish and well ya know me...I can't resist sparkle. The colors I purchased are "a cut above" and "set in stones."

6. Received an email from Refinery 29's DC editor asking if she could use this outfit I posted about a week ago to feature in her article, "The Perfect Outfit," and well, I obviously said yes and thank you! Check it out: http://www.refinery29.com/the-perfect-outfit-mixing-colors-and-prints

How was your weekend?

DIY: How to Make Paper Stars

Several weeks ago I tweeted a picture of these paper stars when I was mindlessly making them one day and I received several requests from readers if I could do a tutorial on how to make these stars. I've never done a DIY post so I apologize beforehand if the directions are hard to follow....

I was taught how to make these paper stars when I was in high school (which was ions ago) and was told that young Asian girls would make these paper stars and gather them into cute jars to either bring luck or to give to their boyfriend. This was one of their ways to signify how much the girl would like the boy because of the time spent to make all the stars. I also remember being told that the stars could also represent how much time had passed in the relationship so if a relationship made it to the 1 year mark, she would make 365 stars. I must confess, I made stars for my crush whenI learned how to make these HA! Oh the things we do for love...

Aaaaaanyway, these stars don't necessarily have to be limited towards a significant other--friends or family members will most definitely appreciate the time and effort spent on making these. When I visited my relatives, who live in Korea about 8 years ago, my aunt hosted a huge party to celebrate her grand opening of her own medical practice. I made several hundred of these stars for her and gave them to her in a cute jar as a present to bring her luck to her new practice and she loved it so much that she displayed it in her office as a way to remember me. She and her family recently visited me a couple of month ago and she confessed she still has that jar=)

Another option you can use with these stars is that they can act as "fillers" when wrapping presents. Instead of using tissue paper you can cover your present (ideally a small present unless you don't mind making loads of these) with the paper stars and place it in gift bags in substitute of tissue paper. Trust me, it'll look cute.

Let's begin. Hold the paper with both hands and turn it around to the side you don't want showing as the star part. Hold the paper about 2 inches from the bottom with one hand and fold as if you're making a knot over your thumb with the opposite hand.

With that opposite hand, tuck the small end through the hole.

Gently pull the small end through the hole.

Once you pull the small end through, flatten the knot and you will see a pentagon shape forming.

Follow the color of the paper and either fold it over or tuck it in to the slit. I like to tuck it in because then I won't have any weird end pieces hanging and it just looks neater.

Now this the easiest part. You should only have a long end remaining and with that long end, you're just gonna keep on folding it over the pentagon shape.

Continue folding along the pentagon shape...

Keep folding until you have a short end piece remaining (which should look like the picture on the left) and fold until you meet a slit. Tuck that small end into the slit to hide the end piece.

If you still have a tiny end piece left over after tucking it into the slit, just fold it over.

This is the fun part! You're going to pinch each corner with your thumb and pointer finger to "puff" the star out and you will begin to see a star forming...

....and there you have it, a paper star!

Once you practice making a couple of these paper stars, you're gonna think this is the easiest thing ever. It took me awhile to fill up that glass jar pictured but it's one of those things where you can quickly make little by little or make whenever you're bored.

Let me know if you have any questions and I hoped you enjoyed my first DIY. Have a great weekend and as always, thanks for reading=)

Materials Needed 
1. Pre-cut origami paper (You can buy these pre cut origami papers at an Asian stationery or grocery store. If you're having trouble finding them, you could also cut the ends of a 8x11 printer paper since it's about the same length)

2. Cute glass jar.

Classic Tweed

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Blouse-H&M

Jacket-Tory Burch

Jeans-Gap

Shoes-Pour La Victoire

Ring-David Yurman

Watch-Burberry

In my opinion, the tweed jacket is the epitome of classic elegance. When I think of tweed, the first thoughts that comes to mind are "lady like" and "Chanel." It is said that the iconic Chanel tweed jacket was designed to give the wearer a freedom of movement and to feel like a comfortable cardigan rather than a structured jacket. I would love to own a timeless piece such as a Chanel tweed jacket some day, but for now I am happily content with this Tory Burch one I purchased a month ago=) I was immediately drawn to this jacket because of the gorgeous deep brown color, the simplicity of the cut, and the lovely velvet linings, because to me, it's all about the details.

Tweed jackets can be a bit tricky because it can have the tendency for one to appear older, so for today's outfit I paired mine with skinny jeans to balance the outfit towards a youthful look. The tweed jacket is such a classic item to have in your closet because it's another one of those pieces that will never go out of style and can be recycled to be worn again in several different ways.

Do you have any classic pieces you love?

Weekend Snapshots

 

This weekend I....

1. Celebrated my mom's bday. My sister and I ordered an Alexander McQueen scarf she's been lusting over and it was delivered just in time to gift it to her. Not many older ladies can rock a scull scarf but my mom is one of the most fashionable women I know and it just works.

2. Went to Whole Foods to restock on some coffee beans and couldn't resist buying this gorgeous bouquet of roses for my home in the process.

3. Ate at Kushi, my favorite Japanese izakaya restaurant, (which has the best pork belly) with a friend whom I haven't see in months. His work requires him to travel both state side and out of the country constantly so it was a great time catching up. I was disappointed they ran out of the black cod and crispy duck thigh that night. Both are stellar dishes as well.

4. Went to Neiman Marcus to return a pair of shoes for my sister and ended up buying a pair of ankle boots (on sale) for myself in the process. I was supposed to be on a shopping diet but I obviously failed that task. Sigh. I blame my sister for steering me towards Neiman Marcus, thus my purchase. 

5. Was longing for warm weather. It snowed this weekend and has been incredibly cold lately, which made me miss spring/summer. I painted my nails a pastel color because pastels remind me of spring. The color is in Essie's "Absolutely shore."

6. Had to restock on dog food for Mandu and adjacent to Petco was a La-Z-Boy furniture store. I've never been to the store before so I decided to go inside and take a look. I didn't see any furniture I liked but they were having an inventory clearance on certain household items and I picked up this glass stand (?) for 50% off and ended up paying $15, which also included the accessories inside. I'm thinking of putting lemons or baked goods inside as another option though.

7. Ate at BonChon chicken in Virginia, which has the most crispiest, flavor filled (Korean) fried chicken you'll ever eat. I'm not kidding. They only have two flavors available which is spicy or garlic soy sauce but I highly recommend the spicy flavor because the garlic soy sauce tastes too salty in my opinion. I also tried their seasoned fries for the first time and that was foodgasmic as well. I asked them what it was seasoned with and they said it was a mixture of basil, garlic powder, chilli powder, all topped with shredded mozzarella. The dipping sauce on the left is a combination of ketchup, mayo, and sriracha. Holy deliciousness.




How was your weekend?

NomNom: Oreo Truffles

The whole process of furnishing a new home is a daunting task because it requires a lot of time for researching and shopping. It's been busy this past month with work so my home has been a work in progress, but I'm hoping that by the end of next month (crossing fingers) that I'll be able to formally host a housewarming for my dear friends. I love the thought of entertaining but that obviously goes hand in hand with food (at least for me) so I've been constantly looking through websites or food magazines to get food ideas and I recently came across a recipe for oreo truffles. As much as I love challenging myself with complex recipes, I'm 100% for easy recipes, especially if I have several dishes I need to make for a party. This recipe involves no baking (!!) and it only requires 3 ingredients. You're welcome. 

I'll be doing a lot of testing with recipes to compile for my list of  housewarming party food contenders and will post the ones that I feel are worthwhile for you because I love ya. So with that being said, I'll start with these oreo truffles.

This reminds me of dirt. But it's not.

A couple of things. You can use milk chocolate to cover the truffles but I chose white chocolate because I like the contrasting color it gives and more importantly I LOVE WHITE CHOCOLATE. Also, don't be a noob like me and let the white chocolate harden because when it comes time to garnish the truffles with the remaining cookie crumbs, it won't stick. Yea, that happened. As soon as you dip the balls into the chocolate and set it on the wax paper, sprinkle immediately to ensure optimal stickage. Wait...is that even a word? Probably not.

Bite sized anything can be dangerous to your figure, especially with these but sometimes you need a little bit of danger in your life. So make and enjoy some oreo truffles and have a great weekend.


Recipe (adapted from www.chef-in-training.com) Yield: 15 truffles
1 package Double Stuffed Oreos *I used regular oreos
4 oz. cream cheese, softened (you can use up to 8 oz., I just like this consistency better)
Dipping chocolate

Procedure

1. Chop oreos up finely in a food processor. Save some of the finely crushed oreos for garnish later and set it aside. You don't need too much.

2. With hands (or a spoon, I just think hands are faster), mash softened cream cheese and crushed oreos until well combined.

3. Roll into 1" balls and place on a wax covered cookie sheet. Put in freezer for 15 minutes.

4. While balls are in freezer, melt chocolate according to directions.

5. Pull the oreo truffles out of freezer, and dip into chocolate. I used a fork (to hold the truffles in place) and a spoon to coat with the chocolate. Garnish with reserved oreo crumbs before the chocolate sets up.

Boyish Charm

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Blouse-Anne Klein

Jeans-Citizen of Humanity

Blazer-Theory

Necklace-Sequin

Hat-Forever 21

Shoes-Pour La Victoire

One of the looks that I really enjoy wearing and seeing on women is the androgynous look. I've expressed before how I love wearing wide legged pants and jeans are no exception because they just look unfussy and are overall comfortable. Wearing an untucked button down shirt, wide legged jeans and a blazer can exude either a masculine, feminine or gender neutral look so to finish off the look with a bit more of an oomph on the feminine, a girly "bling" was necessary;)

Hope you are having a fantastic week so far and as always, thanks so much for reading.

 

Weekend Snapshots

This weekend I...

1. Dropped by the drugstore to pick up some chapstick because I lost mine (again). I have a really bad habit of doing that and the one thing I absolutely hate is having dry lips, especially during the winter season. I ended up looking through the cosmetic section and came across Loreal lip balms. I was curious to try them out because they have the idea of a lipstick yet it's supposed to be moisturizing as a chapstick. So far, I really like them because they have a slight tint to them and it has kept my lips moisturized. Win! I also picked up America's Test Kitchen's 2012 magazine review of the best recipes. I love the idea behind them because their concept is that they have a tasting panel who test and tweak recipes over until the recipe tastes perfect.

2. Dined at Food Wine and Co in Bethesda, MD. It was my first time there and I was a bit disappointed with my dish. I ordered their rock fish special and it was nothing to rave about. Overall the dish was salty and their was no real flavor profile to it...it was basically fish on a bed of bland calamari and mussels. I also had reservations that evening yet still had to wait 30 minutes for my table. Not cool.

3. Painted my house key with nail polish. I'm always fumbling around with my keys because they all look the same so I decided to utilize my nail polish collection for another use. Lets just say it definitely stands out now in the midst of my other keys.

4. Compromised with the boy about me wanting to check out all the restaurants the Washingtonian magazine listed as the best in the DMV area and in return I check out all the hiking trails in the DC area he wants to explore. Sigh, what did I get myself into?

5. Finally had the chance to open up a bottle of wine the boy brought back with him from his trip to Spain. It was love at first sip. The wine was wonderfully crisp, sweet, with a hint of grape aftertaste. I can't wait to try the 3 others he brought back with him.

6. Had an intense craving for tonkatsu, which is breaded deep-fried Japanese pork cutlets. I ordered it to go so I could catch the Golden Globes. My favorite look of the night was Rooney Mara in Nina Ricci and Charlize Theron in Christian Dior. PERFECTION.

How was your weekend?

Pink Stripes+Leopard

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Blouse, sweater, skirt-H&M

Purse-Chanel

Necklace-Alexis Bittar

Shoes-Vera Wang Lavender Label

Ring-Forever 21 

As I was flipping through some fashion magazines a couple months ago I distinctly remember coming across a photo of actresses Emma Stone and Sarah Jessica Parker wearing the color combination of pink and red to some sort of premiere or celebrity event. I never would've thought of putting those two colors together until I saw them wear their outfits and it made a lasting impression on me. You probably are sick of seeing this red skirt again, but I can't help it, I just love remixing this skirt from my closet as I get inspired by different images daily!

I've been on the hunt for a pair of leopard shoes for some time now and I finally came across a pair I fell in love with last month. She's quite comfortable because of the wedge heel and has just the right amount of animal print I was looking for in a shoe (can you tell I'm particular with my finds?) I finally had the chance to take her out for a spin and thought it would be the perfect finishing touch for this outfit.

Readers, where do you find your fashion inspiration from?