Clothes everywhere!

I was cleaning up my closet... I realized Moley + Lulu have a LOT of clothes. Then I started thinking back to when the clothes actually fit them... aww they're so cute ~.~

Here's Moley... I've been dressing him since he was a pup. (He didn't like it much back then)












And we all know that I got Lulu just so I had a baby girl to dress in pink so here she is:









And actually... they do look pretty depressed in all of the pictures. It's NOT because of the clothes! They just hate posing for pictures. Usually I am dangling a treat in front of the camera so that explains the intense stare...

Enough of Summer...

I hate how fashion is a full 6 months early now. Especially living in Los Angeles where it's year-round summer, I feel like I get "stuck" in between seasons. I feel like fashion pages have been showing off Fall fashions since June (the introduction of tweed?) so you get sick of things before you even get a chance to wear them. But....

Now that I've a renewed faith (addiction) in clothes...

Now that the nights are starting to bring a breeze...

I've begun to think about what outfits I am going to pull together for this Fall/Winter. It has been hard to get into a fall-state-of-mind because (1) we've just barely finished summer in LA (2) I've spent the last couple of weeks shopping summer sales and (3) I spend my nights browsing the Spring 2005 looks online.

But enough of summer, it's time to really think about Fall. Before I layer on outfits, before I shop for scarves and other for-warmth accessories, I usually browse through looks to get inspiration for the Fall. Here are the pieces I'm collecting for Fall:

This look from the Marc Jacobs runway sums up a lot of what I've been thinking for Fall. First must-have: a good pair of trousers. I'm going for the longer, wider leg these days, looking for whatever makes me look taller. I need a dark pair (not black), a light pair, and a denim pair.

Also I'm liking the color teal for accents, and I love little blazers that pop out either by color or texture. (No tweeds for me, though) I'm looking more towards magenta or violet velvets, chocolate or burnt reds for cords, or smooth teals and mustards.

Things I love about Marc by Marc... rounded collars... girlie purply velvets... I chose this look as a point of inspiration not because of the pieces, but more for the colors. I'd love to get some feminine tops in soft, touchable fabrics in different shades of pink and violet to layer over a vintage grayish structured denim.

For the more serious "at work" looks... I am going to pair my "manly" gauchos, cropped pants, and tailored dress pants with lighter sherbert colors. Fall to me used to be so drab and dark with mixes of browns and oranges, so I want to stay away from that this season.

And I've promised myself... no more leaving the house in sweats. No more jeans and C&C T-shirts. At the very least, I will dress up tee+jeans with many accessories, not just one. And who knows, I may even try a capelet.

Hair this season: I'm going to pump out the full volume spray and try for looks that are full, messy, yet pulled together.

Urban Dog University

This Sunday was Lulu's first day of school! We've called upon Urban Dog's Jan Naud for private training. She came over to our house for a few hours of training.

Moley and Lulu's first assignment is to master Come, Sit, and Watch. Used in this series it is an invalueable behavior to take place all other behaviors that you do not want. (i.e. chewing, rowdy playing, excitement, peeing, etc). The main point of these 3 commands is to get the dog's attention on you, and only you. Since we're in our first phase of teaching these commands, Moley and Lulu get a ton of freeze dried lamb treats as reinforcement. So far this has helped tremendously out on the streets! Normally, both dogs go crazy at the sight of a passer-by, now I have a means to control them and have them both looking at me rather than peeing on a stranger.

Well, it's only been a day with the new training, so I'll update again after we've had a couple of weeks' practice!

By the way- I highly recommend Urban Dog for doggie daycare, 310.445.1447 for information.

Have it your way

Just for fun... today I ordered a grande-iced-decaf-soy-latte-with-sugar-free-hazelnut.

It was actually pretty good.

Marketing gimmicks.

I am a complete sucker for Neiman Marcus Beauty Events. They always have the best samples put together in a cute tote and I just can't resist :) Well, this time around I was in bad need of Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer anyway (Fred Segal has been out of these for weeks now) so I decided to check out the NM site. They're having their Fall giveaway so I took advantage! (Or did they take advantage of me...)

The deal is... buy $85 worth of beauty and get free shipping and the Fall gift:

• FRESH Sugar Blossom Hand Cream
• PAUL SMITH London for Women for Men Eau de Toilette
• NATURA BISSÉ Inhibit-Dermafill
• DARPHIN PARIS Purifying Balm
• PRADA Eau de Parfum
• LAURA MERCIER Eye Basics in Linen
• FRÉDÉRIC FEKKAI Glossing Cream Shampoo and Conditioner
• MOLTON BROWN Invigorating Suma Ginseng Bath & Shower Gel
• ORLANE PARIS Pure Jeunesse
• KIEHL'S SINCE 1851 Ultimate Strength Hand Salve
• LANCÔME PARIS mascara

They always happen to be items I want to try anyway... like the Prada perfume or the Kiehl's hand salve.

But then, they also have a special beauty offer with Laura Mercier where if you buy $100 worth of Laura Mercier, they give you this gift:

• Full-size Eye Colour
• Mini Lip Colour in Amaretto
• Mini Primer
• Mint Leaf Gel Body Wash

So, you can essentially spend $100 in Laura Mercier and take home both gifts with free shipping! :)

Of course, there is a sneaky side to all of this. You can't really piece together a shopping cart of exactly $100 in items you want. I absolutely needed the tinted moisturizer ($38) and a regular moisturizer ($38) so I had $24 to fill and the items I wanted were Lip Silk ($18) but then I was missing $6. I could have gotten the bronzer for $30 but then I'd go over AND I don't really need a bronzer. I decided to shell out $35 for the eyedration cream since it's an anti-puffy anti-dark circles cream and, well, being the big cry baby I am, puffy eyes are pretty regular :)

So... Neiman Marcus got a few extra dollars from me (I guess if you really count it that way, they got an extra $73 since I originally planned on buying just the tinted moisturizer) but I am walking away with 2 more products and 2 bundles of gifts. We both win right?

I can't wait for my goodies to come.

Oh, Lulu.

1:22 PM I give Moley + Lulu a cookie each, Moley eats his in 2 seconds, Lulu brings hers to her hiding spot to slowly eat where Moley can't bother her.



4:15 PM As I vacuum, I noticed a frayed cable, pull the couch back, and find THIS!


Oh, Lulu. Cables are NOT chew toys!

My Best Friend's Wedding

I'm back from a long and tiring weekend... I can't write too much about it because I'll probably start crying again, but one of my closest friends (I've known her since the first day of school in 7th grade... that's over 12 years!) just got married this Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding and it was a good thing that I had waterproof eye make-up on because I cried every second before the ceremony, during, and during my speech at the reception. Anyways, before I start bawling again, here are some pictures...



Friday Night, Dress rehearsal dinner at Empress Harbor with close friends & family. (Me, S, L, and C)



The bridesmaids....



The wedding was held at the Catalina Room in Rancho Palos Verdes. Here is a picture of the aisle for the ceremony, covered with rose petals.



This is the view of the water from the site... so beautiful!



Finally, the happy couple! S & T.



Another shot of the girls in all of our gear!



Soo with my sisters.



Soo and I with our long-time friend, Esther.



Me & Soo.

Lesson of the week

Do not attempt to make muffins if you do not have a muffin pan!


I figured that my muffin paper seemed sturdy enough so I went ahead and made blueberry muffins. As a precaution I stood all the muffins in one corner so that they could support each other. Now I have a dozen retarded, oddly shaped muffins :-(

Look at that innocent little face...

Lounging on the bed with my hunnies.

My little girl is going through puberty!

Just a little over 5 months old and Lulu is already humping! This really came out of nowhere... and even though it's her first day practicing, she is already better than Moley!


Click here to view

Look at that rhythm!

Books are evil!

While I was on campus today I picked up "The Rule of Four" by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. I saw the book before at an airport bookstore and decided to wait to buy it at Costco ~.~ But at the UCLA bookstore it was 30% off so that was good enough!

Anyways, I've been reading it ever since, and now it is 11pm and I am finally finished. (What is that... a good 6 hours?) Anyways, I just realized now that I have a FINAL tomorrow at 11AM to study for and I have to prepare my research presentation before tomorrow! Augh! I wasted a whole day!

Well, if you haven't read the book yet then I highly recommend it. The puzzle-solving theme reminds me a bit of Dan Brown's books but the writing style is different. The story is gripping and it's very hard to put down. I like the logic of it more than "The Da Vinci Code" but it did lag in some parts. Actually I was alone in the apartment while reading it and some parts of the book actually spooked me enough to get an eerie feeling that I wasn't alone in my apartment... I was pretty freaked out. I had to put the book down for a couple of minutes to shake it off.

On to bigger news... Lulu ate paint today! When I left for my doctor's appointment, Richard was actually on his way home so I let Moley & Lulu loose in the house. As soon as Richard arrived he called me to tell me that somehow Lulu got into some of Catherine's black paint and her face, ears, and feet were ALL black... and so was our carpet. I was freaked out! I called the vet right away and luckily the paint was water-soluble so it did not do any internal damage to Lulu. It did leave ugly physical damage to our carpet though. Even though it is water-soluble it is TOUGH to get out of berber carpet because the more you blot/scrub... the more it spreads.

Okay, enough procrastination! On to schoolwork...

Woohoo!

This morning when I walked Moley+Lulu I noticed a lot of building residents hadn't picked up their morning papers yet. Then thinking back to *e's last trip to Ralph's, I decided to steal one of the Sunday Times for coupons. Well, actually I took my friend's LA Times who lives on the 5th floor... I'm sure he didn't mind ~.~

Actually, I didn't even know where the coupons were. I had to ask my mom. Then she explained the whole double coupon deal and how to find the coupons of items that were already on sale at Ralph's so I got ridiculous things like 5 bottles of Kern's juice for a dollar or 2 bottles of pasta sauce for $1.50. Love it :D

I almost saved 50%! And I didn't buy things just because I had a coupon... I picked and chose only items that I needed anyway, or that I've tried in the past and can use again. I only wished that I had remembered to punch in the Ralph's Club card at the END so I can watch the total go down all at once :P.

The breakdown:
$184.25 - Total (no Ralph's Club or coupons)
<$77.18> - Verified total savings
------------
$107.07 - New total

A Typical BH Saturday

Shopping! Caroused LA's (only?) sample sale: Billion Dollar Babes. This time around there were a lot more quirky LA-based designers but there was great stuff! Well, I'm disappointed that in order for BDB to grow and have larger sales, they have decided to start selling seconds and overruns in addition to samples, so 60% of the merchandise were irregulars, damaged or items that were over-produced and not-too-cute. But still I managed to find some things, here and there ~.~ I got some super-soft 1/2 sleeve tees from Tululah and a silk chiffon dressy top from Black Halo. Lia & Livia left with a lot more goodies than me... they were pretty excited about the sale :D

Afterwards we made a stop in Beverly Hills to get our brows done by who else but Anastasia. Going there on a Saturday is NUTS! The wait for Anastasia, who hadn't even arrived yet, was 3 hours! We decided to settle for Jasmine who had a more manageable 30 minute wait. Well, while I was waiting for Via to get her brows done, guess who walked in! Oprah!

I've always known that Oprah was a long-time fan of Anastasia but I'd heard that she flies Anastasia to Chicago on her private jet every other week to get her brows done, so I didn't expect her to walk in! Anyways, as soon as Oprah (and her mini entourage) walked in all the girls in the place were speechless. Jasmine's station is right next to Anastasia's little nook so she stood right next to me as she waited while watching Jasmine's handiwork on my friend. I got a chance to say hi to Oprah and chat a little about the frozen yogurt place next door. There was a limo and a bunch of bodyguards outside on the sidewalk, and a crew of papparazzi on the street trying to get a shot of Oprah in the store. Well, she was much taller than I expected and that woman really has a presence! She looks awesome for her age and is very friendly. Actually, she walked into the store acting like she owned the place, but with her money I don't blame her. I bet she tips Anastasia a thousand bucks each time she gets her brows done.

There just ain't a better steak...

There was that one time at Fleming's in Palm Springs where Richard and I ate steaks and actually said, "Wow, this is actually pretty good. It's almost as good as Mastro's." Then there was that time at Beau Rivage that Richard had the bistecca and said "Yum! This taste is very close to Mastro's."

Then of course you actually go back to Mastro's and that's when you realize... no place comes CLOSE to to preparing steak the way Mastro's does. Tonight the Bone-in Ribeye (weighing in at 22oz) was especially flavorful, with an extra thick lip. Richard always asks for the larger 33oz Chef's Cut Ribeye... as well as finishing half of mine. (That's over 40 ounces of beef in one meal!!!)

And it's not just the steak either: their crab cakes are the best I've tasted and I especially like their bread basket. The parmesan cheesesticks are addictive, and even better when smothered with butter. They also have a great array of fresh seafood such as King Crab legs and even Dover Sole. And although their creamed corn doesn't compare to Lawry's, it is still very good and goes well with the steak.

I have yet to find another steakhouse as satisfying as Mastro's... but I'm still on the lookout. Go on, I challenge you to find a better steak.

Are you even allowed to call this travel? :(

Got this from *e's site...


visited 7 states (13%)
create your own visited states map

*I wanna shop in NY, I wanna beach in Miami. I've only been to the sucky states :(


visited 10 countries (4%)
create your own visited countries map

Wishin I was in NY right about now...

Click here for show schedule.

Tomorrow's line up include:
Kenneth Cole - Do we ever see any change from season 2 season?
Imitation of Christ - First time joining mainstream fashion... should be interesting.
Tracy Reese - No doubt more of her flawless ultra-feminine and vintage-inspired style.
Sass & Bide - Can't wait to see these Australian designers' hand-made custom accessories for their show tomorrow.
Heatherette - Always fun, but I guess since Paris is promoting her new book out today, she won't be on the catwalk?

Moley biting lip.

Moley hungry.

Moley suspicious.

Moley bored.