1.31.2012

cardigan addiction



 Cardigan - J.Crew
Dress - from boutique in NY
Legging - Uniqlo
Boots - Michael Kors
Bag - Botkier
Accessories - Burberry watch, gifted necklace from Australia, Tiffany rings

When I purchase something I like very much, I tend to wear it very often.  So you can see, even though I'm not a big fan of J.Crew, I have to admit this cardigan is so versatile and chic, it definitely has become one of my basic pieces in my wardrobe.  I'm not quite happy with this outfit because I've been wearing this dress for literally forever, and that's because I haven't done much clothes shopping lately...  but I'm planning on making a big investment (on fashion of course!) soon, so I better save up some more...

Meanwhile, do you love my watch?  I had this for a while, gifted from my sweet boyfriend.  She's still my favorite :) 

1.29.2012

Cafe Livre






I'm so particular about restaurants in general, but I'm especially picky about French food.  Not that I grew up eating French food or anything, but I've had so many good French food back in NY, I tend to have a high expectation.  With that being said, Cafe Livre in Culver City is simply amazing.  Everything is soooo tasty, yet reasonably priced.  It's pretty safe for me to say this is one of my most favorite restaurants in Westside.  I love a low-key, French restaurant.  Can't wait to go back there.

Cafe Livre
9626 Venice Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 842-9078
http://cafelivre.net/Home.html

1.26.2012

with my new Giuseppe Zanotti!




Romper - BCBG Maxzaria
Cardigan - J.Crew
Pumps - Giuseppe Zanotti
Accessories - Vintage & Tiffany's rings, Michael Kors watch (unseen) 

Do you love my new Giuseppe Zanotti???  I haven't done my outfit of the day post in a while, because I started feeling a bit awkward taking a picture of my own reflection lol.  Surprisingly, a lot of my friends who read this blog liked those postings, so I gonna try to keep up with it for now.  I'm not much of a J.Crew kinda girl, mainly because I think it's overpriced for what it is, but I got this cardigan on sale at $19!  I say it was a success!

Hope you like my new hair :)

1.25.2012

addition to my giuseppe zanotti family

Welcome!





As you may know, I'm quite obsessed with designer shoes, and Giuseppe Zanotti happens to be my most favorite, by far.  Their design is timeless and so chic, yet so comfortable on my feet!  I have to admit, price is a little on the steep side, so I always go for the best deal I can find.  When I I first saw this red suede pumps, I immediately knew she was gonna be mine!  She is my fifth pair of Giuseppe Zanotti, and hopefully the family will grow even bigger!

Meanwhile, maybe I should go for a different brand for my next pair of "IT" shoes!

1.15.2012

Romantic dinner @ Wilshire on Friday night

Having the best weekend so far... :)









So if you're my FB friends or follow me on Twitter, you probably know that I ran my first half marathon in my life today!  Even though I'm a perfectionist and with my super (unrealistic) standard I'm usually never happy with the current result, I'm truly pleased with today's run.  It was also interesting to see how painful your legs can feel after the half marathon... that was also quite an experience by itself!

To start off this long weekend so nicely, my boyfriend kindly took me to Wilshire on Friday night.  It was a pretty fancy restaurant for us, and I was so happy and excited with the course menu and its pairing wines we ordered!  Everything was super delicious, but I was especially in love with the black cod dish I ordered.  It was divine!  Plus, by going to these nice restaurants, I can learn to plate my dishes better too! 

This weekend has been so awesome so far, and hopefully I can make tomorrow productive as well while my boyfriend has to go to work...  Looks like I'm going to clean and organize the apartment and maybe go to shopping?  Who knows!

1.13.2012

chef competition!

Random pictures of food I cooked recently...






I was especially pleased with how the curry casserole turned out.  It's not a difficult dish to make.  In fact, it's a very simple dish you use with leftover curry.  However, I burnt white roux twice in a row last time, and it didn't come out as nicely as I hoped for.  So you should have seen how excited I was when this one came out perfectly!

As you can see, I love to cook but there's so much room to grow and it pisses me off insanely when I screw them up.  It really stresses me out with no exaggeration.  It also doesn't help that my boyfriend is actually a better cook than I am.  Before I cook, I usually google and do some research, carefully think about what I'm going to make, and precisely follow the recipe.  But for him, it's more about the inspiration and "feel" to it.  He still does little research on google sometimes, but look at this!!!  Aren't these gyoza just simply look amazing?



It tastes pretty darn perfect too.  And his French toast... one of the best I've eaten!!!

Hopefully one day, I will be as good as he is...  Speaking of food, my boyfriend is taking me out to the restaurant Wilshire tonight!  So excited!!!

Happy Friday everyone, and have a wonderful long weekend!!!

1.09.2012

delicious dinner in Mid-City

Saturday night @ Itacho...











I had an incredible time with my boyfriend this past weekend!  Coming back to work (aka reality) was more painful and torturous than usual...  

After spending some quality time at Santa Anita Park, we actually went to the gym in Pasadena together and worked out for a bit.  I know it sounds so dorky, but I'm glad that now we get to spend more time together, doing stuff we both like to do :)  (He's not the best person to take to my shopping regime)  Gym was unsurprisingly empty on Saturday evening, and it was so nice to actually have my own space in the locker room.  I didn't had to fight for the shower or hair dryers!  This is almost unheard of at the Santa Monica location :)

Anyways, after some good workout, we head out to this Japanese restaurant called "Itacho."  My boyfriend purchased a groupon-equivalent coupon at this restaurant a while ago, but it took us almost a year to come because of mainly the location.  It's not too convenient from Pasadena (where we used to live) or West LA (where we currently live).  However, we were pleasantly surprised how good this restaurant was!  West LA offers many Japanese restaurants, but as Japanese, we're both picky about our food.  Quite frankly, everything we see at West LA is overpriced for the quality it offers (or just bad food, no offense).  So we were thrilled to eat deliciously prepared sushi, with very fresh fish and rice was at perfect temperature/texture.  Other dishes besides sushi were pretty decent too.  As an Izakaya-style restaurant, we wished if they had a bit more selections and varieties of food, but everything they offered was great and customer service was even better!  Best of all, it wasn't fortune to eat these sushi!  Too bad, it's a bit far...

1.08.2012

Gamble Away!

@ Santa Anita Park...







 


According to my boyfriend who grew up in Japan, it seems like it's rather normal to go visit horse racing at least once in their lifetime.  Well, it may be because I didn't grow up in Japan, I was clearly the exception.  This was my first!  To me, horse racing and racetrack remind me of beautiful ladies with crazy big hats and gorgeous dresses.  Unfortunately, I don't really own a crazy big hat, so my outfit of the day was a dress minus the hat. 

This racetrack is supposedly a very famous, historical one and many of world famous races are held here as well.  My boyfriend purchased the groupon at Santa Anita Park that comes with a package of box seats and many other small deals.  So the whole experience was pretty interesting, and I gambled for the first time in my life and that was fun!  But towards the end, I was starting to think about these horses and felt little bad for them...  Their lives totally depend on how fast you can race, and imagine those horses that aren't as fast as others...  Before I start feeling all sad, I had to my beer.  No matter if it's at baseball/football game, or this case horse racing, I need my beer.  It makes everything so much better (at least temporarily)!