Autumn Fashion!

                    Sweater Weather!

Autumn is my favourite weather and it will always be. It's the only time of year where I can layer my clothes without sweating or looking like a marshmallow. Also I love the colour palette for the season. It's not bright nor is it dark, kind of in the middle, warm colours I guess? The only problem is that it doesn't last long. After a month, it starts snowing and out comes the puffy coats and snow boots. It's not that you can't be fashionable during winter but come on, a metre of snow in -20 degrees Celsius. I would probably be wearing the same winter coat and boots all season long. I don't have the money to buy warm but beautiful winter coats and boots. T^T

Anyway, back to talking about autumn fashion. I personally think that knits are autumn essentials. They're just so warm and fuzzy(depending on the type of yarn). Here's a video on how to style knits by Jenn Im from Clothes Encounter.

Aren't scarves also part of this season essentials? Well at least they are for me. They are a simple item that can accentuate your outfit and it also keeps you warm. I used to think that there were only like 3 ways to wear a scarf but I was wrong. Here's a video tutorial on 25 different ways to tie a scarf but Wendy from Wendy's Lookbook. Also here's a site to learn on how to buy the right scarf: Guide to buying scarves

Boots are also an essential right? But I'm more of a chunky boot kind of girl so those are the only types I have excluding my winter ones. Knee highs just make me look shorter than I already am so they don't look good on me. I usually stick with ankle boots like these ones.

Finally here's 3 lookbooks that I used a lot as inspirations for my outfits this season.


This one is by Weylie from ilikeweylie. She's the girly girl with a bit of quirk. 

This one is by Jenn Im from Clothes Encounter like I mentioned at the begging of this blog. I don't know if you noticed but I'm in love with her videos.

Last one is by Stephanie from Soothing Sista. She is Jenn Im's best friend so you often hear them mentioning about each other in their videos or doing collaborations. 


So there's going to be a bit of music in today's blog. This week Taylor Swift released her first pop album and, of course, I went to Target and purchased the deluxe edition. I was totally surprised by the pictures that 

came along with the album. They were gorgeous! I listened to it for the first time this morning and I've had it on repeat since then. I'm actually writing this blog while listening to it! Current favourite songs from the album are Bad Blood, Wonderland, Wildest Dreams and, of course, Shake It Off. I also purchased Black Veil Brides' self-titled album. I listened to it and was a bit disappointed. Their style changed a bit and to tell you the truth I prefer the old them. I still love their music

and the message they're trying to send to their fans. I was saved by their music during my first years of high school where I was extremely depressed and suicidal. To those who don't know them, they're a great band and not some depressing emo band you think they are. Also don't judge by the cover, they're not satanic or anything.

Chinese & Japanese Traditional Clothing

                   Traditional to Modern

I've always been interested in traditional Chinese/Japanese kimonos. They are absolutely stunning and have various types of patterns which make them very unique. 

Here are 2 traditional Chinese outfits:

As you can see both outfits are some what different. Well, of course they are since they're both from different era. As you can see in the picture below, it shows you the evolution of Chinese clothing.

But no matter what, I'm still amazed at how   much it changed. I really love the traditional Chinese dress but if I were to pick one it would definitely be the Qipao.

Now here are some traditional Japanese kimonos:

Aren't the patterns just absolutely GORGEOUS?! Now I've heard a lot of people get confused about the difference between the yukata and the kimono.

Now time to explain. The right photo shows a kimono and the left photo shows a yukata. The main difference is the layers. A yukata is a casual summer kimono so it doesn't have much layers to it but the kimono on the other hand has many layers. Another difference is the collars. The yukata has only one while the kimono has two. The easiest way to differentiate them is if they're wearing socks. If they are then they are wearing a kimono. If not then it's a yukata. Why? I don't really know. Maybe because it's the summer heat? Well, whatever the reason that's just how it is.

The traditional clothing in Japan hasn't changed as much compared to the one in China. The kimono has became modernized a bit by many fashion designers. Some made the length shorter, others add frills but the most common one is adding more modern patterns. Here is a video on modern yukatas:

                

I really do wish I had one of this outfits. They're so adorable! >.<

Skin Care

                               Update!

Wow! My last post was in March... I completely forgot about my blog when exams began. But now that's over, I can finally relax and continue writing on my blog. I will definitely try to post more stuff. Maybe more fashion posts. 

So everybody knows that when you're stress, your skin tends to breakout. Well, that's what happened to me and I can't handle seeing it. I did some research and two EXTREMELY easy DIYs. 

                     Egg White Mask

This egg mask is cheap and really great! It tightens your skin and minimizes the appearance of your pores. It also makes your skin smooth and brightens up your complexion. I just began using this mask yesterday so I can't say much about how it is for me but I can definitely say my face is a lot smoother.

                        Sugar Scrub

Extremely simple. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of olive oil and voila! I like adding some lemon juice because it makes it smell great, evens out my skin tone and gives me a brighter complexion. The sugar in this scrub helps remove the dead skin cells which is important for having smooth and beautiful skin and it also cleans out the pores. This scrub can be used on your arms, legs, back, stomach and even your face! All you do is rub it over the area you want to exfoliate and massage it for a minute and then leave it on for 3 to 5 minutes. After that, wash it off and you have nice smooth legs!

I read that I shouldn't use these DIYs more than 2 times a weeks so of course I have to do something else to maintain nice skin. And well, that's washing it twice a day and moisturizing. I use the Vichy Normaderm Purifying Cleansing Gel, Pore-tightening lotion and Anti-Acne Hydrating lotion.

 This actually works really well for me. After using it for a week, I noticed that I had smoother skin and that I had less pimples. Sadly it's bit pricey.

Now I don't know if this worked that much. My skin doesn't feel any different from when I began using it. Maybe it's just me. And this is also quite pricey. Well maybe only because I find everything over 10$ expensive.

Now this lotion is amazing! It treated my acne and my skin was kept hydrated. You don't need to apply much, only a pea size for the whole entire face. Also like the other products, it's on the pricey side.

I use the purifying gel and hydrating lotion every day, twice a day. And for the pore-tightening lotion, once every two days. 

It's so hard to keep my skin acne free. And with my extremely oily skin... *sigh* I'm so jealous of those who had flawless skin. Anyways, that's all for today. Bye now! >.O

My Recipe Book

                    Food!!!!!!!

Hello everyone! How are you today? Good? Bad? I'm doing fine so you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to reward myself with FOOD! It's not really a reward, it's more of an essential. Anyway, today I'm going to write about food, more precisely, my recipe book.

So everyone knows that everything is on the internet know right? Well, that's were I find all my recipes. I'm pretty not much people actually go buy recipe books now because of the internet. But the only problem for me about recipes on the internet is that I can't bring it into my kitchen. I'm not going to drag my computer to my kitchen just so I could cook. I could always look it up on my cellphone but something is bound to happen to it if I put in my kitchen while I'm cooking. So my solution is to just write down the recipe(that I found on the internet) into my notebook which I now call my recipe book. The notebook only cost me $1.50 so I'm not really worried if something happened to it. 

I just recently started writing it so I only have a few recipes. They're all simple stuff since I'm not a good cook. I'm still practicing and trying out new things. I really want to try to make a Beef Bourguignon. Ah... I feel like I going to mess it up. Anyway, here's a list of the recipes I have written in my recipe book. I going to add a link to the recipe so check it out if you want to try making it!

-Hash browns -> SimplyRecipes
-Scotch Eggs -> Jamie Oliver's
-Omurice -> Japanese Cooking 101
-Mash potatoes -> AllRecipe
-Souvlaki -> AllRecipe
-Creme Brulee -> AllRecipe
-Macaron -> Sorted Food
-Banana Bread -> AllRecipe
-Red Velvet Cake -> AllRecipe
-Baked Cheese & Ham Mash Potatoes -> AllRecipe
-Bechamel Sauce -> Food Network
-Honey & Soy sauce Chicken -> Food
-Broccoli Soup -> Food Network Canada

I'm pretty sure some of you may have noticed that most of the recipes are from AllRecipe. It's one of my favourite websites to go on for recipes. There's also the Food Network website which I love. 

I just realised that I haven't posted a single picture in this post! It feels like something's missing.... So here's a picture of a plate of beef bourguignon!

It looks so good! I just hope I can make it.

This is all I got for today's post. I actually wanted to write a post of my current knitting project but I decided to do that another time. For some reason I just felt like talking about food. Ha~~~~ Food is such a wonderful thing!

  

              Bye Everybody!

The Current Trends?

                                Am I Late On Fashion?

I absolutely ADORE fashion but the problem is that I'm always late on the new trends. I don't follow them but it's still nice to know. I'm not sure what the trend is in your city but where I live, showing a lot of skin is trending. I'm not saying those people have no style or anything but it's just not appropriate.

Anyways...
I'm not sure if it's as trendy as I make it sound but it seems like Vintage, Floral, Tribal/Indie & Classy is quite "in" right now. Many stores I go to have a lot of those type of clothing. Not only that, many of YouTubers and strangers on the streets have that kind of style. I have to admit that I'm one of them but I never understand how they become so trendy but then it loses its popularity after a month or two. 

                          Floral 
                                                                                                 

  Vintage

   Tribal/Indie

 

  Classy

  Ah~~~~ 

The outfits are so adorable! I wish I had the body and the money to wear such adorable outfits. T^T

I really love fashion but why must clothes be so expensive in Canada! Ha~~~  

There's also the trend with the YOLO, SWAG and stuff that are really popular but I don't really think I need to show any examples of them because there's already enough on the internet. 

Well that's all I really have to write for this post. I didn't really have anything in mind for this post so it's a bit short. I want to write more but I just don't know what to write! What happened to all my inspirations...

          BYE~~~ OH! And                  

The Day After Christmas

                    The Day After Christmas!

       Merry Christmas! Even though I'm a day late...                         >.<

In Canada the day after Christmas is called Boxing day. On that day all or at least most of the shops will have big sales. Why? I don't know but it's a great day for shopping.

I'm actually spending my Winter vacation in Los Angeles. Did a lot of shopping since the prices were so low for Christmas. Sadly they don't have Boxing day here. Well they do but not a lot of stores have sales. Anyway, for those who get the chance to shop during the next few days of Boxing day, make sure to spend your money wisely and definitely don't buy stuff you don't need. 

Here are some tips on what to buy and what to do:

            Do not buy clothes you will not wear

 

I know that feeling of wanting that certain clothing that you've been dying to get. There are so many things I want but half of it is just stuff that I don't need like blouses. My mom keeps buying blouses that I already have just because they're cheap. Don't do that because it's a waste of money. One is enough.

                    Do not buy your gifts 

Many people buy their next Christmas presents on this day and I think it's a bit stupid. People change, they may not like it by the time you give it to them unless you're buying it for their birthday that's in 2 or 3 months. Plus, always make sure that they'll like it because if not they'll won't be able to return it after a month.

                       Buy electronics

Electronics in our society is a must. Our mails have been replaced with emails, our memories are taken by a camera. It is something we need in our daily lives. There are many thing we need, example: cellphone, computer, TV, etc. Those things are stuff we can buy on Boxing day since they're cheaper. 

                   Give yourself a budget

Giving yourself a budget is definitely something you need to do before shopping. You should not spend too much money! Unless you're rich. I usually give myself a 1000$ budget: 600 for electronics and 400 for other stuff. Just make sure you don't spend more than you can earn.

So there are those are my advice on Boxing day. They're the basic stuff you should know for days like this. Same with Black Friday.

This is all I am going to write about today. The next one will be in 2014 so see you then!

My Dream Travel To Paris

                                                 My Dream Travel To Paris

I just finished watching Julie and Julia and Ratatouille. They're both movies that are located in France and it just makes me want to go there so badly, mainly Paris though. But then I start thinking about the prices for hotel and flight ticket and extra money for shopping... WHY MUST EVERYTHING BE SO EXPENSIVE!!!!!! 

I want to visit the Eiffel Tower so badly! Look at the beautiful blue sky and greenery surrounding it! Ha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The main reason I really want to visit there is the food and fashion. My cousin went there before and just couldn't stop talking about how all the clothes there were so cute or how all the food tasted amazing. I never really

wanted to visit any designer store like Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc. I'm not looking for anything big because I'm not rich and I know designer brand stuff are EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. I prefer a small shopping district or flea markets. I find antiques and vintage stuff so much more interesting and 

worth buying than expensive 
clothing that I'll probably 
only wear once 
because it's so 
expensive and 
knowing me I 
wouldn't want to ruin it.

I don't know if I ever mentioned this but I ADORE reading and this bookstore is my dream. I've seen this bookstore in a Hong Kong drama call Triumph in the Skies. I instantly became in love with the bookstore. I always thought it was just a fake store used for the drama but then I did some research and found out it was actually a real bookstore that let's people sleep there on beds! If I ever get to go to Paris, I definitely need to go to Shakespeare and Company. 

I would really love to go to a Parisian café  and just enjoy a cup of coffee and a croissant like in the movies. I would also love to go to restaurants to taste what true French cuisine is like. I've eaten a lot of food based on it and I also made a few but none of them ever tasted like what I would expect. Maybe I'm expecting too much... 

I know a lot of people think that escargot looks disgusting and sounds unappetizing because it translate into English as snail but I really want to try them. I've eaten them before but not the French way. I also want to try some 

French pastries. I made crème brulee and macaroons before but only those. I've eaten mille-feuille, chou-crème, éclair, tarte and some other pastries. They all tasted AMAZING but I still want to try the pastries made in Paris. Look at that picture! Don't they seem so delicious! 

Basically what I want to do in Paris is to eat and shop for antiques, clothes and books. Oh! Definitely cannot forget to mention sightseeing. Anyways.... J'ai réalisé que j'avais pas mal de lecteurs en France donc je veux vraiment remercier tous mes lecteurs français. J'adore Paris et un jour, j'aimerais visiter ce merveilleux ville. Merci d'avoir lu mon blog et je vais vous voir sur mon prochain post!

Thanks for reading my blog and I'll see you on my next post!