canyon

grand canyon, march 2010

Monday was the first time I stepped foot in the state of Arizona (specifically, the Grand Canyon) along with my BF, his mom, and my brother. Definitely a beautiful place but being from the city, I got bored quick. Don't get me wrong, it really was beautiful but you can only do so much there (and hiking was not an option). Clothes-wise, I failed once again. I brought two dresses and a pair shorts but 29 degrees Fahrenheight was too cold. I just ended up wearing leggings, an oversized shirt, and H&M's Garden Collection blazer. I also brought sandals and worried about freezing my toes but thank goodness my BF reminded me that I left boots in the car. I got quite a few stares since my boots had a heel (not that high though). Really, who wears heels to the Grand Canyon?









After a day in Arizona, we (my BF, his mom, my brother, and I) decided to take a detour to Vegas! I haven't been to Vegas since March of 2007 (only because I prefer San Francisco a million times more). I'll blog about it later!

♥ kat

panvimarn thai cuisine

Panvimarn
4101 North Bellflower Boulevard
Long Beach, California 90808


Today, my boyfriend and I dined at the Panvimarn Thai Cuisine in Long Beach. One of his best friends works there so we decided to check it out. I'm definitely not that knowledgeable about Thai cuisine but I've tried quite a few so don't take my word for it. Let's first talk about the decor, and talk about amazing! It's set up like a loft with golden walls and a huge beautiful statue to greet you (not sure if it was Buddha, but there was an actual Buddha head behind it). It was really cute and cozy inside and looked exactly like how my dream loft would look like.

As for the food, we ordered Beef Sate (Satay, if you'd like) which was incredibly tender and sauteed with coconut juice. Then we had Panvimarn Rice in which I didn't get the chance to actually taste it since I first tried the Spicy Jungle Noodles which was spicy and definitely numbed my taste buds for awhile. For dessert, we had Mango Sticky Rice and I love mango sticky rice! For you Filipinos out there, it tasted like Suman (?) or maybe not (don't know the names of Filipino food, I just eat it haha) just with sweet mangoes.

Overall, we enjoyed our experience so coming back is highly possible. My mom tried the Sate and she loved it when we brought it home.





♥ kat

magnolia bakery

magnolia bakery, new york city, january 2009

Word from the street: Magnolia Bakery to open in LA!!! First, Max Brenner is going to open in Vegas and now this. I now don't need to fly all the way to New York (not that I do of course haha) for White Chocolate Macadamia Mini Cheesecake from Magnolia and Tutti Frutti Waffles from Max Brenner! Not fond of the cupcakes at Magnolia but the cheesecake oh man, yummy goodness!

♥ kat

time for fun

boyfriend and I messing around, june 2009

In the past two weeks, I've worked nearly 30 hours a week, wrote a 6 page paper on affirmative action in 5 hours, studied for an ethics midterm, and went to an optional class (twice) to finish my Excel assignments. Who knew that using Windows Vista would be so complicated? I always thought I was proficient in Word and Excel, but this class told me otherwise. Ahhh, as a result of an extremely stressful two weeks, I caught a cold and all I've done (besides work and school) was recovered on my couch and watched TV. With that being said, I'm going to have some fun in the next few weeks:

1. disneyland
2. eat porto's
3. santa monica
4. venice beach
5. grub on crepes
6. getty museum
7. eat KBBQ
8. melrose
9. ROSE BOWL FLEA MARKET!
10. mission san juan capistrano
11. san diego zoo
12. miniature golfing
13. paulette macarons
14. go biking at the beach
15. dine at thai town
16. pink's hot dogs
17. yogurtland, all day everyday
18. go thrifty in LA
19. kayak
20. snowboard before it melts
21. panvimarn thai cuisine with friends
22. LA food adventure with friends

I came to the conclusion that because all I've been doing lately is either school or work, I've never had that time to document my outfits. That will change my friends!

♥ kat

ps
and yes, that is a cheeseburger hat! hahaha

shake shack

Shake Shack
Madison Square Park
E 23rd St & Madison Ave
New York, NY 10010

What I had on my last day in New York right before I headed to the airport. Either I was really hungry from the lack of food in the four days I was in New York or it was really really really good, I enjoyed it so much. The fries were so good, the burger was so good, and with a large soda, I think it was the first time I was satisfied food wise while in New York. Coming from Southern California, I'm not sure how Californians would react to Shake Shack. I like to keep an open mind, others are very prideful (my Boyfriend went to San Francisco with an LA hat and got them Giants Fans hating hahaha). So, I'm sure they would stress that In-n-Out is a million times better. I like both equally.

Ahh, I miss New York!

♥ kat

black and white

vintage dress, target tights, h&m heels, and UO headband

One of my favorite vintage dresses of all time. I love the simplicity and shape of it. Today was the first day in a long time in which I dressed up. Lately, it’s been a lot of leggings paired with oversized sweaters. I blame it on work. I never really dress up when I’m working and lately I’ve been reeling in some hours. Ahh, I’m so ready for summer break (I haven’t even gone through spring break!).

♥ kat

differentiate

photo by: bloomingdales.com

Yesterday, the BF and I went to Sephora and Bloomingdales in hopes of purchasing a 3.4oz bottle of Daisy (and for him, YSL's l'homme) but after being sidetracked by the sales lady about the parfum and the toilette, I'm a bit confused. I totally understand that the parfum is of better quality and last longer but the only size available is the 1.7oz for $72. The 3.4oz toilette costs $70. Twice the size, but doesn't last as long. What I'm confused about is WHAT TO GET! Ahh, Decisions, decisions. Also, my BF finally decided that Daisy was more of my scent than Lola. My mom also agrees so Daisy it is!


photo by: HERE
So my mom has offered a trip to Asia this summer so I MIGHT go to Thailand this year! Super excited! I haven't decided yet so we'll see. To those who have been following my blog, I've mentioned going to Europe but that didn't go through since the BF took a full time position and hasn't accrued any vacation hours as of yet. I still haven't confirmed with my mom that I'm going so we'll see.

Hope you guys are having a great Tuesday!

♥ kat

chictopia 10

photo by: carlos griffieth

Wow, it's been almost a month since Chictopia 10 event in New York. Apologies for not doing this post sooner, but school really really is overwhelming. Anyway, excuses aside, let's move on to my adventures in New York thanks to Chictopia! I flew into New York Thursday night to explore the city (shopping mainly haha). Before the trip, I was a bit nervous knowing that I was staying at a hotel and exploring the city by myself but having been to New York before, it wasn't as frightening as I anticipated it. My first stop was to the oh so glorious Topshop in SoHo. With three stories of beautiful (four, if you include the men's floor) clothes, I had to refrain from debiting my bank account or I wouldn't be able to last all weekend. So I just went to Zara and H&M and went back to the hotel to rest up for the next day.

Friday morning, I woke up around 7 AM and walked to Central Park. Central Park was completely covered in snow (thanks to the blizzard two days before) and it was so beautiful. Central Park is one of my favorite places in the entire world. Did a lot of people and dog watching while I was there. To make a long story short, did more shopping, spent time in Times Square and at the end of the night, I met the lovely ladies from Chictopia. They were all so nice and did I mention, beautiful! My roommate was Taghrid who is super super nice.

The Chictopia 10 conference was on Saturday and boy was it informative. I definitely believe that bloggers are changing the face of fashion. During the conference, I met Candy from Dulce Candy. She was incredibly sweet. She's also from LA! After the dinner, we headed off to 41 Greenwich Ave restaurant where I got to converse some more with Candy as well as Kristine and Helen. After dinner, Candy and I walked around Times Square and ended the night early since she had a flight in the morning.

Early Sunday morning, Candy and I had breakfast at the little diner near the hotel (loved the fresh squeezed orange juice there). We went back to the hotel and I went to my room so I can sleep a few more hours before the photoshoot in Bryant Park. It was surreal to be standing next to the tents in Bryant Park during New York Fashion Week (now I'm trying to aim to get INTO the tents rather than standing next to it hahaha!). As much as I wanted to have brunch and do the shopping trip that came with the trip, I had to catch a cab to Newark for my flight since I had class the next morning (8 AM!) for accounting (I definitely did not want to miss my flight).















So this concludes my awesome Chictopia 10 adventure in New York. I didn't take a lot of photos as I had hoped (let alone, any outfit photos with the exception of the photo from Bryant Park from one of my previous post) since my partner in crime (aka BF) wasn't around. Anyway, I'd like to thank Chictopia (Helen, Corinne, Kristine, and everyone else!) for this amazing opportunity. Overall, like I mentioned earlier, I had an amazing time and I'm looking forward to the next Chictopia event!

♥ kat