Progress Note

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Wedding is Nigh

In all of the hype, I have complete forgotten to post my outfits! I had prepared the following photos long ago when the wedding was but a mere date in the calendar. It was still boot weather!

1. This was clearly a weekend moment spent in my Urban Outfitters bunny sweatshirt, Target sweater, F21 jeans, and Nine West boots. Hey, it was cold.
2. I love animal prints! Sweater-J Crew (old), top-F21, Se7en jeans
3. This is a largely no-name outfit. It was comfy. I think I will wear that dress again soon.

Ok, I'll be honest, I really liked this outfit and couldn't decide which was my favorite photo of it so I included them all.
Most notably, I remembered to accessorize! Next round of smoothies on me!
PS, that white J Crew belt is so versatile, methinks.
Top- gift from my style-aware dad , Skirt-tailored in Vietnam, Shoes-Steve Madden, Necklace-J Crew, bracelet-F21, earrings-thrifted

Next time I resurface I may be a married woman. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Hypothyroid Outfits

Did I lament about my lack of thyroid hormone lately? I almost fell asleep in the middle of the sentence. Luckily I have not fallen asleep while driving, which is my greatest fear. I am sadly up to 2 cups of coffee a day to stay awake. Alas, caffeine interferes with the absorption of levothyroxine. But look, I have successfully awoken at least 8 times in the past few weeks in order to wear the following outfits as well as take photos of them!

1. Sweater: gift from Mom, Turtleneck: JCrew, Skirt: JCrew, Shoes: from Vietnam
2. Sweater and top: gift from Aunt, Belt: JCrew, Pants: JCrew Pixie Pant, Shoes: Banana Republic
3. Sweater: same as #1, Shirt: JCrew, Pants: JCrew Minnie pants in Parsley, Shoes: Calvin Klein
WOW I am heavily representing JCrew in this assortment of outfits!

Here, I demonstrate the addition of a scarf that I bought from a street vendor while visiting Pittsburgh!
Other than that, I am wearing my beloved dress from Vietnam as a jumper.
I am holding Nutrigrain bars.
My boots are Nine West and belt is from JCrew. They have matching studs.

1. Shirt: from Vietnam, Sweater: gift from Grandma, Pants: H&M, Shoes: from Vietnam, Coat: Anne Klein. I accessorized here!
2. T-shirt: Zara, Jeans: Ann Taylor Loft, Shoes: Sears, Bag: Marco Tagliaferri
3. Dress: H&M, Shoes: Urban Outfitters

This is an oooooold shirt from Gabe's. I am experimenting with a new photo locale in my apartment.
Jeans: Forever 21, Shoes: gift from dear friend Sansrita, Necklace: gift from dear friend Jen

Did you see the artwork in the corner of the above outfit picture? That was by the hand of yours truly. Oil pastel over a linoleum block print.

I noticed that I have a label called "shopping spree" for my posts and feel amiss that I have not composed a post worthy of that label lately. This, of course, is directly related to the lack of shopping spree in my life. I have been too hypothyroid to shop.

Wedding Invitation Suite, Part Uno

I wanted to do a post on my invitations for a long time. I held onto them for over 2 years (insane much, anyone?), making little adjustments/improvements every few weeks, lovingly putting them in different orders (alphabetical, family ranking, ~~how much I liked the person~~), laying them out on my couch, bed, and floor, then storing them in their basket. These were the last few days that the invitations spent in my clutches:

Right: Patrick the Ostrich approvingly gazes upon the invitations.
They are laying on bed to dry (and be photographed) after I calligraphed the addresses.
Left: As you can see they are in their box, ready to be hand stamped and then released into the wanton custody of the mailmen and women who folded them and ran them through some machine that squished them. Grumble.

Early phase, back when we still lived in Pittsburgh. I was toying with the idea of making belly bands out of scraps.

I arrived at the final design of my invitation after perusing literally hundreds of other invitations online and carefully examining the wedding invitations I had received from my friends.

Ingredients:
-Pocket fold made out of cardstock (Aspire Petallics 98 lb cover, www.thepapermillstore.com)
*The purple color I used for my invitations are currently not available, so you will be linked to pink instead*
-Announcement (printer paper, yes very classy)
-Information card on a different cardstock (Via Felt 80 lb cover, www.thepapermillstore.com)
-Map card on same cardstock as Info card
-RSVP card on same cardstock as Info and Map cards
-Large outer envelope (Aspire Petallics 80 lb text, www.thepapermillstore.com)
-Small return envelope for RSVPs (same as outer envelope)

Since I purchased the paper in bulk, I still have a LOT of paper left for random other projects but I am running out of ideas fast. I purchased a carton of 750 sheets of 6" x 33" shiny purple paper since it was the smallest unit available and it was only $20 something back then. I probably used 50 sheets for the envelopes and now....the world is my paper oyster.

Left top: all the different components laid out
Left bottom: the international invitations get placed into a different outer outer envelope for extra protection across the border
Right top: assembled invitation suite and outer envelope
Right bottom: closed invitation

On the next episode, I will discuss more about the design and erasers as stamps and other salient topics. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Talbots, Cardiology Outfits, Amish Country

AHA! I've got your attention with the random combination of the above subjects. Maybe you wonder how I will tie them all together, well, the answer is that I won't. In fact, I'd like to add some more topics to the mix: calligraphy, pink Marco Tagliaferri bag, lavender nails

While I was on inpatient cardiology teaching service, I managed to get dressed 5 times. Please note my sock bun in the last picture. My hair is super unwieldy and all of my sock buns unravel within ~an hour :(

1. Top: tailored in Vietnam, Skirt: Anthro, Belt: J Crew, Shoes: Sears
2. Top: Talbots (<3), Cardi: AE, Pants: H&M
3. Top: tailored in Vietnam, Pants: F21, Belt: J Crew, Shoes: Talbots (!)
4. Tshirt: Charlotte Russe, Skirt: Anthro
5. Top: H&M, Skirt: Anthro, Shoes: Sears

I sort of recently discovered how awesome Talbots is (over the last few months). I also recently acquired new calligraphy markers and calligraphed while on an empty stomach until I became quite dizzy (over the last few hours).

Onto the Talbots...

The featured Talbots items are 1. Blue jacket and 2. Purple Espadrilles
Some favorite returning guest stars are: Pink Marco Tagliaferri bag, Seven7 jeans, Anthropologie trench coat skirt

Behold! I painted my nails purple and wished to 'casually' showcase them with everyday objects.
Clockwise from upper left: Marco Tagliaferri bag, keys with duck keychain, Groom quiz book c/o Danielle, Loathesome Pager

Mike and I went to Amish Country last week and stayed at a great Bed and Breakfast. While there, we saw many animals, ate a freshly made farm breakfast each morning, learned about the Amish culture and other tidbits about life.

These are some images that evoke "Amish Country" for some.
I never did get a chance to ride on a buggy. Truth is, they were noisy, slow, and the pooping of the horses was too frequent for my liking.
My hair is in a sock bun (for the moment)!

Chillin' and maxin' out.

Quite self explanatory: I pose by a tractor while Mike interacts with the animal residents of our B&B.
Outfit: Talbots jacket, H&M dress, J Crew pixie pants, Zigi shoes, purse from Amish leather shop (wahoo!)

This is legitimately cool: Mooney Warther train carvings of (right) ebony and ivory and (left) wood + ebony/ivory accents. This museum, though located in a humble setting, was breathtaking! Warther used no glue! He is indeed, the master carver.

On the grounds outside of the Warther Museum.

And that is all, folks. Coming up next....

- completed wedding invitation suite (2 years in the making?!?!)
- favor boxes

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Of Pixie Pants, Other Apparel, and Pie

Wow, I am so glad I own the J Crew pixie pants.
Last year I proclaimed my love for them a few months after finally getting them. I felt that paying $88 was a little silly for a pair of glorified leggings.

Then they went on sale. $_$ Unfortunately they seem to hardly ever go on sale anymore. They are definitely nicer than leggings and the signature back seams and zipper are still well-loved by all, especially me. I wear them a LOT and they are still as nice as ever! Yay!

Here are few as-of-yet unposted outfits featuring my beloved Pixie Pants:

1. Sweater: gift from Mom bought in France "Funky Diva", Shoes: leopard flats from Fashion Bug.
2. Top: J Crew, shoes: Bandolino
3. Top: Free People, Boots: paris hilton
4. Top: J Crew, Shoes: I Love Comfort from Sears, Earrings: leopard thrifted

I also have been wearing a lot of clothes lately, being forced to go to work everyday. I finally got around to uploading all the pictures of them from my camera. Well, I guess I'll go ahead and post them here.

I couldn't decide which shot to use for these so I selected them both.
Also shows the versatility of each outfit to exist in slightly different angles and poses.
1. Top: Trucco from Madrid, Cardi: American Eagle Outfitters, Pants: from Vietnam, Shoes: Calvin Klein
2. Top: Mango, skirt: from Vietnam, Belt: Talbots, shoes: unknown
3. Top: J Crew, Pants: H&M, Shoes: from Vietnam

1. Top: J Crew, Skirt: Anthropologie, Shoes: unknown. Necklace: I revived my Target necklace!
2. Top: Delia's, Coat: gift, Pants: from VN, Shoes: Talbots
3. Top: H&M, Skirt: Anthropologie, Shoes: leopard flats, Necklaces: Target and F21
4. Top: Adidas (old), Cardi: Target, Pants: H&M, belt: J Crew
5. Dress: Ann Taylor, belt: thrifted and very old, Shoes: VN
6. Top: F21, Skirt: gift from Mom bought in France, Boots: from Madrid

Again, couldn't choose one pose, they are just all so good.
1. Sweater: unknown brand, tank top: Delia's, Pants: J Crew Minnie bi-stretch wool, shoes: unknown brand
2. Top: J Crew, pants: Vietnam, Shoes: Banana Republic, Necklace: J Crew
3. Top: Mango, Skirt: J Crew petal skirt, Boots: from Madrid. WOW I really like this outfit! Note to self: wear this again, consider jewelry.

1. Top: elephant top, need I say more? Scarf: Urban Outfitters, Pants and belt: J Crew, Booties: unknown brand
2. Top: Banana republic, Skirt: Anthropologie, Boots: Paris Hilton via Macy's, Earrings: you can't see them but I made them!
3. Going out outfit. Top: unknown, from Gabe's, Jeans: Seven, Shoes: from VN

Lately I've been in the cardiology ICU, which I consider to be a slightly hateful place. Lately meaning for the last 2 days. I think I am coming down with a le-cold (rhinovirus). I will refrain from further discussing my sentiments regarding the CICU on the blog. Back to something more palatable:

Mere moments later:

Mike has struck again!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Proof that I am Vietnamese: Making Xoi

I have been anguishing over the lack of xoi in my life for some time now. My mom makes xoi in a contraption of an aluminum pot in which a straw basket sits, mystifying me ever since I was little.

Thus, I always associated xoi with magic and, therefore, unattainable for a mere mortal like me. Xoi comes in so many flavors and colors that I had a hard time choosing which to make. It was certainly a no-brainer to make Xoi with Lap Xuong (chinese sausage)...but why did the 2nd xoi turn out to be green? Mystic.

First I had to procure a steamer device. The chinese store nearby did not have my mom's exact contraption so I bought a bamboo steamer. I was instructed by various internet sources to line the steamer with muslin which I also didn't have so I lined it with a cut-up pillow case...awkward.

Post-soaking for ~4 hours, the wet grains are spread out onto the steamer tray. I was excited that I bought a double decker steamer. This doubled my steaming capacity!