Photo credits: the ones that look more pro are from Mique.
My Asian American Studies instructor offered extra credit for participating in a scavenger hunt across Chinatown. Needless to say, Ling-Ling and my team dominated and won free boba (solely because of his knowledge, not my abysmal sense of direction, as Chinatown is not my 'hood, nor my inability to walk for more than half a block without complaining about how sweaty I am). This was followed up with Lahore Karahi and Connie and the Embarcadero and a lot of walking.
I totally forgot to take pictures of my outfit, so you will have to settle with these super Facebook-downsized versions.
This next one is a picture that I definitely feel should not exist...
This was all on Sunday. Something terrifying that I have discovered since then: my feet have tanned. Have I mentioned how much I think feet remind me of deformed monkey hands? Sorry you have to look at my feet.
[EDIT: If you would like the stencil, just email me!]
Let me say that I am very proud of myself for cutting this out without crying. Arranging it is probably going to be a whole other problem, but for now, here is the Pigfarts stencil I am planning on using to silkscreen a t-shirt, because StarKidPotter's Harry Potter parody musical, A Very Potter Musical, was that good. I have yet to decide what color shirt and ink, though. I want something very collegiate-looking.
Above, Pigfarts collegiate logo stencil, designed by me, but the credits of which can be found here.
Above, holes.
P. S. The best line delivery in the whole show most definitely goes to Voldemort for his "Hey you."
P. P. S. But one of the best lines is "Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders!" P. P. P. S. Another totally awesome line is "Remember, a Portkey can be any sort of seemingly harmless object. Like a football, or a dolphin." P. P. P. P. S. You can purchase an official Pigfarts t-shirt featuring headmaster Rumbleroar right here. P. P. P. P. P. S. Happy birthday, Harry! (And Neville, and you too, JKR.)
I was going to post something inarticulate and fangirlish, but I decided to be mature and compose myself. I'll just... enjoy this picture. Quietly. Without squealing.
This is not a paid endorsement, but it might sound like one because I am about to wax poetic about San Francisco chocolate company TCHO, which I had the pleasure of trying when I went to the ferry building on Saturday.
Lifted shamelessly from their website:
TCHO is the only chocolate factory in San Francisco.
TCHO is located in the heart of San Francisco, at Pier 17 on the legendary San Francisco waterfront, between Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Building, and five minutes from SF landmarks the Transamerica Pyramid and Coit Tower.
Since I was unsure if it was going to be any good, I looked at their flavor wheel and decided to go with "Nutty" rather than "Chocolatey," reasoning that a lot of places don't have quite the right bittersweetness in their dark chocolate, so I'd rather not set myself up for disappointment. Plus, this stuff is expensive.
Also the packaging is very nerdy-cool.
Here's a better product picture.
And my verdict is... DELICIOUS. Although I haven't found anything to beat Ghirardelli's 86% Intense Dark or Alter Eco's Dark Mint Chocolate, this gives them a serious run for their money. It started out sweet like milk chocolate, at which point I almost complained, but then some other flavor I can't pinpoint came out (I assume it's the nuttiness), then all was bittersweet. It's like watching a Korean drama... for your tongue.
I guess I'll be eating my words (and their chocolate) about TCHO probably not having the right bittersweetness, because I can't wait to try Earthy and...Chocolatey.
Above, skirt: wet seal. Monster scarf: DIY. Cardigan: Uniqlo New York. Sequined tank top: INC via Buffalo Exchange. Tights: Nordstrom. Flats: Steve Madden. Bag: J. Crew.
I hadn't worn this skirt for a really long time (probably not since I bought it when I was 13 and foolishly impressionable and intent on filling my wardrobe with the entire contents of the local mall's Hot Topic because it was, you know, so cool to be alternative and I was such a radical), so I thought I should pull it out to see what I could do with it for a brief trip to the farmers' market.
I don't think it worked so well.
I just wanted to mix textures! The rather excessive tulle on the skirt seemed to call for something equally extravagant, so I went for my sequined tank top, which then led me to my monster scarf for textural balance. Perhaps I have no sense of textural balance.
Anyway, wearing this scarf always makes me want to put on a really dark lipstick. And I might need to retire this skirt.
Ahhh, wardrobe lurkers... don't we all have them? (Or was I the only one unfortunate enough to have gone through woeful adolescent phases and failed to let them go?)
Done because we are too menny Because thrift is a virtue.
oldnavyweekly.com, which has a limited quantity of coupons hidden within the website, changed every week, sometimes as high as $75 off a purchase of $100. While I've never actually been able to nab those really big coupons before they're all gone, it doesn't hurt to stop by and print one before heading out to an Old Navy.
(And though this takes really long for me to load,) ...love Maegan, a really fun blog written by a 30-something, full of DIY tutorials, outfit posts, and good hair.
[EDIT: Flavorpill, San Francisco, for all your local event needs. Other city editions available: NY, LA, London, Chicago, and Miami.]
Uh... That's all I can think of right now. I am not so good at link roundups.
This outfit is nothing special, although it’s been a while since I’ve worn heels. In fact, the last time I wore these heels out was for… the senior last dance.
I later changed into more practical shoes to accompany my little cousin to go bike-with-training-wheels riding and donned a hat because man, it was cold outside, and I was not feeling my headache. My cousin has a Disney princess bicycle:
Above, I should be on latfh. Shoes: Harajuku Lovers via Nordstrom Rack. Hat: mother’s.
I was unofficially trying to spend at least a week seriously sitting down and writing posts and trying to actually get this blog to be, you know, Fashion, instead of throwing whatever I wanted onto the internet, but I just can't.
I am convinced that my life is constantly improving. I am not happy with Cal, and I'm not looking forward to going back very much at all, but looking back at today of last year, I'm really glad I have friends who help me by saying things like...
"But on a more serious note, I have to say, I felt like a peeping Tomasina"
"And let’s face it. You want to do inappropriate things with him until he needs a wheelchair."
"This is pass or fail class. How’s he going to score (or is he?)"
And I am looking back and laughing and I am glad that I can. Have some convenient Creative Commons pictures of kittens and a great night. Stay classy, San Diego.
[EDIT: Okay, attempt at serious posting will continue as planned.]
This outfit isn't much, but if you look at my face, you might notice that it's tinged slightly more yellow than usual.
Above, gray t-shirt: mother's. Jacket: gift. Skirt: Nordstrom Rack. Leggings: United Colors of Benetton. Socks: gift. Shoes: Fafi for Adidas.
For our Asian American Studies class, our final is a group project (boo!), and my group decided to do a video project (boo!) where we performed in whiteface and yellowface, the respective white and East Asian equivalents of blackface. While I didn't get a chance to put on eyeliner to make my eyes more slanty and narrow than usual (I don't know if this even counts as yellowface, since I am yellow), I did smear my whole face with bright yellow costume makeup. I couldn't wash all of it off after filming, which is why my face is still kind of yellow.
Also, when we watched the 1961 movie version of the musical Flower Drum Song in class, I didn't realize that Juanita Hall, who plays Madame "Auntie" Liang, is black. How could I not notice when the movie was in color? Because she was in yellowface.
But what really threw me is when I went home to look up yellowface performances, this series of articles titled "The 25 Most Infamous Yellowface Film Performances" from AsianWeek came up. Takeaway points:
Christopher Lee (who was Saruman in the Lord of the Rings movies) played evil villain Fu Manchu in yellowface.
So did Nicholas Cage.
Marlon Brando has acted in yellowface.
As has Katherine Hepburn.
You'd think that a romantic comedy that is a fashion favorite involving Audrey Hepburn and "Moon River" would be a little classier, but Breakfast at Tiffany's does feature yellowface with Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi.
A phrase that sounds totally inappropriate but is descriptive of the 1956 film The Conqueror: "John Wayne as Genghis Khan."
Two points I would like to make, though, are that number 25, Christopher Walken as evil ping-pong master Feng in Balls of Fury (2007), really shouldn't count as yellowface, since he didn't have yellowface makeup on and apparently avoided a racist portrayal, and Eddie Murphy as Mr. Wong in Norbit (2007) probably doesn't count either because apparently the whole movie is ridiculously racist. Equal opportunity racism is totally acceptable because it's so self-aware.
Not to sound all righteous and mighty, since I haven't watched any of the films blacklisted. (Yellowlisted?) Let me leave you with a snippet of Flower Drum Song, the song entitled "Chop Suey," which is both really frustrating because of the song itself and distracting because of the dresses!:
Monster Scarf, a 7.5-foot woolen-acrylic creature that only emerges when the weather is really, inconveniently cold - like during the summer in San Francisco - characterized by a neutral-colored body punctuated with narrow bands of bright colors. Approach with caution, for it may eat your head.
Above, monster scarf: DIY. Top: Old Navy boys, brother's. Jeans: Forever21. Shoes: Harajuku Lovers via Nordstrom Rack. Lips: Wet 'n' Wild.
If the wind is particularly biting, Monster Scarf will sense your hesitation to step outdoors and risk increasing your susceptibility to a headache or cold (or head cold), because Monster Scarf can read minds. In such a case, be sure to use your Occlumency skills. If you are not an accomplished Occlumens, Monster Scarf will eat your head.
Sorry, people who searched for "pigfarts shirt." I cannot provide you with a Pigfarts t-shirt. But I am providing myself with one!
(For anyone who is confused and thinks I am talking about swine flatulence, Pigfarts is the school that Draco Malfoy wants to transfer out of Hogwarts to attend in StarKidPotter's A Very Potter Musical, which is a fan-made parody musical based on the Harry Potter series.)
I designed it, because I am awesome. However...
It is based off college logo sweatshirt designs (particularly Harvard's), crossed with coats of arms.
The PIGFARTS font is Iskoola Pota.
VOS MOS POSTULO A SILICIS TRABA QUONIAM IS EST IN PALUS is in the font Cambria and is Latin for "You will need a rocket ship, because it is on Mars." Thanks to this English to Latin translator, although the meaning of the sentence is probably lost in the Latin.
The heraldic rearing lion in the middle is totally ripped off the drawing found here at a blog called "99 days," which is probably completely or at least semi-illegal. I am sorry! I will burn my shirt if you want, artists! Just say the word!
The crown is from the thumbnail from spraypaintstencils, which is probably illegal, too. (Or is it, if I'm not making money off it?)
The nautical star is taken off the homepage of Boucher Customs, but I'm pretty sure it's a generic nautical star design, so I'm going to say this one is legal.
The ringed planet/Saturn is from FreePrintable, which is... totally legal!
I have yet to pick a t-shirt or ink color for silkscreening, but that's a long ways off. I still have to cut out all the little pieces and (oh no) the letters. This is probably the most painful paper stencil I have ever decided to do. Let's hope my scissors don't get dull.
(If anyone wants the original stencil, feel free to email me for it. I don't care what you use it for as long as you're not making money off it or telling people you designed it yourself, although as it is, the design is probably only semi-legal. But I know we all wished we went to Pigfarts.)
[EDIT: For the record, you can purchase an official Pigfarts t-shirt featuring headmaster Rumbleroar right here.]
Photo credits: the ones that look more pro are from Mique.
I totally forgot to take pictures of my outfit, so you will have to settle with these super Facebook-downsized versions.
Above, hat: gift. Purple tee: Target + DIY silkscreen. Jumper: bloom. Sweater: Nordstrom, mother's. Flower pin: fake flower + safety pin. Jeans: Forever21. Bag: J. Crew. Shoes: Palladium.
This next one is a picture that I definitely feel should not exist...
This was all on Sunday. Something terrifying that I have discovered since then: my feet have tanned. Have I mentioned how much I think feet remind me of deformed monkey hands? Sorry you have to look at my feet.
