Angry Bird Live!

Happy Friday!

Cozy up (Holiday wishlist)

Love this! Curl up in it with a good book, life is good!

More perfect with a hot cup of tea?

 Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp 1.7-Liter Stainless Steel Cordless Electric Kettle

A Love Letter

Thursday usually is the day I want to dress in absolute comfort. It is the day I volunteer in my daughter's Kindergarten class.  I avoid anything that would prevent me from bending down or sitting on the floor comfortably or too low cut or delicate to withstand the innocent pulling of young children.  I have seen other bloggers who are teachers, looking gorgeous in their pencil skirts.  I am always curious how they manage to do that.  Maybe they are upper grade teachers.  I love pencil skirt, but  try getting down to the eye level of 5 year olds, it can be a difficult task.  

(Outfit detail: Top: Nordstrom Caslon color block tee. Cardigan: JCREW Bottom: Vince Camuto Riding legging. Boot: from Hong Kong 10 years ago.)

On aiding day, I also make sure I go to bed extra early the night before.  I tend to be very impatient with kids when I didn't have enough sleep.  

Today's greeting is something I haven't seen in the past few month.  They each take off a shoe and put in the center of the circle.  Starting with the child of the day, they pick up a shoe, match it up to the owner and say Hi!

Thursday routine usually consist of writing and making pretzels and choice time.  While the pretzel starts to get a bit boring for me now that we are onto letter "M".  I also realize the mistake of wearing black.  The dusting flour shows too well on the black pants.

Writing time is always fascinating to me.  The classroom takes a free spirit approach during writing.  Children write, or mainly draw at this stage, anything that they might fancy.  It is amazing to see the different ideas flourish during this time.  You definitely see the difference between boys and girls.  While girls carefully details out rainbow, flowers, dog,  princess, or other beautiful things and write things like "I like flowers" or "I love you",  boys boldly explodes not only with colors and lines, but also sound effects during the process of making laser guns,  black hole, or ninja and write things like "blizzard", "Poke ball (as Pokemon's weapon)" or some other fancy sci-fi world that completely out of my comprehension.  

Choice time is always the children's favorite.  Today it seems everyone is into making something.  The crafts table became really crowded.  There are a group making airplanes and flying ships.  Later two boys ask me if they can go outside to test out their results.   I thought that would be a good idea and accompanied them to the kiner yard.   Today is a very windy today.  One flied and the other one plunged like a rock with all the stables. I ask them to observe why one worked and point out the winds and hollow body and why the other one not (it was a chunk of paper with lot of stables)  Another group was making shields and swords. 

My daughter generally love making something. but today she was busy writing something on a chair.  There were no room on the table.   Since she didn't complain about it, I let her be.  A while later, she handed me a letter, with a hand made envelope:

 

Oh, I love you too, baby!

Lia Molly Sweater at Swirl

Swirl by Daily Candy is having sale on their sweaters.  Some Lia Molly items are under $50.   It is a brand anthropologie carries.  I love the beautiful knit of Lia Molly sweater in the past,  but the fit can be problematic at times.  For your reference I am usually a S in their item.  If you are into Lia Molly, those are pretty good price, consider most of their sweater are regular priced at $200 or more.

Happy Shopping!

Shop till you drop

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Did any one participate in the black Friday?  Do share so I don't have to be the only one feeling guilty about spending so much.  :-)  I didn't intend to go to the Anthro store, but relying on the freeshipping online purchase.  Although some got cancelled later, but I still got a pretty good batch.

Anthropologie Black Friday Sale Haul by inkmark featuring lightweight scarves

After mentioning that I might go to lakeshore learning store to pick up some toys on Thursday night for my son's birthday because the stuff I order on line might not arrive on time,  My daughter got overly exited and got up really early.  I wish she does that during school days.  I told her to go back to sleep because that is what I want to do.  She end up just laying next to me quietly and after an hour, she still have her eyes wide open.  It got too uncomfortable sandwiching between her and hubby, even though we have a kind size bed.  After that I gave in.

The toy run didn't take long, and after that there are still plenty of time, I thought I'd venture to Anthro to do some returns. Among the return items are the Feathered Village Skirt I reviewed previously here.  The petite size came and won slightly although the difference is pretty minimal.    The plan was that if the parking is too crazy, we'll just go home.  Suprisingly, parking is extra light,  lighter than a Friday night. The Anthropologie store is a different story.  Boy,  did I pick the wrong time to go for returns.   I have never seen Anthro so packed, not only full of people but also full of  merchandise.  The isle is so tight that I couldn't even get near the popular sale items.   I guess they brought everything they had in the back out.  My daughter tried on a dress there, and it is $45 even after the 50% off and she is almost at the limit of the sizing, but she understands that was just for playing dress up. Not having anything particular in mind, the crowd wasn't too bad.  We just played with the stuff animal while waiting in the line.  After that we went to the nearby pastry shop and I had a large cup of Latte.  And that was a mistake.  I had full intention of taking a nice relaxing nap, but instead, I end up in a zombie state in the afternoon where my brain doesn't quite work, but i cannot fall asleep either.

It has been a while I post any OOTD, but today I want to show off my new favorite purchase. It is Vince's Blanket coat.  It is soft and warm like a sweater but the tight weave makes it wind resistant. It is 50% wool and 50% yak, but it is not itchy.  It has a hood and size pocket.   I like how easy it is to put on and move around and yet look polish enough.

(Outfit detail: Dress: JCREW High Tide Dress,  Scarf: Ann Taylor (buy it here),  Bag: L.A.M.B. Coat: Vince,  Boots: Hush puppy)


I got this sweater from  Nieman  Marcus Last Call when they had the 40% off everything,  but Hautelook has a flash sale on Vince today and the price is even lower than Last Call. Naturally the sale went off the shelf quickly but there are still some left.   Vince's style is total opposite of Anthropologie.  Some seem overly simplistic for such a high price point.  What is your take on vince? Do you think it is over priced? For me I normally don't mind pay extra for a sweater because they last very long time, however for a jersey item that are cotton, would a brand name cotton worth the double for its comfort?

Review: Feathered Village Skirt

If I would buy only 1 skirt this winter, the Feathered Village Skirt would be the choice.

This beauty is even better in real life than the one on the picture.  The fabric has a sateen feel and gives out a soft glow under the light.  I also like the weight on the fabric.  The whimsical print remind me of children's book illustrations, although I can't pin point which one exactly.  Maybe Harold the purple crayon when he was felt lost in the city scrape and wanted to go home.  The background olive tone was a easy color to pair, which is also a big plus.  The print is catchy enough to feel special, but not over the top so it can still be wear in daily life.


I am somewhere between 2 to 6 and size 4 on this one fits perfectly so I'd say it fits true to size.  It does flare out more than the picture even though I don't have much of a hip.  Sits on Natural waist and hits just slightly below my knee. I may want to try out the petite just for comparison.

It is well made.  No complain about the quality.  There were so much details take into consideration even inside of the skirt.  Both the waist and the rim of skirt inside are reinforced by a red satin band.  I think it helps weight down the rim so it doesn't The bottom part of the lining has two layers of ruffles.  That's probably what supports the flare.

Overall, I love the skirt and took it home with me. I also order one on line just to see if I would like the like the petite better, I will let you know once I find out.

Also Zulily has poetic licence shoes sale.  I have not try on Poetic Licence shoes so I can't say how comfortable they are and I don't like some of those over-the-top grandma print, but I do like the polka dot and the love letter pumps.

Anthropolgie Reload

My mac was at the shop.  The phone rang after I had just pour myself a full cup of tea.  The cord tripped the teacup and the Mac was ruined. *Sob, sob....On the other hand, since I have so little reader, I wonder was there anyone even curious about why I was missing in action?

In any case, for quite a few month, Anthropologie has been a meh for me.  JCREW had dominated my interest with their beautiful class color combo's. However, I think partly it is also because the model is super skinny.  A lot of the trends this year is not working for me.  For instance, the shoulder buttons had made my shoulder look extra square.  Or the beautiful and soft camel color completely wash out my face.  The Midi length skirt swallows my petite figure.

The other thing is the change of routines.  Now I have to get up extra early to get my new Kindergartner to school on time and morning is too stressful to even put on anything fancy.  I have been just doing Jeans and Shirt for the most part because I was just too tire to fuzz over what goes with what.

Having said that, I still lust over things. I just don't really wear them.

Recently I discovered a new brand of shoes I really love, other than the price tag: Attilio Giusti Leombruni.  All ballet flats hurts when first put on, whether it is JCREW or Tory Burch, but AGL shoes doesn't to my amazement.  I don't find their style particularly fancy, but they require not breaking in!  Nordstrom had some styles on sale during the half yearly sale and I happened to try a pair of on.  Even at the sale price, they are still too expensive, but if you are willing to buy JCREW ballet flat at full price, the sale price of the AGL shoes are definitely a better option. I debated, but the quick disappearance of those shows on line and at the local store made the decision for me.  There will always be other sales.  Patience, patience....

Another mention worth thing is the new iphone 4S.   My iphone 3 has been really grinding to a halt after upgrade to iphone 4 OS.  It just doesn't have the processing power. I have waited for the iphone 5, but with Steve Jobs passing away, who knows when the iphone 5 is going to happen if that is going to happen.  The biggest new feature is the Siri, voice recognition system.  So I tried train it to write a reminder for me to send the Variety show registration form for my daughter.  I am not sure what the problem was.  It had given me "Where IT show" or "4 Riet show" and so on, and then I call it stupid and it talk back to me, calling me in full name with the most angry and stern tone a robot can have.  Talking to my Autistic son would have been easier.    And it is not bad enough your daughter talks back at you, now the phone talks back to you too?  Confucious says "If this is tolerable, what else is not tolerable!" ( “是可忍，孰不可忍”)  For now I think Siri needs more training and I wll stay with the conventional input of typing the items in.

OK, enough rambling, back to the main topic.  The Nov Anthropologie Catelog really wows me.  All of the sudden there were so many things on the wish list now.  On top of my deseriable list is this page.

Of course the buttoned sweater top wouldn't work for me, but I love the skirt and the coat.  The print on the skirt looks like something just taken out of a children's fairy tale.  It has a sweet and innocent feeling towards it.  Of course Anthropologie is the master in creating something visually appealing, but in the past, many falls short when putting it on.  I  would definitely try it on when I have a chance.

So what do you fancy those days?

OOTD: Autmn Gold

I wish I was in New England this time of the year.  Bay area doesn't get too much fall color, although we still see some color change  especially around Stanford campus where the Chinese Pistache trees are widely planted.  Have you check the airline ticket for the upcoming holidays?  It is scarily expensive.  Trip to Hawaii cost thousands.  How did I find a such good deal on the flight to Hawaii two thanksgiving ago?  Hubbie asked this question multiple times and how am I supposed to know the answer.  The downside living in California is that we are spoiled.  Once a Chinese poet said "Go far far away, familiar places have no scenery."  It is somewhat true.  Although I had never really tour San Diego in detail, somehow it just doesn't feel that exiting for some reason.

autmn gold by inkmark featuring knit tops


I had intended to wear this outfit, but the weather was too warm for a cashmere cardigan. So I switch to the mix tape cardigan of the similar color.

Wrap cardigan

I don't really own a cozy, but I think I own enough of these drapery items, maybe I could use some
idea.

 

A la Mode Paris

Do you remember JCREW's Paris's shot in the past?  Although we love to travel, we have never been to Paris.  Before we had kids,  we did not have much interest.  We are not much of city dweller. But the JCREW Paris 2007 really inspire some romantic thought about biking on the street of Paris, but by then we don't have much traveling freedom any more as our son was so young.  He had traumatized us in his trip to Chicago when he was 1 year old that we did not travel for the next 5 years.





Now the kids are older, we still don't have any luck with Paris. My son cannot have wheat or dairy, and to me, experiencing local food has always been a good part of the travel. So for now we will have to haul that thought. But we can always dream, right?

So when I see this little crewcut tee, I felt it really speak my mind.

A la Mode Paris by inkmark featuring a black messenger bag

So here is the OOTD in real life.

Review: Anthropologie Ruffled Demi Turtleneck

This top grabbed my attention among all the new arrivals for the fall. With its interesting gathering folds up at the neck, it feels like a good step up from an ordinary turtleneck.  The color is more rust than orange, makes it a nice addition to the fall outfit. I ordered it at the regular price item during the free shipping. In real life it is a disappointment. The rib texture was more prominent than the picture. It brings the overall color lighter, which washes out my face completely. The fabric is thick. It is very fitted. Even with sizing up to S, it feels tight. So definitely size up. Because it is fitted and ribbed, not only is it unforgiven for body flaw, especially if your trouble area is around the tummy like me, but also adds volume. I would much prefer the top being a smooth modal type of shirt with similar cut on the top and slightly flares out. I would also prefer the color to be a shade or two darker. Even the ruffle gathering felts stiff with the ribbed texture.   I think this could be very elegant for someone slim.  Unfortunately it is not for me.



There is a 25% additional off for sale items at Anthro right now, did you pick up anything? My recommendation would be this dress.  The color feels very fall, you can easily put a cardigan over it.  The print is very pretty. I think it is more green than brown, but the undertone is very muted.  It wasn't popular, but maybe because it is rayon?

I also liked this Pixel Impressionist Shift and the Sea Nettle Shift, but it wasn't available any more by the time I looked.

Look for less

Madewell  silk high tea top

Frenchi® Pintuck Blouse (Juniors)

Kate Spade FLORAL AUBREY WRAP DRESS

Nordstrom Rack Adrianna Papell Ruffle Trim Chiffon Dress 

Cut out the middle men

Do those look familiar? This dress is one of the item up for flash sale today at Hautelook.  Is Weston Wear one of Anthro's vendor?

I am sure I picked up one of this last year when it was on sale at Anthro.

Price is good if you are using Anthro standard. Click here for an invitation if you don't have an account already. 

Color Denim

I haven't been into the color pants till I tried it with Stripe, now I am hooked.

Somehow I think the  red jeans have a transforming effect on otherwise a pretty plain top.

Ella Moss top (see more draped tops)

Color Denim by inkmark featuring navy tank tops

Got Milk?

Have this happen to you? Rubbing your eyes after cutting hot pepper?

 My allergy flared up in the late evening and that is many hours after evening meal. God knows how many times I had washed my hands after the meal preparation. Yet, my eye lid went on fire. I try to wash it, putting eye cream on, closing my eye and hoping the pain will go away. Nothing works. Finally I begged hubby go look up the internet for some remedy.

 A few minute later, he came back with a wet paper towel. He dab it on my eye lid, like magic, the pain went away instantly. What created that miracle?

 Milk.

 Ah, not only does it strengthen our bones, but also it reliefs burns, sunburn and pepper burn alike. It is also known to help with cold sores. I seem to recall seeing it on TV that someone drink milk to neutralize poisons.

Love it!

Do you know any effective homeopathic remedy that works well?


 **************

I really liked it this look when browsing the photographs on Sartorialist.   Here is my take

The Sartorialist inspiration by inkmark featuring a tiered lace skirt

Fall

It still feels like summer last week.  This week we starting to see some of the gloomy thick fog lingering longer during the AM hours. Still, by no mean it is fall weather yet.  I was a bit impatient to put on some fall toned outfit with the light weight summer piece.

(Top: Anthropologie  Bottom: JCREW Petite café trouser in linen  Caridgan: JCREW island linen cardigan in cinimon spice.)

There were quite some goodies go on sale at Anthropologie today including the Verdant Slip dress, it is super gorgeous on Lisa. (see it here) but on the other hand, I have a feeling she'd look gorgeous with a paperboy on.

Premium Jeans

Have you notice the premium jeans that had fill the market these days?  They come with embellishment, detail to the logo design or other things differentiate them from regular jeans. Here is the extreme example: Forbe's slide show on the most expensive jeans. Coming from its working class origin, the high price tag on the jeans seem ridiculous.  Wall Street Journal also did its article on why jeans cost $300. From this article, it make you feel like a really sucker for buying the premium jeans.  Essentially you are paying the price tag for the Made in US label.

Anthropologie carries its variety of premimum jeans brand such as Citizen of Humanity,  J Brand,  AG jeans or Joe's.  What does the name of  some of those brand even mean?  I was quite happy with my Gap jeans till recently, out of curiosity, I tried on this J Brand Flare jeans on sale at store. I liked the soft stretchy fabric, I liked how the shape hugs your thighs, giving them the sliming effect.  Given it is petite it is still long. I have to fold it up.  That means taking it to a tailor is needed, which translate to a higher cost than the  sale price of $99.

What do you think? Had I completely gone insane for wanting this pair Jeans?  Do you have a favorite brand for jeans?

By the way, anyone know what this top is call? Really like the embroidery on it but they don't have a XS in the store.

Ah weekend!

After running around like chicken without a head the whole week, I am so glad it is finally weekend!

We had a blast last weekend at the beach even though the weather is somewhat cold. But that is just the norm for northern California beach.  I laughed so hard every time the kite plunge its nose to the sand.  Hubby eventually got pretty good at it.

(In the picture, my daughter is wearing JCREW fedora hat ($9.99 here),  JCREW terry sweat shirt, Disney small world skirt, really love the print)


Happy weekend!

Parent training

My daughter's school parent training starts today.  3 hours each week for three week.  It landed on the group meeting time so I end up taking the PTO for those hours and then make up the hour later at night.  On top of that, I am running a low fever, which makes my head turns into a bucket of water, every time I move, it feels like jello inside, and it hurts. However, the training is rather interesting. The thing about parenting is that it didn't come with a manual, so it is nice to get this free training from school and you might be able to apply that later at other environment.

This is a completely child center school.  The basic philosophy is that children are naturally curious, so if we provide the support and nurturing environment, they will blossom.  Whether the flower came out to be the kind you like is a different story, but they will blossom. We, the parents and teachers,  should respect them as individuals, appreciate their uniqueness, tuning to their needs, allowing them to grow at their own pace and trusting their good will when the behavior occurs. They emphasize on the whole child approach. Their emotional growth is just as important as academic and art.  So it is OK to eat in the time originally scheduled for math or art if they needed to take a longer time to hash out the emotional conflicts rise during recess, because emotional growth is just as important. They want the children have a safe environment to express themselves and explore.  They will not be judge for their capabilities, but instead, their efforts.   They encourage cooperation rather than competition.  I think that last part really turn some parents away from enrolling in this school.

OK, easier said then done, right?

There is also an interesting discussion on what the difference between encouragement and praise.  In this school philosophy, praise is less desirable than encouragement. Why?

Because praise is external and a reward.  It focuses on the end product.  It is result of comparison to others. When you praise, you are judging. As a result, children's self worth depends on others, and wanted more and more praise.  Some fears not being praised and became afraid to try when things become difficult.

Encouragement however is a gift. It focus on progress and effort and is very specific.  Children learn to appreciate their own special qualities and feel capable, loved and appreciated.

So what is the language of encouragement?

We want the encouragement to describe the specific. It acknowledges effort.  It notices the uniqueness and looks for the positive. It is important not to give and then take away.  I find this particular point especially important because I tent to do that. Instead of saying "you must feel like a big girl putting the shoes on yourself, but let me fix it;". You can always tell the second part later.

So how do I apply all I learned in the class at home even though it is meant for the classroom?

I tell my daughter at night when she is practicing piano that she tried very hard to play this difficult new song.  I told her I notice she had curve her finger 5 better than last week when she move her fingers closer to the edge of the key. I told her it is OK it isn't perfect yet because the recital still 1 month out, she'd be really good by then.  I told her sympathetically that those transition from natural note to sharp note are really hard and I couldn't do the half of what she does.   Did it worked?  For most part of the night, she didn't fuss too much.  However,  at the end, when she is tired and losing her core strength, it is the fried lima beans push her through the finishing line.  1 song 1 bean.  *grind* Philosophy always worked better on paper.

Alexa Chung for Madewell

Love this video

Dots and Bows

I ordered two cotton dresses a few month ago from HauteLook.  It took so long I couldn't even remember how they look like.  Months later, they canceled one of the dress, which I remember vaguely is pink and ballet theme.   To show their apologies, HauteLook gave extra $20 credit back, which essentially made this dress $17.  With that, I am not complaining :-)  and I am glad it fits.  This dress had a somewhat retro vibe to it.  One of my co-worker joke about he felt like I should be singing on the top of the mountain like Maria from Sound of the music.

Do you buy from flash sale sites?  Most of the time I just watch mainly because I am not familiar with the brand.  Sizing can be completely off.  One time I bought a size 8 for my 7 year old son  and it is so small, it barely fit my 5 year old daughter.   Shipping is another major reason.  I wonder with Nordstrom offering free shipping and return, Hautelook will too.  After all, Nordstrom now owns Hautelook.  Other flash sale sites such as Gilt lower its cost to $5.95 flat shipping and Ruelala offers 30 day shipping after paying $9.95 once, I think Hautelook will too have to do something on the shipping end in order to compete.  

Kate Spade Sample Sale

I got an email about Kate Spade Sample sale today.  I really love Kate Spade's jewelry, wallet and handbags, however their clothing it is a bit too pricy even at sample sale price.

here are some my lust items:


FLY GIRL BIB NECKLACE $348.00  $139.00 sale

This necklace is so beautiful and screams fall.  However it is huge, I seriously doubt I will have any chance wear it.

Two by Two Dana dress.  The giraffes are just too cute. You can see Carol rocking it here.  I especially love how she pairs it with the bright green jackie.  On the other hand, this is final sale and I never tried a katespade clothing item in the past so I am not willing to risk $100 for it. 

Did you see anything you like?

J CREW classic

Untitled (clipped to polyvore.com)

First Day of Kintergarten

Today is the first day of Kindergarten for my daughter.  Parents are asked to stayed so they can explore the school campus together.  I don't think my daughter is as exited to start school  as I thought she would be. Maybe it is just too early and she was half awake after I drag her out of bed.

Somehow I felt more pressure dressing for those occasions than dressing for work.  I guess whenever you had to meet a lot of new people, you want to dress appropriately so you won't leave the wrong impression.  Considering I might have to bend down, jump up, run or do some strange thing, dress, skirt and heels are out.  I guess with an autistic son who has the skill of escape like Houdini, you can never be too paranoid. Now even with my daughter, that paranoia kind of stayed.

It is interesting during recess time, one of the parent ask me if I had been in this school before because I seem to know a lot of what is going on.  It is a parent participation school so there is a lot involve.  I told her I am a new parent and I am just as clueless as all the other new parents.  But I guess I look confident enough to pass on a false impression, haha :-)

First Day of Kintergarten by inkmark featuring scoop neck tops

How do you wear pattern?

This month's topic at Everybody Everywhere is pattern mix.  I really love the topic.



 I used to find pattern mix risky because sometimes it leads to disaster. I was too afraid that the pattern will clash like perfumes.  Over the years I had become more comfortable.  Here is what I have find worked for me when wearing print

• Mix in some texture with busy prints

• Mix inconspicuous print such as small dots with bigger, stronger, busier patterns.

• Mix bold print with simple graphics

• Break up the lines of stripe with other more complicated geometry shapes or busy small prints to create texture

• Polka dots adds more texture than a plain color sweater

• Tone down the busy print with a solid sweater

• Patterned accessory dress up a otherwise plain outfit

• Don't be afraid to experiment

Do you have any additional tips?