Spotty Reception

H&M cropped mustard yellow sweater // H&M chambray button down (underneath) //

H&M black and white dotted pants // Target hot pink loafer flats w/ tassels //

Totes pink and yellow polka dot umbrella // 

Photography: JJ

Continuing my "blog-the-zillion-blue-folders-on-my-desktop" project, here is a fun outfit from fall fitting for a rainy mood like today's (10/12/12). This is my best antidote for the gloomy greys and soggy hair-frizzing atmosphere: wear the brightest colours and quirkiest prints in my wardrobe and a 100-watt smile. Start with my Dalmatian pants and polka dot umbrella, building the rest according to the colour scheme of hot pink and yellow.

What do rainy days make you crave? I like lying in bed listening to the pitter-patter against tin rain gutters, drifting between daydreaming and sleep. A delicious perfect cup of coffee brings a smile to my lips and I'll put on some indie playlist that I don't know the songs to and read until I'm tired of turning pages. Or I'll run around outside trying my luck in a storm. If the pros to being fun-sized include never being the tallest thing around to be struck by lightning and not having to worry about hitting your head on overlying branches or doorframes, I'll take it.

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I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

H&M white pearl studded beret // Forever 21 lace dress // Ralph Lauren cable knit sweater (gift)

H&M 200 denier black tights // Mossimo black suede ankle boots //
Lancome red lipstick in Rouge Baroque //

Photography: self, tripod and remote

Today our a cappella group had a performance for some influential individuals of the med center, so I put together this ensemble with my white coat and black pumps. I layered my ivory cable knit sweater underneath to keep warm on the walk to campus - my white coat only shows a peep of the dress so as far as tops and sleeves go, you can be as wild as you want. After a pasta lunch though, this began to feel a little more frumpy and tight. To cozy up with some coffee at home, this pearl-studded white beret and red lips are perfect for a winter wonderland feel and prancing around in the snow. Au contraire, the weather outside was indeed frightful, drizzling in this relatively tepid rain nonstop. That didn't stop us from having a spontaneous girls' night at Cheesecake Factory after reading about how their system can teach us how to standardize and improve health care in surgeon/storyteller extraordinaire Atul Gawande's New Yorker article. Food for thought leads to thinking about food! By the way, their Fresh Banana cheesecake is heavenly - light, frothy, a perfect dessert.

It takes years to develop a sense of personal style, and that's still an ever-changing one. Being a style blogger makes that hard with trends and staying relevant, wandering around boutiques and malls for the sake of doing your research, sponsored pieces to incorporate. After brewing many sartorial concoctions, it seems like my life outfit is not complete without a pancake atop my head (one of 2 H&M new additions to my collection). Back to my true francophile roots - beret, flared dresses, streamlined black bottoms all the way down to my hallex (fancy Latin word for big toe). This forecast for this weekend is plenty of studying, since finals for the muscle & bone block are coming up and it's time to get down to business. Looking forward to a holiday potluck dinner tomorrow with good eats and jingling along with Christmas tunes. Best of luck on your exams/work and break is almost here!

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Sweet Patisserie | Pistacia Vera

H&M mint green skater dress (buy) // Goodwill thrifted gold tip white belt //

Forever 21 black wool beret with stud detail // Predictions for Payless white low heel pump //

F21 gold spike bracelet and pearl bracelets // Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop //
Black faux leather purse (gift) //

Photography: Cassandra Morecroft King

Catching my breath after hours inside anatomy lab to bring you an outfit inspired by my favourite things: pastel mint green & kitschy French things (10/21). This beret my Mom gifted me two Christmases ago as part of a French-inspired outfit, my college graduation dress in my favourite shade mint green, white and gold accents. Committing "me time" is important to enjoy every day even if it's hectic, feel excited about discovery like watching my first DIY crystals grow in elementary school, be thankful for my supportive friends for propelling me forward after setbacks. The best revenge for the baseball cannons pelting you with lemons is to get up, add sugar to the wounds, and live a really good life. There will always be someone who you wish you could trade with because of their success, intellect, birthright, material wealth. But you will get to where you need to be by not forgetting who you already are.

I am grateful for spontaneous giggling fits about wishing our arms were 6 feet longer to avoid smelling eau de formaldehyde, childhood best friends still being here for each other even as we traverse into the daunting new chapters of our lives, JJ coming to visit this weekend and share more adventures, catching up with an inspirational old friend with hovering mustaches and laughter, late night reliving the 90s kid experience of Power Rangers/Ultraman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shenanigans with the best faux-bro I could hope for (conspiracy theory blood relation pending). Cassandra's selflessness and good company, taking the time to drive up and put up with me and my fanciful ideas that usually involve pointing a camera in front of every half-decent tree, house, fire hydrant, younameit. I had been wanting to check out a French pastry shop in German Village called Pistacia Vera to try out their macaron selection, and boy were they tasty! My favourite flavour was their namesake pistachio, sweet but savory. My goal by the end of this first year of med school is to make my rounds in the coffeeshops around town, portals to my happy place.

Laughter, singing, writing are powerful healers.

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Princess Bumblebee | Neon Nails

H&M yellow ruffle dress w/ black belt // From China black bead and crystal detachable peter pan collar //

Thrifted Ann Taylor/Goodwill strappy ankle wedges // Bracelets: Forever 21, H&M, Poshlocket (c/o) //
Forever 21 white and yellow floral headband //

Rings: green amethyst from medieval fair, owl from F21, mosaic from Claires //

NYX dark red lipstick in Snow White // Island Girl neon yellow nail polish in Aloha Color (from Hawaii) //

Photography: self; tripod and remote

TIERED YELLOW CAKE. Today I stared at my chipping neon highlighter yellow nails (which I bought in one of Hawaii's bajillion ABC stores to match my now-soiled-after-rainforest-hikes neon Nike running shoes) and threw open my closet doors, picking out my ruffly yellow cake costume dress, aka bumblebee dress, aka never-know-how-to-style-this-disaster (7/30). After considering doubling up on black skinny belts, laziness won out and the sash that came with the dress stayed. I can never seem to break free of the yellow and black colour template when I wear this dress - it's as if my past life as a hive-dweller won't let me break free of that particular mind mold. Suddenly I remembered my ultra-cute detachable peter pan collar I got in China for something like $7 USD that would perfectly accessorize this otherwise frumpy frock. I know, making dramatic molehills out of getting dressed. It's like us fashion-obsessed who beat our pillows in frustration because we have "nothing to wear" though our closets are bursting at the seams and carpets littered with clothing in various states of distress.

(Sunny + highlighter) yellow. So when I was shooting these photos tonight, a random dude on his phone walked up to my then-secluded area and stared at me while I'm trying to pose in front of my tripod. AWKWARD o_o. He wouldn't go away and kept expecting me to continue as if he weren't there so I chased him off with some excuse about being shy. Self-photographers know that tripods double as self defense weapons and my mind was definitely wandering in that direction. Then a granny with a Slavic accent jogged by and complimented me on my dress, to which I blushed and uttered thanks. Gramps also with a Slavic accent sauntered on by ten minutes later, noting that I seem to always be there fiddling with my camera during the sunset. Most likely with a confounded expression and furrowed brows as I try to tinker with Manual (deargod). That concludes this chapter of #iknowishouldbeinstitutionalizedforthecrazyshitidointhenameoffashionblogging - a hashtag that will never fit into your allotted tweet space.

Something I ate must have made me extra snarky today. *burp*

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Animal Farm

Forever 21 sheep jumper/sweatshirt (S) // Pitaya bunny print peter pan collar top (S) //

H&M pastel pink bird print pencil skirt (Euro 2) // Forever 21 burgundy tights //

Xhilaration wingtip oxford flats in Cognac (5.5) //

Photography: JJ

SHEEP + BUNNIES + DOVES. You guys don't know how long I've been waiting to wear this outfit! (1/30) A few things barring me from just throwing on a massive animal pandemonium: this is a size 2 H&M skirt, meaning it's like a 00. My intake of half chicken tenders/half fries (we call them half and halves here) and other heart-stopping meals makes fitting into that a sick joke. Second, it was "oh ... there's my butt, I suppose it just froze off"-cold. But last week, St. Louis was really dishing out the beautiful weather - 60s to 70s and sunny. What!? in a very, very good way! Alas now it's back to mediocre attempts at snowing and being unjustifiably cold.

I'm not a fan of the way this skirt looks on me - my thighs push up the pencil-skirt-like part on my thighs and there's a poofy balloon thing going on in the front. Either way, at the time a $25 bird print skirt was irresistable for my Miu Miu dupe-hunting craze. The navy shorts with the same print looked way cuter on Jen (herwaisechoice) but never caught them in stores here last spring.

This semester has been utterly fantastic - hanging out with a different group of friends everyday, almost always spontaneously. Classy wine in plastic cups, making a scene in the library cafe at night, laughing and more laughing. Viva esta vida loca. Second semester senior also translates to "more time to ogle architecture on campus" - after all, this is one of the deciding factors for choosing my specific university. Side note: it's already February and I'm still writing my dates like 2.8.11. It's 2012 and my brain is a little slow on the gear-turning process for this factoid. Cray.

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Chicktopia

Apologies for my lack of updates in the past few days. Meet the (zomg adorable) reason why ...

Chickee! Or Robunctius (as my friend named her) ... or Xena, Henny, Dora ... or whatever we'll call her but so far we've been saying "Chickee." I know, we're so creative with pet names. She's about 2 weeks old and can already fly and catch bugs (6 today!) in the yard. How did we come by this baby chicken? Long story. Basically my friend Tim got stuck with two that his coworker brought from an Amish farm and ... here we are. Spontaneous me didn't think this one through and now JJ and I are showering all our time and attention on this little bugger. She's super cute and cries when we don't give her attention xD Can't tell what breed she is yet (help?) but we think she's female. Yes, she will be able to lay fresh eggs for us when she's older!

She likes to perch on our necks/in our hair haha

We had to take her away from Tiberius, the white chick. She's with Tim and soon enough we'll reunite them for a playdate.

Readers - do you have any unconventional pets?

Enter my Highglossfashion jewelry giveaway

Back to Schoolgirl

Pitaya/Ezra bunny print peter pan collar top (S) //
Faded Glory pleated plaid mini skirt (S?) (old from high school) (buy midi version) //
H&M polka dot socks // Xhilaration oxford flats in Cognac (5.5) ($20) //
Aldo snake coil ring (5) ($2, $8) //

Photography: JJ + Thomas Roach (wingtips photo)

MY LAST FIRST DAY OF CLASS. Well, until med school. Yesterday's (8/30) outfit combines old and new pieces, taking full advantage of the exploding suitcase I lugged back from home in preparation for fall and my blog sale. This bunny print peter pan collar shirt was one of the Pitaya sale finds from Missouri Tax Free Weekend - I love that it's cute, opaque with a sheer lightness, and my favourite colour. Can't beat $9 for a boutique find either. The skirt is definitely from high school haha-dressup-days when my friends and I all got schoolgirl skirts for transforming into Catholic schoolgirls (of course we covered up more than this). It was odd because I've been a public schooler all my life and we had some of the weirdest strict rules and dress codes (unfun). This is what I love about college. Socks and shoes recycled from last fall. Aldo's rings are so small my finger was stuck for a few minutes trying them on! Size 5 fits great on my middle finger, taking into account my huge joints.

Nostalgia! The first leaves are starting to fall in St. Louis!!! Riding uphill-ish to class is a struggle for my atrophied leg muscles after an exercise-less summer but it gets me to class in 5 minutes from my off-campus house. Meanwhile, allergies are kicking in :( Senior year, here we are so soon. In addition to eating healthy and trying to have a regular schedule of sleep, library study, and exercise, I vow to have more fun and go out more. Yesterday, I hit the library for about 7 hours between classes (ugly gap to be filled with research and meetings later). Clean slate, pretty caught up. How long can I keep this up? xD

My blog resolutions are to:

- Catch up with all my reviews

- Morning photoshoots in 5 minutes before class, every day

- Post every day

- Set up that blog shop!

- Reply to comments

P.S. Shoutout to my friends Jane and Francis for following :) You guys made my day! 

Readers - what did you wear for back-to-school?

Kung Fu Pandaphilia

Forever 21 panda hug tshirt (S) // Pitaya grey semi-pleated skirt (S) // Pitaya yellow patent skinny belt //

Xhilaration black and white oxford flats (5.5) (buy here) // Forever 21 pastel multi heart necklace //
Sammies panda backpack with panda plush keychain (gift from friends' parents) //

Photography: JJ

Last last Saturday (6/12), my friends and I went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D at the Galleria and IT WAS AWESOME. I want to watch it again and again and again. Not to state the obvious or spoil anything, but there are exceptionally adorable baby pandas in that film. Yes, the dorky glasses are 3D and swiped from the movie theatre.

We grabbed Five Guys afterwards and right beforehand, I ran around trying to shop as fast as possible at Forever 21 and H&M. F21 haul: adorable sailor dress (I know I already have one but this one has the cute back foldover thing), bright orange scallop hemmed skirt (FINALLY, but only left in M), and basic navy biker shorts. H&M haul: purple floppy hat (left mine in SD because it wouldn't fit in the suitcase properly), sheer yellow racerback tank dress. Oh my poor stipend, draining away so quickly. This skirt is quite versatile - I've probably worn it 4 times already - oh the crime, eh?

Got my first secondary application today! Just when I thought the fury was over, more work rains down from the med school skies. Posting SLR pictures tomorrow : ) P.S. Omg the bags under my eyes D: