Batman! | Gotham City Hall

DivaNY black cutout slit maxi dress (c/o, only $36) // H&M leather biker jacket //

Jeffrey Campbell Soiree Spike (from Kathleencarla & Ashbury Skies) //

Forever 21 black triangle gem silver necklace // Layered silver hoop earrings (old) // 

Low Luv by Erin Wasson silver Aztec ring (exact) (from Suzy) // 
Wet n Wild lipstick in Wine Room //

Photography: JJ

The last time I visited JJ in Pittsburgh, we stuffed ourselves full of good food and did this photoshoot at a location I've been eyeing for months (5/27). These are the steps of the (Carnegie) Mellon Institute, which was Gotham City Hall in the new Batman movies. Crazy, right? Scroll to the bottom to see a collage of proof that I once stepped on the same ground as Christian Bale. I could take on Catwoman in this outfit, right? With all these spikes and leather, I might last a few punches.

I was so ecstatic when I won these head-turning lucite heel Jeffrey Campbells Soirees from Kathleencarla & Ashbury Skies' giveaway. Though these are sky high, the ankle support and backing helps me not twist my ankle since these are a size too big. When DivaNY offered me the chance to try out their trendy selection, I picked this dramatic black maxi dress with shoulder cutouts and a thigh high leg slit. While most of their items would be fit for a night out at the club or geared towards college gals, I found a few reserved yet edge pieces I that fit my personal style (like their dresses).

When I'm not being robbed blind by moviemakers and their steady train of superhero remakes, this last, last week of first year has come to an end. Mini rotations with ophthalmology and ENT left me gushing for the latter, and I am more stoked than ever about this field. Monday marks the beginning of summer research and a more routine day-to-day (you all know by now that won't happen to the Spontaneous Smasher of Schedules). Happy weekend!

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Adore Me Tristin Set Review

"Tristin" push up lingerie set in black with red lace, bra in 34B and thong panty in size S

As you'll remember back in September, I featured a pretty little magenta lingerie set named Jenna. Adore Me kindly let me choose another set to try and love, and their spring offerings featured a lot of delicate lace used as sexy accents over the traditional tshirt bra shape. The Tristin has a sultry black base colour with delicate red lace overlays. Inspired by how French women always wear matching lingerie sets underneath no matter the occasion, I am excited to start curating my collection with pretty (but functional) little things like this.

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Glamour Photos 1: Sleek and Sexy

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Bringing Sexy Back

 H&M Khaki green button up shirt (Euro 4) // H&M wool mini skirt (Euro 2) //

Fioni for Payless caged heels (5) //

Photographer: Boyfriend

It's November! October, Halloween, this past weekend all flew by so quickly as midterms creeped and crawled all over the holiday spirit. I was sad that I couldn't find any last-minute costumes that weren't generic, skimpy, or generic and skimpy. St. Louis has also been diving into winter, with temperatures in the 50s or 60s every day. Too much exposed skin + frostbite = no good. Alas, that gives me a whole year to prepare for next year's costume though. I wonder how long I can get by with trick-or-treating before people realize I'm in college xD

This outfit I wore to the mall and Five Guys over a month ago (still updating from my backlog as you can see from the summer foliage). Wearing a mini-skirt and heels is not the best idea if you don't want to draw unwanted attention to yourself, as a guy yelled something at me while I walked past. Nothing wrong with a little sexy now and then, hmm? I fell in love with this top and the skirt together at H&M, a perfect deal since my friend liked the top is khaki. It was a buy one get one free offer, so we each landed ourselves new button-ups for $13 each yay! The skirt was a little costly at $25 but it matches many things and is great for layering over sweater tights.

This weekend I got caught up on my TV shows and watched Toy Story 3 for the first time. I'm in love with those kawaii edamame peas :D Pixar never fails to impress - I think if I had the skill and fortitude, working with them would be a dream job. Their attention to detail and universality is impeccable. I've also been playing Lara Croft: The Guardian of Light and Batman: Arkham Asylum with my boyfriend. Kicking butt after a long week of tracing nerve tracts through stacks of brain slices reminiscent of wrinkly pancakes = the best relaxation. That neuroscience exam on Friday was crazy to cram for - so much information! Luckily the class has picked up and finally become more interesting. Amazing that a course about the fascinating organ that controls your every single thought and action can lead to such comfortable desk-snoozing if the heat is turned up, a monotone drones on, and you start collecting drool in the corner of your mouth ...

In other exciting news, we tried out a little Japanese restaurant nearby this weekend. The weather was perfectly fall, bento box was sooo filling, and I had green tea ice cream for the first time in AGES. My boyfriend and I also adopted a cool little fish from our Neuroscience Lab, a Black Ghost Knife (Apteronotus albifrons). We call him/her "Fishy" - I know, creative right? The name sounds cute and we couldn't think of something awesome and gender-neutral. [Yes, I realize it was a terrible idea to juxtapose my fish with the sushi we had T__T.) It's a weakly electric fish, like a tamer version of an eel. Apparently we have to look at the waveform of their electric organ discharges to distinguish - oh-so-nerdy, and oh-so-cool. Watch the video to see how Fishy swims! (The scratching noise is my camera cable brushing against the counter) There's a fin running along the underside of its belly that propagates it through the water. Fishy likes to swim upside down, backwards, and squeeze into tiny crevices and caves haha. Revenge best served thawed? It eats bloodworms, aka mosquito larvae :D I knew those bloodsuckers would get their just-desserts someday! Last but not least, giant fluffy chicken at the manga/anime toy store! Hehe they're so cute and fluffy but very expensive. They had every single animal imaginable there.

I should definitely update on some cold-weather wear. I have a few outfits that I haven't shot yet - need to keep up or there will be an unwanted backlog of outfits since September haha. I will probably post once a day or every other day to get all these out of the way in time for scarves, knits, boots, cozy fun : ) I also have a lot of beauty posts that I haven't done since summer, so I should interject some of those every once in a while. Bing-bong! I'm announcing my *first giveaway* later this week, so stay tuned for deets on how to win some awesome prizes :D Have an amazing week, lovelies!

F-I-E-R-C-E

Hi again : ) I'm in a super blogging mood recently primarily to avoid work haha xD I did tackle some things off my to-do list but there is an even bigger backlog of outfit photos and makeup reviews that won't write themselves. I'm using my blogging creative juice as an excuse to prime my writing lids for some serious personal statement throwdown. The best writing is done under high pressures, room temperature, and time(max) minus a few hours.

This outfit is from Labor Day, believe it or not. I decided to break out this $4.95 USD brand new H&M dress I snagged off the racks a month ago when I was home in California. Are you serious, H&M!? You just earned a million brownie points in my book. This dress is really soft with delicate mesh covering the chest and it's a great bodycon. I bought this black one in size 4 and another one in size 4 with referee black and white vertical stripes. I should bravely put that on later and see if I look taller (as they frequently suggest to petites). Alas I forgot to take pictures of the dress alone but I will style it differently the next time I wear it. For Labor Day shopping, I wore my H&M favourite black shorts over the dress and tucked the bottom in for a romper kind of look. Time to wear the infamous leopard print wedges I impulsively bought at Forever 21 towards the end of summer. These were about $33 so I have no idea why I went for it, but I think back then I was still into the "grab whatever you see that looks like a trend and wear it for Chictopia." After an entire day of walking around malls (over 7 hours of it), my feet were very sore and painful. Forever 21 makes cheap and terribly hurtful shoes, so if you like comfort over cheap dupes of designers, avoid avoid avoid!

After being screwed over by the editors on Chictopia for my last two uploads, I decided screw it. Defining my style around a website, around a certain ideal, just to get into a flashy gallery is nonsense. It is nice to gain recognition, but I find that when I actually wear clothes that make me feel like a normal person, what's slightly out of my comfort zone but not inappropriate, the "me" in the outfit shines through. I don't need chic votes to reassure myself. So if you've ever worked really hard and got removed from the Style Gallery because of graininess or other made-up regulations, shake it off and raise your head high. You walk that sidewalk like it's a runway. You strut that hallway like it's crumbling behind you. You pose for that camera like you've never lived. Don't let the hype ruin your day and cage your style. [And yes I will continue posting on that site. I'm just bitter towards the editors. The people there are really nice and fashionable. Why can't I squat for a photo and stay in the damn gallery?] *This rant is for my girls out there who are frustrated too*

I went shopping at the Galleria with some friends and ended up scoring an amazing fitted white blazer from Ann Taylor: my first high-end purchase. As a student I wanted this baby so bad - can you believe it was in 00P and that I could fit into it? It started off as $158 full price, then knocked down to $79.99, then with 25% off and some other fancy discount and the 20% off I got for some lipstick stains I found, it came out to be $31.70! That is really not bad and it makes me look so sharp, as if I were wearing my first white coat xD Oh a girl can dream, eh? I will hopefully style the blazer soon and get to show all of you. I also picked up some cheap essentials at Forever 21 because I wasn't impressed with the fit of things I tried on (a khaki green romper was cute but Small fit like a M-L). Taupe herringbone tights and 2 skinny belts in Camel and Taupe in Small-Medium. Sadly the XS-S sold out online a long time ago because they're so cheap at $2.50 each. I should be able to punch some holes in them somehow. I found that my guy friend can definitely shop. He hit up fancy stores like Banana Republic and we went to the outlet malls later to continue the bargain hunt. I bought a v-neck thin sweater top at Old Navy with a matching taupe scarf for under $25 for both. I already wore that outfit yesterday and can't wait to post outfit photos. They are so warm and comfortable. It's nice because the entire Old Navy outlet store was 40% off. Hurray for fall! I can't wait for the weather to cool down slightly so I can experiment with all these nice layers I have.

We finished off the day with my first Steak & Shake experience ever. I had a Guacamole steak burger and their tiny fries, along with a Cookies & Cream milkshake. It was okay, but honestly I still prefer In & Out. Funny that I've lived that long without trying it even once xD

For makeup, I used my favourite palette: Wet n Wild in Vanity. I used gold and bronze colours over the lid, tons of eyeliner, and drew leopard patterns on one of my eyes to jazz up the look. I also wore my Geo Nudy Browns for that catty halo effect when using flash photography. Add a nude lip and the result is FIERCE!

Wearing:

Mesh criss-cross overlay black bodycon dress, H&M (Euro size 4)

Black shorts, H&M (Euro size 4)

Leopard print wedges, Forever 21 (size 6)

Products used:

Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash

ELF Studio Creme Eyeliner in Black (for leopard print design too)

Wet n Wild E/S Palette in Vanity (bronze all over lid, gold on center of lid)

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation in 04 Nude

ELF Studio Concealer Pencil in Light

ELF Studio Blushing and Bronzing Powder Duo (bronzer as blush)

Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Soft Nude,

with Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Life's a Peach over it

Geo Nudy Brown lenses

Photographer: my boyfriend. Indoor shooting is a lot better during the daytime when we can open the window for extra light. I still had to brighten these a ton. Warning: serious mosquito bite-age going on on my calves hahaha

 He caught this hair flip haha and I played with the tint overlay in Picnik and he taught me how to piece these together in Photoshop. I am such a tech un-nerd.

And here's where it starts getting crazy

Kame-hame-HAAAA! (there's an annoying door stopper in the middle of my canvas hahaha)

I love the hair draping down pose

FLIP! Had to super adjust the ISO on this so it is grainy but still pretty awesome

Details: these babies are for struttin' (yes I did wear socks inside hehe)

They're hard to walk in because of this tiny slim heel. I did fall down the stairs before wearing these xD

Mesh. The cut of this dress is actually a cute heart shaped bust but since I was carelessly wearing a black bra underneath, it looks more v-shaped

FOTD, flash

 

 

 No flash

Artistic shot by boyfriend

This crazy look received quite a bit of attention at the mall. I felt a little embarrassed that sales associates in Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and other stores complimented me (mostly the shoes). I definitely felt super tall and high-fashion while wearing these and will find opportunities to remix these pieces into other more wearable outfits in the future. For now, there's lots of physics left undone and an application to fill out. Mondays are just downers. Why can't it always be Friday? xD Hope you all get your beauty rest and start off your week fresh!