buydefinition fashion brunch

L-R: Janette, Grechen, Esti, me

what's better than FOOD and FASHION SHOW? food and fashion show with your newly made friends? :) I had shrimp and asparagus risotto today while watching some amazing looks created by Esti of Buy Definition. I definitely will be going to more of these fashion show brunches! I try to keep the local Austin event photos to a minimum since this is more of a personal style blog but lately there's been SO many awesome fashion events here in Austin. Expect one wrap-up post of all the fashion events I attended this week that I haven't gotten to post pics of yet. I've got nothing to wear to brunch so I just sort of pulled on my fave dress and ran out the door!

Facebook fan page  HERE.

Twitter HERE.

Fan me on chictopia HERE.

guerrilla warfare

Collection B jacket (on lend via Lookbook.nu), f21 faux leather shorts, asos striped top, bakers shoes, mixed f21 necklaces

When Yuri of Lookbook.nu emailed me personally on Tuesday about styling of the 25 jackets from Collection B, I responded immediately and never got an email response so I assumed I wasn't picked for emailing so late. On Thursday morning at 8AM I got a loud knock on the door and a fedex dude handed me a box from lookbook.nu... such a short turnaround time! In fact, the jacket had to be returned in the post by today so I only had ~24hrs to style/photograph it. Something about the jacket being needed by June 1st for a photoshoot for the brand... so apparently these are samples? If you followed me on twitter you would have gotten my frantic tweets to ask someone to photograph me yesterday. In the end it all worked out and my regular photographer (my bf) was able to come down today, although two very sweet persons offered to help out and I will return the favor even though I ended up not taking the offers. Obviously this is not one of my "usual" looks since I don't do the whole hoodie/military trend thing... in fact I've pointed at the military/balmain-esque editorials in fashion magazines and declared to my bf that I would NEVER be caught dead in this trend since it would just totally not be my style. Therefore imagine my surprise when I opened the package and there it was: both the sweatshirt AND the military trend rolled into one very awesome but un-diya-like jacket. I initially thought of pairing it with a sweet white lacey frock but ended up being inspired by the awesome graffiti spots on "the drag" into doing something a bit more...guerrilla. Thus here you have it, me in something completely out of character...I even tried to sulk to look the part. ;)

Facebook fan page  HERE.

Twitter HERE.

Fan me on chictopia HERE.

new shoes, old news

f21 skirt (they should pay me), lulu's dress as blouse, bakers shoes, the sak via overstock.com purse.

A quick post before I'm headed off to a Sex and the City-themed fashion show! This was what I wore a couple days ago for a brief period of time before I realized the wind was too strong to wear this skirt around that day. Anyway, in love with these new basic pumps. I always wear my most basic black shoes the most so these look promising. Must get dressed now and transform from lab rat (first week of antibody engineering research!) into cinderella with the help of a pair of shoes! ;)

Facebook fan page  HERE.

Twitter HERE.

Fan me on chictopia HERE.

fashion luncheon

Mandola’s Italian Market, May 25, 2010 (from L to R): Cathy, Katie, Indiana, me, Sydney then Tran and Grechen up front. 
Photos of me shopping at SoLa plus the group shot courtesy of Grechen's newest blog NewToATX.

I had fun eating Gnocchi and then peanut butter + dark chocolate gelato today while chatting with the loveliest Austin fashion bloggers at Mandola's Italian Market. The selection of pasta, pizza, pastries and gelato was pretty decent.There I took pics of everyone's food including my gnocchi pre-red pepper shaker attack. FACT: I like it spicy. I didn't wear anything you haven't seen on the blog; just the dress from HERE and HERE. It's nice to learn from the gals that's been blogging much longer than I have and also get updated on the latest local fashion news. I took some photos of Sydney's ring (from local jewelry designer Kendra Scott) and her statement necklace. After lunch/dessert we (Grechen, Indiana, Tran and I) went to SoLa next door for some really awesome jewelry selections and fun floral frocks. There I took some photos of SoLa's chic interior and their AMAZING jewelry while Indiana contemplated on a cute addition to her impressive animal jewelry collection. What I really loved was all the awesome methods of displaying jewelry. HUGE THANKS to Grechen for organizing!

Facebook fan page  HERE.

Twitter HERE.

Fan me on chictopia HERE.

ballerina in chains

custom-made chain necklace/harness by Rebecca of Fashion Infusion, topshop dress, f21 belt, thrifted calvin klein pumps

I'm wearing my harness piece that I said I got in THIS post! Rebecca also has a Etsy shop that sells similar handmade jewelry. After pondering for the longest what to wear with this harness, I decided to wear a romantic, vintage-feeling lace dress for ultimate juxtaposition. Of course I will also wear it with my new pleather dress that I got shopping in Austin's 2nd street district today out at a rock concert ;). I also got 2 beaded blouses from Buffalo Exchange today (one's all 80's-ish and black and one's by Calypso and grey/blue) so expect to see those all show up here on the blog soon. I can't believe I FINALLY got to explore the boutiques around here! It's absolutely embarrassing how little I venture past my usual round (f21/barton creek mall, buffalo exchange, and savers thrift store) since I basically shop mostly online. Even most of my f21 pieces are from online instead of in the store! I love the free shipping past $75 so I always order 2 sizes if I'm unsure about something and then just return the wrong size for some store credit. There's just something about browsing online/avoiding the crowd/getting a package in the mail that's strangely addicting. Dangerous as well, since you never physically see how much you're spending when you're using credit. However, I am proud to say I've managed to stay out of the red zone and in fact saved a bit of money for non-fashion emergencies (ie. replacement for electronics, medical bills, textbooks). ALSO: Morgan of Runway Daily and CasaCullen has featured me on both her sites for my jewelry storage solutions. Check out the article HERE or HERE. She is way too kind with her words and made me sound like a big deal (which I'm TOTALLY NOT). I'm just a geek that likes to play dress up, not really much of a fashion it girl. 
Last night I went to Halcyon to make some s'mores. I even went through the trouble of going to the gym beforehand in anticipation of the gluttony! There's nothing like a flaming marshmallow to brighten up your day. I wasn't always so smooth in my s'mores-making abilities though. My first attempt was when I was ~16 years old at a Guy Fawkes Day s'mores party (complete with customizable Guy Fawkes coloring pages we cut out and roasted symbolically). Let's just say after 3 failed attempts of either the marshmallow catching on fire and me failing to blow it out before it turned into a black lump, the marshmallow falling into the pit, and etc. I gave up and my friends made s'mores for me out of pity. Ah, the good old days of loserdom. I failed to take a good pic of the s'mores tray so I found one on an Austin foodie blog. 
ATX shop/eat/entertain recommendations: 
Grechen has been sharing a lot of her fave spots around Austin on her New To ATX blog so I thought I'll share some of my faves (some are budget, some are not, and I've rated it between $ to $$$$ for a price comparison, $ is everything averages under $7). Shopping: F21 ($$) at the Barton Creek Mall for the cutest f21 store ever, Savers for awesome thrifting ($), Buffalo Exchange ($$), Plain Ivey Jane for discounted designer and high street items ($$),  Buy Definition ($$$$) for truly lust-worthy designer pieces, Feathers Vintage ($$-$$$) for best hand-picked vintage items. Food: Starseeds Cafe for gigantic chocolate chip pancakes and 24/7 awesome cheap food with plenty of vegan/vegetarian options ($), Whole Foods flagship for the ultimate hippy food orgasmic experience ($$), Burger Tex2 for best burgers ($), Halcyon for s'mores ($), Ken's Donuts for 24/7 samosas and sourcream donuts with cinnamon sugar and hand-dipped blue bell ice cream ($), Mellow Mushroom for BEST pizza hands down in Austin and their vegan/whole wheat crust as well as their ultimate meat lover's pizza ($$), Tomo's Sushi for best funky sushi flavors ($$), Madam Mam's for best thai ($), Truluck's for their cheesecake and the chilean seabass with chief's toppings ($$$$), Trio at Four Season's for their dessert ($$$$), Fogo de Chao for their all-you-can-eat Brazilian steaks ($$$ for weekday lunch, $$$$ for dinner and it's the same food). Entertainment: Alamo Drafthouse for cooked food and beer while watching movies on the big screen ($), The Oasis for free salsa lessons and  Latin dance fest on Sundays and the best sunsets/view, Copa's for salsa dancing on Thursdays ($), Red River district for all things rock and metal ($-$$, I personally frequent Red Eyed Fly the most), Warehouse district for a clubbing experience that's not so sketchy ($$-$$$). Wow the food section is the biggest section... I'm kind of a pig. 
IF YOU ARE IN ATX AND WOULD LIKE TO WATCH SATC with me and some of the fashion bloggers, email me!

Facebook fan page  HERE.

Twitter HERE.

Fan me on chictopia HERE.