painted black and white

f21 skirt/cardigan, thrifted belt, f21 shoes, london fog bag, modified f21 necklace

I'm wearing almost all forever 21...and I wore the cardigan only indoors since it's freaking 102 degrees again today. This kind of weather makes me super lazy and want to do nothing but lay on the bed with the A/C + fan both on...but unfortunately I had to run errands, get to class and research, and get my schedule fixed. Kind of  a gross day so I pulled on a pair of heels before going out to dinner....something that is strangely comforting. Anyway I should reserve my typing for cranking out an analytical chemistry lab report. Bad thing about double majoring in engineering and biochemistry means I have twice the amount of labs as either major since they rarely overlap in credit...which means I at least have one lab, sometimes two, every single semester of college...which means writing lab reports are a painfully huge part of my undergraduate experience. Ugh. PS. after editing these photos I noticed that I probably shouldn't wear this shirt again...too much boobage (which is why I usually wear guys' tshirts and oversized button-down blouses all the time). 

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keep austin beautiful recycled fashion show

(I'm the 3rd model to walk in this video. Clothing designs by Laisa Macias and bags by Anne Marie Beard)

Some of you asked to see what I did in terms of modeling for Austin Fashion Week (and other events). Well, here's the video for one of my favorite shows that I've walked in. Too bad I screwed up during my walk; I was running on 5 hrs of sleep per 2-3 days at that point so I was really out of it. Held at the Austin Museum of Art, the show was definitely one of the most anticipated ones during AFW and tickets were sold out months before the show.
The makeup lady was instructed to put a lot of lipstick on me and although it made me feel like it was "too much lips" everyone else seemed to love it on me. For the eyes she just elaborated on what I already had on so it looks like my usual make but more show-worthy. I also never curl my hair so this was super different for me. On the other hand, I should probably not go to buffets or cupcake shops the day before a fashion event...I look so bloated here. Haha. I still had bunches of fun walking for this show since I know a lot of the designers that presented in this show, a lot of the models,  and a lot of the show attendees.
The show was 100% recycled stuff. The first design was made of bicycle tire rubber melted down for the corset top and curtain blinds (I think) for the skirt part. My floral dress used to be a long grandma-ish dress. As you can see I was wearing my own shoes/belt/necklace. 

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peacock

buffalo exchange dress, thrifted belt, thrifted blazer, forever 21 shoes (old), overstock.com bag

I love love love this dress. It's perfect for every season: tweed in the fall, tights and vintage fur in the winter,blazers and bangles in the spring, bare skin in the summer. Since I went to the movie theater I brought along this blazer to ward off the chills.
If you follow me on twitter, you probably knew that last night I got asked out on a date by Tim via email. It was so spontaneous and cute I had to say yes even though I was dead tired from running around all day trying to get my schedule fixed. My schedule might still be screwed (long rant story) but I had a great time doing the whole "dinner and a movie" thing (which I surprisingly have never done prior to dating Tim...) and finally watched Inception. Finally! I end up over-thinking movies like these and wondering how the elevator at the end fell downward after its cord was cut in absence of gravity or if the ending meant that the entire movie was a dream or what are the philosophical ramifications if there was such a thing as layers of reality. In other words, I'm a lost case when even watching a movie stresses me out.
After I purchase the rest of my textbooks and get my research steps finished today, I'm going to go back to the countryside with Tim. His mom is now home from the hospital and we're going to help her get back to health. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

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the calm before the storm

Charlotte Russe shorts, thrifted belt, vintage blouse, 3x layered Charlotte Russe necklaces, Buffalo Exchange heels, London Fog purse

Last batch of pictures of my short summer vacation (I really love the 2nd one and the last one). I said I would never wear anything from the military trend, and here I'm wearing army green shorts. I kind of feel like Peter Griffin from family guy though. It's super difficult to find shorts (or any piece of clothing) in colors other than white/gray/black or the color of the season so I bought this pair to wear to lab and out in the country. After an embarrassing stretch of weeks where I didn't wear much jewelry I'm back to piling on heaps of jewelry again.
I never got to see my favorite waterfall on Tim's property during my mini vacation but it was still relaxing...we might be going back to his place this weekend so we'll see if I can sneak back!
Today was the first day of fall classes. It started off with me rushing around all day and still haven't eaten anything from 7AM to 8PM except a granola bar. I also got to wear a "bunny suit," a XXL white polyester (read: like a large white trashbag) onesie that covers my arms and legs since apparently what I wore to Analytical Chemistry lab wasn't allowed under lab regulation. Unfortunately no pictures were taken to document me finally trying out the romper trend (haha). I'm super tired now and am going to bed early.
I'll be working my butt off this semester with 14 credit hrs of engineering courses, 15-20hrs of research/week, and 15 appointed hrs of being a grader for the intro to biochemical engineering class. The last job totally tipped over the scale between a relaxing schedule versus a hectic one but $1300 for grading papers is too good to turn down, especially since I'm squeezing in a trip to NYC. I'm kind of scared of the chemical engineering reactor design course since it'll be thermodynamics, mass balances, transport phenomena and a bunch of other courses mashed up together. I think I needed this kind of a semester to whip me back into shape for time-management.
PS. This is actually my bf's backyard/house/property.All of my landscape shots are done on his property.

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bling bling

vintage blouse, amrita singh necklace (both), UO shorts, colin stuart heels

So the title of this post is dedicated to my bf who thought this necklace made me look kind of "gangsta." I love it so I ignored his advice...which is rare since usually I take his advice to mind very seriously. I wore this twice this week but just managed to get it posted. It's really too hot to wear anything else other than shorts and a top right now. I think I need more short-sleeved tops...but for now these sheer blouses would have to do. I've got quite a collection of shorts now thanks to it being over 20 days in a row being over 100 degrees here in central Texas. I'm kind of wishing I lived in SF or somewhere with a milder summer right about now.
Anyway, with a brief visit back to Austin to take care of a few small things I'm going back to San Saba for 2 more days. Then comes the research + classes madness again (since I'm now an official UGA and possibly grader for my summer research professor)! Will talk about more interesting things (ie. about stuff other than hospital visits) once I'm out of the country.

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favorite things

vintage blazer, topshop tunic as top, UO shorts, colin stuart pumps, thrifted belt, amrita singh necklace

I packed in a hurry for Tim's house so I had to rely on remixing a couple of my pieces over and over again everyday. I also forgot to bring the bag of jewelry I packed so I had to dig around for accessories. This outfit was for visiting Tim's mom at the hospital; she's an artist that loves to paint landscape pictures. She's the kind that notices how the walls are repainted a different color and always comments on how pretty my dress or jewelry is. I kept her in mind when getting dressed; I put on her favorite stone (turquoise), a floral blazer, and picked up my purse in one of her favorite colors (lavender). Mission successful since she commented on how pretty the bag is and how she loves that color. 

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countryside

UO skirt, the paparazzi girl blouse, f21 shoes, overstock.com bag

Our lazy morning was suddenly interrupted with a panicked phone call about Tim's mom having fluid in her lungs and not getting enough oxygen. After the ambulance finally got here out to the countryside, we hurriedly ate, showered and got dressed to rush to the hospital 45 mins away. She's fine now but it was definitely scary since the doctor told us that if he got out there 30 minutes later she wouldn't have made it. To say it's been a very emotional day would be an understatement.
I got dressed in a hurry this morning so I didn't really feel like this was a "blog-worthy outfit" but Tim thought it was and convinced me to snap a few shots of what I wore on the way back from the hospital. I also managed to get a few pictures of stereotypical Texan countryside scenes as well.

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back to nature

lulu's shorts, thrifted blouse, thrifted belt, c/o modcloth shoes, london fog bag, amrita singh necklace

(Mae said the font was too small to read so I'm making it bigger...'cause I love her) It's been so refreshing to finally escape to the countryside after 5 hectic weeks of class+research, even though that means I miss the rest of Austin Fashion Week. I've caught myself  fidgeting around for a book or a sewing machine but I think I need the time off. I wore this (relatively casual...for me) outfit to grab BBQ with Tim and get groceries so we snapped a couple pictures on the way out the door. That's Ace the ghost dog you see in the last picture...such a hyperactive but adorable doggy. Tim's so obsessed with AC/DC that he named his dog as Ace and cat as Rosie. Anyway I'm off to take the night off and go to bed early for once!

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remix

vintage blazer/blouse, UO skirt,  amrita singh necklace, charlotte russe+buffalo exchange rings, colin stuart shoes
(wow the lighting sucked in these pictures)  I've still been running around like a headless chicken the past few days. It's STILL been super crazzzzy in between hospital visits/tests and lab reports/modeling (will have pictures if I can get my hands on some...I took more pics of everyone else than of me but I've got a couple of me with dark red LIPSTICK on!). Therefore I've basically been wearing a remix of the same 10 pieces of clothing over and over again. This blouse was worn with jean shorts to research, this skirt to fashion lunch, and leather skirt to a night out. This necklace has worn constantly since it arrived (part of the huge statement jewelry package I bought for myself as a bday present) because I'm a sucker for anything with pearls. If I look pissed in these photos it's because when the picture was taken I haven't eaten for 8 hrs and I was worried that it was going to start pouring rain. I also just spent all day running around campus trying to make sure I got an A in inorganic chem.
Now that things are slowing down a bit and I'm out in the countryside... I might actually get some decent outfit shots in? Who knows. I AM starting to plan my trip to NYC (finally!) now. Anyone know an inexpensive but non-sketchy hotel I can stay at in Manhattan? Oh btw if any of you peeps are going to the Chictopia 10 thing I'll be there!

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busy bee

charlotte russe top, leonello borghi purse, f21 skirt, f21 shoes, misc altered /layered necklace, buffalo exchange earrings

It's been a few busy days around here with 2 inorganic chemistry lab reports due, 1 test and 1 final exam, 2 all day fashion show rehearsals+shows, and most importantly of all Tim's mom being in the hospital... I ended up forcing Tim to go sleep at my place instead of watching my shows since he really needed some rest. Thanks to all of you guys for the positive vibes/thoughts sent toward her recovery. At first everyone thought she fell and hit her head on the way down, and then in the middle of the night at the hospital she had a major heart attack... and then the doctors finally realized that those two events weren't unrelated and she's been having mild heart attacks that went unnoticed/untreated for the past 2ish weeks now. The reason she fell was because one of such attacks. I've been trying my best in between my to-do list to distract him in numerous ways, like getting him the far right spiked skull ring in the picture above. Collecting different skull rings have been kind of "our thing" since the beginning of our relationship; we've always found cool skull rings for each other at garage sales, secondhand shops, and online.  I've never seen a ring so spiky that it should really be classified as a weapon. I saw it while shopping at Buffalo Exchange and it successfully cheered him up a bit. BTW, sorry to the reader that wanted to chat with me while I was at Buffalo; I didn't mean to seem so aloof but  I just spent the past hour crying under all the stressful situations and was out shopping for some distractions. I looked like complete crap so I was super embarrassed to be recognized... 
PS. Congrats to Kristy Elena for winning the Amrita Singh giveaway. Once the hellish days are over (monday will be the end of it) I will send the ring over to you. Sorry for the delay!
PPS. These are some of my recent jewelry acquisitions... you guys should check out charlotte russe right now since they're (surprisingly) carrying some badass chain pieces, perfect summer shorts, and lacey tops. I totally caved and purchased a whole bunch of costume jewelry from them.

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beige is for boring people

lulu's shorts, f21 blouse, f21 necklace, colin stuart sandals, (old) asos bag

(I tag outfit piece as "old" if it's highly unlikely it's still available in stores, not as in "oh this old thing?")I FEEL SO BORING wearing nude/beige/whatever lately... it seems to be what almost all of the summer clothes are coming in? I'm constantly frustrated that all cute clothes (well, ones in my style) only come in nude, black, white, or gray...unless some other color is "in season" (I was so happy back when teal/turquoise was "in season" since that's my favorite color).
As for life, it's be hectic around here lately as I'm wrapping up the summer session, starting up the fall session, researching, modeling for Austin Fashion Week (starting the 14th), attending concerts (btw, Slayer/Megadeth/Anthrax early next month!). Just this weekend I've got a report due+test Friday, Burn Halo concert Friday night,  Urban Decade fashion show + rehearsal all Saturday, Keep Austin Beautiful fashion show + hair/makeup/rehearsal all Sunday, another lab report due+final exam on Monday. Phew! I'm not going to sleep this weekend. Also, my thoughts are completely distracted as Tim's mom was rushed to the hospital last night. My positive vibes/thoughts are all channeled towards her for a super successful surgery and a speedy recovery. As soon as I heard the news I wanted to rush to Tim's place...but there were critical steps of the research I had to finish up today (or else 6 weeks of work goes down the drain) and I had my last day of lab for my inorganic chemistry class. Frustrating when all I can do is attempt to make crappy jokes over the telephone to distract him/cheer him up. 
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cutout shoulders

f21 top, silence & noise (UO) shorts, colin stuart pump, thrifted belt, asos clutch, modified f21 necklace

I almost didn’t post these pictures because I dont like how my body looks in these but OH WELL.Not much to say since I'm going to bed early for tomorrow's hectic schedule (class+lab report writing+5 hrs of research). Also, shorts are going to be appearing a lot more often on my blog since I bought a whole bunch for summer+research. Reaching on a stepstool for chemicals = not conducive to wearing skirts. This necklace had all sorts of weird trinkets attached to it which I promptly removed upon purchase. I'm thinking of layering another one on top to make it more dramatic

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