An Evening with Brendel

My teacher told my recently, "do one thing a week that is amazing, out of the norm for you, and something you will think back on and remember forever."  She said, even if it was taking a hike out to watch the sunset - it didn't have to be anything expensive, or crazy, but as long as it was something inspiring - make the time and effort to do it once a week, and it will make your life better.

I can't remember time I've done anything like that, but after my recent experience I am definitely making it a goal to schedule in some awesomeness once a week!

I was recently invited to a special private event.  Renowned pianist, lecturer and author Alfred Brendel was coming to Berkeley to give a lecture to a small intimate group of 60.  There were no tickets, and it was by invitation only.

I had a hard time getting my little brother to understand the importance of this, so I explained to him (he's a huge NBA fan) by means of an illustration.  I said, say LeBron James (his favorite player - let's NOT get into that discussion please lest I kill myself.  But you can insert anyone you like:  Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan, Willie Mays, Alexander McQueen, Jimi Hendrix, Steven Scorcese, whoever you want) - say that person is coming over to my house for dinner.  I can invite 10 people, they get to come over for free, you don't have to bring anything, you just come and listen to this person talk.  About their inspiration, their tips and tricks, their ideas, their experiences, etc.  And I invite YOU.  He immediately said "Ohh I see...that's pretty cool! Have fun!"

It was pretty amazing! It's inspiring just to be in such close quarters with such an amazing mind, that, at 80, still blows everyone in the room combined, out of the water.  The hall was beautiful, Brendel has a delightful sense of humour, I took some good notes, and it was definitely one of the greatest experiences of my life!

 lighting was terrible and we weren't allowed to take pictures so I had to make due with my camera phone, and with flash off.

It was very late and very dark when I got home, and I was very tired, so there was no way I was going to get a good outfit post, but remember this?  I wore my GAP black skinnies out for the whole evening and I have to say - I LOVE them! Totally worth every penny.

 I wore:  

GAP Always Skinny Jeans in Black

Forever 21 Crochet Sweater (old)

Sequin Tank I picked up at Marshalls for $12 - yay budget shopping!

and my favorite Blue Suede Jessica Simpson wedges for that pop of color.

A close up of just how sparkly the tank is - I love it! And for $12?! You can't find something this amazing at that price anywhere else!  Yay for Marshalls/TJmaxx/Ross shoppers!

I knew this color wouldn't show, but I am absolutely in-love with my blue suede shoes! Not to mention, it's so incredibly comfortable. I've been on my feet walking all day in these and they don't bother me!  Don't worry, keep your eyes peeled because I'm positive they'll be back on here again soon!

GAP sale this weekend-up to 50% off!

I was tipped off late last night thanks to Jean, who wrote on one of my favorite blogs, Extra Petite, that Gap was having an "up to 50% off Columbus Day sale."

So I scurried on over to their website and saw that they had quite an impressive selection of jeans all on sale.  I've been meaning to try out their legging jeans since I've heard and read great reviews on them, and figured this would be my chance.

For months now, I've been looking for the perfect black skinny jean/jegging - I wanted something that would be versatile enough to look polished and dressed up, while at the same time remain super comfortable.  Over Labor Day weekend, American Eagle was having a 40% off+free ship sale, so I ordered these black knit jeggings online through Ebates.  (referral link!)

AE Knit Jegging in Black

With the 40% off plus 3.0% cash back from Ebates, I paid $22.99 for these.  Alas, they came and just didn't fit right. The waist was way too loose on me and I didn't like the extremely narrow and tight leg opening at the bottom.  We weren't a good match, so I returned them at my local AE store.

Today I popped into The Gap in downtown SF after class quickly--the biggest one I know of around here--in hopes of better size selection, since I wasn't sure exactly what size I would be.  (Considering I hadn't purchased any bottoms from The Gap since the 5th grade!)  I determined that I was a size 25/0, which unfortunately seems to be a very popular size since it was sold out in most styles.

I brought a load full of pants with me into the fitting room, and only successfully fell in love with a black skinny jean and a royal blue washed ultra lightweight skinny boot.  Unfortunately the "skinny boot" in "ink" only came in 24/00 (there were about 20 pairs in that size), and the next smallest size was a 16.  Nothing in between.  So I decided to save the info and hunt on-line when I got home.

I was especially bummed they didn't have my size because, if you can see, they were on final sale in stores for only $9.97!!  Down from $69.50! That's roughly 85% off!

Sadly, while they carried my size online, it was only on sale for $49.99.  

I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this one though.  Hopefully the price will drop further and I'll be able to scoop it up!  It's definitely a VERY flattering fabric and cut - the fabric is super light but gives great shape, and it has not a huge hippy flare, but just enough to make your legs look slim and long and perfectly proportioned.

The other pair I liked in stores today and felt that it *could be* the skinny black jeans I desired were these "always skinny" jeans in black.

In the stores though, they were only 30% off regular price, which is $69.95.  That brings it down to $48.96.  I remembered it being less online, though I wasn't sure how much, so I left those in the store as well and planned on looking for it also, online when I got home.

This time I was rewarded, because these jeans are on-sale online for $34.98, which is exactly 50% off! Score!

So I popped it into my shopping cart, and got an additional 2% cash back for purchasing through Ebates.    With shipping and tax added, they came up to be about twice as much as what I paid for the AE pair, but hopefully these will live up to my expectations and I will have finally found my perfect black skinnies!

**As a note, I also wanted to point out that if you're a fan of Old Navy, not only are they having some great Columbus Day deals this weekend as well - they are currently offering 10% cash back on Ebates! What an amazing bonus!  I was just in the store a few days ago and I saw some cute items, but unfortunately nothing for me because even the smallest size at Old Navy is almost always too big on me.

Rooting For The Home Team

I was very interested when Victoria's Secret first started doing "team apparel," but was sad when initially they only offered merchandise for a select few teams, and my teams weren't included on the short list :(

Well, this year I was thrilled to see that they had included many more teams with their VSxMLB collection, and even more delighted when summer rolled around and they debuted a VSxNFL collection!  I have to say, these are *some of* the cutest team apparel items that I've seen around, and the prices are really great when you compare to mlbshop.com or nflshop.com.  In fact, a far simpler shirt from the team store will more than likely cost you more...

Since these designs are all limited edition, when I saw a Giants one earlier in the year, I was quick to grab it...

 front

back

My experience with the Victoria's Secret PINK line is that their tops actually tend to run large, so I ordered an XS for my Giants shirt, and was sad that it was a little more snug than I'd like.  (I like my shirts fitted, but not tight...looser is better because I love to eat and, well, the "food baby" becomes a little too obvious when my shirts are too tight...)  This is definitely smaller than their typical XS fit.

So when the beautiful scarlet red Niners shirt rolled out, I decided to try a size small...

 front

back

...and it was perfect!!!

I was initially a bit hesitant to order the Niner shirt because of the scoop neck.  Typically I prefer v-neck cuts to crew necks, but I was very happy to discover that this scoop neck is considerable lower/wider than a typical crew, so it worked out just fine.  The shoulders fit perfectly, and there was just enough of a loose "hang" in the body...plus my favorite color of all time, scarlet red?! Win-win, my friends.

The only real difference between the two is the v-neck on the Giants shirt and scoop neck on the Niner shirt.  Both shirts are of excellent quality, with beautiful contrast pipe stitching around the collar, made with a great fabric that's not too thin.  Definitely sturdy enough to roll around in the grass for a while with, or survive a few beer spills.  My camera doesn't do the Giants orange foil justice (it looks too dark in all my pictures), but the foil print on both shirts are also awesome, they're bright and shiny in person--just the way I wanted it!

Plus who can resist the adorable tags that come with it?! (Complete with official licensing stickers no less!)

Ok football, I'm ready, let's go!

Extreme Heat + Humidity

What do you wear when it's about 110 degrees plus 98% humidity?!

Dressing has always been a huge challenge for me when I go to China.  Since everything you're wearing sticks to your body about 5 seconds after you walk out your front door, I always have to fight the urge to just stay in my birthday suit all day.

I really wanted to stick to outfits that were simple (think: no layering and minimal fabric), breathable (cottons only please) and yet still age-appropriate (since it's so hot there that I keep my makeup to a minimum, it's totally easy to get mistaken for a 12-year-old depending on my outfit choices.

This year I found that sticking to simple yet classic pieces with a few choice accessories, helped me to look put-together, yet still stay cool.

I was having too much fun at first, and then quickly became too sick to take too many pictures, but here's one example of the types of oufit I wore:

Haha, terrible picture I know, but I was running out the door and after 3 crazy weeks abroad this was all I had.

Pink cotton shorts from Express 

White v-neck pocket tee by Tilt 

and camel leather belt from H&M

You can't see them, but for almost the majority of the trip I stuck with these shoes:

Payless Airwalk "Hope" in Tan

and they were amazing! For only 20 bucks (and obviously a straight knock-off of Tom's, which costs more than double), they were comfy enough to walk all over Shanghai in, and I could wear them all day in aforementioned heat + humidity and my feet never got sweaty or stinky. (Hey sorry, but it's important to know when considering summer shoes!) The color was also great, it went with everything and is a great, elongating nude color.

When I bought them I was told they were a temporary item, part of this project Payless was doing:

...but they are so amazing and such a great bang for your buck, I'm thinking about going back just to see if they're still carrying them, and perhaps pick one up in a different color.

Glitter Nails

Spent a wonderful three days at the 2011 "Let God's Kingdom Come" Convention.  The program was encouraging and motivating, but physically I am wiped out! I was much obliged to not step out of the house at all today, and spent the morning cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, and tying up random odds and ends.  Will have a nice afternoon/evening of teaching ahead of me.

As promised, the nail review from last week.  I finally figured out what was wrong with my pictures...it appears that my camera (which recently developed some weird spots/black spots on the screen) has lost all its auto-focus capabilities as well.  Hmm...hopefully it'll last through my China trip, if not I'm going to have to start setting aside money to purchase a new camera :(

I used four polishes for this look:

From left to right:

Chanel 557 Morning Rose

O.P.I. & Katy Perry Teenage Dream

Wet & Wild Craze 237 Glitz

Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat

That's also the order I put them on.  Here's your "recipe":

(adapt as you wish with primers, preps and base coats)

Apply 1 layer of Chanel Morning Rose

Starting from halfway up, apply one coat OPI Teenage Dream

Closer to the tip, apply a second coat OPI

At very tip (where you would put a french white tip), apply 1 layer Wet&Wild

Finish off with two coats clear top coat

 (with flash)

(without flash)

Again, apologize for poor quality photos, my camera sadly seems to truly be on its last breath...

I love this look because it's light enough to not be overwhelming on hot summer days, but yet still bright and glittery enough to be a great accessory for night-outs, and fun/more formal activities.  

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this Chanel 557, when I bought it I was told it was a 2011 Summer collection limited edition item, and though I never ever spend this much on a bottle of nail polish (just seems way to extravagant to me), I splurged on this one and it was well worth it.  This polish looks good alone or as a base coat, one coat or three coats.  Depending on the lighting and number of coats, it can look more coral or more pink. It brightens up your skin and makes your hands look beautiful.  I've seen it on a few different skin tones and seems to flatter all.  Love it!

I had actually given up on being able to find this OPI and Katy Perry limited edition polish, but surprisingly found it at a random little beauty supply store in downtown San Mateo one day when I wasn't even looking for it, months after the line had sold out in ULTAs and had ceased to be restocked.  Not only that, it was a few dollars cheaper than most other retailers too! One of my favorite glitter/top coats.  By itself it's not overwhelming at all, carries the perfect amount of sheer color, and has the perfect combination of fine and medium glitters.  Sometimes I like to just put one coat over a coat of nude polish.

The wet&wild Craze collection of glitter polishes has to be one of my favorites, and I think it's much better quality than a lot of polishes that are much pricier as well.  The carries a nice, full-bodied color with just one coat, which is something I find annoying in most other glitters - it's almost always too sheer in one coat with glitter sparsely spread.  Not this one! It's packed with glitter-ful color, but still not too overwhelming.  One of my favorite drug-store finds of all time.

A word on the Sally Hanson top coat - it really does dry in 30 seconds.  A time-saver that I really appreciate!  I also love that it's super shiny, so I often use just one coat of it to brighten up other polishes that aren't as shiny as I want it to be.

Overall note on glitter nail designs:  One of the things that I simultaneously love and hate about glitter polishes is that the glitter is almost impossible to remove without scraping/possibly damaging your nail.  While this is definitely a disadvantage when you want to remove it, it's also a huge advantage if you're looking for a design that will last a LONG time.  (ie great for long vacations)  I tend to put this on when I know I will be away/too busy to take care of my nails for a long time (hey even though they're usually bare for piano I still try to make them presentable!), and I try to let it grow out to the point where after I remove it, I will just clip off most of the damaged tip areas anyway.

You'll probably get tired of seeing it long before this nail design ever chips away!