My Top Three Spring Trends for 2012

Just read on Refinery29's Spring Trends of 2012 listing the top eight spring trends to watch and saw a few that I wouldn't mind rocking out. Even though the temperature has been getting colder and warmer and colder (wacky weather we've been having); maybe if I think of Spring, it'll come much sooner than later. ^_^

Anyways, I've chosen my top three below, but feel free to view the rest at Refinery29.

Images from Refinery29

What about you girls? See any trends you'll be wearing for Spring 2012?

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Friday, December 30, 2011 //

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Woody's Crab House | Orange Sweater & Suede Vest

Hubby and I were driving back from Philly and hitting the holiday traffic along the way - so typical of us. So instead of waiting in traffic like the rest of crowd, hubby spotted a crab house exit - lol. I quickly yelped it to see if it wasn't even worth it to stop, which was rated 4 stars - good enough to go and try.

North East was such a quaint little town where Woody's Crab House was located, which kinda reminded me of Annapolis and I was thrilled to find that Woody does serve raw oysters! I've been hooked since trying some in NYC for the first time, however hubby wasn't too fond of raw oysters and immediately warned me not to kiss him after slurping them down - lol. He ordered the snow crab legs instead and steamed mussels. Everything was great with the exception of the mussels; they were cooked a bit too dry. I definitely wouldn't mind coming back here again and in fact, we're thinking of making it our little tradition to stop by during holiday visits. =)

H&M Coat; Zara Suede Vest, H&M sweater ($15 at store now), F21 skinny jeans; Steve Madden boots; BCBG bag; Jewelmint Night Owl necklace; MK watch

I've had this bag for more than a year, but it has gotten a bit dirty with use. Anyone has ever gone to a leather shop to get their bags cleaned? Do you recommend it? It would be awesome getting this bag back to good use again. Anyways, just few more days till 2011 ends. If I don't talk to you before then, have a happy new year everyone!

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Tuesday, December 27, 2011 //

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Odds & Ends | Holiday Edition 2011

Hey all! Even though today is technically still my holiday weekend, I want to go ahead and continue to post these random updates every Monday. So far, I've been keeping up with them and hopefully you've been enjoying these updates as well.

So, starting from top to bottom, left to right, this holiday weekend:

• Hubby surprised me with an early xmas present who slyly hid it under a different box - more to come in a later post.
• Went to Georgetown cupcakes in Bethesda to get a dozen of their holiday cupcakes for family - yum.
• Love coming home to Philly to see our decorated tree.
• Siblings and I made Asian-style xmas eve dinner at home, with each of us making a dish. I was in charge of the shrimp dish.
• Sister from CT made her homemade apple pie decorated with gingerbread cutouts.
• Little sister wanted to make Momofuku Milk Bar's compost cookie - recipe tutorial to follow this week
• Parents gave each of us these smiley sponge, called Scrub Daddy, that apparently cleans your dishes well. We shall see. =)
• Got Milk Bar recipe book for one of my xmas gifts - awesome!

That's it! I'll be on the road today back to MD and probably do some xmas returns/exchanges at the mall with everybody else - lol. Have a great Monday and thanks for reading! =)

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Monday, December 26, 2011 //

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StyleBook App Review & Giveaway

When I was at blogger's night out a few weeks ago at Bloomies in Chevy Chase, the folks at StyleBook had a booth at the event showcasing the app created specifically for those who needed help organizing and styling their outfits. I have always wondered if there were such an app out there for that, so I was glad to bump into them.

The app is for Apple users currently and the basic run-down of the app is that you can take photos of your pieces on a contrasting background. The app will then delete the background and what you have left are images of items you own that you can mix and match to create different outfits - awesome idea, right? There are also a ton other features available that you can do with this app, which you can go to the website to check out.

Since I was able to play around with the app and just love the idea, here are a few of my thoughts when using the app:

• When taking photos of your item, make sure that the background is contrasting enough that the device recognize to the background to erase. If not, you can always manual erase the background. I switched between the cream rug and a darker area rug when taking photos and that helped.li>
• It's great to have all my items in one place where I can mix and match outfits. Since I have a lot of items to go through, it helps to sort out what item gets most used to take a photo vs. one that doesn't and can be given to goodwill. 
• The app has several different categories to arrange your items, however, I didn't see a place to add more if need be.
• Also I didn't see a place to backup the app in case of phone reformat.

StyleBook was kind enough to give away complimentary promo codes for 4 winners to download this app and try out for themselves. If interested, feel free to use the giveaway form below to enter. This giveaway will start today and last until January 2nd, 12AM EST.

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Winners will be chosen by randomizer.org and announced on my FB page, so liked if you haven't yet. Thanks for reading and good luck!

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Monday, December 26, 2011 //

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Holiday Casual | Suede Vest & Caterpillar Necklace

Hello hello! I hope everyone is having a great Christmas so far. It was great spending time with the family and got to see my awesome nephew. Only thing that was missing was snow. Ah well, there's always another year. =)

For my outfit today, I wanted to keep it casual and comfy, but still keep it festive and jolly. =) I have to thank my sister from CT for braving the cold with me and taking these photos. By the time we were done, our hands were freezing cold, so thank you L!

Zara suede vest (similar); the Limited blouse; Forever 21 skinny jeans; Elizabeth & James Blink Pumps; Bar III Caterpillar necklace; H&M and Jewelmint Savory bracelets; Michael Kors "Blair" Watch; Tom Ford sunnies; and Chanel 2.55 Reissue Large Bag;

When I saw this unusual necklace, I had to get it. It was such a unique piece and I can see a ton of different ways to wear it. I also picked up this vest few days ago and am absolutely loving it so far and these pumps came in just in time for the weekend. I've been eyeing them for a month or so and when I saw them on Hautelook, I decided to grab them. They are my first pair of pumps from Alice & Olivia and I just love the shape of these pumps. Since it was the holidays, I decided to take Chanel2 out for some fun. She doesn't get to see the light of day too often, which is a shame. I have to make a mental note to take her out more often, that's for sure.

My sisters and I made dinner last night for the holiday with each of us preparing a little something. As predicted, most of the dishes were Asian with the exception of my sister's homemade apple pie and homemade Momofuku's Milkbar Compost Cookies. Photos of the meal as well as the compost cookie recipe tutorial will come later in another post. The cookies came out nicely and so delish. In fact, I am almost done editing the recipe tutorial, so hopefully will be ready to post later this week. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks always for reading!

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Sunday, December 25, 2011 //

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Featured: Youtube Hairstylist Daven Mayeda

As you know, I love bumping into great talents on youtube, especially ones who love to create hairstyles as much as I do and this one is no different. I'm not sure why it took me this long in finding his channel, but I'm so glad that I did. Aside from featuring Michelle Phan and Chriselle Lim in his tutorials, Daven has such a fun and loveable personality and makes me laugh when I watch his videos - all great combos for a great channel. I can't wait to see more of his vids. If you haven't checked his videos out, please do so. You'll love it! You can also check past features on my post here. =) Daven Mayeda
 

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Friday, December 23, 2011 //

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Buffalo | Everyday Winter Coat & Boots

As you know, I spent last weekend heading to Buffalo to visit the in-laws. Also last week, I had tweeted that I couldn't find my passport, so we couldn't go to Toronto this time around. Ironically, I took out my passport from its safe place to apply for the passport card. I somehow misplaced it somewhere and now have to reapply for a new one - le sigh.

Whenever I visit Buffalo, I always forget how cold the city can get. It was 23 degrees and slight flurry that day, so was a great time to try out my new winter coat from H&M and see how it weathers up to the cold. Not too bad so far with the layers, but believe me when I say I was fuhhhh-reeezing during this shoot. Not to mention my hair was wet heading out, since I typically air-dry, and was frozen within in minutes standing there. Of course, I was trying to act cool and nonchalant in the photos if you couldn't tell - lol. Thank goodness there was a coffee shop called Coffee Culture right nearby to quickly grab a cup of white chocolate mocha before shooting, otherwise I don't think I would've lasted long. Yep, I admit it. Such a total wuss when it comes to winter weather.

For the location, I asked hubby if there were any cute little places that we could take around the area and he brought me to this little town on Main St. All the times that I visited in the past, which was couple dozen times, he never once took me here until now. I'll definitely have to go back and explore little main street when the weather gets warmer.

H&M Winter Coat (recent and 50% off); F21 Fair Isle Scarf (similar); F21 moto jeggings; F21 white layered shirt; Splendid cardigan (similar); Hayden Harnett slouchy hobo (old); Steve Madden boots (similar); MK Blair watch; Jewelmint Zipper bracelet and Tom Ford sunnies

Thanks for reading! Heading to Philly this weekend for the holidays. I hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones this holiday season! =)

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Wednesday, December 21, 2011 //

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Odds and Ends: Buffalo

Here's another weekend update - went to Buffalo to visit the in-laws so from left to right:

• Was in the 20's, so found these cow-looking slippers around the house and wore them to keep my feet warm. Don't they look like reindeer though? =P
• Hubby's parents get influx of magazines coming to the house for no reason, so caught up on the fashion trends =)
• Stomach's always full from MIL's amazing home-cooked meals, some of which I have learned hoping to create some more recipe videos on my cooking channel
• FIL and most of his family members all either know how to play the piano or give lessons - one of my life goals is to learn how to play someday.
• Bought two homey scented candles (home-made cookies and frosted cupcakes from Bath and Body Works along with a ribbon candle holder

That's it! I hope you had a lovely weekend and also 6 days till Christmas!! Need to start wrapping the gifts and head out to Philly this weekend. =) Thanks so much for reading!

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Monday, December 19, 2011 //

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Casual | Chambray & Geo Print Fringe Sweater Vest

I saw this Geo Print Fringe Sweater at Forever 21 last week and thought it was such a fun item for pairing. As you can see below, I wore the outfit without a belt and kinda like the looseness of it, but then hubby was saying it might look better with a belt, so we went back in to grab one. It's up to preference so you can do either. I don't know what girl who doesn't like to dress up, but for me, I tend to like to dress comfy whenever possible. Adding chambray to any outfit already makes it prett casual, but having a sweater vest over top gives it the extra layer of warmth without being too bulky. Also, I absolutely adore these wedges and they are super comfy to walk in and gives me that added height.

Top: Chambray shirt from Nordstrom (similar) and F21 Geo Print Fringe Sweater Vest (buy); Bottom: Liquid leggings (similar); Shoes: Nine West Suede Wedge bought at Great Mall in SF(similar); Accessories: Gucci 85th Anniversary Horsebit Hobo (old) and MK "Blair" Watch (buy)

Thanks for reading!

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Posted by: ~Mel // at Saturday, December 17, 2011 //

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