In my usual Groupon-ing glory, I bought a deal for a 6 course tasting menu at XIV, one of Michael Mina's restaurants in LA. The husband and I went for Dine LA, but I wasn't impressed. But this meal was amazing. There were like 10 dishes and a trio of desserts to share. My favorite dishes were a mushroom and truffle tart that was so savory and tasty and a passionfruit mousse. That passionfruit mousse was probably the best thing I have ever eaten.
The husband and I found our love for passionfruit in Hawaii. We were driving around in Kauai to get to our hotel from the airport and we were hungry, so we stopped by a roadside stand to get some guavas. The fruitseller gave us a free sample of passionfruit, and from that taste, we were hooked. We bought four or five passionfruit which we ate immediately afterwards in the car.
We bought several more passionfruits in the stores around the hotel where we were staying, but none of them were nearly as good as the first ones we had -- actually most of them were overly sour and too seedy to be tasty. It was rather disappointing.
Anyway, I apologize for being very flaky in my posting and I will have a new post soon, I promise.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Vogue-Inspired Fashion "Memoir"
So I just spent a morning drinking coffee and reading Vogue, so here's a post inspired by the magazines profiles of people and their fashion sense.
I spent most of my early years wearing whatever my parents bought for me. However, even given those limitations, I still found myself drawn to some key pieces that I still remember. My first favorite piece was a light blue dress, with pleated, gauzy sleeves, and a full pleated skirt. After I lovingly wore it for every party for years, I passed it on to my sister who wore it the same gusto. The next outfit I remember cherishing was a long-sleeved black velvet top with ruching paired with a pair of white jean shorts printed with small multicolored flowers. I wore it one summer to a spelling bee (which I of course won), but I don't know how I managed to wear long-sleeved velvet, in black no less, in the middle of an Atlanta summer.
I also remember a period in 6th or 7th grade, where I wore leggings everyday. I mixed up my Monday - Thursday leggings, but every Friday, I wore purple patterned leggings with a long-sleeve purple t-shirt, purple being my favorite color because it was my friend Megan's favorite color (I looked up to here even back then).
My first foray into defining my own sartorial sense was during a trip to India when I was 14. The rest of my Indian clothes were all picked by my parents during their more frequent trips or given as gifts by my relatives. So during this particular trip, our parents took my sister and I to a shop in Madras/Chennai to pick out selvars/churidars (basically a long top with pants). I remember we spent a while trying to decide what we wanted. I finally settled on a dark red cotton selvar with wide-legged pants, which were just becoming de rigueur at the time. It was a soft cotton, as opposed to the shinier polyester which everyone in India seemed to love for its flashiness. The embroidery was the same dark red as the fabric, a huge step from the rest of the multicolored selvars I owned. Even the dupatta, or sash, was relatively minimalistic -- white crepey cotton with a dark red elegant floral pattern. I loved this to pieces -- and still do. I wore it as often as I could, washing it as infrequently as possible to preserve the color. I know realized that it fit me poorly (but as well as the rest of my Indian clothes) but I loved the simplicity and restraint of it. I still have it and try to wear it, even though the fabric has faded several shades and the embroidery is finally apparent as a result.
I looked back at some pictures of me during college, and while I thought back then I hadn't developed a sense of style, I see pieces and outfits that speak to the ladylike minimalism I am drawn to now. Even as a college student not used to spending money on clothes, I was drawn to pieces simple in coloring, but with some unique detail. I visited Chicago or New York once in college, and went straight to the H&M. There wasn't one in Atlanta at the time so whatever I picked up there would be one of a kind when I got home. I found this black cotton one-shouldered top. I loved its simplicity and uniqueness. That was my birthday top that year.
I spent some time earlier this year trying to shop for patterns to make my wardrobe a little less boring, but I've realized I just really like simplicity. Polka dots or stripes -- or the occasional watercolor or floral -- are about as bold as I will go. I also really like neutrals, but I'm trying to be better about branching out from black (at some point a few years ago I had 7 or 8 black dresses and 1 white one, and nothing else).
I find this more challenging when it comes to Indian clothes. Most of what I find -- especially in the smaller cities of South India -- tend to be colorful. I think the sensual silhouettes that define Indian clothing, especially saris, are elevated when they are designed in simple colors and patterns. Monochromatic saris really show off the intricacy of the draping and accentuate the figure that the sari creates. A family friend of mine gave me a purple silk sari edged in orange as an engagement present. I was initially skeptical of the color combination, but when I wore it, the simplicity of the design worked really well with the contrasting colors. The orange strip at the border replaced the traditional gold-embroidered border, and the patterns were woven into the fabric as a texture, rather than as a color. Ironically, this is one of my favorite saris now, but there are few occasions I can wear it to; unfortunately, even though it's made of a beautiful fabric, it's not blingy enough to fall into the category of "Indian formalwear."
I also remember being in an Indian beauty pageant between high school and college. Most of the girls, including me, wore their fanciest outfits for the Indian clothes portion. One girl stood out though -- she walked out in a beautifully draped, plain red sari -- no border, nothing. She really stood out because you could really see her, rather than the clothes. I'm still inspired by that outfit, and dream of buying a plain red sari on one of my trips to India.
Okay, I'm done rambling and boring y'all. Thanks for reading =)
I spent most of my early years wearing whatever my parents bought for me. However, even given those limitations, I still found myself drawn to some key pieces that I still remember. My first favorite piece was a light blue dress, with pleated, gauzy sleeves, and a full pleated skirt. After I lovingly wore it for every party for years, I passed it on to my sister who wore it the same gusto. The next outfit I remember cherishing was a long-sleeved black velvet top with ruching paired with a pair of white jean shorts printed with small multicolored flowers. I wore it one summer to a spelling bee (which I of course won), but I don't know how I managed to wear long-sleeved velvet, in black no less, in the middle of an Atlanta summer.
I also remember a period in 6th or 7th grade, where I wore leggings everyday. I mixed up my Monday - Thursday leggings, but every Friday, I wore purple patterned leggings with a long-sleeve purple t-shirt, purple being my favorite color because it was my friend Megan's favorite color (I looked up to here even back then).
My first foray into defining my own sartorial sense was during a trip to India when I was 14. The rest of my Indian clothes were all picked by my parents during their more frequent trips or given as gifts by my relatives. So during this particular trip, our parents took my sister and I to a shop in Madras/Chennai to pick out selvars/churidars (basically a long top with pants). I remember we spent a while trying to decide what we wanted. I finally settled on a dark red cotton selvar with wide-legged pants, which were just becoming de rigueur at the time. It was a soft cotton, as opposed to the shinier polyester which everyone in India seemed to love for its flashiness. The embroidery was the same dark red as the fabric, a huge step from the rest of the multicolored selvars I owned. Even the dupatta, or sash, was relatively minimalistic -- white crepey cotton with a dark red elegant floral pattern. I loved this to pieces -- and still do. I wore it as often as I could, washing it as infrequently as possible to preserve the color. I know realized that it fit me poorly (but as well as the rest of my Indian clothes) but I loved the simplicity and restraint of it. I still have it and try to wear it, even though the fabric has faded several shades and the embroidery is finally apparent as a result.
I looked back at some pictures of me during college, and while I thought back then I hadn't developed a sense of style, I see pieces and outfits that speak to the ladylike minimalism I am drawn to now. Even as a college student not used to spending money on clothes, I was drawn to pieces simple in coloring, but with some unique detail. I visited Chicago or New York once in college, and went straight to the H&M. There wasn't one in Atlanta at the time so whatever I picked up there would be one of a kind when I got home. I found this black cotton one-shouldered top. I loved its simplicity and uniqueness. That was my birthday top that year.
I spent some time earlier this year trying to shop for patterns to make my wardrobe a little less boring, but I've realized I just really like simplicity. Polka dots or stripes -- or the occasional watercolor or floral -- are about as bold as I will go. I also really like neutrals, but I'm trying to be better about branching out from black (at some point a few years ago I had 7 or 8 black dresses and 1 white one, and nothing else).
I find this more challenging when it comes to Indian clothes. Most of what I find -- especially in the smaller cities of South India -- tend to be colorful. I think the sensual silhouettes that define Indian clothing, especially saris, are elevated when they are designed in simple colors and patterns. Monochromatic saris really show off the intricacy of the draping and accentuate the figure that the sari creates. A family friend of mine gave me a purple silk sari edged in orange as an engagement present. I was initially skeptical of the color combination, but when I wore it, the simplicity of the design worked really well with the contrasting colors. The orange strip at the border replaced the traditional gold-embroidered border, and the patterns were woven into the fabric as a texture, rather than as a color. Ironically, this is one of my favorite saris now, but there are few occasions I can wear it to; unfortunately, even though it's made of a beautiful fabric, it's not blingy enough to fall into the category of "Indian formalwear."
I also remember being in an Indian beauty pageant between high school and college. Most of the girls, including me, wore their fanciest outfits for the Indian clothes portion. One girl stood out though -- she walked out in a beautifully draped, plain red sari -- no border, nothing. She really stood out because you could really see her, rather than the clothes. I'm still inspired by that outfit, and dream of buying a plain red sari on one of my trips to India.
Okay, I'm done rambling and boring y'all. Thanks for reading =)
Friday, May 6, 2011
Latest (but not really greatest) celebrity sighting
Anyway, I saw him, and I snuck a picture for proof. By the way, the husband claimed that no one who read my blog would know who he is, but I think he's pretty well known, so let me know if I'm way off base here.
The party itself was interesting. It was at this old theater way east in LA (well, easter than I've been before) and it had been converted into a banquet hall of sorts. It was beautiful, with gilded ceilings and huge antique chandeliers. The decorations were also really fancy.
But the party itself wasn't all that. I didn't feel like I was in the hippest Wednesday night scene. Everyone was sort of in their own groups, eating food and drinking (tequila of course), there was no mingling or anything I'd associate with a "scene" (not that I've been to a "scene" before so I have nothing to compare to). The girls were definitely dressed like it was a scene though. Skirts/dresses were a little too tight and a little too short. Our friend and I were both wearing business casual, since we had come straight from work. What I want to know is how all those other people either got away with wearing those outfits to work or had time to change clothes between work and the party.
We both felt so old critiquing their outfits as too scandalous, especially since they were all our age (at least). But I guess when you're not from LA, you tend to have a more conservative approach. I think our friend is from Maryland, which is borderline South / East Coast, both of which tend to take a more conservative approach to dressing. Yes, girls in the South dress up for silly things like football games, but they wear classy (knee-length) dresses and pearls - not what girls in LA tend to wear, at least not for parties like this.
So to be honest, I own a few "LA" pieces (by few I mean 1), but I just feel really overdressed wearing something tight and short on a weeknight. Am I just overly conservative? Or LA just is a totally different fashion scene?
Anyway, this week has been quiet except for this party (woot, we stayed out until 10:30 on a weeknight!). I'll post more this weekend about my Girl Scout volunteering.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Apologies
I apologies for the long hiatus. Work has been really busy. It was my first 70-hour week since I started the job - something I never thought I'd have to deal with, since I like to think I do my work efficiently. But alas, working with a new group of people with a different approach to project management led to that miserable week. And because I was sleep-deprived, my immune system faltered and I got a cold. So not fun.
It's exacerbated by the fact that my bonus sucked. It was significantly lower than someone in another office with the same ratings as me. I got lower than the target bonus even though my reviews said my performance was above average. WTH? So on top of being discouraged and feeling that working hard didn't get me anything, I had to work crazy hours on a project that I was asked to help out with. It was really hard to stay motivated. I kept pushing through though, knowing that I'd be off the project on Tuesday. And then on Tuesday afternoon, surprise! Staffed on it for another month. Ugh.
This week is better so far and I hope this slower pace continues for the next month or two. I have a ton of weddings to go to this summer, and I'd prefer not to work during the weddings. Since this new project is a recent addition to my workload, I'm just going to make my personal boundaries very clear. It's hard for me to do because I feel bad saying "no," but I have to.
Anyway, there hasn't been a lot of interesting things going on recently, but I have a few things coming up this week so my next few posts should be more intriguing. I don't even have any interesting pictures to share, but I hope to have a few outfits to share in my next post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)