Tattoos, Part I: Maneki Usagi

Outfit Details:

Openback V-Neck (Black) - Anthropologie

Corey Lynn Calter Nocturnal Mini - Anthropologie

Vintage Sunglasses - Brooklyn Flea

Cobble Hill Clarke (Dusty Mint) - Kate Spade

Lacy Suede Oxfords (Brown) - Anthropologie

One thing I neglected to mention earlier: While I was in New York, I got a new tattoo! I had been wanting a new one for a while, and although there are some incredibly talented tattoo artists in the Bay Area, I was hesitant to try my luck with a total stranger. Being a visual artist myself, I'm ridiculously picky and I loved my tattoo artist in Chicago, who did my other two pieces. Imagine my surprise when Jason, my old tattoo artist, posted on Instagram that he'd be guest spotting in NYC the SAME WEEK I was going to be there! I could hardly book an appointment quickly enough!

This cute little bunny (a maneki usagi!) is what I ended up walking away with, and I loooooove it! It's a trifecta of three symbols of luck: a rabbit, traditionally regarded as a lucky animal (ie. a rabbit's foot, and the "rabbit rabbit rabbit" superstition); a maneki neko or "beckoning cat," which is commonly seen in many Japanese and Chinese businesses for luck; and peonies, which are omens of good fortune and happy marriages. <3 It's a commemoration of how completely blessed and lucky I've felt this year, a reminder of how perfectly and coincidentally things can work out, and hopefully a lucky charm for future good things to come. It was also a great way to remember an amazing week in New York City. :)

Here's a better look at the original sketch Jason drew up, a gross in-progress shot, and a picture of it freshly-done.

It was surprisingly not all that painful, I think because of the location (big meaty arms, mwahaha). It took about two hours (he's an incredibly fast tattooist) and I got to lay down for it, so it was actually kind of nice, though very boring. I had to sit upright for my previous tattoos, since they were on my shoulder, but was able to read magazines and do other stuff. Still, I definitely preferred laying down. Jason and I had some good conversation about how much we both loved Instagram and hated Facebook. It was almost relaxing, if you didn't count the constant buzz and stabbing sensation of tattoo needles. :P

I know I've said repeatedly that I would eventually do a post on my tattoos, so consider this a Part I, and I will make it a higher priority to take photos and write up posts for my other two. I promise!

SF vs. NYC

Outfit Details:

Bunny Print Blouse - H&M

Blank NYC Fly-Rise Jeans - ModCloth

Moroccan Beaded Necklace - Zzouzi Vintage & Handmade

Seychelles Investigate Loafers (Seafoam) - Last Call

I'm back from my NYC vaca, y'all! It was majorly fun; I did, and ate, and saw a million things! I miss it so much already, and can't wait to go back for another visit. Coming back to real life and responsibilities has been a difficult transition. All I want to do is stay up until sunrise and dance around in Jasmine's apartment to "Sweet Caroline," while listening to her upstair neighbors yell at each other all night. *sigh* What a life!

I felt like everyone I saw in Manhattan was so stylish! I'd love to adopt more of the chic East Coast vibe into my own wardrobe. These photos were taken pre-vacation, and are a little more of a quirky, San Francisco casual. It's so interesting to me how different cities have such different street styles. I don't think I'll ever be able to shake the animal-print obsession from my personal style, but my tastes are definitely evolving to incorporate more simple and modern pieces. We'll see how this goes!

Mint + Houndstooth

Outfit Details:

Hound Sleuth Dress - ModCloth

Turquoise Cardigan - LOFT

Pardon My French Necklace - Kate Spade

Orla Kiely The Fox of Life Bag - ModCloth

Flexible Schedule Flat in Mint - ModCloth

I am totally into the black and white trend that's been so popular recently. I loved this combination of the bright mint with the houndstooth pattern. The weather has been so beautiful here lately. It was even hitting 80°F yesterday! That was a little too warm for me, but I've never liked hot weather.

Right now, I'm packing for a week-long trip to New York City, a much-needed vacation! I leave tomorrow and I am crazy excited. Sad to be leaving this perfect California weather, but looking forward to catching up with some old friends and exploring a new city. I actually used to live in New York when I was really young, so it's not completely new to me. I did all the major touristy stuff then, but you can't really enjoy a city properly when you're 8 years old. :P It'll be the first time I've left California since moving back here almost 3 years ago, and I desperately am in need of some time off. I'm not sure how much relaxation I'll really get, but it'll be refreshing to get away from my normal day-to-day for a while.

Back from the dead!

Outfit Details:

Here and There Tee, Animals (Black Motif) - Anthropologie

Sugar Work Skirt - Anthropologie

Grommet Belt - LOOK Boutique

Orla Kiely The Fox of Life Bag - ModCloth

Crimped Bow Flats (Black) - Anthropologie

HI EVERYONE, I'm baaaack! Sorry for going totally AWOL on you guys. After being perpetually sick on and off since 2013 started and being super swamped at work, blogging sort of fell to the wayside and has been really, really low on my list of priorities lately. There just are not enough hours in the day for everything I want to do. Also, I am exceptionally slothy, so a lot of times, all I want to do is sit around and read Tumblr, you know? (Never enough hours in the day for Tumblr.)

I think this blog used to be a great outlet for the fashion-y side of myself when I worked at a corporate-type job where no one really cared about clothing, except to point out that I was "the girl that always wore animals." But now that I work in a fashion-centric environment, I am constantly inundated with clothing and outfit posts every day, which makes running a blog like this very monotonous. That's not to say that I won't ever blog again, because having this blog is something I've ALWAYS wanted to do, and I won't give up altogether. I just wanted to explain the long hiatus and the slow trickling of posts.

I did snap these pictures last week after work, though! I loved the black and yellow together, and thought my outfit was particularly OOTD-worthy. As you can see, I recently got a haircut and the pink tips are gone, gone, gone! :( I miss them, but my hair was getting way too long and it was driving me nuts. I had 10 inches lopped off and feel so liberated. I won't be growing out my hair like that again anytime soon, if ever. What a pain!

It's Raining Donkeys

Mastering the art of cute jumping poses...

(... after 10 ugly jumping failures)

Outfit Details:

Brat & Suzie Calls Foal Rain Top - ModCloth

The Circle Scarf (Navy/Ivory) - American Apparel

AG Stevie Ankle Hearts - Anthropologie

O Basics OTK Socks (Navy) - Sock Dreams

Lucky Brand Cardinal Rule Boot - ModCloth

It's Nick's birthday today! We've had an old friend of Nick's staying with us these last two days, and I made us all a kickass breakfast scramble this morning. This is a big deal because I am very rarely awake before noon on a Saturday. However, our kitten snuck a piece of chocolate under Nick's pillow during the night and it had melted under his body heat, so when we woke up, we thought it was... well, let's just say, "NOT chocolate..." That'll get you out of bed right quick! (-_____-) So, an interesting morning, to say the least... We are planning to grab some Indian food soon, then spend the night at the karaoke bar (AGAIN). We went to the karaoke bar for his birthday last year too, but he's pretty obsessed with that place, so he really wanted to do it again. New yearly tradition?

Earlier this week, we had a pre-birthday celebration at Benihana, which was AMAZING as usual. No matter how many times those chefs flip shrimp tails into their hats or create onion ring volcanos — it NEVER gets old. My favorite is their lobster tail, mmm... Wow, that stuff is crazy delicious. Their giant fishbowl of blue alcohol is also high up on my list, but we didn't get that this time. :(

I felt kinda silly in my donkey sweatshirt next to Nick's nice shirt collar and cashmere sweater, but whatevs. I was too lazy to change. Sweatshirts are the bomb.

What am I even doing here?

Outfit Details:

Heat Index Pullover (Neutral) - Anthropologie

The Circle Scarf (Navy/Ivory) - American Apparel

Grommet Belt - LOOK Boutique

Fleece-Lined Leggings (Black) - Anthropologie

O Dreamy OTK Socks (Bark) - Sock Dreams

Lucky Brand Cardinal Rule Boot - ModCloth

I have not been great with the OOTD pics lately, I know, but here's an outfit real quick! I went suit shopping with Nick last week and managed to snap some photos in the mirror during some downtime. Man, I really need some more floor-length mirrors and adequate lighting in my house. Pardon all the menswear stacked around me. I really know nothing about menswear and felt like a fish out of water in that store. However, they did sell a bowtie with a cute doggy pattern that I tried to convince Nick to buy. He didn't buy it.

Anyway, I tend to pride myself in how I can remember most of the long, fanciful product names that copywriters slave over, or at least enough parts of them to Google it and come up with the correct result. However, I have not worn this sweater in SO long, nor could I ever find it featured on this blog previously, that I had 0 recollection what it could even have been called. However, after some mad Googling of "sweaters" and "tunics," I managed to find it: Heat Index PULLOVER. *eyeroll* I hope this proves my dedication to the factual accuracy of this blog and restores your faith in my clothing-pinpointing abilities — another triumphant success!

Woof!

Fetch & Frolic Dress - $148

(Click through to get a better view of the print.)

Pooch Posse Cardigan - $118

Okay, can we just pause for a second and talk about these? Earlier this week, I was mindlessly browsing Anthropologie's new arrivals page in the middle of the night and I stumbled across these two treasures. Words cannot express how excited I got. I believe it went something like: EHRMAGERD DOG SWEATER, SDFXJJWEWEDQWLJS!!! The dress is pretty awesome too, but ugh, strapless. The picture shows it with removable straps, but I'll be honest here — even though they're wide and not the useless spaghetti strap kind, removable straps suck and I hate them. Strapless dresses are the bane of my existence. JUST PUT REAL STRAPS ON IT, YOU GUYS! Is that so hard? Hmph.

As a connoisseur of fine animal print goods, I like cute little subtle animal prints that aren't totally obvious until you get up close. But what I REALLY LOVE are totally ridiculous pieces that feature large, unabashed animals everywhere. It should come to no surprise that I already have a white sweater with various breeds of dogs all over it, but this one is a cardigan, therefore I love it 500x more. I know I will eventually break down and buy it at some point, but I hope I can hold off til sale time. I feel like this sweater will only really be popular with weirdos like me and old lady dog breeders (future me), so I have a pretty good chance of not having to pay $118 for it. Crossing my fingers!