roses are red

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving holiday was filled with good food, good company, and good memories! Mine certainly was. Thanksgiving Day itself was lackluster because a huge part of our usual Thanksgiving party was missing due to college, distance, or a combination of the two. We couldn't help but to sadly note the empty chairs around the dinner table. Thankfully, they will be coming down for Christmas, so that should be lots more fun!

The rest of my holiday was much less despressing, haha! The BF came over to help us put up our family Christmas decorations. He met my little cousins and siblings for the first time, which I have to admit that I was slightly nervous about. My little brother, little sister, and little cousins (all of whom are now over 13, so they're not really all that little anymore) are shy people. When it's just us, they're obviously all comfortable enough to act crazy, giddy, silly, the works. But when they meet new people, they tend to clam up to the point where guests will think there are a bunch of mute kids running around the house. (no joke, I had a friend who really thought my brother was born without vocal cords or something) But with the BF, my brother felt comfortable enough to steal my sister's Uggs and traipse around the house, so I think the BF's a hit. I mean, none of the kiddos really spoke to him, but acting normally (which in my family's case means acting like weirdos) in his presence is a good start.

Textured Jersey Bouquet tee, J.Crew [x]
Always cardigan, J.Crew [x]
black skinnies, Earnest Sewn
Lela Rose booties, Payless
red scarf, gifted
elephant ring, F21

Happy Monday, everyone! I'll be catching up on all your lovely blogs today!

crinkle cascade, you are divine

Your order from J.Crew has shipped.

YIPPEE!!! Holiday party season is right around the corner, and you know what pretty little frock I have headed my way? This beauty:

Crinkle cascade dress, J.Crew [x]

I tried it on in the store last weekend, and the BF gave it a big ol' thumbs up. I was worried it would look too twee and cupcake-y, but the tie sash does a surprisingly effective job at reigning those tiers in. It fits TTS, as I took my usual size 4 in it. I'm a short gal, so the dress hit slightly below the knee rather than right above the knee as seen on the model here. My store didn't carry it in the black plum color (pictured), so I ordered it through the red phone. I can't wait for it to arrive! SQUEEEE!!! Gimme gimme nowwwww!

I'm going to hit up Anthropologie this weekend to scope out some other potential holiday party dresses. Thank goodness for J.Crew's 90-day return window. I'm also charged with the duty of picking something stellar for my lives-in-a-t-shirt-and-jeans date. I don't know whether I'm more excited to pick out my dress or his outfit. Finally, my subscriptions to Esquire and GQ may come in handy!

I hope you're all super excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow! I better get turkey. Or else I'll be miffed.

UPDATE: One of my wonderful commenters, sweetsy, brought it to my attention that the Cascade Crinkle Dress is now $178, down from the $250 it was just yesterday! Weirdly, it's not marked as being on sale. It appears that the price just dropped for no reason at all. What's with that, J.Crew? Not cool at all! My suspicion is that J.Crew realized it was too pricey and decided to reduce the price, but didn't mark it as a sale item because of the "extra 20% off sale items" promotion going on right now. Hiiiiiiighly suspect! Needless to say, I called customer service right away and got a nice price adjustment. Thanks, sweetsy! This blogging community is the best, and I'm so happy to be part of it and have such wonderful readers!

where are my shorts?!

I hate it when I get all the way to the gym locker room after work just to realize that I had forgotten to pack my workout shorts in my bag. GRRRR. The worst part is, yesterday's "oh-no-where-are-my-shorts-DAMMIT" incident wasn't the first of its kind, either.

I'm a pretty absent-minded person at times, so my forgetting to pack shorts even when I've packed everything else isn't that surprising to me. I mean, I'm the same person who once left her car keys in the refrigerator. And I know that sounds like something I made up, but it's not.

Sappho dress, Modcloth

Lace detail cardigan, Just Ginger
Black tights, Hue
Allie flats, BCBG
Skinny studded belt, J.Crew [x]
Monocle necklace, gifted
Starburst ring, Target
Check scarf, Burberry
Red coat, J.Crew

Sorry for the picture quality on that last one. It appears my camera decided it would much rather focus on my Backstreet Boys poster behind me than on me. Normally, I might be offended that I was slighted by an inanimate object, but this is the Backstreet Boys we're talking about here, so really, I can't be too upset. It just goes to show that my camera has impeccable taste.

KTBSPA. If you actually know what that stands for, you are automatically my friend and we should go get frozen yogurt together someday and gab about how Kevin soooooo should have never left BSB.

truce

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I spent it with good company, and even though we did nothing in particular, it was still a good time. But, now that I'm back for the week, I have plenty of your lovely blogs to catch up on!

Monday is here, but you know what? I don't mind it this time. Because Thanksgiving is a-coming, and the anticipation of fantastic food and family far outweighs my usual "case of the Mondays." So take that, Monday! BOO-YAH!

Perfect fit crewneck tee, J.Crew [x]

Mum cardigan, Old Navy
Dark wash skinnies, Joe's Jeans
Allie flats, BCBG
Skinny studded belt, J.Crew [x]
Monocle necklace, gifted
Starburst ring, Target
Tartan scarf, gifted

Does anyone have any good holiday recipes I should try? This is my first Thanksgiving back home in 2 years, so I am particularly itching to get back in the kitchen. I'm looking for side dishes and desserts, so if you've got some delicious crowd favorites passed down from generation to generation or grifted off of Martha Stewart, pray tell either through the comments or email!

to snuggie or not to snuggie

There's a gale outside, it seems. I was doing just fine walking from the parking garage to the office until the wind turned normal rain into the annoying "ha-HA!-I'm-coming-up-from-under-your-umbrella" horizontal rain. GRRRRR.

Striped tee, J.Crew
White cami, Cotton On
Cambridge cable pocket cardigan, J.Crew [x]
Black skinny jeans, Earnest Sewn
Bonnie Midstrap boots, Frye
Black slouch beret, Urban Outfitters
Red bow pin, thrifted
Elephant ring, F21 + Blue stone ring, Kohls

On the bright side, it is finally Friday! FRIDAY!!! My friend's little brother's birthday is this Monday, and the BF came up with the great idea to get him a Snuggie. There's a big inside joke in our circle involving those things. So I was at Target all ready to put it into my basket when READERS... I could... not... do... it! I was seized with a sudden sense of embarrassment for even considering buying something that is essentially a backwards robe. (even if it does come with a free book light) Ridiculous. So now I have to come up with something else for the soon-to-be-18-year-old.

18?! They grow up so fast.

Have a good weekend!

late night!

Late night post and I have to get to bed soon if I want to have any chance of waking up at all on time tomorrow for work, so this is going to be a short post. As in, here's my OOTD:

Bib blouse, Marc Jacobs
Houndstooth bow button cardigan, J.Crew
Double serge pencil skirt, J.Crew [x]
Allie flats, BCBG [x]
Skinny studded belt, J.Crew [x]
Black cable knit tights, Hue
Cluster ring, J.Crew [x]

...and the end! See you all tomorrow!

ain't no companion like a blue-eyed merle

I feel like the UPS guy would know me a little too well by now if I was actually home to pick up all the J.Crew packages that are constantly coming to my door. I have a problem, folks. I used to be a lot worse. Those boxes you see hastily stacked in my closet? Remnants of dark days, those are. I mean, I used to get several packages a week, and not all from J.Crew, mind you. Now I'm down to about one every 2 weeks. That's progress, right?

Don't judge me.

Anyway, I got my Cambridge Cable Pocket cardigan from J.Crew's 20% off promotion last week, and I love it! There were only size mediums left (I'm usually a XS-S), but I'm liking the loose sweater look of this size. The heather salmon color is just lovely, but it's less salmon-y and more like a bright pumpkin orange with just the slightest hint of pink. Maybe it should have been called "Bashful Pumpkin" instead. (clearly there's a reason I don't work in the 'name this color' industry)

Garland cami in gladiola print, J.Crew
Cambridge cable pocket cardigan in heather salmon, J.Crew [x]
Skinny jeans, DVB
Allie flats, BCBG [x]
Bow belt, Modcloth
Cluster ring, J.Crew [x]

You can see the tear on my garland cami in this picture. Sad. I'm pretty rough with my clothes.

start working on your fond farewells, 2009

Thanksgiving is next week.

In case you missed that, I'll say it again in all caps to drive home the point: THANKSGIVING IS NEXT WEEK. And am I thinking about all the delicious food I'll be stuffing my face with? No. I'm thinking about WHERE THE HECK DID 2009 GO?

(...Okay, and I'm thinking about all the delicious food I'll be stuffing my face with.)

Calico flower dress, thrifted
Ruffled Celosia cardigan, J.Crew
Jane 14 boots, Frye
Black tights, Hue + Xhilaration blue socks, Target
Brown leather belt, Urban Outfitters
Locket, Lucky Brand
Cluster ring, J.Crew
Red suede evil eye bracelet, mall kiosk

a twirl inspired by twirlmaster GingerSnap

The boots need some breaking in. And I need to wear them some more so the part on my calves will loosen up a bit more, lessening some of that scrunching that's going on there. I need to ease up on those calf raises.

monday, you are not my friend

Ugh, Mondays. I can't think of anything good about them. (thinks really hard) (thinks harder) (headache) Nope, still nothing. If you can think of anything positive to say about Mondays, readers, do enlighten me. I'd love to start off my week with something other than utter loathing.

I had a pretty bummer dream last night. It wasn't a nightmare per se, seeing as how it didn't involve invisible dinosaurs, immediate peril, and tornadoes (actual example from the bizarre-o goldmine that is my subconscious), but it did involve someone being very, very mean to me. I have to admit that I'm slightly miffed at that person for being so mean to me in my dream. I mean, how dare they?!

Xhilaration tiered tank, Target

Cropped tuxedo jacket, H&M

White cord pants, J.Crew

Joley patent flats, J.Crew

Drops necklace, F21

Jacinda bag, Kooba

yessssss.

Ugh. Back to Monday at the office.

giveaway winner!

After consulting with random.org and matching up the correlating comment number, I have come up with a result. And the winner of the giveaway is... (cue drum roll)

Lily from Daily Lily!

Congratulations! Check your email for shipping details. And a big THANK YOU to everyone who entered in the giveaway for a J.Crew scarf and Hue tights! It was a lot of fun reading all of your comments about why you love the holiday season!

I'll be doing another giveaway somewhere down the line, so stay tuned!

found mirror shoes

Dear readers, you may have perchance noticed that my closet is kind of a mess. And by mess, I mean mess. It's not your average "dirty laundry on the floor" kind of messy, it's an Amy Kelinda-exclusive "can't find anything I own in these piles of stuff, why are all these hangers on the ground, this stack of empty boxes make it impossible to reach the last 3 feet of space in here, since when did I own a pair of red slacks, hey is that an old sandwich? GROSS" kind of messy.

Just kidding. About the red slacks part. I don't own any red slacks. (I own yellow ones)

The point is, I wasn't too terribly surprised when I dug out a pair of shoes that I hadn't seen since I moved back from Boston 6 months ago: my J.Crew silver Liv flats. So they went straight onto my feet for the day. Welcome back, silver shoes.

dmbm sheer floral blouse, Nordstrom
Navy cami, F21
Cropped olive moto jacket, Diane Von Furstenberg
Black skinnies, Earnest Sewn
Silver Liv flats, J.Crew
Elephant ring, F21 + stone ring, Kohls

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for a J.Crew scarf and Hue tights HERE! Entries will be closed this Sunday at noon, central time. Good luck!

my shoes and tights don't match, oh no!

Today was the longest day EVER. It was so obscenely never ending, in fact, that I was thoroughly convinced that someone was playing a practical joke on me. Some little Office Elf (very common in these parts this time of the year) must have been rewinding the clock back an hour every time I wasn't looking. What else could explain the fact it seemed that it was 3:00 for 5 HOURS?! UGH. I nearly lost my mind. Or I did lose my mind and just am not aware of the fact yet. Hmmm...

When the clock finally hit 5, I booked it out of there so fast I may or may not have left a path of destruction in my wake. Just saying.

Pleated purple dress, thrifted
Schoolboy blazer, GAP
Black tights, Hue
Cate Patent slingbacks, J.Crew
Brown leather belt, Urban Outfitters
Locket, Lucky Brand + 'Steggy' necklace, DIY
Cluster ring, J.Crew

If tomorrow drags on just as slowly, I'm going to be mighty miffed. And thoroughly convinced of the existence of Office Elves. Or a disturbance in the time-space continuum. Either one.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE! Entries will be closed this Sunday at noon, central time!

bordeaux!

It's a dreary day today (Hello, sunshine? I wasn't aware we broke up. Please come back to me, I miss you), but reading all your wonderful comments about why you love the holiday season just makes me super warm and fuzzy inside! Dinagideon from My Superfluities is one of the lucky ones to experience less crowds around the holidays, Summerilla from Sum Sunshine is a holiday foodie, and Shannon loves advent calendars! Cute!

Remember to enter the giveaway for a J.Crew scarf and Hue tights HERE, and tell me why you love the holidays!

And now, the OOTD:

Purple printed top, F21

Ruffled Celosia cardigan, J.Crew
Honeyed Peplum skirt, Anthropologie
Blair Open Crochet tights, Urban Outfitters + Bordeaux tights, Hue
Allie flats, BCBG
Jewel sunburst ring, Target

The tights you see me wearing are the same ones from the giveaway. (Did I mention that you should enter in it HERE?) Well, meaning I bought a pair for myself as well... don't worry, I'm not giving away used tights, hahaha... I figured I'd wear it so you all can see what the color looks like. I layered some lacy black tights over them, so the best representation of the shade is that little patch of color by my knee.

giveaway!

As promised, I have a GIVEAWAY for my wonderful readers to enter in! Seeing as how winter is finally coming around, and the weather here is finally dipping below the balmy 90s, I am giving away two of the things that I love most about winter's arrival: scarves and tights! Or, in this case, a scarf and tights!

Take a peek at the swag:


The tights are brand new from Hue, a great brand that makes super soft tights in an array of festive colors. These particular ones are in Bordeaux, a red-wine color with purple-y undertones. They're perfect for those who are looking to experiment in colored tights because the shade pairs nicely with a lot of other colors and are also not too crazy bright. I bought a pair for myself too, and you can see them worn in tomorrow's OOTD! They're in a size 2, which fits heights 5'3" to 6', and weights 120 to 170 lbs.

The scarf is from J.Crew, and I got it last year (I think?) but only wore it maybe three times. I think it deserves a better owner who can really show it some love! It's relatively thin and light, but can be wrapped a bit tighter for extra warmth.

To enter, leave your name, email, and something you love about the holidays in the comments for this post. I'll use random.org to pick a winner next Sunday at noon. Good luck!

can't stop, can't stop

I took my cousin and his girlfriend out today for a really late birthday celebration dinner (my cousin's birthday was the day before Halloween), and it was delish. There's nothing quite as satisfying as having a really awesome dinner... except having a really awesome dessert. Mmm... dessert...

Honestly, readers, with the amount of food I consume, I don't know how I am not a) 6000 pounds and b) completely broke.

Grey cami, Cotton On
Navy tee, GAP
Tipped cardigan, New York & Co.
Pants, Delia*s
Patent Joley flats, J.Crew
DIY bow tie necklace

I don't wear this cardigan too often. I bought it on a whim because it was on some sort of super sale (and I can't pass up a good sale), without really thinking about what I could possibly pair it with. You can't really tell from the photos, but this thing is tipped in neon yellow. Not that I have anything against neon yellow. It's just not the most versatile color out there.

I'm sure you really want to know allll about me.

You don't? Well, then... uh, carry on. There will be an OOTD post later this evening.

Thanks to Stephanie from The 200/365 Project and Marisa from According to Moi for giving me this award, which requires me to regale you all with information about me. I know you're psyched about this.

The 35 Questions:

1. Where is your cell phone?

On my desk, approximately 5 inches away from the keyboard I'm typing on RIGHT NOW.

2. Your hair?

I straightened it today. It's naturally coarse and wavy. It seems "Typical Asian Hair" (read: silky and straight) avoided my head like the plague. Thanks, genetics!

3. Your Mother?

Is amazing. She's judgemental (I can never be skinny enough for her), paranoid (evidently leaving the house at 8 p.m. is cause for concern), and a whole lot of other things that drive me insane, but she IS my mother and I adore her.

4. Your Father?

Doesn't like me too much, ha! But I know he loves me, even though he gets mad at me when my flight gets delayed on the way home. (sorry I can't fly the plane faster, dad)

5. Your favorite food?

Chocolate. I LIKE IT A LOT. And Vietnamese food. YUM. Ever had pho? You should. If you don't like it, there's something wrong with your mouth.

6. Your dream from last night?

One of my friends from college trying to get me to eat some grapes. Which is pretty tame, considering I've had dreams involving dinosaurs, tornadoes, and invisibility before.

7. Your favorite drink?

Milk tea tapioca. If you've never heard of it, you need to find a place that sells bubble tea in your area IMMEDIATELY. Go. I'll wait.

...

You're still here? FINE. You can go later. Next question:

8. Your dream/goal?

I'm going to echo Stephanie here and say that my goal is to "be happy wherever my life ends up." Brilliant answer, Stephanie! Isn't that all anyone really wants?

9. What room are you in?

The office at work. Pretending to be working. Teeheeheehee! (no really, I'm taking a break. I just got some assignments done) (you don't believe me, do you?)

10. What are your hobbies?

Cooking (badly), playing guitar (badly), singing in my car (badly), shopping (bad for my bank account, at least), SLEEPING (I do this one very well)

11. What is your fear?

Ghosts. It's like I'm still 10 or something. Maybe if I had a proton pack by my bed, I wouldn't be so freaked out after watching A Haunting on the Discovery Channel.

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?

Somewhere awesome, doing awesome things with awesome people.

13. Where were you last night?

At the playground with the BF. 'Cause we're cool and hip like that. (we're not cool and hip)

14. Something you are not?

Not afraid of ghosts. 'Cause I am.

15. Muffins?

Of the pistachio variety, if you don't mind.

16. Wish List Items?

A sweet apartment with affordable rent. Can Santa cut deals with landlords?

17. Where did you grow up?

Outside the city in what used to be a relatively rural area. They now have a Wal-Mart there. (!!!!!!)

18. Last thing you did?

Read this question. And now type this answer.

19. What are you wearing?

See outfit of the day post that will come later.

20. Your TV?

My laptop is my TV. HOORAY FOR HULU!

21. Your pets?

3 goldfish: Barnaby, Petri, and Waldo.

22. Your friends?

Are good people and I adore them.

23. Your life?

Is progressing.

24. Your mood?

Impatient. I WANT THIS DAY TO END. Is it 5:00 yet? (no, it's 11 a.m.) (maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!)

25. Missing Someone?

Yes.

26. Vehicle?

Nigel, my Mazda6. Now complete with bird poo decoration, thanks to the City of Houston's resident pigeons.

27. Something you're not wearing?

A feather boa. (that's for tomorrow, obviously.)

28. Your favorite store?

J.Crew. And Target.

29. Your favorite color?

Green.

30. Last time you laughed?

A few minutes ago when a coworker mentioned reading about three guys who emptied a swimming pool and filled it with beer. Classy. ("Fer-git the keg, just go'on over to the ol' beer pool.")

31. Last time you cried?

Sunday night. But the crisis has been resolved!

32. Your best friend?

Is super. Hence, is my best friend.

33. One place you go to over and over?

The bathroom. HA! (I have a weak bladder) (which makes road trips kinda hard)

34. One person who emails you regularly?

The BF. I email him everyday to complain about being bored at work and he responds! He's a keeper.

35. Favorite place to eat?

Tan Tan. Delicious Chinese food. Houstonians, make it a point to eat there at least once. Try the House Special Rice Cake. It's basically a fried dough omelette. How could you go wrong? (hint: you can't)

Fin.

Thanks again to the lovely ladies who gave this to me! I'm passing it on to the adorable e. from i'd wear it and ever stylish Angelina from Angelina's Cafe, because I don't think these lovely ladies have been nominated before. Go visit them!

hearts all over

I am feeling 200% better today. 200%! That's twice as much as 100%, which must mean that I now have super powers or something. That reminds me of one of my go-to ice breaker questions whenever I meet someone new: If you could have any one super power, what would it be? So tell me, readers, what's your super power of choice? (please no one say flying. YAWNS-ville.)

Kimchi Blue sweater dress, Urban Outfitters
Opaque red tights, American Apparel + Satine tights, Modcloth
Soda suede flats, GoJane
Grey wrap scarf, H&M

As the ever-observant e. from i'd wear it noted, I successfully DIY-ed my black flats with red hearts. I mentioned before in another post that I had a pair of cheap black flats with flowers on it, which I decided were too "meh" for me. I ripped the flowers off and hot-glued some stiff felt hearts where the flowers used to be. I love the result! The entire process took approximately 5 minutes, the bulk of which was simply waiting around for the hot glue gun to warm up. SUCCESS!

I am not liking this "getting dark at 6 p.m." thing that autumn Daylight Savings brings. Not liking it at all.

eet-sa me, mario!

Hey there, readers! I hope all of your Halloweens were super fun! The BF and I drove 5 hours to Dallas/Ft. Worth to visit my friend Karen for the weekend, which was great. I don't know what she's doing over there, 5 hours away from me. Doesn't she know that she should never be more than half an hour away from me at all times?!

Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with a massive headache and feeling all sorts of awful (it had nothing to do with yesterday, I swear), so I'll leave you all with my costume for the weekend:

American Apparel jumper + yellow buttons
GAP red shirt
Hue black tights
Soda black flats from GoJane + red hearts
White gloves from Party City
F21 knit beret + felt emblem + felt "bill"
mustache on a stick

I was Mario from Mario Bros. (or 'Maria' as the BF called me), and the BF was Luigi:

I'm looking away because I can't keep a straight face, knowing the BF has on THE MOST RIDICULOUS MUSTACHE EVER.

My friend Karen went as a zombie schoolgirl, complete with crazy undead purple eyes:

My mustache on a stick obviously wanted in on this photo too.