last year's red birthday

my birthday just passed. woot to being wiser, boo for that deepening furrow i see between my eyes! every year, i LOVE getting myself an extravagant birthday gift, usually as a reward for the hard work i put in during the year and also because i have this faulty weakness for shiny things which i use to adorn my appendages. last year, i gifted myself a beautiful red box.

this year, i held myself back because i'm working towards an even bigger present. i sure love to spoil myself rotten though. thank god for employment!

happy wednesday!

the last time i checked, i have one neck, 2 ears, and two arms....but i managed to collect a gazillion items for each appendage. why for you might ask? that's cuz i jock pretty shit.

soft, supple leather? yesssss. gold? hubba hubba. diamonds? yes please! silk...the more the merrier. in a nutshell, i am a bag toting, silk wearing, jewelry loving whore-asauraus. my motto has always been: work hard, play harder....and judging from my obsessions, i better work real hard cuz i sure like to play a lot :P

so amongst my collection of necklaces, my MOST FAVORITE "every day" necklace has got to be THIS ONE. i've had it for a while now but never really talked about it...there's really no reason for that other than my choice not to document every single thing i own unless there's a reason to blog about it. besides, it's kinda creepy to have complete strangers know every piece of everything and anything you own don't you think?

well, with that thought, i leave this robin blue box as a wednesday teaser....i don't mean to give you jewelry blue balls...but then again, i'm a whore-asaurus and a tease when it comes to all things bagnatic. *kisses*

going ga ga for goyard

recently, the hubs and i went up to san francisco for his friend's wedding. unfortunately, my body decided to revolt against my plans of potential s.f. merriment so i actually ended up dealing with a cold throughout the trip. boo hoo...let's bring out the tiny orchestra with the tiny violinist playing the tiny violin.... :/

it's been YEARS since i've been back to s.f., but truthfully, it's not my favorite city. i think i'm 100% spoiled by the CONVENIENCE of los angeles...cuz seriously, traffic may be bad in el lay, but at least i can drive and park where i want to whereas getting anywhere in s.f. is a PAIN in the buttocks. ok, i know it's a public transpo kind of city, but given my less than fond memories of using public transpo for most of my high school and college life, i am 200% straight up never going to do it again unless i have to. you will have to force me with a bow and arrow hunger games style...i would rather just walk yo.

so anyways, my hubs booked a room in the hotel where the reception was to be held which OH SO HAPPENED to be in union square which OH SO HAPPENED had a goyard store within walking distance (fyi, it is the only store in north america). goyard is sold in barney's in boston and beverly hills as well as barney's and bergdorf goodman in new york, but san francisco is the only location with an actual goyard boutique. i HAD to go. bagnatic can do no less.

i was first infatuated with the goyard chevron design which strangely reminded me of m.c. escher, an artist that i really loved while growing up. it's the repeated patterns that makes it so alluring i think. methinks it visually pulls you in and puts you in a trance.

look at this fine stack of goyard luggage outside the storefront. gorgeous right? yessssss.......

a quick looksie in the store resulted in one of my quickest purchases ever...let's just say, i THOUGHT about buying something, but being there amongst the products sealed the deal for me...i definitely came home from s.f. with a cold and a goyard. not bad i say, not bad.

everlasting love

10 years ago, i bought a lavender jade bracelet in hong kong. it was tight enough to fit my left wrist securely and it was meant to stay on forever...that is until forever lead me to a work retreat and a masseuse who asked me to take the jade bracelet off and then....it fell off the chair it was placed on! look at the crack! i never wore it again because cracked jade is considered bad luck and i didn't want to mess with my luck. it now sits in my closet lonely and broken-hearted.

since that fateful day, my beady eyes were always on the look out for a bracelet of some sort. i'm kind of enamored with the idea of semi-permanent jewelry but not wanting to invest in another crackable item like a jade bracelet, i went without until....i discovered the cartier love bracelet! full on metal and cute to boot? hell yeah! go ahead and try to crack that you big bad chair with gravity as its accomplice!

so once my birthday rolled around, and i completed my second masters, and passed my comps, i had enough reasons to go on a vegas trip to splurge on myself one last time before i funnel all my efforts and resources on our wedding. i purchased this pink gold, size 16 cartier love bracelet on my berfday and have happily worn it since then.

i really LOVE LOVE LOVE it. the best part is that the pink gold looks lovely against my skin tone AND i have no fear of losing it. since this baby is rather shiny, i've been extra cautious about not scratching it up. but it's inevitable that new things don't remain new forever and i say so because i discovered my first scratch this afternoon :( but like a good relationship, it should be better with time and i look forward to the formation of a lovely patina on my bracelet as i rock it old woman style for many, many years to come. *happy sigh*

*******background info*******
cartier created this "love bracelet" in 1969 to symbolize everlasting and faithful love because the bracelet is locked on with two screws that fits the bracelet intimately to your wrist. they even provide a gold plated screwdriver in your metal color to complete the package. traditionally, your lover locks the bracelet on you and possesses the screwdriver to the bracelet. but if you're an independent lady and appreciate jewelry for the aesthetic value of it like me, then lover or not, this bracelet is quite gorgeous on the wrist. oh hell yeah i would buy it again!

ok, so the love bracelet is in that box, then what's in THIS BOX?!

red hot

muhahaha....

happy birthday to me AND a red reward for completing my 2nd masters.
yes, i know how to spoil myself rotten :)~

i'm blaming it on the internet

i was without internet for a few days and needless to say, being the mouse potato that i am in my daily life, it was cruel and unusual punishment indeed. ugh. talk about silent screams in my head!

boredom usually breathes trouble for me so i visited the mall instead which lead me to nordstrom which lead me to marc by marc jacobs which would have totally been averted if my DARN INTERNET CONNECTION HAD WORKED! and yes, it's ANOTHER bag!

my secret ssshhhhhanel

muhahhahahhaahahhaha!

lotus love

when i was studying abroad in hong kong during my last leg of undergrad studies at ucla (last leg meaning i could have graduated in 4 years even with my double major but decided to borrow another year's worth of money to study abroad and back pack through asia for the 5th year...ahh the loans...still paying for it, but exusey my tangent) i went to thailand during one of those many backpacking excursions. in a snapshot, thailand to me means street vendor eats, buddhism, hiking, almost drowning, and getting ripped off. yes, i experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly there. even though it was many, many years ago, i still have interesting, fond memories of it. so what does that have to do with what santa brought me from thailand?

haha, nothing except that this present to myself comes all the way from thailand, and specifically from chiang mai (which is possibly one of the most BEAUTIFUL locations in thailand). the seller makes these GORGEOUS lotus ring settings and when i first laid my eyes on them, i had to, i was compelled to, i was mandated from buddha to...purchase one for my growing jewelry collection. here is my teenie weenie itsy bitsy alexandrite in a yellow gold lotus setting. the color change is from green in natural light to either a dark blue or light purple depending on the artificial light in question.

it is really small, really small! look at the relation of this baby alex lotus to my super ginormous thumb nail! i must admit, for the price i paid for this baby alex ring, i was unpleasantly suprised by the size. well, live and learn.

no wonder i had to go buy this too after a few weeks of light consideration :) i love how santa just brings me more gifts.

let the christmas presents to myself roll in!

i know santa is an international man, but whoo hoo, he brought me a package from thailand!! wonder what it is?!

singing my vegas blues

btw, other than a harry and david useless salt container in a shape of an apple, and l'occitane hand cream triplets, i also picked up this little ole blue box. i KNOW. you can lecture me about the economy, how people are losing their jobs, how i should save cuz i have financial responsibilities....but i did get it in vegas so i saved a tiny bit on sales tax! yay! ok, maybe i didn't save as much as i would if i just didn't get it at all....but it is bootiful girls, bootiful!

no one feeling blue around here!

i believe in getting spoiled. yup i do. i think it's even better though when you are able to spoil yourself and not get into debt while doing it. :) last year for my birthday, i bought a trio of b-day presents for myself. hahahaha...although i couldn't do a trio this year due to my wee house, dog, and going back to school, i still gifted myself a pretty blue box to add to my collection of pretty blue boxes. i thought it was perfect and the s.a. that helped me is a keeper. thanks noriko!

happy belated b-day to me! hahha, yes, i am a dorkus and a porkus.

a birthday chanel

true love is when your man gets you a chanel for your birthday....so says bagnatic. yippeee!! a new chanel baby for my collection!

2008 was great

yes, i couldn't help myself. i never really could to be honest with you......

holy shit santa!!!!

i couldn't help myself. i HAD to take a peek!! omfg, is it a bottega veneta in the box?!?!

what is this?!

dear santa,

i feel soooooo blessed already this year. not only do i have a wee house, but what is this that you've put under my sister's christmas tree in this buddhist girl's house?! oh my gosh!! the box is so big...can it be ANOTHER PURSE?!?! please say yes, please say yes!! i've been soooo good this year! i can't wait to open it on christmas day!

love you so so much because i think it is another purse,

bagnatic;)

OBAMA made me do it!

this past weekend i went to nevada to do some canvassing work for the obama campaign. we stayed for 2 nights and a day, which meant NO GAMBLING (boo) but i did manage to carve out some teeny weeny time to pick up a piece of chanel. BUT OF COURSE RIGHT? there's totally a correlation between obama, nevada, and chanel. don't you see it?!

it is a teeny tiny chanel, but there's some nostalgia value mixed in it as well as practicality. if you've followed bagnatic from the beginning, it will look somewhat familiar to you. stay tuned for the reveal!

so i bought something else.......

anybody care to guess what it might be? it's quite lovely actually and it's better than a chanel. that's right. i said it. it's BETTER than a chanel.

it never ends

yes please. give me.

four moi

this is my fourth present to myself and no more. this one broke my piggy bank. seriously. but i couldn't resist!!! how can i deny this iconic black box?! i "heart" chanel. *sigh* besides, my birthday is coming up...does that make for a good excuse?

tres delicious

another yummy gift to myself.