i can't sleep at night, i toss and turn....

there is something dangerous about waking up randomly in the middle of the night, then not being able to fall back asleep, then just thinking too much. it doesn't help that everybody in my wee house is snoring away, even my 3 dogs. *sigh* so off i go with the company of my overactive brain which should probably be engaging in some REM action rather than reminiscing and regretting....

tonight's random thought ran the theme of "picking up where i left off." i thought about a few things that i've left off kind of high and dry; friends, blogs, and travel plans. unfortunately, these thoughts made me feel a little unhappy maybe because in my heart, i probably wished the outcome was a little different.

i have a friend who i knew since high school. we were pretty close and i always pictured her in my wedding. about 10ish years ago, we had a falling out over some "you-are-not-being-supportive-to-me" kind of shit and we ended up never ever calling each other ever again and it's been like 10 years. i still think of her a lot. i think my nature is rather pit-bullish and once i hang on, it's hard to shake it off so thinking about her is hard to shake off. i'm sure i can try to contact her again and see how it goes from there, but i know i don't really want to because I JUST DON'T. i miss her.

i run two blogs, one food related and this one, my one and only shallow love. goodness. once in a while, i would click on old posts i've written and it will literally transport me back to the exact time and the exact feelings i had when i wrote it. not to mention that i crack myself up because i think i'm so funny, haha. through the years, i felt i neglected my bagnatic blog more and more because of life, because of the economy (and feeling paranoid about who knows what's in my closet and who's reading it), and because i have this really weird fixation about posting my life in order. like, ok, so i wrote about the first part of my pre-moon (but didn't finish part 2), then naturally i should post about my wedding after that, etc...and since i didn't do those, it was hard for me to write about other things. isn't that odd? i am odd. i am truly to the core, a blogger. i compose posts in my head all the time, but lately i've failed to execute them. i really need to carve out more time to be who i am on a platform like this. after all, for a very long time, blogging was my first love or maybe it was my bags....ok both.

i wish my husband and i traveled a little more, together i mean. i traveled internationally a whole hecka a lot in my 20s but with him, not so much. i blame it on our collection of dogs which we gathered quite early on in our relationship. they are the little loves of my life and need to be fed and taken care of and it's hard to do that and be in france at the same time. sure, we can board them somewhere and then go, etc....but that takes a lot of time, money, and planning. regardless, we will need to go to france though whether now or a few years from now. and maybe back to hong kong too. the travel bug was dormant, but sometimes it still bites and when i look at my husband i think he would love to travel somewhere internationally, too.

life is kinda short to be feeling these regrets. and i still can't sleep damnit.

was it a steal at stila?

the stila sample sale waaaaassss....fruitful. i guess after standing in line for almost 2 hours, you HAVE to pick up something, don't you think? smh. oh man! the line inched really slowly and it felt like waiting for a bus that you have NO IDEA when it would actually arrive, so you wait and wait worried that if you give up and leave that it will magically show up just as you turned the corner. yup, that's my long version of saying we waited so long, we HAD to be "all in."

here's some "while we waited in line scenes" which was quite interesting since it was held at our local roller derby training facility. can you spot "ghetto stilleto" or "gori spelling?" muhahaha.

.....and back to the sale. needless to say, organized mayhem. lots of full boxes held by folks stocking up. perhaps to be given as gifts, to be resold at another venue, cuz their mugs be needing it? there was everything you can think of, eye shadows, blushes, foundation, eyeliners, brushes, etc....but you really don't need all that, right?

i went a little crazy, but not THAT CRAZY. a lion's share of the budget went to buying gifts. it's the little make up pouch and set of lip glosses you see on your left. i'm giving them away as a christmas set. for myself, i purchased the products on the right: lip gloss set, glitter eyeliner (yes, i am way too old for that), liquid liner, eyeliner, mascara, a small bottle of foundation, an eyeshadow brush (not pictured), and some lip liners. if they rock, i will blog about it. till then peeps, have a super wonderful, safe, and beautimous holiday!!

Stila sample sale, ftw?

How glorious is technology to be able to blog in line...a horribly long line, in the cold (god this better be good). Hello stila sample sale!

If I purchase anything, I will post. Also I'm on vacation for 3 weeks! It's totally ok to do dumb crap like this. Totally?

the fountain of youth

you can probably find the fountain of youth at a VERY GOOD plastic surgeon's office. one that spouts out all kinds of solutions and botox to keep your face wrinkle free and will also give you small ninja cuts to the face with tiny scalpels to immortalize your visage. but if you are anything like me, you probably just want to age well right? look younger than you are? make it hard for people to guess your real age? maybe even get carded for alcohol FOR REALS rather than as a consequence of a company's policy...yeah, i'm talking about YOU, trader joe's.

i love how this picture looks like the next victoria secret campaign. ha!

being that july is my birthday month coupled with spotting a few more wrinkles and hyperpigmentations to remind me of my advancing age *sob* i started researching skincare products that could help preserve my skin short of embalming it. this task is doubly hard due to my prone-to-break-outs-combination-skin. ugh. let's just say, i always had bad skin as a teen and never became interested in skincare because it seemed futile...and now it shows and i'm hoping it's not TOOOOOOOOO late. *sniffle*

i tried a slew of products for the past few months and will blog about them shortly (aka don't hold your breath. blogging takes so long! i wish i had the time to be a professional blogger and not just a blogger enthusiast) and i've finally discovered a routine and some products that works for me *high-five*

1. cleanse and tone
find a good cleanser to rid your face of all the dirt, makeup, and sunblock. then use a good toner to take off any remnants of dirt that somehow escaped your cleanser and also to prep your skin for serums/moisturizers.

2. exfoliate
exfoliate your skin regularly to rid yourself of dead skin cells. the right method/products will reveal smoother skin...dare i say, as soft as a baby's butt but not as stinky?

3. corrective serums and creams
there are tons of eye creams and serums that claim to correct some damage to your skin. some are more effective than others. the whole point of course is to CORRECT something wrong with your face right? (man that sounded mean). hyperpigmentations? fine lines? wrinkles? puffiness around the eyes? huge pores? etc....don't tell me you want that on your face cuz i sure don't.

4. moisturize
depending on the climate, the season, your genetics, we can all use some form of moisturizer though it may vary by brand or thickness. the bottom line is that dry skin makes your face look like beef jerky...look at clint eastwood for instance. doesn't he look like he's crying out for a tub of le mer or vasaline or something to moisturize his mug? dry skin really accentuates wrinkles so if you don't want to look like a prune, then i suggest regular usage of some type of moisturizing product.

5. preventative serums
these are different from the corrective serums because they "PREVENT" THAT ANNOYING THING THAT HAPPENS WITH AGE from happening too early. i'll talk a little more about this on a future post.

6. PROTECT!!
use sunblock religiously to insure that you're doing your best to slow down sun damage and all the consequences of it. i was never a regular user of sunblock which totally explains why i now have to deal with all the stuff that's not so dandy about my skin.

so after spending about 3 hrs in the bathroom doing all that stuff to your skin to insure that you don't look a day older than yesterday, then you can finally crawl into bed or head off to work. so that's that. i'll share a few products that works for me in future posts. but overall, my skin has gotten a lot smoother and my pores are diminished after i implemented this routine. in my book, that is like totally rad and definitely a keeper. ahhh, the things we do to look young.....

good night.

a goyard buffet

symptoms of the contagious and deadly goyard fever:

1) you get obsessed. you start spotting them wherever you go like a where's waldo book but in bag form. here's me spotting one and taking a spy pic when i was at a korean bbq restaurant exactly one year ago. lovely orange st. louis, you were a joy to spot....

2) then you start thinking about the bag style you want IF you were to ever get one of course. the ever popular ST. LOUIS tote is a favorite amongst both fabulous men and women. these bags are probably the most common amongst goyard fanatics and in my opinion, the most lovely and functional.

of course there are other bag styles like the saigon which can be seen carried by nicky hilton, kim kardashian, and dita von teese. the shape reminds me of a hermes kelly but the wooden handles makes me wanna wear a coconut bra while i tote it. the saigon looks extremely boxy to me and uber rigid and i'm just not a fan of the wood, leather, and canvas combination.

let's not forget the fabulous man purse, the murse, the MESSENGER BAG if you will. i'm sure women tote this, but i definitely see more men carrying it...and the design definitely lends itself to more masculine identities.

3) after you pick the bag, then you fantasize about the color you want. do you want a pop color? do you want to keep it simple? how much money do you want to spend?

black and red are the "stock" colors which means they are priced lower than the other colors for THE SAME EXACT BAG AND SIZE. so basically, the moral of that story is, you better love that color a lot for the extra $$$$ you will have to shell out. luckily, i was happy with black....but black with black trim or black with tan trim? ugh, this goyard buffet never ends....

when i modeled the st. louis at the store, it was obvious to me that the black and tan trim "popped." the contrasting trim brought your eyes to the bag and held you there whereas the black on black trim looked very one noted. let's just say, the all black bag will easily blend into your outfits. like this:

i also think this color combo is unisex and appeals to many men as well so if you mind seeing a dude toting your bag, then the black with black trim is probably too universal for you. just sayin.'

4) after figuring out the bag and the color, you get the option of personalizing your goyard! that means getting hand painted colored stripes going every which way and initials or symbols....for a few extra $$$$ of course, depending on the color and the number of letters you want.

i personally DO NOT enjoy that look. i know l.v. offers this service as well, but after reading goyard's disclaimer stating that the personalization MAY peel with use, it didn't seem like a worthwhile investment just to have something that may potentially look ratty after a period of time. so yes, i GET the idea of making a brand more personal, but i DON'T GET the peeling part especially when you're paying extra for it. that shit should stick permanently is what i'm thinking....

5) after going through steps 1-4 of this goyard fever, you come back to reality and start saving money for your first goyard! that's what i did and i am so happy with it! it is absolutely one of my favorite bags in my bagdrobe. so light, roomy, the ULTIMATE shlep bag people!

(fyi, the goyard st. louis is an easy fake to purchase. i see them all the time over the internet and for your peace of mind, i think if you want an authentic goyard, go through the boutique in s.f. or barney's...i have seen some pretty good fakes being sold through resellers claiming they were authentic when it's wasn't. buyers beware).

happy berfday charlie brown!!

totally dressed to party with his homemade party hat, minus the fallen bow tie.

my little beagle turned 3 yesterday. in dog years, he can legally drink and find himself a whore, but in my household, he just gets a little doggy berfday cake...a carrot/apple sauce birthday cake with cream cheese/apple sauce frosting to be exact. sounds yum enough right?

it was an easy batter and didn't take much effort, especially with my handy dandy kitchenaid mixer. 1/2 hour later, it was out of the oven and onto a rack to be cooled off while charlie and my other two dogs circled around me like vultures in the kitchen.

once frosted, i decorated the cake with a simple number 3 in carrot slivers for charlie's new age. i would have been more creative with my cake decorations if time permitted, but i had humans to feed as well. since the dogs get homemade cake, the humans got prime rib, cheesy smashed potatoes, garlic spinach, and tomato pine nuts salad with a balsamic vinaigrette for dinner. crazy yummy if i must say so myself. it IS a party after all.

after the humans ate and our bellies bulged unattractively with the grub, it was time to slice into the cake! the anticipation must have slayed my furry buddies...one by one. *wimper* charlie was so excited, he started shmeeing (this noise he makes through his nose. rather annoying actually...thank god he's cute!).

"drop it momma...please?"

he was smacking his beagle lips as i took my pics. give me a sec charlie! sheesh!

but his excitement built into an unbearable surge of energy (and defiance) because he sprung up to snatch the piece of cake out of my hands and gobbled it as quickly as he could, smacking his lips furiously as i watched in surprise. then i remembered it was his berfday after all so all was forgiven...dang dog.

of course lucy and bronx got to share in the cake eating as well and they LOVED it. ok, so i know dogs will eat anything, but i really think they were particularly excited about this cake based on their frenzied behavior after their first bites...it must be good right?! right.

it was good times and i look forward to baking many, many more berfday cakes for my sweet pups. happy birthday charlie brown!

pre-moon (part 1)

the ideal scenario is to go on a honeymoon AFTER the wedding, but given a lot of restrictive factors, my fiance and i opted to go on a "pre-moon" to hawai'i (already happened) and then a "mini-moon" right after the wedding to vegas (gonna happen). talk about us mooning left and right!

so let me backtrack and talk about hawai'i....oh beautiful hawai'i! we went this past april for a 5 night, 6 day stay in oahu and got us a hotel in waikiki. it was the first time for the both of us to visit this aloha state and i loved, loved, LOVED the 24/7 tropical heat. not only that, i got leid right away. woot!

since i can't swim (ever seen a pig drown?) we did a lot more beachcombing and touristy thangs rather than the swimming, sunbathing in teeny weenie bikini thang. for example, here i am, harassing a bunch of hermit crabs in north shore.

teenage mutant ninja turtle sightings at "turtle beach" in north shore.

i loved how the palm trees swayed in the wind. so relaxing.

waikiki's beaches were rather busy. my fiance jumped in the waters a couple of times to cool off, but i sat my ass on my nifty costco beach towel and ate spam musubis instead. we all relax in our own ways now don't we? :p

but my most favorite beach was hanauma bay. we got there early and was able to avoid a steady stream of people trying to pack themselves into this protected marine life conservatory.

hanauma bay is known for super clear waters and great snorkeling. i didn't want to snorkel cuz of my fear of water, but my fiance went on his own and had a ball. i surface snorkeled instead like this. hiya fishies!

i also hung out with some chicks. they didn't talk much and yes, so odd to see random chickens running about.

by noontime, hanauma bay got pretty crowded and all the sunblock from the swimmers started muddling the water making it rather hard to snorkel. so we packed up and bade adieu to this long line of people waiting to get in. would i come back again? OF COURSE. BUT, only if we get their early. it is definitely not relaxing to share a small space with tons of peeps...and the peeps kept coming.

as we drove away, we saw a ton of people gathered taking a snapshot of this scene....so i did too. do what the tourists do is what i say :0

so that's the bitchin' beaches part of my hawaiian story. the rest to be continued......

my internal convo

i know i've taken a long hiatus from this bagtastic blog (about 3 months and some change), but in light of all that has happened in this world and the utterly SUCK-ASS economy, i've had a constant convo within the inner space of my skull whether it's appropriate to blog about material needs and wants when i should be focused on more substantial things that don't involve leather, and handles, or diamonds. the world is suffering and the economy is tough. i know. i get it. so i refocused....instead of designer talks and leather wants:

• i focused on my wedding instead.

• i focused on my dogs.

• i focused on my family and all the people connected to it.

• i focused on my job.

• i focused on getting fat which now leads to unfocusing on this part stat so i can fit into my mutherfuckin' wedding dress (fml).
  

so in no particular order these were the topics that i spent my free time on....until just recently when i clicked on my beloved bagnatic blog just to check up on it and realized how utterly desolate it looked. :'( i saw cobwebs and a thick layer of dust had settled in peoples. after rereading some of my old posts, i had an EPIPHANY.

after almost four years of superficial rants and wants, the lack of current posts on bagnatic made me realize that i'm neglecting an extremely important part of my identity...my blogger one. it is NOT just a superficial blog (but of course it obviously is to a certain degree), but it really was my escapist trick, one that allowed me to decompress from life's stresses while working on my engrish as well. it is also a living, breathing platform that documented various facets of my life that i felt comfortable enough to share, and one that does not involve shoving some tasty morsel in my mouth since i got that one covered too :0 this IS how i REBOOT myself as i shouted to myself. you go on vacation to decompress...i blog about stuff that i like.

so yes, i am mutherfuckin' back bitches (that is said with love). i still see a trail of people wandering through my site on a daily basis and for that i am thankful for cuz no word in my mind is really written unless it is read. oh yeah that felt good. *sigh*

it feels good to be back.

droid vs. iphone

when i got my android by htc, it was a conscious choice to stay with verizon. even though my whole family are at&t users due to the iphone, i COULD NOT and WOULD NOT transfer over to them when my last phone spazzed out. at&t has terrible customer service and seriously, the numerous dropped calls i've received from my fiancee has been enough of a deterrent. besides, the iphone will SUPPOSEDLY be released to verizon in 2011. i can always get the iphone then...if it ever happens.

but seriously, the iphone is far superior than my droid. the camera is better and the apps are incredible. the droid market must make leaps and bounds to catch up with all that. look at the sad picture i sent to my sister before she flung some back at me.

my droid picture with picsay app.

sister's pics with iphone and tuzkiSnap app.

hands down the iphone is far superior, in many respects...camera and apps being a few of them. if the iphone comes to verizon, i will be alllllllllll over it.

christmas 2010

good morning and merry christmas everybody!! from my phone to your blog retrieving unit :)

hello kitty for the kiddy in me

when the sanrio small gift pop up tour rolled into town (i love sanrio and their super long names for everything. i'm surprised they didn't call it, "the sanrio really cute small gifts shopping galore pop up tour) i knew i had to attend. i mean, i was a hell0 kitty fan from way back when and who wouldn't want to visit some nostalgia while it's in town? i for sure didn't want to miss it.

so i convinced my fiancee that he HAD to attend the cutest pop up shop in the world with me and off we trekked to santa monica for the last day of the tour. once you enter the space, three words immediately came to mind: hello kitty clusterfuck. can you spot the sea of heads at the bottom of this picture? good lord it was dense with humans...and er, cats.

i saw a lot. some funny. some cute. but honestly, i kinda wanted to bolt out as soon as possible. i mean, wouldn't you if you found yourself in forced body contact with complete strangers? some were hairy too, might i add. *shudders* this ain't a rock concert peeps.

anyways, the event was geared towards hello kitty fans and children...though the line blurred sometimes when i saw some of the get-ups there. wooooweeeee. i saw a sanrio ferris wheel, too. i made sure to capture my most favorite sanrio characters ever, kerokerokeroppi and my melody (the little twin stars were on the other side). in fact, i must make a teensy weensy confession right now. my favorite was never hello kitty. i thought that white cat was just way too played out. did you have a favorite?

folks taking nostalgia to another level perhaps? i definitely saw A LOT of older peeps (like in their late 20's and 30's mind you) in some rather creative get-ups. but what-evs, everybody was there to enjoy themselves. these folks here are playing dress-up.

then we mosied through the art gallary portion and i saw a few interesting pieces inspired by the white kitty with the big head. i think there was a definite trend in portraying hello kitty with more grit and less innocence. hello gritty perhaps?

this one was pretty cool. i didn't know schools of fish were hello kitty fans as well. nice.

this one is made out of a million jelly beans. not sure about its relevance to sanrio though. am i missing something?

after walking rather briskly around the small space, we picked up some eats at a food truck before we headed out. there was no need for us to wait in the insanely loooooong line to get into the shopping portion of the pop-up. seriously, age and patience is inversely related for me. besides, i used up all my patience at work and have none left over for loooooooong lines.

i would love to say we sped off in this ride (seriously, only hello kitty cars will shoot out rainbows! look at the bottom right of the photo), but we didn't. all in all, it was an interesting day full of furballs and things that were really pink. i have a feeling these pop-up tours will come around again even though this one in particular was to celebrate their 50th anniversary. it was positively a money maker for all that were involved. i'm glad hello kitty is rich. she needs a lot of money to supply herself with a lifetime of red bows for her left ear.