And of course found my way to the insane, clear-as-my-bath water. Hey ocean! How you do dat?

As those of you who follow me on Twitter may know, I attended a couple of really fun conventions in the last couple of weeks. First off was IMATS, the big makeup convention that I also went to last year. Unfortunately due to my filming schedule of Away We Happened, I wasn't able to visit during the public days but I did get to pop in for a couple short hours between call times on Friday. I of course picked up a few goodies that I wanted to share. :)

The next weekend, I was super excited to go to Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Trust me, I was in cosplay heaven and there were tons of people who went all out from wigs to makeup to impressively elaborate costumes. I'm super nerdy and a long-time fan of anime so it was very, very exciting! Definitely had to control myself so I wouldn't purchase every cute plushy or animatronic cat ears that I passed by. Again, lots of cute things to share!

Check out my haul (and giveaway within the video) below!

Hi everyone! I just first off want to say thank you so much for the lovely birthday messages you've sent me. I'm not gonna lie, it's not something I was expecting and I actually got a bit emotional reading all of them. Maybe it is redundant for me to say it, but I really want to say how deeply I appreciate all of your love and support.

As I told you before, I recorded an Outfit Of The Day (aka OOTD) video for my birthday, and I also included a reveal of a couple of special presents.


Items Mentioned:
Abercrombie Lace top (similar / similar)
Forever 21 tank top & satin blazer, size 2
J Brand "Clocker" legging jeans, size 23
Stuart Weitzman Wedgelin boot, size 4
Necklace and bangle were from various Hautelook sales (my invite)
Michael Kors "Blair" watch in rose gold
Louis Vuitton Trevi PM

Lipgloss is MAC 3D glass in Racy (Sadly it's an old limited edition which I am crossing my fingers that they will re-release because it's one of my favorite lipglosses of all time!)

So here is my outfit in pieces since I didn't have room to do a full-body with the giant Christmas tree behind me. ;)


My bling for the evening. Gold tones and Urban Decay Zippy glitter polish. This crystal quartz necklace is especially one of my favorite pieces of the moment. I got it from Hautelook (for a dang good discount) and the designer is Vivian Tamayo. I'm also lusting after similar crystal pieces like this and this. There's just something about rock crystal that is really cool and edgy, and matches everything I own.


Birthday present reveal! This is the Michael Kors Blair rose gold watch that I bought during the Macy's Friend's & Family sale. The Macy's site listed the face as being 41mm but Nordie's and Dillards lists it as 39mm. No idea which is true but I think it looks nice on me even though I have tiny wrists.

Also available in champagne, chocolate, silver, and silver with rose gold accents.


And here is my bag reveal of what I got from Louis Vuitton in Paris! It's the Trevi PM in Damier Ebene. I love the pleats and how it has both top handles and a shoulder strap for versatility. It's my first and only LV purchase and I am totally in love with it!


Here's what it looks like worn using the top handles.


And my favorite way of wearing it, using the top straps which is much more comfortable and convenient.


And of course, here are the two cameos from the vlog at the end of my video.
First is my very special birthday cake appearance, Hello Kitty. =^_^=


And second is my long-haired Chihuahua, Cherry. She's a total sweetie!


I hope you enjoyed my outfit and getting a little peek into my birthday activities with my family as well. It was truly a wonderful one this year and I feel so grateful to be with the people I love, and of course to be given the blessing of your love and support as well!

Just out of curiosity, since the purse was a huge splurge for me, I want to know in the comments how you guys feel about big splurges on luxury items? Is it something you do and do you feel it's worth it? What was your favorite splurge purchase? Let me know!

Jumping in front of the well-known glass pyramid that sits atop the entrance of the actual museum below.



Before I totally forget, here are the details of my outfit:
Lace dress - from Yuna's Closet (closed but I found it at soyfashion) (similar here / here / gorgeous)
Blazer - Aritzia shrunken Talulah blazer in 00 (similar here / juniors fit here)
Necklace - delia's chain ribbon necklace (old, similar here / here)
Heels - MICHAEL Michael Kors Carla sandal (on sale here)
Bracelets & rings - ebay and Forever 21


Lots of cute, fat piegeons were everywhere! I fell in love with this fluffy one who seemed content amidst the prevalent tourists.


Of course, the famed Mona Lisa. As you can see in my video, she is actually quite tiny and encased in a huge glass container that I'm sure is extremely photo-and-light-proof. There was a man next to me who was explaining about the painting to his friend and said, "If you look into her eyes, from anywhere, she is looking back at you" which I thought was fascinating. You can see what he means, right?




Josh getting his photoshoot taken inside the Louvre. He looks very regal here and I loved the lighting. :)


Egyptian mummy. The layering of fabric on the face is just really mesmerizing when you look at it closely.


Next, we went to Champs Élysées which is the famous shopping street in Paris. At the end is Arc de Triomphe which unfortunately I didn't get to take pics/vid of since I had my photoshoot there. While the rest of the group went to the giant Sephora during my shoot, I meandered to the original Louis Vuitton store alone. As you can see, there was quite a line to get in!




Inside, I sneaked a photo. You aren't allowed to take pics... hehe. Aren't those walls magical?


I may have bought myself a little splurge. My very first LV item ever! I try to be very good with how I spend my money but it just felt really special to get something at the original Louis Vuitton location in Paris. I know it's a souvenir that I will always remember and always hold dear to my heart. Not to mention, it was also considerably less expensive than in the US as well! Shall I do an official reveal in a later post? Hmmm... :)



And of course we stopped by Laduree, the famous macaroon shop. I recommend the vanilla flavor which tastes the best of all the flavors I tried. The filling is like ice cream! That's Christine xteeener on the right. ;)


I'll try to find time to edit and post the second half of my Paris adventure soon, but I hope you enjoyed this part!

While I was visiting California, Kelly of Alterations Needed kindly invited me and a few friends to the new store opening event for Ann Taylor at South Coast Plaza. If you didn't already know, Ann Taylor has been a huge fan favorite of fashionable petites especially after their brand facelift a couple years ago. The brand has found itself a nice little niche in my daily "I'm a classy lady" wardrobe so I was very excited to see what was in store.

I had never been to a store opening event before so I didn't know what to expect but the outdoor venue at Noguchi Garden was festive, cute, and filled with handsome waiters and fabulously dressed women.


There were a few tables decorated with items from the Summer 2011 collection. Plenty of eye candy.


 There were also several lovely headless mannequins dressed in Ann Taylor's latest frocks and accessories.


One of the first ladies I spotted when I arrived was the always put-together petite, Kelly! Probably one of the most exciting things to find out is that we are height twins. Also, we both wore seersucker, blazers, hemlines at the EXACT SAME LENGTH (you know it's right when it's done twice) and even similar almond-toe heels. Love this girl! (P.S. If you are petite check out her blog Alterations Needed. It was the first personal style petite blog I ever followed years ago!)


Long-limbed cactus. We don't have cacti like this in the midwest but I saw TONS in Cali. You guys are sitting on a desert, masked by green things that pretend to be grass and foliage! So amusing! :D


Lots of ladies decked out in Ann Taylor gear as well. Gotta say, I think we may have been the youngest of the bunch there.


A few bridal and formal-wear mannequins.



A little wind-blown!



A sel-ca shot of me and my lovely photographer and dear friend Kassia


 Oh, and look who we found! It's the sexy-classy Wendy of Wendy's Lookbook! Love her color-blocking.


Seriously, I think this is my favorite shot from the entire event. It just makes me so happy for some reason! 3 dainty, almond-toe heels. ^__^ Wendy, I think I need a pair of purple suede heels right now!


I also spotted this incredible purple Hermes Birkin bag on one of the very stylish ladies in the crowd. My jaw went like this D: Ugh the color is so gorgeous! Droooooool!


The event was co-sponsored by C Magazine which had Zoe Saldana gracing the cover and looking perfect as usual.


All the ladies together! Kelly, Wendy, my sister, and me!



Some yum yummies carried by the male model waiters. Seriously, who hired these guys? They were all gorgeous.


Our goody bags from the event! I love the illustration on this tote. Very chic!



Reviewing some video with the girls. So much fun! And for the record, my white dress is from Ann Taylor. ;)


If you missed watching a snippet of this on my Cali Vlog, you can see it here and skip to 4:02 for the Ann Taylor event. :)