Happy Halloween!

Halloween has already come and gone here in the Philippines. I didn't dress up in a costume or anything. All day I actually only saw 2 children dressed up in costumes! It is strange because a large amount of stores around here decorated for Halloween, but hardly anyone was dressed up.

I sewed up this orange skirt last night so I could look festive today. Daren and I were supposed to fly out to Boracay (a beautiful island where his parents live) today, but a typhoon blew through and the weather was awful. We went to walk the dogs this morning and the wind was so strong it had unbuttoned the buttons on my jacket. By the time we came back inside we were soaked! The weather is back to normal now so we are flying out at 6 in the morning tomorrow. We spent most of the day at the mall across the street. We went and saw This Is It and snacked on delicious chocolate caramel cake and mochi!


Outfit Details
Grey Shirt - Forever 21
Coat - Forever 21
Skirt - Home made
Boots - Reflections


Oooh my reflection is spooky! Hahah!
Happy Halloween!

I'm Alive!

I am now safely in the Philippines! The flight was really good for being 17 hours long! We got to sit on the second story of the plane for the first time, and there was A LOT more leg room and storage. We also requested children meals, because the adult meals are usually gross. It was neat because we get served our food first and it was actually good! Once we landed we came home and changed our clothes and left again to go get Macaroni and Cheesy. They were so excited to see us, and we were excited to see them! Cheesy was only a small puppy going through the 'uglies' when we left, she was almost bald haha. And now, she is big and has a beautiful coat of fur. I will hopefully be able to post photos of both pups later today.
Yesterday began very early for me. I woke up and it was 4 am and still dark outside. Daren and I went and took the dogs outside and afterward I lounged around on the computer catching up on all the blogs I usually read. After eating delicious pepper stir fry we went on a mission to find a place to take photos. Makati, where I live, is kind of like L.A. It is a big city with little greenery..So we ended up taking photos by the pool in our building.


Ha, I recently wore this skirt, but I hadn't unpacked yet and just grabbed whatever was on the top of my box!
Outfit Details
Tank - Pac Sun
Skirt - Made it myself
Shoes - Keds, Thrifted
Belt - Thrifted
Purse - Thrifted

Here are all the vintage patterns I collected during my stay in California! I can't wait to get a project started. I tried to take photos off the clothes I got, but it looked like an awful mess of color and patterns..Oh well!

I thought summer was over?

Here in Southern California, the weather has been so hot! Yesterday, Daren and I ventured out to find a new location walking distance of my grandparent's house. We came across this place!


This dress is the first one I have actually made from one of my designs. I made the pattern and everything. Our seamstress in the Philippines came over the next day to help me sew it, I had never made anything with lining and I learned a lot that day. I love this dress, the bottom is so full and fun. It makes me want to twirl around all day, and I actually caught myself twirling and prancing around several times haha.

Today my dad took us thrifting. And for the first time I actually purchased something everywhere we had gone! I am usually SO picky, but I found lots of goodies. I plan on making a post tomorrow of all the vintage goodness I have picked up during my stay in California, so stay tuned.

Daren's Birthday Celebration!

Here is the cake I made for Daren on his birthday.


To celebrate Daren's Birthday, we went to Casino Morongo to go gamble for the first time. We went and played the slot machines .We were doing pretty bad until the end, and Daren won $10 so we decided we would call it quits while we were ahead. I don't think gambling is really for us, haha. It was a fun experience, but I'm not sure if I'll do it again.

After gambling, we drove down to Redlands to go take photos in a cool graffiti spot that lies within the middle of some orange groves. Once my dad got off work, we drove down to Lucielle's to go eat some delicious dinner, and we finished up the night by wandering around Bass Pro Shop to just go look at all the fish and stuffed animals.


Outfit Details
Tank Top - Old Navy? But it actually belongs to Daren's sister!
Skirt - I made it this past Monday!
Boots - Reflections

Busy Bee

These past few days I have been keeping myself busy! Yesterday Daren and I finally bought our tickets to return home in the Philippines, and they are for this coming Monday. It is hard to believe we have been here almost 2 months already. I'm sad to be leaving because I will miss my family so much, but I am excited to return home and sleep in my own bed, continue school, and see my pup's!

Today I woke up to Roman being here! My mom needed me to babysit while she volunteered at my sister's school. Once she picked him up, my uncle took me to Super Walmart to buy some fabric. My little sister Amber asked me to make her Halloween costume..She is going to be a 50's poodle skirt girl, but instead of the poodle, she wants a black cat. I have made circle skirts before...But for some reason this one is messing with me! I am having the hardest time making a casing to put the elastic in because of the waist beings so round. After Walmart, we went to 2 thrift stores..At the first one I bought two sewing patterns from the 60's, and they are actually my size! At the last thrift store, we got a flat tire, but we got it fixed rather quickly! When we got home, Daren and I took photos.

I spent the remainder of my evening baking Daren's birthday cake. I made him a camera, and I even felt ambitious and made my own fondant using this recipe I found online. I will post photos later today! I think once we wake up we might go to the Casino or go to the movies. We'll see. =]


Outfit Details
Blank Tee - Forever 21
Skirt - Forever 21 (I swear I wear more than just F21 hahaah)
Boots - Reflections
Sunnies - Hollywood
Teddy Bear Necklace - It belonged to my grandmother

I never wear accessories I feel like I never match when I do, but I liked my necklace today! Here is a close up of it

Start Your Engines!

Saturday night my dad took me, Daren and all my siblings to a fair in Lake Perris. My little brother Roman (Who is only 2) is completely obsessed with monster trucks, and that is exactly the reason we went to the fair! They were going to have monster truck show. I had never been, and I was interested to see what it was like. We arrived a little bit late, and got crummy seats. Roman was completely intense while watching the show, it was cute! I got plenty of strange looks because of my outfit. I didn't really fit in with the monster truck crowd, haha.


Here was my outfit for the day!

Outfit Details
Dress - Thrifted
Boots - Reflections
Sunnies - Hollywood
Belt - Philippines

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

Earlier in the week I came across this tutorial of a Max hat and I knew I HAD to make it! Since I was a child, I have loved Where the Wild Things Are and I have been super excited for the movie to come out. Just the music alone on the previews was amazing, I couldn't imagine how good the movie was going to be.

Last night at around 8 p.m. I began making the hat, I wanted to make sure it would be ready by Friday so I could wear it to the watch the movie. All week long I had checked the local theater's schedule, and it said there wasn't going to be any midnight showings of Where the Wild Things Are but at around 10:30p.m. Daren checked again, and of course, they barely posted that there would be a midnight showing!! I sewed as quickly as I could and at 11:20 I was done. We hurried and changed, and drove down to the theater.

The theater was packed, but we found good seats. Everyone was complimenting me on my hat, haha. As the theater got dark, and the music began to play, a man in the audience yelled "LET THE WILD RUMPUS BEGIN!!" and everyone cheered! I was happy to be around other people who were just as excited as me! The movie was really good, it had parts that made you laugh, and parts that could make you cry. The character's were adorable, the costumes for the monsters were really impressive.

Well! Here is my outfit for today! :)

Outfit Details
Where the Wild Thing's Are Shirt - Urban Outfitters
Jeans - Forever 21
Hat - Made by yours truly haha
Shoes - Thrifted

Can you believe these shoes?! They are brand new and only cost $1! I found them yesterday at a new thrift store Daren and I found. It is in an old lumber warehouse, and it is huge. Besides the shoes, I also got a handful of vintage sewing patterns.

Birthday Bash

Well, as I write this, it is 1 am on October 15. My birthday celebrations are over for another year. It is kind of sad, because today was so much fun. But I am exhausted! Now begins Daren's birthday week. (Isn't it weird? Our birthday's are exactly one week apart.) At midnight yesterday, Daren presented me with a home baked cake. In all of the four birthday's I have celebrated with him, this is the first time he has baked me a cake!


Here it is in all its glory!

After waking up at around noon, I just sat around until 3:30 and my aunts and cousins and siblings came over for cake. My aunt baked me delicious cupcakes. I played duck duck goose with all the young ones while the adults talked..It was fun, but it made me realize how old I am now! ha.


Here are all of my cousins and siblings dying for a cupcake.

After everyone left, my dad took me out to Chili's for dinner then we headed over to Knott's BerryScary Farm for some fun! It wasn't very packed, and within the first five minutes I had been scared by at least 10 monsters. We went through all the mazes in what seemed like record timing. Now, I'm off to bed!

Weekend + Outfit

My weekend started out really good! Friday my dad stayed home from work to take Daren and I to Hollywood for my birthday. It is a tradition my dad and I have been doing since I was 11 or 12. We went to Melrose to go shop, but it only made me realize how over priced it is. For a cute vintage dress, they want $30! I figured I could find a similar dress at a second hand store around here for $2-$8. And I only ended up getting a cute pair of sunglasses. We stayed around Hollywood and went to L.A. Ink to see the new mural..and we went to visit my dad's old friend from high school. We got home around 10 pm, and man was I carsick. I spend Saturday just laying in bed, sick. Today I felt quite a bit better, and I spent most of the day packaging shirts for Never In Wonderland (My clothing company). Around sunset, Daren asked if I wanted to take outfit photos since I have been so behind, I agreed even though my outfit was pretty lazy today.


Outfit Details
Jacket, pants, and shirt are all from forever 21, haha.
Sunnies - Hollywood
Boots - Reflections

Things I've Made Thursday + Outfit Post!

This past week, I made a cupcake totebag from a pillow case I picked up at Target for only $2.50! I have been making my 8 year old sister, Amber, things lately, so I thought it was time to make something for Kira. She loved it and took it everywhere with us this last weekend. I plan on making a fun hat for Where the Wild Things Are this week, but we'll see how that goes.


Today, my grandma took me shopping for my birthday. I got a lot a cool things, and I can't wait to wear it all, ha. The photo isn't of clothes I actually wore today...Daren got new umbrellas and equipment in the mail while we were out, so he really wanted to go shoot...I was wearing a similar red and white polka dot dress to the one I wore last time we took photos, so Daren suggest I change outfits.

Outfit Details
Dress - Urban Outfitters
Jacket - Forever 21
Boots - Reflections

A Sailor at the Canyon

Today, my Aunt Kristin asked Daren and I if we wanted to go on a thrift store adventure with her and my Uncle Twon today. I was excited because I had been wearing my new sailor dress already, and it was a perfect outfit to go thrifting in. We began at a place called Hobo's Vintage. I haven't been there in about a year or so, and I forgot how adorable it is! I tried on many dresses, but all we too small. My aunt walked away with a black frock (as she likes to call it!), so it it wasn't a total loss. After that, we went to the Goodwill, where I scored and found 2 dresses that I fell in love with, I knew my bad luck was gone! haha. We also went to Michaels, Starbucks and Target before returning home..On the drive home, Daren saw a perfect spot for us to take pictures.

We returned to the canyon near sunset...I didn't realize how chilly it had got, and apparently my discomfort showed in most of the photos, but there was still some cute ones.


Outfit Details
Dress - Thrift store in Calimesa
Belt - Philippines
Boots - Same thrift store in Calimesa

Later in the evening, I assisted Daren in a shoot he did for my Aunt and Uncle's engagement.

In the second photo, Kristin is holding all her dolls from various cartoons, that she has made out of felt. They are really amazing!

A day of fun!.

Today, Daren and I woke up early to go to the movies while we still had my parent's car. I made the mistake of thinking Chipotle opened at 10 am, but once we got there the doors said they didn't open until 11! Oops, haha. We went and bought tickets to Whip It, and by the time we returned Chipotle was open. Whip It was really fun, I enjoyed it a lot.

After the movie, we came home for a little while, and Daren surprised me by asking, "Do you want to go to the thrift store?!" I was so excited, I usually have to beg him to come with me. He hates going because I take so long, ha. Once we got there, Daren found a whole bunch of vintage camera stuff, and he ended up buying a lens that fit his d-90. I bought an adorable red polka-dot dress. I need to wash it so I can wear it soon. By the time we walked out of the thrift store Daren was saying "Man! I love this place!" So hopefully now I will be able to convince him to go more often.

Next, we went into the wilderness of Yucaipa to hunt for a perfect location to take some pictures. After a little hiking we came across an abandon car and decided it was a perfect place to shoot.





Today was one of the first days here since we arrived in California that it was chilly..And I only packed 1 cardigan!
Outfit Details
Tee Shirt - People are People in the Philippines
Cardigan - Forever 21
Pants - Forever 21
Boots - Ebay

Fun at the Park + Outfit

Family

My favorite thing about this week was how much time I have been able to spend with my family. While in the Philippines, I would talk to everyone once a week or so over skype, so it is nice to be able to see them every day! I have spent a few hours each day talking to my papa and my dad and looking through old photos and talking about old memories. It has been fun doing all the little things that my dad and I used to do every weekend when I lived here, like going to Target and Barnes and Nobel, and eating tons of mexican food. I haven't spent too much time with my siblings yet, but they are going to spending the weekend here which will be fun!




The pictures on this post were taken by Daren when we first arrived in California around the beginning of September. I like the expression on my little brother's face!

Bye for now!

Totes!

I made both of these tote bags recently for my little sister's birthday. The one on the left is my favorite, i debated whether or not to keep it for myself! I bought that fabric in the Philippines and it was the last on that bolt! The inside is lined with blue and white polk a dots, and it can even be reversed if she feels like it! I also hand sewed little flowers on the handles. The hello kitty purse on the right I made just for her to carry around he DS and coin purse on the weekends. It is lined with a pink silky stuff. Inside each of the bags I added various hello kitty hair things (you can see some in her hair). She loved everything!

=]