Architecture of an Outfit: And on heaven’s golden shore we’ll lay our heads
The sunset yesterday was some of the most milky, golden light, streaming in softly through the dirty, splatter-stained windows. It was a deep, deep promise to the winter-weary residents of melting, thawing Michigan. “I promise I will bring spring, warmth, fragrances floating on downy winds. Flowers and blooms will return. Clear azure skies, fields of emerald grasses, golden sunlight filtering down on the Universe’s children. Soon. Soon. Changes come. Change is coming… Soon.”
Spring is love. Spring brings love. Spring brings electricity, reawakens the soul, reawakens our decaying, stagnated psyches.
And the sunsets to accompany these electric, snappy days, shower down amber, halcyon rays.
Architecture details: Striped tank, t-shirt, drape cardigan, H&M; tie, stone necklace, Forever21; high-waist trousers, Moda (via Victoria’s Secret); belt, watch, Tarzhay; cuff boots, Aldo.
What does it mean to feel? Millions of dreams come real… A feelin’ in my soul I’d never felt before… mmm… And you always told me.
No matter how long it holds me, if it falls apart or makes us millionaires, you’ll be right here forever.
We’ll go through this thing together, and on heaven’s golden shore we’ll lay our heads.
–”Golden”, My Morning Jacket.
Piece of Mae #4: Melissa Fantastic Plastic Dreams and Canadian TV
I’m late by a few days, but oh well. I’ve been consumed with my Hana Elite Professional 1″ Flat Iron Giveaway Sweepstakes (have you entered yet??) courtesy of Misikko.com (check them out, too!) that I haven’t had time to post anything else!
Every first Sunday of the month, I play a game in which I list I-Statements, and finish them with revealing piece of myself from this moment.
Game was originated by Shir, Notes From the Toothfairy back in November, and if you want to join just visit Shir at that link and sign up!
It’s fun.
I miss Hawaii.
This month….
I like: Newly obsessed over Canadian Telly. “Little Mosque on the Prairie” and “Being Erica” (only the latter of which is available on Hulu) have pretty much ruled me for the last month. Erica in “Being Erica” is a 32 year old under-achiever, who is convinced of her own unworthiness, unassertiveness and life-long constancy of making bad choices. Sounds a lot like me actually.
Also am newly obsessed over Skin Food (Korean skin product) and Melissa plastic shoes. I bought a pair of yellow Vivienne Westwood + Melissa Lady Dragon bow shoes and I am sold. The brand is eco-friendly (that’s a huge plus for me!) and the plastic smells like bubblegum. YUM. I bought them in yellow (pictures to come soon).
I like that it’s getting warmer. I like being able to wear stockings without another pair or two under them.
I don’t like: Lately been having terrible lupus attacks in my arms and knees and feeling queasy for days on end. It’s been interrupting my marathon training. Back spasms, back misalignment. I’ve been off the treadmill for about 2 weeks straight now.
And I’m getting tired of Michigan… despite all the wonderful people here. I am missing Hawaii.
I want you to know: I’ve started praying again. Not to embrace some childhood or parental ideal of religion, or religiousity, or to fulfill an ideology which I dumped years ago… but because I have always believed there is a beneficent, loving God or Universe (God IS the Universe), and that I was not made without it willing evolution of elements in the world to make it so. I’ve been tithing, though not to a specific church. I give back to the community at large by donating a portion of my measly monthly salary to the local public library and to a world disaster relief agency (which is supported by my childhood church, but purports to have the main focus of providing clean and safe drinking water and food for countries ravaged by natural and social disaster). It is my way of giving back to the Universe that sustains us all.
I’ve planned: Run more, read more, be more… assertive. Oh, and we’re going to Vegas for Easter for my first cousin’s wedding.
I want to say to someone special: I wish you wouldn’t sell yourself short all the time. Neither of us are getting any younger, and we need to seize opportunities to better ourselves. If there are none, we need to make those opportunities happen, rather than waiting for life to bring us something. Complacency is death. I should know, and you need to learn that sooner rather than later. I love us both too much to see ourselves fail.
—
If you haven’t yet, Enter My GIVEAWAY!
You could win this! A Hana Elite Professional 1″ Straightening Iron provided by Misikko.com!!!
Architecture of an Outfit: Hoping for spring & A BEAUTY GIVEAWAY SWEEPSTAKES!
We’re hoping for spring. We’re hoping that spring springs anew sooner rather than later, as “spring” tends to do here in Michigan. March is just one giant weather cock-tease which taunts us with semi-warm weather and delicious golden sunlight searing our retinas. Then, BAM! a freak late season snow storm and solid grey skies for another month or so.
Outfit architecture: Drape cardigan, cowl neck top, Anthropologie; belt, scarf, h&m; jeans, BDG via Urban Outfitters; Shoes (not pictured), Jeffrey Campbell.
Then spring finally arrives about mid-May, wilted, spongy, brown and sopping wet from the thaw of the brutal winter here in Lake Country, smelling of decaying leaves and twigs that had been trapped under the ice for three months, now feeling the air and disintegrating back into the soil. And then after the slow, grey melt, we see a few trees blooming, perhaps some grass growing again, when suddenly we find ourselves under oppressive heat of a full-on summer, no evidence of beautiful blooms or flower fragrance floating on the air.
“Spring” in Michigan is a cruel, cruel joke. And yet it is one we hope for every single year.
The Hana Elite 1″ iron is a powerful yet gentle hair straightener, which I found to be far superior than other irons I have owned in the past! (See my review HERE.)
Misikko.com will bestow one lucky reader with a Hana Elite iron of her very own just by being an avid reader of this website!
The first rule about Fight Club is that you don’t talk… oh wait, wrong set of rules. :)
1. Comment on this post, and tell me briefly what your go to hair style is. = 1 Entry.
2. Blog about the giveaway with a clear link back to thereafterish. (http://www.maeko.org, in case you didn’t know) and this very post (USE this shortened link: http://www.bit.ly/dn2vzo). Comment back here with the URL to your blog post for another entry.
3. Tweet about it for a third entry. Comment back on this post (USE this shortened link: http://www.bit.ly/dn2vzo) with a link to your tweet in order for the entry to count. (To grab the URL to your tweet, go to your Twitter Home Page, click on the actual tweet, then grab the URL from Address bar.)
4. Re-tweet the giveaway and comment back the URL for a fourth entry.
Multiple comments or blog posts do not = multiple entries. Maximum # of Twitter entries = 2. Maximum # of entries = 4. Tweets must contain a link to this post (USE this shortened link: http://www.bit.ly/dn2vzo) in order to be valid.
Open to international readers!!!
This sweepstakes/comments will close on 3/15, and I will announce a winner shortly thereafter(ish). (See what I did there?) :)
HAPPY HUNTING!!
Architecture of an Outfit: I know all your favorite spots and tonight we will connect the dots
Outfit details: Sweater, shirt, belt: H&M. Necklace: Anthropologie. Tights, watch: Target. Earrings, bracelet: Boutique, Violet Veldore (Victoria, BC). Love worn shoes: Payless.
Yesterday I went to Cleveland for a business meeting which lasted 2 hours. My round trip from Detroit to Cleveland was 8 hours. For a 2 hour meeting
Upon conclusion of the meeting, my sales rep CP said, “Well, Mae, it’s nice to see you, but it was completely pointless for you to have come out all this way.” …. Yeah, that’s what I said.
If your muscles are wound up and tight,
then I will loosen up the knots until it feels right.
If your ears just ache from listening,
then I’ll supply the remedy in the melodies I sing.
—
Be sure to check out yesterday’s Product Review on the Hana Elite 1″ Ceramic Ion Straightening Iron which I will be featuring in a sweepstakes on this site this weekend! A GIVEAWAY!!! Check it out here!
Product Review: Hana Elite Ceramic Ion Straightener (via www.misikko.com)
A couple of weeks ago, www.misikko.com contacted me regarding doing a product review. Thrilled, I agreed, and this last weekend the Hana Elite 1″ Ceramic Flat Iron arrived at my doorstep, beautifully packaged.
Immediately, you have to give Misikko high marks for presentation. The felt travel pouch was wrapped in a ribbon, and 3 silk roses completed the top layer of protective stuffing. A+ presentation.
The package included heat styling protection hair serum–which smells divine–as well as a silicone heat mat, two travel pouches and a tin storage case. There were also a few freebies. A+ on extra schwag.
The Hana Elite 1″ Ceramic Flat Iron features two grey 1″ solid ceramic plates with slight beveling on the side for soft curling and flipping. The iron heats up pretty quickly, and has a temperature adjustment wheel, much like other prestige brands like FHI and Chi irons. The irons I’ve had in the past take pretty long to heat up, which adds up when you have a hectic morning routine.
The ceramic plates straightened my hair with optimal shine, and didn’t leave weird indentations on my hair when I pulled the strands up to volumize my hair, unlike OTHER irons I’ve had in the past. The slight bevel (not completely curved) edge of the plates also creates a soft curl, rather than a hard spiral. Which is totally perfect, and in line with today’s softer, wavy curl trends as opposed to the tight, super exact, paper-thin spiral curls of wedding hair. The cord swivels well, too, making curling hair a cinch without the irritating cord tangle of some irons. When you’re all done, just roll up the silicone heat pad, and then slip the iron into its handy storing pouch, and you’re good to go!
The slick, shiny ceramic plates also boosted the shine factor of each shaft of hair. When combined with the Hana heat protection styling serum, my hair looked lustrous and shiny. The serum is light, smells divine and doesn’t leave a nasty residue on the iron plates.
All in all, the Hana Elite is definitely a superior iron than all the many I’ve had in the past. A for performance, A+ for accessories.
Check out the gallery of my Hana Elite Style evening. (below)
If you’re interested in securing a Hana Elite for yourself, visit Misikko.com yourself and snag one! It’s on sale right now at 36% off!
Misikko also offers a bunch of other awesome hair tools from brands like FHI, Chi, T3, Babyliss, Bio-Ionic and many others. It’s a great resource for the salon and for the girl who wants to treat her hair to the best.
OR, you can try to snag a Hana Elite for yourself right here! I will be hosting a giveaway of a Hana Elite 1″ Flat Iron this month here on thereafterish.. Be on the look out!
More information on Misikko:
Misikko – Flat Irons
Chi flat irons
Babyliss flat irons
Misikko best flat irons
Architecture of an outfit: Friday (Date) Night Lights
Friday, N finally set his work aside for a night, so we could make a date of what was left of the evening. Scotch and maybe dinner, if we were so inclined. Now, this is a big deal since N generally works 70 or 80 hour work weeks, sometimes more.
Outfit Architecture: Cashmere wrap, VS; belt, F21; satin miniskirt, Club Monaco; socks, Tarzhay; Maryjane straped wedge booties, All Black via Anthropologie.
Took my cashmere blend warp cardi and pinned it so that it became a drapey, slouchy, blousey thing. I like how it turned out. Pretty neat. I was quite proud of my improvised draping skills, and I plan to do it again sometime soon.
We went out to Birmingham to a restaurant called Forté for scotch and perhaps some dinner. By the time I got finished getting ready (which can be quite long sometimes), we were both starving. N ordered a Glengoyne 10, and I ordered a Spanish Coffee to celebrate our very rare free night. The bread was superb! I can’t even begin to rave about it. I ordered the special fish of the day, ahi tuna steak tempura served on a bed of seasoned grilled veggies and quinoa tabuli. So amazing. I wish I could eat like that every week. We finished out the night with a duo of mint chocolate mousse and creme brulee.
Best night in quite awhile…
…Until I got some seriously rude looks from older women in the washroom. But whatever, F them.
What was your weekend like? Or your Monday, depending on when you read this.
Friday Flix #1. Carrots.
Friday photos at work.
Scarf, vintage. Cardi, F21. Jeans, BDG. MaryJanes, All Black, via Anthropologie.
Feeling like rubbish emotionally today. I rushed out the door this morning, and so therefore chose an easy outfit without realizing it wasn’t very stylish other than the shoes. Hence my iPhone images heavily edited in Picnik/Flickr.
The other day I posed some questions that I didn’t answer myself.
{ What is/are your favourite thing(s) to wear when you feel like shit? }
I make a point of making sure I’m wearing mascara on curled lashes and a bright shade of red on my lips to make me feel better about my face. A bit of black eyeliner can’t hurt, either. I also make sure I’m wearing a strong, statement-y type of shoe of some kind, because if there is one thing to instantly improve and transform an outfit–you know, other than posture, it would be a pair of shoes. Like what a great pop of colour on the lips does to transform an otherwise blasé face, a pair of shoes dramatically changes the tone of one’s clothes.
My ideal outfit in ideal weather would be a flouncy skirt, belted high, a comfy t shirt, sheer stockings, funky heels or flats, a beret and a cardi. Or pant-like leggings (I hate thin legging-leggings), a button down shirt/striped knit shirt, scarf, beret, big cardi, funky shoes.
Alas, this never works out. 1. because I live in MI, where we have weather, and 2. because I don’t own enough inventory of the above to make it a usual uniform.
{ What is your biggest pet peeve? }
Failure and bad self image. I also hate it when I walk about with socks on and step in something moist, water dripped onto the kitchen floor from dishes, water from a cup we used to water the plants, the spot where we cleaned up dog vomit. I don’t like it when people put in the toilet paper so that the paper falls from the back instead of the front. And I don’t like it when people willingly give in to ignorance, because it takes too much effort to be aware and informed and involved. I.e., refuse to listen to the news, read only tabloid magazines instead of news sites or papers, watch only reality TV, refuse to make an effort to go green because it takes too much brain power to remember to recycle, etc.
And when I forget to wear my wedding ring. I did that today. D’oh!
—
In other news:
Let’s all say a prayer and give a farewell to our dearly departed friend, Yulanda Yee of Little Thoughts.
I have had a few exchanges with her through email, and we had agreed that we should meet up for delicious food the next time I was in Toronto. That chance never surfaced, because Yulanda passed away last Thursday after a brutal six month long battle with Lymphoma cancer. From what I learned through email and from her journal, is that she is an incredibly strong person, emotionally and mentally, with a fierce love for family and friends. She never once felt defeated or depressed about her disease, and always felt her chief concern was making sure her family was alright. She knew that pain was simply part of her condition, and she never let it corrode her self-confidence or awareness and love of the world. She had a delicate, feminine style and grace that I’ve always admired. Her pictures were always styled beautifully and simply, but with an elegance many other bloggers cannot match.
She was one of the brightest lights in the blogosphere, in my opinion and she will be missed dearly. Please pray for comfort and peace for her family.
Architecture of an Outfit: Bundled and Belted.
Work, worn 2/16/2010
Coat, Blazer: F21
Scarf: Merona via Tarzhay
Belt: Limited
Inner saffron blazer: ShopRuche
Tank: H&M
Skirt: Vintage from Korea
Shoes: All Black, via Anthropologie
Today has been one of the kinds of days I don’t feel like saying anything. So I will just ask you some questions.
What is your biggest pet peeve? }
Tell Mae all about it. I’m dying to know! I will answer my own questions tomorrow.
Better late than never: Happy, happy VDay!
Max and I have a message for thereafterish readers!
To those of you who celebrate: Happy Valentine’s Day!
For everyone else: Happy Sunday!
So, okay, I’m a day late. Sue me. I had mistakenly scheduled a post up that I shouldn’t have, so OOPSIE!
I hope all of you had a GREEN, HAPPY, SAFE and LOVE-FILLED day. Whether you were celebrating with yourself or with loved ones. After all, the spirit of this holiday is about love, and whether you’re single or no, love can still abound.
Remember, love yourself, take care of yourself, first, and then all else can be taken care of.
It’s a Tie! Writing vs. Fashion vs. Food
So, the different aspects of my identity are always contending with each other for top dog.
So who am I?
Fashion Queen? No…
**
Am I a runner? Quasi. Am I a writer? Well… I haven’t written anything serious in close to a year. Am I a fashion maven? Well, no, I’m on a budget, and I hate label whoring (though I slightly tend to in my “Outfit Architecture” descriptions). Am I a cook? No training, but I often feel most comfortable in the kitchen. Am I Green Activist? I try, but I don’t go out there and lobby, or walk the streets, preaching the gospel of Green.
A cook? No…
Hoisin/Teriyaki “chick’n” chard stir-fry, with Isreali Couscous with lemon, and steamed garlic broccoli. Contact me for recipe if you want it.
No longer a perpetual student, I find myself constantly trying to define who I am and in what little hole in the world I fit. This is the kind of identity crisis that kids post college face: “Who Am I? Where Am I Going? What Am I Doing?” And yet, here I am, completing my 28th year, and still vacillating.
Do I have to define myself in distinct, certain terms and qualities in order to really know who I am?
That question gives me pause. I don’t know if I have to really set down in stone, like some Biblical Tablet that outlines the parameters of what makes Mae who she is. Commandments of the Mae Character, if you will. I know my preferences, tastes and comfort levels. I know my own vocabulary, I know good grammar. Distastes, hates and discomforts are not unknown to me.
But if there is a “This is Mae” sort of idea floating about in the cloudy ether that is my brain, I haven’t felt/seen/heard of it yet.
I’m okay.
So am I a writer? A clothes horse? A Runner? An Eco-Nazi? A cook? Yes. And No. And yes again. I am all these things and none of them. They’re tied. And they’re all woven into the prickly textured fabric of my humanity. It doesn’t matter. I don’t have to define who I am as a person in order to know I have an impact on the planet and the people whose lives touch mine. I’m okay with that.
Outfit architecture: Skirt, shirt, Club Monaco; sweater stockings, Tarzhay; boots, Aldo; Belt, vintage; batwing cardi, Norma Kamali.
Waxing Poetic, Waxing Lyrical on Twitter: Weather Forecasts Indicate Better Writing
(NaBloPoMo Day 3)
So sometimes I wax a bit lyrical on Twitter, and other times not so. For the most part, Twitter serves as a place for me to photo-whore; connect with other writers, style-bloggers, and runners; and retrieve and retweet informative, important news from other Green Activists…
**
But sometimes, the medium is useful for getting out bullet thoughts and miniature writing ideas. It’s easier to grab a handy micro-computer than root through a satchel for a pen and paper.
And you know what? Some of my best writing lately has ended up in Microblog form, probably because I hardly do any other form of writing.
We are all in this together. In a ship without a sail, toiling the ancient seas until we reach our distant home shore. #ManicMondays
Lazy, pathetically drifting snowflakes on sad wind currents.
Dear 2:30AM, you and I and whatever the hell this is needs to be over. You and I are not healthy or each other. We need a break. Goodbye.
11:38 PM Jan 29th from Twitterrific
Yes, ma’am, I am that madame! Who donned skin colored socks & skin colored shoes. It looked bad–but cold or warmth, what would you choose?
5:53 AM Jan 29th from Twitterrific
Peach clouds hang, downy, under clear cellophane skies. The wind at our backs, we trudge along, heads bowed, seeking warmth and shelter.
5:42 AM Jan 28th from Twitterrific
That same impetuous biting wind that shakes the tree boughs propels me along the salt chalked sidewalks under a dull metal sky. Ah, winter.
3:06 PM Jan 27th from Twitterrific
Cookies and tea do much to improve many situations.
39:17 AM Jan 27th from Twitterrific
Snow has stopped its weak & pathetic dusting, & the sky is a dappled sea under brushed steel clouds. A brilliant day in the neighborhood!
8:18 AM Jan 27th from Twitterrific
Most of the more “poetic” imagery comes as a consequence of the grey blustery clouds or salty, white-washed streets that result from crappy winters here in the Great Lakes Region. You’re stuck in a fabric cubicle jungle across from a window that only lets in weak, dull light. It gives you pause. And much time lost in sad rumination culminates in strong imagery. A much needed catharsis.
Most humans are, without question, affected by the changes in weather. Some of us are so strongly tied to the loss of golden sunlight that we develop Seasonal Affectedness Disorder (SAD).
On the greyest of days, I find myself even thinking in such language. But such is the way of silver skies and cutting wind and shining, cold diamonds on your windshield. We hole up in our warm blankets and pyjamas at home, cursing the sky and the wind currents and the dead trees, and thoughts fly into our brains a mile a minute.
If you get a rare golden day, with tolerably warm-enough weather, get out of your comforting little hole and run around under the clear skies, under the silver clouds, drinking in the brisk air. You never know what sort of change you may feel in your body, mind and soul.
Outfit architecture: sweater, BR; striped dress shirt, random boutique; belt, skirt, Forever21; stockings, Tarzhjay; Oxfords, Payless (yes, you read that right); Headband, GoJane.com; watches, Anne Klein, Random boutique. Yes, I AM wearing two watches.
I Need To Hide the Real Me Like I Need a Punch In the Face: The ‘Fit photos
The ‘Fit: Monday. (NaBloPoMo day 2)
Can’t get off the “Punch in the Face” topic. Feels like there are a lot of things that can tie well into not needing something. Or needing something as badly as needing a sock to the eye…
Like feeling inferior. We never need to feel inferior to anything or anyone. AND YET…
I find myself feeling inferior to a lot of people, and most of all, to that ideal that I once held for myself and who I should be at this age (28 years almost complete).
Oufit Architecture: watch, belt, turtleneck, Target; pants, Moda Int’l (VS); Striped top, F21; Architectural Ring, Modcloth; shoe/booties, Anthro; scarf, vintage.
Taken in my bathroom (mind ye not the hanger in the background!) on my iPhone camera genius app with a timer. That app really is pure genius!
Cooked me some pasta after a 3.5 mi run at the gym.
Garlicky spinach whole wheat pasta with chick’n. YUM. If you want recipes, just email me (under CONTACT page)
Was asked by a Twitter friend and blogger compatriot if we ever felt like we were more comfortable in a mask in some form other other, than in our natural face. I answered yes. That my made up face is a type of mask which hides the inferior self and shows the world my more confident side. My “au naturale” appearance felt less “me” than anything else. If I venture forth into the world without being masked by what I feel makes me look most myself (make up), I hide behind my giant glasses.
THIS
is not greater than or equal to
THIS
And when in doubt, employ diversion tactics!
All of us hide something about ourselves that we don’t need to. Because hiding is tantamount to lying, denying others the immense delight of knowing our Truest Selves. We need to hide the real “us” like a punch to the face.
Friday Confessional: The ‘Fit
I had a list of things I was going to write about, a huge, huge Friday Confessional I wanted to unload… yeah yea yeah, lots of exposition.
But you know what? Today has been a long day, so I just leave you with a ‘Fit post instead.
Outfit Architecture: Blazer sweater, Merona (Tarhzjay); Sweater, J.Crew; Tank,Calvin Klein; Blouse, Anthropologie; Belt, H*&M; jeans, BDG; Boots, Bakers; Earrings, ShopRuche; Necklace, Forever21.
Taken in December some time. I can’t remember when.
Isn’t Bear-Dog rather adorable?
N emailed me this afternoon and asked me,
May I take my lovely wife out to dinner tonight? It’s been too long.
Yes, please. It HAS been too long. Except now, it’s Friday night, we’re both worn out, and all we want to do is snuggle and sleep. And you know what, THAT is still one of the best things I’ve heard all week.
–EDIT
My girl ELA is hosting a giveaway at her Blog Spot, Extra Dressing on the Side for a Shabby Apple wrap around dress…
You can enter by going to her blog and commenting. You can also tweet about it for a second entry. While you’re at it, you can follow her, because she’s brilliant and funny, and her clothes are an inspiration. Also, I love her because she’s Filipina, and there aren’t a lot of us out in the Blogosphere, so you need to give it up.
While we’re talking about good things…
Take a {bow}.
Ever hear “Life is a gift”?
Well, as much as I hate cliches, I’m inclined to agree.
Wrapped up in a bow, like a little present.
Outfit Architecture: Sweater, Moda International; skirt, J. Crew; sash, Old Navy; Stockings, socks, Target; mary-janes, Bakers.
Let’s preface this little essay with an establishing shot, though. I am one of the biggest Debbie Downers in the Hemisphere planet. Probably in the Universe. My worries take over my psyche so overwhelmingly, that everything turns into a roiling stew with ingredients all poisoning my life, something concocted to perturb destroy my life. I kid you not. Though I do have a predilection for hyperbolic speech, this is not something about which I kid. My negativity, if somehow could be harnessed into power, could probably singlehandedly power the entire power-hungry, freakishly high carbon-emitting nation in the greenest possible way. Talk about the power of vehement green!
Anyway, so… let’s get this out of the way. It might not be a secret, but I can say it again: I often hate many aspects of my life. Namely, the aspects of my life that occur between the hours of eight and five o’clock. I don’t always hate it, but detestation does make a pretty regular series guest appearance.
But I started to think about everything in terms of stark facts:
Detroit and the surrounding areas has the highest unemployment rate in the state.
Detroit, therefore, has the highest unemployment rate in the nation.
I don’t make a lot of money.
I do, however, make enough to donate about 10% of my net take home pay (after subtracting joint home expenses) to charitable organizations, like a Christian Disaster Relief Aid organization, and the local public library.
I also am able to slowly, but surely, pay off my credit card debts.
And make regular school loan payments.
And car loan payments.
I have a retirement Roth IRA.
I have fantastic health, dental, vision, life benefits.
I can still afford to shop every now and then.
And travel once in awhile.
My husband has a 9-5 job.
My husband owns a graphic design firm.
He nets a handsome amount of profit.
Which enables us to be able to save up for our dream.
Which is moving to Hawaii in two years.
So, if I look at the facts, everything is pretty darn good, despite how I sometimes often feel about certain aspects of my work and the establishment.
Embrace a shining moment in your life.
And it got me thinking about the opportunities we get each hour, each minute, each second, to change our lives, and our attitudes about our situations. The human life only has a condition if you choose to make it a condition. Every morning–in spite of the rancor that raged through me about the adversities I could possibly face the next day the night before, seething and writhing internally and literally in my sheets, nightmares searing my retinas–I pray to the Universe/God, for the strength to get over myself, and to embrace the infinite number of opportunities that coming day. I also pray to the Universe for serenity to somehow continue living for me, and not for the major factors of bitch-ass-ness that often have the potential to throw me into a downward spiral. I don’t always live up to potential I know I am capable of, but the point is that I need to continually realize the chance to pounce on that delicious chance to make some “rain” for myself.
So everything really is a gift. Every day is a gift. A gift from the Universe, and also one that we can give ourselves. We just need to be accepting of them.
A recent gift was meeting 5 wonderful women at this weekend’s Michigan FemmeBlogger meet up. (Wrap-up report later this week.) I have a great life.
Webbiversary 5.0
Happy Birthday, thereafterish.! However belated…(12 days). But that’s very Maeko, to be late. Less than fashionably late. It’s how I roll.
On 1/8, thereafterish. completed its fifth year. I am now into my sixth year writing, discussing and ranting on this website, and well into my seventh year blogging overall. It’s been quite a ride!
I’ve gone from constant raging tirades against the injustices of human nature, diatribes dedicated to how I’d been stifled, jilted, slighted, mistreated, blahdidiblahdityblahblahblah–to constantly writing about love and posting my fiction and essays–to photowhoring–to documenting my fledgling running exploits–to greening up my style and trying to get people to agree with me–to fashion camwhoring. I guess really when it comes down to it, my site has evolved or devolved with my own mental/emotional progression and maturation. It is, after all, a reflection of myself, a verbal, digital portrayal of my character.
Ergo, thereafterish., whatever she is now, from the schizophrenic, bi-polar freak of nature that was my first version, “You Have My Permission to Stalk Me” (maeko.org 1.0), is a digital insight into who I am as a person now versus what I was when I started out.
I hope I have five more years with thereafterish., and that she continues to grow and reflect exactly who I am or who I wish to be, and that my readers and friends can grow with us together.
Thank you for coming back, those few of you who read on a reg. Please continue to visit and help me continue to evolve and learn as much as I can from the beautiful, complex creatures in this crazy world. This site would not be what it is without your input and perspectives, and neither would I be who I am (to a degree) without the influence of my readership and friends.
So again, my most heartfelt thanks.
Y’all come back now, ya hear!
Outfit architecture: Mohair Coat, Vera; Jeans, BDG (UO); Boots, Aldo; Belt, scarf, Target; Knit shirt, blouse, cardigan, H&M; hat, some boutique in Canada.
Muah’s to Vera for my favourite coat.
Tea for Two. Let’s get talking! And Haiti Relief
Edit: in the face of the Haiti crisis, we bloggers should use our apace to promote humanitarian causes.
I donated to Drs Without Borders today. For every comment I get on this post (casual or rearding Haiti, whatever) until Sunday, I will donate another $1 to the organization.
Please consider making your own donation to this aid org to help in the effort to provide relief to those suffering in Haiti.
Xo
Mae
Tea for Two. A little convo.
In response to SleepyJane’s monthly or more “coffee chat” in which she wills out her lurking readers, enticing them with conversation over virtual coffee, I decided to post my half of our conversation here, whilst I swill some tea heavily swirled with sweet vanilla soy cream.
One.
Hi, SJ. I’ve been reading you for some time. How’re yoU? You sound sad lately. :( I worry about you.
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Two.
Do you do certain things to break your daily routine?
I’m a terrible creature of habit. Bad ones. And then if I manage to have a routine, it usually consists of an unhealthy amount of goofing off and dilly-dallying the night away, and then piteously and acrimoniously rueing the fact that I wasted so much of the evening, I accomplished nothing. I generally nap from being tired from nothing at work–I’m an office lady–there is nothing perilous or daunting about my job; it requires little effort, and nothing physically taxing happens here, other than the walk to the far bathrooms to get a bit more exercise than normal.
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If you want you can tell me what the average day in your life is like.
Okay, here goes! Deep breath:
Wake up late after snoozing the alarm blasting National Public Radio news (Morning Edition with Renee and Steve) for thirty minutes. Roll out of bed, half cloudy, mind overcast as the sky, drag self through morning cleansing ritual, feed the dog, try to dress with some semblance of style… look in the mirror, give up the fashionable goal, trudge out the door in snow boots. Commute. Get to work 15-30 minutes late. Emails. Then work work work work, tedium ad naseum.
Around early afternoon, say, 1:30PM, or other times, 2:00PMish, I take a lunch. Usually I go home and nap, or eat left over dinner from the night before, and walk the dog. Back to work tedium boredom with afternoon lunch torpor, occasionally hating myself for still working here.
Then around 5:30PM leave work and go home. Bumble about on iPhone, make some effort at cooking 2-4 times a week. Sometimes go for a run at the gym late evening. Eat dinner around 10 or so. Dilly dally either doing house chores while watching TV. Play at the idea of doing something productive at the computer… like sell something. Then around 12AM have mini-panic attack because it’s late, and no, it’s too late for sex or cuddling and N is working anyway so nevermind. Drag self through nightly cleansing ritual–shower, serious face regimen, moisturize, teeth… Dress for bed. Kiss N goodnight. Fall into bed with book. Manage to read a few pages before looking at the clock and have last minor panic attack of the day. Fall asleep.
And that is my day in a few words. (Whew!)
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Three.
Are there any new websites I should check out? Any interesting blogs I should be reading?
Yes! These are the blogs I started reading within the last year and enjoying immensely:
Lorien, Way-Faring Stranger
Tommy, This is Naive
Shir, The Toothfairy
KellieJane, Did I Fall Asleep?
And these are some of my old favourites from 2008, and I’ve always loved them.
The Sartorialist
Rebecca, The Clothes Horse
Sandra Beijer
Hil K, Almost Literary
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Four.
How old are you and when is your birthday?
I’m twenty seven. I was born in the beautiful month of May. And my name is Mae. My parents were NOT very creative. However, Mae is not my first name, and I won’t reveal that here, neither the day of my birth. :)
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Wasn’t this fun? Wouldn’t you like to have a coffee/tea chat with me? Why don’t you? Any readers here at thereafterish. who are “new” or old, or just lurking, please de-lurk yourselves for a second and say hello. I don’t bite. And if I don’t have any new readers, well, that’s just sad, isn’t it?
Take a second and answer the questions in the comments below. It’s about time I get to know my (very small) readership!!
Thoughts, Going New Old School and Best Friends
I knew it before, but my best friend R is a writer. A GREAT writer. I stumbled back upon her blog after forgetting for months that she had one… and I’m blown away by her eloquent stream of consciousness.
The morning moved slowly, opening one eye at a time. It stirred with slow concentrated movements, from bathroom to coffee machine to feeding the puppy. This morning was a gooey cinnamon roll with extra frosting. This morning was creme brulee flavored coffee and a few hours spent reading a new book, World War Z. This morning was a comforting quiet, a settled quiet.
waiting is dying. its like treading in an endless ocean until your arms give way to the ocean spray and the bottomless deep seperates you from your breath.
{Somehow, it’s made me realize the quality of my own conscious stream and writings stemming from instrospection have degraded quite a bit over the years. I was a way better writer in 2006 than I am now. But I digress.}
We’re going old school, and coming round back again. I’m discovering things about her that I just didn’t know, or have forgotten, because it’s been over four years since she and I have spent time together regularly (not since before the Great Cross Continental Trek–San Diego to Detroit). Things that endear her even more.
She loves
Tim Burton
Saturated, lovely films like Penelope
Cheese… specifically naming Boursin cheese in one post
Quirky forms of artistic expression
Alice in Wonderland
Scifi
Audrey Hepburn type women vs. Megan Fox/Angelina Jolie type women (I love both)
“Kissing You” by Des’Ree – A song that always makes me die inside in a beautiful way, even if I’m completely content with everything.
iPods (she was the one who convinced me to buy my first iPod… she had a green iPod Mini)
Basil pesto cream sauce
She
Gave up eating red meat, only eating white meat once in awhile
She runs
She love her some food
I am falling in love with my best friend again. I miss the days we spent dancing 3 nights a week, coming home sweaty, laughing messes. I miss the days we studied in a crowded, misty, loud Starbucks, attempting our damnedest to appear every bit the ambitious students. The trips to the beach. The giddy, giggly, stupid shopping trips where we blasted through too much or our scant paychecks. The music exchanges and iPod comparisons. The emails. The dinners. The crazy, house-music-blasting-in-our-stereos going-round-the-city-pointlessly long drives. The laughing. The car karaoke. The long, heartfelt talks. The shared sadness of loneliness and heartache.The joy of friendship.
I love her over and over and over and over again and again and again. And I know deep within me, without a cloud of a doubt, that she is one of my soul mates.
to teach me things I never knew
to relearn things I should never have forgotten
to show me that beauty and goodness and wonder still exist in the world
to connect me to a deeper fabric of life, of connection to a higher existence
to remind me that love is all around.
Img. Cred. Gills and Tails.
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Read on, c’mon, you like me:
Wake Up, It’s Da First of Da Month – Resolving to be BETTER at LIFE.
Graditudinousness – Gratitude is a state of being we should adopt more frequently.
“Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up. ‘Cuz It’s Da First of Da Month…”
Yesterday was the First. Did everyone have a good First of the Month?
I’m a bit late, yes. I know.
I got a new camera from my Husby. Well, New to Me kind of “new.” A Nikon D70s. So I’ve been playing around with it and learning to shoot then edit in Aperture. Mostly taking a lot of “reflection series.” I think it’s a skill to be able to shoot yourself Myspace-style with a “real” camera.
Firsts…reflections… It got me thinking about things.
Well, FIRSTLY (lots of this word in just the FIRST few minutes… repetitive much?), let me tell you about my most recent, terrible fright.
While I was sleeping the night away on 11/30, a dream attacked me savagely. (I’m almost crying, thinking about it now.) We were celebrating Yuletide with our family in Victoria, Canada with an ailing, but very venerably aged 96 Gram, when my father broke the news to us that he was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, and that doctors had given him months–no, weeks!–to live. He would pass with a violent, painful end sometime around Valentine’s Day.
I don’t remember the details much, but I remember white halls of a hospital and doctors leaning over a very tube-covered patient I once knew as my little father (he is shorter than I am). The hot and many tears woke me up, my chest was tight and racked with pain. Tried as I might, I couldn’t get the image of my father ending before my eyes out of my head. I knew my dream was supposedly just a dream, but I couldn’t let it lay like a dirty, fetid, sleeping dog.
You see, my father, who is a normally healthy fellow, had an injury when he was a toddler that caused his spine to curve, or curl upon itself near his neck, giving him a hump back and scrunching his rib cage so that all his organs squished into a smaller than average torso. I believe it’s called Kyphosis, a defect of the spine which causes extreme curvature. He also has a deformed chest… it’s kind of shaped like a Mayan pyramid. Because of his cramped organs, he has developed Congestive Heart Failure, often gets Walking Pneumonia, developed Asthma, and was diagnosed a year or two ago with Panlobular Emphysema. He hasn’t smoked a day (well, maybe a day, but that’s it!) in his life. He’s a semi-vegetarian and lives in a healthy, warm climate. He walks several times a week, and is relatively stress free.
But this Emphysema diagnosis threw me when I learned of it.
How could someone who’s practically never smoked get a “smoker’s disease”?
So, as ridiculous as it sounds, in my dream lung cancer didn’t lay outside the realm of possibility. And for him to die of it was entirely possible. Hey, it’s a dream!
But the terror I felt when I woke up was real. I awoke at 4:30, shaken, and couldn’t get back to proper sleep until about 6, which is about 45 minutes before I wake up then snooze.
Frantic, I went about my normal routine in a haze, my morning agenda items ticked off in haphazard and scattered fashion. My reports and conversations were a blanked out mess.
At 9:30, I dialed my dad, hoping he’d still be in bed (he lives in San Diego, 3 hours time difference from Detroit). Thank the Universe, he was!
On the verge of tears, I asked him, “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, I miss your mum. She’s at the Lawrence Welk Resort until Thursday.”
“No, Poppy, is everything okay? Are you sick?”
“No! Why would I be! I’m just sleepy,” he said, trying to explain his croaking voice.
I told him about my dream, and he started laughing, which did not put me at ease.
“It was just a dream, anak*, I’m fine. I’m healthy enough, other than the normal cuff and whizzing. Stop worrying. I’m fine!”
*(“Anak” means “child” in Tagalog, my father’s native language of the Philippines; and he has an accent on certain words, though he is completely American in the rest of his diction and accent.)
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So my dad is okay. My dream was just a freakish moment of my stresses manifesting themselves in a nightmare.
It got me thinking about the First of the Month, which the First of the Year is around the corner.
How often do things like this–life-aware moments–make us resolve to do things better? And in addition, how many of those resolutions actually stick? Instead of waiting until a life-changing event, or until the first of the year, why don’t we just start LIVING better for ourselves… now? I can’t wait until my dad’s health could possibly dive for me to start calling him and my mum more often, let them know how much I love them. I can’t wait until my friends move across the world, out of my timezone, to start letting them know regularly how much I think of them, and how much I wish we were all together. I can’t wait till a job opens up to start honing my skills so I can get a better salary. I can’t wait until I get a book about xyz to start trying to learn abc concept–which will make me a more accomplished young woman… I can’t get a job in the creative world without knowing how to create… right?
I can’t run a marathon without starting to run right now. So I strapped on my shoes and ran a mile and a half, and made mental plans on how to reach my marathon goal by next December–for lupus sufferers all over the world, and for the lupus sufferer in myself!
I’m not waiting till after the holidays to get better at life. I resolve to get better at life right now.
I think that’s a more powerful style statement than any “statement necklace” or “statement IT bag” or “statement shoe” that the Actress of the Moment has been scoped wearing in the latest glossy mag.
Living better is a style statement that can’t, and shouldn’t wait.
Maeko Sez: Waste Not, Want Not!
Maeko Sez! “I’ma help you. Trust.”
In honour of Thanksgiving, I’m posting a few things that:
1. Are awesome and save you $,
2. Save you $$ while you get people (or yourself) stuff,
and 3. Help save the world (in a way).
Firstly! Save money, get stuff!
Shop Ruche is having a sale on Black Friday (11/27) and Cyber Monday (11/30). You get an extra 15% off their already immensely affordable (and organic!) selection of bohemian and sophisticated clothing. So rush to the store and get your extra bucks saved… And stimulate that economy while you’re at it!
Just use the code below!
Secondly! Stop wasting stuff this holiday!
Every Thanksgiving Holidaze, there are thousands and thousands of pounds of waste that go into the garbage without a second thought (in addition to the thousands and thousands of calories that end up going onto our bellies!). This waste wrecks havoc on the ecosystem, while at the same time the mass consumption and immense amounts of product packaging contribute mightily to our climate change problem!
Try to waste less this year… and your waist may thank you for it, too.
Follow this tip from Ideal Bite.com:
Go on a trash diet – just follow a few easy waste-reducing tips
The Benefits:
Doing something matters:
Guess what:
If 10,000 people eliminate their average food waste this holiday season, we’ll save enough cash to buy and donate 13,939 organic, 20-pound turkeys to less-fortunate folks.
Now that’s thinking smarter…
Tip Credit: IdealBite.com, Img Credit: The Daily Green
Thirdly, Save $ and save the planet.
5 Easy things from The Daily Green – That save you cash money.
1. Reusable Shopping totes.
When you go out shopping, bring your own reusable bags. This preserves resources by cutting down on the huge number of paper and plastic bags that are discarded after a single trip.
2. Save money on power.
2. Save on Electricity
There are many ways to trim those electric bills. Wash your laundry in cold water instead of hot, line dry your linens, and use a toaster oven for small heating needs instead of a bigger electric stove. Open windows to let the light in, turn off unneeded lights and appliances, and unplug unused electronics to counter the ‘energy vampire’ effect.
(Personally speaking: I have my computers, entertainment equipment and kitchen appliances plugged into power strips. When I’m done using them I shut the strip off to keep the surge from idling. And I unplug my phone charger, unused lights, personal electronics from the outlet when not in use… This has cut my average energy bill by over $15 each month!)
3. Save fuel!
Every gallon of gasoline you burn produces 19 pounds of carbon dioxide, so it pays to conserve (in more ways than one). Your car will work more efficiently if you obey the speed limit and avoid rapid, unnecessary acceleration. Keep your tires properly inflated and get regular tune-ups. Forget warming up under most conditions.
4. Do the Farmer’s Market thing.
Shop at your local farmers’ market. This will help support farmers in your area, so they won’t be forced to sell off their land for development, and it will decrease your food miles, meaning less fuel will be used to provide your daily meals. Your food will be delicious and better for you. And you will be stimulating local economy, helping to retain regional jobs!
Eat as much local and seasonal food as you reasonably can. Your meals will be fresher, and will require much less fuel to transport, store and refrigerate.
5. Better water.
Drink water from the tap, instead of buying single-use bottled water, which requires much more energy to produce, store and transport. Barely 20% of those plastic bottles end up getting recycled, and most are made out of petroleum. Use filters if you are concerned about your local water supply.
Buy a reusable bottle to take with you on the go, so you can always refill it from a tap and avoid buying bottled water. Stainless steel is a good choice, because you don’t have to worry about the potentially toxic chemicals that can leech out of many plastics over time.
For more eco and moolah saving tips, check out the The Daily Green here: “30 Surprising Ways to Save MOOLAH by Going Green!”
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Read on, read on!
Maeko Loves #1 – See what Maeko loves this week! Lots of stuff.
A Saturday in the Life – Take a trip through a magical Saturday with me and my husband N.
Maeko Loves #1
Maeko loves…This girl! Behind the Seams
…and her quest to be named America’s Most Stylish {fashion} Blogger. (via Blue Fly.com).
5 weeks. 8 bloggers. 5 pieces of clothing. Only one can be named the queen. Vote for her look this week at BlueFly.
Img. Behind the Seams.
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Maeko loves… MayK…all day!
She knows how to rock a pair of boots like nobody’s bidnizz. Srsly.
I mean, just look at those boots!!! Mean!
Img: Maykallday
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Maeko loves… Bringing Ridikulousity to TASK
Jon Stewart and AP (Via PopSugar) blast Palin’s Roguishness to pieces, and a Conservative Picks apart the shallow substance-lackluster Palin really is:
Stewart’s Ass tearing (via Huffington Post>:
“[I don't] dislike her because she’s from Alaska or because she hunts, but because “when you peel back the pretty, shooty layers of the Palin onion, there’s no onion. It’s just a conservative boiler plate mad lib: ‘Freedom is good and taxes are–ooh I need an adjective–how about, I don’t know, silly?’ And the worst part it’s a mad lib delivered as though it were the hard-earned wisdom of a life well lived.”
Ohh snap!
And Palin’s Facebook retorts to the Associated Press grabbing an unauthorized copy of her book (which was banned from early release to all press review–hmmm… sounds dubious and sneaky!) and doing what she dubbed “Opposition Research” which the world of Journalism generally calls “Fact Checking”. Hmmm.
AP (Via PopSugar/TresSugar) debunks a few of the myths: she was not as frugal a traveler as she claims to be; she did not run for governor on small donations; and that she was actually for the government bailouts during the campaign.
And lastly, an objective review from conservative journalist Rod Dreher on NPR.org:
Sarah Palin is back to tell us that she loves Alaska. And America. And Todd, the First Dude. She loves God, Ronald Reagan, cutting taxes and serving those she calls “ordinary hardworking people.” Who’s on Sarah’s enemies list? The media. Good ol’ boys who condescend to her. Elites like the Alaskan gadfly she describes as a “Birkenstock-and-granola Berkeley grad.” …
…That’s pretty much everything you need to know about Going Rogue…
…The rap on Palin is that she’s too shallow and inexperienced for the presidency — a conclusion that early Palin supporters like me came to during the 2008 campaign….
…Sarah Palin is selling a personality, not a platform. She quotes her father’s line upon her resignation this summer as Alaska’s governor: “Sarah’s not retreating, she’s reloading.” On evidence of this book, Sarah Palin is charging toward 2012 shooting blanks.
Pow. Sorry… even some of your former supports think you’re off your rocker.
Palin img cred: Popsugar
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Maeko loves… BABEHS
This baby, in particular. My Friend E, aka Finnspace, and her baby Sam I Am are just the cutest.
I am not a child-lover… so when someone shows me a child I adore, it is reason to marvel, indeed! How cute she is!!!
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Maeko Loves… pretty pictures of food!!
Tommy of This is Naive posts daily feasts for the eyes. This post is no exception, because not only does it delight the eyes, it delights the stomach… Pictures of food!
Tommy’s photos are a delicious (pun), striking, vintage-washy treat, and I look forward to her daily posts just to see what she’s put up… I love seeing the world through her innocent and objective point of view.
See more of Tommy HERE!
img Cred. This is Naive.
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Maeko Loves… Deep Thoughts
There is nothing more that I love, blogwise, when otherwise labeled “Fashion Bloggers” use their space to pose thoughtful questions and even more thoughtful responses…
Take Kitten of Picked Pics.
Interspersed between her many fantastic ensembles are essays (e.g., on the general attitudes of the German youngster and their grappling with the reality of what their ancestors had done in the earlier part of the 20th century), small pensive snippets like below, stories and a small day’s memoir of her life in Japan as a German Vietnamese student.
I take 30 minutes at my quickest to get totally done and ready and out of the house.
In these 30 minutes there is a transformation taking place.
30 minutes between inside and outside.
I love it when people challenge the idea that fashion love precludes brains and introspection. Why can’t we do both? Aren’t we humans complex creatures that enjoy touting our ability to multi-task? Why should we not be able to love both fashion and possess an inkling of thought?
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Maeko Loves… Retail Therapy
We’re all suffering from the recession… but sometimes we have those kinds of days in which we *have* to buy something. You know the days… just feeling like you gave it your best and you were still run over by a truck, and you come home so mentally exhausted that you collapse into a puddle in front of the TV and just zone until it’s time to sleep and start the grind all over…
Well, I’ve had WEEKS like this…
So I bought myself shoes.
*squeeeeee~ SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOE SHOPPING!!*
The Jeffrey Campbell camp sandal that was all the rage last year:
Broke! I went to San Diego in May for my Bachelorette party and wedding shower, and in a drunken dancing daze, I managed to split the wooden sole of my most fierce, fabulous and comfy shoes IN HALF.
So, well, thanks to cheapie shoe sites like GoJane… I decided to replace these strappy babies with these:
Why not? The price both of these cost are still well within half of the cost of the Campbells. Now for comfort, though. I may be needing assistance from Dr. Scholl’s on these ones!
We’ll let you all know how they pan out when I receive them and a few other pieces from GoJane (For about $100!) this week.
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Edit:
Maeko Loves… weekends, and Fall Fashion and Blog Love!
Check out my weekend two weekends ago: Here.
And I rather think layering is probably my fall fashion uniform. Check it out Here.
Greatest Hits: Popculture or Post-Modern Sleaze
Seems like I’ve been wearing the same pieces, colours and combinations of clothing since it all got really cold. Blacks, greys, strips, long socks, boots, lack of colour, and the same leather Lexi satchel I got for a steal from J.Crew–they’re not my style rut. They’re my greatest hits. My go-tos… My tried and true.
Outfit Architecture: Tie-neck blouse, Forever21; Strip knit top, H&M; skinny twill trousers, Delia*s; boots, Bakers; leather satchel, J.Crew.
Speaking of things that are the greatest… don’t you love it when people grossly overestimate their own skills and claim they are the greatest??
Our pop culture is full of sleazy, skeazy freaks who are just trying to make a quick buck from a cheap pass at fame without any actual talent or valid claim to that fame (i.e., Speidi, Paris Hilton). Efforts toward this end can run the gamut, but are usually something like:
What do you know? Speidi hits ALL these keypoints. Hilton gets 9 out of 10 stars.
Anyway, on from point 2, there are a slew of other famous people who have tried a singing career, and here is a great list put together by our friends at BuddyTV.
The 13 actors who “think” they can “sing”.
(In ascending order from “Egregious Effort,” to “Passable,” to “Admirable Aspiration!”)
Some of my favourite quotes from BuddyTV:
…Even after becoming the laughing stock of bleeding-from-the-ears pop music lovers everywhere, Mrs. Spencer Pratt has continued churning out what she loosely categorizes as “music”…
…Ever wondered what Gwen Stefani might sound like if she woke up without any musical talent or integrity? We think it would sound a lot like Paris Hilton…
…Speaking of “should have stuck to her day job”… in 2007 actress Scarlett Johannson released Anywhere I Lay My Head…
If you feel like reading on, here’re some other things to see:
Weekending–Photos every hour post
Bests of (last) week
Get your booty on
Weekending: Last Saturday
Last Saturday: Detroit Eastern Market and Date Night.
A few photos every hour (about–quite a few from the farmer’s market) with a bonus outfit shot at the end.
10:00AM
Getting ready, eating connected.
11:00AM
The Farmer’s Market
Lunch
12:00PM – At the Market
Entertainer and the Projects
Stylish couple
Meat packer’s warehouse
No leftovers?
1:00PM – Division Street boutique
The assholes would not sell it!
Awol’s handstyle. He’s from LA, can’t you tell?
$25.
2:00PM – Home
Good-by, Autumn!
3:00PM – Naps
4:00PM – Afternoon nostalgia
5:00PM – Making up
6:00PM – 8:00pm – Dinner!
Katana Nu Asian Bistro
We can never take good photos together.
His: Grilled sea bass over rice with veggies in soy ginger wasabi glaze.
Hers: Medium rare sesame crusted ha tuna over soy sauce sesame glaze and veggies, served with risotto style croquets. YUM.
9:00PM – 11:00PM – Movie: Where the Wild Things Are
12:00AM – Home, outfit shots
Outfit architecture: Jacket, Bitten by JSP; Shirt, Club Monaco; Belt, Express; Tights, Target; boots, Aldo.
If you haven’t yet, check out last week’s Bests of the Week article.
Bests of the Week
I’ve been out for awhile, actually, due to a database error created by WORDPRESS v.2.8 and a troublesome little plugin. It’s sucked, to say the least, since I know nothing of fixing database errors via rewriting PHP… and it took even major resolve to just even Google the damn problem to see if there was an article somewhere telling me how to fix it.
Anyway. I digress. I’m back.
Hi. I hope you’ve missed me. Apparently you haven’t, since yesterday I only had 33 visits from 32 unique IPs. You’d best come back, people!
Here are some of the best things I’ve seen and read this week that I think you should know:
1.) fashion. eyecandy.
Trang of Behind the Seams is participating in a campaign from BlueFly and StyleList to decide who is America’s Most Stylish Blogger. 8 girls. 1 challenge. 5 weeks. 5 spectacularly amazing high fashion items. Only one can win the title. WOW.
Here are some of her most recent looks:
Trang's take on AMSB Challenge #2: Prada Booties
Behind the Seams, AMSB Challenge #2: Prada Booties
Challenge week 1: Priorities gabardine vest
VOTE EACH DAY, and vote on BlueFly.com here.
Show your love and support to the lovely, charming Trang on twitter: BTSgrl’s Twitter. Oh and let her know Maeko (Twitter=@Maeko) sent you!
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2.) book. mind candy.
Thom @ TheSundayBest.org did a brief but effectively interesting review on a new book by Winona of DaddyLikey.blogspot fame called Closet Confidential: Style Secrets Learned the Hard Way.
Here is a rather large snippet from both the book, and from Thom’s write-up.
I envisioned folding my crisp indigo jeans and gingerly placing them in my purple dresser, next to my compass and crime-fighting notebook, while whispering things like, “We’ve done it again, Old Blue,” and “I can’t wait for the adventures tomorrow will bring!”
A few things about this sentence:
1. It’s at the end of the first paragraph and already she has me laughing out loud in a public place. Old Blue? Adventures? Are you kidding me here?
2. It’s structurally perfect. Perfect. If I sat here for ten years trying to think of a better way to convey the transformative power we bestow on clothing I wouldn’t add one iota of awesome to it. Perfect.
3. It demonstrated that although the book is entirely about women and their wardrobes, its themes are universal. Which is to say, I get this girl.I know all about this moment. I know all about crime-fighting, and magnifying glasses, and finding clues, and the outfit you need to do all of that.
Ah, yeah. I don’t think I could be anymore interested in this book now, due to Thom’s descriptions of his reactions to the last sentence of the first paragraph in the book. Being the gigantic pedagogue that I am, I love that a book would have structural perfection. However, it not only interests women–clothes horses, fashion lovers (its target audience), but a man, and gets him to understand the protagonist and her world, and draws him into that world with her, stylishly and engrossing-ly. I think I need to buy the book.
Go visit Thom and tell him I said hello. And go visit Winona and let her know how much you are salivating over her book and how you’re going to buy it. While you’re at it… actually BUY the book, eh?
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3.) Hilarity.
The boys at The Steel Closet have done it again: made me piss my effing pants after laughing so hard from one of their many weekly video postings.
The many sexy moves of Charlie (from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”):
I die. I’ve seen three seasons on this show on Hulu (I’m a season behind due to Battlestar Galactica, X-files, Robotech, and other nerdy staples, as well as Californication and Pushing Daisies), and I’ve never been more floored at the crassness and wackiness of these four hapless losers. And yet, in their devastating wake, much hilarity ensues.
I seriously choked while watching the clip. If you don’t like it, oh well. I think it’s one of the most stupidly funny, asinine comedies on Cable Television ever (aside from Family Guy), and I will break water each time I watch it–from laughing too hard.
Thanks, TSC!!
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4.) nerdfare.
Most of you will know that I am an Ubernerd. And it’s not just because I’m Asian, but because I was practically raised to worship my big brother, who, despite also being Asian, grew up to love comic books, animé, Japanese Culture, video games and all other major geekery. So imagine my squee* geeker’s joy, pulsating thrill and delight, when I read on The Steel Closet that Prince of Persia (renown Role-Playing videogame franchise) is now being made into a movie.
Why this is cool?
Peep it here:
Thanks, Cass!
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5.) snark. social commentary.
Leave it to my tough girl friend, the aptly named ToughGirl101 (AKA Katana-either after the Japanese word for “Sword” or after her motorcycle–either are genuinely appropriate, if you know her!), to get into the dirty nitty gritty of white on Asian social interaction.
Words I hate to hear: “I love asians!”
My issue is with the Asian fetish that is motivated by the ill-informed stereotypes. The little shy Geisha’s that are tigers in the bedroom really only exist in porn. The little Vietnamese girl looking for a big strong American… ridiculous! Especially if they were born and raised in America!… the impression left on this Asian girl is that men who say “I love Asian women” towards the beginning of an acquaintanceship should be dropped headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench or chemically castrated. It has never ended well. Never.
Being a petite Asian girl, I have come across this “I love ASIANS” issue from white males extremely often while I was still in the dating pool (I AM NOW MARRIED, BTW). In fact, my first boyfriend and quasi-fiancé, was one such boy with “Yellow Fever.” All his white male friends married Asian women, and all of them only cavorted about with Asian women. In fact, it saddens me to find out now after 6 years of non-communication with him, that he is the “token” in a crew of only Asian friends…You should see his Facebook account. It’s a sad, sad example of the lack of ethnic variety in choice of friends. Of course, I can’t say for sure if he’s Yellow Fevered up… maybe he relates more to Asians than he does his white counterparts… I don’t know. But on first glance, it’s certainly suspect.
I have encountered this way more often than I’d like to admit:
Asian Fetish Guy (AFG): I really love Asians.
Katana: Right.
AFG: The food’s great.
Katana: I don’t cook.
AFG: Oh… so do you speak your language?
Katana: English?
AFG: No, I mean the language where you’re FROM.
Katana: California?
AFG: …
Katana’s got it right… these stereotypes and tastes are based off of some mythical cultural typecast created and perpetuated by movies, New Media and dumb-ass Yellow Fevered freaks. These stereotypes continue to perpetuate a sense of Otherness, an ideal of an exotic, submissive, sexual creature who hails from the OPPOSITE side of the globe, not an empowered, independent, powerful woman who was born, raised and enculturated IN AMERICA, is through and through American by culture and mindset and language, and is the New Face of the typical American–an American with a rich ethnic heritage.
When are people going to learn? Brown, yellow, black and red were here long before anyone even realized that there was a word for race, ethnicity and culture. And we’re here to stay. We’re from here, we speak the same language as you, and you best learn that sooner rather than later. Kthxbai.
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EDIT:
Oh, and the whole “Asia/California” thing sucks even harder when it comes from a fellow Californian!
“Wow, you have great skin.”
“Thanks.”
“Do all the people where you come from have great skin?”
“What do you mean?”
“Where you’re from, your nationality?”
“You mean, Canada?”
“No… where you’re from!”
“San Diego…?”
“Where’re your people from?”
“Canada… California…!”
“No, you don’t get it…”
“Uh, no, YOU don’t get it.”
Assholes.
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6.) blog lovin’
OMG! I got my first AWARD! Despite being a blogging grandmother compared to some of my style blogger colleagues (I have been blogging for seven years in some form or other), I have never gotten a blog award before!
So imagine my shock and surprise when Mel of Idee Geniale gave me a Beautiful Blogger Award. I felt honoured and special.
The sitch involves divulging 7 interesting facts about you and then pass it along to 7 other bloggers you admire to do the same.
I think my own personal deets are boring, but it’s up to you to decide whether I’m interesting or not!
1. To save moolah on clothes, my mum made me wear hand-me-downs until about sixth grade. A good forty percent of my clothing were hand-me-downs. This is not a problem in and of itself, mind you, except that my older sibling is a boy. Imagine my embarrassment at my appearance all the way until I was 11 or 12 years old!
2. I’m a really big dork. But I think you can tell. Sci-fi, videogames, comic books, animé, karaoke…
3. I don’t like it if I go to the bathroom and someone occupies the stall right next to me. Especially at work… in public, it can’t be helped most of the time, but at the office, I hold it until I can’t, then I stalk to the bathroom and use the farthest stall. If someone else comes into the bathroom while I’m in it, I wait until they are gone before I come out. I know, it’s weird.
4. I used to idolize Japanese culture, and have wanted to dye my hair blond for at least ten years. I only finally had the money & confidence in my self-image to do it now.
5. I’m Asian/Filipino-American-Canadian with a Southern California culture and accent, but live in the Northern Midwest! How’s that!
6. Prior to meeting my husband five years ago, I’d never gone farther east of Las Vegas, no farther north of Vancouver, no farther west of my home in San Diego, no farther south than Baja California (Mexico). Sad little cloistered existence, isn’t it? Since meeting my husband, I’ve finally traversed to three coasts of the US (Michigan has a four coasts, west and east on the Mitten, and North and South in the Upper Peninsula, on three Great Lakes), been to Europe, and finally visited Hawaii. We plan on going to most of Japan for our Honeymoon next year!
7. Despite loving literature and being an incredible pedant AND nerd, I would rather watch a good episode of a television show than read, I would rather read than play a videogame, and I would rather cook than play a videogame, and I’d definitely rather play a videogame than clean the house.
I’m going to choose my new favourite bloggers:
Tommy at thisisnaive.com
Yolanda at LittleThoughts
Brainy Beauty: DreamEcho
Le Trix
ToughGirl101
Hot Robot, my favourite Hawaiian.
It’s not 7 people, but I’m not one for holding to rules in memes.
Going Boots, Going Yellow
My first major purchase of the autumn season was a pair of cuff boots from Aldo.
I had to have these cuff boots after seeing ankle booties with a major cuff in a Japanese magazine over four years ago. I spent the better part of each season for two years searching for ankle cuff booties before giving up early last year. And then, seeing them again on Ela of Extra Dressing, and on Fashiontoast’s Rumi this summer reawakened my thirst for these cuffy darlings, and I knew that the cuff had made a resurgence in shoe retail. Aldo became my savior when I signed up for email notifications, and a 10% off coupon landed itself in my in box. GLORY~
I bought them in-store, and then waited with baited breath for my arrival. 3 days later, I was not disappointed. I’ve worn them more than any other shoe I own in the last three weeks.
In other news, I have gone straw and hay in the head. I bleached it this weekend, a caramel, dark blond I like to call dirty dishwater blond, with straw coloured highlights. I have one more processing of micro highlights in two weeks before it gets to be the exact colour of honeyed, golden blond I hope to achieve.
I debuted it this morning at work, and it was a hit. Although someone called me Latina. I guess I’ll take that as a compliment; Jessica Alba is rather fly (as a blonde and as an anything else). I’m just not sure how I feel about it all yet. It’s still rather brassy.
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Replies.
MayK: I agree. I can’t wait. Wes Anderson is a genius.
Heather: We’ll be visiting at Christmastime. Too many grandmothers who are getting old who need to see us… And cousins of course. Here’s to hoping you shall be there as well.
Fashionista: Don’t you think so! It’s sad, but at least they are aging gracefully.
The Clothes Horse: I think it’s great he’s doing a full length feature all stop motion. He’s done a few things here and there, like a few scenes in The Life Aquatic, which were all executed superbly. I can’t wait for the full-on colour season to descend on Michigan. I’d say we’re about 50% there.
Jeannie: I agree!
Arushi: Thank you for stopping by! I rather enjoyed writing this post!
Lar of AsianCajuns: I totally concur about them aging a lot but not being nipped and tucked–something I hope Mr. Pitt does not do. People keep on talking about botox and actors like Courtney Cox end up going overboard, and you see them not being able to lift their eyebrows properly, and you have to think that there is just something inherently unnatural about doing something like that–even in the name of beauty. Ever see women who are addicted to facial surgery? They look like geckos. It’s frightening.
GreenJeans: I think one is never too old to test Adidas, that’s true. But if you test them the way Steve Zissou does (his very funny hopping), you would understand why I think Bill Murray is now too old for that!
