Monday, March 30, 2015

Tropicana

Sorry I've been off the blogsphere for a while! I was away on holiday in Australia (pictures to come soon!) 
Here's an outfit I wore on a "Saturday" (my weekends are weekdays) around town. I love that the actual pieces are really simple and easy: loose-fitting tank top & circle maxi skirt. But the bold colors together make it so fun! I try really hard to create interesting, non-basic outfits but y'all, IT'S JUST SO HOT HERE. There's no way I'm layering some days. But bright color combinations like purple and orange make up for it! 







Top: Forever 21 (similar) | Skirt & purse: Goodwill | Sunglasses: Modcloth (only in red now)

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Mona Lisa Smile

I mentioned in another blog post that I went to see the younger Mona Lisa painting at a fantastic exhibit at The Arts House in Singapore. The entire exhibit goes into meticulous detail on how the Younger Mona Lisa is a Da Vinci original. It completely convinced me and I enjoyed seeing Da Vinci's tedious process in creating a painting. The most interesting things I learned were actually about math (a subject I usually stay very very far away) One point was how Da Vinci used the Golden Ratio to create composition in his paintings. I could try to explain the other points but I think I would just end up confusing you more! Either way, it was exciting to learn the behind-the-scene of Da Vinci's mind as well as all the scientific research to further prove who created the first beautiful Mona Lisa. And then of course, it was incredible getting to see her so up close and personal! 
I just had to get a t-shirt with her iconic face on it. Every time I wear this shirt, I see strangers pointing at me and whispering "Mona Lisa" as I walk past. Even my little five-year-students get excited to see this shirt. 
I'm half way tempted to write something funny or iconic on this shirt (perhaps "I woke up like this"?) like in Fly Art 






Friday, March 6, 2015

Birthday Girl

It was my birthday on Tuesday and I must say, it was a pretty special day! I'm a very lucky girl woman (I am 29 now after all). My boss had a candle with a huge piece of strawberry cake (Mmmmmm!) and she whispered to all the kids to make sure and tell me happy birthday and how pretty I was. Not gonna lie, I'll take any cheap hit at my ego, haha! I thought it was so very sweet. 
After work I was supposed to meet all my friends out for a nightcap or two-ish… at this inexpensive, great place (we're teachers that live in the most expensive city in the world; these prerequisites are imparative) but the place had closed down last week! Bummer, man. So we moved just decided to move the festivities to my place for simplicity's sake. Even with the hiccup, everyone came with such great energy and I ended up having a great night dishing with my pals. It can be hard being away from home on special days like birthdays so I feel so blessed to have people here that make being an expat fun. 










Thursday, March 5, 2015

Gong Xi Fat Cai

Chinese New Year was a couple weeks ago and with the huge Chinese population (some are directly from China - called "Mainland" - others are of Chinese descent) in Singapore, I've been able to learn a bit about this important holiday. 
Chinese New Year is a big deal and Singapore gears up for it for weeks - there's lion dances in all the shopping malls, lanterns are hung, horoscopes predicting the next year are posted up, massive spring cleaning is underfoot, and mandarins are piled up waiting to be bought. 
For three days, families go all over the island visiting friends and family. They bring two mandarins for good luck and when they leave the house, they have to take two as well. The married adults give children ang pao - little red (or in my case, pink) envelopes filled with money. It is three days filled with good food (I've been nibbling on the left-over Chinese sweets at work all week!), good company and good wishes for the upcoming year. 

This outfit is my nod to Singaporean Chinese New Year. This top I found at my local thrift store and I cannot get over how adorable it is - it's got the cheongsam look with the high collar and chinese knot buttons - but with red polka dots!
I stuck on my chili crab pin I bought at the National Museum of Singapore. Chili crab is a national favorite dish. The best way I can describe is that it's crab with spicy spaghetti sauce covering it and served with delicious rolls to dip into the sauce. Mmmm! 
I got this beautiful red wrap skirt at Goodwill and immediately noticed the lovely high quality of it. It fit like a dream and I found the ribbon-tie detail so endearing. Wearing the lucky color red, I'm armed with the good luck of next year!  











Shirt: New2U Thift | Skirt: Goodwill (old Ann Taylor)
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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Summer Chambray

Every girl should own a chambray dress - it's the little black dress of denim which means it goes with everything. And who doesn't want a no-brainer dress to wear? I love this one particularly because of the sweet, classic silhouette. The best way to spice up a simple dress is obviously with lots of accessories and I decided on a color-scheme to help me narrow down options: orange, blue and yellow.  A scarf in my hair, beaded necklace, a funky geometric belt and my adorbs polka dot loafers - ready to brave the weather of the tropics! 





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