Erika S. trips

LA in photos

1. My grandmother (Popo)’s name plaque.

2. & 3. The prayer table with gold and silver for her afterlife.

4. My little cousin Sam.

5. Cousins.

6. Big Aunt and her blonde grandson.

7. Mommy and Second Aunt.

8. Cousin and his family.

9. Life is good when you wake up to a box full of pho being put together for your breakfast.

10. More cousin hang outs.

11. The best boba milk tea I have ever had.

12. & 13.  Uncle’s corgi.  He’s a special little piggy.

I’m heading back to NYC tonight on the red eye.  My family is growing — 3 of my 7 cousins have 2 kids each now, all within the past 3 years.  It was great seeing everybody in one place, but sad considering the reason why.

Erika S. outfits

Willoughby

Dip dye stuff has been a huge trend this past year, and I’m jumping on the bandwagon.  I dig the dip dye, and I’m starting to come around to the dip bleach, as long as it’s not so severe.  I really liked this¹ look and even this² one (though I would lump it in the severe category).  I definitely plan on trying out this³ DIY dip dye and this one too eventually.  And just for reference here is a dip bleach.

¹ I love this look (and this blog) and I’m seriously going to recreate it one day.  ² Amazing blog and I want to steal her design sensibilities. ³ I love Wit & Whistle paper goods and now I love the blog.  I bought B this card for Valentines day this past year, and I really love this one also.  Super cheeky and “awww” inducing stuff.

This dip dye tank is by a label called Willoughby.  As in John Willoughby (Maybe not, but who cares) from Sense and Sensibility, one of my favorite book to movie adaptations of all time.  When I tried this on at Anthropiologie, all I could think about was this scene:

tank: anthropologie (on sale now) – skirt: hella old DKNY – tote: freitag – sandals: worishofer (I swear they were just on sale, but not anymore)

Erika S. seriousness

In memory

My maternal grandmother…my popo, passed away a few days ago.  She was 93 years young and she was a fighter up until the end.  Born in Shantou, Guangdong China, she fled to Vietnam during the Japanese invasion of China during WWII.  She married my GongGong in an arranged marriage sometime in 1939 or 1940 (my mom doesn’t know) and over the years raised 7 children.  My mom was the fifth child and the third girl.  A few days before the fall of Saigon, she and my grandfather left Vietnam, money sewed into their clothes, leaving everything they had to join most of the family already in California.  By then my own parents had married and were living in Rhode Island.

My Popo was resilient, full of grit and gusto.  She was the matriarch of the family and there was no questioning it.  She passed a lot of that strength down to my mom…they shared the same stubborn streak, which in chinese we describe as being hard necked.

My best memory of Popo was when she “fattened me up”.  When I was 9, I spent the summer in Los Angeles with Popo (GongGong had passed by then).  She lived on the hill above Chinatown, so everyday I would walk down to the markets with Popo, buy the day’s groceries and walk back up the hill. I would always be carrying the lightest of the bags but without fail, I would complain the whole way up about how the plastic was cutting into my hands.  I also remember being embarrassed by the umbrella she carried around to shield us from the sun.  She worried for my skin even before I knew to worry.  Anyways, when I was young, I had a thing for this preserved shredded pork stuff (still do actually) that was sold in plastic tubs which we called yok si.  So, like the typical chinese grandmother, she would poke my bones, comment on my chicken legs and visible ribs, and feed me heaping bowls of rice with yok si in between meals.  I loved it and gobbled it all up, playing the good little grand daughter by bringing her and her friends water and tea while they played mahjong.  I gained about 10 pounds that summer and went back to San Francisco a bit rounder than before.  I remember my mom and aunt greeting me with, “Wah!  You’re so fat now!”

 

Erika S. fun stuffs

stuffs

stuff.

1.  brekky.  Reintroducing dairy into my diet with the biggest blueberries I’ve ever seen.  Also, this iced coffee mixed from this cold brew concentrate is amazeballs.  seriously.  It’s like Blue Bottle‘s New Orleans style iced coffee….always in your fridge.

2. My desk is all set up, and very cluttered already.

3. & 4. new glasses.  I visited the Warby Parker showroom last week to get my old Huxleys adjusted.  My eyes are still getting worse (-6.75 now), so I took the time to try on every single frame they carry for my new prescription.  Meet my new Becketts.  I still really like these and still want them, but I can’t justify paying over $150 for glasses (with Rx lenses) anymore since I discovered the plethora of online optical offerings such as Warby Parker (my fave), Bonlook, Mezzmer, and Tortoise & Blonde.

5. & 6. new pullover.  OMG so adrobs, right?  Who doesn’t like meerkats?  Yes, I know it was expensive ($80!! don’t tell my mom!), but I couldn’t resist.  So. damn. cute.  Sold out online, hop over to a Madewell store if you agree this cuteness is worth $80.

Erika S. fun stuffs

nailing the nails.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything for a number of reasons I won’t go into yet.  But here are some nails I’ve been banging out lately.

As you can see, I’m never perfect with nails, and it’s a constant battle to try and keep them from getting all messed up while waiting for them to dry.  I enjoy the process more than the end product.  I pin nail art, peruse for inspiration and get working.  Inspiration for some of of these designs came from here, here, here and here.

 

Erika S. fun stuffs, outfits

Dekalb Market

B and I rode our bikes over to Dekalb Market today.  The weather has cooled a bit and I’m getting used to riding my single-speed (no more jello legs).  I know I need to stop comparing NY to SF, but the Dekalb market is a larger version of the Proxy Project in Hayes Valley.  It’s pretty cool and I love the design sensibilities of a “mall” out of old shipping containers.  Salvaged materials, an urban farm, artisanal foods, an Etsy pop-up with a vintage tool shop and you’ve got yourself a thriving hipster mecca.  We overheard some dude with an epic beard lamenting the presence of a jump-house and screaming kids–> “there should be an adults only hour or something if they’re going to make this cool”.  Like B says, at least they’re in a cage.  I really wanted to buy a bike basket/Bambi holder from this shop (seriously cute stuff), but alas, the weight limit is 12lbs.  Bambi is a fatty.

I have been on the search for a great pair of denim shorts for a while.  Granted, I need another pair of shorts like I need a hole in my head, but I want a good fit with a high waist to offset my freakish long torso/short appendages proportions.  These fit the bill, and they’re not ridiculously expensive.  Normally BDG stuff is made for stick-like teenage girls and aren’t made to fit my birthing hips.  Surprisingly enough though, these do.

sunnies: f21 – tank: madewell (on super sale last weekend, similar here) – shorts: BDG from UO – shoes: vans – bag: freitag – nails: revlon scandalous

Erika S. fun stuffs

DC again

I took the Bolt bus down to DC again this past weekend.  B was in Berlin for a work meet-up, so I figured it would be a good time to visit again, and before I start working again.  That’s right folks, I got a job!!  I’m super excited to be joining the team at Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders this fall.  Things are happening fast though…I’m heading to a week long training program in Boston next week, then immediately into teaching a summer intensive program for my new school’s ELL (English language leaders) students.  So I’m waving goodbye to my summer this week.

While in DC, we celebrated my brother in law Dave’s birthday with cake and a family brunch.  Isn’t my sister’s dog ridiculously cute?  Woody is such a cuddle bug.  Army is camera shy, but I managed to get her in the background with her tongue hanging out as usual.

We also managed to get in a lot of shopping, so I have more than a few new additions to my closet.  Madewell was having a major (extra 50% off!!) sale!  I got this dress right before I left, when J.Crew had an extra 30% off sale items (still going on at jcrew.com).  A great deal at $24.50.  Whenever B goes out of town, I go shopping.  This time I did quite a lot of damage, so I need to start a new shopping ban…after I buy myself a birthday present of course!

dress: j.crew (mine is sold out, but solids are still available) – purse: f21 – sandals: worishofer

Erika S. outfits

Dev!

My friend Devon is here!  She’s here for some Physical Therapist conference, getting smarter in her field.  That stuff all starts tomorrow, so today we got out our walking shoes and made our way all around midtown Manhattan.  I got to check off some touristy stuff such as the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center.

I started the day off wearing black booties.  Big mistake, as I ended up with a big blister very soon after I got off the subway in Manhattan.  Shoulda known that heat –> sweat –> rubbing on feet –> blister = horrid pain.  So I popped into a shoe store and picked up these lovelies, which coincidentally I’ve been eyeing lately anyway. It was a fantastic excuse to finally buy them, as I was approaching to hobbling mode.  My new granny-chic shoes.  By the way, the skirt I’m wearing is made by my mom.  She sewed it for me right before I moved.  She came home one day after spotting a skirt at J. Crew determined to copy the design.  So she dug out some random fabric and sewed it up in a few hours, adding in a couple folds to make it special.  I love it.  It’s my mommy skirt now.

tank: f21 – skirt: mommy – shoes: worishofer – bag: freitag and baggu – belt: j.crew

The view from the office of Dev’s friend.  72nd floor of the Empire State Building.

Insane red ball of plasma setting behind us.  It was pretty.

Erika S. fun stuffs

things

A few things that have been tickling my fancy lately:

Kiehl’s essential oils I found on sale at the Nordstrom Rack in Manhattan (I think they’re being discontinued, thus the sale).  They’re small, strong and I love the scents mixed together, grapefruit and gardenia.  I once had a saleslady tell me that gardenia was the scent of old ladies there therefore it was not for me.  My mom loves gardenia.  I’ve been keeping these at my desk so that I can roll them on right after my morning coffee.  Right away they smell like you’ve been wearing them all day…like your skin smells like grapefruit and gardenia naturally.

Small dish I got from West Elm on crazy cheap sale.  I got B a “B” one also.  I use mine as a coaster most of the time, but sometimes to hold my little pocket nick knacks, like my Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm.  I’m not a mama, but I like the Mama Bee body oil as a moisturizer.  It smells lightly of honey and lemon.  I just have to remember that I’m not allowed to touch B’s iPad with my “grubby hands” after I use it.

New artwork I got from this Etsy shop called Retrowhale.  I love it, it makes me smile on the inside every time and sometimes on the outside also when I look at it.  I’m totally rooting for Team Darwin, all the time.  It reminds me of Eric Chase Anderson‘s illustrations (the shop also has a lot of work straight from the Wes Anderson movies) .  I want to get this one and this one also.

Cheap $2.50 tanks from F21.  I like the fall colors, the slight 70’s V-cut at the bodice and the soft smooth fabric.  Not to mention the price.  Ridiculously cheap, because they’re probably made in a sweatshop with little tiny children hands.  Joke, but kinda/probably true.  I’m a bad person.

Anchors B and I brought from SF, and a winter creature also from SF.  We don’t really have a decorating theme or anything yet.  Just a bunch of white Ikea furniture.