500 days of summer

500 Days of Summer recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Basically, it's about a guy who falls in love with a girl who doesn't believe in love. The trailer looks great. Romantic and whimsical, but not cutesy. Joseph and Zooey make such a sweet couple. I just wish I didn't have to wait six more months to watch it.

Visit the official website to watch the teaser trailer. There's a scene of them frolicking through an Ikea, which, in my opinion, is one of the best places to go on a date.

the year of the ox

donald duck

I haven't posted an outfit in a while, so I decided to take a quick photo before heading out to the grocery store. I know everyone's all about Mickey Mouse these days, but I've always preferred Donald Duck. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because my mom always bought Donald Duck brand orange juice, and I'd stare at his smiling face on the front of the juice carton as I ate my breakfast every morning before school. Maybe it's because he was one of the crankiest Disney characters, so it was easier for me to relate him than to the perpetually jolly Mickey and Goofy. Or, maybe I just liked his funny duck voice.

Anyway, I got this shirt at Goodwill a while back and I wear it often because it's Donald Duck, of course, and also because it's really soft and drapes so nicely. I'm also wearing my J. Crew cashmere cardigan, which I wear whenever it's even remotely cold outside, black jeans from Old Navy (these fit so poorly, but they're all I have; I hate shopping for pants), black Chinese Laundry boots, my Coach bag that I always use, and a gold ring. Oh, and my Contigo travel mug.

Here's a better view of the ring. It belonged to my mom. I don't wear much jewelry, but I do wear this fairly often. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the Chinese character stands for. I asked my dad (who is half Chinese, but grew up in the Philippines) if he knew, but everything that he learned in Chinese school has already been long forgotten.

shadow puppets

from Orange Moon Toys

hope

HAPPY INAUGURATION DAY!

martin luther king, jr.

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

dressing up

I didn't have much to do today, so I decided to play dress-up with one of my favorite items from Ninja Vintage, the Zipper Dress (I ate lunch right before taking these photos, so please excuse the post-meal pudge). I experimented with a few different outfits, but these are the ones I liked the best. In the first outfit, I wore the dress over a vintage slip and added a grey cardigan. In the second outfit, I wore a black cotton tee underneath and changed the silhouette with a vintage wool pencil skirt and my trusty faux patent belt. Of course, there are many other ways to wear this dress. I'm certainly not the most innovative of dressers, so I can't even imagine how great this might look in the hands of someone far more creative/stylish than I.

I also wore the dress with this awesome coat from my shop (and oh, hey, you can kind of see my face - oops.). Someone needs to buy this soon, because it doesn't fit me and it's too good to go unworn and unloved. Every day it hangs there, taunting me with its adorableness.

And while we're on the subject of Ninja Vintage, I just added a sassy little Betsey Johnson dress to the shop today. More things should be up within the next week or so.

navy & red

Here are some things that my friends got me for Christmas:

• Bear salt & pepper shakers! These will be a great addition to my burgeoning collection of bear-themed items.
• Flight of the Conchords - The Complete First Season. I've loved Flight of the Conchords for years, but I don't have HBO, so I never got around to watching their television show (except for bits and pieces on Youtube). Now I can watch it whenever I want. I bow down to whoever came up with the idea of putting television shows on DVD.
• Last, but not least, a navy and red Orla Kiely wallet. It's so nice and has lots of pockets for all my cards. I love it!

I also picked up this shirt at Forever 21 this weekend. It's navy and red, like my Orla Kiely wallet, and it's plaid, like Bret's shirt on the cover of the Flight of the Conchords DVD. Coincidence. Too bad there's nothing bear-related about it. That would be way too weird.

sweet weekend

On Sunday I had lunch with my friends at Porto's in Glendale. I had a grilled chicken sandwich (served with plantain chips on the side) and a yummy blended chai latte. My friends got a variety of sweet treats, including cheesecake, tres leches, and a piña colada cake (so pretty!).

I didn't get any sweets at Porto's because afterwards we planned on taking a trip down the street to Crumbs Bake Shop. Wow, that place is cupcake overload! Their cupcakes are the size of muffins, and there are so many to choose from. Upon entering the shop, my friends and I spent the first few minutes marveling at all the amazing flavors, like Banana Split, Apple Cobbler, Cookie Dough, and Neopolitan. I finally decided on Peanut Butter Banana (with chocolate creme in the center, which I was pleasantly surprised to discover as I was devouring it) and my all-time favorite, Carrot Cake. They were so delicious and rich. I would've felt guilty eating both of them by myself, so I saved half of each and gave them to my brother and my dad. I already want to go back and try some of the other flavors, though I might not be so willing to share them next time.

Yesterday I also collected some Christmas gifts from my friends, since I didn't get to see them around the holidays. I got some wonderful things, which I'll share in my next post. My friends are the best.

polka dots

This is what I wore yesterday to go to Tastee Freez with my boyfriend (I was badly in need of an ice cream fix). I'm sparing you the horror of having to see my pasty legs - they haven't seen the sun in months.

Have a nice weekend!

Black dress from H&M. Red dress from Forever 21 (purchased secondhand). Ivory cardigan from Old Navy. Same Coach bag from my last post (I use it almost every day). Black flats (not pictured) from Target.

the nightlife belt

nightlife by ninjajenny

grizzly bear

Grizzly bears (Ursos arctos horribilis) hold the number 3 spot on my Top 5 Bears list (future posts will be dedicated to the others). Here are some of my favorite grizzly bear-inspired things.

Be Prepared for Bears necklace from Erica Weiner

Brown Bear brooch from Fun is Cool

Hibernating Bear sleep mask from Mary Green (on sale! I bought one.)

Reflecting Bear tee from Poketo

Rawr! tee from Foe Paws

Of course there's also the band Grizzly Bear, and the excellent Werner Herzog documentary, Grizzly Man. You can "adopt" a grizzly bear, and learn about other endangered and threatened animals, at the WWF.

what I wore today

I haven't been in much of a pants-wearing mood lately. Today I went grocery shopping at Seafood City with my dad, had some halo-halo at Chowking, and bought pandesal (Filipino bread) at Valerio's Tropical Bakeshop. It was a very Filipino-centric day.

Black H&M dress from eBay. Red cashmere cardigan from J. Crew. Plaid fringe scarf from Goodwill. Coach bag from my Lola (aka grandmother). Black tights and black ballet flats (not pictured) from Target.

the aurora dress

blue by ninjajenny

photo of the day

I just came across this post about a man who took a Polaroid photo every day for 18 years, until the day he died. The photo above was taken on January 4, 1989, exactly 20 years ago today. Yet another reminder of how short life is, and how beautiful life can be.

See all the photos here.