Viva La Vida

Hello my dear readers!

Yesterday I went to the city with my mum for a photo shoot appointment I had (first time in my life I've ever said that!). I'll make another post more on that in the future, all I'm saying now is you should definitely buy the NZ Herald next weekend and a familiar face might be hiding in Viva magazine.

Speaking of the Herald, I feel like I'm the only one who reads the dam thing. I honestly have never had a conversation about the Herald with any of my friends. I have a few friends who talks about National Geo with me but I'm talking rare. On the topic books, it's a little better, I have a handful of friends but not nearly enough as I'd wish. It's hard finding someone who reads, let alone like the same books as me. 

Here's two shots from behind the scene of the day.

After the shoot mum and I hit the city for a little shopping.

 This was the outfit I wore. Mum took these pictures for me and I actually love these shot so much! My mum should take pictures for my blog more often eh?

Caged back crop singlet - Tobi

Skirt - DIY (fabric is from Spotlight)

Cardigan - Swapped with a friend

Boots - Hannahs (Manukau)

Bag - Strandbags (New Market)

Hype this look {here}

More on the skirt - It's my first ever diy for a circle skirt!

I watched two videos on youtube by Secretlifeofabionerd and 2qhan (my newest DIY channel obsession). However in the end I made my own pattern because their method seemed very long. Mine was a lot like theirs but a short cut was made because I'm lazy. Professionals may cringe but I got there in the end so that's all that matters right? It's a little wonky but nothing noticeable so I'm very proud of it.

When I went to the photoshoot, clothing was provided (first time I've been offered to wear designer clothing *drools*) but they insisted I wore my own skirt because they loved it! That was a huge compliment because after all, this is the first skirt I've every sewn from scratch.

If you're wondering, this skirt does not have an elastic waist band but rather a zip at the back. I sewed an invisible zip to the best of my abilities with my given resources (my zip was not meant to be invisible and my sewing machine does not have a zipper teeth) so you can't clearly see the zip in the picture above. However if you pay attention, a little olive line can be seen and that my friend is the zipper.

That's all for today folks ♥

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Opshopping With Mum

Like my title suggest, I went opshopping with mum. It'll be quite the plot twist if it turned out I went ophopping with dad *dun dun dun*. 

Mum and I have been shopping nonstop the past 3 days and never returning home empty handed. Mum usually is one to hold me back from buying so much but every thing I asked for in the past 3 days had been given the green lights. Actually things I ask for usually get a green light but I have to have to do a lot (and I mean a lot) of self evaluation beforehand but I these past three days I only second guess myself a few times (down from the normality of a hundred times) and then asking mum for the item.

I think mum is picking up her habits from her early 20's that drove her sister and (secretly) my dad, insane. Yep you guess it, excessive and compulsive shopping. My aunt used to beg dad to control her spending but what was dad to do? Tell his beloved that her shopping habits are a huge concern and risking the biggest female tantrum known to mankind? No, he kept quiet. 

Mum eventually grew out of that phase but the aftermath of her early 20's are still hand-me-downs to today. 

Now however? I think she got the bugs again. 

Usually when we go shopping no matter how much I restrain myself from wanting, I will always end up with more goods than my mum at the end of our hunt but now? Mum has twice as much as me and I find myself having to wait for her to finish with a store every time. Yeah, me, waiting, finish, store. Say what? I take so long when it comes to shopping. I usually tone it down when I'm with friends, I can't imagine how irksome it would be to watch someone rake five times through every rack the store offers.

I thought, 'hey it only happened twice, forget about it', and so I suggested we go opshopping. Opshops have never been mum's thing. She thinks it's very likely to contract some type of disease from secondhand clothes and always give me a grimace when she see me bring home secondhand clothes. I though 'sweet, it's just an opportunity for me to go in and out quickly with new DIY items'. 

Ha ha ha ha.

SHE TOOK THREE HOURS.

I must have made 20 circles around the shop before getting exhausted and retreating to a coach while waiting for her.

Who are you and what have you done with my mum?

All in all it's great that she enjoyed it as well as me but I've got to say...I'm a little concern. I won't be suggesting a shopping trip any time soon.

Here's my haul (and at the end of it imagine my haul x5 to get an idea of how much mum bought):

Levis high waisted black jeans - Babes n' Dudes - $5

My favourite thrift for today! I've been searching online for black short shorts but for some reason that's not as easy as it sounds. The site doesn't ship to NZ, the shipping in too expensive, the shorts are too expensive, the cut is probably going to expose my bootay, my size ran out, not the style I want, untrustworthy site, and these are just some of the problems I encountered. 

Imagine my delight when I found a $5 - black - high waisted - Levis - jeans - THAT FIT MY LIKE A GLOVE. I have come to the conclusion I love buying jeans from opshops and turning them into shorts myself because I get the security of knowing my money's worth and adjusting it to exactly how I want. The only problem is I HATE going though the jeans sections in opshops. They are always so disorganise. So far the only opshop that I find has an orderly racking system of jeans is Retro Metro but that's only because their variety isn't extensive so no matter which one you pick up it's the one you want (that is if you're after vintage high waisted jeans in the smaller sizes). Everywhere else go luck trying to find your size, it's like playing needle in a hay stack. 

I picked this one up by pure accident. I skimmed through the jeans section with absolutely no expectation of finding one that will suit my needs, even though the store said '50% off all jeans'. Even after being shocked when I discovered them my hope still weren't high because I knew the fitting room is what comes next. BUT all my negative thoughts all melted into love at first sight (or first mirror sight) when I tried them on. 

You know what's even better? I've been looking for rolled up black shorts but was willing to settle for one that doesn't fold up. I though these pants legs wouldn't allow me to roll up the hems like most jeans as it's fitting around the thigh. I fully intended to distress the hems when I got home but during the adjusting procedure I couldn't resist trying to roll up the hems and oh sweet baby cheesus the pants legs whispered 'go ahead child, I was meant to be rolled up'. *Haaaaaaaaaaallelujah-lelujah-lelujah*

Victorian oil painting style button down - Babes n' Dudes - $5 

This may not be everyone's cup of time (I know it's not my mum's) but it sure is mine. I love this so much. At first I thought it was very Rococo but after a while I realise it's more Victorian. I think this is such something that will be perfect to wear on days I'm feeling artsy fartsy. C'mon, fat naked cherubs, who doesn't want to sport such a thing on one's shirt???

Tie dyed peasant top - Babes n' Dudes - $8 

I have a problem. I'm drawn to bohemian styled clothing, yet it's the middle of winter. I love this, it's quite an ambitious top. It's pursuing tie dye and the ink blue porcelain detailing.  

I was actually looking into tie dying some of my own things until I realised how expensive dye is yesterday when I checked in Spotlight. Finding this top today was like the universe looking out for me. 

I saw another top that also had the ink blue porcelain detailing AND scallop hems. It remained me so much of the architect of Greece (that I've seen in pictures) and of fine China because the blue was so magnificent against the white canvas. I would have got the top too but it had two equally major flaws. The first flaw I could have let it slide, which was it being a strapless top. I don't usually wear strapless top so it was a turn off but I would have bought the shirt anyways because it was that beautiful but it was the second flaw that made me want to cry. It had the ugliest satin sash across the stomach. I contemplated buying it anyways and turning it into a skirt but the fabric was much too thin to be a skirt and the fit was not as flared as I would like a skirt to be too. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. 

As you can tell, I'm very specific when it comes to clothes.

Floral chiffon dress - Salvation Army - $8

 Mum actually found this for me after I gave up on the dress rack. It has a tiny tear at the back that I can easily fix. Even if I don't fix it no one would even notice unless they insist on placing their face 3 inches from my body while I turn my back to them because of the busy print. I will fix it however, I just don't really want to wear a holey dress.  

Paisley halter top - Salvation Army - $1

 I'm not crazy about this top but I do think it's cute. It was only $1 so I couldn't leave it behind in store. The best part of this top is I feel a little like Gillain Zinser in it. This will probably be the closest I'll ever get to looking like a blonde beach babe surfing the waves of California since in reality I'm not blonde, I can't surf and I've never been to California.

Top - Glassons (Central city)

Cardigan - Tempt (Manukau)

Shorts - TradeMe (Anh's hand-me-down)

Shoes - Cambodia (Flea market)

Headband - DIY

Hype this one here.

This was the outfit I wore to go shopping. My current colour crush is mustard yellow. I've been wearing this cardigan religiously.

A GIF!

I ran into Gailene in the store which is the third time I ran into someone I know while shopping in this entire 2 weeks. I'm not good with seeing familiar faces in public because I literally don't see them. SS have told me I've snobbed a bunch of people, UNINTENTIONALLY. Julie swore I looked her in the eyes on Friday but I swear differently. I didn't see her at all until she called me out. I fail at being human sometimes. My new life's goal is to stop accidentally snobbing people.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post. More is on the way! ♥ (It's been a while since I've wrote my heart out in a post huh?)

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED THE ADDRESSES FOR THESE OPSHOPS ARE:
Babes n' Dudes: 49 Cavendish Dr, Maunkau City, Auckland.
Salvation Army: 16 Bakerfield Pl, Manukau, Auckland.

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Que sera sera

A tikka I made this week! I had a necklace laying around which never got the chance to be wore out so I thought why not make use of it.

 Geoffrey drew me for his art assessment! I think there's more on the way. I sent him a bunch of photos to use as references. They were pictures I have collected over time of my friends and myself. He ended up mostly picking pictures of me because he's noticeably better at drawing Asians. He drew Shrestha but she turned out looking Asian... My ma says this looks 100% like me so you hear that Geo? You're a professional now. (Yes in real life I have an eagle attached to my head)

Today I got off work early to attend my dance practice. It was crucial as our competition is only a week away! I really hope my school does well because we've put so much effort into practices.

 The girls who showed up at practice (Sammy was hiding).

I was going to quit the Bollywood group after High School Rockers (the competition) because Diwali was coming up next and exams are going to be going on at the same time. However there's a new dance opportunity in between Rockers and Diwali which is International day at our school! I'll stay on board for that before dropping of the face of the Earth to study for exams.

Ms Chand made everyone hot choco and coffee during break. I got a mocha while we sat around catching our breath.

At one point Diksha was explaining a story to me involving powdered milk while my mouth was full with my sandwich. I couldn't respond and so she interpreted it as me not understanding, I guess she was waiting for a laugh. She continued to explain to me what powdered milk was with the help of Ashleen and Svetlana. I kept nodding but they kept going, it wasn't until I finished my mouth full did I got to clear up that I do actually know what powdered milk is. At the time I kept thinking "why do they keep describing powdered milk to me???"
I am a magnet to awkward situations *licks my coffee cup*.

Shamelessly taking pictures at school. I actually have a legitimate excuse that time! Geoffrey needed more reference for his art project so I got to vain on his iphone5 with good reasons. I was having a good eyelid day. Being Asian on some days I wake up with mono lids, some days double lids, and on special occasion, triple lids *sigh*.

At the moment I am obsessing over interracial couples! I don't know why but it makes me happy when I see an interracial couple. I guess it makes me excited thinking about interracial babies (I know I'm creepy) but hey man everybody has their own little weirdness. Mine just happens to be being the ultimate creeper. If I had a choice I would pick and mix so many race but sadly by blood I'm just Chinese. Some people tell me I look Chinese and some people can't tell what I am, I like the last type of people best! It helps me live in denial and think I look somewhat mixed race (even if it's just within the Asian gene pool).
If you're an interracial couple, just know I am some where in the background shipping the two of you like an obsessed fan girl.

Anyways on the topic of interracial babies; Zendaya. I've been hooked on Dancing With The Stars and watched all the parts with her in it.


I also want to share a few more of my favourites (they're not all from the same season).




Hope you guys enjoyed those videos and see you in my next post!

ps. Sorry about my absence. School has been hectic, a lot of assessments have been going on. I promise I will post whenever possible.

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Double double

I went shopping today. Here's my haul.

EB Games

 My brother requested some game cards. He gave me $50 and I was just going to get the $35 card for him when SS gave me a tour into a boy's mind, "Seryna, when a boy gives you $50, you send $50".

The Warehouse

 I picked this up in the kids section. It's for 14 year old's. It's loose but the top was just long enough to conserves bits and pieces. If I had gotten a smaller size it would have been a free show. I plan on sewing the one I got a little tighter so when I bend over nothing will peek-a-boo.

Whitcoulls

 I've read this before but I loved it so much I had to own it. The male cashier that served me was humming to "I knew you were trouble when you walked in". I'm positive he was the same cashier that tried to keep a straight face when I bought an erotic fiction a few months back.

 The Warehouse

A good plain tee is very hard to ask for in my experience. I came across this one which was the right bagginess and fabric. Most are a tight design, or the fabric isn't light. You name it, there's anything but what I wanted.

Jay Jays

 There were hats like these and there were ones with black ribbons. I wanted the black ribbon but it was twice the price as this orange one. Solution? I bought this one and ripped the ribbon off and added a strip of my own black fabric.

Recent DIY's, charity shopping and my garden

Here to share some recent DIY alterations I've done.

 Anh bought this top from a charity store. I sewed the shoulder cutouts and added lace to the collar. Now it looks like something an anime character would wear.

 This formerly used to be a dress, a dress that was altered as well. If you're an older reader you may have seen me post a picture of the first state it was in when I had just bought it from a charity store. It was huge and extremely long until I shortened the dress. Now since I hardly wear the dress I turned it into a skirt seeing since I wear skirts the most.

I wasn't sure which shorts I should put the lace on. There was one that was the perfect colour but it had crinkled prints on them. Another was plain but the colour was too dark. Instead I settled for these one even thought they have a subtle acid wash print to them.

 I've had this skirt since year 7! So of course it's getting a little too short for me so I added another longer layer underneath. It's a cute style now where before it could pass of into the boho style.

I also picked up some things from a charity shop. I got three books for 20 cents each. They are Marley and me, Princess Anne and Poems of spirit and action. The mug was 50 cents and the fabric was from a neighbouring store.

 I love the mug so much, just look at the cute story line. After every rain comes a rainbow. After the bad, comes the good.

Marie Antoinette was the first resident in my garden after loosing her arm along with her head. Marty was next and Smile man, Slender man's brother, came shortly after.

I love the colours of these flowers. Mum is convinced my front lawn is better looking than our neighbours' now.

It has been a while since my webcam was used.

Hopeful if the weather is nice and my hair doesn't play up, I will do an outfit post tomorrow.

DIY's and family outting oufit

 Gorgeous dress but this one was a 'look better on the hanger' type. The waist was too high and the bottom quite short. This was designed for a gnome and this is coming from someone who's almost the size of a hobbit.

 It also have a battle wound. Lovely breeze for one armpit.

 I ended up added elastic to the waist and turning it into a skirt!

 It looks pretty but it's one of those DIY's that I will most probably, very likely, almost positive, never wear.

I had left over pearls and sewed them onto one of my jumper.

Rule number one, is that you gotta have fun click here for my lookbook.

This was the outfit I put together today with my new vamped up jumper, to go out with my family.

We had lunch, caught a movie and then went for a grocery run. Wreck it Ralph was the movie. Even thought Johnny was born in 2000, he's knows he retro 8 bit game. My brothers are hipsters without even knowing. Johnny is 12 and listens to Mumford and Sons and used to share a gameboy with me. He loves Cartoon Network and watched Simpsons from when it was still discoloured. Sonny despite being born in 2003, loves the original Pokemon and collections the dvd's from when Misty and May were still on. He loves pokemon cards and knows why Moewth can walk and talk. He even read HP books and knows exactly what you're talking about with you refer to Padfoot, Moony, Prongs and Wormtail. He points out parts they left out in the movies. They don't even know that makes them really cool according to bloggers on tumblr. I'm so glad my brothers are complete nerds because I would most likely disown them if they turned out to be one of those swag Asians. 

Oh and I saw Etienne on my way up to the cinema and exchanged those really enthusiastic smiles to acknowledge our encounter. I usually hate seeing people I know outside of school because I never know if they want me to say hi or if they're going to snob me. 

Cars driving pass must judge me.

Even though the morning was slightly cloudy, I found it difficult to open my eyes (and yes more difficult then my usual 'just being Asian' normality).

This was taken after we came home.

I would like to share that as of now I am a fan of Adventure Time. I never tried it out before and now I have, I will never go back. The sense of humour is hard to describe but I love it so much. My doodles will consist of Finn and Jake for some time to come.