I’m still 5…

May 31, 2011 Nina Penalosa5 Comments

Sometimes I don’t have enough time to put an outfit together, so this is what I ended up wearing to work this morning. Later on I realized that this is something my 5-year-old self would’ve probably worn. I can’t say Minnie Mouse has always been my favorite. Daisy Duck was my homegirl when I was a wee lass. I had a blanket with baby Daisy on it and it was one of my most favorite things in the whole wide world. But every time I went to Disneyland, Daisy was never there and there wasn’t a whole lot of merchandise with her mug on it. Everything was Minnie, Minnie, Minnie. I had a Minnie purse, fanny-pack, t-shirts, dresses, etc. No Daisy! Not even a plush doll. 😦

*sigh*

I learned to love Minnie Mouse though, and went crazy when Forever 21 launched their Minnie Muse line last fall.

The coolest pair of Chucks I ever owned were a pair of purple ones with dinosaurs on them. I think I had those when I was in preschool. The ones pictured above would be the second pair of coolest Chucks I have ever owned. My mom got them for me last year at Nordstrom’s Half-Yearly Sale! They’re slip-ons with a pop-art/comic book feel — the shoe laces and stitches are painted on.

I found this ring at a garage sale last week. It kind of reminded me of the cheap-o rings I would get at Sanrio, or as I still like to call it “The Hello Kitty Store,” when I was little. It’s fun because I can shift all the gems whichever way I please. Also, they kinda remind me of the fireworks at Disneyland. 😀

I remember watching an episode of What Not To Wear a few years ago, and Clinton and Stacy were against wearing garments with cartoon characters on them if you were over the age of 10. While I think they have good taste, I disagree with them on that. I’m all about graphic shirts with my favorite characters on them, so long as I look age appropriate. And I think I did today.

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outfit details:

top: Forever 21
pants: Levis
shoes: Converse
necklace: Tiffany’s (hybrid of my necklace + bracelet)
ring: garage sale

geek style

Baby, it’s cold outside

May 29, 2011 Nina Penalosa4 Comments

It rained last night in Stockton! We’re having some really odd weather considering that it’s usually hot as hell around this time of year in the Central Valley. I found the change in weather quite exciting though because I keep finding awesome blazers at thrift stores that I won’t be able to wear until Fall. But yesterday I was able to bust out my amazing orange and brown herringbone blazer with a fur collar that I purchased at Big Valley Thrift last week. It’s by H&M and I got it for $10. Woop!

My friend Jennifer invited me to go watch The Hangover Part II and I couldn’t pass it up since I was in my pajamas all day working on a few things that caused my stress level to sky rocket. When she saw me, she said my blazer made me look like a pimp. I felt more like a fancy lady from the ’60s though. To each their own.

The Hangover Part II is HILARIOUS, by the way. I still like the first one better, but the second one had me laughing and gasping throughout. I can’t wait till it comes out on DVD so I can watch the unrated version!

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outfit details:

blazer: H&M
sweater: Gap
brooch: belonged to my mom
pants: Old Navy
shoes: Charles Albert

This Post is Broken

May 28, 2011 Nina Penalosa4 Comments

Hipster. This word gets thrown around so much that I don’t even know what the hell it means anymore. Because I sometimes wear a fedora or ~~skinny jeans~~ jeggings with plaid shirts, love big thick rimmed glasses, have feathers in my hair (graduation gift from my stylist!) and knew who Arcade Fire was before they won a Grammy, does that make me a hipster? My sister has called me a hipster plenty of times, and there have been days I looked in the mirror and thought, “Damn, look at that effing hipster!” But if one calls themselves a “hipster” doesn’t that automatically take away any sort of hipster cred they had, because true hipsters are supposed to deny the fact that they are hipsters?

CONFUZZLED.

From my understanding, hipsters are a subculture of 20-30 somethings that have a strong appreciation of art, creativity, intelligent conversations, literature, indie music, politics, their prefered mode of transportation is a Fixie, smoke American Spirits, drink PBR, and they like getting their clothes at second hand shops or American Apparel. The last few bits are stereotypical, but what else can I say? It’s what the interweb told me. Hipsters stereotypically also have a tendency to hate when something they love goes mainstream. I am guilty of this. Again I ask, does that make me a hipster?

I don’t have anything against the hipster subculture. I’ve fallen in love with so many hipster-looking dudes I’ve seen walking around the Mission in SF, and I do have a very strong appreciation of art, creativity, literature, have an affinity for second hand stores, and my iPod contains music by bands that you’ve probably never heard of. Hell, I’ve never even heard of some of the bands I have on my iPod. Sometimes when I have my iPod on shuffle, I’m like, “Who is this? When did I download this? What le fook?” I like intelligent conversation, but don’t ever talk to me about politics. Mostly because I find it boring and also because I get angry when people have an opposing political viewpoint from me. We can talk nerd politics though, like how Twilight is inferior to Harry Potter and all who think differently must be insane in the membrane, what actor played the Doctor best, or tell me why you like Star Wars over Star Trek and vice versa.

The word “hipster” is so overused these days, I don’t even give a crap if someone calls me one anymore.

PS: If you get the reference to this post’s title, does that make YOU a hipster???

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outfit details:

hat: Free Authority
earrings: Lucky Brand
necklace: purchased at TJ Maxx
ring: from grandma
cardigan/skirt: Target
shirt: purchased at a Broken Social Scene concert
shoes: Report

geek style

Something old

May 27, 2011 Nina Penalosa3 Comments

I don’t mean to be a pack rat, but sometimes I can’t help it, especially when it comes to toys, clothes, and shoes. Childhood toys all hold nostalgic value, and with clothes and shoes, even if I haven’t worn something for years, or ever, I keep some items because I ~~know~~ think I’ll eventually wear them.

Case in point: the BCBG Girls skirt I am wearing pictured above. I got it on sale at Dillard’s when I was a senior in high school (which was a LONG time ago). Over the years, I’d take it out of the closet and try to pair with some tops and cardigans or boleros, but I always ended up hating the outfit all together. Yesterday, a metaphoric light bulb lit up above my head when I saw my grey camisole lying on the floor (I need to clean my room so badly), and my kelley green cardigan hanging in the closet. After that, I thought WWEPD? <– What Would Emma Pillsbury Do?

Emma Pillsbury, in case you don’t know, is the adorable school counselor with manic OCD on Glee. She’s got the retro-granny chic look down to a t with her cardigans, pencil skirts, brooches, sweater clips, etc. She’s too precious, I can’t stand it. Anyway, I rummaged through all my jewelry trying to find this yellow-beaded vintage necklace I’ve had since forever, but of course when I need it I have no idea where it is. I tried on some brooches… they all looked odd. I was starting to give up hope on my outfit, but then I remembered these green crystal necklaces my mom and I got at an estate sale earlier this year! Outfit saved. *phew*

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outfit details:

cardigan: Old Navy
necklace: purchased at an estate sale
camisole: Kirkland
skirt: BCBG Girls
shoes: Target

geek style

Yippie-Ki-Yay

May 25, 2011 Nina PenalosaLeave a comment

Maybe I’m still stuck on the season premiere of Doctor Who where the Doctor proclaims, “I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool,” or the fact that Woody is my favorite Toy Story character, or that I’ve been watching the space western Firefly off and on for the past 3 weeks, but I just really want cowboy/western inspired accessories. Specifically a rodeo belt buckle.

I’ve seen tons of rodeo belt buckles at flea markets, thrift stores, and whatnot since I was a kid, but I never really thought of ever wearing one so I always passed them up. Now that I want one, I hardly ever see nice ones anymore. But I did find the one pictured above on Amazon. It’s not too gaudy, it’s just right. I wouldn’t wear it to hold my pants up (I hardly ever wear pants anyway), but I would wear it around my waist paired with a white or denim dress.

With summer approaching, boots are probably not ideal (imagine that leather rubbing against your sweaty ankles and calves… ugh), but I still want a pair of cowboy boots — genuine looking ones with the intricate stitching and all. I found these two pairs by Ariat on Zappos.

And here’s a shiny little necklace I found on Etsy. Waaaaaant!

Alright y’all, I think that about does it for this post. *cue tumbleweed*

geek style · shoppin'

Dress-up

May 23, 2011 Nina Penalosa1 Comment

I am not ashamed to admit that I still play dress-up, and I’m 110% sure that there are tons of ladies out there that still do. And by dress-up, I don’t mean I do cosplay (although I do own a Wonder Woman costume), I mean I rifle through my closet and try on different things to see what items go together and what doesn’t. I did this a lot with my Barbies as a kid… and my Blythe dolls as a twenty-something. I think putting outfits together is an art form. Sounds silly, but have you seen the people featured on The Satorialist? Walking, breathing, art, I tell you!

My friend Chelsea asked me to help her go shopping and I was more than happy to pick out dresses upon dresses for her! Last Friday we scoured the racks at Macy*s and Crossroads. Macy*s was a bit of a bust, but I talked her into trying on some white dresses, and even though I originally picked this white lace BeBop dress for her, I had to try it on too!

Not the best example of what the dress looks like since I’m wearing a maroon jacket over it (damn thing was so cute and on sale, but my arms were too fat for it! :(). At Crossroads, Chelsea found some cute nautical things like a seahorse necklace and white & red peep toes. I found a navy purse with seashell charms on it to match both items. Chelsea actually found lots of cute stuff which I didn’t get to take pictures of. Rugh! But, I will be going over to her house sometime to raid her closet and find all sorts of outfits for her. I’m so excited! The last time I did anything like that was when my cousin Nicole was 13 and we took her to Limited Too and my sister and I picked out all sorts of outfits for her to try on. It’s like dressing up Barbie, but for reals!

bloop

Pomp & Circumstance

May 22, 2011 Nina PenalosaLeave a comment

I suppose you can say that I officially graduated back in January since that’s when I got my diploma, but it feels super legit now that I’ve done whole shebang by donning a cap and gown! I’ve been dreading the whole gown thing since I thought it made me look like a bloated eggplant, but once I added the Filipino stole and lei, it didn’t look that bad. When it comes to graduation garb, ACCESSORIZE. Tons of people personalized their caps (some cute, some not-so-cute). I would have, but I didn’t want to f*ck up my cap. What if I messed up? I didn’t want to worry about that! Despite the fact that the polyester fabric of the gown left me baking under the sun (San Francisco was abnormally hot yesterday!), I had a good time since I was able to hang out with some of my old chums from the Creative Writing department.

If you’ve already graduated, congratulations! If not, I have a few tips for you:

If it’s an outdoor ceremony, wear sunglasses — you can always take them off before you hit the stage and get bombarded by professional photographers
Slather that SPF 30 on your pretty little face
Bring a little purse to hold chapstick/lipstick, a compact mirror, camera, and cellphone
Hydrate! I forgot my water bottle in the car and was DYING
Go a size bigger in caps if you want to avoid hat hair (just use lots of bobby pins to keep it in place)

This weekend has left me completely exhausted. X____x

bloop · geek style

Manic Friday

May 20, 2011 Nina Penalosa1 Comment

I’m graduating tomorrow! I got my diploma back in January, but I’m participating in the grand commencement ceremony tomorrow. Some things have been driving me slightly crazy regarding graduation — not having enough tickets for everyone, grad announcements, taking pictures in my cap and gown, getting special seating and handicap stuff, etc. Also, my bangs are still driving me crazy! Luckily, my stylist was able to squeeze me into her schedule today. *phew* she even put a couple feather extensions in my hair as a graduation present. 🙂

I know it doesn’t matter whether you wear something nice underneath your gown because no one is going to see it, but I’ve been going mad trying to figure out what to wear. Today I went shopping with my friend Chelsea with 2 goals in mind:

Find my graduation dress
Find nice duds for Chelsea (because she’s been wanting me to help her shop, and I’ve been dying to pick things out for someone other than myself)

Both goals have been accomplished! I shall blog more about it in another post.

I’m beat.

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outfit details:

cardigan/belt: Target
dress: Angie
camisole: Kirkland
shoes: Avenue
unicorn necklace: thrifted

geek style · out & about

The Bee-In

May 17, 2011 Nina PenalosaLeave a comment

Last night SPD held their 5th annual Bee-In, an old-fashioned spelling bee competition which featured popular writers from San Francisco. I’ll be honest: none of their names looked familiar to me. I know, I know. I’m horrible! But y’know what? This just gives me more writers to look into. It’s a win-win for me!

Anywho, knowing about the Bee-In 4 months in advance, I picked my outfit a month ago. Yes, I’m totally serious. I was so excited! But Mother Nature decided she wanted to get all emo and rain on us, and my hair didn’t want to cooperate, so I had to figure out something else, and fast! After 5 dress changes (I kept putting on all black or black and grey — yawn), I settled on the ensemble pictured above. Don’t mind my herp derp face. o__O

The event itself turned out to be a great success! Tons of people showed up to support SPD. Before the actual spelling bee, a silent auction was held. I bid on a couple of tickets to the Cutting Ball Theater, but was outbid. I’m not too bummed about it since I got to stuff my face with delicious macaroons from La Boulounge all night. There were some other awesome auctions too, like tickets to various theaters (Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory Theater, SF Symphony, etc), different wines, a 2-hour photo session with photographer David M. Allen, and the pièce de résistance: a 2-night stay at the Standard in Los Angeles with 2 tickets to the LA County Museum of Art. The spelling bee lasted for quite awhile as Kevin Killan and Sylvia Brownrigg (who have both been crowned King/Queen Bee in past Bee-Ins) showed off their immaculate grammar skills one word right after the other. Around 9ish, a tie was declared. So this year’s bee had a king and a queen. 🙂

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outfit details:

cardigan/belt: Target
shirt: Forever 21 (design by Fifi Lapin)
skirt/beret: H&M (got it for $5, woot!)
shoes: Charles Albert

bloop · geek style

Meep.

May 14, 2011 Nina PenalosaLeave a comment

Today was exhausting and I feel like I didn’t even really do anything. Is that weird?

This afternoon I went to have my picture taken in my cap and gown at a photography studio. It was a bit awkward, and the photographer was not a fan of my no-tooth-smile. Other than that, he was a pretty silly dude. I’ve had my picture taken by him many moons ago when I was in high school. Remember when it was cool to get professional photos done with your friends (or in my case my sister and cousins)? Yep. That’s what we did. We didn’t take the proofs home, so I can’t show y’all how they turned out. I ended up only really like one out of 14 or so poses I did.

Once I got home my boss called and asked me to take care of something if I could (I’ve been telecommuting), and I said sure. I actually tried doing the task last night, but it was one of those things that seem simple, but the steps in doing it were actually quite complicated. I ended up working from 2:30 to 6:40. Oi! It had to do with setting up autoresponders on Kick Start Cart. I’ll eventually get it.

Somehow I managed to slip reading back into my life. The last book I read was One Day by Harvy Nicholls and I think that was in March. If you haven’t read it yet, run like your ass is on fire to the nearest bookstore. That book broke my heart and haunted me for days after reading it — in a good way. It even made me want to start writing fiction again! I have a story idea that was inspired from One Day, I just need to sit down and tweak with it a bit more. All I have are notes so far. As of late I’m juggling between Tina Fey’s memoir Bossypants and Barbara Comyns’ novel Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead. Comyn’s book is a lot darker than I originally thought it would be — it’s about the Willoweed family and the English village they live in. The story starts off in the middle of a flood and ducks are swimming around the Willoweed house, dead animals are strewn about, Grandmother Willoweed is concerned about her rose bed, and a slew of unfortunate deaths occur with the village folk. AH! Good stuff so far though.