Win a Geeky Tank from Fifth Sun!

August 28, 2015 Nina Penalosa11 Comments

— GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED —

If you follow Le Fancy Geek regularly, you know how obsessed I am with paring any garment that’s adorned with floral prints with something geeky. It’s my most favorite combination! Well, Fifth Sun has a wide array of cute geeky tanks and tees and a few of them combine flowers with some of my fave characters from Marvel Comics and Star Wars! I feel like they were made just for me!! The folks at Fifth Sun were gracious enough to send me one tank of my choice to review too. I seriously spent an hour and half browsing their web store before I decided to get this tank with Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, or as I like to call it “mew-mew.” I’m itching to get a Star Wars tank or tee in the near future though. I think I was just overwhelmed with their Star Wars selection because they have so many cute ones that it was impossible to settle on just one.

The only thing that I was slightly worried about was how the tank would fit me. I border between XL and XXL in tops (#bigboobproblems), and the largest size they carry in women’s is an XL. That being said, the tank isn’t too snug on me (their tops fit like junior’s sizes), but I tend to tuck my tees and tanks into my skirts and wear cardigans all the time anyway so I have no issues with the way it fits me. And how perfect does it look with my pink pleated skirt and mint cropped cardigan? Hella perfect! That’s how perfect! I wore this outfit to the first Bay Area Geek Girl Brunch meet-up last weekend (sans the crinoline) since it had a Marvel Comics theme. I think the addition of the crinoline underneath my skirt gave my ensemble a geeky retro pin up vibe too, which is a look I’ve been gravitating towards a lot lately.

Overall, I’m pretty much like: This tank. I like it. ANOTHER!

But which one do I choose?!

And now for the part I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for: Fifth Sun is giving two of you lucky ponies the chance to win one tank of your choice! I’ll be picking one winner via Instagram and one from the comments section of this blog post. ☺

To enter for a chance to win a tank from Fifth Sun, you must do the following:

Follow @lefancygeek & @fifthsunofficial on Instagram.
Repost the above image on your public Instagram account (I can’t see it if it’s private!).
Tag @lefancygeek + @fifthsunoffical on your repost.
Tag 2 of your buddies.
use hashtag #LFGx5thSun.
Leave one comment here letting me know which tank you’d choose and why.

Rules:

You must have a public Instagram account to enter via Instagram.
You can repost the picture once a day until the last day of the contest (Friday, September 2 @ 11:59 pm).
Only leave ONE comment on the blog for entry.
The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
Giveaway starts Friday, August 28 and ends September 4 @ 11:59pm PST.

Good luck, my little ponies! And if you don’t win, don’t worry. Fifth Sun will be giving me a special coupon code for all my readers to use after the giveaway ends next week, so stay tuned for that. ☺

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as Fifth Sun sent me a tank top to review. I was compensated with it along with two more tank tops to giveaway to one of my readers and one of my Instagram followers. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.

Crown & Crumpet

January 14, 2015 Nina Penalosa8 Comments

Hey my little ponies! On Monday I headed to San Francisco with a few of my friends to celebrate my birthday at Crown & Crumpet. It’s an adorable little tea spot in Japantown that’s a definite must for any tea lover to go to! I passed by their original location a few years ago when they were still in Ghirardelli Square and made a mental note to eventually go there.

When making plans for my birthday, I decided early on that I wanted to have afternoon tea in the city with my girlfriends and dress up like Disney princesses a la Disneybound! How else would one go about celebrating the last year of their twenties? I ended up not wearing a princessesy outfit, but I still felt pretty damn fancy in my navy doe dress from ModCloth and t-strap heels.

As I looked up different places that served afternoon tea, I remembered Crown & Crumpet and promptly Googled it. Their menu seemed less pricier than most places, and their tea menu had a bunch of delightful sounding blends. I nearly ordered Alice’s “Drink Me” tea — a black tea with champagne and sugar crystals — but was told it had caffeine, so I opted for the fruity Snow White tea. 🙂

Crown & Crumpet has the most adorable decor too! The tables are lined with cheery floral table cloth and with little pictures of angels, Union Jacks, and tea cups. The walls were adorned with the cutest art, and there’s a large clock on the wall with antique tea cups and saucers instead of numbers. It says, “It’s Time for Tea” underneath it. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the clock though. Sorry!

Crown & Crumpet had some delicious food and treats as well. Jen ordered a slice of berry cake that came with jam and clotted cream, and now I want jam on all the cakes I eat from now on. No more frosting, just jam! Caitlin and I ordered scones to go with our tea, and they came with lemon curd, clotted cream, and raspberry jam (I think it was raspberry anyway) which I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since then. Why aren’t there any places closer to me that serve afternoon tea with all the English accoutrements like Crown & Crumpet?! WHY?!

Shanice, Jen, and myself all ordered the tricolore sandwich and they were really nice about letting us add on chicken and substituting cheddar for mozzarella. Caitlin got the chicken pot pie and Jen damn near stole it from her because she thought it was amazing! Our waitress also overheard us saying it was someone’s birthday and brought a little cookie dough flavored cupcake with a candle, and had my friends sing happy birthday to me. 😀

Afterwards, I asked the manager (or perhaps she was the owner…?) if I could take some pictures inside their private party room for the blog and she was more than accommodating! I mentioned to her that I had heard about Crown & Crumpet from passing by their old location a few years ago, and she talked to me a bit about how they ended up in Japantown and that they hope to open another location in downtown San Francisco.

I’d definitely love to go back to Crown & Crumpet and try a different tea and get more scones (and a slice of cake)! You guys don’t understand, those scones were SO. TASTY. And that jam! Oh my goodness.

dress: ModCloth (no longer available) // cardigan & hair pin: H&M
shoes: American Rag // necklace: c/o oNecklace (buy here)
glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy similar here)

curator's corner · out & about

Magic, Color, Flair

September 11, 2014 Nina Penalosa5 Comments

The Walt Disney Family Museum‘s Magic, Color, Flair: The World of Mary Blair art exhibit in San Francisco closed last weekend, but I was able to go 3 weeks before it made its grand exit! I had been dying to go to this exhibit since they first announced it last year, so I made sure my bum got down to the museum because I’m completely in love and in awe of Mary Blair’s art! I’m sure I’ve mentioned what a huge fan I am of her on numerous occasions here, but I digress.

If you’re not familiar with her, she’s very well known for her bright and cheery concept art for Disney movies (Saludos Amigos, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan), designing It’s a Small World (yes, that ride that you either love or hate at Disneyland. And I wore a Small World inspired outfit for the exhibit too which included my It’s a Small World bag by LeSportsac!), and illustrating children’s books (notably I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss).

Magic, Color, Flair was a retrospective of her work which was utterly fascinating because I’ve only really ever been exposed to the art she’s done for Disney and children’s books. Her earlier work was gorgeous and vibrant, and a bit more realistic than the whimsical art that I grew to adore (you’ll see down below).

I went snap-happy with my camera and took pictures of EVERYTHING. So hopefully people who would’ve love to have gone but couldn’t make it may stumble upon this post. And I hope you all enjoy it too, my little ponies! 🙂

In case you’re wondering what the small text by her photograph says:

Mary Blair (1911-1978) was one of Walt Disney’s most original, beloved, and influential art directors. A protean and prolific painter, designer, and colorist, she found artistic expression in a variety of media, including film production designs; fine art watercolors, print illustrations and advertisements: and large-scale, three-dimensional theme park attractions.

The aim of Magic Color Flair: the world of Mary Blair is to reveal and explore Blair’s artistic process and development. The most obvious aspect of her body of work is sparkling graphic inventiveness and a brilliant color sense that dazzles the eye. But there is also in her art an emotional component – an empathetic identification with characters and situations — that appeals directly to the heart. Disney animation features director Wilfred Jackson’s comment touches upon that a special element in Blair’s creations. The exhibition investigates the sources of her art’s visual and emotional qualities — which melded together, make Blair’s work uniquely appealing.

The nearly two hundred works shown here offer a full and balanced overview of Blair’s almost half century of achievements before, during, and after her Walt Disney tenure.

– John Canemaker
Exhibition Curator

I’m not able to show you the nearly two hundred works that I took pictures of, but I did my best to include the pieces that I enjoyed and to also make it feel as if you saw the exhibit yourself 🙂

The clipping next to this horse design says:

Miss Mary Robinson, second year student at Chouinard Art School experienced the thrill of a lifetime when she picked up a current issue of a national magazine to find on the back cover advertisement her winning design in the annual Art Alliance competition.

The competition, which is national in scope, is conducted in the spring but this is the first time that the design had been made public by the company for which it was made. Miss Robinson’s work is called the Trojan Horse design and was made for bath mat, bath towel, small towel, and face cloth for a towel company. She received a $100 award and she competed with thousands of art students and professional artists as well.

According to Mrs. Chouinard, director of the school, the purpose of the competition is to build up interest among artists in this country in types of commercial and industrial design which heretofore have been done during have been done mostly by Europeans. This is the fifth time that a student of this school had won first prize in this competition.

^ This is the cover of a music book and I actually found a beaten up copy of it in my parent’s garage last year! SQUEE!!!

In 1962, Blair created paper sculptures for department store Bonwit Teller’s display windows. Below is one of the sculptures she designed.

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Give it Away

April 24, 2014 Nina Penalosa4 Comments

My 3-year blogaversary is right around the corner — this Saturday to be exact! I’d say Le Fancy Geek is still fairly small compared to other fashion blogs out there, but I feel it’s grown quite a bit over the years and I’m so grateful to you ponies for reading it and for coming along this journey with me 🙂

To celebrate I’m going to be throwing a GINORMOUS giveaway! You see that super cute LeSportsac tote I’m rockin’ with this outfit? You could win it along with a bunch of other fun goodies! Don’t worry, I haven’t taken it out and about. It was just used for this outfit shoot to show how cute it is!

When LeSportsac sent it to me, I was really tempted to keep it for myself, but they also sent me a travel bag of the same print, so I kept that one instead and used it while I was in Portland. The tote is from their Artist in Residence Fall 2013 collection featuring the adorable art of Audrey Jeanne. The pastel colors set against the navy blue backdrop and the cute critters definitely make it appropriate to use all year round though. I’m a big fan of totes with multiple pockets and this one is jam packed with them! It’s the ideal tote to take everywhere — work, school, the gym, the mall, an amusement park, the airport, etc. I’m so jealous of whoever wins this!

Be sure to visit Le Fancy Geek this Saturday to see what else you can win 😀

dress: American Rag // tote: c/o LeSportsac // cardigan: Xhileration // belt: AX Armani Exchange // shoes: Restricted (buy here) // glasses: Firmoo (buy here) // necklace + hairclip: vintage

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as LeSportsac sent me a tote to review and giveaway to my readers. I was compensated with another bag to keep and review. All opinions expressed are my own.

geek style · out & about

Stripes & Poe-ka Dots

March 18, 2014 Nina Penalosa5 Comments

outfit details – dress: Passport Love // tote: Out of Print (buy here) // glasses: Derek Cardigan // boots: Steve Madden (buy here) // magnifying glass necklace: American Rag // Haunted Mansion necklace: League of Shadows (buy here) // bow: Me Oh Mine (buy here) //bracelet: Anna Grace Designs (buy here)

This Friday I’m heading to Portland! Thank goodness because I’ve been feeling very out of sorts lately, so I’m much too eager to escape California and explore a new city in another state. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Portland, and I’ve been told by several people that I’d love it, so to say I’m excited about finally going is an understatement. And we’re [Jen, Caitlin, and myself] dedicating a day to just wandering around Powell’s, which I cannot stop thinking about. If you’re not familiar with Powell’s, it’s one of the biggest bookstores around — it contains millions of used and new books within five glorious floors! God, that place must smell divine (book smell is one of the best smells). I really need to write down a book list because I feel like if I go in there without a game plan I will be lost and utterly overwhelmed.

Speaking of bookstores, this outfit shoot was done at Tom’s Used Books in Lodi. We don’t have a whole lot of bookstores around, so it’s nice to know this little gem isn’t too far away, and kittens roam throughout the whole store! Many of the books that are in my personal library have been purchased from Tom’s, including a copy of Breakfast at Tiffany’s that looks very much like a first edition, but I still can’t tell if it is or not — it doesn’t even say what edition it is inside the book. Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to do this shoot at Tom’s because of my Edgar Allan Poe, or rather Poe-ka Dot, tote from Out of Print. My mom got it for me for Valentine’s Day last month. Isn’t it the bestest?! I paired it with this burgundy dress I found at Ross last October. I normally don’t like what I call “mullet dresses” — it’s like, do you want to be a maxi dress or a mini? Make up your mind! But I really liked this one when I saw it because it had a Lady Mary/macabre-ish vibe to it. I also incorporated some Haunted Mansion pieces to the ensemble with my hair bow and necklace that feature the painting of the parasol girl from the stretching room. Edgar Allan Poe, Haunted Mansion… they’re both gloomy so I figured they could all work with this outfit. And my bullet bracelet was handmade by my friend Megan… like, seriously all handmade by her, right down to the hook and d-rings. She’s crazy talented. Her and I did a little jewelry trade, so I gave her one of my Ron Swanson necklaces for that beaut of a bracelet. Please check out her jewelry over at Anna Grace Design! 🙂

Do any of you have anything special planned for spring break?

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

IT’S A [FLORAL] TRAP!

June 1, 2013 Nina Penalosa17 Comments

outfit details – dress + ring: ModCloth (buy here and here // shoes: American Rag // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // hair flower: Icing (buy here) // necklace: Rockets and Rainbows (buy here)

Hello kitties!

I’m going to start calling you guys kitties now, is that okay? Yeah? Okay, cool. I knew you’d dig it! >^__^<

It’s weird how having a part time job manages to keep you away from certain things. For example: this blog ‘o mine! I’ve also been working on a special project for my supervisor’s daughter’s birthday party t00, but I managed to sneak in a little photo shoot before I went to work the other day. And I damn near had a panic attack when my tripod broke on me AGAIN. But I managed to fix it once more, so let’s hope it stays that way. *crosses fingers — only on one hand though because apparently it’s bad luck to cross them on both and I’m superstitious like that*

Anyhow, for years I have drooled over the beautiful dresses on ModCloth, and now that I have a steady paycheck coming in every Friday I found that I was finally able to [barely] afford one! I purchased this pretty mint and pinkie peachy floral number for my cousin’s wedding which took place a couple weeks ago. This also happens to be the dress I put on my Wishful Wednesdays post last month. Look at me, making all my wishes come true! I’m super excited that I was able to get this dress in my possession because it keeps selling out pretty quickly! *happy dance* ModCloth literally has one more left in stock (at the time of this post anyhow)! I paired the dress with my purple t-strap heels from American Rag and this incredibly fabulous Admiral Ackbar locket created by the uber geektastic Jennifer Landa! 🙂 I brought a vintage cameo necklace with me as another option, but when I asked what necklace to wear Admiral Ackbar was the unanimous victor. Florals + SciFi is always a winning combination!

I also wore this outfit to work and it took everything in me to not spin around in circles while standing around waiting to greet customers because this dress seriously has some crazy amazing flow to it! And it also makes me feel like a princess since it kind of reminds me of the dress Giselle made out of curtains in Enchanted.

Posts here may be sparse during June and July since I picked up a lot of hours for my other part time job as a tutor. I’m gonna have so much fun balancing everything out. Yaaaay adulthood! /sarcasm

I’m going to do my very best on updating Le Fancy Geek though! I hope you kitties stick with me 🙂

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Coral Corral

May 20, 2013 Nina Penalosa16 Comments

outfit details – dress: American Rag // boots: Charles Albert // belt: Xhileration (came with another dress) // bolero: I have no idea! // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // purse: street faire find // cocktail ring:vintage // necklace: Once Upon a Smorgasbord

I forgot how terribly irksome it is to take your own outfit shots via self-timer and tripod. I’ve been very spoiled by having Tim take my pictures whenever he’s in town (he’s oh-so very patient and even gives me directions on where to look or how to pose), but since he’s in Ohio for a week I need to go back to the way I started. And damn, it’s been a bitch!

In the process of trying to take shots of this outfit I wore last week (it’s been a busy weekend full of wedding festivities so I haven’t been able to do a write-up until now– mah bad), my tripod got knocked over by a sudden gust of wind while my 3-month old camera was still mounted to it! Thankfully, the camera only has a bit of a scratch. *PHEW* But the little removable part that the camera screws onto totes broke. I superglued it back on, but now I don’t have the convenience of taking it off and whatnot. Oh well!

But enough of my moaning, check out my purse! It’s a friggin horse saddle!!! I found it at the Lodi Street Faire earlier this month and fell in love immediately. Whenever my mom and I go to flea markets or street faires, I usually have a certain thing I’m looking for. A quirky bag wasn’t on my agenda (now that I think about it, I didn’t really have anything on my agenda), but once I laid eyes on it I knew I had to bring it home with me. I’d be a fool to pass it up, right? It was originally marked at $55, but mom (a total haggling pro), asked the vendor what her best price was and she said $45. SCORE!

Tip: When bargaining with vendors at street fairs and whatnot, throw out phrases like “What’s your best price?” or “What’s the best you can do on this?” if you’re interested in an item because then it sounds like you’ve been doing this haggling thing forever and have it down pat. Plus it sounds a lot better than, “Can you go any lower?”

I made the necklace I’m wearing with a little horse toy that I adorned with pink ribbon and some flatback Swarovski crystals. I dubbed it my “Neapolitan Pony” since the colors go along with the ice cream flavor. ERMERGERD, doesn’t a bowl of that sound super tasty right now?! I actually made quite a few of these necklaces with other animal toys, but have yet to put them on my Etsy store ’cause I’m lame like that. But if you’re interested in ordering a custom one, don’t hesitate to ask me! I’ve actually done three custom orders for these little animal necklaces already via Instagram; four if you count my mom’s birthday request for a hippo 🙂

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

D.I.Y. Minnie Mouse Costume

October 30, 2012 Nina Penalosa7 Comments

Minnie Mouse is by far one of the easiest costumes a lady can put together for Halloween — especially at the last minute (like what I did last year)! All you really need is a good pair of mouse ears, cute accessories, and fancy duds. Or casual duds. Whatever interpretation of Minnie you want to do is fine with me!

Keep in mind that Minnie Mouse doesn’t neccesarily equate to red & white polka dotted dresses and skirts. The girl has other colored dresses and bows, y’know? Earlier this year I bought a pair of Minnie Mouse ears at the Disney Store that came with 4 different detachable bows — a floral print, white with little pink dots, pink with big white dots, and a glittery silver bow. In case you’re wondering I bought it for Disneyland purposes. It’s no longer available there, but they do sell all kinds of mouse ear things on the Disney Store website. Or if you’re super crafty there are tons of tutorials on how to make your own ears, like this one I found on YouTube.

I based my costume around the floral bow and came up with this:

outfit details:

Ears: Disney Store
Cardigan: Target
Peter Pan collar necklace: YesStyle
Dress: H&M
Shoes: American Rag
Ring & Bracelet: I have no idea. o,0

For the costume party I went to on Friday I wore black tights with a long sleeve black shirt underneath my dress just to get the full Minnie Mouse effect, but for this blog’s shoot I ditched the tights and undershirt because I was lazy (at least I’m honest). I got my dress at H&M last year because it makes me feel like a princess. Wee! I think every girl should have something in their closet that makes them feel regal. Anywho, I got the cardigan at Target eons ago, the Peter Pan collar necklace is from YesStyle, and the t-strap heels are by American Rag, which I got last year.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to Minnie Mouse! You can pretty much put any cute outfit together, throw on Minnie-esque accessories (I think Minnie is a pearl kind of girl), some mouse ears, and call it a day! Black nose is optional, but please, please please, do not draw whiskers on your face. I don’t understand why some girls who dress up as Minnie Mouse draw whiskers on their face when Minnie doesn’t even have them. You know she gets that ish waxed!

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween tomorrow!!!

Cheers,
Nina

PS: To all on the east coast, stay safe!

PPS: This post will be submitted to IFB’s Halloween Project. Keep your fingers crossed for me please!

geek style · pup life

Barks & Rec.

October 27, 2012 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

My fluffy baby Rory is going to be graduating from his beginners class at Petsmart next week! But he has to pass the evaluation test first — meaning he needs to perform all the commands we’ve been teaching him for the past 5 weeks perfectly. No pressure whatsoever. For the most part, Rory’s a good dog, but sometimes he doesn’t like to listen and gets overly excited around other pups. In class he’s known as “the mean one” or “fiesty one” which makes me really sad because he’s so fuggin’ sweet… just not around other dogs. Rory’s also the only boy in the class and the eldest at 15 months (I think the youngest pup in the class is 5 months old). I really should’ve enrolled him early on, but TARDISes (what is the plural for TARDIS?) and time turners don’t exist, so oh well.

Before his class last Thursday, my friends and I took him out to the park for a walk. Or rather, he took Jen for a walk (he doesn’t have that loose-leash walking down quite yet). Fresh air seemed to be all he needed since he did super awesome in class that night!

And since I wore a cute outfit to work that day, we did some OOTD (outfit of the day) shots around the park. But it was soooo windy and the lighting was off pretty much everywhere, I ended doing a few shots at home (full outfit shot is down below).

While trying to get rid of clothes I don’t wear often, I came across this hot air balloon dress by American Rag in my closet that I haven’t worn since my trip to Disneyland in May. I forced myself to make an outfit around it because I didn’t like the thought of not having it in my closet. Both my earrings and necklace are second-hand purchases. I got my teal crystal earrings at the Lodi Street Faire just in time for prom! I was into teal a lot back then. And when I say “back then” I mean 8 years ago. Yikes! I found my necklace at the local flea market last year. It’s a fragrance locket, or perfume necklace. I’m not sure what to call it, but the inside of it contains some nasty scented wax. The gold cigar band ring was given to me by my super stylish grandma (super stylish grandma can be seen here). And my navy and purple cuff is from the Coach outlet store. Yay outlets!

outfit details:

dress: American Rag
cardigan: Old Navy
necklace: flea market find
earrings: street market find
ring: my grandma gave it to me!
bracelet: Coach
boots: Madden Girl
tights: Hue

I’m assuming there will be Halloween parties this weekend, so I hope you all have fun and be safe (of course)! I dressed up as Minnie Mouse for my co-worker’s costume/going-away party last night, so I shall post pictures of my costume in the upcoming days. And if you’re not doing anything festive this weekend, I hope you have fun as well!

Cheers,
Nina ❤

bloop

Little Miss _____

August 26, 2011 Nina Penalosa3 Comments

Yesterday I randomly bumped into my cousin Celeste after running some errands around campus, so I decided to invite myself over to visit with her, my cousin Cynthia, and the kiddies! I ended up helping my niece Isabelle with her homework by reading Little Miss Star three times. I remember my cousin Amanda had tons of Little Miss and Mr Men books when we were little. One time my mom bought me a Mr. Happy book and little plush toy because I was being cranky, so she thought it would help me get happy. 🙂

I also some Lego Star Wars book for Jacob, and Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones. That book is ridiculous and kinda weird to read out loud. I gave Lily a are-you-effing-serious look when she asked me to read it again, but then her sister came by and swept her away to play. *phew*

Tonight I was supposed to go to the Edgar Wright Q&A and triple feature (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, buuut I hit some snafu (original buddy I was going with got sick, couldn’t find someone else to go with, and I have no way of getting to SF by myself) so I decided the whole thing was a bust. Good news is I was able to make it so that Heather could get my tickets (I had the tickets at will call and they’re all strict about who picks them up).

I’m bummed that I’m not going anymore, but I figure the money I put towards my ticket will now go to my Rory fund. Plus I’m supposed to get into some super awesome shinnanigans with my best friend Tim tomorrow. We’re gonna have a SUPER EPIC SCOTT PILGRIM-STAR WARS-DOCTOR WHO-COOKIE BAKING DAY. And we’re also going to see Rory! 😀