Tag: coastal dot com

geek style · shoppin'

oNecklace Review

Nina Penalosa2 Comments

I used to complain about the fact that my parents never gave me a proper middle name ALL. THE. TIME. Rather than having a traditional middle name, y’know, like one that is also appropriate to be used as a first name, I was bestowed with my mom’s maiden name instead while my older sister got that AND a traditional middle name. I could seriously go on about this whole subject, but I won’t. I finally started appreciating my middle name when I was 18 and even adopted it as my nom de plume and ditched my actual last name (well, not legally anyhow). But all together my initials = N.P.H. Just like Neil Patrick Harris! By default, I have the most legen–wait for it–dary initials. EVER.

After I started noticing a slew of monogram accessories pop up all over the web last year, I longed for a gold necklace that bared my initials. It’s funny, because I recall thinking that very thought while checking my email and came across a message from oNecklace asking if I’d be interested in reviewing a necklace of my choice for Le Fancy Geek. Kismet at its finest, right?!

There are tons of pretty baubles to choose from — you can have necklaces, rings, and bracelets customized with your name (just like the infamous ‘Carrie’ necklace from Sex & the City) or initials in silver and gold (24k plated, 14k, 14k white gold). They also come in various styles and you can choose what length and type of chain you’d like for your necklace to be on. I opted for the split chain monogram necklace on a 16 in. rolo chain and I’m completely smitten with it. The fancy font is slightly hard to read at first glance, but I love how it’s a great balance of being both delicate and bold.

If you ponies want to get one too, you can use the code “fancygeek” at the checkout to receive 10% off! Plus everything’s free shipping. And isn’t Mother’s Day coming up soon? Just sayin’. 😉

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, there are apparently guidelines (which you can find here) for how your monogram should look if you chose to get a monogramed bauble. For example, it’s supposed to be First/Last/Middle. So my necklace should’ve actually been customized as NHP, but I didn’t see the guideline until after I made my request. Oops! I prefer it the way I have it anyway.

Cheers,
Nina

necklace: c/o oNecklace (buy here) // dress: ModCloth (buy here) // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy similar here)
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FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as oNecklace provided me with a product to review. I was compensated with the aforementioned product. All opinions expressed are my own. 

geek style · out & about

A Study in Floral Prints

Nina Penalosa2 Comments

outfit details – dress: American Rag // blazer: Merona // glasses: Derek Cardigan // belt: ?? // shoes: Bass // purse: Coach // Sherlock necklace: Le Fancy Geek Boutique (buy here)

So, what have I been up to lately? Besides incessantly scrolling through indeed.com for job listings, I’m completely caught up with Sherlock despite the fact that it only premiered in the US last Sunday (huzzah for the interwebz! And ERMERGERD Benedict Cumberbatch ♡ Yowza). I’ve been in Sherlock mode for over a month — I re-watched series 1 & 2 after I scored both of them on DVD for under $19 thanks to the British TV sale Barnes & Noble had! But my attention is slightly shifting towards Downton Abbey since it just started here recently as well. I yelled at the TV (mainly at Mary and whatshisface) while watching the latest episode and I’m aching to know what’s going to happen next, but I’ve decided I’m not going to seek out the rest of the fourth series on the internet because if I do I will be immobile for hours and I won’t get anything done at all , and that’s obviously not kosher.

I’m starting to get back into reading for funsies and also to study the way other writers write since I’m stumped with my own writing (style, story structure, dialog, etc). Right now I’m in the middle of Vendela Vida’s novel And Now You Can Go. As I read it, it feels very invasive; as if I’m intruding on the narrator’s innermost thoughts. And I love it for that. I’ll do a little write up about the book once I’m done with it completely. If the author’s name sounds familiar, she co-wrote the screenplay for one of my favorite movies, Away We Go, with Dave Eggers.

A few days ago I dug through a box full of old school assignments and found a rough draft for one of the short stories I started working on during my last semester of school. There were also some pages of feedback from my fellow classmates. I drew inspiration from “Rabbit Fur Coat” by Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins — the story is about a daughter’s lack of a relationship with her dysfunctional mother who is utterly obsessed with her rabbit fur coat. Reading it for the first time in years, I thought, “Hey, this isn’t bad. This is actually decent.” And then I wonder why I ever stopped writing at all. I started coming up with ideas for a third draft and took notes while I was at work the other day (it’s okay, I was just helping proctor exams!). 🙂

The outfit pictures in this post were taken a few weeks ago before my birthday in downtown downton Livermore. Caitlin and I drove down to visit our fellow nerd and Creative Writing homie Amanda where we feasted on Italian food (my pasta kept me full well into the night, which irritated me because I wanted to eat a burrito), checked out a comic book store, and talked about our lack of writing since graduating and being unable to find jobs to help us evolve into fully functioning adults. We also discussed how there’s a lack of literature containing stories about 20-something characters that find themselves in the same situation we’re in — educated, living at home, struggling with adulthood. All coming of age stories are found in the teen-fiction section. Where are the ones for adults? We talked about how we need to change this. We also talked about Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch a lot (for obvious reasons).

I think I may have worn this outfit a million times already, it’s basically one of my go-to’s for work and my Sherlock necklace looks quite dandy against the floral print of the dress. And check out my shoes! I scored these saddle shoes at the Bass outlet in Vacaville a couple months ago for $50. Every time I go there I always hope to find a pair, but they never ever have any in stock. So that made it a justifiable purchase, right? Right. Of course it did.

In case any of you are wondering how I’m doing with that New Years resolution where I don’t buy any new clothing items unless they’re under $7: I’m doing surprisingly well. The only thing is I’m finding myself buying more DVDs and books so I’m thinking I have to add those things in the resolution mix as well. *le sigh* 

Cheers,
Nina

PS: ♡
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geek style

Under the Sea

Nina Penalosa9 Comments

outfit details – t-shirt: RedBubble (buy here) // skirt: Marilyn Monroe (buy here) // cardigan: GAP // belt: Xhileration  // flats: Blowfish Malibu Shoes // tote: Tokidoki for LeSportsac // ring: Betsy Johnson (buy here) //hair bow: Judy & Park (buy here) // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // earrings: Crossroads Trading Co. // watch: Timex x Disney

Greetings my little ponies! It’s been awhile since I’ve done an outfit post hasn’t it? I finally managed to find time to sneak in a shoot while I house/dog sit for Tim’s mom and sister! As I type this, Rory and Jezi are curled up by my side enjoying a little nap. It’s almost been like a tiny vacation, this house/dog sitting gig, despite the fact that I still had to go to work. And speaking of tiny vacations, Tim and I are going to be heading to SoCal in a week! We’re only going to be there for a few days, but we’re hitting Disneyland, exploring LA for a day, and then we’re going to visit my sister in San Diego. I’M SO EXCITED!!!! I’ve never been to Disneyland while it’s dressed to the nines in jack-o-lanterns and other spooky Halloween decor so I’m super stoked! Oh, and my sister’s going to take Tim and I to some yummy local SD restaurants. I cannot wait to om nom on some pizza knots from Soda & Swine ::drools::

Anyhow, today’s outfit is inspired by The Little Mermaid/Once Upon a Time. I picked up this art nouveau Ariel t-shirt by Megan Lara last month on RedBubble and paired it with my Peter Pan mermaid bow by Judy & Park and gold dinglehopper earrings from Crossroads Trading Co. I despise the mermaids from Peter Pan (I mean, they only tried to drown Wendy for no good reason), but I couldn’t resist the bow! Look at how effing cute it is! And it was handmade beautifully too. I don’t remember how I came across Judy & Park on Instagram, but I’m glad I did. I also bought a Coraline bow from her as well. And check out my hot pink shoes! I bought them years ago when I still lived in Daly City at Bakers for $20! I don’t know why it took me so damn long to start wearing them. I bought my black skirt at Macy’s last week when I was in Modesto visiting my dad at the hospital. Don’t worry! He’s fine, he just had knee replacement surgery. My mom, sister, and I headed to the mall while he was napping and the dress I wore that day was really short (I normally wear it with black tights since it makes it look not so short, but I couldn’t find my black tights that morning sooo, yeah). I bought the skirt because I was getting really self-cautious about it. But I’ve been searching for an a-line black skirt that’s nice and sturdy for a while anyway, and it’s a good length unlike the other two I have hanging in my closet — one is too flimsy and the other one is too short. I apparently have been having Goldilocks issues with black skirts. I’m also obsessed with it, so don’t be surprised when it pops up a lot in future outfit posts. 😀

My Tokidoki for LeSportsac tote went perfectly with my outfit with all the glam pirates,  kawaii mermaids and sea creatures! One of my favorite shows, Once Upon a Time, is currently set in Neverland and Ariel is supposed to make her debut in an episode to be aired later this season. EEK! I’d go on about it, but Tim’s not caught up yet and he reads my blog sooo ::fingers on lips::

This outfit magically conjured itself up since I’ve had Once on the brain. And the fact that The Little Mermaid came out on DVD/Blu Ray last week probably had something to do with it too.

I hope your Wednesday is swimmingly delightful, my little ponies ♡

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

May the Fourth Be With You

Nina Penalosa12 Comments

outfit details – skirt: Xhileration // belt + cardigan: Merona // t-shirt: Super7 // Peter Pan collar necklace: MStyle // Stormtrooper bow: Abby’s BowTique (buy here) // Stormtrooper ring: it was on a cupcake! // shoes: Dirty Laundry // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here)

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY!!!

In the nerd world, May 4 is Star Wars Day as it plays a pun on the famous saying, “May the force be with you.” To celebrate Star Wars Day I wore this outfit to work — all clad in my Star Wars gear, complete with Stormtrooper hair bow and ring! It’s not exactly “business casual” (our dress code), but I got tons of compliments from some customers and co-workers! One of them said, “So all I need to do is wear a cardigan and I can wear my nerdy shirts to work too?” Somehow I managed to get away with wearing my Luna Lovegood shirt by Megan Lara a few days before, so yes. Cardigans + nerdy shirt + nice skirt (or whatever fancy bottoms) = work appropriate. Huzzah for loopholes!!!

May the Fourth be with all my fellow geeks and nerds on this joyous  holiday. YUB YUB!!!

Also: Happy Free Comic Book Day and Happy Birthday to Audrey Hepburn 😀

Cheers,
Nina

PS: Here’s a fun little ditty to celebrate the day.

@(*__*)@

geek style

Wishful Wednesdays: #1

Nina Penalosa9 Comments

Constantly being on the interwebz for blog purposes also leads me to do some hardcore “window shopping” and I always find myself pinning things to Pinterest and Favery to take note of the items I desire most. I thought, “why not have a series of things I covet?” Thus, Wishful Wednesdays! I know, not the most clever title. This might be an every other week kind of a series. Or just when I happen to want tons of things all at once. Or something like that. Anywho, on with the stuff!

1. Kurt Halsey x Art Star Philly “Dear Friend” necklace

I have an affinity for deer and I love the art of Kurt Halsey (he just might be the next artist I feature on Curator’s Corner :)), so it’s only natural for me to pine over this necklace, right? Art Star Philly had an Instagram giveaway for two of them but I missed it! That’s what I get for being out of the loop. *wah wah wah*

2. 127 Flowers Dress from ModCloth

If you look in my closet, you’ll see that 90% of my dresses are floral print. This mint dress with pink and peach roses is perfect for spring and I’m contemplating on whether I should save up a few paychecks so I can get it for my cousin’s wedding next month. This is appropriate for a wedding… I think? It’s going to be in SoCal and I do believe the ceremony is going to be outdoors. Maybe it’s more of a tea party dress though. I guess that means I’m going to have to throw a tea party and that will justify my pending purchase of this dress. Yeah? Yeah. I knew you’d agree. 😉

3. Unicorn sweater by Skip ‘N Whistle

Skip ‘N Whistle has some of the most clever duds. My family wore coordinating tacky Christmas sweaters by them during the holiday season (seen here) and we easily won the Best Dressed Family On Christmas award. I made that award up, but we won, so don’t even try to argue with me! This lightweight sweater features a vintage looking unicorn design that looks like it should be plastered on velvet and placed in an ornate gold frame. Right?! I have a penchant for the delightfully tacky. And luckily for us, this piece of art is wearable and not on velvet (I’ll wear a velvet dress, but not a sweater. The line’s gotta be drawn somewhere)!

4. Cat Eye frames from the Derek Cardigan Grammar Collection

You can’t really tell from the picture, but these glasses have a colon on one side and a semicolon on the other. HOW EFFING PERFECT IS THAT??? When I first saw the Derek Cardigan Grammar Collection I fangirled so hard and have been drooling over these glasses for months. I have a pair of wayfarers from their regular line that have mathmatical symbols, and I loathe that subject, but those glasses were too awesome, so I set my hatred for all things math aside.  Of course seeing a pair of glasses with symbols that I give a sh!t about is ridiculously exciting! For new readers, I majored in Creative Writing. Just thought I’d throw that out there in case you’re wondering why I’m so damn passionate about colons and semicolons. : ; ; : ; ; : ; ; : : ; : ; <– semicolon and colon par-tay! Honestly though, I’m a bigger fan of the double dash when I write — that’s just my preference. BTW – coastal.com is having a sale on their designer glasses and the Grammar Collection is available there! Use the code EXTRA50 to get half off of your glasses. But HURRY, you have until April 30!

5. Thranduil v-neck shirt by Cloud & Victory

I came across Cloud & Victory after they started following me on Tumblr awhile ago. They have the wittiest t-shirts with ballerinas, and characters from The Hobbit, Downton Abbey, and Game of Thrones. Since the image is so tiny, you can’t really see all the amazingness of their Thranduil shirt. My apologies. But it has Lee Pace as the racist elf king wearing a fine pair of pink stunna shades, a lavender Birkin draped in the crook of his arm, and it says “Get In Loser, We’re Going Shopping.” The Hobbit x Mean Girls. LOVE IT!  Which reminds me, it’s Wednesday. That means I should wear pink, otherwise I can’t sit at the table with the cool kids. D:

6. Melie Bianco “Nina” bag

Not gonna lie. My main reason for lusting over this faux ostrich Melie Bianco bag is because it’s called “Nina.” No, it’s not named after me, but for someone whose name isn’t very common and can’t be found on souvenir name keychains (what the hell, Disneyland? Y U NO have my name anymore?!), it’s a really exciting thing to see an adorable product that bears the same name as you! And it has a little bow, and as we all know bows are cool. Specifically bow ties, but whatever.

What items are you guys wishing for?

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Wingardium Leviosa

Nina Penalosa4 Comments

outfit details – cardigan: Forever 21 // Gryffindor patch: from Comic Con (buy similar here) // shirt: Teefury (buy similar here) // belt: Merona // skirt: Xhileration // ring: from Target // gold bow: H&M // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // shoes: Blowfish

I can’t help but feel like a bit of a phony when I wear my Gryffindor cardigan since I was sorted into Hufflepuff  on Pottermore (whut whuuut!), but in my defense my sister bought the patch for me when she went to Comic Con for the first time (that was 10 years ago!), and then I sewed it onto my cardigan so I could dress up like a Hogwarts schoolgirl for the last Harry Potter movie (see here) — all that happened waaay before Pottermore! Besides, it totally goes with my hella awesome Hermione Granger shirt that I just bought from Teefury!!!

If the design looks familiar, it’s by Megan Lara who I featured in my Curator’s Corner series not too long ago. Oh, and her Luna Lovegood design is currently available on Teefury as well. Oh my glob, just take all monies, Megan (and Teefury)!

I’m so glad Friday’s payday. ACCIO MONIES!

Cheers,
Nina