Descanso Gardens

March 23, 2022 Nina Penalosa1 Comment

When things don’t go as planned, it can be pretty disappointing. But other times it can be full of wonderful surprises.

While I was down in LA earlier this month, my friends had insisted that we go to the Huntington Library since we didn’t have time to go when I visited last October. But once we were en route we learned that it was closed on Tuesdays — take note in case you plan to go too! A few ideas were tossed around, and we ended up going to Descanso Gardens instead. I had never been, nor heard of it before, but I’m always down for a promenade amongst nature. 🌿

We spent time admiring the different types of camellias that bloom there, pointing at all the squirrels and ducks we happened upon, and watching turtles swim around and sunbathe. There was one baby that kept trying to climb on the back of another for what felt like forever, but we kept rooting for it until it successfully climbed aboard! We also spotted four that stayed in place for the longest time, so we said those were our turtlesonas.

I also had an amazing opportunity to partner with Dr. Martens, so of course I wore my Chelsea Boots to wander around for the day. At one point we walked up a steep incline, and my Docs helped me through it 😮‍💨 I’m usually a tennis shoes or ballet flat girl, but lately I’ve really been into pairing boots with dresses. I love the way my Docs compliment my gray maxi dress from Blackmilk Clothing with black birds and pops of yellow and pink flowers.

Afterwards we had brunch, and a few stores down we came across The Last Book Store’s Montrose location which is full of plants. We didn’t get to explore the store as much since we had to buy Liveplay tickets for one of the BTS concerts in Las Vegas (haha 😅), but had we gone to the Huntington we wouldn’t have seen all that we did.

This day was also really special as it was International Women’s Day and I got to spend it with some of my favorite ladies. If you read my previous blog post you know I’ve been going through a very hard time, so days like this are much needed.

:: OUTFIT DETAILS ::
dress: Blackmilk Clothing (n/a)
chelsea boots: Dr. Martens (buy here)
jacket: A New Day (n/a) / purse: Coach (buy similar here)
necklaces: Alex and Ani (buy here) & Karen Digital Shop (buy here)

Cheers,
Nina

Back to School LeSportsac Giveaway #1

August 18, 2013 Nina Penalosa63 Comments

* Giveaway now closed. Thank you to all who entered! *

I’m super stoked to announce that this “Heather Hobo” from LeSportsac’s Fall 2013 collection is up for grabs in my latest giveaway! LeSportsac was kind enough to send me two bags to give away to my fantastical readers, so the next Back to School giveaway will be up right after the giveaway for this cute hobo bag ends in 10 days! I’ll get to the giveaway details in just a moment. First things first: let’s talk about the bag for a bit, shall we?

This “Heather Hobo” comes in a rusty light red bandana inspired print which is perfectly titled “Howdy.” The shade looks just a tad bit brighter in person than it does in the picture above, which I think looks better in my opinion. This is definitely the kind of bag I would’ve taken to class every now and then as it’s spacious enough to hold the essentials: a notebook, planner, pencil pouch, wallet, iPod/phone, book, etc. I always had a tendency to bring medium sized totes and purses to school just because I didn’t like carrying big bulky bags that were heavily loaded. But even if you do wind up putting more things inside it, there’s a convenient adjustable strap (which is beautifully embroidered and reminicent of a guitar strap) that you can throw over your body to avoid getting that whole one-shoulder-pain. Y’know what I’m talking about? That pain you get from those over-the-shoulder bags because you have too much crap in your bag? Crossbody bags are great for avoiding things like that, and this bag can be either/or since the adjustable strap can be taken off if you don’t want it there. YAY for versatility and convenience!!! There’s also a little pocket on the front of the bag which is perfect for placing your phone and chapstick for easy access. And there’s a couple of other pockets inside the bag as well. There’s no such thing as too much storage space for a bag!

Whether you’re back at school this semester or not, you’re more than welcome to enter this giveaway!

But let’s lay down some ground rules:

In order to enter you MUST be a Le Fancy Geek reader. New and old readers may enter this giveaway!

For entries:

Subscribe to the blog and leave a comment saying that you did. You can do so by either following me via WordPress or by entering your email address on the right side of the blog where it says “subscribe.” If you’re already a subscriber just leave a comment and say that you already do follow me!
Follow me on Bloglovin’ and leave a comment letting me know you did.
“Like” the Le Fancy Geek page on Facebook and leave a comment with your name (on this post, not on the FB page).
Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment with your Twitter name.
Tweet “I just entered @pink_apple’s Back to School @lesportsac bag giveaway on LeFancyGeek!!!” <– must be that exact same wording. Leave a comment letting me know you Tweeted with your Twitter name!
Follow me on Instagram and leave a comment with your Instagram name.
Follow me on Chictopia and leave a comment with your username.
Follow me on Pinterest and leave a comment letting me know you did with your username.
“Like” the LeSportsac page on Facebook and leave a comment with your name (on this post, not on their FB page).
Follow LeSportsac on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know you did with your Twitter name.
Follow LeSportsac on Instagram and leave a comment letting me know you with your Instagram name.

There are a total of 11 entries. Please leave ONE comment per each way you follow me and LeSportsac.

DO NOT lump all the ways you follow me or LeSportsac into one comment as that will only count as ONE entry.

For new readers, please do not follow and then unfollow after the giveaway ends. That’s hella rude!

You have until Wednesday August 28, 12am PST to enter. Winner will be picked at random.

Giveaway open to readers in the US and Canada. Sorry international readers! Shipping overseas is too expensive for me at this time 😦

Cheers,
Nina

FTC disclosure: LeSportsac sent this bag to me to review and giveaway to my readers. All opinions stated are my own.

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 · the biblio files

The Great CATSby

May 15, 2013 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

outfit details – glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // pullover: Out of Print Clothing (buy here)

Hello, Old Sports!

With the recent release of the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, I wanted to re-read the novel before seeing the movie… ’cause that’s how I roll. My expectations aren’t too high for it though; I already have a feeling that it’s going to be one of those the-book-is-better-than-the-movie kind of deals. And Christina Hendricks should’ve totally been cast as Myrtle Wilson, am I right?! I mean, Isla Fisher is gorgeous, but Myrtle’s described as having a bit more of a figure. Plus Christina Hendricks and Carey Mulligan are my lady loves, so it would’ve been mind blowing to see them in a movie together! Anyhow, I found my old copy from high school with notes dated from May of 2002 (#hellaold!) hidden within the pages, but both of my part time jobs have kept me busy and so has my Etsy store, so I haven’t really found a whole lot of time to sit down and read. RUGH. But thankfully audiobooks exist ! I just bought the version Jake Gyllenhaal narrates on Audible (it’s $6.95!!!), and I’m listening to it as I type this very blog post!

The glasses I’m wearing might look familiar — I put them on my “Wishful Wednesdays” post awhile ago. I bought them immediately after I wrote the post too. Waste time I do not! The frames are a lot smaller than I’m used to, but I really like them. I’ve always wanted to try out cat eye frames too. And just like my first order from Coastal.com, the glasses came in a nice case and also came with a bottle of glasses cleaner, a cloth to wipe them with, and a screwdriver to tighten/loosen the glasses. I was a little freaked out when I first put them on though because they were really narrow and had the sides of my face in a tight bear hug. I thought, “OMG, NOOO! I don’t want to have to return these!” And then I remembered that I could go to LensCrafters and have them adjust the glasses for me, and for free nonetheless. Crisis averted! I’m over the moon about these glasses, and I loooove the fact that they have semicolons and colons on them. It’s a subtle detail, but as someone who majored in Creative Writing I can’t help but be super excited about it. Haha! If you haven’t checked out Coastal.com, they have smorgasbord of fantastically wonderful frames and first-time customers get their first pair of glasses for free. Well, you pay for shipping, but other than that they’re FREE!

And don’t my new glasses look just dandy with my The Great Gatsby pullover? 😉

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Once Upon a Smorgasbord Update & Sale!

May 14, 2013 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

Hey all! Like I mentioned in my last post, I started a post Mother’s Day sale on my Etsy store Once Upon a Smorgasbord since I wasn’t able to do one in time for the actual holiday itself. Oops.

From now until May 20, use code OOPS10 to get 10% off your purchase 🙂

Here are some of the latest additions to the store:

A vintage illustration of a mother and child on a French chandelier crystal pendent

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

May 9, 2013 Nina Penalosa7 Comments

outfit details – pullover: Forever 21 // dress: BCX (buy here) // ring + earrings: Once Upon a Smorgasbord (buy here and here) // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // shoes: Mossimo

I was looking through my wallet the other day and noticed that I never took out my Annual Pass to Disneyland despite the fact that it expired two months ago. *cries* A key to happiness with an expiration date is the saddest thing ever! Wah wah wah. #firstworldproblems

So today’s outfit is a “what I’d wear to Disneyland” kind of a thing, but really — I’d wear Disney related clothing ANYWHERE. 😀

I actually wore this lacey navy blue dress on my last trip to Disneyland (seen here). Annnd, this is the dress’ third appearance in an outfit post (seen here). Sorry I’m not sorry for recycling! I got my lavender Cinderella pullover a couple years ago when Forever 21 first started selling them. Naturally, I went ape sh!t and bought almost every friggin’ one they had, except for yellow Lion King pullover which they never had in my size every time I stumbled upon it. RUGH!

The jewelry I’m wearing is made by yours truly and I just put them up on Once Upon a Smorgasbord! Don’t worry, I’m just wearing them for show in this outfit. I didn’t actually go out and about wearing them! And with Mother’s Day coming closer and closer, it’s too late for me to have a sale like I originally intended. Mah bad.

So bad news: if you want to buy something for your mama from Once Upon a Smorgasbord, it won’t ship out on time.

Good news: I’m going to start a sale ON Mother’s Day! I’ll be adding more things to the store, so be on the lookout for more info on that and a code to use at checkout 😀

Cheers,
Nina

geek style · out & about

All the Pretty Horses

April 29, 2013 Nina Penalosa11 Comments

outfit details – dress + belt: Xhileration (buy dress here) // boots: Charles Albert // watch: Timex x Disney // glasses: Brooks Brothers (buy here) // necklace: Authored Adornments (buy here)

Yesterday was a bit of a rarity as I had the ENTIRE day off! Rather than sleeping in and bumming it up at home, I hit the road bright and early to visit Tim at his new casa (which is an hour and 20 minutes away from me)!! We hadn’t seen each other in what feels like months, rather than weeks, since our free time never matches up to allow either one of us to make the drive to visit the other, so yesterday was completely amazing and much needed! 😀

Tim told me there were tons of country roads with lots of places that would look cool for an outfit post, so I dressed for the occasion with my black and white horse dress from Target (damn you, Target and all your adorable clothes). While driving down the road we tried to find horses to be in the background, but all we saw were cows. Also, to change things up I wore my Brooks Brothers glasses that have been M.I.A. since October! I found them a few days ago when I was setting my bed up on bed lifters. And my necklace is from Authored Adornments. Does it look familiar? I had it on my wish list last Christmas (seen here), and I decided to take matters into my own hands and buy it for myself! It contains a line from John Green’s novel The Fault in Our Stars which says, “I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” Swoon.

BTW, Krysten of Authored Adornments has shared a code for me and all my lovely readers to use to get 10% off an order! Just use the code BOOKSHOP.

Tim and I did the usual stuff we do when we’re together — eat (we went to Jimboys for lunch and Smashburger for dinner), go to Target (it’s the go-to thing for when we wanna go out but don’t know what to do), do an outfit photo shoot for my blog, watch TV shows and YouTube videos (I brought season 1 of Chuck with me in hopes that I could convert him into a fan), talk about random stuffs, nap, and cuddle. ❤

Sorry I’m not sorry for the partial mushiness of this post. I love my boyfriend a helluva f*ckin’ lot x infinity & beyond then some, and I’m really proud of us for making this whole long distance bidness work. And that’s all I shall say about that since I gotta keep some things private, y’know? 😉

Cheers,
Nina

geek style

Wishful Wednesdays: #1

April 24, 2013 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

LeSportsac: It’s a Small World Bag Review

April 17, 2013 Nina Penalosa15 Comments

I’ve been holding out on some exciting news from you guys, but I’m ready to share it!

A couple of weeks ago the fine folks of LeSportsac contacted me and asked me if I could write a review AND host a giveaway on my blog for their spring line of It’s a Small World bags! When I first found out about this collaboration last year I flipped out because I’ve been a longtime fan of both Disney and LeSportsac (the very first expensive bag I bought myself was from their collaboration with Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B. line and my LeSportsac collection snow balled from there!), plus It’s a Small World has always been one of my favorite attractions at Disneyland since I was a little girl. So when I was approached by them to review a couple of bags for this particular line I did a little happy dance around my room! 😀

I’ll be giving more details about the giveaway tomorrow (and one of them will be filled with a bunch of special goodies in honor of my upcoming 2 year blogaversary!), but for now here’s my review of a couple of their super cute bags!

The Classic Hobo is not too big and not too small — it’s just right. <– that was so Goldilocks of me. Anyhow, I was able to stick my wallet, make-up bag, planner, a pack of gum, hand sanitizer, and a Cliff Bar, and there was still a bit of room to spare for a few other little things. This is the perfect kind of bag to take on the go — whether you’re hanging out with some friends, going to a concert, running errands, or heading to work. And I love the fact that you can adjust the strap, so you can wear it as a crossbody bag or over the shoulder.

The print of the bag is called “Share Your Dreams” and it features a bunch of little embroidered iconic landmarks from different nations and a charm that has the face from the tower of the attraction. I’m a HUGE fan of Mary Blair, the artist who designed It’s a Small World, and I think that LeSportsac did a lovely job at paying homage to her incredibly adorable iconic designs. It also came with a little pouch that can double as a little makeup bag (but I forgot to take a picture of it. D’oh)!

The other bag I really liked was the Carryall Tote. And true to its name, it really can carry all!

I was able to fit all the items I listed above in the Classic Hobo, along with my bulky Canon SX50 and iPad, and there was definitely room for even more! This tote is ideal for the kind of girl that likes to carry tons of things with her. It can also fit my 13 inch laptop, a water bottle, etc. I think this is the kind of bag I’d take along with me for travel purposes or if I find myself leaving the house to work on my blog elsewhere, that way I can take my camera and laptop with me. It’s also PERFECT for a trip to Disneyland! It’ll hold all the bare necesseties (I’m sorry, that was cheesy) and you can even fit snackies and little souvenirs in case you go shopping in between going on rides and eating Pineapple Dole Whips.

Stay tuned to find out how you can win your very own It’s a Small World purse on tomorrow’s post!

Cheers,
Nina

FTC disclosure: LeSportsac sent me these bags to keep and review. All opinions stated are of my own.

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outfit #1 details – cardigan: Mossimo // Lady & the Tramp tank: Disney x Target (buy here) // rose hair pin: The Icing // purse: c/o LeSportsac (buy here)

outfit #2 details – cardigan + dress: Old Navy (buy here + here) // shoes: Avenue // tote: c/o LeSportsac (buy similar here) //Hyacinth Hippo pin: Walt Disney Family Museum // hot pink belt: Xhileration (came w/a dress) // ring: random boutique fin