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

All I Want For Christmas

December 12, 2012 Nina Penalosa5 Comments

If you want something, you must put it out there so the universe will know. I’m not sure where I heard that from, but if that’s the case, then consider this blog post containing my Christmas Wish List as me putting what I want out in the universe.

My birthday is exactly one month from today too, so I suppose this post could also be called “All I Want For Christmas AND My Birthday, In Case I Don’t Get It For Christmas.” Chances of me getting anything off of this list are slim to none, so… wait, why I am making this list again? Oh right… to put it out in the universe. Alright, so here goes!

* Literary Pullovers & T-Shirts by Out of Print Clothing:

I’m trying to stay away from asking for books since I have more than enough books that I have yet read, so clothing adorned with my favorite pieces of literature should be more than appropriate! I’ve been drooling over all the goodies at Out Of Print Clothing for quite sometime now. Years in fact. The Great Gatsby (unisex small) and Alice in Wonderland (ladies xl) pullovers have caught my fancy and so has the The Sun Also Rises tee (ladies xxl).

Like how I conveniently added what sizes I need? 😉

* The Catcher in the Rye Locket by Sparkle Lab:

The Catcher in the Rye book locket w/ chain (large)

I want literary inspired jewelry too, please! My copy of The Catcher in the Rye is just the plain white cover, but I really want the one with the carousel horse. Rather than getting another copy, why not get this necklace instead? 🙂 It saves space on the bookshelf and would make a good addition to any outfit!

* The Fault In Our Stars Necklace by Authored Adornments

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Antiqued Bronze Book Page Necklace

A cute little necklace containing words from one of my favorite books that was written by one of my heros? Yes please!

* Doctor Who TARDIS Robe from ThinkGeek:

Okay, so this robe isn’t the cutest thing ever, however it looks super cozy and I really want to wear it so I can spin around the house saying, “vwoomp… vwooomp… vwooomp… eeee oooo … eeee oooo…” Don’t judge me.

BTW, I think I’d need this in a medium. Boyfriend, are you reading this? Mother? Friends?

It’s also a bit cheaper here.

* Chewbacca Lego Earrings by Rockets and Rainbows:

Chewbacca Lego Earrings - Statement Drop Earrings with Beadwork and Gold Chains

Do I have to explain why I want these? They’re fancy AND geeky. And, oh hey, my blog’s name happens to be Le Fancy Geek. Coincidence? Also, they were made by Jennifer Landa. If you don’t know who she is, then you need to Google her IMMEDIATELY because she’s awesome and is one of my interweb heroes.

* Lesportsac Bags:

It’s a Small World – Picture Tote in ‘Midnight Harmony’ print
Manoush – Chou Chou Crossbody bag
It’s a Small World – Deluxe Everyday Bag in the ‘Fancy That’ print

My inner bag hag is hurtin’ for more purses since I’ve been eliminating a lot from my collection. I don’t really have a nice everyday black bag, and I really dig the coin purse closure and little details on this Manoush x Lesportsac purse. And I also really like the fact that it’s an over-the-shoulder kind of bag. No’mo sore shoulders! 🙂 And the It’s A Small World bags… I don’t need to explain why I want those. You all know I love Disney and Mary Blair. Plus I already blogged about how much I those bags not too long ago.

* Longchamp ‘Le Pilage’ Tote:

Longchamp bags are classic, non-fussy, and easy to store (they fold right up!). I got a little navy blue one when I went to Paris 10 years ago in the duty free store at the airport, but I gave it to my mom since I found that it doesn’t store all the things I need on the go. This ‘Le Pilgae’ tote is the perfect size! I really love it in the ‘Fir’ shade (pictured above) or ‘Bordeux.’

It can be found here.

* Membership to D23:

I’m a Disney fan and D23 is the official Disney fan club. It all makes perfect sense!

* Rarity v-neck from RedBubble:

Rarity is one of my many spirit animals. And this shirt by BambooDog is ridiculously adorable!

* Daisy Duck locket by Disney Couture:

Daisy Duck was my favorite as a kid, but I grew very annoyed with the lack of Daisy Duck dolls, shirts, and what-have-you so I switched to Minnie since she was more accessible. This locket would FINALLY allow me to rep my love for Daisy Duck, who seems to always get forgotten. I mean, all the times I’ve gone to Disneyland (and I’ve been there A LOT) she’s NEVER been there. What’s up with that?

* Batman Varsity Hoodie from Hot Topic:

I’ve always liked varsity jackets and Batman, so the two combined make for a seriously awesome combination! How cute would this be with a pleated skirt and boots? AH!

* Mad Men Season 5 DVD:

Mad Men is on of the only TV shows that I’ve been collecting on DVD consistently. Can you imagine how sad I was that all the seasons except for this one were on sale during Black Friday? RAGE!!! And this season was so ridiculously well executed with the storyline. And I love me some Christina Hendricks… and Jon Hamm, of course.

* Gift Cards:

So many people say that gift cards are inpersonal, but I think they’re just as thoughtful as any other gift because it’s like the giver is saying, “I want you to be able to get whatever YOU want!” Gift cards to the following would be greatly appreciated: Amazon.com, Etsy, TJ Maxx/Marshalls, Ross, Disney Store, H&M, Forever 21, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes so I can buy fancy apps for my iPad.

Well, that’s all I can think of off the top of my head. I know there’s a few more things, but I do believe that the contents of this blog are more than enough! Have any of you made wish lists yet?

Cheers,
Nina

the biblio files

The Fault In Our Stars

March 25, 2012 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

“My thoughts are stars I can’t fathom into constellations.”

I’ve been itching to read a book, but I have that typical 1st world issue where I have a shelves upon shelves lined with books I have yet to read, yet I don’t feel like reading any of them. I want something new. Something different. And I knew I wanted something John Green because I have been so anxious to get my hands on The Fault In Our Stars or Looking For Alaska. Tim presented me with my very own copy of The Fault In Our Stars on Friday night. Yay! He had his own copy (that I was supposed to borrow), but it was dogeared and passages he liked were underlined, so he gave me a copy of my own to dogear and underline (although I don’t particularly like writing in my books). ❤

At 11:30 pm I was immersed in 16-year-old Hazel Grace’s universe, a worldly girl diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She meets Augustus Waters at a Cancer Kids Support Group (which she isn’t fond of going to) whose been NEC for 14 months. It’s the age old boy meets girl formula… I don’t think I have to explain what happens between them, right? John Green’s writing is simple yet poignant. I found myself reading until past 1 am, and when I woke up the next morning I read well into the afternoon and became an emotional wreck. I don’t want to give the plot away, but let’s just say I became emotionally invested in the characters. I had a full on sobfest and was just a heaping mess full of overflowing thoughts. John Green’s way of writing and storytelling just got to me. That talented scribbler got me to ugly cry! Like so:

And of course, since we’re dealing with cancer in this book, I couldn’t help but look at my own life. Here I am, slightly healthy, no sign of any life threatening diseases (that I know of), and what am I doing with myself? Nothing. I work at my old, low paying job as a reading tutor which is something, I suppose. I’m living with my family in my podunk hometown that’s damn near claiming bankruptcy, feeling overly pressured to conform to society by means of getting a well-paying job (and fast!), and I’m not nearly devoted to writing fiction as I was when I was in school. What happened? What am I doing with myself? Where’d my drive go?

I tend to have a love/hate relationship with books that make me think like that and put me in a state of depression. But at the same time feeling that kind of depressed is a good thing. It’s motivating. It makes you want to go out and do something. Being depressed by way of unrequited love is way worse because you can’t do anything about it. Being depressed by way of not being happy with your life is better because at least you know you can do something about it… does that make sense?

The Fault In Our Stars is gut wrenchingly beautiful and inspiring. I’m finding that stories are flowing in my head again (I just need to make sure I buckle down and write). And yes, you will probably get ugly-crying-face too, but it’s completely worth it.

This wasn’t much of a review, but I just feel like this book has left an indelible mark on me and I urge whoever reads this blog to get their hands on a copy and I hope it makes some sort of impact on you as well. 🙂