Outfit Post: Bestie Edition

November 29, 2012 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

My bestest bestie Shanice’s birthday occured a couple weeks ago and we headed to Sacramento to celebrate with a day of shopping and yummy foods at the Tower Cafe followed by cupcakes at Esther’s. She looked SO cute (and it was hell trying to help her find the right birthday dress — her mom came to the rescue in the end though), so I just had to take pictures of her ensemble to share on my blog. 🙂

Shanice is the only friend I have that LOVES animal print. She’s also the only person I know that managed to rock snake skin and leopard print and not make it look like a hot mess. Obviously, that’s not happening in this outfit, but she’s mixing leopard prints and it looks pretty damn cute.

I got her scarf at H&M a couple of Christmases ago. I’ve seen her wear it on a number of occasions, so I’m glad she really likes it 😀

Shanice’s outfit gets a pop of color with the vibrant hue of mustard yellow from her bag, which was a birthday present from her mom (I think…?).

I found this bracelet at World Market (or Cost Plus, whatever that place is called) and knew immediately that I had to get it for Shanice! To some, it’s just a cute yellow, green, and gold braided bracelet, but I immediately thought of Link from The Legend of Zelda. Like me, Shanice is a HUGE nerd (one of the many reasons why we’re friends), and she’s a ginormous fan of video games — The Legend of Zelda being her favorite.

I make geeky connections to everything.

Our friend Jen gifted her with an earring cuff that she crafted herself with chains made out of 14 k gold fill. If you’d like to rock one of these, you can order one on Jen’s Etsy store Walrus of the Sea. <– plug for the other bestie. Woop!

Shanice has made a few appearances in my blog before, but I don’t think I ever mentioned how we became friends. We met about 5-6 years ago in the newsroom of our community college’s paper where we both worked on the entertainment section. Fun times! Well, not always. Tons of drama was always happening and we somehow got dragged into it. So lame! But we often walked across the street to Barnes & Noble after class and ate cookies and sipped on Passion Tea Lemonades with a pump of raspberry (she taught me how to order fancy Starbucks drinks) and we talked about our fandoms and actors we thought were hot… y’know, regular ‘ol girl things. And she’s been my bestest friend ever since ❤

Cheers,
Nina

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outfit details

Dress: Miss Chievous (Marshalls) // Jacket: Xhiliration (Target) // Boots: Charles Abbie (Ross) // Headband: from some cute store in Japan Town that we can’t remember the name of // Scarf: H&M // Bracelet: Cost Plus/World Market //Ear Cuff: Walrus of the Sea // Bag: Steve Madden

Le Fancy Geek & Nerd

November 27, 2011 Nina Penalosa5 Comments

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and weekend! Sorry I’ve been M.I.A. — I’ve been busy with holiday/family stuff and having epic adventures with my boyfriend, Tim. <— holy shit! For those who’ve been reading my blog for awhile, Tim has made an appearance every now and then since we hang out so damn much. He’s my bestest friend, but things changed about a week ago, and it was all very unexpected. And that’s all I’m going to say about that because I don’t see the need to elaborate on the mushy details. 🙂

But I just wanted to show off how snazzy we looked on Thanksgiving!

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outfit details:

Me:

blazer: Tibi
brooch: vintage
dress: Xhiliration
belt: Target
shoes: American Rag

Tim:

from what I know, everything is H&M and the shoes are from Aldo

geek style

The Caffeine Predicament

October 4, 2011 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

In case you’ve been reading my blog from the beginning, this outfit may look a bit familiar to you (see?). I’m not a celebrity, nor am I “internet famous,” therefore it’s okay to do repeats every now and then. Plus it’s not like it’s the exact same thing — my boots are brand new! I’ve been wanting a pair of Victorian-esque boots and nabbed this pair by Madden Girl at Marshall’s over the weekend — they were on sale and the last pair, AND were my size, AND fit over my calves! If that’s not kismet at it’s finest, then I don’t know what is. Lately I’ve been able to find boots that go over my calves — either my calves are shrinking or designers are being kind to those with voluptuous legs. It’s great, but at the same time not kind on my wallet since I’m a full-fledged boot addict and unemployed. D:

Class was cancelled today so I ran a few errands — my aunt said she’s been getting overcharged on my phone bill because I keep going over data (which is dumb, because I have unlimited data!), so I headed to my phone carrier since I knew Marquis was working today. Once I got there I realized I didn’t have my phone with me. LAME. At least I don’t live too far from the shopping center. Marquis also figured out why my phone hasn’t been able to send text messages to certain people, so yay! I also found out I’m eligible for an upgrade. I shall wait for the iPhone 5 since my Droid X is driving me a bit mad.

Afterwards I wandered around Target, and then bought some bitter spray for Rory at PetSmart so he’ll stop chewing things he’s not supposed to… like my shoes. I’m gonna have to return it though because the little butthead likes the way it tastes. Oi.

My mom has been going on and on about Starbucks’ Salted Caramel Mocha. I finally tried one on my way out of Target and she really wasn’t effing around — that shit is delicious. I wasn’t expecting much, but after the first sip I was like, “Is this the hot, sweet nectar of the gods?”

This gif sums up the way I felt about it after I finished:

But I forgot how much my body disdains coffee and I’m currently feeling a bit lightheaded and nauseous. This totally blows. It’s not fair how I can’t partake in the consumption of coffee. I suppose I could go decaf, but that doesn’t sound too appealing. I guess I’ll just stick with tea. *sigh* Why am I blogging right now? I should be napping or ~~puking~~ something. x___x

/facepalm

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outfit details:

cardigan: Old Navy
belt/dress: Xhiliration (Target)
necklace: vintage
boots: Madden Girl

geek style · shoppin'

Lodi Street Faire

October 2, 2011 Nina Penalosa3 Comments

Every May and October my mom and I wake up at the ass crack of dawn to head to the Lodi Street Faire. Why so early? To get first dibs on all the goods, of course! In May I wrote a post with 10 tips about shopping at these kinds of things (Tip #10: Get there early).

You can find the aforementioned post here.

We ended up getting there around 7 am (an hour later than we would’ve liked), but I still managed to score a bunch of awesome swag. My first find was a vintage Wicket coin bank (I love Ewoks, and my dog looks like one — I had to have it). The vendor originally asked for $10, then I asked if she’d take $8, and she was like, “Well, I originally wanted $15 for it… blah blah,” but then she went ahead and gave it to me for $8. LE WOOT! <– Tip #2: Don’t be afraid to negotiate.

Seriously, it doesn’t hurt to try and bargain with vendors. I have weird social anxiety issues, so I always had a problem doing this — my mom still has to encourage me to ask if they’ll lower the price. *nervous laughter* I think I’m getting a bit better at it though! And a lot of vendors are usually willing to negotiate the prices of their merchandise with shoppers.

Other items I scored:

Snake bracelet (marked at $16, I asked for $10, but the lowest they’d go was $12)
Nefertiti necklace ($5 — it kind of reminds me of my Mona Lisa necklace)
Enamel horse pendant w/chain (marked at $32.50, I asked the vendor if they’d take it for $25 and I ended up getting it for $27 something because they added tax… weird)
Japanese lion musical pendant ($10 — it winds up in the back and plays music!)
Not pictured, but my mom and I also split on a box full of silk bow ties ($20)

It was nice and cold this morning and a cool breeze came in around 8, but by 11 the sun was blaring. Can’t the Central Valley just have real Fall weather already? I’m ready to wear cardigans, scarves, and boots ALL DAY LONG. I’ve been ready since Winter ended! D:

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outfit details:

scarf: Missoni for Target
cardigan: Mossimo (Target)
camisole: Xhiliration (Target)
belt: some Target brand… I love Target, okay? Sheesh.
jeggings: H&M
boots: Madden Girl
purse: Cynthia Rowley

geek style

Project Bow Tie

September 23, 2011 Nina PenalosaLeave a comment

I guess this is my go-to pose when someone else is taking a picture of me.

Anyway, yesterday was quite eventful as I ventured off to a side of Stockton I rarely go to to pick up Shanice! She’s not my first non-familial, non-driving instructor passenger, but she is the first friend I drove with on the freeway. Crazy crap. In case you don’t know, I have always had major anxiety issues about driving, I’ve put off getting my license for so many years and finally got it last year… but only started driving around by myself for nearly a month.

After grabbing lunch and shopping around Target and Ross for a bit, we met up with Jen at JoAnn’s. Jen offered to make Rory a bunch of bow ties, so we checked out some remnants and swatches for cute patterns, which you can check out in the video below:

I’m still kinda iffy about my final decision on the green fabric. >__<

Rory is coming home tomorrow! I’ve prepped his bed, went shopping with Auntie Nelly and got a crap ton of things (crate, booster seat (lulz!), treats, etc). Tonight I’m rearranging my room and hanging out with Rory’s god father.

Expect tons of Rory posts in the near future. 😀

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outfit details: