I was only 14 years old, old enough to scar the delicate framework of my self-esteem, when I was caught wearing shoulder pads to school. I still can’t get my Mom to admit she was so wrong to make me wear shoulder pads back in the day. I get that it was the 80’s and all but I was still a little girl for chrissake. This obnoxious jock (but cute of course) came running up to me and grabbed my shoulders and asked me if I was going to join the football team. Would you have died too?

Fast forward 20 years and here I am playing with shoulder pads again! Well strong structured shoulders at least. I guess garment technology has improved since he 80’s and padding is not necessary to sculpt a look. Very good thing. No embarrassing white pads flying out of your jacket.

What do the rest of you think? I get a sense that the strong shoulder trend is not one that is going to take off with the masses. Maybe that’s a good thing. It certainly doesn’t look right on just everybody. I think it helps if you have a stronger profile to begin with. If you’re dainty and delicate this look might swallow you up for dinner.

I went el frugal route and picked up this zippered cardigan with sharper shoulders at H&M over the weekend, (see 1st photo below). Barely makes the cut as a strong shoulder top but it’ll do. And for under $30 it’ll tide me over until I find the real strong shoulder piece for my closet.

The rest of these were strong shoulder looks that inspired me..

Was this fad was a consequence of buckling down and recycling old goods from your man? Because unless you are dating a manorexic I don’t see how his old blazer would work for you. It’s more like “Old Mom’s Blazer” if anything.. (I managed to find some decent blazers in my mom’s stash). Well either way I think it’s worth the while to try to rummage up old some old blazers — the longer style that we wore back in the 80’s!

Ways to Wear It:

1. Over a long flowy dress. If you bought into the long flowy dress trend in the summer, squeeze a few more wears out of it by throwin on some leggings underneath and a thin turtleneck and blazer.
2. Over slacks or jeans. Add some flavor to the look by folding up the sleeves of the blazer (like so).
   
3. You could also try to pull it off over leggings, maybe add some cute knee boots. Haven’t tried it myself though so you’re on your own if it fails miserably

Shop for the Boyfriend Blazer

Luxe for Less Options

1. Frenchi $21.00
   
   
   
2. Silence & Noise Boyfriend Blazer $49.99
   

Luxe Options

1. Elizabeth and James Blazer $394
   
2. NILI LOTAN Black Boyfriend Blazer $644
   

I finally got the Summer Scarf I’ve been looking for… or maybe I should call it my Fall Scarf I got this one at Nordstroms, where there was a satisfyingly large selection of scarves — both square and rectangular. I picked this blue, grey, and white checkered one since it seemed muted but still flattering against my face. The sales lady showed me how to wrap it once around my neck (from front to back) and then tucked the loose ends under the “V” shape. Such a simple tip but helpful, thanks lady!

So here I am on University Ave in Palo Alto. Did I manage to attain the casual, just here to kick-back look? Well either way, I was happy and content with my outfit this day since I was comfy and maintained the perfect body temperature with my scarf pairing. Can’t wait to try it again with something else!

I’m so lucky and my manager hooked me up phat with the 15" Mac Book Pro! The fact that the first one I got was bunk (hard drive was toasted) is besides the point… just look this piece of work. It’s so smooth to the touch, everything within the interface glides… the backlight of the keyboard and apple logo..

This baby needs something to wear when she goes out for her next hot date — my next big meeting at work! Take your pick…

 

                

   

   

            Get Your Own!         See Comments    

   

 

 

It’s been months since I mean to post these photos of my black beauties… I got them while shopping in the city with Grunchkin back in March (which BTW I really am going to post those videos I took! — just need to find the right video editing software. If anyone has any tips pls let me know!). I had been on the hunt for some black flats.. ok not really but I can keep telling myself that. Anyhow, Chanel done me well. You can never go wrong with Chanel. These still look brand spanking new after around 8 wears. They are so sturdy it’s like cleaning a car when I wipe ‘em down. Due to the solidness of the shoe and them being flats, which mean your feet do a lot of bending in the shoe while walking, the back of my ankles get a little irritated from the rubbing. I have my own little foot comfort remedies for that that of course. Let me know what you all think of these. And keep in mind.. I’m 29 now so I’ve got to start thinking about my back… cut down on those 5 inchers..

Ratings (Scale 1-5)

Design: 5

Comfort factor: 4.5

Quality: 5

Price: $$$$

Purchased: Saks Fifth Avenue, San Francisco

I’ll have to provide a legend for this new rating system I just pulled out of my tushy?

Lately while fingering through the racks at the mall I haven’t been able to tell whether it’s a top or a dress,
and the guys are wondering whether we’ve left the house w/o our pants
on. Yes.. that means the mini or should i say micro dress is very much
in these days. I’m going to have to kick it up a little at my
kickboxing this month if I want to be ready for this summer trend..

It’s been awhile since I put together one of these collages.. hope you find something you like. Just remember — wear it bare! A nice tan won’t hurt either.

Click on each item to go directly to the website.

Mai at Fusion Boutique Blog pointed out some super cutey, playful clutches at Little Odd Forest. It is an odd little forest indeed… The site sells a rambling of handmade goodies from tees to bags to papergoods and more.

I must agree with you Mai that the clutches are the cutest…

At $32.00/pop I could get one for every day of the week Thanks for the find Mai!

For those of you who don’t know me, I got married last
November, 2006.  Those of you who were there I’m sure
recall how chilly it was that night But I hope you also retained some
fond memories of the ceremony at Villa Montalvo, the reception on the
veranda, YS and my first dance to “Everytime I Close My Eyes” by
Babyface, the pink roses and peonies, the navy satin table dressings
with ivory satin accents, the matching navy satin bows adorning the
4-tiered wedding cake, and the wedding stationary perfectly coordinated
with the wedding invitations… of course you do right??

Now that you understand my theory behind Luxe Mixin‘, you can see that I’d most definately mix some luxeness into my own wedding! The goal was to incorporate the most luxurious of things with the most practical and affordable in such a way that the wedding guests would never know what was high-end, low-end, and homemade since it would all come together to create an elegant and tasteful experience.

Here is a peek into my wedding as well as all the resources I collected over the span of those 5 months of madness (hopefully some of you going through the process can leverage). Feel free to ask me any questions!

luxemix@gmail.com

The Venue

Villa Montalvo

Saratoga, California

The Invitations

Letterpress by Hello! Lucky

Wedding Programs, Place Cards, Menus, CD Favors

Luxe Mix Designs (Me!!) — see below for files

Wedding envelopes from Envelope Mall

I printed a “Wedding Playlist” on the other side of the dinner menu which had the playlist of our wedding CD with descriptions of why we loved each song on the CD.

Ribbon was from JKM Ribbon — SOOO much cheaper here than in fabric stores!

Wedding Flowers

by Jacklyn Le of Le Bouquetier

Bride’s Bouquet — peonies, roses

Bridesmaids Bouquets — roses, callalillies

Groom and Groomsmens’ Boutoniers — callalillies

Other Boutoniers — cymbimdium orchids

Table centerpieces — roses, cymbidium orchids

Party Rentals

(Tables, Chivari Chairs, Satin Linens, Heaters, Pin Spot Lighting, Up-lighting)

by Classic Party Rentals (SF)

Bridal Party

Bridesmaid Dresses by Alvina Valenta

Groomsmen Tuxedo’s by After Hours

Flower Girls

Dresses by Little Angels (I got these at their store location in the Great Mall, Milpitas)

Wedding Dress

by Vackyuunzung

Wedding Garter

by Wedding Keepers

Wedding Hair and Makeup

by Jonathon Nguyen

vantoc@aol.com

Wedding Cake

by Bijan Bakery

Flavors: Tiramisu (2 layers) and Chocolate Mousse (2 layers)

Wedding Cake Mongram Crystal Topper

by Toppers with Glitz

Catering

Hors d’ Oeuvres and Main Course by Le Papillon

Photography

by Jade Photo Studio / Jade Studio Productions

Wedding Favors

Apple iPods

Maid of Honor and Bridesmaid Mugs

Bridemaid Dress Sachets (can’t find the link!)

Resources

Bookmarks

Below are all the Kaboodle lists I put together while researching/planning my wedding. They contain all the sites I found and liked, or the items I was considering using within my wedding. Yes, I’m obsessive.

Wedding

Flowers

Cakes

Bridesmaid Gifts

Wedding Favors

Other Helpful Resources

Wedding Itinerary Template – I must give proper credit where credit’s due. The Choister (aka Mayor of San Francisco since she knows just about everyone here) and her friends supplied this template to me. It was a lifesaver. It provides the basic structure for the entire “day-of” timeline. Hope you don’t mind I’m passing this along Choister!

Wedding Program Illustrator Template
page 1 | page 2

This is an Illustrator file I created which if you print it front and back on one sheet of paper can be folded and cut to create a pretty cool wedding program.

Wedding Menu

Wedding CD Playlist

Wedding Invitation Etiquette (how to word stuff).