.: hi beb! :.

Look what I found! :D  Such a cute video by Elliot Sellers. My favorite song of the moment. Now I'm excited to see the concert!

.: What's up, Pentatonix? :.

Love them on the Sing-Off, so glad they won!! Look how awesome they are!

Here's the link to their official YouTube channel.

.: futuristic past :.

I just stumbled upon this and was in awe with the structures. Also drawn to this post. So eerie to see abandoned town...
via Crack Two

.: nostalgia :.

.: Growing up is hard to do :.

I'm not grown up at all. Love these taters, they're so cute!
 Created by Josh Selig

.: Love this :.

It was the soundtrack of Sex and Lucia; but I heard it on a couple of Mad Men's episodes. It's so beautifully composed, and somehow reminds me of both Up and Cinema Paradiso.

:: revisit Seattle ::

 I'm so happy to be back in Seattle again. I just love the city! This time I'm taking my time exploring the city. The transportation system is so much better than San Francisco and they're three times cleaner. The commuters are polite and well-behaved. It was a pleasant ride from Tukwila (where we were staying). Saw a lot of fun murals, gorgeous houses that looks a bit like they belong in European countrysides, so many trees and flowers! Love this city!

.: Soegija by Garin Nugroho :.

The music makes me so very sad. Whatever happened to Indonesian music industry?

.: localized :.

I found new places to throw my moolah away when we went to 3rd St Promenade a couple of days ago. Brandy Melville is like a slouchy wonderland; full of soft, oversized, drapey t-shirts that fits almost everyone. I always wanted to try the casual, simple, shabby look of Southern Californians but for whatever reason it just does not work for me. While some girls can look super chic with slouchy, off shoulder t-shirt; it makes me look like an oversized homeless. So I skipped the tees and go straight to the accessories bins. Look what I found!

Aren't they fun? They're as close as I can get to real hardware.

Another store that I found was this store. They have AMAZING stuff. The patterns are beautiful, love the silky blouses and the embroideries are gorgeous. They are also crazy expensive. Maybe one day I can afford them. We'll see.

.: Travel Illustrated:.

 I'm loving this blogsy thing! I'm using Pulse on my iPad and most of the time when I saw a great article or blog post I just bookmarked them; hoping to share them later when I'm on the computer. Now I can immediately share them :) Remember the 'They Draw and cook' website I posted awhile ago? Now they come up with the travel version. They Draw and Travel features illustrative maps and they are amazing. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

By Jennifer Reynolds

 

 By Kelsey Garrity-Riley

.: new way to blog?:.

I'm trying a new app called 'blogsy' to do this post. It looks pretty straightforward, and i can post my instagram pics instantly without having to save it to my computer first.  

 Last week I really, really wanted to eat kaastengels and after scouring for recipes i got one that looks pretty tame for a newbie. It did call for a 'mature' edam cheese. How do i know it's mature or simply childish? :p I did not know, so I ended up with a rather mild kaastengels. It did not have the pungent, cheesy smells that store-bought kaastengels does. But at least I learned something new :)

.: Seattle :.

When my parents were here for the holiday we took them to Seattle. I absolutely love Seattle; not only because I love the weather, but it also reminds me a lot of San Francisco. Funny how I use to hate San Francisco with a passion :D Seattle is gorgeous. Too bad we didn't get to explore Bainbridge island, it sounded lovely according to this book that I read after the trip. I hope we can visit it again in the near future :)

 A grand welcome at the airport

 Gingerbread house exhibition at our hotel

Pikes Market at night

There IS another way...

Piroshky Piroshky delights

Best. Glazed. Donut. Ever @ Top Pot

First Starbucks in the world!!! Of course I have to go although 

we have to wait for a while... in the rain...

Fresh shrimp!

Fresh fruits & veggies.

.: recipe, illustrated :.

So happy when I found this site through Creature Comforts. You can search the recipe by ingredients, meal type (and if you're like me who only care about how pretty things look: by illustration style) and you can submit your own. Here are a few of my favorites:

by Wilma Sanchez 

by Sara Zampedri

 by Fabiana Attanasio

.: Gift Guide #3 :.

1. Olivia Headboard Decal from Blik

2. Pretty pillow by Sukan Art

3. Batik Tea Towel by Tulisan

4. Laser Wall Clock by decoylab

5. Red Riding Hood tea set

6. Heart cup & saucer set

.: Gift Guide #2 :.

I want to give these to myself, really. Not that I'm claiming that I'm an artsy gal, but with these I can pretend to be one.

1. Spotted Clutch from Anthropologie

2. Orla Kiely Scarf from Pop Deluxe

3. Work/Life from Uppercase

4. Dottie Angel from Uppercase

5. Leather Satchel from Cambridge Satchel Co.

6. Chains watch from La Mer Collections

7. Mini purse necklace from Kiko's Attic

8. La Sardina camera

9. iPad Sleeve by Clara Uribe (store temporarily closed)

10. Brooch by Yoshie Watanabe and Yayako Uchida

.: Gift Guide #1 :.

While the argument goes on about the true meaning of Christmas, bloggers around the world stand corrected: Christmas is for shopping and gifting. Almost every blogs that I haunt published their own version of holiday gift guides. (All of them makes me want to shop, naturally). My favorite is still Ez' Gifted Magazine. It's free, full of pretty goodies and you get printable gift tags. I'm trying to compress the gift guides into my own fave selection of goodies that I may want to get for myself (ha!). Today I have the girly girl gift guide:

1. Handmade bangle by Sara Kim

2. Lace & bow by Juicy Couture

3. Knitted lace scarf from Shop Ruche

4. Glittery bow flats from Elle Shop

5. Tokyo Milk soap from Anthropologie

6. Cabuchon Resin necklace from Nest Pretty Things

.: beautifully shot video :.

this is just amazingly meticulous!!

.: afternoon snack :.

.: Sing Off Wednesdays :.

Sing Off has replaced Glee from my watch-list. It's just so much more realistic and fun to watch the arrangements. I think Pentatonix did a great job last week. What a fun performance!

.: persistent summer :.

Aargh, summer has returned. Why?! It's October dammit. I really despise summer; the one season I never look forward to. And our bedroom seems to absorb all the heat it can get; no air circulation whatsoever! I hope summer ends soon and never to return again. Ever. Good thing I got this from Dogster's newsletter: a blog about one traveling shih tzu named Raja. What an appropriate name for a shih tzu! He's super cute and has seen so much of the world. Read more about Raja here.