My coworker at work has turn me on to Jo Malone’s very latest Earl Grey and Cucumber perfume. She smelt wonderful and I asked her what she was wearing. I need to also smell this good. It was to my dismay that apparently Jo Malone has came out with a selection of perfumes inspired by tea. I say dismay because Ms. Malone does not make perfumes for the likes of broke young urban professionals like myself. Nay! Her perfumes are for older urban executive women and ladies who lunch. While, I aspire to be the CEO of corporate America someday, I have to woefully admit I am not there yet. My perfumes are generous gifts of younger sisters who are better with their money than I.

I have always been more of a tea girl than a coffee girl. Blame it on my upbringing (I am Asian. The point was already moot and decided before I was born!). Besides, tea brings to mind images of porcelain cups and quiet mornings. Chic pearls and classic bob cuts. Coffee on the other hand makes me think of busy city streets, high heels and long glamourous hair. While I swing from one end of the spectrum to the other (remember that women are complicated creatures. We cannot be pigeon holed), I must admit to lingering at the end of classic (or as my sister says “boring”) rather than glam.

I love my current scent, Marc Jacob’s Daisy. So the bottle is kind of juvenile. Gold and plastic daisies not being my thing but the scent itself is light, fresh and delightful. I need to find a new one though because while the scent is pretty, for whatever reason, I am the only one who can tell that I have anything on. (And Cory but usually only when he is so close to me, the perfume I am wearing is not what he is thinking about!). My bottle is also on its last leg and I do have a birthday coming up, so maybe I won’t have to purchase that very expensive bottle for myself. I can get some unsuspecting sod to do it for me (like my husband!).

What fragrances do you love? What are you wearing currently?

Picture credits: The Scent Critic

Me? I just had the salad bar.

I bought him cologne which fell nicely in my “under-100″ price range. I am a great gift giver unlike some people I know *ahem* but I find the problem with couples and gifts is that we always start out strong, you know? You always get them the great gifts: the Kindle, the PS3, the Wii, the digital camera. After a couple of years, the gifts sort of dwindle, like you hit this plateau of “oh good, I don’t have to impress you any more. Gotcha!” or more often that not, it’s “You have everything you want because I got them for you already and I cannot afford anything else you really want. Like the round trip tickets to the Bahamas”.

Damn.

Should have started with smaller expectations. If I got a do-over I would have started with the cologne and ended with the PS3. So if you just got into a relationship or have yet to get into one, take my word for it. The first birthday, just start out small. A card. You know, just to keep expectations low. If she/he sticks around, you know you’ve got a winner. Then you can build up from there. Besides, if you ask me, its good shoestring sense too. I mean, you got to see if they are worth the investment. Nothing like buying them that new gaming console and then you break up. That would really suck.

I am not a Catholic though I think they have beautiful cathedrals, comforting rituals and absurdly long weddings. (Have you ever been to one of those? Srsly. Forget yoga. Just go to mass. It’s a workout). I have never really “celebrated” Lent (though I think observed is the word I should use. Celebrating abstainance from something really seems masochistic but that’s Catholics for you! (If you are Catholic. I am really just kidding.) My current church home has a practice of observing Lent which I decided to participate in. I believe that we don’t earn our way into Heaven. Thank God because I would have been doomed from the very start. However, an acknowledgement of the sacrifice of Christ and a 40 day meditation seems appropriate before Easter.

I have given up shopping. Both looking and the actual act of purchasing. I don’t actually buy a lot. Not that I needed to save money (though I really do) but rather it has become very obvious to me that window shop a lot because I want things. Which is not bad in and of itself. However, I want things that say to people “I have taste” and “I am beautiful” and more importantly “I am better than you”. So really a lot of things I covet has really been coveting a lifestyle that (a) I cannot afford and (b) that is superficial.

I am not going to lie. Lent started on Wednesday and it hasn’t been easy. In fact its not even a week and its sort of killing me. I had no idea what a habit it has been. A comfort. After a long day at work to browse through my favorites: Asos, Modcloth, Anthropology and lust and dream after beautiful clothes, beautiful wears, a future present that I can one day afford. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe it is wrong to want to better your life. Or to want to be stylish or have a beautiful clothes. Rather what is in question in my case is motivation. What does motivate me to want beautiful clothes or a better life. Do I want beautiful clothes because they make me feel beautiful, more confident? Yes. But perhaps a bigger part of me want beautiful clothes because I want people to say “You have flawless taste”.

I am trying to cultivate new habits instead. I am cleaning a lot (and feeling like someone in an episode of Hoarders). I am rereading old favorite books (because I can’t buy Patrick Rothfuss’s, “The Wise Man’s Fear” that I have only been waiting its release for a year. Not bitter or anything. I mean, just sayin’). I am praying more (because this crap is hard than because I am more spiritual). Worked a garage sale whose proceeds are going to a good cause (got a sunburn after announcing to all the girls “I am Asian! I don’t burn, I tan!” Famous last words). *sigh* And this is only day 4 out of 40. This ought to be interesting.

What are you giving up for Lent?

Revamp my blog look. Problem with this is that you need to have skillz (yes, that is an intentional z in there) with coding: an apparent secret language that I am not privy to. Should I work on improving my coding language *shudder* or outsource it to someone talented like Yellow & Savvy? Alas, that would mean spending money, which at the moment I am low on… gah.

I have been feeling nesty (Don’t you hate that word? I hate that word but ‘decorative’ just won’t do) lately. Redo my bedroom in peaceful shades of neutrals. (Do you not notice that that bed does not have any normal pillows? Do they sleep on those bolsters? That strikes me as terribly uncomfortable. Do people actually do this?) Bedroom found at Design Sponge.

I would buy some nudie shoes that have been all over the fashion shows. Strangely attracted to this Marc by Marc Jacobs shoe. Unfortunately, shoestring friendly Marc Jacobs is not (though in the interest of full disclosure, I do have a lovely – quickly diminishing bottle of Marc Jacob’s daisy perfume which was a thoughtful Christmas present from my sister years ago).

So instead, I will settle for this Aldo inspired *ahem* shoe. That is, when they go on sale.

Speaking of sale, if you are shopping for a wedding shoe that won’t break the bank, Aldo has a ridiculous sale going on with an additional 50% off some women’s clearance with a lot of white/cream/ metallic shoes for under $25. And I am not being paid to tell you this. I am just a good Samaritan like that (and isn’t it always the case when you need a specific something like - oh, I don’t know, a wedding shoe, you can never find it?).

What would you get these days if you weren’t on a shoestring budget/ planning for a wedding/ un-broke?

Bouquets wrapped in their prints at this Basin Harbour Club wedding by Orchard Cove Photography.

A pretty tie. If you are not crafty, get your own Liberty of London ties by Elise Bergman found at OneWed.

I am also partial to bowties.

Homemade favors covered with Liberty prints from here.

Are buntings ever going to go out of style? Doesn’t it seem like they have been in vogue a day and a half longer than neccessary? If they are not going to go away, make your own or if you are uncrafty like yours truly, outsource it out. Sometimes I think, if I see yet another wedding with buntings, I am going to but-ting someone. And then other times I think “Aw. I loves it”. I swear I have issues.

Make your own something new and something blue. Purl bee helps you out.

I am bit by the Liberty of London bug and it doesn’t help that it seems to be everywhere. If you missed the Liberty of London and Target collaboration, you can get your fix with JCrew (at a much higher price point might I add!)

I cannot help but wonder if this is just a fad that in a couple of years we might find ourselves going “Why did I let my grandmother’s couch vomit all over my groomsmen’s ties? What the crap was I thinking?” or are we going to look back and say “What a gorgeous English countryside floral wedding?” What do you think?

Tying the knot. What a beautiful piece.

From This is Glamourous who got it from Brooklyn Bride who got it from Finn Jewelry.

(I know. I really need to get more original. When my life slows down I promise!)

I know the trend is towards chunkier jewelry which I love for its own ability to be like a wearable piece of art but really, I still gravitate toward beautiful dainty feminine pieces ala this by Finn Jewelry.

Vera Wang has now done a line of wedding dress for David’s Bridal and by the looks of it, it ain’t half bad at all. It’s styling is pretty similar to her normal line with football fields of tulle and romance. The gowns range from $600 to $1400 which is nothing to sniff your nose at and if you happen to get it secondhand… well, then, that’s positively shoestring budget friendly! Unlike a normal David’s Bridal dress, you have to order the dress 5 months in advance which actually is pretty normal for a boutique bridal lines that usually require you to order your dress 6 months in advance. So if you are thinking about one, remember that oh so important fact because paying rush fees which can run you another $250 to $500, makes a lot of difference in that final budget count.

Mmm… I’ll take one of each please and wear it to work if I have to (and pray they fit in my cubicle).

Photo credits: Stylite.com

My husband’s gift giving skills, sadly are in need of some work. For example, this Christmas I got … (wait for it) … a candle for Christmas. Let me repeat that. My beloved, got me a candle. Yes, what people usually reserve for White Elephant Christmas gift exchanges and housewarming parties. To be fair, he has also given me some amazing gifts like my Kindle and tickets to the ballet but as a whole, lets just say its a good thing I didn’t marry him for his gift giving skills.

So, whats a girl to do? If your hubby is a bad gift giver like mine, here are some things I have done/ am doing:

• Get your sister to tell him what you want – This sounds great in theory because theorectically you get what you want without the weird dilemma of “oh-you-got-this-for-me-because-I-told-you-to-I-might-as-well-have-just-send-myself-flowers”. On the other hand, I hope your sister is more subtle than mine: “My sister told me to tell you, this is what she wants for Valentine’s Day”. Oy.
• Take him to the mall and stop very obviously in front of things you like and point them out – If your man is blind and deaf as well as a bad gift giver, this back-fires horribly. Then you just end up with a grumpy honey or of course he will remember that one thing you didn’t really mean for him to buy although you love it. “Sorry honey, I cannot afford a $7000 Valentino trench coat. What do you mean you pointed out other stuff?”
• Buy yourself something and then tell him what you got for him to give to you – this has almost no drawbacks. You always get what you want, you don’t have to beat around the bush, he doesn’t have to go to the mall, everyone is happy! On the other hand, you had to buy it yourself.
• Don’t celebrate anything – Yeah, this isn’t even worth talking about
• Write a list of everything you want, check it twice, he better be good – this is Shoestring Boy’s torture of choice. He gets to somewhat pick and pat himself on the back and you are sure to get something you want.

Hopefully sooner or later, he gets the picture. Till then, we work with what we got, eh ladies? What was the worst gift you’ve gotten? I use to think it was a gift card (yes, a gift card) but I think the candle has trumped that.

It is sad that I can only get married once.

(Okay, so technically I could pull an Elizabeth Taylor half a gajillion times but I happen to like this man and I’d like to keep him around)

If I had another wedding, I might have to work these laser cut medals in there somewhere.

Angie of Norwegian Wood actually made these for her wedding in July for her bridesmaids and groomsmen in lieu of corsages and bouts.

(seriously, crafty people make me sick)

You want your very own? Get them: here at $35 a pop. And check out the rest of Angie’s awesome wedding here.

Of cotton sundresses and flip-flops

And tanning by the pool

Pretty bikinis and pretty underthings to pad around the house in that isn’t flannel or fleece

Driving around with the windows down and the radio up

Cold drinks on the porch with fried seafood: fried oysters and ceviche. Yum!

I am ready.

Photo by liebemarlene who has the most amazing vintage style