Clothes Spin: Gray Dress Love [Flashback Friday]

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year!

It's also Flashback Friday, so it's fashion flashback time to one of my favorite dresses, a gray Forever 21 frock. I was wearing the exact same dress yesterday, so here's a look at all the other times I wore it. (I'm not a celebrity who doesn't repeat clothes. I wear them until they fall apart! Also, Kate Middleton and Michelle Obama are my idols when it comes to this.)

Date Night

The dress is too short and sheer not to be worn with leggings/tights. When I'm feeling girly, I just wear it with flats.

Forever 21 gray dress with black belt, Una Rosa leggings, black flats (forgot where I got them), Longchamp LM Metal bag in Steel

Food Trip: Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant - First Visit

I love Japanese food, so I'm always on the lookout for a nice Japanese place. That is why when my college friends had a meetup, I suggested Watami. It's a new Japanese restaurant at the new Glorietta wing that is not a katsu place.

THE VIBE

At first we actually walked into Lugang Cafe next door by mistake. The two restaurants had signs on a pole between them that were a little confusing. When we walked into Watami they said people going to Lugang sometimes end up at their restaurant too.

Watami looks really polished, but manages to maintain a casual vibe. It's large and comfortable, with lovely dim lighting. It's a franchise from Japan (with over 700 branches all over Asia) so we expected authentic Japanese food, and we weren't disappointed.

Our table

THE FOOD

The food was amazing! The flavors were somehow different from other Japanese restos in the metro. The menu was extensive and everything looked attractive, so we had a tough time choosing what to order. While waiting, they served us some lovely house tea.

Mmm!

We started with the drinks because those were the easiest to decide on. A lot of Watami's drinks are huge, which we liked. I chose the Green Citrus Yuzu Marmalade Soda, Kitch went with the Fresh Kiwi Squash methinks, and Payi and Yong shared the Milk Tea with Black Tapioca. We all liked our orders. Mine was full of citrus-y goodness. I felt like I loaded up on Vitamin C that day, heh. 

Humongous glasses

Makeup Madness: Up Close - Wet n Wild Mega Last Lip Color in Coral-ine

I've been using Wet 'n Wild Mega Last Lip Color in Coral-ine for months now (see my October - December 2013 haul), and it has now become one of my favorite lipsticks of all time. I actually chose it only because of its name, which reminds me of one of my favorite Neil Gaiman books, Coraline. Now I'm glad I chose it because it's such a great lipstick.

The Product

This is a semi-long-wearing lipstick. It has a semi-matte finish and a creme formula that should keep your pucker fresh for up to four hours. It's also hydrating, with a cushion-like feel, and won't bleed, cake, or smear.

Bookworming: The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth - My Long Overdue Story

Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant

I must admit, I've been putting off writing this post for a very long time. I finished the Divergent series a while back -- as documented on my Instagram -- but I just couldn't bring myself to write about it until now. Why? I'll get to that in a bit.

The Divergent trilogy is a series of novels by Veronica Roth about a dystopian society set in a city that's uncannily like Chicago. I heard a lot of good things about it, so I got the first book when I was hankering for a book that wasn't Murakami-heavy, but wasn't John Green heartwarming/heartbreaking either.

Clothes Spin: Zara Striped Tee Love! [Throwback Thursday]

I don't know what it is but when I like something from Zara I tend to hoard them in all the colors I like. I did it with their trousers, and I also did it with their striped tees. Zara's striped tees are basic but with a kick. The stripes make them more interesting than the average t-shirt, and they have a flattering, fitted shape. They're super soft and comfy as well, which is why they have become staples in my closet.

Since I already blogged about how my uniform lately has mainly consisted of jeans and t-shirts, I thought I'd use this Throwback Thursday to go back in time and go through the times I took OOTDs of me in three colors of their basic tees. I wear these all the time though and probably have more photos in them than any other piece of clothing I have, so I just those three pictures for the blog. If you need basic t-shirts, these are the way to go.

Navy Blue and White

This tee has a nautical vibe. 

Zara striped tee, brown Liz Claiborne shoulder bag, brown Zara belt, Bench skinny jeans, studded blue and gold wrap bracelet from Meg, orange tassled loafers form Tomato

Random Cravings: Foodie Discovery - Vom Fass

My friend Geli and I met up last week for lunch and tea. We wandered around Shangri-la Mall's new East Wing a bit and ended up making a foodie discovery. It's a new store called Vom Fass, which looked like a wine store from the outside but had so much more on the inside.

Vom Fass actually sells wines and spirits, but it also offers vinegars and oils. The unique thing about the store is that you can choose your own poison in a very personalized way. The place is filled with casks of hard liquor; earthen jars full of vinegars and oils; and flavored liqueurs in big, clear, bottles.

Fashion Candy: Back to Heels

When the new year rolled around and I was looking back on 2013, it hit me. I haven't been wearing heels. I scrolled through the memories in my brain and realized that I only wore heels last year when there was something out of the ordinary -- parties, job interviews, prenup shoots, debuts, weddings. I couldn't remember any regular days when I made the effort to dress up and wear heels.

The thought bugged the hell out me. I love heels! What happened?

Looking back now I'm discovering that although I wore heels a lot in my twenties, I practically stopped wearing them when I hit my thirties. That was when I developed a love for flats of all sorts -- moccasins, ballet flats, sandals, brogues, loafers, and oxfords -- and of course I never outgrew my sneakers. Don't get me wrong. I still bought heels -- I just didn't wear them much. 

Aside from the obvious fact that heels can be tough (they're not as comfortable as flats, they can be hard to walk in, etc.), I reckon I stopped wearing them because they require effort to wear. I feel like I have to get dressed up to wear them, and since my 2013 uniform consisted mostly of jeans and t-shirts, I didn't feel like wearing heels at all. In a way, me not wearing heels is directly related to the fact that I didn't make much of an effort to dress up last year. 

Gray and blue strappy heels from Charles and Keith, blue loafer heels from Celine, black suede platform doll shoes from Forever 21, rust-colored fringe heels from Sole Society, paint-splattered wedges from Jellybean, wooden blue wedges from the Greenhills bazaar, black platform peep-toe heels from SM Parisian, strappy black geometric heels from Aldo, orange wedges from Forever 21, blue and brown ankle-strap wedges from Lela Rose for Payless