Wedding Bells, Peacock Pin, & Lipstick Fun

I've been overloaded with family activities in the past couple of weeks. My in-law family was in town last week, and then I attended my cousin’s wedding this past weekend in DC. I’m a bit exhausted.

It was a bit gloomy and rainy (aka horrible weather for hair) in DC this past weekend. However, the ceremony was absolutely beautiful and the reception was extremely exhilarating! Not only was there the usual 10 course meal, but there was also a tea ceremony, lion dance, and a photo booth/photo shoot area.

What I Wore

I ended up re-wearing a dress that I had worn for a December wedding, and I wore the blue bracelet again. However, I changed up the outfit by adding a peacock feather pin and switching the dangly earrings (which sadly broke a few weeks after the December wedding) to stud earrings. 

L. ERICKSON PEACOCK PIMPERNEL PINCH

Lipstick Fun

I also decided to add a bit of color on my lips! I’m normally a chapstick kind of girl and on special occasions, I’m a lip gloss lady. I decided to jump on the lipstick bandwagon. Apparently, it’s a trend according to the Wall Street Journal.

These were the 3 options that I sent to my cousin via iPhone to get her “approval”.

Mac Matted Ruby Woo

Revlon Orange Flip

Revlon Mauvy Night 

I ended up wearing the Orange Flip lipstick since it was in between the matted Ruby Woo and the Mauvy Night, in terms of brightness. I also discovered that the Revlon Lip Butter Tutti Fruitti works well for a day look since it is a bit sheer and not as bright.

I found some great tips from the blogsphere in keeping the lipstick in tact: Mac Lip Prep + Prime from Eat.Sleep.Wear and a homemade sugar lip scrub from From Head to Toe. However, I doubt that I would ever transition fully from chapstick to lipstick. It’s honestly so much work to wear lipstick. I usually end up looking like a hot mess or a clown because I've accidentally smear lipstick on my face. LOL

Diane Von Furstenberg Collection for Gap Kids

The Diane Von Furstenberg Collection for Gap Kids wasn't really my priority today. We had a sample sale at work today, and I totally scored some great stuff! It was my first sample sale, and the experience was exhilarating but a bit chaotic though. I may just start to go to other sample sales in the city. The deals are huge!

Anyways, so back to DVF. A coworker showed us all of the DVF baby outfits that she got for her unborn baby. The clothes were absolutely adorable. Since I'm only a couple of blocks from a Gap, I thought I would just drop by the store during lunch. I really wanted to try on the t-shirt dress in blue. It was also the only adult-like item in the collection. The only style that was available was the yellow one. Yellow again! 

DVF ♥ GapKids T-shirt dress in Yellow Size XXL (14-16)

Runs Small 

So obviously, DVF was trying to avoid having petites like me buy her clothes for 15% of her women's dresses. The dress that I tried on was a size XXL, which shocked me because I know my kids size. I am always a 14/16, which translates to a XL. This is the opposite of vanity sizing. 

Runs Short

The length of the dress was far from my knees. It barely even passed the hands by the leg hemline test. I'm not made to wear mini skirts/dresses. What can I say, I'm a conservative petite and also a very clumsy one. 

I had to let this dress go even though I love the print. My husband even really liked this dress when he saw the picture above. lol  My theory is that if I'm going to spend $45 dollars on a dress, I better feel comfortable wearing it. 

Craving Blue and Yellow

I didn't think it was possible to crave colors, but that definitely happened to me over the weekend and through today. I've been craving the color yellow and blue, and I blame that on the wonderful spring weather we've been experiencing in NYC. Today was the first full day of day light savings, and we had 70 degree weather! Love It!  Unfortunately, I work by a bunch of stores and did some shopping during my lunch break and after work. So much temptation!


Drug Store Haul

At lunch I went over the Duane Reade and purchased the yellow nail polish that I had been craving, and also this blue nail polish that I thought would complement it well. 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow 

Essie in Mezmerised 

Gap Haul

Then as I was leaving work, I decided to walked into Gap. I couldn't resist Gap's 30% off sale. I had resisted it all weekend, and of course, they decide to extend the promotion one more day. So I took the opportunity to try on some of their legging jeans.

The Fresh Crop Legging Jean

Mid Weight Legging Jean 

I've been huffing and puffing about getting bright cobalt jeans (here and here). Yet once again, I left the store without them. Honestly, these are the worst pair of cobalt jeans that I had ever tried on. They rise was too high for me, and the waist was pushing down on my belly. =/ These pants are like mom jeans with style.  

 

Mid Weight Legging Jean in Brilliant Blue Size 25/0

So what did I leave the store with?...

 2 Pairs of "Fresh Crop" Legging Jeans!

The Fresh Crop 1969 Gap Legging Jeans in Black Size 25/0

Inseam (measured by me): 26 inches

I swear, they are the best fitting pair of black pants in the store. I've tried 3 other pairs of black pants from Gap. The others were too tight or too loose in random places. 

The Fresh Crop 1969 Gap Legging Jeans in Lemon Drop Size 25/0

Inseam  (measured by me): aprx. 27 inches

How did I end up with yellow neon pants?! I really wanted the "St. Patrick's Day" green pants, but the smallest size available was a size 4. The salesperson said that there would be more sizes online, but I don't even see these pants online. Hmm...maybe they will be online later?  I'm still contemplating returning them. I guess we'll see how I feel when we get closer to Spring. 


** 3/15 Update: these pants are now online! Only the yellow and the black pants are online, but there are more colors in the stores. The petite version has a inseam of 25 inches. 


The Fresh Crop Legging Jeans
They are normal size pants for petites.
These "crop" pants are basically normal size pants for me. Although, they are an inch or two too long for me since the trend is to have ankle length leggings these days. These crop length pants are not too exaggerated on me like most non-petite regular pants, so I think I could still pull off wearing them as is. 


The sizing of these pants is a little inconsistent but not by too much
The only odd thing about this denim line is that the black pants felt smaller than the yellow pants. Both fit well though. The black one fits better length-wise. The yellow one felt roomier around the legs. I'm not sure how the other colors fit though. 


These crop pants are $10 cheaper than the regular size legging jeans. 
Hurray! The full price is $59.95 The final price for me, with my 30% off discount, came out to be around $42 for each pair. 

The Diane Von Furstenberg collection for Gap Kids is launching on Thursday...Gap twice in one week? This can't be good for me. 

Pussy Bow Blouse and Leopard Flats

I just realized that this outfit has some sort of a cat theme. LOL. I'm somewhat of a sucker for blouses with these bows. This bow blouse is the second one that I own. However, I am also horrible at tying a bow. I spent 15 minutes way too long trying to make my bow look as halfway decent. I even had my husband attempt to tie a tie for me. That idea failed because apparently when you tie a tie, one of the sides has to be shorter. Then I had him tie a regular bow for me, and I somehow adjusted that bow to what it is in this picture. Luckily, this bow last all day, and I didn't have to re-tie it. I'm such an amateur. 

If anyone has any tips on tying the perfect bow, please let me know!  I would greatly appreciate it! 

Top: Ann Taylor Silk Shell with Necktie and Pintucks in 0P (Similar)

Sweater: Banana Republic Size S (Similar)

Pants: Zara Trousers (finally hemmed & taken in at the waist!) in Size 4 (Similar)

Shoes: Cole Haan Air Morgan Slipper Ballet Leopard Flats in size 5

Watch: Burberry

All I Got From The Marni for H&M Launch Was This Bracelet

Marni for H&M launched today! When I saw the collection, I was pretty darn excited. I loved the bold colors and geometric shapes on the dresses and tops. However, I wasn't quite sure if I loved it enough to face the crowds or to wake up early.

Last night, I was reminded of the Marni launch from Fashionista's post on how to shop for Marni for H&M. I hadn't planned on going, but then when I realized that H&M would open its stores at 8am, I thought..."why not? I'll just wake up an hour early, head over before work, and see what happens."

So that's what I did. I arrived at the 34th Herald Square store at 7:45am. 10 minutes later, I was given my colored bracelet for the 9:45-10:00 time slot. "Woopie! I got a bracelet!" However, I later realized that I had meetings around that time and wasn't able to go. "Darn it!" Honestly, this crowd controlling bracelets idea was a genius one. I'm so happy that I didn't end up wasting my time in line.

Since it was such a beautiful day today, I ended up going back to H&M over lunch to see what was left over. There wasn't much Marni clothes/accessories left over in the women's collection (mainly large size tops/skirts), but there was a good amount in the guy's collection. Oh well.

The Marni for H&M launch was a great excuse for me to take a walk in the city. =)

Petite Find: Diet Plan for Petites

My cousin came across the book, The Petite Advantage Diet, from Good Morning America (watch it here) a couple of months ago. I'm a big health and fitness nut so I decided to order the book to check it out...I mean, why wouldn't I consider it?  It is a book about health and fitness for petites!

Image from BN.com

Quote from the front side cover:

"They make clothes for “Petites” so why not a specialized diet plan? You’re smaller, you’re more delicate, you’re 5'4" or under, yet you’re expected to follow a diet plan for the taller girls. What’s wrong with that?"

The Author: Who is Jim Karas?

Jim Karas is a businessman/ lifestyle and weight loss expert. In my opinion, I think he's more of a life coach than a weight loss expert. He's definitely no Jillian Michaels (my favorite trainer/fitness guru). He has written a number of books on health, and this is his first book that focuses on the petite body. In the book, he states that he has worked with many petites and has developed a knack for knowing which diet and fitness routines work best for them.

The Main Idea

Petites should...

* Eat healthy foods

* Eat portions that are meant for a petite person and not a regular adult size person

* Watch out for extra calories in sauce and drinks

* Perform more anaerobic exercises versus cardio exercises to increase your metabolism

Source

easier said, than done, right?

What's in the Book?

* A sales pitch about why you should eat better and work out.

* Health and nutrition facts.

* 3 week eating plan along with recipes and a shopping list.

* List of foods with their estimated calories.

* Tips on what to eat when you're dining out at a restaurant.

* Exercise routine involving a gravity straps/resistant bands.

My Thoughts

In the first few chapters, Jim Karas seemed like he was trying really hard to sell me his diet plan versus help me execute an actual diet plan. It almost felt like a used car salesmen pitch. He reminded me of Barney Stinson ("it's going to be...wait for it...legendary") from How I Met Your Mother. lol  

Half way through the book, Jim did provide some good facts and tips on nutrition that I will actually use in my daily life. I agree with most of the things he mentioned. I remember trying p90x lean and ended up gaining weight after 2 weeks because I had followed its food plan, a food plan for "non-petites". I later realized that I was supposed to eat much less than what was on the plan. 

The Petite Advantage fitness plan doesn't seem that exciting though. I would prefer to just pop in one of my Jillian Michaels DVD (btw my favorites are No More Trouble Zones and 30 Day Shred!) or tune in to the video blog, BodyRock.tv for my high intensity training.  

If you would like more information about this book, check out what other readers have to say about this book and flip through a few pages on the Amazon.com page!