Category Archives: Fashion

Fashion, Food, Handbags, Lifestyle, Travel

5 Things to Try This Month – April 2024

04/22/2024 Shirley

It seemed like Year 2024 had just started not too long ago, but we are already in April. Working from home has saved me some commute time, but it also keeps me busier than ever. I feel like each day goes by much too fast for me.

The consolation I have from working from home is to choose where I want to work in the house. I have set up my desk by the window and it gives me the opportunity to watch Spring puts its magic touch on all the plants and flowers in our backyard. I got to watch the plans coming back to life from their dormant state. I guess working from home is not that bad after all.

To enjoy the Spring to the fullest, I have several things I am doing this month.

Food/Drink

New Coffee for Afternoon Pick-me-up: I am a big fan of Nespresso coffee. In addition to my daily morning Nespresso coffee routine, I like to drink a 2nd cup of Nespresso coffee in the afternoon when I work from home.

Nespresso recently released a new limited edition Maple Pecan flavored coffee. This is supposed to be a medium roast blend. In my opinion, this Maple Pecan coffee tastes a little bit more on the lighter side. However, I really like the Maple Pecan aroma and it’s perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up.

Accessories

New Versatile Handbag: My new favorite accessory is the red Marc Jacobs’ Small Leather Tote bag. I have been using it on my recent wine tasting trips. It’s a perfect bag to hold all my essential stuff, such as wallet, phone, lip gloss and sunglasses. See more information on the bag.

Shirley Style April New Accessory - Marc Jacobs Small Tote Handbag in Red — Shirley Style April New Accessory – Marc Jacobs Small Tote Handbag in Red

Lifestyle

New Piano Song to Learn for Self-fulfillment: Playing the piano is one of my favorite hobbies. While I enjoy practicing the songs I’ve already known how to play, I also love to learn new songs on a regular basis. My recent new favorite song to learn is Chopin’s Nocturne No. 19 in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1. To me, this is a very beautiful song, but has some unspoken sadness in the melody. I think it will take me a while to master this song, but I am confident that I will keep at it until I do.

New Chopin Piano Song to Learn in April 2024

Nail

New Red Glitter Gel Nails: Red is my go-to color when it comes to getting my nails done each month. For this month, I have red nail covers covered with glitter and rhinestones aligned on each finger.

Travel

Wine Tasting in Lake Chelan, Washington: I’ve heard many great things about Lake Chelan in Washington, but I have never visited there before. I finally got the opportunity to visit Lake Chelan at the beginning of this month. The weather was very nice. Given that it was still off-season, the town wasn’t crowded. It was a perfect time to visit the town and the wineries.

Shirley Style April 2024 Wine Tasting Trip

All Posts, Fashion, Handbags, Top Five

The Red Versatile Marc Jacobs Tote Bag for Spring

04/02/2024 Shirley

Red is my all-time favorite color for accessories and nails. When it comes to purchasing red handbags and shoes, I prefer a bright red color. In recent years, I’ve been looking for a new red handbag, but I couldn’t find the exact red color I wanted.

The other day I came across Marc Jacobs’ Small Leather Tote bag in True Red color online. The red color known in the retail site seemed a little bit darker than I usually prefer, but I love the size and the design. I decided to give it a try.

When the handbag arrived at my home, I was very happy with the bag and the red color. It’s a perfect handbag for everyday use. And the bag is perfect for vacation too.

Below are some of the reasons I liked my new Marc Jacobs’ leather tote bag.

The Marc Jacobs’ Small Leather Tote bag has a perfect size (8″H x 10.25″W x 5.25″D). It gives me just enough room for everything I need, without looking like I am going grocery shopping. The bag stays in shape. I can easily find my wallet, cell phone, sunglasses, lipstick and hand lotion.

The Marc Jacob’s Small Leather tote bag is versatile. It comes with a removable strap. I can hold the bag in my hand, put in on my shoulder, or wear it as a cross-body bag

The price of this Marc Jacobs leather tote is more affordable than the other designer brands I looked at.

If there’s anything I wished I could have changed on this bag, it would be adding four studs on the button of the tote bag. Without the studs to protect the button of the tote bag, I’d need to be a bit mindful on where I lay the bag down. I have several pet peeves when it comes to using any of my handbags. I never ever put them directly on the ground, no matter where I go.

This Marc Jacobs Leather Tote bag came in several sizes and colors. If you like a summer color, you could consider getting the bag in pink, light purple, or white.

All Posts, Fashion, Lifestyle

How a Small Gadget Can Change Our Behaviors

08/13/2021 Shirley

It has been over 10 years since I wore a wrist watch on a regular basis. I didn’t like how a watch looked and felt when it tucked under my long sleeves. And I didn’t like the sound of the watch band scratching against my desk when I worked. If I needed to look for time, I could always rely on my phone.

After staying home without much exercise in the past year, I wanted to start doing some simple exercises at home every day. And I needed a way to keep track of how much I moved each day.

The Apple Watch seemed like a good solution to my problem. After doing some online browsing on different versions of current Apple watches, I bought an Apple Watch Series 6 in gold aluminum case.

(This is my new Apple Watch Series 6 with a pink preve crystal case.)

Today is only my second day using my new Apple Watch. I am surprised how quickly it already changed my behaviors in many ways.

First, adaptation. After not wearing any watches for over 10 years I didn’t need any time to learn to rely on my wrist watch for the time. This morning I was sipping on my coffee and wanted to know what time it was. Without thinking about where I could get the time, I automatically raised my arm to look at my watch. It wasn’t until I found out the time that I realized how quickly I adapted to the convenience of having the time literally on my wrist.

Second, motivation. After setting up my daily activity goals on my Apple Watch. I started to check the progress I made throughout the day. The idea of reaching my daily goals became my motivation to exercise.

Third, persistence. The Apple Watch is not perfect, and it won’t detect all the subtle exercise movements I made. However, this minor functionality shortcoming doesn’t discourage me from using the watch. I will do a short cardio exercise just to get the app on the watch to make the progress on achieving my daily goals.

The idea of working extra hard to get the app on the watch to show the progress on my movement more accurately seems silly. After all, what’s the point of getting a gadget that doesn’t paint the accurate picture or function correctly?

Well, I understand there’s some limitations on the accuracy of the devices like Apple Watch. For me, the point of getting the Apple Watch was to encourage myself to exercise regularly. If the watch can help me make positive change for my health, I think it’s money well spent.

In conclusion, I am happy I bought the new Apple Watch. It’s a small gadget, but it already changed my behaviors in many positive ways.

All Posts, Fashion, Lifestyle

The Joy of Finding Something You like after a Shopping Hibernation

08/04/2021 Shirley

How often do you buy a pair of shoes right on the spot simply because you like them? And how often do you think rationally about whether you really need them or not?

Staying home during the past pandemic year changed my life in many ways. One of the things I realized was that I don’t need a whole lot to maintain my everyday life. Besides having food and a home to live in, I don’t need a lot of fancy shoes and pretty clothing. All I need are slippers and simple clothing like sweatshirts and leggings.

As a matter of fact, I haven’t shopped for fancy shoes for almost 10 months in Year 2020. The reasons being 1.) with everything that went on I wasn’t in any mood for shopping for unnecessary goods, and 2.) there wasn’t any point of buying things that I don’t know when I could ever wear them.

However, my idle shopping mode was slowly shifted as the vaccine became available. I started to pay attention to some of the promotion emails in my inbox. Then, I saw a pair of Stuart Weitzman boots that caught my attention months ago and now are on sale, and available in my size.

(Stuart Weitzman’s Carine Crystal boots covered with sparkling crystal balls.)

There’s no better time to shop than seeing something you like at a discounted price. Right on the spot, the boots sparked my hibernated love for shopping. Once again, I can feel the joy of putting the accessory in my online shopping cart, making the payment, and waiting for the boots to arrive at my house.

All of my rationales of not needing anything other than food and housing suddenly were all thrown out the window. What was left, at the moment, was the happiness and anticipation of seeing my new boots in person.

The anticipation was well worth it. I love the boots and looking forward to wear them.

The Cover Image: I really love this pair of Stuart Weitzman’s Carine Crystal boots covered with sparkling crystal balls. The picture is no near being close to justify the beauty of these boots.

Beauty, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – March 2021

03/25/2021 Shirley

Have you ever seen any house plants that die completely and regrow months later?

Right before last Christmas holiday I bought a fresh catnip plant for my cat, Inca. The catnip plant died a few days after I bought it. I’ve bought numerous catnip plants in the past years, but none of them died on me that quickly.

After the catnip plant died, it was forgotten and left in the corner by the window. Fast forward two months later, and I noticed a tiny green catnip leaf sprouted out of the the dirt in the small pot of the dead catnip plant.

I decided to do a little experiment and feed it with water every few days. And guess what? The catnip plant actual grew from a tiny leave to an actual plant. (See the cover picture of this post, taken two weeks after it came back.)

For someone who doesn’t know how to take care of plants, it sure was an unexpected miracle. I was given a second chance to take care of this catnip plant who died under my watch.

In life, we don’t always get the second chance, but when we do, we definitely should hold on to it and try our best.

Below are the five things I am trying on this month. For sure, it won’t involve ruining my new catnip plant.

Nails

I could never get tired of red nail color. If I could come up with 365 designs for red nails, I’d have red nail colors all year long. For this month, I have red sequins over the red glitter nails,

(My red glitter nails with red sequins.)

Coffee

I drink coffee or Caffè Americano everyday, but I usually only add some milk without any sugar. I saw Nespresso’s Irish coffee recipe for March and it inspired me to make my own version of sweet latte drinks.

Below is a picture of my new afternoon pick-me-up drink, made with Nespresso’s Peppermint flavored coffee, Double Espresso Scuro and hot frothed milk, then garnished with whipped cream and peppermint chocolate. This is the best afternoon pick-me-up drink to get me through my work meetings.

(My afternoon pick-me-up drink.)

Accessories

It has been a while since I bought any high heels, because I’ve been staying home to avoid the pandemic and there’s no immediate opportunity to wear any fancy shoes. However, when I saw these red platform sandals “Dania” by Rene Caovilla (covered with red crystals) online, I couldn’t resist the temptation to add it to my own collection.

I don’t know when I will be able to wear them, but I definitely enjoy trying them on at home and admiring my new addition.

(My new red Rene Caovilla shoes covered with red crystals.)

Piano

A new song I am learning this month is Chopin’s Op. 28, No. 15 Prelude in D-flat Major, also known as “Raindrop”. I love the first section of this song. The melody give me a sense of calmness and reminds me of why I like the classical music. In my opinion, the second section of this song is a bit challenging to master, because it takes some practice to play it well enough to convey the beauty of this song.

Entertainment

I’ve seen some great reviews about the show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I finally start to watch it. I was hooked after the first episode.

The show is about a sunny, energetic and well-off Jewish housewife who lived in a perfect life, but it all changed overnight. She was a supportive wife to her comedian wannabe husband (who failed miserably on this), but he walked out on her. She had to regroup her life and eventually became a successful stand-up comedian herself. Of course, there were plenty of challenges she had to overcome to get to where she wanted to go.

Another thing I really like about this show is the fashion, the silhouette. I love many of Mr. Maisel’s dresses and her lipstick colors.

(The show I am finally have time to watch and can’t stop.)

The Cover Image: This is the catnip plant that regrew in the small pot from the catnip plant that died last during the last holiday season.

All Posts, Beauty, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – February 2021

02/15/2021 Shirley

When I think of February, I usually immediately associate it with birthdays for my brother, friends, colleagues and myself.

However, this year when I think of February, I think about traveling. In fact, I think about Las Vegas, the last place I traveled to in February 2020, exactly 12 months ago. And I miss traveling; I miss the time when I could go anywhere without worrying about the pandemic.

Although I can’t go anywhere just yet, I can still fill my staying home with things I enjoy. Below are the things I am doing this month.

Nail

Instead of my usual red nails, I decide to go with orange color for a change.

(The nails for this month.)

Painting

I had so much fun working on my first paint-by-number art project last month. I am going to work on my 2nd one, Venice by Night, in February. Below is what I draw so far. I am looking forward to see my final product.

(This is the second paint-by-number painting I am working on. This will keep me busy for a while.)

Piano

The new song I am learning this month is Frédéric Chopin’s Etude, Op. 10: No. 3 in E Major. This song is also known as “Tristesse” or “Farewell”. Some sources claim that Chopin believed that this song is the most beautiful song he ever composed. I think this is a beautiful song, but I found it to be challenging to learn (especially the middle section of the song).

(This is the new classic piano song I am learning this month.)

Accessories

I haven’t had any chance to dress up or wear any stylish boots since the pandemic started last year. But when I came across Stuart Weitzman’s red tall boots with skinny heels I knew I wanted to add it to my “to be worn” collection. I love the red color and the sexy skinny heels. I can’t wait to break into this pair of boots when we can resume normal social life again.

(My new sexy red tall boots to go into my boots collection.)

Beauty

I am about to finish the Bobbie Brown eye cream I use. I want to try something new. After doing some research I decided to try BeautyBio’s “The Quench Eye Reviving Eye Balm”. It has nutrient-rich lipids to minimize the appearance of lines and improve hydration retention.

(This is the new eye cream I am trying this month.)

The Cover Image: This picture was taken last week; the first time I seeing a few of my close friends in over a year since the pandemic started.

All Posts, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – January 2021

01/20/2021 Shirley

We are now beginning a new year. I hope everything will be better for everyone. If there are any take-aways from Year 2020, I’d summed up mine to two things: 1. life is unpredictable and 2. don’t take people you have in your life for granted.

Growing up I’ve always known or was told about how life doesn’t always turns out the way we want, and we have to cherish everyone and everything we have. However, as I got older, everything that went on in our daily lives seemed to validate these ideas even more so.

I don’t have any New Year resolutions for this year. I can foresee my stay-at-home life will continue for many more months this year. While I am home, I might as well utilize the time to do things that I enjoy.

Below are my five things for this month.

Nail

For me, when it comes to the nail color for the beginning of the year, there’s nothing better than red.

(Red nails for the January; hope for a great new beginning.)

Painting

I recently purchased some paint by numbers painting kits. The kit comes with a canvas marked with numbers and areas. Each number correspondeds to the paint labeled in the kit. The one I am working on is an Italian landscape. I plan to finish it in January. Once I am done with this painting I want to frame it and hang on my home office wall.

(My first paint by numbers project – Italian Landscape.)

Piano

I’ve learned how to play many of my favorite piano songs in the past few months. I want to learn more classic songs this year. I bought a new piano book, The Romantic Era Piano Album. This books has 51 songs from famous music composers, such as Chopin, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky, etc.

When the book first arrived to my home I had so much fun just to scan through the book put sticky notes on the songs I want to learn for now. It will take me months to learn them, but I am so excited to start my new learning journey.
(Here is my new piano practice book. I can’t wait to learn all the classic songs.)

(My new piano book for this year.)

Accessories

It’s no secret that I love accessories with sequins and glitters. I used to love wearing UGG boots when I went out in the cold weather. Since I am staying home everyday I rarely get the chance to wear UGG boots. My feet get cold in the morning when I’m sitting in my home office working. Nothing can beat the cozy short sequins UGG boots. If I need to light up my work mood, I know exactly where to turn my eyes to.

(My new cozy glitter boots to keep me warm.)

Reading Material

It’s always fun to start the year with a new book. The new book I plan on reading is “Meditation & Mindfulness” by Andy Puddicombe. For years, I’ve heard many people talking about how meditation help them with their well-being and health. I don’t know if meditation is for everyone, but it doesn’t hurt to understand what this is about and try to practice it to see if it makes any difference for me.

(My very first meditation book.)

The Cover Image: This picture was taken the last time I saw my nieces in person, right before the pandemic. It was a wonderful time, which I hope to resume to, soon.

All Posts, Beauty, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – December 2020

12/28/2020 Shirley

It’s hard to imagine that we are already in the last month of 2020. I used to travel to somewhere else every other month in the past, but I have gotten used to staying home for social distancing since March of this year. The downside of “caving” at home is that I can hardly feel any holiday vibes at all.

My solution to the lack of holiday vibes is turning on a lot of Christmas lights at home, enjoying Eggnog liqueur and Ginger Bread liqueur with my coffee, and playing piano to make this holiday season memorable.

Below are five of the things I am doing this month to keep up my holiday spirit.

New Nails

No holiday is complete without red nails. For this month I have my nails done in red color covered with gold glitters on the thumbs, middle and pinky fingers. I used the pink glitters on my ring fingers and I also used the pink glitters on my index fingers.

(Red nails with gold and pink glitters for December 2020.)

Coffee

Nespresso released a new Chocolate Fudge coffee at the end of November. I am so glad I received it just in time for my holiday season treats. Below is one of the ways I drink the Chocolate Fudge coffee – pour the Eggnog milk in the glass first, brew the coffee over it, add whipped cream, and top it with a honeycomb cube.

To my surprise, the honeycomb cube was too dense; it sank to the bottom of the glass instantly and created the middle special layer. I guess in exchange for the perfect holiday drink picture, I got an unexpected “special effect” view.

(Nespresso’s new Chocolate Fudge coffee with Eggnog, whipped cream and honeycomb, which sank to the bottom of the glass.)

Piano Practice

For this month, I am learning the song, Rhapsodie on a Theme of Paganini, by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The first time I heard this song was in the movie Somewhere in Time. I think Somewhere in Time is a great love story and the Rhapsodie on a Theme of Paganini is a beautiful song that complements the movie well.

(This is the cover picture from one of the song tracks for the Somewhere in Time movie.)

Drink

I love to drink Ginger Bread latte during the holiday season. I got this Ginger Bread liqueur from the Trader Joe’s yesterday. I’ve had it straight over ice; it’s a bit too sweet, but I love its Ginger Bread flavor. I’ve also tried the Ginger Bread liqueur with my Nespresso Vanilla Custer Pie coffee, which was delicious. It’s even better with whipped cream on the top.

(My must-have drink ingredient for this holiday season – Ginger Bread liqueur.)

Beauty

No holiday season is complete without some new holiday beauty products. One of my favorite makeup artist, Pat McGrath, released her holiday collection, including the eyeshadow palette – Mothership Mega: Celestial Divinity. Playing with the colors in this eyeshadow palette will be a great fun activity for this month.

(The new Pat McGrath’s holiday eyeshadow – Celestial Divinity.)

All Posts, Beauty, Fashion, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – April 2020

04/09/2020 Shirley

April marks the beginning of the second month of pandemic social distancing. I am very grateful that most of my friends and I are home safely with our loved ones. But my heart goes out to the people who are being affected by this unfortunate event, especially to those who lost a family member or friend.

While I am sheltered safely at home with my elderly parents, a couple of my friends have family members working on the front lines, such as hospitals and essential businesses. They are risking their health and lives to save people and provide the services that keep us going. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for anyone seeing their loved ones go out for work and face uncertainty every day.

I really hope this pandemic transmission will slow down and be under control soon, so people can feel safe to resume their regular lives again.

Below are some of the things I will be doing this month at home. Most of them are related to what I can do while I am staying home.

Baking

I am so glad I bought a new bread maker machine during the past holiday. We eat a lot of bread at home every day, so I’ve been making a new loaf of bread every two days. My recent favorite bread to make is oatmeal with raisin.

(This is the oatmeal bread with raisin, my latest favorite.)

New Beauty

I could never resist the temptation of the new lipsticks, especially when it comes to glitters. Dior recently launched new Addict Stellar Halo Shine lipsticks and lip glosses. These new lip products have extra shimmering and shine. The must-get signature color in these collections is “Be Dior”, which was first released last year for the Addict Stellar Shine lipsticks.

(New Dior Addict Stellar Halo Shine lipsticks and lip glosses.)

Concert

Last October I bough tickets for my mom, aunts, and I to go watch Celine Dion’s concert at the Tacoma Dome (in Tacoma, Washington) scheduled for April 15. Due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the show has been rescheduled. I am so glad that I went to watch Celine Dion’s show in Las Vegas two different times last year and recorded most part of her show on my phone. Although I can’t watch her in person this year, I have the ability to watch her fantastic show at my fingertips.

(The picture of Celine Dion I took during her concert in Las Vegas. I was standing right in front of the stage at that time.)

Reading Material

There’s no better time for self improvement than now. For this month I am reading the book, “A Mind for Numbers”. The author of this book explains how our mind works, and emphasizes the most effective and efficient techniques for learning. The techniques can be applied to anything you want to learn, not limited to math or science only.

(The book I am reading this month.)

New Beauty

As I age, it’s impossible to avoid getting facial wrinkles. However, there are skin care products we can use to make wrinkles less visible. For example, BeautyBio’s “R45 The Reversal” three-phase serum. The product is intended for nighttime use. Each phase of the serum lasts about two weeks. Once you finish the phase 1, you move on to phase 2, then phase 3. I am currently using this serum. It will be interesting to see if it makes any difference after I finish using this product.

(The BeautyBio Serum I am currently using.)

The Cover Image: I am wearing Chanel’s Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte lipstick in color “347 Camelia Fuchsia”. I love this fuchsia/bright pink lipstick as well as its camellia motif embossed on the bottom. For the day time look, this lipstick color goes well with this See by Chloe jean dress.

All Posts, Fashion

The Dress with 80’s Fashion Vibe

01/24/2020 Shirley

The off-the-shoulder fashion style was popular in the 80’s, and it has made a come back in the past few years.

I think when it comes to picking a dress for evenings or parties, the off-the-shoulder style is an ideal choice for a fun and sophisticated look. If you pair the dress with the right accessories, you can transform the look with plenty of sexiness.

The self-portrait’s Black Sequin Embellished Ruffle Mini Dress (above) is a good example of a off-the-shoulder dress. It is made with black sequins with a asymmetrical top. The dress has fitted bodice with golden zipper on the front and ruffle trim skirt.

(Getting ready for dinner.)

This off-the-shoulder black sequin embellished ruffle mini dress is one of my favorite dresses. The design of the dress is intended to fit to the body perfectly and it flatters the figure. The asymmetrical top shows off just enough shoulder to add some sophistication to the look.

How to Complete the Look?

In general, to complete a 80’s outfit, it’s ideal to wear a pair of statement earrings, intensified/bold makeup, and a red lipstick.

To complete my evening off-shoulder silhouette outfit for dinner, I wore a cocktail flower ring, a pair of the chandelier earrings, and suede heels with crystals around the shoe platform.

For the lips, I wore my favorite YSL lipstick in bright red. And for my eyes, I used both purple and blue eyeshadow.

To summarize, I think getting a silhouette with a classic 80’s vibe, like my off-shoulder dress, is a great investment. This kind of dress with timeless fashion style will always be in style.

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