Tag Archives: Shirley Style

All Posts, Fashion, Handbags, Top Five

The Red Versatile Marc Jacobs Tote Bag for Spring

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.  

Shirley Style new tote bag for Spring
Shirley Style new tote bag for Spring
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Running a Blog is a Continuous Learning Experience

I started my Shirley Style Fashion Blog in the Summer of Year 2012. My initial plan with to express my opinion on the handbags and other fashion items I like.

I learned a lot from running my own person blog. With my basic HTML and CSS skills, I can write and edit my blog posts easily. As the blog content expands, organizing the Web site and customizing its look-and-feel became a continuous effort. There are always things to modify and to improve the quality of my blog site.

Writing Shirley Style Fashion Blog was a personal habit. I have a lot of post ideas, but I tend to overthink about how I want to write the content. I end up taking extra time to polish them. But I’ve learned to trust my instinct and write without second-guessing myself. I now also write about my travel experiences and the restaurants I enjoy to dine at.

My Web site has been running fine until recently. The domain has been hacked with malware, which messed up my URLs in the search engine results. My ShirleyStyle.com would show up in the search engines as a foreign bogus advertising site.

I had to hire experts to clean up the malware on my Web site and install a new security system to protect my blog. But with the malicious cyber predators out there, it would probably be a matter of time when some unfortunate things happen again. At least I will know how to handle such situations.

After experiencing the recent incidents, I learned more about how to protect my Web site. I am excited to continue to work on my blog. When I looked at my Shirley Style Web site, I feel proud of what I have done. The Web site might not be perfect, but it’s my work and my accomplishment. The Shirley Style Blog is part of who I am!

My Advise to You..

If you want to start your own blog, but has some hesitation on how to write your very first perfect post, my advise to you is to go ahead get a Web site domain and begin with a post that describes why you want to start your blog. You would be amazed with what you can learn about yourself through your own words!

Start your own Blog is easy and inspiring

All Posts, Beauty, Top Five, Travel

5 Things to Try This Month – November 2018

November is a busy month for me. Not only do I have many friends visiting from out of town, I also have several small trips lined up for the month. Below are some of the things I am doing in November.

Pat McGrath Blitztrance Lipsticks

It was just last month that I bought Pat McGrath’s new eyeshadow, Mothership V: Bronze Seduction Palette and Mothership Subversive Metalmorphosis eye shadow. Now, she has released eight new Blitztrance Lipsticks, which are part of her holiday 2018 collection. The new Blitztrance lipsticks are made with glitters and comes in a shiny bullet case. For someone who really likes glitters, it’s really hard for me to resist these new beauty products.

Out of the eight available colors, I bought three – Fuchsia Perfect (bright pink with blue and pink pearl), Cyber Orchid (pink with blue pearl), and Rebel Red (red with copper pink pearl). The Fuchsia Perfect is perfect for everyday wear, including work. Both Cyber Orchid and Rebel Red are ideal for dress-up and a night-out. I will have plenty of chance to use them this holiday season.

Pat McGrath Blitztrance Lipsticks
Pat McGrath’s Holiday Blitztrance Lipsticks

YSL National Makeup Artist Event

Nordstrom hosts many beauty brand’s national makeup artist events throughout the year. Last Saturday I went to the YSL’s beauty event and met YSL’s Director of Makeup Artistry, Dell Ashley. Typically, at such national beauty event, each makeup artist will work on a customer’s makeup (by appointment only) while the national makeup artists will go around and touch up the customer’s makeup and giving tips on how to improve the beauty look. Dell is really good at making intensified eye makeup.

Shirley Style Engraved YSL Lipsticks
Shirley Style Engraved YSL Lipsticks

Girls Trip to Palm Springs

My friends and I just got back from our Palm Springs trip. It was a special celebration for my dear friend who’s expecting her first baby. There were a total of eleven girls, which was the largest group I’ve ever traveled with. The four day trip to the Palm Springs was perfect; plenty of time for relaxation, good food, and excellent time with the girls.

2018 Palm Springs Group Picture
2018 Palm Springs Girls Trip

Nordstrom Holiday Shopping Event

Nordstrom is hosting a holiday shopping event this Sunday. Two good things about most of Nordstrom’s shopping events are that the store will be less crowded (private event) and there will be free champagne (and light refreshment). In my opinion, shopping under champagne “influence” is one of the fun group activities you can do with friends.

Nordstrom2018 Holiday Shopping Event

Accessories for Del Mar Trip

Some good friends of mine are going to the Del Mar Racing in San Diego in the beginning of December. They have invited me to join them for the weekend trip. This will be my first time going to a horse racing event and visiting Del Mar. I am very excited for the trip and can’t wait to shop for my vacation outfits.
San Diego Fairmont Grand Del Mar(We will be staying at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar. Picture from the Fairmont web site.)

All Posts, Travel

Richard Clayderman Piano Concert

Richard Clayderman (a famous French pianist) is one of my favorite piano artists. I learned how to play many of his songs when I was a child. And he was the main reason I look forward to go home practice piano each day after school.

Richard Clayderman Concert

I was very glad that Richard Clayderman scheduled one of his piano concerts in Seattle! (This was his first time being to Seattle.)

Richard Clayderman began his concert with some of his signature piano songs. Including Nostalgia, Ballade pour Adeline, A Comme Amour, etc. Growing up I listened to his music all the time. Watching him play in-person was fascinating.

During the concert he also played a lot popular Hollywood movie theme songs, such as Titanic, Star Wars, and etc. He even played two popular Chinese Mandarin songs (from 20 years ago).

Because I grew up listening and playing Richard Clayderman’s piano music, I have some all-time favorite pieces. Unfortunately, he didn’t play the two song that I was really looking forward to hear at the concert. The two songs are Mariage D’Amour and Souvenirs d’enfance.

I haven’t played piano for years, but I can still remember how to play Mariage D’Amour without reading the music note.

As for the Souvenirs d’enfance, there are some bitter and sweet memories associated with practicing this song. There’s a part of the song that I always had difficult time to play smoothly. And whenever my dad hears me playing this song, he’d criticize me and ask me to replay the song. However, I have to admit that Souvenirs d’enfance is a beautiful song. I am very glad that I learned how to play it.

Listening to Richard Clayderman playing his songs brings back a lot of fun childhood memories. I am very grateful that my parents gave me the opportunity to learn how to play piano, so I can appreciate all the beautiful music pieces.

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My Thoughts After I Watched the Avengers: Infinity War

I am a huge fan of the Avengers and its franchise movies. I usually wait for a few weeks to watch a new movie, just so I can avoid the crowds and enjoy the film. For the first time, I watched the Avengers: Infinity War movie on the night before its official release date.

Before I watched the movie last night, I was wondering how the plot would hold up, given it has so many heroes united in one movie. But I think Marvel did a good job on keeping the story together. However, I wish there’s more scenes with Captain America in this movie though!

As usual, this Avengers installment has some funny parts, which I enjoyed.
Avengers: Infinity War

(The following might contain some movie spoilers.)

Beginning

The movie begins with a sad scene, which I didn’t expect. It’s like Thor: Ragnarok movie’s continuation, in a tragic way. Not only Asgard survivors die, Lori also dies in a heroic way. It seems like attacking the villain, Thonas, is Loki’s way of redemption. But I thought being the trickster of the Avenger franchise movies, Loki should have some clever tactics to die as a hero. In other words, I think he dies too quickly and too early in the Avenger: Infinity War movie!

Weapons

It’s good for the characters to upgrade their gear and costumes in the movie, but I am not used to the new weapons Captain America and Thor get. In my opinion, Captain America just don’t look the same without the American flag design shield and uniform, and Thor, the demi-god, lost a bit of his charm without the traditional hammer.

In the movie, Hulk was hiding instead of joining the fights. As a result, Bruce Banner gets new gear to fight against aliens and the villain. Seeing Bruce Banner in the fight instead of Hulk was a good change.

Post-credit scene

Usually, a majority of people in the theater will leave before any post-credit scenes. I always wonder whether these people were inpatient or have no idea there’s post-credit scenes at all. Last night, for the first time, I saw that most people stayed until the end. I guess people who made the effort to watch the Avengers movie before the release date are really into the movies.

I usually expect two post-credit scenes, but I only saw one last night. This post-credit was more like a brief description of what we already know, versus an introduction of some new plot. Since the next Avengers installment is the continuation of Avenger: Infinity War, this post-credit scene without any new information is OK in my opinion.

Ending

In the end of the movie, the villain, Thanos, obtains all six infinity stones and wipes out the existence of most beings. Most people (including some Avengers) fade into dust. How are they going to come back in the next Avenger installment in 2019? I wonder if it will have anything to do with the infinity stones (time stone)? If it does, will the characters who died in the Avenger: Infinity War come back?

I know that most of the current Avengers (i.e. Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor) are going to be gone after 2019, but I am just not ready to see them go.

Usually an Avengers movie and its related movies end on a positive note. I usually feel good after watching a Marvel movie in the theater, but after watching the Avengers: Infinity War, I felt a bit depressed due to the ending. I understand the movie was paving a way for the next Avengers installment coming out next year. But the movie left a lot of things unresolved.

Overall, I am glad I watched the Avengers: Infinity War last night. Now, I can’t wait to watch the next Avenger installment – Avenger: Infinity Gauntlet.

All Posts, Fashion, Travel

My Winter Outfit for Whistler, Canada

I decided to take an unplanned trip from Seattle (where I live) to Whistler, Canada. Whistler is an upscale ski resort located about a four-hour drive due north of Seattle. Just before Thanksgiving, one of my girlfriends and I had dinner together. On the spur of the moment, I asked her what she was doing on the weekend following Thanksgiving. She said she had no plans so we decided to go to Whistler, in part because my friend had never been there before.

We drove from Seattle to Whistler on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. After we got into Canada, we stopped for a late lunch in Vancouver, Canada (just above the Washington-Canada border). After lunch, we decided that rather than spend the day in Vancouver, which although is a very nice city, is one we’ve both been to many times, we’d continue on to Whistler.

We arrived in Whistler about 8:00 in the evening. Expecting this scenario, I had made a hotel reservation at the Fairmont. We checked in and then ate dinner at the very fancy Bearfoot Bistro restaurant in the Whistler Villager.

Fast forward to Sunday at Whistler. I hadn’t planned on any activities in particular. But my friend and I decided to take the peak-to-peak gondola ride from Whistler to the neighboring Blackcomb ski resort area. For the trip I wore True Religion skinny jeans with crystal accents, a J.Crew pink cashmere sweater, a pair of UGG short boots, a knitted hat and a pair of Lululemon gloves that I bought in Whistler, and an Eddie Bauer jacket.

I brought my latest Lois Vuitton Alma red bag with me, mostly because I had already checked out from the hotel and didn’t want to leave it at the Bell Desk. That was not necessarily a great idea, but it turned out well because I was able to store all my accessories when they weren’t needed.

MyWinterOutfitForWhistler_Canada_1

Even though I hadn’t planned much, I was very happy with the way everything turned out!

MyWinterOutfitForWhistler_Canada_2