Wednesday, April 30, 2008

SS08: Marc by Marc Jacobs

For the last few seasons (ever since they got into the "grunge" look), I have not been too impressed with the Marc by Marc Jacobs collection. This season though I am delightfully surprised! The collection is preppy and retro-chic. My style but with a refreshing twist!
This collection makes me WANT to buy something orange, and that is a difficult feat. I absolutely detest orange. But I am willing to break the rules for these two dresses. I just LOVE the orange dress with the fancy bow tie (though I cannot quite imagine what occasion that would be appropriate for) and the shirt dress is casual and chic.
I don't even mind being obviously Marc by Marc Jacobs. Many would recognize this very distinct geometric shirt dress (left) as Marc by MJ by now (along with the orange bow-tie dress above) but I still like it. I am really impressed that the color seems so "old" and yet, the whole look is still so young!
At first glance I thought this blue printed dress (right) was really cute. But if you look closer, can you tell that it actually has Marc Jacobs written all over it? I thought it was pretty cool that I couldn't tell at first. But now that I can, I think that kind of ruins the dress. Shame.
The definition of retro chic. I love how they mixed the flirty print and color with such a "proper" design. It is both refreshing and stunning. Though it is a bit too much for me. I prefer the more subtle purple dress (right). I absolutely absolutely adore this dress. It is simple, vibrant, youthful and fun. I've tried it on actually, but the fit of the bodice is a bit off. Maybe if I got it tailored.........
More fun casual dresses. I love the block print (right). Its so off and cute at the same time. And the cut of the heart leaf pinafore dress is just adorable!
The neckline and the prints are awesome. I especially love the neckline of the blue shirt (left: it is very ladylike, but the print makes it fun!) and the subtle pinstripes on the yellow shirt (right).
These two are my favourites of the collection, because I think they are great investments. I'm a great believer in outerwear and these two cardigans are perfect to carry around with you this summer- just in case of freezing a/c temperatures! I waaaaant the white one (right)! It is very Chanel-esque with a youthful touch.
A cute jacket is ALWAYS a good buy. You get the most mileage out of them cause you can just throw it over any outfit- and this one is so chic and stylish! (Though it may be a bit too heavy for the summer). And this pinstripe shirt with the ruffles is just darling!

Now if only I can win a free shopping trip for Marc by Marc Jacobs this season!

Image Source: Net-A-Porter

oooOOOooo Something for the Guys Too

Guys if you're feeling left out you shouldn't be today, Nora & Dani's are both offering goodies for you. =)

If you haven't been by Nora BodySkins & Fashions (Glenn 197/33/27) you'll find a free male & female skin available at her store. ($0/white/m &f).

Raevas

The shoes worn with all outfits are from Four Yip (MO Island 61/67/60) - YIPs Lost Shoe. You'll find a number of free outfits in this area and another of Yip's shops around the corner. Search --> profiles tab and check out Four Yip's profile picks to find additional locations to pick up her goods at along with a gallery (Waelya Tenk and Shaun Mayo's gallery - Yab Yum (220, 63, 23) featuring some art by Four. ($0 / m&f/ additional outfits & accessories priced under $100)

All the following outfits are from Raeva's (Modus Vivendi 143/82/42) where all outfits are $50! The featured outfits are from her dollarbie rack found in the center of the shop. ($1 ea. - 2 dresses/ f)

More for guys & gal's behind the cut...


The hair featured in all pictures is the Edea style from Discord Designs. Discord Designs (Synchronicity 172/165/31) is offering double packs of Edea for $1, all hue packs for $3, and the fat pack (all colors) for $9. There is also a unisex black non-flex afro (DIVA - found on post Synchronicity 198, 153, 30) available in store for $1. ($1 ea/1-f 1-unisex)

Dani Harrop of Dani's (Bikini Beach (6, 152, 22) dropped me a notecard letting me know about her unisex May outfit out now. ($0/ unisex)

Danis

Blowpop (Fuzzy 251/174/35) is offering a free skin in each of its 6 different skin tones for free. Theses skins are the simply nekkid sans makeup choices. $0

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Spring/Summer Nail Varnish!

Just when I found the perfect winter nail shade (just in case you were wondering, it is the Essie Sole Mate. It is the perfect rich deep dark purple, with just a hint of red!) , spring comes around. Not that I'm complaining, I can't wait for the weather to get warmer and the sun to shine. Although now it means my nail colors will have to change along with it- to get into the spring mode you know. But I am kind of tired of the pale white pinks that I usually favor for warmer weathers. As classic as they are, it does get a bit monotonous after a while. AND it is super hard to apply properly (this might also be due to my lack of nail varnish applications skills- though I'd like to point out that I have no trouble with the darker colors! Odd, I know).
So I started to consider other colors suitable for spring. Flicking through the Essie advertisements (Yes, I have a preference for Essie!) bright pink crossed my mind (left: Secret Stash). As much as I wanted to try something new though, bright pink does seem a bit too much. I AM 21 now. Not quite Barbie. Then I considered pale purple (right: Looking for Love). It is subtle but still quite different from pale pink. But then I quickly rejected the idea- that is just TOO weird. Its just not a color one would relate to nail color! Kind of like how it is odd for people to put pale blue/purple lipstick on their lips!
After much consideration, I finally found the perfect color, Ball-timore (left). It is the perfect coral pink, with the sharpness of a super bright pink but toned down by orange/coral tones. I simply LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It is youthful and fun with a hint of sophistication. The other color I bought is Hard to Get (right). A more intense version of my usual pale pink hues, I thought this would just be fun and girly to play around with.I also wanted to get a nude color, like this (above: bags to riches). This one is the definition of sophistication and simplicity. But alas, it was getting rather expensive (they hiked the price up in the place I usually go to!!!).

Image Source: Essie

Monday, April 28, 2008

Monday! Monday!

Let's start off with a TODAY ONLY offer from MIA (MIA 2 (164, 35, 33). That's right guys and GALS MIA is back to giving away a free outfit on Monday. They've taken their break and are now back to the old MONDAY ONLY offer. Only this time they've included the girls! This week's theme is Cha Cha (includes matching red shoes) and yes, guys there's an outfit waiting for you. I'll not spoil the surprise. ($0 / m&f)

MIA cha cha

I'm wearing the new sakura sorceress skin from Mela's (Juicy (154, 145, 24). ($0/ f)

The hair in all pictures is from the $1 wall found in the clearance room at Bewitched Hair (Lemon Island (250, 187, 40). They are having a great clearance too, with fat packs (all colors include) of hair selling for only $100. ($1-10 styles/ f & unisex)

More...


I picked up both pairs of shoes that I'm wearing from the Free Dove (Gallii 113/53/33) which is one of those must visit freebie haunts. The white pair of shoes is courtesy of Insolence; black pair from *SM Vendor*. ($0 / m & f/clothes, shoes, hair, skin, animation overrides, jewelry)

AQUA copy

At AQUA (Glinda 227, 29, 89) I picked up two cute dresses for free and the hotpants & bikini top set is $5 for a limited time. I hadn't heard of this place before and it has tons of sexy outfits. ( $0 - dresses, $5 -hotpants/ F)

Kunglers

While at a hunt I spotted Trinity Outlander who had on a smexy, smexy lace outfit. She directed me to Kunglers (Agapema 241/137/48) where I found two lace outfits. You'll find both dresses upstairs. ($0 - 2 dresses, F)

A Piece of Candy _ Blue Diamond Hunt

Last, but certainly not least I hit A Piece of Candy (Immintel (160, 180, 100) for the Little Italy blue diamond hunt. I spotted all the diamonds easily and I'm sure you can too. They're sculpty so just make sure to walk around and give them time to rez. There were 4 outfits included in the hunt and one skin. I also picked up one of the $1 tops (not pictured) from the dollarbie post, where you'll find additional Another Shop skin mods. Candy is really good to her patrons and usually offers (as she has this week) a new release at a special introductory price. This week she has a couple of outfits for $10 each. ($1 - 5 diamonds, $1- skins & shirts, $10 new releases / F)

I almost forgot. =X All the jewelry shown is from yoona Mayo's shop in uemachi (uemachi (25, 136, 29). You'll find a nice selection of free jewelry & a hair for the girls. Also the prices are really inexpensive. $30 for earrings & $50 for necklaces & some sets.

Photos taken on the Shengri La sims (sims: Shegri La, Shengri La Joy, Shengri La Hope, Shengri La Love, Shengri La Peace)

Are Eco-Friendly Bags Worth It?

In my head, eco-friendly bags usuallt mean low-priced, off-white bags with some kind of save-the-earth type of message printed on it. Obviously, I've got Anya Hindmarch's "I'm not a plastic bag" bag -the first famous eco-friendly bag imprinted in my head. Back then, they were sold for 5 pounds each in the UK. (The whole craze for the bag is another story.) But clearly with over-demand, many other designers have tried to come up with smart slogans to put on suppsedly eco-friendly bags. I've managed to ignore that trend up until two weeks ago, I found this (literally) happy-looking bag in my mum's paper shopping bag.

No, my mum didn't buy it. She bought a jacket and the bag was a gift for shopping at Seibu, a department store in Hong Kong. We didn't think anything of it until we got home and discovered a HK$500 price tag on it. Wait, $500?! Yup, that was our reaction. We were kind of confused with why this bag would cost $500 in the first place and why the department store gave it away as a gift. I mean sure, the green smiling tree is sort of cute and it does have Moschino printed on it, (-as we all know, anything with a brand name printed on it allows it to be priced above what we think it ought to be worth,) but is it really worth 500hkd? (-500hkd is around 64usd or 30 pounds.) My point is not that I'm complaining about wasting my money on it because it was free, but that who would pay that much for it in the first place? And what you may not be able to tell from the photo is, this bag is small! It is probably the most impractical eco-friendly bag I have ever seen. Even the "I'm not a plastic bag" bag is more practical since it was wide (making up for it's lack of depth.) Plus, there was no message tag attached and the saleslady didn't even explain the point of the bag. Perhaps the proceeds of the bag goes to an unmentioned charity?

Anyway moving onto the Feed Bag. BG blogged about the first style last April. Recently, Lauren Bush released Feed 2 Bag. I have to admit the reason I looked it up was because I was surprised by the 50pound price tag when I saw it in Tatler magazine. But after reading the Harrods website, I am actually convinced it is worth it -According to Harrods' website, "each Feed 2 Bag sold will provide a year's worth of lunch meals in school for two children in need" for the UN World Food Programme's school feeding program. As for the design, it is reversible and made of 100% organic fair-trade material. OK, I can't claim to fully appreciate how 'green' the material is, but the cause actually sounds solid and worth it. I'm assuming people use these eco-friendly bags as their grocery-shopping bags, not to replace their Chanels, so even though it's not supremely stylish, it looks fit for the job, (although I would much prefer one that didn't have "Harrods" imprinted on it.)
What do you think of the whole eco-friendly bags trend in general? Do you use them for grocery shopping? Have you bought any?

Image Credits: http://www.harrods.com/

Saturday, April 26, 2008

The Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism on eBay

Hey people, you know the pretty purple Nokia phone that I blogged about a few days ago and some of you have been wanting to buy it? Well you can now! Since we are the kind of girls who want practical phones with classic, silver designs, (largely because we travel between countries a lot and Hong Kong is one of those places where phones are not attached to phone plans, unlike the UK or US,) we have decided to follow in Style Bubble's footstep and put this Prism up for auction on Ebay (UK). If you are a fun girly girl who wants this phone before it gets released, place a bid here!

Uniqlo UT Project 08

Two weeks ago, the new Uniqlo ad in Grazia (a UK glossy tabloid) featuring Chloe Sevigny really caught my eye. I'm not a fan of Chloe's style, (actually I wonder why people love her style so much,) but I really liked how the black tank top fits her here. Doesn't Chloe look very casual rock chic? And the other big attraction? The fact that the ad is by Uniqlo means that the shirt is actaully affordable!
Uniqlo's collaborations with designers to produce capsole collections are usually much talked of on the Internet. But UT Project seems much more accessible to me. UT Project is basically where Uniqlo collaborates with a bunch of artists and designers to make printed T-shirts. Depending on the designer, not only are the print designs different, but even the fitting of the t-shirts is different. You can probably tell from the few pictures of Chloe modelling them.
The most popular (and publicised) t-shirts seem to be the Basquiat t-shirts (-they're the ones Chloe is wearing in the first two pictures.) I bought the tank top on the left and I love how it's really long, and it's got a slit on one side so you can tie it together the way as shown in the ad. It's going to be one of my lazy-day shirts this summer!
I think the Osamu Tezuka t-shirts are kind of cute. Don't they look so easy to throw on? I imagine wearing them to hang out at a friend's house.
But I'm really not a fan of the surfing-looking t-shirts like the one on the right. (A bunch of people back in high school used to wear surfing t-shirts to school everyday and I think I've been scarred by them.) And I really don't know how to appreciate art because the print on the left t-shirt just looks ugly to me.
The long blue shirt on the right is one of the more special designs. And as for the shirt on the left, it didn't look so pretty to me until I saw it modelled on Uniqlo's Japanese website. Those blobs of green look just like the blobs of colours I'm trying to add to my wardrobe!
We all know celebrities and ads always make things cooler, so if you want some idea how how to dress-up these ordinary T-shirts from 'normal' people, take a look at the images on the Japanese UT website. (Speaking of which, why is the Japanese Uniqlo site so much better and complete than the US and US Uniqlo sites?) It has many girls posing in the tees, giving the tees many different styles -from hipster to cutsy to rock chick to boringly ordinary. Actually, even if you're not a fan of Uniqlo, you should take a look at how they styled the girls for inspiration!

Image Credits: http://www.uniqlo.co.uk/, http://ut.uniqlo.com/

While you were sleeping....

I'm slowly working through some of my notes on places to check out. One place(s) is the MILK USAGI MALL in Samoa *Japane (Samoa (225, 136, 57). In each mall there is a freebie section. You'll find the freebie section in this mall along the back wall of the first floor and another upstairs along the front wall of the store. There are also a couple of freebies within vendor booths. Just take a look around. You'll also find camping chairs at this location; at other locations you'll find lucky chairs. The malls are small and if you decide to check them all out (the black spinning box near the entry will dispense a note card with landmarks to other locations) take a look in the areas surrounding each small mall. Japanese vendors often offer freebies. (Dress, boots/ $0 / f)

MILK USAGI MALL Freebies

I'm wearing a new skin from Frick ( Blackmount 98/138/64) who makes Another Skin modifications that are fantasy inspired. All the skins here are reasonably priced at $30 and under. (IZ skin/ $1/2 pack / f)

I'm wearing one of the hairs that you too can find on the Earth Day hunt that ends Sunday on Lemon Island home of Bewitched Hair. ($0/12 hairs bought from trees / m&f)

Costumes!

I was hopping around a couple of places trying to help a new guy find some armor and rp stuff and spotted some new to me freebies.

Fandom Project Sweeny

First stop was the Free Fandom Project (Lippert 160, 111, 171). Although we didn't spot the armor that I had previously blogged about here. We did find an awesome Sweeny avatar. I'm not wearing the shape included with the avatar, but it is a guy's av ^.^. ($0, m/f)


Ultimate Super Hero _  Jill

Next we headed off to a couple of the Ultimate Hero (Simpkins 137/242/55) stores and found an outfit for GIRLS!!! I'm not sure who exactly Jill is, but I love her outfit! I'm wearing skin from Spirit (Plush Tau 41, 14, 28), catch the info on either of the two previous posts and hair from Free Speerit(Quest III 155, 150, 22 - rush to get this one). (Ultimate Hero costumes $0 m/f, Spirit skin $1/2 pack f, Free Speerit hair $0 f)

Boxed Heroes _ Female Warrior

Ok, so two strikes the last and final stop (for this post ;) ) did yield him an excellent set of armor and there was also a complete female warrior with skin, hair, and animation overide available (pictured above). The quality on these two offerings from Boxed Heroes (Plush Epsilon 58/57/22) is amazing! ($0 m/f)

Boxed Heroes _ Arabian Warrior

Photos were taken at the Steam Forge (FairChang Lost Isle Sim).

Friday, April 25, 2008

The Four R~s

Reduce, reuse, recycle meets Ren this weekend.

Bewitched hair (Sim: Lemon Island) has placed out 12 freebie hair packs that include an Earth Day inspired t-shirt. Each can be bought from the trees around the sim. Just click the trees and buy. If you'd like to read more about the hunt and Earth Day stroll on over to the Bewitched Blog. (12 hairs + tshirts/ m&f/ $0 ea)

Cassiopeia Isle Collage
(outfits from: Cassiopeia Isle, skin: Spirit, hair: Bewitched, shoes: Sarah Nerd, jewelry: simply spoiled)

More info behind the cut...

The merchants on Cassiopeia Isle have done it again... Along with LVS & Co they are bringing Ren to the square and you'll find some spectacular prizes around the sim. There's stuff for the guys to. ($1 for most items, $5 for the tiny rabbit avatar including the wings./ m&f, furry, tiny/many items)

Hobbit Wear _Cassiopeia Isle
(Hobbit outfits from:
Cassiopeia Isle, hair: Bewitched, skin: Spirit)

I used a necklace from Simply Spoiled (Mechozilla (96, 150, 44) I found it a nice compliment to the gothic dresses available at Cassiopeia Isle. ($1)

The shoes pictured are the color change Mary Janes available at Sarah Nerd's Freebie Paradise (NineInchNerds 94/115/35). This place is a must see! ($0)

Once again I used the Giants Light Glossy and Matte available at Spirit (Plush Tau 41, 14, 28). ($1/2pack/ f )

Furry Tiny _ Cassiopeia Isle
(Avatars from:
Cassiopeia Isle (lower left corner is one of the $5 avatars)

I also ran by Sideshow (Mischief 109/120/25) and picked up some new mighty fine hillbilly wear. You'll also find a cute whicker lamp next to the outfits & the brand spanking new retro furniture collection. ($0/f / also lamp)

Sideshow_Bewitched_Cas
(T-shirt in upper right corner from Bewitched Hair other outfit pieces & outfits from Sideshow, Hair: Bewitched, Skin: Spirit)
Photos were taken at Botanical @ Straylight Sculpt Tree Store (Straylight (200, 159, 9).

Thursday, April 24, 2008

WB Lappy!

Yay! My lappy is back from the dr's with a brand new keyboard and hopefully it will not shut off every time I enter the little pixelated universe I call part time home. Hope you didn't miss us too much. =^.^=

Well, in case you missed it on the entry a couple below this one Amorepacific4's hair spot (this is the Mise En Sine location on the hud found at approximately: Amorepacific4 81, 137, 66) is back up and running. Stop by to camp for some darling hairs for both the guys and gals. (Don't forget there are a couple of hair styles for the ladies in the Hera ballroom along with dresses, shoes, masks, & fans. You can also find free furniture, han-bock dresses, shoes, and knick-knacks in the Amore Museum. And don't forget there are a couple of spots to camp for female skins also. Explore, explore, explore!) (Camp times vary from 20 minutes or less.)

I received a lovely preview of $1 skins from SavannahAnn of Spirit (Plush Tau 41, 14, 28). If you teleport to the Pro Cheer Skin's room you'll find that one pack of each Veteran skin tone (commercial accessible from Spirit's blog) is available priced at only $1/pack normally $1000. So if you haven't gone by to check out this new hybrid photo sourced - hand painted line NOW is your chance! Look for the Giants Light Glossy and Matte pack in whatever skin tone you prefer. ($1/2 pack of skin) These skins were used in all the photos.

When I logged in I found myself at the ever expanding SakuraTown (mall area I - SakuraTown 46, 46, 32) which has added a new SakuraTown II mall area ( SakuraTown 71, 197, 24). The mall area II recently celebrated it's grand opening and many of the freebies may be taken down so rush over to check it all out. If you haven't visited this area please stop by and check it out. It's jammed with freebies and you can enjoy the spring festivities. If you get confused the red roofed areas are part of the original mall and blue roofed stores are part of the mall II expansion. There's even a couple of things for the guys to. ($0)

Sakura Town mall II

Much more behind cut...

Another Sakura festival and shopping area hot spot is located in the Access Island region. I've written about this area (access 162, 150, 22 -cross the bridge if you'd like to look at the area previously blogged) before, but since then it has expanded doubling in size. If you haven't experienced a lot of Japanese shopping this would be an excellent introduction to tons of designers. There's a lot here, but only about 10 items offered up from any one designer. There's numerous stalls ranging from clothing, hair, skin, tinies, and even a couple of neko items. And yes, the guys will be happy if you bring them along because there are a couple freebies here for him also! ($0-$1)

Access

If you haven't popped on over to the Wing Fling (Platinum 128,10,21) you might just want to because besides having a ton of wings in one place to browse there are also two great deals ($1 & 0). You can find a great map of the booth layout on Second Style Cast. You'll want to check out Seven's Selections and Battle Fairy's booths.

WingFling

The capris modeled with the wings are from a gem of a store La petite fleur (aquapolis (186, 176, 41) which has put out the cutest little khaki dress. One word of warning here *Try before you buy, all the prim skirts are no modify!*($0)

La Petite Fleur

Additional items: Hair pictured with the La petite fleur outfit is from Free Speerit, (Quest III 155, 150, 22). These hairs will only be available for a very short time ($0-rush). The shoes are an old stand by from Ada Store (Fontaine (39, 104, 50). ($0)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Clip on Bangs

For a while now, I've wondered what I'd look like with straight bangs. When I found out that my friend managed to avoid the whole "awkward" growing out stage when she got tired of her straight bangs by getting extensions, I seriously considered getting them.I mean, doesn't Alexis Bledel look sooo cute and pretty with straight bangs? Of course, I know that what works for Alexis might not work for me, but I figured that since I have a long face and already have side bangs anyway, I can't go too wrong with straight bangs. I am kind of want to get a new look anyway. Alas, the the prospect of regular maintenance, the fear that it won't suit me after I've cut it and my upcoming graduation (and therefore I don't want to do anything to screw up my hair), stopped me from getting straight bangs.
The other day, flicking through my cousin's teen magazines, I saw the most interesting thing: clip on bangs. How smart! How come I didn't think of that before? So, the next time I went to get my hair done, I consulted my hairstylist, Roy, on the use of clip on bangs. He said that he sometimes used them when they are on location and don't have that much time to style hair properly and that they used it for hair product ads (I was very disappointed to find out that the long, shiny, silky locks models have in hair product ads are fake). He told us that they actually sold them a few blocks away from the salon. At that, HG and I immediately headed over there to get one each. I even brought it back to the hair salon, so Roy can give my clip on bangs a trim. He actually made me go back to return them, because the ones I got were too short. He advised me to get longer clip on bangs. That way I can clip it further back on my head, so that I can cover up the obvious line where it clips on, with my layers. For the shorter bangs, you'd need to wear a headband or something to cover it up.

Excited I immediately went home to try it on. While the concept of clipping your own fringe back, clipping on the fake fringe at the side (I've pointed out the clips with the blue arrow above) and then covering it with your layers sounds very simple, it turns out to be a very difficult task. Trust me, I've given it many many tries over the last 2 weeks and have still to master it. I am tempted to blame it on my inability to use a bobby pin, but I'm beginning to suspect that they are just impossible to put on properly. First it is very hard to clip it onto your hair, because it needs to grasp onto some hair first (difficult to explain properly, but the point is, its hard!). Then, when you DO get it clipped on, it is NOT STRAIGHT. And you cannot have straight bangs that are not straight. If you DO manage to get it half straight and your real bangs are not falling out at this point, you face the problem of color. Apparently, there are many shades of black. I thought that my hair would be fine, since I already dye it an artificial blue black and the clip on bangs were an artificial black as well. But NO. I took it out for a quick 15 minute test drive this weekend (once I FINALLY got it on half way decently) and took a picture. EWW. Not only was the color a bit off, but I totally looked like I had a MOP on my head. Maybe I just don't know how to get it on right? Anyone tried them?

So yes, my awesome clip on bangs idea turned out not to be such a good idea after all.

Image Source: Yahoo TV

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism

The Nokia PR machine has been sending out the new Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism to quite a few fashion bloggers lately, and we were one of the lucky few to receive one. At first it was all very mysterious: all we knew was that the phone was going to be designed by a designer with a major mobile phone manufacturer. I was very hesitant as I am now jaded by all the designer mobile phones in the market, and quite honestly, only a collaboration between Nokia (my ideal mobile phone brand) and a really prominent fashion designer, think Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga and Miu Miu (in my dreams), would pique my interest. So when it was revealed that the designer was Frederique Daubal, I was honestly a bit disappointed.Last week I received the phone. To start with, the packaging is superb -way too pretty to be a mobile phone box. It took me awhile to figure out how to open the box, although this is probably because I haven't bought a new phone in the past 6 years.I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much. Thankfully, the phone turned out way prettier than I thought it would be. Before, I had been very resistant to the idea of a bright pinkish purple phone, (I'm more of a silver or black sort of girl,) but the effect is pretty fab -the design is striking and the crystal at the center definitely adds a dose of girliness to it. The phone is thinner than anticipated (Nokia was never big on thin phones,) which is good, but I don't like how long it is.

Thinking back, I remember a few of my girl friends who were looking for new phones last summer saying how much they loved the prism design. I just realised they were cooing over the Nokia 7500, the predecessor of the 7900. It basically has the same gorgeous black keyboard. Unfortunately, as lovely as the design is, I'm just a boring girl who wants an ordinary keyboard. This is way too avant garde for me!
As for the specs, there is the good and the bad. The good is that the screen is an OLED screen so the colours are really bright and cool. The bad is that the camera is a very standard 2 megapixel one. I would have expected a higher megapixel camera for a 'fashion' phone, because really, vain, fashionable girls are all about having their photos taken!

Style Bubble blogged about this phone last week, and it wasn't until I saw her photos that I realised there was another 'level' of goods in the box -including a badanna and phone pouch-both in flashy, metallic purple. (See what I mean? I am obviously so out of touch that I can't even figure out the box has two levels!)
So if you're looking for a high-tech phone, this is probably not for you. But if you're one of the fun and girly girls who want something cute and 'designed' to hold onto, then go check it out. I certainly like the Prada phone more, but this definitely beats out some of the other fashion phones out there. *coughdvfcough* *coughannasuicough* For more actual information on the phone, see Nokia's website.

Image Credits: Nokia and the blog's

Sunday, April 20, 2008

A Weekend in Boston

Just when I was about to hit "Publish" last week a "Warning" sign popped up and claimed that the our blog had been LOCKED by blogger spam-blog prevention robots and that until it was verified that this was an actual blog, we cannot publish anything. I was flabbergasted! What IS this?? Blogger really needs to rethink this strategy of theirs. I hope this is only a one time thing. We were beginning to worry that our blog will NEVER be verified. Thank god it has! FINALLY. But yes, in case you were wondering, that is why we haven't been posting for the last week.

****

Deciding to take advantage of my excess mileages, status as a part-time senior (read: minimal school work) and free housing before my friends graduate in May, I went off to visit Boston this weekend since I've never been and it is definitely on my list of places to go.
My first stop (since I was living there) was Tufts. I absolutely love the collegiate feeling of the campus. Everyone had so much school spirit! The Tufts mascot, Jumbo (left) was everywhere. Now I'm really sad my school does not have a mascot.... Another point of interest is the painted canon (right), sorry I forgot to take a larger picture of it. It is tradition for Tuft students to paint this canon and then stay overnight to guard it while it dries. From this close up picture of many many layers of dripping paint, you can see how many Tufts student has carried on this tradition. One suspects what the original size of the canon might have been. When we went that morning, the paint was still wet.
The next stop for us on the T was Harvard Square. I'm afraid I didn't know the Harvard campus very well and got tired once we reached the quad with the library/cathedral and took a picture with John Harvard. And no, I did not touch his feet... it is rumored that it has been peed on many times. Later on I found out that I missed paying tribute to the first computer ever made and some other Harvard sights as well, but oh well maybe next time. I did walk around the area though, and it was very quaint and cute.
Then we hit Quincy Market (left), which for those who don't know is a big long food hall (like those in a mall) in a pretty, classical looking building. The area around it was also very interesting. Cobbled stone and lined with restaurants, I imagine it would be really cute on a nice day. There was also a restaurant named after "Cheers" (the TV show from many years ago that Fraser was in) there complete with a gift shop. But I hear the original one, named the Bull and Finch, is actually near Boston Commons.
Then we walked over to the North End, which I guess is their waterfront (think The Rocks & Darling Harbor in Sydney and Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran). Compared to the bustling waterfronts of Sydney and San Fran though, this one was a bit quieter (prob because it was a gloomy rainy day). But it was lined with adorable lamp posts and gorgeous townhouses and the effect was just wonderful. Its so nice to walk along.
Near that area, is Little Italy, which has a lots of delicious Italian restaurants on a series cute little streets. After dinner, we stopped by Mike's Pastry and tried their canoli's. It was really good. And the place was bustling with people. My friend claims that she thinks that the canoli's taste even better than some of the ones she's tried in Rome!
The next day, we hit the downtown area. We went to Boston Commons, the MA State House (left) and then strolled along the elegant streets of Beacon Hill (right: the prime real estates of Boston).
We passed by the park (left: sorry I forgot the name) and onto Newbury street (of course) and stopped by for lunch in one of those cute little cafe's there (right). I'm SO glad that Saturday morning was such a nice, sunny day.
After lunch, we went to do our touristy thing at Copley Square, taking pictures of the Boston Public Library (left) and the Trinity Church (right).
I especially LOVED the Boston Public Library. It was surprisingly gorgeous, with a lovely peaceful courtyard (left), an beautiful mural stairway (right) and a room that had a huge dome ceiling, rows and rows of tables with little green lights on them and lots and lots of people studying there (again, I didn't catch the name). But once you walk in, you are instantly accosted by a sense of awe, as if you've entered a sacred study sanctuary. It was so sacred that we didn't dare make a peep or a camera click before we hastily left, in fear that we'd disturb any of those intently studying there. I've never professed to love a library, but I love this one. It actually makes me want to study!
One of the most interesting shops I visited in Boston was Johnny Cupcakes on Newbury Street (*gasp* not fashion related!). Upon seeing Johnny Cupcakes, I insisted we go in, because as most of you know, I LOVE dessert. But once we entered, I immediately looked for the cupcakes.... and saw none. Instead there were only t shirts being sold in baking trays and freezers.. where the cakes were supposed to be! Then we caught "story" of the store, which began with, "I started this as a joke." We had a good laugh.

Another shop of interest was Black Ink (right) at Harvard. It sold a variety of very cool gadgets, games, kitchenware and gimmicks. I especially want the cute plates and the baking recipe box filled with Betty Crocker recipes! It is an awesome place to get people fun and interesting gifts.
50% of the reason why I wanted to come to Boston was because I wanted to try the desserts at Finale. Everyone I know whose been to Boston has come back and told me that I'd LOVE Finale. And so, on a rainy night, we went to the Finale at Cambridge. And I DO love it. The upscale decor and the gorgeous looking desserts got me instantly hooked. I wanted a cupcake, a cheesecake, a boston cream, a chocolate cake... I wanted everything. In the end, my friends shared a Fantasia (right)...
and I settled on a creme brulee (left) and a molten chocolate cake (right). Yes, I got both. And yes, I finished both too. Our server was very impressed. They're both the "signature" dish there and really, you can't take either home, what else can I do? After trying both, I must say, the chocolate molten cake was only so-so, but the creme brulee was absolutely DELICIOUS. Completely divine. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I also took home a cheesecake, a tiramisu and a Boston cream. The Boston cream was ok. But the cheesecake and the tiramisu was quite good. Not too sweet, with a rich milky flavor.

Over all I really loved Boston. It was just so quaint and collegiate- something I do not feel in my own college. And I'm already missing the creme brulee!!!!!!!
 
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