artistic garble.

salvage.

Me: My new H&M dress I got in San Francisco – Silk. Hot iron. BURN….can you make this into a top?

Raven: [slight hesitation] I’ve never sewn on silk before. BUT since you already effed it up, sure I’ll give it a shot ;)

Thank you to my talented and beautiful seamstress friend, RAVEN, for making a kick-ass top from my poor burnt dress. It's amazing how people can astonish you with their mad sewing skills. I was bummed when I ironed a hole on a polyester dress and the first person that popped in my mind was Ravestar! The top was a little short on me but hey! it was my eff up.


I traded her labor for a Corinne Bailey Rae ticket at the House of Blues, which was an AMAZING concert! I took my cousin, John, and my sister along too which they thoroughly enjoyed. I'll never forget this concert. Here's a silly mini-photoshoot of the finished product. As you can tell, I'm not a model by all means.

wishful shopping.

1.} anthropologie. Grasby Gardens Dress

2.} anthropologie. Unaligned Bands Dress

3.} anthropologie. Feliciana Dress

embrace it.

OK...i'm not the typical skinny asian girl. I live to eat and eat to live. My workouts are based on the many calories I consume a day. I love fried chicken and cupcakes! Can't take that away from me unless my health was in detriment...

I do give a shit about how my body looks, but what girl doesn't?!? I have a ba-dunk-a-dunk and embrace the hell out of it! I've always been self-conscious of my assets just cause its so big and round. I may not like how my junk in the trunk looks in jeans sometimes, but I've come to terms that I slightly overfill them. That's why I must be blessed with this booty?!? I have this tendency to always do that butt check in the mirror when I walk away and then just pout in disappointment how big my arse looks. MUST STOP DOING THAT! Screw society and how they view beauty in slender and thin women. It's all about curves! Do guys really want a flat pasty ass grinding against them or a nice juicy firm ass bouncing off them? I would take the latter anyday if I was a dude. It's possible to be envious my own ass, isn't it? NIKE ad courtesy of my homie, JON, and his appreciation for girls with a small waist and big round booty!

i'd do it all again.

Ooh, you did it all again, you broke another skin
Its hard to believe this time, hard to believe
That my heart, my hearts an open door... See More
You got all you came for, baby
So weary, someone to love is bigger than your prides worth
Is bigger than the pain you got for it hurts
And out runs all of the sadness
Its terrifying, life, through the darkness
And Id do it all again, Id do it all again

- Corinne Bailey Rae

Her music is so soulful and beautiful. I can't wait to see her in about a week!

found in translation.

My first class of ESL wrapped up this month and a new one begins tomorrow. Ever since i started teaching english after work, I have found a new respect for my students, peers, and myself. it's damn hard work to speak in correct english, but to teach it to people who have an utter lack of understanding in a foreign secondary language is a HUGE struggle! If you have a passion to learn something, just go for it! Don't wait.

"You need a certain amount of openness and non-conformism to be creative. People who are considered mad have not been taught by life to wall up their openness and they have more direct contact to their unconscious." - Anonymous

the fire.

"You came to celebrate,
I came to celebrate,
I hate losing.

I refuse to make
the same mistakes."

- The Roots ft. John Legend

There’s something in your heart,
and its in your eyes
It’s the fire, inside you
Let it burn

we stomped.

had a grand ole time grape picking and stomping with my girls at the messina hof winery in bryan, tx. i was long overdue for a estrogen packed weekend. it's so difficult nowadays to get such a huge group of my dynamic friends together for organized alcoholic debauchery...it was so funny how the owner kept calling us the yaya sisters....so glad my sister had the time and patience to coordinate with everyone. thatsah goodah! oh yeah...i highly recommend Messina Hof's Mama Maria Rose Wine for a sweet wine.

burst my bubble.

Melvin Sokolsky's spread circa 1963 in Harper's Bazaar called "The Bubble Series," depicting models in fancy clothes floating above the Seine River. The bubble creates the feeling that the women are untouchable and in an entirely different league to all the regular schmucks. Some kind of ethereal, glamorous league. Why can't I go through life just floating in a bubble without a care in the world? or do I?

violent concept.

And I wrote two hundred letters

I won't ever send
Somehow it is cut so much
Deeper then they seem
You'd rather cover up
I'd rather let them be
So let me be
And I'll set you free

- maroon 5

Maroon 5's new "Misery" video is a gleefully over-the-top affair, full of cartoonish, wanton violence, nifty stunt work and special effects, and a whole lot of good-natured wink-wink-ery. Adam Levine is supremely handsome and cocksure. Turns out, he's indestructible ... though many are out to injure him, and no matter how many messes he makes, it's the other guys who ultimately end up getting hurt, and, really, no one notices when they do.

Of course, to hear Levine tell it, the video is also about "the sexual energy between two people," and maybe it is, but I'd prefer to give Levine, a bit of credit for poking fun at archetypes, for being smart and even a bit understated. There's just something so hot about throwing a guy against a wall and planting a kiss on him. mmmhmm!!

tickle me bold.

One of the few important questions always comes to mind when I go out to meet up the girls for a drink or even go on the prowl: "what statement do i want to make?" Oftentimes, the answer's sexy, smart, and bold. Print dresses is a way that can make that fashion statement.

I especially love the Jackson Pollack inspired dresses. Abstract Expressionism are one of my fav art movements. As for the shoes, Espadrilles are a must this season and these Lauren by Ralph Lauren espadrilles are perfect with a towering high wedge heel. These will look great with jeans, dresses and shorts. Marc by Marc Jacobs purse too!

what are you fighting for.

So you think I'm alone?
But being alone's the only way to be
When you step outside
You spend life fighting for your sanity

This is a cold war
You better know what you're fighting for
This is a cold war
Do you know what you're fighting for?

- janelle monae

oh, ryan.

voltron girl.

Awwwz yeaah...this is one kick-ass Voltron girl! If I had a daughter..I can assure you that she will be one of those girls who can sport a costume like this and put little boys to shame. That's right...no kid of mine will ever wear a fufu princess costume or play the damsel in distress. I applaud the parents who went to great lengths to make this Voltron costume for a girl - no less. Cartoons nowadays aren't like how they used to be when I was a kid growing up in the 80's.

wishful shopping.

"Know first who you are; and then adorn
yourself accordingly." - Euripides

modern slavery.

Human Trafficking is modern day slavery. It comes in many forms. Forced prostitution, bonded debt labor, child soldiers, domestic servitude. Can’t believe it’s still around? Actually, it’s bigger today than ever before. “A woman or child sold into prostitution can earn up to $150,000 annually for a crime boss,” according to a 2003 report by Melvin Levitsky titled Transnational Criminal Networks and International Security. No wonder the crime is so prevalent and attractive to criminals that it earns $10-12 Billion dollars a year!

Ever since I started working at non-profit it has definitely opened my eyes to issues that affect more and more women. One of them being Human Trafficking. I always heard and saw on the media of women being sold into slavery, but I never really got to meet anyone or help anyone until now through immigration processing. Shit. It's something I would never want anyone to endure. I just wish there was something more that I could do. How can people be so sick and twisted to force a child into prostitution?

erase me.

It's like I'm her new nightmare, she ain't escaping
It makes me feel a bit complete, yeah
Knowing someone you love don't
feel the same way about ya
Memories they soon delete, hmmm

- kid cudi ft. kanye west

happy 4th of july.

Do I really want to sit around in the humidity and hot muggy weather drinking beer and goofing around with my friends on Independence Day? Answer: Why the hell not?!! Can't wait until I get a cold brewsky in my little asian hands. I was never a big fan of beer until I started going to Saint Arnold's Brewery. Plus, hanging out with beer-drinking cousins and a pub fanatic sister are rubbing off on me. Yesterday, my eccentric friends and I went to Hubbell and Hudson, a fine market and bistro establisment, in the Woodlands and found myself in the midst of a Beer and Cheese Festival. It was great! FREE BEER TASTING!

Here's a beer that I thoroughly enjoyed during my beer adventure! Hoegaarden White Beer...maybe I like it because it has the word hoe in it (shrugs)...no, not really, but it was tasty going down the hatch. Thumbs up! Honorable mentions were Blanche de Brussels, Singha, Paulaner Oktoberfest, Xingu Black Beer, and Honey Moon Summer Ale.