The Shopping Diaries (Fukubukuro 福袋 2015): Spiral Girl

Hi all!

I come to you with a special Fukubukuro post. Translated as "lucky bag," this is a traditional Japanese event where on the first day of January, stores put their products in a bag and have different denominations such as $50 or $100. The products inside are at least double the worth of the price you pay (i.e $50 = $100+ value). The catch is that the buyer doesn't know the contents of the bag until after the purchase. Most people are like, "why would you pay a good amount of money for something you don't know what you're getting and may not like in the end?" Well, I think that's the excitement of the tradition: not knowing what you're getting! Plus, even if you don't care for some of the items, they can end up as gifts for another occasion :).

Living in Hawaii, we are exposed to many different traditions and cultures. We are really lucky to be able to experience them as well, which is why we get to have Fukubukuro! They only did Fukubukuro at Ala Moana, our biggest mall on Oahu, and the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki. Mind you, not all stores participate, but there's always a list of stores posted a few weeks beforehand. Many high-end stores like to participate, such as Gucci and Neiman Marcus. I was only able to get the Spiral Girl bag, which I'm happy about, but I did want to try to get my hands on a different bag like Michael Kors or Kate Spade, but the lines were ridiculously long. Nevertheless, I think Spiral Girl always does great bags (they are a Japanese brand to begin with!) and I usually like most of the things that I get. They only had $50 bags this year. Last year, they had options because I had gotten a $100 bag. To see what I got last year, you can click here!

Anyways, let's get into what I got!

Fake Swoosh (Wesley): This was a kind of interesting one. The shirt has an athletic style to it, which suits the emblem. It is a heavier feeling cotton top. I'm not sure how I would wear this one...probably with just some black skinny jeans and perhaps a patterned throw-over of some sort, preferably floral. I would like to attempt to do a look-book with these pieces. If I'm able to coordinate these pieces well enough, I'll definitely post!

Black Sheer Semi-Overlay White Tank: When I first saw this piece, it immediately made me think of one of my friends in Japan! I felt like this was her style or I've seen her wear something similar before hehe. I could always pair this with denim, which is my go-to basically every day, but I'd like to try something different. I have a few ideas that I would like to try out with this later on.

Off-Shoulder Sweet Dress: My initial reaction when I see dresses is a slight cringe. Dresses have never really been my thing. It's not that I hate them, but I always prefer separates. I did try this on and it did look cute. I have to be in a bit of a girly mood to wear it though hehe. I would simply pair this with black opaque tights and my platform MJ from Vince Camuto. Just simple and sweet.

Sleeve-tie Tee w/ Neon Green Inset: I didn't know that I had to tie the top ends of the sleeve until I tried it on! Taking it out of the package, I thought it was some sort of weird 3/4 long sleeve lol. The great thing about a lot of Japanese clothing is that it comes with something to wear underneath because of their conservative culture. To be honest, this actually became my favorite piece from this bag. I have the perfect coordinate in mind too for it. It utilizes a pair of shorts that I bought last year in April, but have never worn ><. But hey, I found something to match it now!

Blue Spaghetti Bodycon: This was definitely not my favorite because I would never wear a bodycon dress. I don't think I have the body for it, and that's fine by me lol. If you see my previous Fukubukuro post, I received the exact same dress, but in a bright salmon color. I think I ended up selling that at Plato's Closet or donating it. I really have no use for this unfortunately :(. 

Overall, I think it was a great Fukubukuro! 4/5 is not a bad score and the value was marked at $150+, so it doesn't make me feel bad at all. I wish we had a summer Fukubukuro as well like in Japan. Perhaps with the success and excitement from this year, it might catch on as a semi-annual event.

Thank you for reading and see you in the next post!

- Lauren

The Shopping Diaries: Black Friday 2014

Hi all!

I know this is waaaaay overdue for a Black Friday haul post, but hey, better late than never right? :)

I'd say that this past Black Friday was really enjoyable because I felt that the sales were really good this year. I know some people say otherwise, but as an annual partaker of the tradition, I do believe the sales at the stores that I went to were fantastic. So here are some of my finds!

Victoria by Victoria's Secret: Honestly, I have way too many bottles of perfume, BUT, it's hard to leave without taking advantage of the 50% off deal. Plus, I'm a big fan of VS perfumes because I think they do them very well and they have a good range of scents. I think I have the body spray for this one from a previous purchase, but I decided to go with the perfume because I really like the scent. The description says that it has "Red berries, Victoria Rose, and Creme Brulee," and I think it's the red berries note that gives it that citric tang that I like. I got this for $25 for the 1.7 fl. oz.

Tocca Handcream/Rollerball set and Tarte mini set: For the second year in a row, I failed to get my hands on the Philosophy facial wash T-T. At least I was able to get my hands on the other two things that I was interested in! I became a fan of Tocca scents from the previous year's $10 set. I was happy that this one included two different scents that are both lovely. The two scents are Giulietta and Stella. I think I favor Stella over Giulietta, but as I said, they are both lovely! As for the Tarte set, I've always wanted to try one of their amazonian clay 12-hour blushes and I thought this was a good opportunity to try it out. Plus, I get to try their mascara and lip gloss of which I like both!

Navy Blue Trousers (GAP): This was one of my steals of the day. I had reminded myself that I've been on the hunt for trousers that hit at the ankle and were well formed to my legs. I'm 5' 1'' so it's really hard to find trousers that fit me well. Gap was having 50% off the entire store, and I had remembered that the Ultra Slim Crop Pants in petite form fit me really well, but unfortunately, they didn't carry that size in-store, which is really odd for a store in Hawaii where there are a lot of Asians lol. Anyways, that style is available online (which also had the 50% off deal), so I ordered myself a pair in black. I decided to give the sales rack a go since I was there already and came across this pant. This is the Slim Crop in OOR and I thought why not try it on. I was surprised that the fit wasn't that bad! The length was quite good for regular instead of petite and, due to the material, the fit was good as well. This was originally $54.95 and the sale price was $29.95, then with the extra 50% off, I only paid $15!

Mid-Crop Black and White Striped T-shirt (Spiral Girl): I haven't really been shopping at this store as much, but they had a whole bunch of sales and I decided to pop in for a bit. I was immediately attracted to this because of the monochrome and the simplicity of it. I like these types of boxy mid-crop tops and I was glad that I was finally able to find a style that I liked. I had been debating about getting something similar at Brandy Melville, but I like something that has more of a drape rather than the form-fitting style that a lot of crop tops have. I think I got this for $20? I think the regular price was $29.99.

Mung Bean face mask, et. al. (The Face Shop): By the time I got to the Face Shop in Ward Center, they had 20% off the entire store (earlier hours had 30% and 25% off). I originally went in there for a gift for someone and I decided to get a few things for myself ;). Not pictured was a black charcoal face wash that I really enjoy using with my konnyaku sponge. I really like any cleansing product for the face that has black charcoal because your skin comes out feeling really nice and clean without it feeling super dry. Also, I got this mung bean face mask, which is great for purifying pores. Of course, whenever you go to any Korean skincare store, you always leave with some samples!

Cedar Street Large Monday in Black (Kate Spade): This was a Christmas gift from my mom to me, but I included this in the post because of the good Black Friday deal! It was 25% off the entire store, and while I'm not too familiar with the sale patterns at Kate Spade, it seems like these bags don't really go on sale as these are one of their most popular bags and it's in black. I've been loving small crossbody bags, and I'm happy to have found a classic bag in black in a flexible style. This bag is great for daytime shopping or for a classy night out. The slimness of the bag doesn't allow for the user to stuff all kinds of junk inside and limits you to the essentials, which is great weight-wise!

Monochrome Graphic by Joe's (Nordstrom Rack): I had seen this a few weeks back and I was immediately attracted to it as you can probably tell why hehe. It was on the clearance rack for $84 I think, and I really didn't want to spend that much despite it being on clearance. But, I came here the day after Black Friday and it was still there! And the clearance sections had an extra 25% or 30% off, so I was like hmm I'll try it on for kicks. The fit was fantastic, especially the length, so that left me feeling like ugh, it's still $60 but then again, it's Joe's Jeans and I know they fit incredibly well. Nevertheless, I don't regret getting them!

High-Waisted Black (Nordstrom Rack): I happened to find this in the clearance rack as well. I had been keeping an eye out for high-waisted black denim and I was excited to have found these. I love the vertical zipper detail and that it is a proper high-waist fit. This turned out to be only $13 after the extra percentage off the lowest price!

Thank you for reading this post! I always enjoy Black Friday shopping. I can't believe this is the sixth year that I've done this. It's such a fun experience and I look forward to this year's as well.

Happy New Year's everyone!

- Lauren

A New Year, A New Effort...starting with 福袋 (fukubukuro) ２０１４ feat. Spiral Girl

It has been such a long time since I uploaded a post on my blog. Looking at my post list, my last post was at the end of September. I don't really know what happened that made me lose interest in posting...actually it may have been due to my obsession with the Game of Thrones series and I abandoned everything to read the books lol. I'm reading the fifth book called A Dance With Dragons and interestingly enough, I'm having a difficult time getting through the book. 

Anyways, I'm trying to get back into blogging again so I'm therefore making it  resolution of mine to do so. And what better way to start of the new year with a fukubukuro purchase! I was incredibly happy that I was FINALLY able to snag a Spiral Girl bag since I failed to get one last year. This is what the bag looked like:

It was a pretty huge bag! What's also great is that it's a good reusable bag with a zipper on top. This was the $50 bag that had a value of $200, which is absolutely wonderful. I ended up adding the original prices of everything in the bag and it came out to more than $300! Maybe next year I'll try for the $100 one hehe. To be honest, I thought this bag was worth it because of the great stuff that they put in here and I liked 90% of it. So here are the items!

Striped Neon and Heather Grey Peplum (MIIA): Yes, I'm kind of over the peplum trend, but honestly, peplum shapes look flattering on me. I really like this one because it's not so form fitting. It reminds me of this other peplum that I have from Free People and I kind of prefer this style over the form fitting style. I had seen this on the rack during early summer (?) and I had really liked it but I wasn't about to pay $49 at regular price. In the end, it still found its way back to me :).

Light Grey Shift Dress: Looking at it in the bag, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I'm not a major dress person at all since I prefer separates. But after putting the dress on and adding some pieces from my closet, I felt much more comfortable and made it more appealing to my eye. I would love to show you all how I would style this dress. Perhaps I can do a lookbook? The material is quite thin, which makes it quite sheer. I need to find a slip that will go well with this dress before I wear it out!

Hot Pink Cami Dress (Spiral Girl): This is probably my least favorite piece because it's definitely not my style of dress at all. What I'm thinking of doing is cutting it into a top so that it could be used for layering as an under piece to something or other. Or I might give it away lol.

Light Grey Dolman Top (muse muse): I may or may not have seen this when this was on the rack, but when I tried this on at home, I fell in love with it. I've always appreciated the draping effect of dolman cut tops on me, so to add this to my closet was an absolute delight! I love the neutral color, which will definitely make it flexible piece. The material is a little heavier than usual, but the feel of it is luxurious.

Lace Detailed Dress (muse muse): This was definitely an iffy piece to me while I was browsing through my bag. I thought it was going to be one of those boxy dresses that would look way too big on me. I ended up loving it a lot. It kind of had this Free People boho feel to it, which I like a lot. If you look carefully, a slip was included in my bag as well, but it seemed to be sold as a separate piece. The slip alone was $39 and the dress was $89. I got really lucky because the dress was really sheer and the color of the slip blends in nicely with the dress. I don't know if the people who put the bag together put these two pieces together on purpose, but if not, I'm super lucky!

Floral Leggings (Royal Party): I don't have leggings of this sort in my collection, so it's nice to have one handy for the upcoming spring season. To be honest, I've been really boring with my legging collection and picking out monochromatic patterns or just basic black. Hopefully, this will inspire me to add a bit more color to my life.

Neon Yellow Tights (Royal Party): And if that doesn't work, I'm pretty sure these tights will do it! I need to figure out a coordinate where I can wear these tights without it standing out so much. I'll probably need to research some inspiration for this piece ;)

Fabric Chandelier Earrings (Spiral Girl): Now these I'll definitely have to give or sell because I don't have pierced ears nor do I plan on piercing my ears. I wish I had gotten a necklace, but I'm not complaining with all the other awesome stuff that I got!

And that's the end! I'm absolutely ecstatic with this bag since it was quite worth it despite not liking one or two things. I'm already looking forward to next year's batch. I wish we could have semi-annual fukubukuro events hehe!

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN

TAG: Colors of the Rainbow

Hello lovelies! I wanted to blog about something different before bombarding you with end of the month posts. Actually, it's basically the end of July but I'll stick this post in anyway! I wanted to do a fun tag and so I decided to try out the Colors of the Rainbow tag. Basically, you take each color in the rainbow and pick out some of your favorite beauty and fashion items that correlate with the color. I'm not that major when it comes to makeup. I tend to go for a very natural look with most of the emphasis going to my eyes, which is just eyeliner and mascara. So, I stuck with fashion goods! Some colors were tricky, but I think I got my picks down. Here it is:

1. Red

Miss Sixty Booties: I got these around 2008-2009 when MS was still at Ala Moana. I believe Jason gave these to me as a Christmas gift. I was absolutely in love with the color and I like the texture of the leather. The only downside is that your feet do hurt after walking in these. I need to insert some sole support. Also, I tend to ding the heels hehe. To be honest, because these aren't the most comfortable shoes to wear, I haven't worn them in a long time. That being said, I'm going to try wearing them again!

2. Orange

Orange Tone Salopette: I'm not sure how to describe this pattern. It's kind of damaskish or it reminds me of something Mediterranean. Anyways, I got this from Spiral Girl in 2011. When I was studying abroad in Japan earlier that year, I saw this exact piece at a store and I wanted to get it but I didn't. Then a couple months after I came back, my dad took me shopping and I saw this at SG on sale, which was cheaper than in Japan. This has great shape because you don't need a belt to emphasize your figure. A belt will go nicely with it, but I usually don't wear one :).

3. Yellow

Funky Geometric: This is one of my absolute favorite pieces from MS. I bought this around 2008 or 2009 and when I first saw this, it was love at first site. I was attracted to the vibrant color and it just oozed happiness and sunshine. Also, this was around the time when I was digging billowy sleeves, so when I wore this, I felt like a total hipster hehe! I still get good vibes whenever I wear this.

4. Green

Bon Lapin: This is a purchase from Forever 21 after I came back from Vegas last year in October. I'm a bunny lover, so anything bunny-themed I'm there. I immediately grabbed this when I saw it and I was lucky that I snagged the last size small. I probably would've gotten it in a size medium if they didn't have my original size. In theme with the color, I love this shade of light olive. Olive tones are some of my favorite shades of green.

5. Blue

Blue Plaid Shirt: This is a more recent purchase from Guess at Ala Moana. I had such a hard time deciding which blue item in my wardrobe I wanted to post since blue is my favorite color at the moment. I was surprised that I ended up picking this because while I do admire plaid, I don't think it particularly looks good on me, but I definitely love this piece. I like the studs and the fact that I can wear it as a cover up or an accessory around my waist.

6. Indigo

Billowy Tie Top: Indigo was probably the hardest to find in my closet. I'm not even sure if this really counts as indigo but whatever. It's closer to blue on the violet-blue spectrum. This is another top from Forever 21 that I instantly fell in love with because of 1) the color, 2) the tie, and 3) the buttons bordering the top asymmetrically. Also, I love how the buttons trails down the back!

7. Violet

Lace Floral Plaid Tote: This is definitely an older item of mine that I still love. This was when Betsey Johnson was still under Betsey Johnson and not being overtaken by Steve Madden. I had gotten this a little after Black Friday for only $34. I absolutely love the pattern. I still have this bag but I haven't used it since I graduated from college. I must say it held up for a very long time. It's sad that the quality of Betsey Johnson goods have really gone down the hole, especially with their bags.

8. Pink

Light Pink Ribbed Peplum: I know this color almost borders on nude, but honestly it is my favorite top in a pink shade. The trend for peplums have somewhat subsided but I'd still rock one any day, especially from Topshop. The darts and the basic shape of this top is super flattering and makes you feel like a rockstar any day!

9. Multicolored

Summer Lightweight Stole: When it comes to multicolored items, I tend to gravitate to colorful stoles. This stole came in a set from Ingni when I was in Japan two years ago. Lightweight stoles are still a staple for me during the summer, although to be honest, I haven't been wearing them as much this year. But because the weather is somewhat straightforward in Hawaii, this can be worn throughout the year. The way I like to incorporate stoles into my outfit is to wear something basic and simple so that the stole is my center piece :).

I hope you all enjoyed reading this post. I had a lot of fun picking out items for this tag and you should do one too if you have a blog or a Youtube. Pretty soon I'll be uploading my monthly posts which will be including a shopping, instagram, and outfit of the day!

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN

The Shopping Diaries: Spiral Girl Ala Moana

Here is the second part to this shopping spree! This next post will be about Spiral Girl

This should be quite familiar as my dear boyfriend had bought the light blue version for me. When I saw that the dark brown was still available, I just had to get it. For some reason, when it comes to this brand, I have a penchant for buying all the available colors for the same silhouette or style. It's quite weird lol. I hardly wear this color so I'm thinking this would be a great addition to my road to becoming an ultimate fashionista! 

This dress was on the sale rack. It was originally $69 and had been reduced to $59. The sales girl told me that all the clothes on the sale rack were an extra 15% off from the sale price, so I decided to definitely try this on. I very much liked the fit of the dress and I liked the smoky grey color with the lighter grey pointed collar. I noticed that when the sales girl rang this up at the cash register, it took 15% from $55 rather than $59!

This top is from a brand called MiiA. Also on the sale rack, I wanted to buy another backless ribbon tie top and I thought this would be a good opportunity not only to do so, but to expand my soft pink section of my closet. It's a very light long sleeve so  it's possible to wear during the summer. 

Stay tuned for the next shopping spree segment!

Thank you for reading!

-LAUREN

The Shopping Diaries: EXPRESS, Spiral Girl Ala Moana

This bout of shopping was done the weekend after taking my last final as an undergraduate. I was relieved to have taken my last final but it felt bittersweet at the same time. You know how you've concentrated and worked really hard on something for so long that when it's over and done with you're left with this kind of sick, nauseous feeling? That's probably a more accurate representation of how I felt rather than relief lol. But I got over it the next day and had a bit of fun with the shopping :P

EXPRESS was having a pretty good sale that weekend. I believe it was buy one, get one 50% off. I just ended up getting this t-shirt because I loved the sequined heart. Even though the sequins look like a brown gradiation color, it's actually more of a gun metal gray. Nevertheless, I really liked this top and I had a couple coupons that I could use and I got $10 off.

This top came from Spiral Girl. I had seen this earlier like last month and I immediately felt the pull to buy it, but I waited. No sale came out of this waiting period, but I felt that rewarding myself would make me feel better :). I really liked the Western vibe from this top because of the the metal collar detail at the ends. With my hair shorter, those cute details can now be seen! Plus, gotta love the tiny studs going down the middle.

I had bought a black hi-lo skirt from Brandy Melville not too long ago, but of course the length is ridiculous. So when I saw this at Spiral Girl, I knew I had to try it on. Because it's a Japanese brand, it caters to the Japanese size, which is perfect for me. I found myself wishing the length was just a tad bit longer, but I couldn't complain much. Also, it came with a slip underneath so that was a major plus as well. This skirt is quite different from the Brandy Melville one (I think I may make a Brandy Melville post too later on) because this is much more girly and romantic in a sense.

After deciding on these two pieces, Jason (my boyfriend) and I go up to the cash register to pay and he surprises me by gifting these to me for graduating. I was really surprised because I hadn't been expecting it. It kinda made me blush and I felt my heart flutter a bit. I'm usually not the type to feel all sentimental and stuff because I'm quite a cynical person, but to feel that was nice :)

Thank you for reading!

-LAUREN