audrey fong fong

The second day took Taylor and me to Myeong-dong for Taylor's favorite fluffy pancakes at innisfree GREEN CAFE. These pancakes were so fluffy and delicious for about 10,000 won. We walked around Myeong-dong and poked around cosmetic stores before heading to a few palaces to get some exercise in. We had to cut our time short to make our reservation at Jungsik, a fine dining restaurant ranked in the top 20 restaurants in Seoul according to TripAdvisor. Taylor and I enjoyed our dishes, especially the uni with nori rice and the seared scallops, but it was a lot of food for us. From the combined food coma and heat (It was the hottest day I spent in Seoul!), we were feeling pretty sluggish so Taylor took me to The Spa in Garden 5 for my first Korean spa experience.

Jacket: Topshop
Top: LOFT, Central Park

Reading: The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Listening: "Dear Winter" by AJR

In my dreams, I think about living somewhere quite literary like a grey London or a dreamy Paris. I would spend my days strolling about, rubbing elbows with intellectuals, and working on my writing. Such dreams led me to New York, only to have me realize that I'm a Californian through and through, completely in love with our sunny winters. However, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the occasional getaway to somewhere a bit more dreary and romanticized. London reminded me a bit of New York in the way that it feels very busy and like everything is under construction yet it was about 1000x more charming and felt quite a bit safer. I especially liked the Kensington area for its quaint architecture and abundance of dogs running around.

If you're in the SoCal area, then you probably know about Roasting Water, the super cutely decorated boba chain that gives out free bottles with each tea. They recently teamed up with Rilakkuma to bring the kawaii character dining experience to the US. And lemme just say - I love it! Everything is so well thought out from the zipper down the backs of the chairs to the galaxy printed tables matching the Rilakkuma murals. They also sell super cute mugs and bottles featuring any character you could thin of - Baymax, Totoro, Hello Kitty, etc.

If you're looking for a doggy friendly place to road trip with your pup, Salton Sea is a beautiful spot to take them. Charlotte had a lot of fun trotting around off-leash and sniffing at the fishy terrain. It's a bit hot, but nothing a bottle of ice cold water can't fix. Be sure to keep your eyes cast downwards to see bits and pieces of fish skeletons embedded into the salty earth.

Sunglasses: miu miu
Dress: BDG
Top: Topshop
Backpack: Fjallraven Kanken
Shoes: Circus by Sam Edelman

I'll probably be switching this blog over to a lifestyle blog one day just because I'm not nearly narcissistic enough to continuously take enough photos of me in outfits to keep up this blog. It's just awkward taking a photo of yourself by yourself unless you're on vacation. And I don't want to become part of that large population of people, who take photos of themselves all the time. For the most part, I only started taking outfit photos to document particularly creative outfits or really special pieces of clothing that I wanted to show off.

Dresses: Sandro, Urban Outfitters, Sandro
Top: Topshop, similar here
Shoes: Barney's Co-Op, similar here and here; Opening Ceremony, similar here
Purse: Bally, similar here; Alexander Wang, similar here
Sunglasses: Gucci

A few months ago, I hit up a The Kooples sample sale and it was high key, the best thing ever. I picked up around $2,500 worth of clothing for 90% off and the best part was, they had the full size range for almost every item there, so it's not like you had to dig to find something nice. This pencil skirt is one of my favorite finds from the day. It has some of the signature piercing details that The Kooples does on a lot of their clothes, but it's not overkill.

Sunglasses: Prada
Top: Topshop, similar here
Skirt: The Kooples, similar here
Purse: Alexander Wang
Shoes: Barney's Co-Op, similar here

I love frilly, lacy things done in fun and unexpected ways like this Topshop frock I found hanging in the sale section. I also love jewelry with rough gem stones and anything related to outer-space. Consequently, it seemed like a perfect match when I paired this frou frou, high-neck Victorian, cake of a dress with an opalescent stone hanging from a dainty crescent moon gem.
To keep the look from being too sweet and make it more teenage-witch living in Greenwich Village vibes, I slipped on a lacy, black slip dress underneath and paired it with some edgy ankle boots plus a vintage Bally purse with a ladylike chain strap. What added the extra witch vibe though was definitely the astrological necklace and slightly exaggerated blush (which the camera didn't capture well #ugh).

Sunglasses: Kate Spade, similar here
Necklace: Gentle Spirit
Dress: Out From Under, Topshop
Shoes: Circus by Sam Edelman
Purse: Bally, similar here

Sorry for the lack of posting recently. I've been busy with work and midterms, which has made it very difficult to take outfit shots and keep up with everything going on in the fashion industry. Hopefully, I'll be back to posting soon.

Dress: Sandro
Purse: Marc by Marc Jacobs (Purse Accessories: Sandro, Urban Outfitters)
Tights: H&M
Shoes: Topshop