paulette in hayes valley

I get a lot of emails asking me about the best places to find macarons in the Bay Area but I never knew how to answer since I'd only tried the ones that BF buys from Masse's in North Berkeley. A friend and I ventured out to Hayes Valley in San Francisco the other day and the had the opportunity to try these colorful little delights at Paulette! They definitely lived up to the hype and were as delicious as they looked. I'd strongly recommend ordering online if you've always wanted to try them and don't have any in your area.

(left to right: earl grey, rose, vanilla, raspberry, pistachio, and lemon)

i'm actually not pigeon-toed by the way

vintage slip (clothes contact in the mission), vintage duffle coat, vintage oxfords

Am I the only person who feels self-conscious about being photographed by another person? I don't think I mentioned this before but I finally bought a remote (along with the aforementioned lens) which I thought would facilitate this whole outfit photo process. Unfortunately that involves limiting myself to areas in and outside of my apartment where I can lug around a tripod without being seen by so many people. Okay, I honestly haven't had the time to try it yet but for the most part, due to my inability to focus well enough with self-timer, I've had to ask my friends to take my photos for me. Half of the time they come out but the other half they're just not good enough but I'm afraid to ask for more. I'll take what I can get anyway.

Even now, however, I can't keep a straight expression when someone else is taking my photo, hence the not-so-fierce goofy expressions that naturally grace my face on a daily basis. You see that second photo on the right? I'd call that a more accurate representation of what the people around me see everyday (rat's nest hair included). What else is there to say? I bought this slip from Clothes Contact in the Mission and layered it over another slip and a crinoline from Anthropologie for a little extra bounce. This remind me of that Rodarte x Target that everyone has, except I wasn't really in love with the original... I don't really know why but I wasn't very motivated to buy anything. I'm really obsessed with mustard at the moment and can't get enough! I love the details at the top, I wish I'd taken a photo without the coat. Today was such a nice day, too.

day off

Yogurtland and BF's new hair. Have you guys been to Yogurtland? In my opinion it's a million times better than ripoffs like Pinkberry. It's way better to be able to choose everything that goes in your cup! I'm not too into mixing flavors so I always stick to my classic plain tart, yogurt chips, mango, and mochi combination. Oh, and my new lens came in! Merry Christmas, haha. Thanks for all of the comment in my last post, I'm glad to be back!

thank you everyone

mm6 cardigan, acne hex jeans in dark cash (xmas gift), h&m top, zara scarf

I don't think I'd realized how much my readers meant to me until today. On a day when everything that could go wrong happened I found comfort in the strangest of places: the blogosphere. I'm not going to lie, I'd always pictured myself as different from your average fashion blogger: I'd never planned on gaining such a significant number of readers nor did I go out of my way to attain it. It just kind of happened somehow and to be completely honest it really freaked me out for a while since it happened so fast (I forget I didn't actually start posting here until nine months ago.

I'm still in the process of growing up: I'm not as obsessive compulsive as I used to be and I've grown a lot as a person but old habits are really difficult to shake off when they're so ingrained in your every day being. I'm the type of person who will recopy notes when I make minor mistakes such as writing on the wrong line or incorrectly spacing things, I even write most of my notes on graph paper for optimal control. And don't even get me started on this blog... you have no idea how many unpublished posts I have sitting on my Blogger dashboard at the moment. Somehow, however, it's starting to wear off. Maybe I am ready to post "just anything" now no matter how mundane it may be. Wasn't I the one who called it a "lifestyle" blog? I can easily say I was totally full of shit (hah) since I obviously backed out but hey, I can get a second chance, right?

You see, I've come to realize that I really have been taking my readers for granted this entire time. As someone who is prone to the almost daily battles with self-doubt, I let my fears get the best of me and found it hard to believe that anyone could like me enough to take an interest in this little hobby of mine, whether it's my style or writing content. Taking a break from blogging really put things into perspective: it's not all about the number of readers you get but rather who's actually willing to stick with you no matter what choices you make concerning your blog. Why should I get freaked out about so many people looking at this when there's a select few who really geniunely care? Today, after a particularly difficult day where nothing seemed to work out, I received so many encouraging comments and emails that reading them actually caused me to tear up a little. I can't thank you guys enough for putting up with me, let's try this again, okay?

(ps. I didn't mean to look like such a downer in the photo, it was 7:30am and I couldn't help it, haha.)

as close as i'll ever get to a makeup post

I get a good amount of emails and comments requesting that I divulge my makeup routine but sadly, it's really nothing special. For some reason I've only ever been comfortable with buying mostly MAC makeup since I first started putting anything on my face in high school. I've gone through various phases that may or may not involve unnecessary amounts of eyeliner but at the moment I'm most comfortable with the fastest routine I can come up with.

I typically start with the Clinique 3-step system (although I do cut corners by washing my face in the shower, hehe) and make sure to moisturize before anything since I tend to have flaky skin. I then apply concealer to any spots that need coverage before I finish it off with MAC's studio fix which is both a foundation and powder in one. Sometimes I also put on a little blush which sadly is no longer available since it is from the Fafi x MAC collaboration a few years back.

My eye make-up routine varies: when I want big lashes I go with Maybelline's Great Lash mascara (which in my opinion beats out all of the more expensive brands I've tried, even Diorshow) or if I'm really pressed for time, I skip the mascara and just put black eyeliner on the crease of my lower eyelids. I also like to experiment with the cat eye liner look on my upper eyelids every so often, except I haven't been able to recently up until today since I ran out of my fluidline eyeliner in blacktrak. If you like the cat eye look you should definitely try this. I prefer it to liquid liner since it is not as messy and applying it with an angled brush produces more precise lines than a pencil.

As for lipstick, I have a couple MAC shades that I like such as matte ones like Please Me (the pink one I usually wear) but today I also acquired Morange after catching on to the orange lip fever. A lot of you have asked about my red lipsticks: usually I alternate between YSL's Opium Red which is more neutral with hint of lustre and MAC's Russian Red which is a cooler shade with a matte finish. Oh, and finally, I have a really bad problem with dry lips (which BF likes to point out all the time) and I opt for the classic Rosebud Salve for routine conditioning. Okay, maybe not that routine, since the problem continues to persist...