In A Flash...

Apologies for our absence! Janice has been settling into a new job and after finally getting a steady pulse on mine, I've been focused on getting more involved with some extracurricular projects I've been meaning to get to since moving back to LA. It's been a fast few months, but I've been loving every moment of it! There are lots more exciting things coming up for the rest of the year and we can't wait to start tailoring the blog towards more of a city-centric featurette. We'll be featuring places we're going, things we're doing, and what we'll be wearing while we're at it!

For now, here are a few snapshots of the past few months of my life!

Lately, I've been...

Skipping down Embarcadero St. in SF:

Catching some Cal band tunes on Sproul Plaza:

Soaking up the beauty of LA art exhibits 

(that feature amazing shots of SF--the best of both my worlds!):

Eating some yummilicious Paulette macarons:

Sipping mojitos on vacation in the Dominican Republic
(in my fave new F21 summer dress, J.Crew belted for a perfect fit):

Enjoying some sun and fun on the shores of Punta Cana (with China Glaze High Hopes covered toesies):

Attacking a helpless (but scrumptious) grilled lobster (in the cutest dress I found at Target):

Inhaling the prettiest and tastiest sweets at POP Champagne & Desserts

(while learning how to do nifty tricks on my new Canon S95):

And of course... drinking lots of wine and champagne!! :)

Renting the Runway

I have a big Vegas trip planned for May and, after settling the issue of which hotel to stay at, the next logical question was "What am I wearing?!" The thing about Vegas dresses is that after you take a gazillion pictures posing every which way and the outfit is immortalized in multiple Facebook albums, it's tough to recycle them again. Unless the dress is black and you can accessorize differently, you want something new. I perused the usual suspects in search of Vegas dresses (read: on the very short side and clingy), but also remembered another option I had read about, Rent the Runway, and think I'll be using this service for my trip later in the year.

Rent the Runway is like Netflix but for dresses - you browse for dresses by occasion ("genres", if you will), by designer (searching by actor or director), or what the latest arrivals are. Depending on the retail price of the dress, rentals range from $50 - $300, which on the high end sounds a bit spendy for a dress you can't keep, but you get access to high end designers like Herve Leger, D&G or Proenza that you might not otherwise. The rental period is 4 days, perfect for a weekend, and then you mail back the dress and RTR takes care of drycleaning costs. For peace of mind about spills and snags, you can get insurance for $5, which is a good policy to have in place for the accident prone.

RTR also addresses two possible worst case scenarios - 1) the dress not fitting and 2) another girl wearing the same dress. They send a backup size for free, and also let you choose a second style for $25 more. The mirror image situation actually happened to my friend Michelle at Vegas, both she and another girl rented the same dress for Vegas but one of them had taken advantage of the backup option so they avoided being twins for the night. This is also ideal for Vegas, because you can get two dresses for Friday and Saturday night for less than cost of rental for two nights!

I think this idea is super valuable for special occasions like weddings, opening nights, or birthday weekends in Vegas - you want to be able to wear a fantasticly glamorous, dreamy dress but may not want to pay a premium for a designer piece you wear infrequently. RTR expands your closet into virtually endless options. Of course, there are some dresses that you may want to invest in and keep in your closet forever, but for occasions where you'll probably wear the dress once, RTR is perfect.

Another great aspect of this site is its up to date selection, constantly being replenished with the latest season's offerings, so you can check back in a few months and there will be new options to choose from. RTR sells dresses at a discount that start looking old or worn. Recently, they've also added accessories so you can complete an outfit with statement jewelry.

Personally, I love the Herve Leger section (can't resist the body-con style and colors!) and am leaning toward these dresses for Vegas:

Bright, eye-catching colors are great, and I love the back of the Sunset dress (left). I'll blog more about site when I actually go through the rental process and let you know if service is executed as well as the idea is.

Chilly Days in NY & LA

Brrrr, LA, you've been cold lately!! With a series of low 40 degree weather days out here in SoCal over the holidays, it's been chilly! You east coasters are probably laughing at me, but I don't think I can remember it ever being so cold. I spent my short vacation roaming around the city and of course caught a nasty cold that's kept me quite miserable for the past week and a half. Between feeling lazy about returning to a very busy time at work and battling a congested immune system, it's been hard to gather up some motivation to get up and put together some decent outfits each morning. My apologies to my poor coworkers who have had to see the disaster that I've been looking like lately. :)

Still, as I sit here whining about how cold and sick I've been, Janice has been battling the fun blizzard-filled days over on her side of the world. Unlike me, she's probably had to bundle up a little more to get through the 27 degree snowy weather! So let's see what we've both been wearing...

Janice: Zara sweater (S), Forever 21 vest (XS), Club Monaco pants (0)
Michelle: Madewell chilly days cardigan (XS), Target Mossimo long and lean tank (S), Gap slim crops (0)

Okay, so we kind of dress the same... our three-piece outfits consist of the staple grey cardi/sweater over a white basic, pants, plus our beloved grey suede pumps!! However, as Janice keeps warm with a thick sweater under her heavier vest (and probably a ginormous outer coat), I opted for my favorite Target tank and wool Madewell cardigan. I'm sure many of you are quite familiar with the long and lean tanks at Target, but I can't help but rave about how much they are the best ever. The material is the perfect kind of comfy stretchy and complements the overall flattering cut of the tank. The neckline is not too boyishly high cut and the long and lean length makes for easy layering under anything. I wear these on a regular basis--for work and play! The best part is that they don't stretch out throughout the day from wear and don't shrink in the washer/dryer. Paired with my super, duper cheap and rather thick and insulating Madewell cardigan, I was surprisingly warm throughout the day. I also wanted to give Gap some credit for their slim crops. I'm a little behind on what the blogger buzz is on these, but I picked them up recently during a 45% off sale and am decently impressed by them. At 1/3 of the price of the J.Crew Minnie's, I like that the slim crops are made of a slightly thicker material and thus, give me a little extra warmth without too much bagging. Being short makes it hard to really buy a pair of crops and expect them to fit properly in length so I usually aim for more of an ankle pant by sticking with the regular inseam versions (I actually wonder why Gap would even use a model that is boasting the "awkward" length on the product page...). They're not the perfect pair of pants for my figure, but pairing them with heels helps me stay away from the stumpy, kiddy look that I'm usually guilty of. For $27ish dollars, it was a completely worthy buy and has been in constant rotation! So yes, it's been cold, but with some rather warm materials, I've still been able to get away with wearing cropped sweaters and pants.

And as a bonus and proof that Janice can still wear pretty normal outfits to work despite the snow, see below for a quick way to liven up winter outfits:

Club Monaco ruffle blouse (XS) and the infamous J.Crew placket cardigan (XXS)

It's always a great idea to inject some color into an otherwise grey/black ensemble via a vibrant top. I've been guilty of not taking advantage of my ability to wear some pretty fun things to work, but will be making more of an effort to be more creative once I'm fully recovered! New Year's resolution is to take more risks with my clothes, so hopefully my outfits won't be as boring anymore... Cali and NYC girls, what are you wearing to stay warm these days?

Resolute Beauty 2011

Some people don't like writing down new years resolutions but I've found them pretty effective, personally. They need to be specific and countable ("read 7 books" instead of just "read more"). In addition to my normal resolutions, I also have some beauty resolutions that I wanted to share for 2011:

1) My undereye area has been irritated a lot recently; the skin is dry and sometimes takes on a slight rashy look. Concealer can crease in the cracks of skin and makes me look tired and old. I need to figure out why this is happening and find a sensitive eye cream that both provides moisture and doesn’t irritate the skin.

2) My acne has been under control ever since my drastic lifestyle change last year, but some red marks and scars still remain. This year, I am determined to find effective creams or serums to lighten the marks, smooth out my overall skintone and also prevent new ones from appearing

3) Build up a small but useful arsenal of nail polishes (~5) for at-home manicures. I've got my eye on Essie's Wicked (vampy so-dark-red-its-practically-bruised), Eternal Optimist (pink-rose beige that is really pretty against my skin), and Jazz (milky greige). Maybe a few Chanel polishes too =P

Suggestions are welcome to help achieve my resolutions!! Does anyone else have any beauty resolutions for 2011??

Staying Organized

Happy new year everyone! I am excited for 2011, and hope the year will bring lots of new changes and opportunities. Did you make any resolutions? One of mine is to stay organized and keep better records of things, and a planner is the rosetta stone. Last year I bought a planner late and hurried to pick one up from Kate's Paperie, so there was only a small selection left. It worked out though because I ended up loooving the layout - my main criteria was that it showed a full week on two pages and had space for To Do notes. There's also a section for restaurants you went to during the year, and lots of empty lined pages in the back for extra reminders. Perfect!

I jot down notes about things I did in the days section and use the right hand space to keep track of my To Do's

The brand is Graphic Image, a company that makes a variety of a leather goods - journals, photo albums, kindle/ipad covers, passport covers, etc. The leather quality is great, soft yet durable, and there are tons of colors and textures (brights, traditional colors, metallics, crocodile, python) to choose from. This year, I spent an embarrassingly long hour waffling between the red, silver metallic, or gray nubuck alligator.

I have way too many red items in my purse right now - wallet, kindle cover, cosmetics pouch... and didn't want to add another and be confused!

Ended up going with silver!

The planners are also available from Kate's Paperie and Saks.

I've had a planner every year since college, and this is my favorite layout that suits all my current needs. I no longer need an extensive daily planner to track assignments and projects, so this notebook size is perfect (~5 x 7 inches). I love recording what restaurants I've been to, events that happened each weekend.. it's as much a reminder of what's taken place so far as it is to plan for what's coming up. It's fun looking back and remembering!

Happy Holidays from Coastalpolitan!

Merry Holidays from the both of us from NY and LA! Thank you *so* much to everyone for all the kind comments and continued support throughout this year. You are the best and we are looking forward to a new year of blogging fun in 2011! Enjoy the holiday cheer and time spent with all your loved ones! Cheers!! :)

Radio City Music Hall Christmas tree in all it's glory!

Ginormous beautiful ornament baubles brighten up the streets of NYC!

Wet, rainy day in Old Town Pasadena!

Best Stocking Stuffers - Hello Kitty Watches

Finding them all is like a scavenger hunt and i. love. scavenger hunts!!! For a limited time (not sure when the promo ends), with every McDonald's Happy Meal, comes a San Rio watch...in 6 varieties! You could get one in Hello Kitty, Batz Maru, My Melody, KeroKero Keroppi, Chococat, and a puppy that I've never seen before (and just learned about 5 minutes ago that it's really a bunny). I first heard about these on Facebook and the same day, went to the golden arches to score me some watches (and delicious McD fries!)

The watch face is much bigger than I would've thought.. taking up my whole wrist instead of just a small area. Makes me think, hmm these must not be made just for kids if they are so large! I can totally wear one =P These work as regular watches OR as stopwatches! And it keeps track of the date too so it's a 3-in-1 watch, calendar and stopwatch.

After three Happy Meals of cheeseburgers/chicken nuggets and unsuccessful attempts to catch Hello Kitty, Jessica told me that I could buy the watches alone without bundling it with the meal. *headdesk* Separately, they're about $1.50 each, so if you like these, you can still be healthy and wearing a cute watch.

 

After some quick Googling, I learned that this isn't the first partnership between McD's and SanRio - actually, they're pretty frequent (hello?! where have I been??). Hello Kitty gear, whether they're plush toys, figurines, or in this case wrist decorations, have been sporadically available for people to buy alongside their cheeseburgers for years,  and they are all adorable!!

2005 collection (credit: Hello Kitty Junkie)

Has anyone else seen these and love them too??