autumn lovin'

First things first, since it's Veterans Day, I'd like to take a few moments to just thank all those who served this country. We had an assembly at our school for Veterans Day and as a local vet recalled his experience and all, it just really struck me that these people who fought for our country (and sometimes even to save other countries) are appreciative people like any of us.

'Well duh Erin, soldiers are humans too.' I know, but I mean, they appreciate every word of thanks and to say "Thank you" to every one of those soldiers is the least that I (or anyone) could do. It bugged me how kids were so restless and disrespectful towards the speaker at the assembly (a gal behind was texting like every 5 minutes) and when he asked students who had relatives who are veterans a friend of mine said "What? I don't want to stand!" I mean, c'mon!! Shouldn't we be proud of our nation?

Ok, it's almost midnight, and I'm not sure where this is going, but then I don't want to erase this just in case I am proving a point that I'm unaware of. Buttt all in all, I just want to thank our soldiers who are fighting now and those who have fought because they faced struggles unimaginable by the average person. People complain about how much homework they have, about their grades that are stinking, who's going to that party, and how they need to go shopping or facebook is crashing, but actually, what really matters? I'm glad there is a day to commemorate those who were able to think so much beyond themselves and these petty things. Without them, who knows where I/we'd be.

ALRIGHT. And in celebration of this beautiful life, the weather was gorgeous a few days ago and I took some pics! :) I had a mini-photoshoot with myself. I really want to learn bokeh. I tried to achieve the "Bokeh" effect with the green/orange leaves photos. :)

click photos to enlarge

outfit details:
dress - abercrombie and fitch
cardigan - banana republic ($8!!)
leggings - anthropologie
flats - cathy jean
necklace - ciel boutique

song of the moment -
last friday night - katy perry

TGIWEEKEND

Last night was fabulous. Not because of wild raving or crazy partying, but because I met with like-minded people who loved life because it's simply...life! I feel like people try to have the craziest weekends and do wild things to make life exciting, but really, life is so awesome just the way it is! And I think hanging out with people who really want to make a difference in the world, and being surrounded by such passion, man, that's just the best thing.

To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to last night's gala that much, but I really loved it! Maybe it's because people complimented me a lot for my speaking skills during my acceptance speech (for this Asian American scholarship), but I just loved meeting new people and knowing that they wanted to meet and support me. My mom told me one lady started to cry a wee bit after my speech. ^^;;

Even though I'm Asian myself, I had always imagined the general Asian population to be a bunch of nerdy, tacky, impolite overachievers that just want to go to an Ivy League. Even though I was sure that wasn't the truth, I rarely found those Asians who were really...sincere, wonderful people, but I've finally found them and it really makes me more confident to say that I'm an Asian American. :)

Anyway, I'm just so grateful I had this opportunity--meeting new people, winning my first scholarship, speaking in front of people, and everything. I was really nervous, but in the end, it was wonderful. :) So that was my Saturday night and weekend in a nutshell!

at the gala:

Isabelle came along with me! This photo is kinda awkward, but I enjoy it.

And to link it all back to fashion, here's the outfit I wore:

Top - Kate Spade (borrowed from my friend Isabelle! She has become my quasi-stylist, if you've been heavily reading my latest outfit posts)
skirt - H&M (in Korea--not sure if H&M's are different from country to country...)

Now that I took my last SAT (last standardized test in general), I feel like I have this heavy burden lifted from my shoulders (so cliche, I know). It's just fabulous. And speaking of all this fabulousness, Halloween as also awesome! Sorry for the belated photos, but better late than never right?




and just for you:


song of the moment -
jurassic 5 - if only you knew


PS. I have a pretty sweet outfit post coming soon!
PSS. I just realized I hadn't posted a pic of myself with my haircut. So yes! I got a haircut! Haha. :)

CoF D25

I hope you had an awesome Halloween! Here are a few Class of Fashion snapshots from the past week or two!

Ilene is so adorable. I love how she balances her playful, feminine dress with a serious-bizness jacket, yet she maintains that petite cuteness.

Lena is in my math class--she's super smart, and she has this awesome grundgy/Seattle/European style that just rocks my socks. She's a bit camera shy, so I was lucky to get a few pics!

I hope you like the photos/outfits!

click images to enlarge

Senior Ilene Darahovski

Junior Lena Lenavitch

(her response to me saying "Lena! Smile!")