Quick Trip to Beverly Hills

Towards the end of January, I went to Beverly Hills. My stay was short: I arrived on Tuesday and left at 5 am on Thursday.

This was my first time on the West Coast. 🌊 I was looking forward to the weather since we, in Quebec, were going through the cold and grey days of winter.

Day 1 – Tuesday

I landed at LAX a little before noon. The weather was warm and sunny, but not humid. As I tried to describe it to someone back home, it felt like a perfect summer day in Montreal.

I stayed at the Mosaic Hotel for its proximity to the medical clinic. The hotel only allowed check-in from 3 pm, but they still let me access my room at around 12 pm (they found a room already available). That was very nice of them.

I won't go in-depth into my hotel room (and neither into this trip since there are so few things you can do in one day and a half), but I want to touch upon the cleanliness of the room.

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Everything looks clean from afar (i.e. in the picture), but, alas, it is an illusion.

There were lots of stains on the carpeted floor. The little couch and the tweed-like armless chair were also stained. I suspect some previous guests had sat on these with their dirty shoes on. The bathroom sink had a beard hair stuck, thanks to some yellow matter (bodily fluid?) that acted as glue. The shampoo, conditioner and body wash were in the shower in medium-sized pump bottles. These seemed not to be replaced but only recharged as the side of my bottle of conditioner was very sticky the first time I used it. 

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Would you sit on this couch 👀

The stains are much more apparent in reality;

the tweed conceals them well in the picture, grr.

Some people reviewing the hotel complained of a mouldy smell in their room. Mine had a stuffy or stale odour mixed with cleaning products. While not unbearable, it was not a delightful smell.

Some positives worth mentioning: I encountered no bugs and the bed sheets were really soft and looked clean.

You may wonder why I chose this hotel. Well, it was the "cheapest" one closest to the medical clinic. The hotel's proximity to the clinic was thus another positive.

After checking in, I roamed a bit in the neighbourhood while looking for food.

What a beautiful day, and in January! 🤩

Shortly after, I came across a place called Judi's Deli. Despite the mixed reviews on Google, I was too lazy to continue my search and decided to try it.

I had a turkey & avocado wrap with honey mustard. It was sooo good. 🤤

Quite expensive but worth it IMO since it was huge and gave me two meals.

The place was buzzing and I was glad to have a table.

I felt well-fed and satisfied. I walked back to my hotel room and rested for the next day.

Day 2 – Wednesday

I woke up early, partly because my room felt so depressing, but also because I had planned to visit Rodeo Drive. I am so happy I decided to go at such an early hour. There were barely any people and I was able to capture beautiful morning pictures.

I get it is Rodeo Drive, but I did not expect the street to be this clean. That morning, I saw a lot of workers cleaning every corner of the street.

I also noticed numerous shop staff dusting the shelves and cleaning the walls.

There was a charming enclave on Rodeo Drive, with its exterior floor being mopped. I was curious, so I peeked inside and found it to be an interesting place. Given its fanciness and cleanliness, I was not sure if it was open to the public, but I decided to walk in anyway. I later learned it is called the Rodeo Collection.

When I visited, most places seemed closed (not yet opened). It was nice to walk around peacefully.

The floor is splendid (as well as the architecture).

It was a total surprise for me to see Dr. Cat's office!

Definitely gorgeous (it is at the penthouse level).

Given that we were the middle of the week (a Tuesday), I was surprised to see so few people walking on the streets, going to work, catching a bus, etc.

After walking around Rodeo Drive, I went to see the lily pond.

That duck was alone in this small greenish pond, which made me sad. Not sure how it ended up there. It kept dipping its head in the water, looking for food. 🥺

I walked a bit more, then took an Uber to the Farmers Market where I discovered The Grove.

The picture does not do this restaurant justice...

It was so perfectly situated.

Beautiful storefronts photo dump ↓

There were some food carts at The Grove. I was tempted to buy something to nibble on tranquilly under the warm sun (there were tables and chairs to sit on). However, I really wanted to eat at the Farmers Market, so I did not buy anything.

This place is the closest I have ever been to experience

a town like Rapunzel’s. So fairytale-like 🧚

Then I visited the Farmers Market.

There was a small supermarket on the right.

I assume it is very practical for the locals!

I ordered a pizza slice at Friends & Family. I remember deadpan asking the employee, "Do I eat it with my hands?". He promptly handed me utensils and looked uncomfortable. In hindsight, my question sounded so snobby. I did want utensils, but for some reason, I thought asking "Do you have utensils?" was too direct, so I tried to ask in a "milder" way, but it was a fail. 🫠

Anyway, karma got me quickly when I realized how impractical it was to cut the pizza (especially the crust) with a plastic knife. I was determined not to hurt my ego, so I continued eating with the utensils as elegantly as possible. I'm not exaggerating, it took me like 45 minutes to an hour to finish. It was awful! And the pizza was so good and savoury; I just wanted to shove it in my mouth.

While walking to my Uber pickup spot, I snapped the picture below. I was curious if these were celebrities' homes in the distance. The sight IRL was impressive to commoner me.

In the afternoon, some stuff happened which left me so depressed and hopeless that I returned to my hotel room and stayed there until the next day. 😃

I left Beverly Hills the following morning at 4:40 AM to head to the airport. It was pouring rain.

First Time Buying Liz Lisa in a While

Hi,

After a long time of not buying any Liz Lisa clothes, I rekindled an interest in the brand and bought some pieces on Mercari (with Japonica Market). I still love fashion from the 50s and 60s, but I felt like I missed LL's cute preppy looks. Not that I really dressed preppy in the past, though that was a mistake since I came to realize that fall colours fit me best.

I remember in my previous post wanting to downsize my wardrobe and live on like five pieces of clothing, but then I would get bursts of wanting to dress in a specific style and didn't have the clothes to satisfy my urge. :'D

Here are the three OPs I bought.

Liz Lisa Fairy Pattern OP
フェアリー柄 ワンピース

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I've liked this OP since I began to buy Liz Lisa, but never got the chance to get it, either because no one was selling it when I was ready to pull the trigger or because I would prioritize other pieces in my purchases.

This print has such pleasing colors and I absolutely love the lacing at the front. I know there's a version with navy blue flowers and I was also – if not more – interested in it, but they were all sold out on online flea markets.

I love the overall fit and the length of the sleeves is perfect. <3 Nothing bad to say about it.

Liz Lisa Heart Check OP
ハートチェックワンピース

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Another dress I liked but never got the occasion to purchase. My main hesitation was the shoulder frills which I tend to stay away from. One, because I often find them too over-the-top, but mostly because I have broad shoulders and these make it worse.

For this dress, the shoulder frills were the right volume, not OTT. So, my only fear was how they would make my shoulders look. This one worry would've normally deterred me from buying the dress, but the tartan and the colours were too enticing.

The heart cutouts are so cute.

The material is some wool and definitely not my favourite, but thanks to the fabric being on the lighter side, the dress isn't terribly heavy to wear.

The fit is OK. I should've thought about it, but maybe because it's an older Liz Lisa dress, there's no zipper, so it's a bit of a hassle to put on. The absence of a zipper also makes the dress less fitted at the bust and waist. As for the shoulder frills, they accentuate my shoulders so much. x_x (It's not that noticeable in the picture.)

If I had had the chance to try the dress first, I would've probably not bought it, but that's the risk when ordering secondhand from Japan. There are, however, ways to fix both problems by adding a zipper and removing the frills. I could also wear the dress with a cardigan at all times, but it's a bit of a constraint.

Liz Lisa Lace Yoke Frill OP
レースヨークフリルワンピース

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This is a more recent design from Liz Lisa. I was surprised to like it since I'm not a fan of jirai kei and I hate bib dresses, but it was love at first sight with this piece. The amount of details is just enough and everything is arranged so harmoniously.

The dress is missing two little black bows on the bib (it was mentioned by the seller in the description), but I actually prefer it without them.

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The lace trim at the bottom is a light blush colour. I initially thought it was a defect, but found it blends better with the skin which gives a nice effect. And a close-up on the sleeves because I love the two dainty bows.

I'm not pleased with how loose the bust area is, as you can see under my left armpit. On a positive note, I don't raise my arms often. Apart from that, the fit is top-notch.

Pumps in the picture are from Ank Rouge, bought them secondhand on Depop. I love the patent material and the cross straps, but the sizing is a wee bit too big. I can insert soles, but it would've been nice for them to fit as well as my Liz Lisa' (both pairs are a size M).

With the haul now finished, and just to keep my blog up to date (it's been more than a year since my last blog post), I thought I'd share some important stuff that happened:

• February 2022: I changed jobs (different employer). It has helped me to grow significantly while making me busier than before.
• August 2022: I cut a big chunk of my hair, as you may have noticed from the pictures. My hair was a little below my knees by that time. It had been a major part of my life for the past 10 years, but I no longer enjoyed taking care of it and considered it a burden.
• September 2022: I adopted a red toy poodle.

Let me talk a bit about my poodle. Her name is Rose and I adopted her on September 1st 2022. I got lucky since the breeder had told me she would not have any potential adoptees at least until 2023, but one month later, she contacted me to see if I was interested in Rose after a cancellation... which of course I was. Three weeks later, I was bringing her home.

First day at home

On the day of her adoption, she was 11 weeks old and weighed a little less than 2 pounds. Whenever I'd sit on the floor, she'd come hop on my legs. It was so cute and I didn't expect her to be this affectionate, especially on day one.

Two days being at home. Sleeping soundly.

Looks innocent but goes demon spawn from time to time.

Picture taken one week ago.

She's now 1 year and 2 months old. She enjoys napping on our legs, our neck, our back, basically as long as she can feel one of our limbs. She loves playing but is also fine with just lying next to me.

I definitely have moments when I'm fed up, but I receive endless support from my parents and get to evacuate my frustrations to them. They help me not to obsess over stuff and remind me that I don't need a perfect dog. This was such an important reminder during the early months of training.

Bringing a pet into your life truly makes you experience unconditional love. When I get back from work or feel moody or tired, she's still happy to be with me... even when I scold her, she comes to cuddle with me minutes later. 🥺

Finally, my blog underwent a much-needed look makeover. This was among the first things I had planned to do once I got back here.

Before (October 13th 2019 – September 2nd 2023): See here

Now (September 2nd 2023 – )

I'm using the Watermark theme and lightly customized it. I wanted something journal-like and minimalist that draws attention to the content of my posts. I'm satisfied with how it turned out.

Okay, I'm done for now. Bye!

Sporadic Life Update #4

First of all, Happy New Year 2022. Thought I'd hop here for a brief moment to attest that my blog is still alive. I think this has been my longest blogging hiatus so far. I have a haul from September 22nd still in a draft phase...

Reasons for my absence

During the past months, I had work, school and every other responsibility in between.

The minute I signed the lease of my new apartment, I became highly invested in shopping for decoration and furniture. (My last apartment was a studio that was old and frankly quite ugly, so I never wanted to put money in it.)

Moving into a slightly bigger apartment, that had been recently renovated and for which I had fallen in love at first sight, was, without a doubt, exciting. I began to watch a myriad of apartment tours on YouTube, as well as spending time pinning decors on Pinterest. I admit I lost countless hours looking for perfection, to the point of neglecting to blog, and even do my schoolwork. (As a result, I am extremely behind in a course.) Fortunately, moving in itself wasn't so terrible because my parents helped me tremendously.

Another reason for not blogging is the fact that I only had hauls to talk about and/or was too far behind these hauls. Though the pictures had been mostly already taken, I still needed to write the posts, and truthfully, I didn't have a lot to say. I had bought stuff because I liked it, the colour, the shape. I used to enjoy commenting on my purchases, especially when I was buying Liz Lisa, but I now viewed it as a chore and wasn't inspired to write anything.

Part of why I had nothing to say may have been because I actually did not value my purchases that much. A couple of days ago, I learnt about "lifestyle creep" and I think it is what tainted my consumption behaviour starting around summer 2020.

Wardrobe cleaning

These past months, I sold a lot of Liz Lisa clothes I had never worn regularly. I was tired of feeling like I had nothing to wear while standing in front of a jammed wardrobe. Steve Jobs's outfit had popped into my mind a while ago (can't remember why!) which had led me to an article that said Einstein supposedly didn't want to "waste brainpower" choosing an outfit so had "bought several versions of the same grey suit". I had found this logical, but I wasn't yet ready to let go of my beloved – though seldom worn – clothes.

Fast forward months later, the feel of a fresh start triggered by moving out brought up again the idea of downsizing my wardrobe to keep the essentials only. Another article had inspired me, this one about a man named Justus Kersey who chose to dress the same every day. One of his answers struck me:

"I kinda realized that I had one go-to outfit. Like, once you do laundry, it’s that pair of jeans, it’s that shirt, and every single outfit after that was one I kind of liked less."

While I knew I had favourite pieces, the fear of getting bored wearing the same style somehow justified buying things for the sake of variety. Kersey's words ultimately led me to make *the* move, i.e. discard several pieces and start selling most of my Liz Lisa garments. I knew this would greatly reduce the number of outfit possibilities and that I'd have to let go of pieces I cherished, but I was now in peace with it.

This video helped me to decide what I should keep and what wasn't worth it. I opted to keep pieces that looked good on me (in terms of shape and colour) and that made me feel great when wearing them (in terms of self-confidence and comfort).

Example 1: The waist at the back of my green retro check skirt from Fi.n.t doesn't have a belt loop, so the belt doesn't sit properly on the waistband at the back; it pulls up. My mom sewed a belt loop to try to solve the problem, but the improvement wasn't satisfying. So, although the skirt is lovely, I refrain from wearing it because the belt at the back makes me self-conscious every time. This makes no point in keeping the skirt in my wardrobe, so I decided to sell it. (I since unsewed the belt loop added by my mom and nothing was damaged.)

Example 2: I like the elegance of blouses, but they keep slipping out of my skirts and I constantly have to check if I should tuck it in when I wear one. I mentioned my annoyance with this briefly in 2019, but the thought of saying goodbye to blouses was inconceivable. Today, I realize it is unacceptable for me to keep a type of top that obsesses me at the slightest move I make. Therefore, I decided to sell *almost* all of my blouses. I kept two from Amavel that I like wearing with capri pants in the summer (not tucked in) and one white, thrifted, that had the sleeves shortened to a 3/4 length.

Naturally, this process would have been much harder to execute a few years ago, when I had no idea what suited me best and what I preferred wearing. I'm lucky my "go-to outfit" (a midi A-line skirt + fitted top) has been stable for the last years.

I also bought a few basics (t-shirts, black leggings, hoodie), mainly to lounge around at home. 

I haven't sold every j-fashion piece I put up for sale (yet) and I may get rid of additional stuff in the future, but I'm very happy with the wardrobe purge I accomplished as of now.

Plans for this blog

I don't think I'll blog frequently this year. First, I won't have as many hauls as I had before, because I *hope* I won't buy clothes as much as I used to. Likewise, I won't be making as many dresses (sewing).

Yesterday In Montreal

Yesterday, my mom and I went to a vintage bazaar. I had already been to a previous edition in January 2020. Since I'll be moving out soon and am looking for decoration from the 50s ↔ 70s, the event came at just the right time. ✨

Here are the items I bought:

Price of each item (in CAD):

• Set or marble bookends + grey x golden dish (seller gave a price for both items): 25 $
• Vintage Butterick pattern: 3 $
• Milou bookend: 5 $

I love the marble bookends. Their surface is glossy and they give chic mid-century modern vibes. For the little dish, I plan on putting it near my entryway for my keys. It looks so much prettier in real life. It is glossy as well and has golden speckles that shine when you look at it from different angles.

As for the pattern, I wasn't madly in love with it, but for such a price, it was surely worth it. Despite loving fit & flare dresses, I wasn't drawn to the design on the right... due to the chosen print. (I know fabric and design are two independent things, but I was still on the fence because of that.) Anyway, I also looked at the design on the left and found the brooch really cute on the collar. Despite never having made a sheath dress, maybe my first time could be with this pattern. Looking back, I don't regret buying the pattern.

Only thing I haven't checked yet is whether the envelope contains all pieces... oh well, if it's incomplete and unusable in any way for me, I'll be happy to reuse the two ladies on the pattern cover to decorate my Midori journal.

Now, for the Milou bookend; I was pretty sure it originally came in a set and would've loved to have the other one... I just looked up on the Internet and it is indeed a set, the other character being Tintin. But I'm not sure I want to spend time and money on reuniting the two bookends. I'm satisfied with having the Milou bookend only.

So that was my day yesterday in Montreal. I almost forgot to mention that the weather was also perfect. It was very sunny, yet the sun wasn't too hot, there was zero humidity, and a slight, continuous breeze made walking in the city very comfortable.