Mad About Plaid | Plaid Ruffles and Wool Skirt

Top: J.Crew Factory plaid ruffle shirt || Bottoms: J.Crew Factory wool skirt || Accessories: Banana Republic belt, Kate Spade cross body, Ray Ban sunglasses || Shoes: Forever 21 boots

Empties (Vol. 2)

I admit, I'm pretty precious with my beauty products sometimes so it takes me a while to use things up. I don't know how other people can have an 'Empties' post every month! In any case, this past month, I managed to hold on to some of the empty tubes of product I used up:

Holidaze | Windowpane Skirt and Chambray

Top: Forever 21 || Bottoms: LOFT || Accessories: Forever 21 necklace, LOFT tights, Tory Burch bag || Shoes: Forever 21 

Currently... (Vol. 34)

I hope you all had a great break this week with Thanksgiving and all of the sales! I hung out with my family, ate way too much food and watched Netflix to my heart's content! Good weekend overall.

Kitchen Diaries: Matcha Oreos

After stuffing my face with Thanksgiving food, my mind starts to look forward to the holidays. I think I associate cookies and such with Christmas due to leaving a log of different kinds for Santa growing up. That's why when I found this green tea Oreo recipe I knew I had to try it and then share it! Since being forced to cut back on coffee, I've experimented with matcha - a very strong green tea powder. I've made a few batches of these and LOVE eating them with milk and (decaf) coffee!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers! I'm with my family today stuffing our faces silly!
I have so much to be thankful for this year and while I don't have the time to list all of them, I wanted to give a special shoutout to the following:

Gobble Gobble | Polka Dot Sweater and Toothpick Jeans

Top: Forever 21 sweater (similar here), Forever 21 peplum top (similar here) || Bottoms: J.Crew toothpick jeans || Accessories: Tory Burch bag, Ray Ban sunglasses || Shoes: Forever 21

Product Review: TonyMoly Panda's Dream So Cool Eye Stick

When I first started my Korean skincare routine, one of the things I really wanted to find was a good eye cream. I'm still young and in my mid 20s, but I've been told countless times that wrinkle prevention is extremely important. I found this adorable eye cream by TonyMoly (the TonyMoly Panda's Dream so Cool Eye Stick) in this panda packaging and as I'm sure you all know by now I am a sucker for cute packaging. Here's my review: 

Opera | Little Black Dress and Studded Heels

Dress: Zara (similar here) || Coat: Zara (similar here) || Accessories: Kate Spade bag, J.Crew pearls || Shoes: Sole Society Tiia in 'Black Adobe'

Currently... (Vol. 33)

I want to talk to you guys about my health before I go on.

For the past month and a half I haven't really been able to keep a lot of foods down. After almost every meal I would start vomiting and feeling horribly nauseous. At first I thought that I may have been having an allergic reaction to something I was eating but after I went to the doctor's, I found out it's just a matter of severe indigestion. I'm eating too fast, too often, and without chewing. What started as a minor case of an upset stomach has turned quite severe due to it going untreated for too long. I've lost a bit of weight because I haven't really been able to eat much so the doctor put me on a strict soup diet and forced me to cut out a lot of things I enjoyed, like coffee. I'm sure I've been pretty unpleasant to work with because my caffeine withdrawal symptoms included a nasty headache that put me in a bad mood. Luckily, I've been getting a bit better and thanks to everyone around me constantly reminding me to eat slower, the nausea has lessened significantly. 

Just in time too because my boyfriend's mom was in town and I certainly didn't want to be too sick to spend time with her! We had so much fun hanging out around DC - she's from California and we couldn't apologize enough about the cold weather. It's really been an up and down week! 

Anyways, on to the things I enjoyed currently:

Updated Essential Accessories

Around the time I first started my blog, I wrote a post called "10 Essential Accessories." My needs have changed since then and I thought it was about time I updated that list. I don't actually have 10 essential accessories anymore, just five so this should be a more efficient list than the one I wrote back in 2013. Keep in mind these are the items I wear a lot in my life outside the blog and items you may recognize from the blog too:

My Favorite iPhone Games

Like any other given millennial, I am prone to taking out my phone and playing games when I am bored. Brian's always pointing out when I'm playing a new fun-looking game because he inevitably downloads them himself haha!

If you're in the market for a few free games on your smartphone as well (games that aren't Angry Birds or Candy Crush), here's a few that I've been playing on rotation:

Chilly Mornings | Layered Sweater and Leopard Pumps

Top: Gifted from Korea (similar here) || Bottoms: J.Crew Minnie pants (similar Winnie pants) || Accessories: J.Crew necklace, Kate Spade Cove Street Provence || Shoes: Sole Society Jenn pumps

Book Club: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

You know how the say to never judge a book by its cover? Well that's exactly what I did with this book and boy did it pay off! The title really caught my eye one afternoon while I was browsing in a Barnes and Noble and while I didn't pick it up then, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I woke up in the middle of the night wondering what a grandmother could have possibly done to ask her grandchild to apologize to people she had wronged, in fact! I promptly logged on to Amazon and put this in my cart.

Mondaze | Tall Boots and Grandpa Cardigan

Top: Forever 21 tee, Forever 21 cardigan (similar here) || Bottoms: H&M jeans || Accessories: LOFT necklace (old, similar here), Kate Spade Cove Street Provence bag, Essie polish in "Ballet Slippers" || Shoes: Catherine Malandrino (Nordstrom Rack) 

Currently... (Vol. 32)

It's been a few days since America spoke and voted for President Donald Trump. This was such an intense election cycle and as relieved as I am that it's over, it took me a while to grieve for the loss of my candidate. I was (and I still am) scared of a Trump presidency, not just because I think Trump is a menacing person per se, but because of the way he campaigned - he gave people "permission" to be bigots in a sense and while I'm sure not all of his supporters are necessarily racists, xenophobes, homophobes, or sexists, I can't help but be scared to go to some parts of this country knowing how people in those places voted. I am heartbroken to think that if I'm to travel to parts of Pennsylvania,  Michigan, or Wisconsin (for example), there will be people there who won't see me as a human being with dreams and ambitions, but a woman whose worth is below that of a man's and therefore should not have agency of her own body; a child of immigrants who couldn't possibly be truly American; and a piece of meat whose body anyone can just "grab." 

After a few days of grief, I emerged with a new sense of optimism and hope. Just because I'm afraid of those things doesn't mean that's necessarily what will happen in this country. I'm sure people have their reasons for voting for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton and other candidates. I understand - this is a democracy and he is our newly elected leader. It's up to us as a country now to hold him accountable for his actions, work with him where we can and challenge him when we must. One President is not greater than the will of all the American people and as a proud American, I will fight for this country that I love. 

If you read all of that and still have stuck with me this far, thank you! Now, onto the things I've been enjoying in the past week:

Chasing Daylight | Blush Sweater and Black Jeans

Once winter hits and we change our clocks for daylights saving, it becomes more of a struggle to find the perfect time and the perfect lighting for these outfit posts. I used to wake up early on Saturday mornings to get two outfits for the week out of the way. Now that Brian has taken on the role of my photographer I can relax a bit but it’s still a challenge finding good lighting. We decided to walk a bit further out than we normally do and we happened to find this bit of wall with the really pretty leaves. 

For other fashion bloggers out there, what are some of your tricks for getting the perfect lighting with lighting is scarce?

On Voting

Today is election day, and I know that for those living in the US, we're all tired of this cycle. I get it - I worked on a presidential campaign back in 2012, I've been in the trenches and I get that not everyone likes to talk about politics.

But (and you knew there was a but),

New 'Do | Plaid Sweater and Taupe Bag

If you follow me on Snapchat (@deborahyi), you probably already know this but I got my hair cut right before Halloween Day! I’ve been wanting to get back to my short hair but due to being busy and then having to attend a wedding, I just really didn’t have time, nor did I want to risk a bad haircut before a special event. But I found an amazing hairstylist who knew instinctively what I wanted with very vague directions and just a few photos. Get you a hairstylist that can make you look amazing with little prompt. 

Currently... (Vol. 31)

Happy Daylight's Savings Day! I gotta say, I love #fallbackward a whole lot more than #springforward because of the extra hour of sleep!! Today I'm planning on volunteering at political campaigns (political life in DC ftw) and catching up with a few friends who are back in town for the election. I don't know about you but I am so nervous about this upcoming one! I hope you all are planning to vote or have voted early already. It's an important election and I hope that you choose to do your civic duty by making your voice heard. 

Anyways, enough of my civics and political lecture - on to the blog post!

Product Review: Skin Food Peach Sake Emulsion

It's been a while since I've posted a review of a product I used and I'm excited to share my thoughts on this moisturizer I've been using! I boarded the Korean skincare bandwagon early this year (I even did a post dedicated to my routine) and one of the products I got for my routine was this Skinfood Peach Sake Emulsion. Emulsion is another word for moisturizer, I've learned. Here are my thoughts:

How to Pull Yourself Out of a Bad Day

As positive as we all try to be, some days we get into a funk. It happens to the best of us and while I try to tell myself that this is all temporary, sometimes it's hard to remember if things will ever look up. Here are a few ways I deal with a bad day:

Date Night Ideas

I thought it would be a fun idea to put together a list of things to do with a date this fall. I'm no dating expert but it's fun to have someone who'll go on excursions with me. Even if you don't have a romantic partner in your life, some of these activities are fun to do with a close friend for bonding time:

Autumn Walks | Classic Trench and Studded Pumps

I love these cool autumn days were the air has a slight chill but the sun is shining! Fall is my favorite season and taking walks in the morning is a great way for me to appreciate all that it has to offer.

My Current Makeup Routine

I like having a routine in the morning because it's one less thing to think about before my morning coffee. That's why I love having my makeup routine down pat - less time to get ready means more time to slow down for coffee! Here are the things I use every day: