VitaMinn VW

...is for this lovely Vera Wang Lavender Label layered ruffle top!

I really love Vera Wang silhouettes and how it embraces femininity in its designs: ruffly, drapey, bling-ey and frilly!

I got this deep green/black satin top earlier this year but didn't get a chance to wear it until recently. I must admit though, this draped me better months ago when I first bought it. I seemed to have gained some pounds lately which makes a few of my clothes fit awkward. I blame it on this here! ...A minute on the lips, forever on the hips, arggghhh!!!

I'm really loving my Vivienne Westwood for Melissa jelly flats! I've been wearing them almost every night for dinner out with colleagues. Arghh, there goes another reason for the weight gain, I've been dining out way too much recently! Oh well, such is the challenge when you're traveling for work.

OK, enough about my weight gain, I'll deal with it somehow! ;) Meanwhile, I want to share this beautiful necklace I'm wearing here which is a friend's design! I'm wearing it like a bib which is very Vera-esque, would you agree?!

Have a great week ahead, everyone!!

Design(er) Diagram - Part 4

This has been fun and I'm contemplating of making this same picture format on my future posts! Though it's just a lot of work and it might remind me of work... so we'll see!!

Travelogue: Viva Las Vegas!

If you could, would you quit your work and travel the world for a year?

Our friend from Melbourne did just that. She quit her job, packed her bags and bought a roundtrip ticket around the world! Now at the tail end of her journey, we caught up with her in Las Vegas before she headed to Hawaii to cap off her grand holiday. It was so fun hearing about her adventures from New Zealand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Burma to London, NYC, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia and LA!

And so I couldn't help but ask myself: Can I forgo 100 pairs of Loubies (or 20 Chanel bags) to see the world?

Gladly, there's no dilemma there. With a mortgage to pay and retirement accounts to fund, the next 30 years of my life is already devoted to unceasing toil.

Vegas will have to do...

Besides, you see the world when you see Vegas anyway, yeh? It's like traveling from Cairo to NYC to Paris to Venice, to Monaco & Lake Como all in one strip.... nowhere else in the world has that!!!

I'm pathetic, I know. But enjoy these pictures anyway!

The Strip

Wynn Encore

living area


study


bedroom


foyer


bathroom


vanity



more vanity!


-- brown sweater dress -- Banana Republic belt -- F21 leggings --
-- Prada camoscio brown booties --





City Center


2-story Prada & LV shops at the City Center


Cirque du Soleil's LOVE



Freemont Street Experience presents Aliens




* * *
And the winners of the wine holder giveaway are:

Congratulations "Woman" & Normie! I'll be contacting you soon. Hope you enjoy it!

I already opened mine and used it today for our wine with dinner! It's beautifully-crafted, perfectly-packaged and so slick-looking, love it!

* * *


Again, thank you CSNstores.com for the lovely giveaway!

UPDATE: Just received this Hi-Fashion award from Che of Adventures of a Pinay Neska.
Thanks Che!!

Paris in Sepia

Notre Dame

Jardin des Tuileries






The Metro




90 Years of Vogue Exhibit




Along the Seine




Louvre Courtyard


-- cropped wrap top: Max Mara Weekend -- cashmere-blend shell: Banana Republic
--- denim mini: Guess -- tights: Forever 21 -- sunnies: Fendi --
--boots: Hot Kiss (cheesy name, I know.. but it's super comfy!! It's like I'm walking on pillows) --

The Other Twin

-- drape dress: BCBG -- layering top: Forever 21 --- necklace: Banana Republic --
--sunnies: Fendi -- pumps: Jimmy Choo --

We had the honor to be godparents of our good friend's baby boy last Sunday. The baby baptism was held in St. Paul, the twin sister city of Minneapolis!

While I'll be forever fiercely loyal to Minneapolis (for obvious reasons as it bears the name of this blog!), St. Paul had the honor to be the state's capital. The pics here are taken in front of the State Capitol and at the Basilica of St. Paul.

My weeklong absence here (and from visiting your blogs) is because I was feeling so uninspired the past week. I felt so down hearing about the devastating typhoon that hit Manila, and reading about the heart-breaking accounts of some of the victims. Style, fashion & shopping were shoved at the very back of my head.

I'm so thankful to God for keeping my family safe. Apart from one of my sisters who had a minor property damage, everyone's all safe and ok. However, thousands of families had a completely different fate. Their lives completely changed in a day.

I am so thankful to all my friends here who responded to the call for help by praying and donating. All it took was a simple Facebook shoutout and a few friends immediately responded to giving away a lot of stuff. Every little thing is going to count in this time of need.

I am so thankful to the Filipino community here in the Twin Cities who inspired a lot of of us to help in whatever little way we can! Within a 20-mile radius, there's at least four families who opened their homes as drop-off points for donations. Our local freight forwarder to the Philippines even pledged to ship any typhoon relief for free. Everybody was doing something and I had no excuse for inaction.

UPDATE: For those who are considering to donate, an anonymous UNICEF donor is matching donations (a dollar donated will be matched with another dollar) between now until Oct 6!
May this person be immensely blessed for having such a giving heart!!

My thoughts and prayer go as well to those who suffered from the flash flood in Samoa and earthquake in Indonesia...