Happy New Year!

Castle Starr dress, Christian Louboutin glitter pumps

Wish you all a fun New Year's Eve and the best night to start off 2011! Debuting the Christian Louboutin glitter pumps my boyfriend got me for Christmas (post here). Off to dinner with friends, counting down and watching fireworks on a friend's balcony facing the Space Needle, then hitting the town with lots of champagne. Be safe and cheers to the best year to come!

Christian Louboutin Ron Ron glitter pump

My bf surprised me with the Ron Ron glitter Christian Louboutin pumps for Christmas! How did I get so lucky with a boy who knew shoes are the way to my heart? ;) What these pictures don't show is a crazy girl spazzing out from overexcitement on Christmas morning. Can't wait to debut them on New Year's Eve, look for an outfit post to come!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, loves! Had some fun doing this video, even though boyfriend thinks I'm crazy.. very slight minimal truth to that. haha Here are the outtakes:

Green tea tiramisu

The first time I had green tea tiramisu was a few weeks ago when my boyfriend made it for dessert one night paired with a scoop of vanilla bean gelato. It was soo delicious, and since then we've made it three times for different holiday parties and each time people love it. Easy to make too! Get matcha powder, mascarpone cheese, and ladyfingers (we bought premade ones at Whole Foods).

Mix egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract, and mascarpone until creamy.

Soak the ladyfingers in a green tea syrup made of boiling water, sugar, and matcha powder.

Cover a layer of green tea soaked ladyfingers with mascarpone mixture, stack two layers. Chill in refrigerator overnight.

Usually we just dust matcha powder over the top but for the last Christmas party I formed it into a tree to be festive. Enjoy and hope your holidays are so happy!

It makes you feel like you’re a million miles away

Gap cable knit sweater, ASOS paperbag skirt, vintage Marc Jacobs oxford booties

Had this sweater for a while but have probably only worn it once since I'm not really a plain sweater with jeans type, yet I love how soft the beige cable knit feels and looks so couldn't quite part with it. Decided to spice up the average nice sweater by styling it with a high waisted skirt and some booties, could definitely get more wear out of it this way. Except pretty much need to carry a lint roller with me at all times, this skirt impressively attracts more lint than moths to light.

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction

 Zoa silk sheer button up, Shipley & Halmos high waisted pants, Dries Van Noten booties

Had one of those heart palpitating, breathless, eyes widening moments when I first looked across the room and locked eyes (well it wasn't really mutual..) with these Dries Van Noten booties. Then I got closer and saw the buttery smooth cognac lambskin leather and python skin heel, and I fell hard (figuratively, thank God) - in love, that is. Wore them with my favorite asymmetrical hem silk sheer button up and these high waisted belted Shipley & Halmos pants my boyfriend gifted me. He has awesome personal style and always surprises me with something when he goes shopping. I'm a very lucky girl - in many ways. :)

Buckwheat banana chocolate pancakes

One morning my boyfriend surprised me with brunch and made buckwheat banana pancakes with Frans dark chocolate sauce slathered between the stacks, and fresh fruit, poached eggs, and Italian chicken sausage on the side. He hand squeezed orange juice for mimosas (nothing like a little champagne and vitamin C charged libation to start off the day) and even got me irises! He definitely put the good into my morning. :)

Let's find some beautiful place to get lost

Dunderdon shearling lined field jacket, Loden Dager sheer tee, eternity scarf from Nordstrom, H&M handwarmer gloves, F21 jeggings and over the knee boots, Marc Jacobs bag

The last photo is a little treasure we found while browsing vintage markets in Fremont.. I love animal print as much as the next girl but who thought it'd translate into a good idea for a stiletto shaped couch? It was awkwardly tacky in a sassy rad way.. so okay I kinda liked it. Anyway, the other day my boyfriend surprised me with this Dunderdon field jacket. It's perfect for our casual yet adventurous winter days, and the shearling lining is removable come spring (already pining for the warmth of sunshine...)

Lunchbox Laboratory - Seattle

Lunchbox Laboratory in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle is a tiny customizable gourmet burgers and milkshake shack with a lot of old school personality. What you see me beasting on in the last picture is the black truffle burger, sweet potato fries with cinnamon salt, and a honey chai milkshake. Very tasty but spiraled me into this hopeless food coma vortex, so of course I had to counter it with some intense cardio after = walking around shopping (the latter part of my day in this post). My friend subbed fries out for tater tots with cajun seasoning that I kept eating from because who can resist tater tots? Who?? I also mooched off the Nutella milkshake (pictured) she got, which was pretty much a glorified Italian hazelnut chocolate shake.. mmm.

10,000 dreams with nowhere to go

H&M poncho, F21 jeggings, Zara over the knee boots, long leather gloves from Hong Kong boutique

This poncho/blanket/wrap sweater is a dream come true.. so of course I bought it in black too. It's easy to throw on, was my default top for a while to the point of complete mindlessness when it came to dressing.. for obvious comfort/laziness reasons (a wearable blanket? Yes please. Kind of allowed me to understand why Snuggies were a rage.. but not really).

Happy 6 months Hey Pretty Thing!

A little over 6 months ago I started this fun project that I called "Hey Pretty Thing" as an online collection of all the pretty things I found and like. It's evolving into a more personal lifestyle blog, and I'm having a great time with it. :) Thank you for all the comments, support, and love. If you haven't already, please follow me on Bloglovin' or Google Friend Connect (both options are on the left side menu). I'd also love to hear your feedback. Looking forward to getting to know you all better!

Here is an outtake, as you can see I got slightly distracted by the colorful paperweights and trailed off..