lune

I've been on-and-off searching for a "special occasions" bag for a very long time, and I think I finally found entry #1:

Demaker Leve Clutch in croc black

It's a longwinded story of how I came across this:
Once upon a time, I was probably reading an article on Die Workwear and the post featured a Korean brand. I clicked through the product link, which went to a US based boutique called W Concept. They mainly stock Korean designers based on my browsing . But the best part is...a very reasonable free shipping threshold to Canada and the item price includes all taxes and duties. Why can't more shops do this??
So when it came to a few weekends ago when I wanted to search for bags, (spurred by Suggy's 2019 bag roundup, I am an easy influence), I went through every page of W Concept's bag listings and found this gem. It's still a little more expensive than what I'd like to pay (~$100, since the cost per wear will be abysmal), but the design has everything I'm looking for.

I still did my due diligence and looked through every page on Garmentory as well. It was quite a rewarding process actually:

• it confirmed that I have very narrow preferences for bags
• I narrowly did not buy the Clare V moyen Alice bag that was on sale, which has been my wishlist for a while
• also found the current most perfect tote too
• I appreciate the range of bag designs much more, I get why people are bag people now 😂
• yep I still like the Demaker bag the most, but this abalone shell box clutch also stole my heart albeit slightly less practical (but also versatile!!)

There was over 5000 bags on Garmentory, so naturally I found other brands that are in line with my aesthetics:

• OAD
• Audette (they choose the best colours, also more motivation to visit CDMX)
• Inne (why I didn't end up buying the Alice bag)

transfer

Some things I've made in the past weeks:

Steamed salmon in foil pouch with miso, onions and carrots. My mom really liked it and will be adding it to her repertoire. Obviously I feel quite proud of that.

Homestyle youcai stir fry, and steamed tofu with shiitake mushroom and corn meat sauce. This was a surprising hit with Jeff. I'm a fan as well since it has both plant and animal protein.

Thai red curry...sauce is from Maesri? I bought 2 different brands to compare but didn't note down which is which. I also don't taste much of a difference. But overall I quite like the taste and will likely make again for my lunch meal preps.

vector

I am very much amused by this arrangement, but also sad that this pot was the last of the tea stored in the persimmon jar. I got the tea from a family friend in China, which means the chances of acquiring more of it is next to zero. Will order some yunnan hongcha next time, although I'm also craving some rooibos. Rui told me about the rooibos lemonade she's having and that another warm-weather thing that I'm looking forward to.

fasteners

Ok I lied, this will be the last end-of-winter post, mostly because I hope to title any future posts as start-of-spring.

 textures, the crappy resolution from my phone camera almost adds to the charm

I admit to over-editing this, but it's a accurate representation of the hazy, pastel-y sunset

brick

One more winter is hopefully ending themed post:

The morning light has now changed in a way that there's direct reflection into my unit.

sequence

There's been 2 fragrances that I've been constantly reaching for during this late winter misery: Jo Malone's black cedarwood and Essential Parfum's orange x santal. Three if you count Amouage fate woman, but that's been a winter staple.

Orange x santal in particular is very suitable for my current mood where the splash of the orange lifts the winter blues and the woody dry down is comforting. Except this specific woody dry down leaves some to be desired, especially in comparison to Nishane's B-612. It seems...low resolution compared to the sandalwood in Nishane, less full and less present. Of course I'm not expecting the same sandalwood (or even real sandalwood at all) in the Essential Parfum as it's so affordable. But this does motivate me to try more of Atelier Cologne's citrus fragrances and layer the orange one over Nishane. Will be quite the expensive combo if I do love the effect 😅

Speaking of layering, I also enjoyed layering the Jo Malone with Sylvaine Delacourte's Oranzo for a similar contrasting effect. Maybe I'll spray one on each side of my neck as it's hard to detect the scent  once my hair & scarves absorb it all.

eyelet

Out of all clothing types, I am the most susceptible to wanting white summer dresses. Though strangely, I don't have any in my wardrobe right now, and that is a dangerous realization. 

Shopbop recently did a dress edit and I am watching these three:

I am glad that we are half way through February...