great finds

                          

Those darling Kathy Van Zeeland shoes you see above are believe it or not, from TJ Maxx! 

MSRP is $80 but I got 'em for $34.99!!

What a deal. 

I've been wanting and had been looking all over for nice leopard heels and finally found ones I truly liked. 

The other two cute shirts are from TJ Maxx & Ross :) Once in a while you can find some great stuff at those stores.. I was lucky today :)

a dress from Japan

I love this dress<3 

Some reasons why it is extra special:

1. My mom bought it for me me when I visited home (Japan) this summer

2. It was originally 80 bucks but was on sale for 40..or maybe 30...(what happened to my memory?)

3. Last but not least, it's my first yellow dress :)

What I'm sad about is, summer has gone so I don't know how much I can pull it off in the fall..

I guess I could wear a sweater over it... 

But since I'm living in California, I could wear it for another couple weeks right? ;)

Anyway, what are y'all's must haves for Fall? Or what don't you wear in the Fall? besides the obvious tank tops and such ;) I'm sadly going to be putting away this top soon...

Anyway... I had a good rehearsal today with my acoustic duo buddy.

We hadn't performed together in a while but I can't tell you how excited I am that we will be performing next week at a singer songwriter showcase! Please come by if you're in the L.A. area :) Sunday, September 25th at the Tribal Cafe :)

More happy things are ahead of us!

Back from Japan & Bed in Breakfast!

Just got back last night from a relaxing and amazing two weeks in Japan.
It's always nice to visit home and spend time with my family.
I got to visit Hokkaido, Kyoto, Nara while mostly staying in Osaka and so as you can tell
I was a lucky girl...and had so much fun.
There are still so many places I'd love to visit in Japan though!

Anyway, I ate tons of good food because that's the only kind I eat lol,
went to two different stone spas--which btw are awesome and I'm going to be on the look out for one over here, visited the Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, saw the best fireworks in Osaka, saw a bunch of deers in Nara, and swam in a big river for the first time ever, in the countryside of Kyoto. Those were the highlights of this trip...

Not as jet-lagged as I usually would be..I surprisingly slept for more than 12 hours today. Something I hadn't done in a while.. And I was woken up by my hubby to something like this:

except i had pancakes and eggs. But I thought this picture was lovely. And I thought my hubby was even more lovely. He remembered that I'd said d I'd never had breakfast in bed! How sweet of him..
What a great way to start the day :)

Will be posting some photos from Japan hopefully soon... and some outfit posts again soon.
Definitely had some happy times.. and they definitely keep me going! Motivation.

More happy things are ahead of us!

Moved! and giveaway

Phew! My husband and I just moved into a beautiful and HUGE guest house...
We started moving at about 9am yesterday and then finished at 5:30pm!
Not too bad at all! I was super impressed with our work!


Our apartment living is over (thank God) and I'm so excited to be starting a new chapter in our lives in our new little "house" of our own :)


Today I'm also here to mention about an awesome giveaway from the lovely BLOWFISH SHOES, who was one of my generous SPONSORS from my BENEFIT EVENT! 


Don't they just have the best shoes ever for the best prices??


Head on over to the Gypsy Diaries blog to enter!!!


Happy Hump Day!
More happy things are ahead of us :) 

Done! It's done!

The benefit event for the recent Japan earthquake & tsunami at Peace Yoga which I put together was a great success!
If I may say so my self... :)
Lots of people showed up and lots of donations were made!
I enjoyed listening to MASXS play, they were very friendly and kind guys too. 
Check out their band page on Facebook! 
I felt really comfortable and confident singing with my band, even though I hadn't performed in 9 months!
I'm very thankful that I got to play with such talented members and am also thankful for their time they donated for this event. We played everything from reggae, bossa nova, jazz, to Japanese Pop :)
I unfortunately could only hear a little bit of my husband's band play, as I had to be at the entrance of the venue, but they sounded killin' as well... Many people were giving me compliments about his compositions and playing and I felt so proud once again to be the wife of such an amazing person & musician :)
He writes a lot and plays a lot. Check out Michael's music right here. 
Me and my friend's dance act went pretty well too! I hadn't performed dance in NINE years! I had a blast! Will post a video of this here soon :)
We had some amazing raffle prizes, thanks again to all my generous sponsors!!!


I raised $886 just from the event! Isn't that amazing!???? I was so excited!
I'm still receiving and accepting donations though, before I send all the money to the Japanese Red Cross.


This event would have not been so successful though without the help of my friends, family, sponsors, and Cheri at Peace Yoga. 
I met and communicated with many people and learned so much from them.
I realized that there are still so many generous people out there.
This event involved a lot of work, but it was all SO worth it. 
I hope that people continue to think about our people in Japan, and continue to help them out as much as they can. 
Many are still without homes, still grieving the loss of their loved ones, still in search for missing people..


My event is over (which I still can't quite believe), but I will continue to help and support as much as I can.


HOPE FOR JAPAN.


Happy things are ahead of us. 

Japan Benefit Event in less than 2 weeks!

If you live in the L.A. area or close by, please come to this benefit event for Japan I'm organizing & producing! Less than two weeks now until the event and I'm super excited about it all! There'll be live music (soul, jazz, bossa nova, pop), dancers, and a big raffle at the end!

Since the last post, which wasn't too long ago, I've gotten some amazing prizes that were donated by super generous sponsors... here are the prizes I've got so far:

Two violins courtesy of Joseph Arbiso
One hour massage valued at $100 courtesy of Summer Gray
90 minute yoga private lesson courtesy of Tina Raymond
Gift Certificate to any pair of shoes courtesy of Blowfish Shoes
http://www.blowfishshoes.com/
Gift certificate courtesy of Sam Ash Music Stores
http://www.samashmusic.com/
$25 Gift Card to Trader Joe's
$25 Cash Card to Costco
iHome (ipod doc with speakers/alarm)
Portfolio Bag w/goodies courtesy of Phil Fiorio at Nick Rail Music
http://nickrailmusic.com/
Original art print courtesy of Carrie Hartman of UUPP
http://www.etsy.com/shop/UUPP
Original art prints courtesy of Katie of the Wheatfield 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thewheatfield
CD's courtesy of Luke Redfield, Michael Mull Trio, CSUN Jazz
http://www.lukeredfield.com/music/
http://www.michaelmull.com/
itunes gift cards
Vintage In'n'out Glass & In'n'out Gift certificate
$20 gift certificate to Musha, Japanese Restaurant (Torrance)
http://musha.us/
Traditional Japanese Tea cup & Tea leaves
Handmade Japanese goods courtesy of Yoko's Antiques and Fabrics (South Pasadena)
Original artwork courtesy of Miranda Tacchia
Original handmade jewelry courtesy of Deena Eskenas
Plush Sushi Rolls courtesy of TA Friendly
http://www.tafriendly.com/
$10 Gift certificates courtesy of Small Island, Japanese restaurant (Northridge)
Barclays Coffee Gift Voucher
http://barclayscoffee.com/

AND MORE!!!

Admission is a $10 donation or more, and raffle tickets are only $2 each!

It'll be at Peace Yoga in downtown LA from 1:30pm-6pm. All Ages & very casual!

Prize donations wanted!

Hello world!

So the benefit event for the Japan earthquake/tsunami relief I'm organizing--the planning is going pretty well! It's on June 5th, in downtown LA.
I am now in search of prize donations for the raffle that will happen at the end of the event.
It can be absolutely anything from gift certificates, free products, handmade items, CD's, books, free service, art work, you name it!

I know there's so much good stuff out there, like ETSY products and other generous people who own small businesses that can help me out.

If you OR anyone you know would like to donate a prize PLEASE let me know asap! It would mean so much to me.
my email is marche_love at hotmail dot com

or leave a comment below with your contact info so I can contact you :)

All proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross.

Thank you for reading!