back to my roots.

This week is international week at school, and today was international dress up day. I thought it'd be a good chance to finally wear that dress my dad bought be this summer. Does this count as a qipao? I don't even know.

Dress and pants from Taiwan, Zigi Soho shoes from Salvation Army

I've always liked traditional clothing, just not on me. I bought a traditional qipao when I was in elementary school, but it was a little long on me and too skinny for my liking. I thought it'd be better when I got older, but it's still too long and skinny for me. I haven't grown in six years.
This dress is by far my favorite piece of traditional clothing I own. It's loose and flowy and I like loose and flowy things.



Remember these shoes? Maybe not. It's the $2 pair from the Salvation Army! I bought them late last year and never wore them out because they're a full size too big. I was going to sew the elastic together to make it more wearable, but I never got around to doing that. So I pinned and clipped it today.
I wonder if it would look out of place if I wore this dress without an occasion. Not that I'm not already used to dressing out of occasion.

Love, Kai

what happens when you leave milk sitting out too long?

I'm in love with Black Milk. I have never been a huge fan of legwear (which includes and is not limited to pants, tights, leggings, high thigh socks, that kind of thing), but I can make an exception for Black Milk. You guys know I'm a sucker for galaxy print.
All photos from this post from Black Milk

I had my heart set on this top pair in particular, before I realized that there were so many different variations available. I almost wish there weren't so many choices. I'd like to be able to buy them all, but at their price, I can only manage to squeeze out enough cash for one pair.

Left to right, top to bottom, red galaxy, rainbow galaxy, black galaxy, purple galaxy

Right now, it's a close race between the regular galaxies, red galaxy, and black galaxy. A decision I will probably not be able to make anytime soon.

In addition to their galaxy leggings, I also really like a lot of their other designs.America leggings remind me of FRUiTS and Kera. The wet look leggings are nice because they can be incorporated into a lot of different outfits. And the skeleton leggings are just kind of awesome.

Black Milk has a good selection of swimsuits, too. I don't think I've ever liked a bathing suit as much as I like these before. The skintight onepiece isn't even my style; I like flowy babydoll tankini types with skirts. And yet, I can't even begin to describe how tempted I am to buy one of these.
Gosh, as if I weren't already broke. I don't even have the money to buy polaroid film yet. A job would do me good right about now.

Love, Kai

kicking it old school.

After yesterday's post, I was planning on going to Goodwill to search for a film camera. I got lucky.
Instead of going to Goodwill, I tried Thrift Town, since my family was in the area for lunch. I was hoping to find maybe one film camera at Goodwill, and ended up finding ten of them at Thrift Town. Selection! I chose a Minolta Freedom Family Zoom ($2.99!)and a Pentax Espio ($0.99!). I had so much fun in the appliance section. Thrift Town has the best selection in appliances.

The Polaroid was the big prize. I wasn't expecting to see one there! Actually, I kind of missed it because it wasn't in the camera section. It was placed around where the irons and VCRs were. Luckily, my brother spotted it. We were so giddy, and high fived who-knows-how-many times.

The problem with these cameras is getting the extras. My Pentax runs on lithium batteries, which are about $10 each. And Polaroid has stopped making film, so I can only buy from Impossible Project, which are kind of expensive.

sweater from Goodwill, drapey pants from Taiwan, Doc Martens from Buffalo Exchange

My search isn't over yet, though. I'm still on the lookout for a Minolta SRT 101 or 201 and a Holga. Maybe I'll just get one at Urban or something. Yay more thrift shopping.

I've thrown some film into the Minolta one already, so hopefully I'll get some good pictures on it in the next few days.

I spent all of my time looking at appliances, I didn't find any clothes. Hoping for another pair of Docs on my next visit.

Love, Kai

capturing moments.

Recently, I've been into vintage photography. As in film cameras and polaroids. As technology keeps moving faster, older devices are growing obsolete. It makes me a bit sad. I'm an old school girl. I reminisce.
Sometimes, my mom would say that I was born in the wrong century. I believe that sometimes. I love things that are before my time. For one, I'd love a gramophone in my room, if I could. While classic items may not be the most convenient, there's a certain charm to it that pleases me.


So the thing is, I spent the day looking for my old film cameras, to no avail. It wasn't that long ago, I don't think, that I was still using film. My first camera, I bought in second grade. It was a cute little Pokemon camera that I bought with my own money. It had looked like a toy, and I didn't count on it to take actual pictures. I don't know what ever happened to that camera. On my field trip in fifth grade to Washington DC, I still had a film camera.

By the 7th grade, my dad bought a Canon Powershot A540; the same one I've been using every day for my blog pictures. It's been by my side faithfully, and the signs of wear are apparent.


Film cameras were my childhood. My mother used to take beautiful pictures of her children with the SLR my dad and she saved up for, as poor college kids. The pictures captured moments and emotions that I would have forgotten otherwise. Looking through old photo albums in chronological order, photos in the family became progressively more rare. It happened when my dad bought my mom a new digital camera.
What happened? Photos were never developed. Or never taken. They don't exist. These photo memories of mine were nonexistant for years.

I want to pick those memories back up. I want to remember the little things. In the past few months of blogging, I've been reflecting on my reasons for blogging. One of the biggest ones is because I want to remember. I want to remember those little things that become forgotten memories as I get older. Things that seem insignificant.

I want something to look back on.
So I'm capturing these moments myself.

Love, Kai

tees for japan.

It's been a long time since my last update. Sorry about that! I've been working on my secret project That I am revealing right now.
Pray for Japan t-shirts. I have been working on these tees for about a week or so straight, designing them and printing them myself. They come in red, coral, and white.

I wore this one to school today. Stress pimples are making a comeback! Gahhh. Plus paint from printing.


I asked my brother if he wanted one, and he said "give me the pinkest one possible." We match. I don't know why, but he suddenly ran out to look for me when I went outside to take pictures, so we ended up taking matchy pictures together.Some of his classmates at school wanted to buy a shirt. So sweet of them!

As of right now, I am selling them in my area to people I know who want to help out. Plans for online sales have not be made, because I am printing them all by hand, and don't know how many I am able to make. I have not decided on a charity yet, but my mom has been giving me some suggestions. All proceeds are going to Japan relief.

While I'm on the topic of tees for Japan, Seibei has a new tee to benefit Japan! I bought mine already.
Here's a coupon code. I didn't have this before because I was. Yeah. Too lazy to get one. So I've been buying all my tees at full price.

USE COUPON CODE KAIAMI FOR 10% OFF!

Not that I don't have enough dino tees or anything.

Love, Kai

layering on those layers.

Yesterday's outfit. Flowy layery kinds of clothing are my favorite. I wanted to wear that new thrift store purchase, so I threw a bunch of greys on.Yesterday was so cold in the morning. My friend May wore her snuggie to school. It makes me want to wear my fluffy pink robe to school. Or buy a kigurumi. Even better. It became pretty warm by the afternoon, though. I was able to wear my tank and sleeveless vest without it being cold.
This jacket is the one I found at the thrift shop. There are two snaps that go on to make a sorta-cowl. And when it's not snapped, it just drapes in the front. The vest is new too.

Tank top from Juicy Couture, BCBG jacket from Savers, vest from Target, K pendant necklace gift from friend, pants from Taiwan, Dolce Vita for Target buckle booties.


Rainy days are making a comeback. I should just embrace those sunny days. Actually, I want more sunny days so I can buy some new parasols.

Love, Kai

got mail?

Today's mail! It's a package from David at Seibei. I bought a couple mystery tees. Usually when I get grab bags, I get really nervous about getting something I don't like. But with Seibei, I was pretty confident that anything he gave me, I would like.
Open! Prepare for awesome.
Celebration, commence! And here, I got two of the ones I wanted the most! David is some kind of mind reader. The mint one is the one I wanted to buy last December at the Renegade Crafts Fair, but ran out of money for. I let my brother try on the SF Dino one, and now he wants to wear it to school. It looks good on him and I'd love to let him borrow it, but he always gets food or snot or something or the other on the shirts I let him borrow. The woes of being the same size as my brothers.

Here's me showing off my new favorite shirt. I don't know why I get so excited over bright colors when it comes to t-shirts. I wish I had bought more. Two's not enough! Though, there's no way I can buy anything more on my card in secret. Looks like I'll have to wait till the next crafts fair.

I've been getting a good amount of mail lately. Which is exciting. But 50% of it is stuff from colleges about financial aid and housing and gatherings and open house kind of stuff. The other percentages are college decision letters and magazines. I don't have time to read magazines anymore. 24 hours a day is not enough.

I received a few acceptance letters so far. I haven't shared any on my blog, I don't think, but because I've posted several times during the portfolio process, I wanted to share that I've been accepted at FIT!

Ayup, that's all for now.
Love, Kai

casual monday.

On Saturday, I went thrift shopping at Savers with my two best friends. I bought a couple items, but they're in the wash so I haven't posted them yet. On the way home, I caught a glimpse of a 30% to 50% off Borders sign for the Borders that is closing down. It's awfully sad, because I love Borders. I prefer buying from them than Barnes and Noble or Amazon. The line for checkout was really long, so I didn't stay to buy anything. Yoyo mentioned that she wanted to check out the H&M there.
Glad we went, because now I have a new jacket. There was a nice dusty pink one that I wanted too, but I've wanted one of these green jackets for so long, I had to get it. Yoyo got one in navy blue, and Nana got the off white one. It's not very warm, but good for spring and early fall weather.

Lately, I've been tying my hair up a lot. One, because it's long enough to tie it now, and two, because at this length, it bends in weird directions. Makes me want another haircut.
Jacket from H&M, scrunch skirt from J Daheck Taiwan, Doc Martens.
Next time my besties are over, hopefully we'll do some jacket tripleting. The jacket sizes were kind of limited. The smallest size left for green was a 10, so I bought that one.

It rained again today. It wasn't too cold outside, morning aside. This jacket wont do me much good if I decide to go to the east coast.

After six weeks, I've finally received my state ID! Now I can show my ID to prove that I'm not like thirteen or whatever. I got stopped at the cash register for "not looking old enough" to buy Vagisil. Apparently I didn't look at least twelve. I totally forgot that ID cards are vertical, and initially thought something terribly wrong happened. This is like my new toy. I examined it for so long. My photo turned out terrible, but that was expected because they took it before I was ready. It's not as bad as my sophomore school ID, at least.

I didn't realize it at first, but my signature is printed on it, all bumpy like. But the thing is, I didn't realize it at first because it doesn't look at all like my signature. It's my signature, but it doesn't look like how I sign it. I think something might have been wrong with the pen. Or someone else wrote it for me. Also, they got my weight wrong. I was put down as 106 lbs, but that wasn't the weight I wrote when I applied for my card. Oh, DMV, what are you guys doing. Although, I've always wondered why they don't just weigh you and check your height. I wrote that I am 5'1, but I'm not sure if I'm even there.

I also did my voter's registration while I was there. I'm officially a registered voter! Now I just need things to vote for.

Love, Kai

second chance sale.

Daylight savings. I haven't changed all the clocks yet, so it's a bit inconvenient. Will do that soon. I woke up early today to get a glimpse of the re-release designer collection pieces from Target. I had my eye one a specific piece: the Erin Fetherston black tiered dress. Unfortunately, the Target that I lived close to didn't carry that one, so I made do with the other one.
It's rabbit print! Very cute and whimsical.

I saw all the previews, so I already knew what to expect. But I was still feeling some disappoint with the collection. There were a lot of great designers who collaborated with Target in the past, but several of them were left out including Anna Sui and McQueen. Yet, they brought back Tucker, which was released only half a year ago. I thought that defeats the purpose of bringing old pieces back.

And some of the pieces that were chosen, I don't think were the strongest pieces by the designer. Maybe I'm just being biased because I was hoping for the Rodarte skeleton dress.

Photos were taken on my camera phone. I tried on five pieces on the first go. I tried the Jovovich Hawk ones first. This one was kinda cute.
I thought the poppy flower print one was most flattering, but they're the same style as the kinds of dresses I buy from Tokyo Fashion Co. in Taiwan.
Luella Bartley dress. I like that there's a built in petticoat. It's kinda cute. Not very flattering though.
And this Erin Fetherston one, which I settled on. I wore it as a skirt in a couple pictures, but they all came out blurry.

Since the Target that was closest didn't have the tiered Erin dress, I went to another Target to search for it, and it was in stock in every size. I took my camera along. Funny, my cell phone pictures don't seem to be any worse than my camera pictures.
I was kind of bummed that it didn't look all that good on me. It doesn't do any fancy flaring, and just goes straight down from the top. The straps are too long on me too. I tried on both of the Rodarte dresses, too, but forgot about pictures for those.

I'd like an Alexander Wang collaboration. Marchesa, Vivienne, Rick Owens, Christopher Kane, and all the Japanese designers; Limi, Yohji, Junya, Tao...I'd love a Target collaboration for. Make up for all those collections I missed in the past. I remember trying on some of the cute Go International items in middle school, but had mini heart attacks at the $40 price tag, and never understood why it cost more than everything else in the clothes area, and why there were always such limited sizing.

Love, Kai

praying for japan.

Chances are you've heard already about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I woke up early this morning and only to find myself in panic. I was scared for Japan. I was scared for Hawaii, which was also struck. I was scared for Taiwan, which was another possible victim. I was frightened for my own residence in the Bay of California, where we were predicted to be hit at 8:08am. This morning during first period, my class monitored the live cam in San Francisco. Luckily, the waves died out by the time they reached our coast. And thankfully, I have not heard of any injuries or damages from those I know in Japan or Hawaii. I am extremely thankful.

We can reach out, in this time of need! Gaga had designed a wristband for this cause, and all proceeds will go to relief in Japan. You can choose however much you'd like to donate; anywhere between $5 and $105.

Additionally, you can donate straight from your phone. Donate $10 by texting REDCROSS to 90999 to support the cause!

I'm horrified by the practical jokes and bitter racism against the Japanese, which are completely inappropriate, especially in this time of need. We are all brothers and sisters from the human race. And for the record, Satoshi Tajiri is not dead. Long live the king!

Love, Kai

winter prevails.

I can't wait till spring weather. Partly cloudy with the sun peaking out and a slight breeze. That's some ideal weather right there. I thought it would be like that today. That's what the weather report told me this morning, at least. It was wrong. Today was really cloudy and windy. I thought it would be sunny so I didn't wear tights or a jacket. My shirt is so thin, it feels no different than wearing a sleeveless. My hair looks really light in that first picture.

Short dress from Forever 21, long dress from Emily Temple Cute, plaid button shirt from Goodwill, fluffy collared shirt from Tokyo Fashion Co. Taiwan, bow brooch from H&M, Docs.

My hair is getting kind of long and unmanageable. I tied my hair up with this outfit so it'd look shorter. I've never worn this shirt before, so I wanted to wear it today, and ended up wearing all my plaid. Enh.

Love, Kai

lazy days.

Days when I have absolutely nothing to do are my favorite days. The days where I can just laze around and chilax without having to worry about wearing pants and fixing my hair. Weekends aren't long enough.A couple days ago, I went to Forever 21 to look for a sale item that I wanted. I wasn't there, so I bought a $4 slouchy tank.

Today is the North American release date for the two new Pokemon games. I bought black and my little brother has white. I woke up at 7 in case I wanted to buy it at Target, but liked I ended up at Toys R Us because I liked the deal there better.
I'm trying to decide if I want to play right now or do my homework or catch up on sleep or read ahead in Into the Wild or read manga. Decisions.

I tried on some nail colors at Nordstrom. My mom saw and her face scrunched up. My brother saw and he made barfing sounds.
From left to right, Chanel Jade Rose, Deborah Lippmann Waking up in Vegas, Chanel Particuliere, NARS Bad Influence. I was trying out the topcoat at some Korean makeup store, and ran out of fingers so used it on the right two. Going back for the Lippmann when I have monies.

Love, Kai