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I’m not a stylish or fashionable. Not a fashionista or a model. I don’t work in the Fashion industry. I’m not a starving artist. I’m not a hipster or a prepster. I don’t follow the latest trends or read WWD, Nylon or Vogue magazines. I’m not even an average consumer….but here’s what I AM………….someone who enjoys wearing comfortable, functional, clean clothes.
Here are my Top 5 Wardrobe Favorites (let’s see if you have similar ideas):
- 1) skinny jeans – For an Asian person like myself, with a smaller stature, skinny jeans are the most ideal. They feel comfortable, are very functional, & most important of all…many denim brands now make skinny jeans with shorter inseams for a shorter pant leg. This is perfect for a person who has petite legs like myself. All other jeans cuts, to me, make my legs look stumpy & widens my hip frame visually. So I’ll just stick to my skinny’s…as long as they’re not skin tight like cling-wrap.
- 2) sweatshirts – I love wearing sweatshirts, especially ones with a cool graphic on the front. Sweatshirts are perfect for lounging around the house, going to a sports game, or just hanging out with friends. I really like crew neck sweatshirts. They give off a casual yet stylish vibe. I’m not particularly fond of pullover hoodies, especially ones with the mono pouch pocket, which I like to call the belly warmer or the cargo-pocket of hoodies…’cause you know at one point in time you also liked to stuff your keys and wallet in there when making that quick trip to the supermarket. Also, I know I like the casual look, but sometimes even the zip-up hoodie looks a little too sloppy & too casual. I just like sweatshirts.
- 3)socks – I love socks & I can wear them in every type of weather, even when it’s totally hot & humid outside. But nothing beats the feeling of warm, dry socks on a cold and/or wet Winter’s day. I especially like to wear thick crew socks with a pair of worn-in sneakers. Mmmm.
- 4) graphic t-shirts – Two of my favorite places to get my graphic tee fix: Design T-Shirts Graniph & UT Uniqlo. I absolutely love wearing t-shirts. I even took one of my W)Taps pocket tees and turned it into my everyday pajama top…Sooooo comfortable I say!!! Seriously though, graphic tees are awesome & can often tell people about you & your interests all thru the picture printed rightfully on your chest (or back?). Graphic tees are also a great way to express yourself & throw a little color into your life. I just like them ’cause they often hide my lil’ stomach pouch after eating…Easy to wash & to wear while your cleaning house, or washing your car, or making pit stops at the local coffee shop.
- 5) shoulder bags – Perfect for throwing all of your miscellaneous junk inside, great for traveling, & they can also look stylish. I love messenger-style shoulder bags because I carry a ton of things around with me (ie. band-aids, Tide detergent pen, gum, mini nail clipper, datebook planner with a pen, a fully stocked pill case…) my friends all call me the human Doraemon ’cause I’ve got nearly everything imaginable shoved neatly & compactly in my bag. I’ve tried to cut down the contents of my bag to the bare minimum, but I still end up with a crap load of stuff. Trust me, I may look like a bag lady, but everything I have in my purse has been used in an emergency or tight situation before, so I’m grateful to my chunky bag.
I LOVE stationery & office supplies (& stickers!), especially ones from Japan (because those are the cutest with very practical designs & functions). I really enjoy shopping for cool pens, cute letter sets & notepads, & fun items like slim staplers & colorful masking tape for gift wrapping & crafts. My fiancee is somewhat amused with my borderline obsession of these things & sometimes gets playfully annoyed about it, especially when I can spend up to an hour or so browsing the stationery shop at the shopping mall. (It’s like when you take your boyfriend to go shoe shopping & there’s no place for him to sit down & play games on his cell phone…) This is even more true when I go shopping in Japan…because 98% of my favorite stationery -slash- home goods stores are all located within Japan (Tokyo).
These are the top 4 stores where I mainly buy all of my stationery & office goods:
- Maido Stationery SF
This is my favorite stationery goods store outside of Japan. There are 3 locations within the San Francisco area which I often visit on the weekends. This store offers a wide variety of stationery goods such as: pens/pencils/fountain pen sets, art supplies, notebooks/notepads, binders/folders/portfolios/photo albums, various glues, tapes & adhesives, stickers & decals galore, pen cases, photo ID cases & lanyards, scissors & staplers, etc. This is my go-to store when I need a specific item that I can’t find at any random Office Depot or Staples chain store, or when I want that fun & functional exclusive item from Japan (& I can’t just fly all the way to Japan for it). - Tokyu Hands
This is by far my MOST FAVORITE store of all! (I cannot write enough great things about this place.) For those of you who have never heard of this home goods mega chain store from Japan, to describe this store I would say it’s like a cross between Home Depot & Target. Each floor of this mega department store hosts a different home goods category such as: lumber & construction tools, home furniture, electronics, arts & crafts, kitchen & cleaning supplies, beauty & makeup (& the list goes on…) One of the main reasons why I love this store is because, not only does it carry almost every home goods item I could ever want, but the goods also have IKEA-style affordable prices & are durable/good-quality at the same time. - LoFT
This store is similar to Tokyu Hands, but with less of the Home Depot-style home improvement items. So, they still carry home goods (ie. kitchen & bath goods, furniture, bed linens, etc.), but no power tools or home DIY stuff. To me, this store is like every Stationery-phile or Arts & Crafts lover’s dream store…lots of DIY craft kits & supplies, greeting cards/cardstock/letter sets/stickers by the ga-zillions, as well as the standard office supplies (ie. staplers, pens, paper clips, tape, scissors, desk sets, calendars, datebook planners, etc.) They also have a photo-printing department that can custom print greeting cards for the Holidays or any special occasion. I can practically spend hours in this store…which my fiancee cannot stand. - JetPens.com
This is an online webstore where I buy most of my pens & pencils. There’s not much to say other than this webstore has a HUGE variety of pens, pencils & writing accessories that will really amaze you. This website should be on the “favorites list” of every pen fanatic! Not only do they carry a large selection of pens directly from Japan, but their prices are extremely reasonable, & if you make a purchase of $30 USD or more, your shipping cost is FREE. How awesome is that?! Here is a better example of how to describe this webstore:Kanji (Chinese characters) are much more complex than the English alphabet. A single character can have up to 30+ strokes! As a result of this intricacy, many writing instruments in Asia are much more precise than those available in the United States. At JetPens you’ll be amazed to find fine point writing instruments that you can’t find anywhere else in the world. In addition, we have mind-boggling colors that will beat the selection at any local office store. JetPens is a home for pen fanatics.
Now down to the real reason why I posted this blog…
My Top 5 Stationery Goods
Rabbits & Foxes 
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