in this corner of the ring...

so tonight ended up being super low key, which was super nice because I have been cleaning ALL day! I am in phase 1 of packing for moving soon. This means I daydream most waking hours of how I will decorate my new place, listen to good music, and bust my ass.

I wasn't going to let the ass busting stop me from going out, so I went to a ska show with a cool co-worker. It was at the U of M Union and it was in their bowling alley area, good music, mellow and fun :o)

http://theprizefighters.net/ <---- the band's website

you can only sort of tell in the photo, but I couldn't decide between Pink Friday, and the new Gaga 2 Viva Glam from MAC- SOOOOOO I wore the Pink Friday lipstick with the Gaga lipglass! They mix beautifully! love it!

I wore a Harajuku Lovers shirt with some pants I got in Hong Kong, L.A.M.B. watch, "Return to Tiffany" bracelet modified with HL charm, skull/spike bracelet, and stud earrings- with the standard ska show shoes- Doc Martens!

and of course, a favorite of mine that no one in the US ever seems to go for...

DROP CROTCH PANTS!!!

so the band gave me a total SUBLIME vibe so I am now sitting here chillin, drinking wine out of a teacup and listening to the 40 oz. to Freedom album... this album is love

Cleaning out stuff and getting ready to pack is awesome! I found these sunglasses that I thought were long gone! I can't really do regular Wayfarers, they just don't work on me, but I love them, so I was happy to find these (I will call them) "Nayfarers" at Target, the shape is a little bigger so I get the style and it works on my face.

I have found HELLA other stuff while cleaning too, stuff I can use to decorate the new place! SCORE :o)

from the street to the runway

I have so many pictures from Hong Kong I still need to share! It's so hard to categorize them.

EVERYWHERE I went, airports, the street, the hotel lobby, store displays- EVERYWHERE, everyone was wearing fairisle and nordic prints, even some Aztec/South American inspiration in there. I happen to LOVE this- yet I do not own nearly enough of it. Usually stuff I find is kind of too corny looking, but between pants, socks, jackets, etc. I know there's some cool stuff out there.

I really hope this trend blows up more in the US! I've got a few months left of freezing weather where this kind of stuff would be appropriate, and perhaps this could help me hate next Winter a little less ;o)

I was SO happy, one of the last nights of my trip- to find the skull fairisle hoodie sweater I got! it's so perfectly what I was looking for!

I didn't take pics of everything I saw, but you'll get the idea. I was almost sick of seeing it by the time I left, haha, but I still LOVE it!

I totally want these pants!

This dude was totally my favorite-

***

So you can imagine how much I LOVED Junya Watanabe's show in Paris this week! (I'll help make my men's Paris fashion post a little shorter by including this on this post!)

photos from the source at www.style.com

I love that he took patterns that are usually suited for sweaters and incorporated them into more structured garments.

Also, I have a strange obsession for hot ginger boys so I love his model selection as well ;o)

He had a lot of great leather pieces as well- check it out

http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2011MEN-JNWATNBE

Hong Kong Kowloon Night Market...

so after 4 days straight working mentally exhausting days... I finally got a chance to get out and see some of Hong Kong!

We had to walk through this train station to go to an ATM, then get in a cab to the market... apparently this was a really stupid thing to do in a cab... I was like "Oh is it dumb to do this?" and my co-workers were super nice and basically said whatever it's OK to do stupid shit your first time in a new country haha.

I was also FINALLY able to experience the real "market" experience when we were pulled into an alley to look at "Chanel" "Louis Vuitton" and "Coach" bags... Neither of us were gonna buy a bag and I wouldn't let my coworker go by herself, but she told me I had to get the full experience. It's pretty funny, but also a little scary, like how scary movies start, haha!

This chick was HELLA giving me the side-eye when I was taking this pic with some stunners on-

(Do I spy Kate in that pic Stacey??)

We walked by this ummmm. "restaurant" and they had all this on display and real fish there... it looked beautiful and smelled appetizing but there was no way in hell I was gonna eat it!

I have no idea what "PINKO" is, but these were like at EVERY booth so I had to finally just take a picture? Any of you know what it is??? Are the chicks bending over? What is going on here? haha

some LIEpods... (these are NOT iPods, haha) they had fake iPads too...

I really do not know what was going on at this "massage" parlor... but I imagine they were offering more than masssages!

here... wash your brain out with some religious hologram sunglasses... I REALLY wanted to get the Mary or Jesus ones... but we were on our way out and the shop owner was giving me the evil eye for trying them on for too long!

Before I get to the best part... I had to take pics of these funny signs and shirts... I REALLY wanted the one that says "ALL MY FRIENDS ARE TROUBLEMAKER" but they would not BUDGE on price!!!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention! I was so good at bargaining... I don't know what happened I am usually too scared, but I was just balls out and totally lowballing some of them and they would accept or make a deal! It was so fun!

with such classics as "NO GAME I WILL DIZZY LAZY CRAZY" and "NO FART IN CAR"

I figured a photograph would be smarter (& cheaper) than buying each one that made me laugh!

and FINALLY... Pièce de résistance... counterfeit Harajuku Lovers... I know we are supposed to get all mad and the knockoff business is bad and wrong and stuff... But I just can't help but feel that fake HL being at the Kowloon Night Market means Harajuku Lovers has really made it!!!

I think my favorite was the "SPEUR HOE FLMATE" which I am still laughing about!

some of it was really close to the art on real HL... but some of it was WAY off!

and I will leave you with some good advice...

"TEKE A CHANSE YOO STPUID HOE"

shopping!!!

I did a lot of it in Hong Kong and it was a blast! Well, maybe not a lot of it, but my only day off was not spent sight-seeing, it was spent shopping! It was a gorgeous day complete with 2 Starbucks stops, delicious truffle oil french fries and pomegranate iced tea at my hotel for lunch, a hot bath, a shower, and a peaceful evening :o)

I have plenty of photos for a few different posts, but I figured why not start with dessert first? Here are my hauls from the Kowloon night market and Nathan Rd. and Canton Rd. underground malls and markets... can I just say the customer service in the shops on the street, and in the underground malls was amazing, they treated me like a superstar and picked super cute stuff for me to check out as I was picking out my own stuff.

got some traditional souvenirs (on of those dragon robes is for you Stacey!)-

most of this stuff is gifts! it's not all for me! haha

some fun night market finds including IRRESISTABLE hilarious fake HL! lol

Look at your watch now! You're still a SPEUR HOE FLMATE!

(the "Pure Fucking Metal" belt buckle is heading straight to Allyson [@allysonmaniac] once I get to a post office!)

on to the good stuff!!! there were great sales so I got quite a bit, some tops/sweaters with amazing sequins and some drop crotch knit bottoms I have been dying for! Fairisle was EVERYWHERE, I took a ton of pics on the street, there was so much I was almost sick of looking at it by the end of the trip, but I LOVE it, so I was so happy to find the skull fairisle hoodie! I spent the last of my Hong Kong cash on that!

here's the goods-

After one of my shopping sessions, I came back to the hotel and changed into my new goods... The receipts are at work so I can't remember all the shops, but the top is Per Me and the shoes are Jeffrey Campbell. I loved the boots so much I wore them out of the store!

this is the best I could do for pics of it on, haha