Before I share the rest of my photos, let me share with you the free stuff I got… in detail…

Alexander McQueen Bow Tie tank top – it’s a simple white tank top with a detachable bow tie worn loose. It’s got the McQ logo at the lower left of the tank. Though simple and a bit pricey for a tank top, I don’t regret getting it especially that the designer has recently passed away. This is a part of him that will stay with me for years…

Tart Studded Leggings – leggings of all sorts came out last year. But even if it’s 2009, 2010, or 2020, leggings shall never fail. It’s already a staple that ladies should have in their closet. It’s great for working out, it’s great to wear at home, it’s great for running errands, yet you still can “up” your look and wear leggings to a club or any other night out. It all depends on how you style it. Wear it with sweater for lounging at home. Wear it with a mini day dress for casual gatherings. Wear it with heels, tank top, and a boyfriend blazer and you’re ready to go clubbin’. It totally depends on how you wear it. I’d say leggings is one flexible must-have piece. And if you get bored with the usual black leggings, go for something with style such as this studded leggings from Tart.

Hale Bob Platform Sandals – since last year, platforms have made a comeback and continues to do so this year. When you get tired of the usual black sandals, why not opt for something with a touch of color? I like the striped pastel colors of pink, blue, green, and purple detail on this black satin platforms. The colors make it more fun and Spring-appropriate.

Now, let’s go back to my weekly wear photos…

On MFJ: Alexander McQueen bowtie tank top; Tart studded leggings; light brown Zara distressed denim jacket; Calvin Klein hat; Hale Bob platform sandals; Jacques Lemans gold chronograph watch; leopard bangle from Landmark (Philippines); and Amrita Singh bangles.

The Philippine National Anthem, “Lupang Hinirang” sang by Arnel Pineda (Journey)

More videos below…

The US National Anthem, “Star Spangled Banner” sang by three Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

Joshua Clottey’s Entrance

Manny Pacquiao’s Entrance

Round 12 of the Pacquiao vs Clottey Fight

By the way, forgive the photos because they were from the iPhone.

The night before the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, we had really delicious pancit (noodles) along with some delicious fish, kilawin and pork. Ate Marissa cooks really well. YUMMY!!! We couldn’t stay that long though ‘coz we promised to take our friend (from California) to a Dallas Club for the Pacquiao pre-party. I will probably post something all about it soon.

On Monday (or was it Tuesday), we had Kamayan dinner at another friend’s house. “Kamayan” is a Filipino thing where we place the food on banana leaves and eat with our hands. I’ve heard non-Filipinos saying it’s nasty but it’s just so fun to eat that way. In fact, we even had an American eating with us with her hands too. It makes eating more fun and I guarantee you, you’ll eat more than you usually do. LOL.

And then last night, it was our friends’ mom’s birthday. So we had krispy pata (pork leg), marinated beef, beef and broccoli, and lobster!!! Yummy!!!

And now the goodies and freebies I’ve received the last two weeks… Alexander McQueen bow tie tank, SlimMe by MeMoi leggings and shorts, Elle Decor magazine, Amrita Singh green gladiator sandals, Hale Bob platform sandals, and Tart studded leggings. WEEE!!! See, it pays to blog and join sample sale sites and invite friends. Have a great weekend ahead!

Rue La La

Judith Leiber, Argento Vivo, Feizy and more…

Gilt Groupe

Jewelry by Monica Vinader, Lanvin, Nina Ricci and Proenza Schouler Sunglasses, COMING SOON, Emissary, Vivienne Tam and more…

Haute Look

Radiance Pearl Blowout, People’s Liberation, Orion, Wildfox Couture, Frenchy Baby Organics, dav Rainboots and more…

Beyond the Rack

Esprit, Ed Hardy, Voom by Joy Han, Nuage, Cougar, Pirelli and more…

Ideeli

Tadashi, Lucca Couture, Lil’ Lucca, Population, Heys, Two’s company/tozai and more…

Ask MFJ is a series of posts where you can ask me anything about bags, shoes, clothes, accessories, and anything else about fashion. You can also ask me questions related to home decor/design, food, and travel. Just send them in to admin (at) myfashionjuice (dot) com, and I’ll see to it that I answer your questions as soon as I can.

Ask My Fashion Juice Question #5

“How to wear a big bold bib necklace? Should your top always have to be in a solid color?? I love bib necklaces but i also love printed tops! How to match the two?

Thanks a lot. More power! ”

- Browneyedgirl, Manila, Philippines

MFJ Answers

Hi Browneyedgirl! Sorry it took me so long to reply. Bib necklaces are best worn with solid-colored tops. A bib necklace is a statement piece. This means it is already a big bold accessory that should not compete with a busy print. However if you love to wear prints, you still can. Actually, I’ve worn something similar before but I wasn’t able to take a picture. There are two ways to do it.

1. First trick is to layer. You can wear a printed top with a low neckline and wear a solid-colored tank top inside, like black or white. This way, the bib necklace won’t get lost in the busy print. You can do this with low neck day dresses. Wear a tank or tube underneath so the bib necklace sits on the solid color and not on the printed fabric. You can also wear a button-up shirt and unbutton three to four of the top buttons so that your tank top shows and your bib necklace can still be seen, just like how I wore it below.
2. Second way to do it is to choose similar hued prints and bib necklace. In the same photo below, I could still use my gray crystal necklace on top of the gray and purple plaid shirt. Just choose a dress or top that has similar colors of your bib necklace. For example, if you have an all black bib necklace, you can wear it on a black and gray, black and silver, or black and white top. Just choose a fabric that is not so busy on the eyes so your bib necklace still pops up.

Hope this helps. I will try to take more photos featuring bib necklaces on top of printed fabric and feature them here. For all the readers out there, please continue to send me questions! Until next “Ask My Fashion Juice” post. Ciao!

The Decadestwo Pop-up store will be located at Kiki de Montparnasse, 79 Greene Street, (at Spring Street) in New York! On Thursday, March 18th, until Saturday, March 20th, they will be open from 11 am to 7 pm. On Sunday, March 21st, you can check them out from 12 pm to 5 pm. And to give you an idea of what items will be there, check these photos out!

I made sure to get my first Alexander McQueen when Gilt Groupe had featured it in one of their sales… especially now that he has just passed away. Too sad… but I’m glad I have a piece of his design to keep with me forever… And what’s even better is that it’s again FREE… thanks to you dear readers who have joined Gilt Groupe. An Alexander McQueen piece is no joke. It’s not cheap. This tank top costs more than $60! Yes, a simple tank top for $60. If I had no shopping credits, I wouldn’t get it. LOL. You know I’m cheap when it comes to clothing. I splurge more on bags! Anyways, if you haven’t registered with Gilt Groupe for free, click HERE.

• Pappadeaux is one of the 3 favorite restaurants of Beyonce in Texas
• If you are planning to visit or attend an event at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, the Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Arlington, Texas is the best place to dine. It’s just a few blocks away. You can see the Stadium from Pappadeaux.
• Since it’s craw fish season, it’s the best place to go right now!!!

P.S.

Photos were taken from iPhone, Olympus, and Google maps. LOL.

Now the story behind the founder/owner…

From the day he first learned to string a line, C. H. Pappadeaux was hooked on fishing. And it took him exactly no time at all to become the very best. There wasn’t a single creature in the sea he couldn’t bring in. Of course, there was that one time he brought in two. Many years ago, C. H. was hauling in the last of his nets, when his boat was suddenly smashed to pieces, knocking him oars over elbows right into the Gulf!

Floundering for air, he caught sight of two of the most gigantic mahi-mahi that had ever lived! Boatless, but otherwise unscathed, C.H. caught a hold of some fishing line, tied it to those monster fish, and proceeded to plant one foot on each of their backs! Before he knew it, C. H. was ridin’ those babies all the way back to the French Quarter like he was king of the sea! Needless to say, the feast that night was incredible.

Today, C.H.’s legacy lives on in every dish we serve at Pappadeaux. From the bold flavors of our fresh-from-the-boat seafood, to our outstanding service, we’re carrying on the Pappadeaux tradition of being the best there is.

Now, let’s go back to my restaurant review…

Above is the back entrance of Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Arlington, Texas. It’s such a lovely place to take pictures… because of the bridge and the water feature at the back of the restaurant. Going through the back entrance is already leaving a good impression on me. So I really hope that this experience would be a good one if not great…

Once you go inside Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, you’ll be greeted by the hostess right away. Beside her are tanks (2-3) of crabs, lobsters from Maine, and other types of fish/seafood. On the left is where most of the dining tables are situated. To your right is the bar area… which is huge!!! And they’ve got wide screen HDTV’s too (left side, not pictured).

Now the reason we chose to eat at Pappadeaux is because it was a Friday. As a Catholic, one of our Lenten practices is to abstain from meat each Friday, on Ash Wednesday, and the whole Holy Week. So, we have opted for a seafood restaurant and Pappadeaux was the perfect choice. We were heading out to the Pacquiao-Clottey Weigh-in event at the Cowboys Stadium and Pappadeaux was just around the corner. We started out with one of the best Calamaris I’ve tried. Fresh, crunchy, just the right temperature, and not oily at all! Love it! It comes with Lemon Aioli and Spicy Marinara Sauce… a sumptuous appetizer for only $11.95 for the large and $7.95 for the medium.

Dig in!

Now my order… fried shrimp served with french fries for only $9.95! Fresh, crunchy, delicioso!!! Yum!

Hubby’s order was the Sample Platter for just $13.95. It’s a mix of fried catfish, fried craw fish, and fried shrimp with french fries. Another delicious order. The catfish and craw fish were oh so good!!!

Our friend’s order was the Mixed Seafood Grill which was $12.95. It’s a skewer of assorted char-grilled seafood & vegetables, served with your choice of dirty rice or fries. It was definitely delicious! And the lemon butter sauce just made it PERFECT! Definitely a must-try when you’re here.

So judging by the looks of our table, you’re right, we ended up taking home more than half of our food! The portions were huge. If you’re not a heavy eater, I recommend couples sharing one dish.

Now another great thing about Pappadeaux is the excellent service. The manager came to talk to us and asked us if it was our first time there. And it was. So she told us to try their desserts and it’s ON HER! WOW! Sure. LOL! And she recommended to get the Dessert Trio so we can try three desserts in one: Creme Brulee (my fave), Bread Pudding, and Pecan Pie. Oh we loved it! The only problem is we were so full.

And here we are… trying to finish the dessert even if we were already full. We ended up not finishing the whole thing though.

So after the whole experience at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, I have to say that I’ll give it 4.5 out of 5 stars! The only reason why it’s not perfect is because the middle dining area (where we were) have tables placed so close to each other. I don’t blame them though. A lot of people eat here a lot. Each time we pass by, the parking lot is full. So I’m sure they are just maximizing the space. All in all, I definitely recommend that you try out Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen! YUM!!!

To find a Pappadeaux Restaurant near you and to check out their menu, click HERE.

Rue La La

Calvin Klein, Color Story, Metrokane and more…

Gilt Groupe

Emanuel Ungaro and Christian Lacroix, Bric’s Luggage, Bensoni, Aviva Stanoff, LnA, Jewelry by Coralia Leets, Phaidon Press and more…

Haute Look

MD Skincare, Rebelette Girls, TRUNK Ltd., Stitch’s Women + Men, Melissa + Doug Toys, Conscious Jewelry, TOCS Watches and more…

Beyond the Rack

Lauren Hansen, Yumi, Language, Moments and more…

Ideeli

Anne klein new york, nyll italia, priorities, lori bonn, latico, oh la la cheri, kyocera and more…

Row Nine

Monteverde and Delta Pens, Sharp 22″ TV/DVD, Cuisinart Cookware, e-Moto Electric Bicycles, Sterling Silver Flatware Gorham – Towle and more…

Avelle

$195 (OR LESS!) HOT HANDBAG FINDS. UP TO 60% OFF! Beautiful styles from Betsey Johnson, Calvin Klein, Coach, Cole Haan, Jalda,
Perlina and more…

It has been a heck of a busy week for all Pacquiao fans, especially for the Filipinos of North Texas or the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) metropolitan area. The three previous days, Filipinos came to watch Pacquiao train and have their shirts, caps, gloves, jackets, and what-have-you’s signed by Pacman himself. Of course, Coach Freddie Roach, and Buboy among others were there to sign as well. It was indeed a fun and memorable moment for all my fellow Filipinos.

Yesterday, we came to watch the weigh-in of all the boxers to fight tonight. We got to see Bob Arum, Jerry Jones, Michael Buffer and many other fighters who just came to visit and watch this memorable event. It’s the first time that a boxing fight is happening at our $1.2 billion-Cowboy Stadium. LOL! I’m a proud Texan. I’ll post more about it after the fight.

Anyway, Filipinos have gone crazy with all the Manny Pacquiao items being sold… like I said… the shirts, jackets, caps, gloves, and even the limited Nike PacMan shoes ($110). The shoes look so nice. Three of our friends here already got theirs. They said it’s only going to be released here in Texas. There were a lot of Filipinos in the mall, buying Manny Pacquiao memorabilia. Some Filipinos were buying $100-600 worth of goodies. OMG!!! Can you imagine??? While we were there, a group of Filipinos from Chicago were buying a ton of shirts ($28) and jackets ($70). It was crazy! Heck if we have boat loads of money I would probably do the same. But since we’ve had a lot of expenses lately from restoring the home, buying decor and furniture, hosting a party, just renewed our car insurance, and having family and friends over among others – we are officially broke. LOL! And our tax return hasn’t even arrived yet. ARGH! But anyway, I got Hubby a shirt for the fight…

Close-up

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And the rest of the goodies being sold at Champs (Parks Mall, Arlington, TX)… sorry for the blurry photos… they were sneaky shots from my iPhone.