This is a Hermes heavy post, so if that’s not your thing please skip those parts. I’ll be back with a comprehensive Quince home goods review post next week!
Did
Legoland in Carlsbad: For spring break this year we decided to go to Legoland in Carlsbad. Emi is five now and is a big fan of Legos. We decided to stay at the Castle Hotel and did two full days of Legoland, which IMHO is almost too much time for Legoland. Since it’s much smaller than Disneyland, I think two full days is more than enough. But on the bright side, Emi got to ride her favorite rides more than once. I don’t think we’ll be coming back to Legoland anytime in the future. It’s fun for kids but it doesn’t quite have the magic that Disneyland has that makes it fun for adults. Or at least for me, since I’m not that into building Legos lol.
Started my Hermes “journey”: I’ve purchased a couple Hermes items before (see my Lindy 30 review and Roulis 23 review), but I’ve never really embarked on the Hermes journey so to speak (this is where you drop a ton of dough on the brand in the hopes of getting offered a coveted bag like the Birkin or Kelly). But ever since letting a Picotin 22 in Havane leather slip through my fingers at the RealReal (seriously I’m still thinking about that bag 😭) and trying out the very overpriced Kelly 28 from Fashionphile (at the bottom of this post), I’ve become immersed in the Hermes world. I tried scoring items in Hawaii (that didn’t go well), and I tried at the Palo Alto boutique (didn’t get great service there), but I tried one more time at the SF boutique in Union Square (this was really my last shot) and I found a really wonderful SA. At my first SF visit I spent about 1.5 hours shopping and had a great time, which was a first for me at Hermes. I didn’t feel anxious or pressured to spend. It also probably helped that the SA was from Oahu as well, so we have a shared background. Since then I went to the boutique two more times (three Fridays in a row 😅) and on my third visit was offered an In-the-loop bag 23 in gold (which was one of the bags I put on my “wishlist”). Honestly it felt so nice to get a bag I actually wanted, and more importantly I found an SA I liked shopping with (though wouldn’t it be nice to get a Kelly 25 offered someday 😂).
Updated the following blog posts: Quince Jewelry Review (added more rings), Quince Shoes Review.
Bought
Vintage Hermes Havane Buffle Leather Vespa: So before embarking on the Hermes journey, I was chasing the Havane Picotin 22 from The RealReal with another Havane leather bag (that’s the leather color). And that’s when I stumbled on this vintage Vespa bag in the color Havane but in the Buffle leather (that’s buffalo leather—more specifically Asian water buffalo) in the PM size (small). I found it at Brandear (see their current selection of Hermes Vespa bags here) for a really good price (to me that’s sub $1k since we’re still talking Hermes here). Unfortunately it had some mold and a musty odor, so inspired by some of the vintage Coach bag rehab Insta accounts I follow, I decided to rehab my own Hermes. I normally wouldn’t recommend doing it yourself, but after some research I found that Buffalo leather is very hardy and fairly water resistant. So I took some alcohol to the mold (1:1 ratio of isopropyl alcohol and water), cleaned it with some saddle soap (I like this one made in Portland, OR), finished with some Leather CPR (love it because you can use it with your bare hands—no gloves needed), and a nice brush down with a horse hair brush. I now have a whole leather care kit and really enjoy the process of cleaning my bags. It’s so nice to see these beautiful bags shine again, and you can do that with Hermes bags because they’re meant to last (though definitely don’t do this to the delicate leathers—leave that to the professionals). Anyway you can see an abridged version of the whole process here. I’ll do a whole review of the Vespa bag but having owned both this and the Evelyne 29 in Clemence, I can tell you that for me the Vespa is the clear winner (because it’s different, flies under the radar, is usually cheaper than an Evelyne, slightly smaller, and comes with it’s own gorgeous bag jewelry). You can find vintage Vespas from time to time at Fashionphile (current selection here) and The RealReal (their current selection here).
“Pre-spend” for a bag
Hermes Enchainee Ring, Belts, Apple Watch Strap: These are the four items I purchased over two visits to “earn” the chance to buy a bag. Of course it doesn’t always work like this because it depends on the bag that you’re requesting. TBH I purposely chose a relatively unpopular and obscure bag style as my first request because I thought I would have a better chance of getting it than say the really popular ones (even the Picotin are pretty popular these days). And it also depends on your local boutique, but since SF is quite competitive/in demand (as I’ve heard over on YouTube and as I can imagine with the tech money that’s been flowing through this city) I was pretty sure I needed to spend some dough to get an offer of a bag (in Hawaii I think if I stuck with the first SA I might have been offered a bag at a “pre-spend” of about $1600 or half of the SF boutique—but Hawaii caters to more tourists so they might have a bit more to offer). Anyway these are all things I really wanted and would have a hard time finding outside of the store (except for the ring—that’s pretty common). I love the belts because the buckles and leather straps are interchangeable. So if later down the line I get bored with a particular color combo, I can switch it up. The two belts I got are called the Odyssee (the larger 32mm size that’s technically under the Mens section) and Rivage (for the smaller 24mm size).
Hermes In-the-loop 23 bag in gold swift and clemence leather and gold hardware: This is the bag that was offered and is pretty spot on with my request (an In-the-loop 23 in a neutral). Of course I’ll be doing a full review in the future but I’m really in love with this bag. It’s not a super well-known Hermes bag, but the leathers and color are so gorgeous. I got quite a few compliments and I’m pretty sure not all of them knew it was an Hermes. I also added a petit H bag charm (these are made by the Hermes leather artisans from left over scrap leather and they change all the time). I love how the koi fish in gold epsom leather matches with the bag, but all the gold tones from the three different leathers vary slightly because each leather type takes dye differently. The whole combo really speaks to the leather lover in me. And yes I know this is a hand-carry only type of bag (the kind I like the least), but I’ll allow it since it’s Hermes. But it does mean I can only carry this during kid-free times.
Sephora sale purchase: I’m not usually a big Sephora sale fan (having dropped down to the lowest tier customer—so I only got 10% off). But I needed to buy more cleaner for my beauty blender sponge so I decided to try a couple more things including some blush and a setting powder (both things I don’t currently own). So far I’ve tried the Basma blush in Fuchsia and it’s a winner for me. I never really wore blush before because my eczema and acne always made my skin red already (so why would I want to make it redder lol). But now that I’m older, a little pink on the face livens it up (though too much and I look ridiculous). The Basma blush is just right to get a slight pink without overdoing it. I can also layer it over my makeup lightly without disturbing the foundation underneath. And again this was a recommendation from my favorite makeup vlogger Michele Wang.