Palm and Pink

Sometimes you see an item of clothing and you just know that you need it right away! That's how I felt when I discovered this cute palm skirt! Usually, I like to wait for sales but this skirt was under $100 and it was so adorable that I was afraid that it might sell out before hitting the sale rack, so I purchased it immediately! Although I can imagine pairing the skirt with many different tops, the first thing that popped into my mind was to do something with a pink blouse. Pink and green make for the perfect spring combination of colors, in my opinion! Luckily, I just recently purchased this stripped button down blouse from Target, so it was the perfect match for my new palm skirt!

For the bag, I had to go with something to play up the tropical feel of the skirt. What better option than this green bamboo bag? I got this bag last year and while it isn't the most practical bag (my husband makes fun of it whenever I wear it and also likes to remind me of its impracticality!), it does go with a lot of my spring and summer wardrobe. I'm tempted to get one in another color, maybe a neutral color down the road, but I'm pretty happy with my choice of green for my first bag in this style. I look forward to wearing it with many more pink and green outfits in the future!

Skirt: Nordstrom here
Shirt: Target here
Bag: Red Dress Boutique here
Shoes: Christian Louboutin

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Smile at Strangers

I love leopard and I have numerous items of clothing featuring leopard prints but these are my first pair of leopard pants! I think these pants will be my one and only pair of leopard pants, however, because why mess with perfection? First of all, I like how the leopard print on this particular pair of pants is small and understated so that they don't exactly scream "leopard" and function more as a neutral. Also, they are made of silk which makes them feel so soft and luxurious; they are almost like some seriously chic silk pajama pants! Last of all, J. Crew is having a sale right now off of everything, even regular prices, so it makes these pants a pretty good deal!

These photos were taken at the Irvine Spectrum center in Orange County. Orange County seems to be exploding with some cool murals and colorful locations, which is very exciting! I found this "Smile at Strangers" mural a few months ago when I visited the mall for the first time. I made a mental note that I wanted to do a photo shoot with the mural as a backdrop but I had trouble locating it the second time around. One of the reasons that it was so difficult to find is that it's kind of tucked away in an out of the way location that's near the restrooms. Also, to be perfectly honest, I have a terrible sense of direction! My husband and I were wandering around the mall with me saying "I think it's just down here" seemingly 50 times before finally finding it!

Pants: J. Crew here
Sweater: J. Crew similar here
Shoes: Target here
Bag: Mansur Gavriel here, here

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Lights, Camera, Action!

It's no secret that I have a lot of bags but one of my new favorite styles of bag is the camera bag. I know this style is very 80s inspired but it seems to be all the rage right now and I am definitely smitten with it! Originally, I was tempted to buy a Chanel or Gucci camera style bag but since I feel that this style might be more or less a trend, I've opted for some more budget friendly options like this red, white and blue one from Forever 21. At just under $20, it gives you a lot of bang for your buck and, to be honest, if you didn't actually feel it, it might easily be mistaken for a designer bag!

I paired this fun camera style bag with a yellow floral cardigan and a striped skirt. It's a great outfit for transitioning into spring with a floral print. Also, I'm a big fan of the yellow and blue combination with some small pops of red. It's a great way to do primary colors without looking like you're a walking Mondrian painting! Certainly, this red, blue and yellow ensemble is ready for its close up!

Sweater: J. Crew similar yellow embroidered cardigan here
Skirt: J. Crew Factory similar here or here
Shoes: J. Crew similar here
Bag: Forever 21 here

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Anza-Borrego Super Bloom

Last week, we continued our tour of the prime super bloom locations in Southern California. This time we visited Anza-Borrego State Park. We visited here several of years ago during a previous super bloom but this time, pleasantly, the flowers were even more glorious, as is evident from the picture above with all of the lovely yellow wildflowers!

Since we did a bit of hiking and off-roading around the park, which is, essentially, a desert and very hot, even in winter, I decided to keep things casual with my new Palm Springs tee and jeans. We actually drove through Palm Springs, which is about an hour and a half away from Anza-Borrego, so the tee was quite fitting for the occasion. I also opted for this straw bag because not only was it a perfect match for all of the vibrant blooms we encountered but, more importantly, it was the perfect size to hold some of the things for our trip, such as our camera and binoculars.

As a final note, the above location, which just happens to be, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful areas of the Park during the super bloom, is where I originally got a handful (and seatfull!) of thorns on our first trip to Anza-Borrego! You see, I saw a picture in the Los Angeles Times of a couple sitting under this exact tree in this exact location and I thought I would recreate the picture by also sitting under the same tree. Well, it turns out that, while these flowers are beautiful, they are also filled with teeny tiny thorns and my hands (and seat!) ended up covered with them after I sat down. My husband and I spent a good deal of time after that with tweezers, plucking out the thorns on that particular trip, so I was very careful this time around not touch anything and to just kneel, not sit, among the flowers!

Tee: J. Crew here
Jeans: J. Crew
Bag: Cynthia Rowley similar here
Sunglasses: Gucci here

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A Fabulous Floral!

I definitely love a good floral print and a good wall and when the two collide...watch out! This colorful floral top is something that wasn't even on my radar until it hit the sale section at J. Crew. I don't know how I could have missed it previously but I was glad to have discovered it at a very reasonable price! It's a nice transitional piece that can be easily layered as I'm doing here with a cardigan, as the weather here isn't exactly cool but isn't exactly warm.

As always, I decided to go for some bold pops of color with my lavender jeans and my orange tote. The colors not only pair nicely with my floral top but also with the wall in back of me. I think I have written about this before but this wall is on the way to one of our favorite restaurants and the day these photos were taken we were headed to a wine dinner. Speaking of perfect pairings, we had a great dinner with some excellent wine paired with each course!

Shirt: J. Crew here
Jeans: Old Navy similar here
Shoes: J. Crew similar here
Bag: Prada

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The Hills Are Alive With Poppies!

I feel a little like Julie Andrews singing "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music!" in this picture, except that, in this instance, the hills are alive with the vibrant hues of orange poppies! Also, instead of being in Austria, I'm actually in Lake Elsinore, California! Regardless, my heart can't help but fill with glee at the sight of these glorious flowers that are literally covering the hills in this area of Southern California! It's definitely enough to make anyone spontaneously break into song and dance, as it's truly a sight to behold. It also reminds me why many people think California is, perhaps, the most beautiful place in the world.

Seeing all of these delightful flowers also made me feel a little like William Wordsworth in his famous poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" in which the lonely poet stumbles across a field of daffodils that not only cheer him up but also prove to be a wealth of creative inspiration. Again, there's one key difference between my experience and Wordsworth's, namely that Wordsworth didn't have to deal with 50,000 people crowds in the Lake District, all of who were trying to snap that perfect picture for Instagram and who contributed to insane traffic! Apparently, the crowds this weekend in the poppy fields were so bad that they've declared the area a "public safety crisis"! It makes me glad that I went last weekend when there were a mere 25,000 visitors!

Well, hopefully these pictures make the experience appear, at least on the surface, to be calm and tranquil! Also, I can truly say that no poppies were injured in the taking of these pictures, as that has become a major concern with the massive crowds that are descending on the area. Overall, it was a really lovely experience and the views are, obviously, breathtaking. I have to say, however, that I find looking at the pictures to be much more relaxing than the actual experience but this will surely be a memory I will never forget and that will inspire me for years to come!

Sweater: Nordstrom similar rainbow button cardigan
Jeans: Old Navy similar here
Sneakers: Old Navy here
Bag: Clare V. similar striped bag from Clare V.

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