Jacaranda Season

 

Jacaranda season, which usually starts and mid-May and lasts until June, is in full swing here in Southern California. I think I do a post on Jacarandas almost every year and every year I always proclaim them as my favorite tree. I love the vibrant purple flowers that, unfortunately, create a sticky mess on lawns and cars when they fall from the tree but, luckily, I can just appreciate the beauty without dealing with the mess! (Jacarandas truly embody the spirit of a beautiful mess!) Last weekend, we went to Santa Ana in Orange County where you can find several streets that are lined with these beautiful purple trees. I don't know if I've ever seen so many Jacarandas in one place! I decided to wear a yellow dress from Target for our visit, because purple and yellow are complementary colors and always look lovely together!

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At first, I thought that I would take a picture in the middle of the street, surrounded by the Jacarandas on each side. However, due to lighting and some other factors, including cars coming by, that plan didn't work out as well as I thought it would. Luckily, I found this lovely place on the sidewalk that had not only a beautiful Jacaranda in the background but also just a hint of bougainvillea as well. It was a happy accident that the bougainvillea was a perfect match to my bag!

 

Dress: Target here

Shoes: Old Navy similar espadrilles here

Bag: Chanel similar pink quilted bag here and here

Earrings: c/o Zenzii here

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Ombre Dress

 

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been posting a lot regarding my most recent clothing finds at Target. Like I wrote in a previous post, Target's spring line is particularly good this year, especially when it comes to dresses! This ombre dress is, in my opinion, definitely another winner from Target! It comes in two colors: pink and blue. Obviously, I opted for the pink version, which also has a rust color at the neckline. I thought the rust and pink color combo of the dress would go perfectly with a pair of leopard pumps, which is exactly what I chose to pair with this dress my first time wearing it.

 

These photos were taken at Pio Pico State Historic Park. We have visited this historic landmark several times before and last weekend we happened to be in the area again so I thought we would stop by. I thought the cactus garden located on the grounds of the park, in addition to the rustic adobe, which was the home of Pio Pico, would make for a wonderful backdrop for these pictures. As you can see, it turned out to be a beautiful day to take in some history, enjoy a stroll through the gardens and do a little fashion shoot as well!

 

Dress: Target here

Shoes: J Crew here

Earrings: c/o Zenzii similar here

Bag: Louis Vuitton similar pink bag here

 

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An Oasis of Color in the Desert

Last week my husband and I took a mini excursion to Palm Springs and then drove about an hour and a half along the Salton Sea to Salvation Mountain. In brief, Salvation Mountain is a gigantic, colorful mountain made of tires, wood, hay, adobe, and lots of paint. I will be posting more about the history of this amazing place next week on my blog because I feel that it deserves to have its own post. For now, however, here is what I wore to Salvation Mountain and, yes, I did plan ahead so that my outfit would match the backdrop!

First, my top is from SheIn, which you can find here and it is a wonderfully versatile piece. I'm a big fan of anything with pinstripes and the ruffles are just an added bonus. I thought the simplicity of the blue and white stripes would be the perfect complement to the blue and white stripes featured on Salvation Mountain. Apparently, the stripes running down the mountain are supposed to be waterfalls, which I would not have guessed because there are flowers sprouting up in the middle of them. Then again, the creator of this place had quite a vivid imagination, so anything is possible!

One thing that I didn't plan for, but that worked out quite nicely, is the yellow path that guides the visitor along his or her journey up Salvation Mountain. (If you stray from the yellow path, a man with a megaphone will yell at you, which I, along with numerous other visitors, found out!) Clearly, this evokes the idea of the yellow brick road from The Wizard of Oz and my red shoes were somewhat reminiscent of Dorothy's ruby slippers from the film. I didn't intend to allude to the film when I planned my ensemble. I did, however, feel a little bit like Dorothy while traveling through this mysterious, magical and very colorful oasis in the midst of the drab desert.

I should include a brief note about my blowing hair in the above picture and my blowing shirt in the below picture, along with most of the other pictures in this post. Although it may appear that a crew with a wind machine was following me around like they do Ivanka Trump, this blowing was actually just the result of natural wind gusts in the desert. These high winds added an additional challenge but also, I think, some dramatic flair to the pictures.

Shirt: c/o SheIn blue and white striped ruffle shirt here
Pants: J. Crew similar here
Shoes: J. Crew similar red flats here
Sunglasses: Celine similar white sunglasses here

Linking Up With: Trend Spin, On Trend Tuesday, Turning Heads