Orange, Pink and Floral

 

As you already know, I love experimenting with different color combinations. One of my favorite colors, especially for spring, is pink and orange. I especially love the look of orange with light pink, so when I got this Orange Wila Blazer last month from J. Crew, I knew I had to pair it with these pink dress pants for some major dopamine dressing! Underneath, I added this floral button-down shirt that picks up both the orange and pink colors in the pants and blazer. For a little additional pattern mixing, I added a leopard clutch to the mix.

 

If you look carefully, you will see that this floral button down also has hints of green and blue in it, so I'm already planning another look with a green blazer and blue pants with this shirt. Due to the fact that all of these pieces are from this season of J. Crew, it makes it really easy to mix and match with endless possibilities!

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Blazer: J. Crew here

Shirt: J. Crew here

Pants: Zara similar here

Shoes: J. Crew similar gold loafers

Sunglasses: Celine here

Bag: Clare V. here

 

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Full Bloom

I'm always on the lookout for new and fun walls, so when I found this gorgeous floral mural in Costa Mesa, I knew I had to go to see it and take a few pictures! Luckily, Costa Mesa is one of my favorite places, mainly because of the amazing malls, and this wall wasn't too far off from one of them. On this particular occasion, I decided to wear a color-blocked outfit with a cream sweater with jeweled embellishments and this purple/pink wool mini skirt. I would be lying if I didn't say that the colors of this outfit were specifically picked out to match those of the wall just so that I could have a "dressed to match" moment!

On this particular day when we took the photos, it was sunny and then, out of nowhere, it started to rain! The timing could not have been more perfect because, just as we finished up the last photo, the downpour started. Had we arrived just a little bit later, it would have been a total bust! While I love the rain, it's obviously not great for pictures, so I'm glad that we were able to get the photo shoot in before becoming totally drenched. On a positive note, hopefully these late winter showers will result in some beautiful blooms come spring time, which is just around the corner. For now, I am content with admiring the blooms on this stunning mural!

Sweater: J. Crew here
Skirt: J. Crew here
Shoes: J. Crew Factory similar mint pumps
Bag: Prada  similar orange tote

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Crazy for Color Blocking!

Lately, I have been having fun with color blocking and trying out bold new color combinations. While I love a beautiful pattern, sometimes it's fun just to wear solids but in a bold and playful way! With this outfit, I'm trying my hand at a mint and pink combination because who doesn't like those two colors paired together? Recently, I had been looking for the perfect mint sweater and, luckily, I recently came across this cozy mint turtleneck sweater from J. Crew. One of my favorite things about the sweater is that it's very, very soft in addition to being a beautiful shade of mint!

So, while this outfit is mostly about the presence of bold colors and the absence of patterns, I would be remiss not to point out that there's a little bit of pattern with these leopard print bow flats. You might recall that I have these same exact shoes in pink and that I also wear them all the time. Whenever I get that much use out of an item of clothing or shoes, I'm prone to buying it again in other colors, which is exactly what I did with these shoes! These shoes are so comfy and chic and I have a feeling that I'll be getting just as much use out of them as the pink ones!

Sweater: J. Crew here
Skirt: Target similar pink pleated skirt here, here
Shoes: J. Crew here
Bag: J. Crew similar lavender bag here

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Starting the Week Off Strong

Although I hate Mondays, I try to be optimistic in all respects regarding the start of a new week. This includes my attitude towards not only work but also about my wardrobe. On Sundays, if I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I'll plan a few outfits for the week and set them aside to wear but as we all know, the best laid plans often go awry! The outfit in today's post is one that I wore a couple Mondays ago and I was happy that I was starting the week off on a stylish foot. Then I started to get a tickle in my throat and I woke up on Tuesday morning with a cold! Well, that meant toning it down a notch in the wardrobe department and wearing clothes that prioritized comfort over style.

Now that I'm finally over my cold and feeling better, I'm making it a goal to get back to being my normal stylish self again. I'm also making it a goal to take advantage of some of the gorgeous pieces that are already in my wardrobe instead of just wearing my new, recently purchased pieces. Sadly, because of blogging, I often prioritize new purchases over old pieces so that I can feature them on my blog or Instagram account but I would like to find a way to feature some of my older pieces too! Take, for example, this gorgeous skirt. It isn't exactly old (less than a year) but I haven't worn it since it came out last summer. It was fun to style the skirt a little differently and now I'm motivated to start this week off with some other pieces that I haven't worn in a while!

Skirt: J. Crew similar style here
Top: J. Crew similar here
Shoes: J.Crew
Sunglasses: Alice + Olivia here

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Building an Outfit Around the Shoes

Last weekend, I picked up these Drake for J. Crew shoes for a steal. The shoes were normally priced around $300 but I paid just $45! I was so excited about them that I had to immediately build an outfit around them! I decided to go with some color blocking to make sure that the shoes were the star of the show, so I reached way back in my closet and found this pleated skirt I purchased about six years ago in addition to this bright green sweater. The coat, which I picked up last year from Banana Republic, was an afterthought that just happened to perfectly match what I was planning to wear. Luckily, a cold spell has hit the Los Angeles area so we finally have weather that's cool enough for wearing a coat! Actually, now that I think about it, perhaps the coat is actually stealing the shoes' thunder!

I wore this outfit to go to a fun murder mystery dinner. My husband and I like to go to these because the acting is always campy and over the top and the plot rarely makes sense but it's definitely a good time! My favorite part of the murder mystery dinner is when I get to write down my answer to "who done it" near the end before the detective announces what happened. I always try to come up with a funny, creative answer and I've actually won prizes (usually a bottle of wine) for doing so in the past. Sadly, this time my answer was just not judged to be funny enough and someone else walked off with the prize. I think if there had been a prize for best and certainly most colorful outfit, however, I definitely would have won that!

Coat: Banana Republic similar pink coat here
Skirt: H&M similar pleated skirt
Sweater: J. Crew Factory
Belt: Target similar here
Earrings: Bauble Bar on sale here
Shoes: J. Crew "Lucie" pump here
Bag: J. Crew Factor
Sunglasses: Celine

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Eye of the Tiger

Lately I've been posting a lot of J. Crew, so it's always nice to switch it up a little bit and feature some things from other brands that I love. For example, the tiger blouse I'm wearing here is from LOFT and I apologize that even though I bought it just last week, it looks like it's currently sold out on their website. I thought I was ahead of the ball by posting about it less than a week after buying it, but I guess not! Well, LOFT is pretty spot on this fall in terms of prints, so you can find some equally lovely options like this tee and this blouse in the same cut.

These Harper pants from Old Navy will be getting a lot of use this fall. I love the fit of this particular style, and they are, in my opinion, just the perfect shade of pink. I tried sort of a "color block" approach to this particular ensemble with the bold swaths of pink, yellow, and blue tied together with just a pop of orange in the belt. Speaking of pops of color, now would be a good time to mention that these pink tassel earrings were only $2 from Walmart! Yes, Walmart! I bought 5 pairs of earrings from Walmart for $10, all of which look as if they could have come straight from Baublebar and would have cost a lot more. Here are some similar options below, but I would also check out your local Walmart's jewelry selection!

Last of all, in case you are wondering where these pictures were taken, the location is the iconic Disney Hall. It's that big silver building designed by Frank Gehry and located in Downtown Los Angeles. My husband and I saw a ballet called The Red Shoes at the music center, which is just down the street from Disney Hall. It was a fantastic production that was visually stunning, although a bit confusing if you've never seen the movie! As you can see, anything that's eye candy, be it clothing, architecture or ballet, always make a big impression on me!

Shirt: LOFT here, and similar style and print here
Pants: Old Navy Harper here
Shoes: Christian Louboutin simple pumps
Clutch: J. Crew Factory similar yellow clutch
Earrings: Walmart
Sunglasses: Stella McCartney here