Palm Trees, Succulents and Cacti...Oh My!

I happened upon this wall of succulents and cacti while going out to lunch with my husband. I can't believe the extent to which these types of plants have become a trend! I have to admit that I have latched on to this trend recently in two ways. The first is regarding certain articles of clothing featuring cacti or succulents and the second was re-landscaping our yard to make it drought tolerant. Due to the process of the latter, I've become quite familiar with various types of desert plants. I think I've actually become a "plant lady" if you can believe it! I sort of enjoy going out and watering them in the evening and checking on their progress or defending them from evil caterpillars that prey on some of the plants!

Obviously, the palm trees from today's post title comes from the ones featured on my linen palm tree skirt. I feel bad that a lot of the things I've been posting on my blog lately, like this skirt, are available in limited sizes or not at all at this point in the year. Usually I wait until things are pretty deeply discounted before I purchase them and then by time I get around to doing a post on them, they're gone! Have no fear, however, as it seems that certain items are popping back up on the J. Crew website from time to time. Also, if you're interested in this skirt, I've linked to some other palm tree skirts that might be of interest.

Skirt: J. Crew linen palm tree skirt here
Top: Zara similar print and style blouse here
Shoes: J. Crew similar silver sandals here
Bag: J. Crew similar here
Earrings: Sugarfix here
Sunglasses: Celine same style here

Easy, Effortless Embroidery

We are in the middle of a major heat wave here in Southern California. It's enough to make a girl not want to go outside, but if you absolutely must, then you better have something cool on! This embroidered dress from J. Crew Factory definitely fits the bill. It's sleeveless, lightweight and has just the perfect amount of color in the embroidered details on the neckline.

I've noticed that lately I've been doing a lot of shopping online, which is convenient given that you don't have to go out in the heat to go shopping! The drawback to this is nailing the fit of certain pieces. You would think that given the amount of shopping I do at J. Crew and their factory outlet I would know my sizes, but there's definitely some fluctuation among the actual sizing among different pieces. For example, the reviews online said that this dress ran really big. I'm usually a little hesitant about just blindly following the online reviews because sometimes they seem off, but this time the suggestions regarding sizing were spot on. Usually I am a size 4 in J. Crew Factory stuff and sometimes a 6 in their dresses, but I took a 2 in this. The advice turned out to be perfect, just like the dress!

Dress: J. Crew Factory embroidered dress here
Shoes: J. Crew similar gold sandals here
Bag: Louis Vuitton  similar here
Sunglasses: Prada
Earrings: Sugarfix/Target here

Linking Up With: Jersey Girl, Texan Heart, Midweek Inspo, Living on Cloud Nine
Thursday Fashion Files, Oh Hey Girl! ,Spotlight Weekly 

Tropical Rainbows

I thought that after one visit to the famous pink Paul Smith wall I would never have to return but they gave it a rainbow makeover for the month of June, so naturally I had to go back to check it out. If you read my post last year entitled Tickled Pink, you will know that I have a love/hate relationship with this particular wall. I'll discuss more on that later, but first I want to talk about this amazing bell sleeve tropical print dress from SheIn. Simply put, I love this dress! The fit is amazing and the print is perfect for summer or for feeling glamorous while standing in front of a rainbow wall!

I definitely thought that such a special dress deserved a special wall! As I stated above, I went to this Paul Smith wall last year so that I could check it off my Los Angeles "things to do and see" list. When we went last year, we discovered that not only is the wall mobbed with people looking for the perfect Instagram shot, but also that the wall literally has a list of rules that are posted outside for all bloggers, Instagrammers and other social media types to follow.

Well, this year, presumably because of the rainbow paint job, they upped the ante in terms of wall etiquette, usage, and security. We arrived early to the wall's location in West Hollywood, before the store even opened, and we were greeted by not one but two security guards, you guessed it, guarding the wall! The security guards would not let us use a DSLR camera (Miss, don't heckle the wall with your fancy photo gear, please!), so these photos were all taken on an iPhone. This is my first time using iPhone photos on my blog and I will have to say they're not too bad. Unfortunately, now my husband thinks I should just take all my photos with my phone!

If you want to have your own adventure in West Hollywood checking out the rainbow splendor of this wall, you'd better go soon, as I think this paint job will only be up for a couple more weeks! It's definitely a great spot to snag that perfect photo! Speaking of which, SheIn is having a summer photo contest! The theme of the contest is fruit v. tropical prints. Basically, you decide what team you're on, follow a few simple rules that can be found here, and then share your photos on social media. Obviously, I am on team tropical print (hence the palm fronds on my dress) and hopefully my trek to this colorful wall will snag me one of the prizes!

Dress: c/o Shein here

Bag: Gucci similar style here

Shoes: J. Crew similar here, here

Sunglasses: Celine here

Earrings: Sugarfix/Target here

Linking Up With: How I Summer, Hello Monday, Shoe and Tell ,I Will Wear What I Like

Trend Spin , On Trend Tuesdays, Style Sessions, Turning Heads ,Spotlight Weekly

Gridlocked

This is totally unrelated to my outfit, but indulge me for a second while I rant about the traffic in Los Angeles. It is awful! It has always been bad, but each year the gridlock on the freeways gets worse and worse. As you can see, I am really sick of it, which is why I am desperately looking forward to my spring break coming up because that means I won't have to sit in traffic for two hours everyday going to and from work. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can proceed to my outfit, which features a grid print, thus also tying in with the title of this post. This grid print pencil skirt from Banana Republic not only features a fun graphic print, but it's got a lot of stretch to it, so it would make for something comfortable to wear while sitting in said traffic for two hours!

I love the color combination of green and pink! (Maybe because it reminds me of a watermelon?) I decided to utilize this color scheme to make the black and white print of the skirt really "pop". Originally, I was thinking of wearing bright pink shoes, but instead I opted for a pair of pink earrings. These pink tassel earrings have become a favorite of mine over the last month, plus they are also very light and comfortable just like the skirt!

Skirt: Banana Republic gingham midi pencil skirt
Tee: Target similar here
Bag: Fendi wallet on a chain here, blue version, pink version, red version
Shoes: Christian Louboutin "Simple" pump here
Sunglasses: Celine similar white sunglasses here
Earrings: Sugarfix from Target here

Linking Up With: Hello Monday, How I Spring, Shoe and Tell
Trend Spin, Turning Heads