Sit Back and Relax!

There are a couple things I've been enjoying lately. The first would be Dine L.A. week, which is a great event we have here in Los Angeles twice a year where you can try prix fixe tasting menus from a variety of restaurants throughout the region for, usually, a reduced price. I've definitely been enjoying trying new restaurants, in addition to revisiting old favorites, and basically eating my way through L.A.! One restaurant we visited was The Royce at the Langham in Pasadena. It's always a treat to try the chef's tasting menu at this particular spot. Plus, my husband and I were married here, so the hotel itself always brings back nice memories.

The second thing I've been enjoying lately is shopping some of the fantastic end of the season sales that retailers have been having lately. Mostly, I have been sitting back and enjoying shopping these sales from the comfort of home by doing online shopping.  In fact, a couple of the items that I am wearing in this post, such as these adorable velvet boots and my trench coat, are the result of these online sales.

I have been on the look out for the perfect trench coat for quite a long time. This one turned out to be not only on sale at a great price but also is the perfect length and has a detachable hood for when it's raining. I also like that it looks very classic, although I dressed it up with an unexpected sequin skirt just to be a little different.  While I felt that I, more or less, needed the trench coat (my husband would disagree!), I probably didn't need these velvet bow boots but they were just too cute to pass up! (One of the downfalls of sales and shopping online is finding things you really don't need!) On the bright side, if I gain too much weight from eating out thanks to Dine L.A., at least the boots will always fit!

Coat: Nordstrom here
Shirt: Old Navy here
Skirt: J. Crew similar sequin skirt here
Boots: Madewell here
Bag: Clare V. here

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Romantic and Colorful

When I first laid eyes on this Waverly Garden skirt from Anthropologie, it was love at first sight! What's not to love? It's essentially a classic, romantic style skirt with bright, colorful embroidered flowers. This means that both the part of me that loves classic styles and also the part of me that loves bright colors will be satisfied!

The other thing that attracted me to this skirt is that it's from Eva Franco. I have a few skirts and dresses from this designer and I love them all! The designs are outstanding and they are made here in the United States, which is something I like to support if I can. Plus, I use it as a selling point with my husband when I spend too much on clothing. For example, my husband might say, "You spent how much for that skirt?!" to which I will reply, "well, it was $200, but it is made here." Actually I usually round down on prices too, so, for example, this skirt was actually about $170, so naturally I will round it down to $100 when I tell my husband!

In the photo below, you will see the location of this particular photo shoot, which just happens to be at the Huntington Hotel, now the Langham Hotel in Pasadena. My husband and I went to a bourbon dinner here at the Royce Restaurant. Basically, I will just magically show up anywhere that bourbon is being served, especially if it's being served alongside excellent food, which was the case with this event. Overall, it turned out to be a wonderful evening with delicious food, great bourbon cocktails, and neat bourbon tastings, and since this is the location where my husband and I were married years ago, it was also quite romantic!

Skirt: Anthropolgie / Eva Franco here
Tee: Target
Jacket: H&M similar denim jacket here, and here
Shoes: Christian Louboutin here, budget version here
Bag: J. Crew similar here
Earrings: Anthropologie similar here
Sunglasses: Prada