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LA Day Trip with OOTD

July 22, 2015

It’s so awesome that from where I live, I can be in Big Bear, Palm Springs, Temecula, Santa Monica, or Los Angeles in about an hour. It allows for so many opportunities for day trips, exploring new parts of each city and tasting what they all have to offer.
For our last trip, Mark and I drove to LA to visit my friend Bonnie in North Hollywood, a little window-shopping in Beverly Hills, and then dinner and drinks at The Sayers Club.
My first outfit:
Palm tank – H&M
Rust skirt – H&M
Crisscross sandals – Forever 21
Crossbody leather bag – Botkier (rented)
Multicolor chain necklace – LA find
Long gold necklace – J.Crew – similar
Phone case – Kate Spade

Our first stop was to visit my great friend, Bonnie, at Republic of Pie. She introduced to us to the amazingly decadent Triple Threat Pie Cake. This season, they’re baking up pumpkin, blackberry and apple. I. Die.

Thankfully, this was our first food of the day, so we actually were hungry by the time we reached our next destination, Esterel, in the Sofitel Hotel.

From the top.. Our table setting with assorted breads and parmesan crisps
Grass-fed skirt steak with veggies and corn puree
Yogurt-basil mousse with assorted strawberry preparations
Chocolate tart with raspberries

Food = mostly delicious. I did get some attitude from the staff after sending back my steak for tasting like charcoal and burny bits off the grill, but my new steak tasted much better, and then ending on that fantastically sweet note of the two desserts, I was pretty happy with our meal.

A quick outfit change into this Erin Fetherston (rented) dress and azure kitten heels from Torrid, and I was ready for some purely speculative shopping at the Beverly Center.

One more outfit change (too many this trip haha!), in to black skinny jeans, black wedge booties and this sequined BB Dakota tank, and we were on our way to The Sayers Club. I didn’t really know what to expect after checking out their website… Club? Restaurant? Bar? Lounge? And even after going, I’m a bit unclear, but it would be easiest to say that it’s a perfect mix of all of the above. You dine in the bar area, which also houses the kitchen, complete with a wood-fired oven. We chose the mushroom flatbread and ahi stack, along with a couple of mixed drinks, all of which were super tasty. Beyond this section, past the velvet rope, is a loungey club area with reeeeeally loud thumping music and singles looking to mingle – not exactly our scene ? After checking that out, we headed back home.

Another great weekend trip with my love.
Where do you like to go for a day trip?
😀

Palm Springs Weekend

July 20, 2015

I always like to plan something extra special for my boyfriend’s birthday, and this year something told me to pick Palm Springs! Some may think me crazy, Palm Springs in July, and yes it was hot, but entirely bearable! I wanted to pack a lot in to our two days out there and Mark had a great time, which all I can hope for 🙂

We started the morning off with breakfast at Serrano inside Casino Morongo. I ordered my standard of eggs benedict and it, and the service, were both outstanding.

I basically had to break several traffic laws to make it to the Living Desert to make it in time for the giraffe feeding. I knew it was something we absolutely had to do while out there. We both love animals and are all about the hands-on experiences.

After the zoo, we freshened up a bit and headed to Chi Chi’s at the newly renovated Avalon Hotel, formerly the Viceroy. I was super excited to try out this menu, after looking it over online. We were not disappointed and I would certainly return for the tasty bites and the California-casual chic vibes.

See what I mean? Gorgeous and relaxed. I could spend all day here, lounging around this room, around the pool, etc.

We checked in to our hotel, enjoyed a couples massage, went back to the room to shower and get ready for a lovely dinner at Trio in downtown Palm Springs. We shared a bottle of wine, a couple of entrees and dessert. After all of that indulging, we felt like walking around for a while, and we were in luck, because it was market night! We stopped in to one of my favorite Palm Springs haunts, Las Casuelas, for a round of drinks (for him a classic marg, for me, a Paloma.

I’m sad I didn’t get a better shot of this show-stopper, from designer Gabriela Cadena. It was a tiny but snug up top and around the waist, but the fabric on the bottom was so incredibly gorgeous, I got loads of compliments on it.
Gown – Gabriela Cadena – rented
Bag – vintage
Heels – Gucci

The next morning, we craved nothing more than to sip on a bloody Mary poolside while catching up on some reading.
Sarong – Mara Hoffman from the Box of Style

After that, we packed up, checked out, walked around downtown for a while then sat down for a late lunch at Lulus, another of my must-go-to’s in Palm Springs. Then began the shortish drive back home, but not without a stop at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets, known to locals as Cabazon, where I picked up a few gems at the J.Crew outlet.

Leather envelope bag
Iridescent stone necklace
Jewelry dish
Cuff
Chevron bracelet

I was hoping to find some new skinny jeans for summer, but no such luck.
We were wiped after shopping for a few hours, so we happily headed home where our puppies were waiting for us and we went to sleep at 8:00. Party animals haha.

Simply Stylist – Social Media

July 19, 2015

This post should have been completed long ago, my apologies for not getting it up sooner! I’ve been really enjoying the events being put on by Simply Stylist, ever since attending their Fashion & Beauty Conference earlier this year. Recently I attended the monthly session focusing on social media, hosted by the extremely personable, entertaining and knowledgeable Ashley Torres of Pursuit of Shoes. She touched on every major social channel and how to make the most of each, and got in depth on photo editing. I learned so much and have been implementing these tools every day since! After the session, the boyfriend and I headed to lunch at The Little Next Door, a cute little French place not too far from the Grove, then for shopping at the Santa Monica promenade, and finally, to the Grand Tasting at the Santa Monica Pier.

With our extraordinary guest speaker, Ashley Torres from Pursuit of Shoes.

Dress – Rachel Roy (rented)
Floral bomber – Forever 21
Heels – Matisse Footwear
Clutch – Ela Handbags
Midi rings – Forever 21
Square ring – similar
Pyramid bracelet – Banana Republic – similar
Wire-wrapped bracelet – The Crowned Crane – similar
Cage bracelet – Nectar Clothing – similar
Dragonfly necklace – Kyle Chan Design– similar
Stone necklace – Kyle Chan Design – similar

Near the end of her presentation, Ashley announced that we would be practicing the fine art of the #flatlay. I grabbed a couple of items from TopShop and arranged them with some of the things that I brought with me, to the keep the color palette simple. I didn’t win the contest for “best flatlay” but I was pretty happy with the outcome.

After the session, I met up with Mark and we headed over to The Little Next Door, a casual brasserie located on West Third. I can’t say many good things about the service, which at times ranged from lazy to just plain rude and insulting, HOWEVER, the food was incredible. I would go back for the food alone and just ask for a different server 😉

Ahi tartare with pita slices.

Fresh, crusty bread with olive oil & balsamic, and a cup of carrot ginger soup. Yum.

We had some time to kill after perusing the vendors on the Santa Monica Promenade, so we stopped in to the Ristorante al mar for a couple of cocktails. Not a bad view, right?

After a quick outfit change, I was all ready for the Grand Tasting. Not my favorite dress that I’ve rented from Rent the Runway, but it was perfect for the warmer temperature.
Dress – Badgley Mischka (rented)
White sandals – Steve Madden
Tassel necklace – LA find

After the tasting, we still weren’t feeling satiated, so I hopped on my handy Yelp app and scouted out an awesome spot called Bacaro LA. It was the sweets that we were after, but will absolutely be back to explore the rest of their menu.

Presenting the brown butter cookie dough and homemade bread pudding. OMG yes.

Overall, it was a fantastic day with my love. Improving my craft, enjoying some fantastic food, and taking in the sights with my favorite person.
😀

Walt Disney Concert Hall OOTN

May 11, 2015

While trying to decide what we wanted to do for Cinco de Mayo, it flashed in my head that we’d already purchased tickets for Brahms with Bronfman at the Walt Disney Concert Hall! I wanted to keep the evening somewhat festive for Cinco, and found the most amazing restaurant, Pez Cantina, right down the street. They had tons of specials for the occasion, great service, and incredible food. Mark was kind enough to grab a few shots of my outfit and our surroundings throughout the evening. Such a good night 😀

Dress – Erin Fetherston – Rent the Runway
Crocodile bag – vintage
Initial bracelet – LA find
Sunnies – Amazon
Sandals – Matisse

We were pretty obsessed with the food at Pez Cantina. We took advantage of their special menu, ordering the ceviche tostada, beer-battered fish tacos, chorizo queso fundito with made-in-house corn tortillas, shrimp and avocado taquitos and al pastor tacos.

Inside and outside the gorgeous Frank Gehry-designed building. We walked around the seemingly endless walkways and staircases and found some gorgeous views of the city.
Perfect night! 😀

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