Maxi dresses – oh how I love you! You are like one big blanket that wraps around and never has to be adjusted for bending or sitting. You give this party of two enough room to keep everyone involved happy. The best part, you don’t give me extra bulge in unwanted places like those evil, dare I say,”maternity” pants do. Any and all maxi dresses are welcome in this house (at least for the next 8 weeks).
xoxo
Having never been to Bodega Bay, I was excited to see this coastal town. Just about a hour north of San Francisco lies a very sleepy community filled with farms, fishing, and not much else. While the weekend was booked with wedding activities, we did manage to fit in a walk to the ocean, which was made all the more pleasant by the beautiful weather and empty beach.
xoxo
I present to you the 3rd Annual Thanksgiving photoshoot! More pictures to come – but yes, this really happened and am dying laughing as I am posting this because we had one heck of a time and once again, could not control the laughter! I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend and now I’m off to start decking these halls with some much needed Christmas decor!
xoxo
Skirt: Ruche; Tank: JCrew; Belt: JCrew;
This Venezia Memento Polka Dot skirt from Shop Ruche has quickly become one of my favorites as it encompasses so many girly traits all into one skirt. While I do not see it on their website anymore, they have many other fun polka dot pieces to pick from. Long live summer!
xoxo
Looks like fall has finally arrived in LA which means it’s finally ok to put this lovely little number in the rotation! I picked up this vest at the Melrose Flea Market a few weeks ago and have been anxiously waiting for the cooler weather to hit so I can wear it sans the weird looks! Since, I spent the last three nights being extra cuddly trying to keep warm, I think it’s safe to say that it’s almost winter and time to wear this vest to keep me from fur-eezing! Ohhh yeah, I just said that — Muawahhh!
xoxo
Dress: H&M; Belt: JCrew; Shoes: Steve Madden
This has been my new favorite dress this fall as the long sleeves offer the perfect transition into the cooler nights. I can dress it up with heels or pair it with flats for a more casual look. Props to Ryan for taking these 100% film pictures! I tell you, film is scary because you don’t have to assurance of seeing what you actually captured, but oh is it fun! All shots were taken with our Nikon 85mm f1.4 which I highly recommend!
xoxo
Jacket: L’Agence; Pants: JBrand; Shoes: Steven by Steve Madden; Sunglasses: Spy; Shirt: H&M; Earrings: F21; Necklace: Roberto Coin, Hinu
Alright, alright outfit posts…not sure they are for me, as I do not have the closet of Cynthia Smith (seriously I would love to just have one of her items, namely those Prada shoes) or the style of Blair Eadie but rather just a girl who has to get dressed everyday and decide what to wear like everyone else! This past Saturday night, the Hubs and I decided to head out to dinner at the Viceroy in Santa Monica and I took the opportunity to wear one of my all time favorite pieces, a L’agence leather jacket paired with my new favorite Jbrand velvet ankle pants.
Whist at Viceroy has such lust worthy decor and I wanted to take a gazllion pictures, but instead we just enjoyed the unseasonably warm October evening drinking pear martinis and beer and savoring a delicious romantic dinner outside on the patio.
xoxo
Tank: Alternative Apparel (in turquoise); Shorts: (Old) Abercombie; Scarf: H&M; Shoes: UGGS
When planning what to wear on this trip, I scoured the web for hiking clothes that were functional, yet I would actually want to wear again. My search came up came up short. Everything looked liked workout clothes and was still more expensive than buying a regular shirt that I would actually wear again. I knew the changing temperature swings (20 degree mornings, with 70 degree afternoons) would require me to wear several layers, so I opted for my trusty jean shorts, this Alternative Apparel burn out tank and Uggs. I was able to easily layer jackets or sweatshirts over the tank and the Uggs were switched out for running shoes once the day heated up.
Hat: H&M, Shirt: Alternative Apparel, Shorts: H&M; Shoes: Sebago; Sunglasses: Marc by Marc Jacobs
After spending hours upon hours traveling in a car I developed a few clothing musts: sunglasses, scarf, and hat, oh yeah, slip on shoes too! They help facilitate a quick exit during those quick must stop now bathroom breaks that seemed to happen just about every hour!
BLUSH PINK, oh how you speak to me like no other color. You are happy. You are just the most perfect color in the whole wide world. You make me giddy, smiley, and want to paint a whole room in your beautiful tones. You make my heart pitter-patter…just a bit. No doubt, you were my first choice for bridesmaid’s dresses because you are perfect in every way. Show me a pair of pants in this beautiful color and those babies are coming home with me! Make them high-waisted and I might have to buy two of you!
Mix it with this yummy YSL lipstick and you might just have to peel these suckers off of me because I-don’t-wanna-take-them-off! Pink pants you will sit nicely hung in my closet, until we meet again.
xoxo
How do I even begin to top yesterday’s post with over 5,400 views??!!! We had so many viewers it even crashed my account used for photo storage!
THANK YOU to WordPress.com for featuring us on Freshly Pressed and thank you to all of you who decided to stop by for a visit! I hope you enjoy making the brownies as much as I did and I hope you have a new recipe to share with your loved ones!
With that, here is Friday’s picture of the week featuring one very humbled and happy blogger!
xoxo
Recently, a few of us girls were talking about our first experiences once we moved to LA. A few recalled our first time on “the 405” freeway, or the lack of yard space at each house, or what one should wear on the first day of school in California. Jenna, from Oregon, however recalled her first time at the beach when she realized she did not know what to wear!
I thought this was funny, cute, and I kind of understood why she might be confused. The Manhattan Beach style is very interesting: boys wear one size too big board shorts which results in “crackage”, girls mix and match bikini’s like none other, surgically enhanced body parts are not all the rage (despite what Hollywood has us believe about LA), and having an appropriate “walk-to-the-beach-outfit” is just as important as the actual bikini itself.
Some people, ok maybe most, question why we put up with the traffic, the smog, the high cost of living, and it’s for days like this….just sitting around, laughing, chatting, playing in the water with a host of great friends that make it worth it!
Mix & match bikini example shown at its best! I am pretty sure Ashley is one of the queen’s of this trend and pulls it off everytime! I guess that is a result of living at the beach her whole life and needed to keep it fresh! 
xoxo
Two nights ago, I received possibly the best text message ever:
“Hey Shan, Alternative is having a fashion show…want to come?”
Are you kidding me – YES! YES! YES! I want to come! Naturally, my first thought was what do I wear? Second thought was, gosh, I wish I would have washed my hair this morning! With a little less than an hour to get ready I was in a rushed frenzy running around the house suddenly feeling like I was the most unfashionable person on earth! My closet seemed to have morphed into a cheap Ross store in a matter of 5 minutes — even my once cute ballerina tulle skirt became…well, not cute! After an unhealthy mountain of clothes accumulated on the bed, I made it out the door wearing an Opening Ceremony’s dress I bought at the Barney’s sale paired with a L’agence leather jacket and I kept my fingers crossed that all would go well!
As you can see, we had so much fun and while it was just another “work” event for my dear friends Kim and Kathryn I was beyond excited to be invited!
The diverse crowd gathered at the Palihouse in West Hollywood to watch Alternative present their “Season of Change” fall 2011 collection and we….well, we couldn’t resist taking a few pictures against the great stripped background! Thanks Kim and Kathryn for the great night!
** all pictures were taken with a Canon Powershot SD550
__
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving weekend and enjoyed a little to much home cooked food to be comfortable! Here is a quick peek from our 2nd Annual Thanksgiving vacation photoshoot. Stay tuned for more…and yes, that little house fan in the corner magically became a wind machine!
Decorating a house always reminds me of putting together an outfit – you start with a main piece (jeans, skirt, dress, or shirt) that you really want to wear, you add complementary items and finish it off with a few accessories that pull the whole look together. That is it in simple terms. However, the big difference in decorating a house is that home decor is much more permanent. Its like having to wear the same outfit all year-long and you only get to change out a few accessories. So the outfit chosen better be one of your favorites.
So, this leads me to my decorating roadblock. Right now, I am having trouble identifying additional items to complement our main pieces (a cream-colored couch and dark wood media stand) — mostly because these cost the most and can totally ruin the whole look of the room. Thankfully just like in fashion a few great accessories can disguise a terrible choice of pant or skirt.
Since, I have a few main pieces to work from (couch and media stand), I am going to start working on accessorizing those and the last few big-ticket items will have to wait just a bit longer until we find just the right ones at the right price. So, all of this leads me to a little mantel inspiration.
While none of these are exactly something that I want to have in our home, they provide me beautiful inspiration as I proceed through the accessorizing stage.
Although Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl may have stopped wearing headbands last season, this wannabe Gossip Girl just can’t get enough of them! I’m sorry, but everything is cuter with a headband!
While there are so many cute headband’s out there, Ban.do just might have some of my favorites! I love their heart by ban.do line because everything is under $50! Maybe the hubby will surprise me with one of these fabulous head jewelery for my birthday (wink.)
Our Footprints..... 