USA: The sights (West Coast)

Manhattan Beach in LA - liked this better than the more iconic Venice Beach and Santa Monica, due to the cute boutiques, better food options and incredible beach-side mansions. Although I did love cruising along Santa Monica in the convertible happily singing Everclear and seeing the familiar views from so many movies. But, in my opinion, Manhattan Beach had the best shopping in LA and a great, relaxed vibe.

The drive along Highway 1 was amazing, with breathtaking views

Santa Barbara was one of my favourite spots; this is the old Mission, which everything in the town is designed to match. A lovely shopping strip and great food complete the experience.

Would definitely recommend El Paseo, a quaint Mexican restaurant - go on 'Margarita Monday' - this is not advertised and we were surprised to see how cheap the delicious cocktails were!

Elephant seals and squirrels were both in abundance at Piedras Blancas along Highway 1. Skip past Hearst Castle and stop here instead.

The specialty of the northern California coast.

Yosemite National Park - go for 2-3 days for sensational views at every turn.

The fog rolls in over the Golden Gate bridge.

Love the San Fransisco architecture.

The view from the window of our Mustang convertible.
I loved the variety in the Californian landscapes.

I really enjoyed California, it's so relaxed and the people are really friendly. It's pretty tough to be back at work, but it's nice to look back on the photos and imagine that I'm still there.
What an adventure!

Bringing summer back

Bon voyage! Only 2 days until I leave for the USA! I'm looking forward to dressing for summer again. Fingers crossed the shopping is good - I'd love to come back with this bag and these shoes. I've been so good resisting all of the sales in preparation for the trip... although I did have a minor slip up and purchased the dress version of this Lover blouse. At 50% off for a dress I'd been eying off for months... I just couldn't pass it by.

Packing USA

Samsonite suitcase; J Brand cargoes; Mimco loafers and sandals; Antipodium skirt; Karen Walker necklace and ring; Cheap Monday shorts; Lover blouse and dress

Started packing for my USA trip - here are some of the pieces in it. My suitcase is a 77cm, 3kg Samsonite B-lite. I'm taking 2x pants, 1x skirt, 2x shorts, 1x dress, 6x tops, 2x shoes that can be mixed and matched... And of course I plan on doing a little shopping. Am I taking too much?

Winter nights

Going out in winter makes me a little grumpy. As much as it's nice to get out and enjoy a nice dinner, some wine and good company... it's so hard to slip out of the ugg boots and into something that is simultaneously classy and warm. Thick layers look too casual and my pretty summer dresses look silly worn with a coat and tights. I wish I had these items in my wardrobe:

Arnsdorf jacket and Karla Spetic blouse from The Dreamery; After the Apple bag; Lover velvet pants from net-a-porter; Beau Coops shoes from Runwaygirl.

I ended up settling on the following outfit. A bit more plain and ladylike than my usual style, but nice enough I guess.

Lover blouse and cropped trousers

Karen Walker caterpillar necklace

Tony Bianco studded nude heels

P.S. I'm lucky I at least live in Queensland and this outfit was plenty warm.

P.P.S. I have noticed that pretty much all of my most-wanted items are Australian/ New Zealand designed. Hope the US shopping is still worth holding off on these.

Resisting temptation

Remember this outfit that I wish I was wearing? Well, the shoes and bag both went on sale at Shopbop. BUT I resisted because my US trip is just around the corner (only 2 pays away!). Surely I could find them cheaper in the US anyway? Ahh, somehow it's easier to justify purchases when you're on holiday (it's a souvenier). Any recs for must see places in NY, LA or San Fran? Especially places to shop or eat?

Meanwhile, I am trying to make do with my current winter wardrobe. Here's some weekend outfits:

Featured: Sretsis dresses, Mimco button loafers, Lover coat, black tights, Country Road sweater

Featuresd:

Pretty new things

It's getting a bit cold now in the evenings for me to play around with my new purchases (so sorry, no outfit posts). The QLD weather is still quite lovely when the sun is out though, so they should hopefully still get some Autumn/ Winter outings and work well into Spring too.

My $100 per week on clothes is going... ok... I think it almost evens out due to weeks when I haven't bought anything. BUT I'm finding it very tempting to shop at the moment - change of season and feeling like I have nothing to wear for winter + the sales starting... Does anyone else have this problem?

Anyway, here's a few new things I've bought (I know, I know, really not solving my nothing to wear for winter problem!)

Sretsis blouse - there are so many cute things to find in this print!

Karen Walker belt - classic yet cute

Forever New pants - the colour looks a bit funny against the wood floors, but I love these!

Sretsis dress - I don't think the photos capture just how gorgeous this lace fabric is

I got this Sretsis dress too (pre-order) but unfortunately it's too long for me. It's such a shame because the colour is gorgeous and it's so floaty and lovely... up on ebay it goes :(

Clueless

Like most teenage girls of the 90s, one of my early fashion influences was the movie Clueless. I'm sure many of you can identify; first came Stacey and Claudia... then Cher. Seeing as all things 90s seem to have made a comeback (desert boots, maxi skirts, floral dresses, leggings, oversize knit sweaters), I've been wanting to explore a modernised Cher-style. Layered cropped knits over button-up shirts will be perfect for Autumn. I think I'll skip the school-girl skirts though...

Today I came across this outfit from Late Afternoon, which is exactly the type of modern re-imagining that I had in mind:
Here are some outfits that I have in mind... If only I actually had these items in my wardrobe!

Blouse: T by Alexander Wang from net-a-porter; Sunglasses: Karen Walker
from Gargyle; Jumper: Sophomore from My Chameleon; Pants: Arnsdorf
from My Chameleon; Bag: Proenza Schouler from net-a-porter; Shoes: Jil
Sander from net-a-porter

Modern Clueless 2 by Bonsai23

Blouse and sweater: Arnsdorf from My Chameleon; Shorts: Emma Cook
from net-a-porter; Bag and shoes: Alexander Wang from net-a-porter