Seeing Red Stripes

 Today's inspiration comes from once again the lovely Bee from Atlantic Pacific!

 I immediately remembered by red striped top when I saw this. And paired it with similar khaki shorts. My hat is more tan color vs her cream one but I think it works still. I don't know have those types of shoes but my oxfords achieved the same effect.

 The cognac brown belt anchors the outfit...

 

My arm party is a bit different than hers. One hand I wore my white MK watch and the other I stacked up all the mini beaded evil eye bracelets I have and they looked great. The issue is clasping each one takes forever!

 The solaris purse I bought from Thread Show last year. It has a light inside that comes on in the dark!

 Wore a side bow ankle socks that blended with the shoes!

Cropped some of the face shots from the poses. I do like close-ups with sunglasses and hat!

Top & Hat & Oxfords - Forever 21

Shorts - J Crew

Belt - Limited

Bracelets & socks - from Turkey

Watch - Michael Kors

Today's Activities: My son is suffering big time from his shots. Most likely from the flu mist the most. He woke up burning up in the middle of the night and again in the morning. We did get his haircut but skipped his dance class. My in-laws and husband took my daughter to her dance class then we all met for lunch. Both kids napped nicely and everyone had separate plans for the afternoon. My husband when to watch women's tennis tournament with my Dad and other relative. My parents picked up my daugther to take her to Seaport Village. I met up with my sister to see the movie 'Horrible Bosses'. It was hilarious! And lastly my in-laws had plans to take my son to Sea World for the night shows. Unfortunatley though he woke up burning up again and apparently insisted he stays in his PJs and not go anywhere. So that was the scenario when I got home with the hopes of settling on the couch with my laptop in an empty house. Oh well. Had a pizza dinner and put the kids down early.

Dressing up a Tee & Location Influences

Finally wearing this outfit after saving it as 'favorite' from this Chictopia post back in last fall!

This outfit reminded me of this Ed Hardy tee I bought in Turkey and have hardly worn it cause it is too tight and crop. I could have worn a black full mini skirt but thought it would be more interesting with the black pencil skirt.

 Added the nautical belt for some interest and define my waist.

The sneaker wedges I love...best purchase from Turkey last summer.

 Tee & Shoes - From Turkey

Skirt - Forever 21

Belt - Mango (from Turkey)

Today's Activities: Heated up the pool this morning and had my dad over to swim with the kids. My in-laws are visiting from LA and they arrived around lunch time. Left my napping daughter with them and took my son to his big 4 year check-up appt. He got *all* his shots for school. 5 in total! I felt so sorry for the little guy. I was going to dvide them in half and do some next year but the Dr said they become paranoid and better to get it all done at once. I trust and love our pediatrician who is a father of 3 boys so went with his advice. Consoled the little man with 2 lollipops a pop cake from Starbucks and some yogurt covered star cookies she picked from Trader Joe's! We played with grammie and grandpa at home and had dinner together.

 Today's Fashion Beauty Friend Friday 

hosted by Katy from Modly Chic is about 

location influences...

1. What part of the world do you blog from? 
I blog from southern California, United States (San Diego to be exact). When I travel though I usually keep up with blogging. Last year I was in my home country Turkey for 4.5 months and blogged from there.


2. If you had to describe the overall mode of dress for where you live what would you say?
SD is very laid back. For the younger crowd it would be cut off shorts, flip flops and tank tops. For the mommy crowd it is yoga pants (full length or capri) sneakers or flip flops or uggs and hoodies.
The men of all ages seem to be in long shorts, tee's and flip flops and baseball caps.
This is a city you can go anywhere in shorts and flip flops and the service will be the same. Cause here you can never tell of someone's financial status by the way they dress. 
My mom worked in retail in designer dept a while back and she said they were trained to service anyone with the same attitude cause the ones that were poorly dressed would end up buying clothes in thousands of dollars and paying cash. You never know.

3. Do you fit in with the status quo around you or do you break the mold?
I was in this mold hence my reason for starting my blog and due to the blog I have been able to break out.  I am usually the most dressed up person or the one in funkiest outfits wherever I go.
People that know me come to expect and accept this. People who have just met me usually make a comment and this is when I take out and hand my blog card! :)
 
4. If you have lived or traveled to another part of the country/world did your clothing choices evolve?
Yes, a little. Especially when I travel to Turkey. The style is a bit more European there and I always get inspired by some new trends I see there. Plus that is a place you can dress up in cocktail clothes during the day for a tea party and look totally OK.
 

5. If you had to describe your style by naming a specific city, what would you be?
I have no idea. Probably more cosmopolitan than my city but still with a CA influence so I would say possibly Los Angeles.

 To see how others are influenced by location click HERE!

Jewel of the Missions

 Had one heck of a day today! 3 of us decided to create this elaborate field trip to take the kids on the coastline Amtrak train to a very cute historic town north of us. Knowing it was going to be a nice and warm day I chose to wear this bustier top I scored from TJ Maxx couple months ago.

 Finally an outfit post with some cool backgrounds today!

This one is at the train station!

 I ditched the hat after those initial photos. I tried to keep it on but the flaps kept cutting my peripheral vision and it was annoying. Anyone know of a trick to avoid that with floppy hats like these?

Thought the blue and white top would really pop over yellow. My husband did not think so but you know...

I had to ask my friend to bring a tank top for me though cause this top is somewhat short and the shorts are low riders and the combo paired with running after kids did not work and I realized that just sitting in the car driving. So put on the tank top she brought in the train and it was pure comfort!

And this is just a proof of why I almost always do my photo shoots at home! Thought this came out cute though! My son of course fell moments after this shot and scraped his leg! 

These photos are taken at the historic mission in the town. Such a beautiful place!

Hey you can see my blue eyeshadow!

Bustier Top - Jessica Simpson

Shorts - Target

Sandals - Boutique 9

Hat - Forever 21

Bracelets - from Turkey

Today's Activities: As I mentioned we did a big trip today. Left the house before 8 and drove north to meet my friends at the (Salona Beach) train station. My husband had bought us a dozen bagels and cream cheese so we ate breakfast in the train. The kids loved being in the train and mostly not being strapped.
The town we visited is called San Juan Capistrano. It is just the cutest little town with a historic district. We first visited the big Mission there. Kids loved the koi ponds the big ruins and bells and flowers covered with caterpillars and butterflies. After the mission we went to the huge petting zoo they have there. Had them feed many animals ride big ponies and horses and a train. Then it was onto a nice patio lunch at the cutest little cafe by the station. It was exhausting but also lots of fun. I really enjoyed touring the Mission.
Hope you enjoy the photos...

The gang in the train:

~ San Juan Capistrano Mission (website) ~

My kids are the ones in sunglasses...

 

I loved these bells!

 Kids chasing the flowers that were blowing in the wind in circles!

You can get a feel of the grandness of the place when you see it with the tiny kids!

More Bells!

Here are all 6 kids in the same photo!

Another group photos right before we left this beautiful place!

~ At the Petting Zoo ~

After lunch treat!

And the brave mommies who made it all happen. Funny how when you take the kids out of the photo you realize how outnumbered we were!

Of course do not be fooled by the happy poses of these photos. It was a lot of fun but it was not without meltdowns and tantrums and fights and timeouts. That is just life with kids though. At the end you only remember the fun part!