Ladylike Luxe

 Tonight's outfit after a busy day of camp pick-up, beach and swim….

The inspiration was from this Chictopia post:

Love this spring colored combo… 

I pulled these medium rinse jeans from the bottom of the cabinet as I rarely wear them. The mint lace tank is getting a lot of use this summer which is good cause I hardly wore it last year when I bought it.

And this pastel necklace my sister got me has also proven to be very versatile and I always get compliments on it when I wear it.

Got my hair cut short again. I tried the shoulder length and it just felt too ordinary and was taking longer to style. I love the short back as it is a synch to style then I can focus on the front….

 Jacket, Top, Jeans, Necklace - Forever 21

Heels - Steve Madden

Purse - shoedazzle

FRIDAY:
My friend picked up my son again for Jr. Lifeguard camp while my daughter and I went to my hair appointment so she could fix the color and tweak the cut a little. Last appointment 2 weeks ago I surprised her wanting to go lighter and it took a lot longer and she wanted my hair to settle before too much bleach. I do like how she fixed it today…
Afterwards we went direct to the boys camp to watch them do a group swim and then had a family BBQ lunch there.
It was a miracle I found parking and did not miss the event. Summer in  San Diego makes beach parking an absolute nightmare. And after we had to leave our beautiful spot to go down a little more to meet our friends at the beach. Of course that parking took even longer. Endless circling and following people only to find out they are not even leaving.
Finally though we lucked with two guys on skateboards that looked like the least likely candidates who would even have a car ended up leaving at the spot right near us.
We met a whole group of friends at the beach and enjoyed a few hours watching the kids go crazy again riding the waves. I should have been home packing but I really wanted to get one last day of pacific ocean before we left for the Mediterranean…

And after we came home and washed all the sandy clothing and toys and the kids got ready to meet the girls for some sushi dinner and a chic flick…

And at the beach my fearless kids conquering the waves with Joy:

Mind over matter

Today's quick combo was inspired by a look on H&M website:

I bought this kimono a few years back and now that they are in style more inspirations are popping up...

Kimono - Threadsence

Tank - Kika Paprika

Jeans, Necklace - H&M

Belt - Ralph Lauren

Slip on sneakers - Sam Edelman CIRCUS

THURSDAY:
I tried to get motivated to start packing this morning.  I tried not to go overboard taking too many outfits/clothes that I won't wear as it is going to be pretty casual there and very very very hot.
I have the kids full time so it will be a rare occasion to go somewhere really dressy. Most places we go involve walking from parking the car far on dirt roads or cobble stones so I pretty much took a lot of flats. I kept the combo's simple and added pizzaz with accessories as they take less space to pack. I did go heavy on swim suits and cover-up's as majority of every single day will be spent in swim suits at the beach. Now lets see tomorrow if I was able to keep the weight of the suitcase down.
I am taking lots of magazines and books and some full sized lotions etc…
I am pretty much done with my suitcase minus the toiletries.
Kids bags should be much less complicated and hoping I will have room in there to add some heavy stuff from mine.
It is a long long flight so I am going to focus on sheer comfort for the travel outfit and decided to wear my crocs as they are so easy to take on and off and can me worn bare or with socks. They don't look the most stylish but on a 16+ hour flight I don't think that is going to matter.

I picked up the boys (my son and his friend) from their camp and stopped for lunch. Then took the friend home and went to my dentist to pick up my night guard. Should be weird wearing it for the first time tonight. Apparently I grind my teeth a lot and as a result have major jaw pain.
Then hit the grocery store for some essentials and snack food for our trip and two boxes of cereal for when we are there. At least until kids adjust to Turkish style breakfast I want to have cereal and PB on hand as back up. Items that are either not sold or very expansive there.
Although something tells me my fresh bread loving kids will have no issue with the delicious fresh bread there.

When we came home I finished packing and did dinner with the kids then a long session of reading again. It is tiring to read out loud two chapter books and a picture book. But I love how much kids are into their chapter books.

I'm in the fast lane

 Well, went couple days not dressing up but finally today found my mojo and put on an outfit that works for my big pool playdate. It was chilly in the morning so the sweater was perfect…

The inspiration from July 2014 (so the most recent) issue of J Crew Catalog:

I saved a lot of inspiration from this issue cause they are all simple and casual and that is what I need for summer as we do very high activity stuff that usually involves wearing swim suits just need a basic outfit to cover it up for the rest of the day.

 These linen striped bermuda shorts are super old but they are back in style and pretty comfortable…

Sweater, Shorts, Hat - Forever 21

Tank Top - Kika Paprika

Flip Flops - BCBG

Tote - from Harvard

WEDNESDAY:
Well, my departure date for our big trip back to Turkey is approaching quickly and I feel totally unprepared. I only got the suitcases down and the gifts compiled but have not packed anything yet. May be tomorrow.
Today I got my nails done and hosted a huge pool playdate for our summer group before we leave…
There were 9 adults and 20 kids! The pool and the backyard felt so fool but my new furniture all worked out great as all the mom's had comfy chairs to sit in as they watched the kids in the pool and kids had sufficient seating for lunch…

 See, the mom's are all comfy...

After swimming the boys started this impressively organized ball game...

While the little ones (mostly girls) started a tea...