Black & Blue

Just keeping it casual in black & blue while chic-ing it up a bit with heels and a faux leather cap. I felt like I had take advantage of the sunny and warmer winter days last week so I paired my outfit with some open toe heels.

However, this week has been miserably cold for me especially because I start to shiver uncontrollably once the temperature drops anywhere near the mid-60s lol.  And according to the LA Times, "A cold Canadian air mass moving into Southern California could drop temperatures across inland valleys into the 30s and 20s beginning Tuesday night and is expected to last through the rest of the week." Sadly, I don't know if I'll last til the end of the week because I'm already freezing my bum off!!! 

Men's Sweater: Projek Raw

Tank: Zara

Pants: Gap

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell 'Hough' (here)

Necklace: Vanessa Mooney

Cap: Urban Outfitters

Bracelet: Luv AJ

Capped It Off

Eddie and I capped off our Labor Day weekend by throwing a BBQ get together for a bunch of high school buddies. We decided to grill our usual go-to favorite...carne asada because you can never really go wrong with some carne asada, guacamole, chips, and salsa! We spent the day playing Cards Against Humanity (which is like an inappropriate version of Apples to Apples lol), eating and drinking, swimming, hot tubbing, and eating some more. It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend with my love.

I wore the newest addition to my closet...this amazing One Teaspoon blazer (thanks to my amazingly generous aunt). I am so obsessed with it!!! The colors, the prints, the cut...it's all just so so so gorgeous! I've only had it for a few days but I know I'm going to be prancing around town in this piece quite often! It's just such a versatile piece that can either be dressed up or down. I decided to keep my look pretty casual for the BBQ with a simple white silk tank top, cutoff denim shorts, the blazer, and some beige colored peep-toe booties. I guess the heels and the silk weren't the most casual but it was meant to be a laid back look. 

I capped off my outfit with a leather baseball cap, which has been a favorite accessory of mine lately. Not only does it just look cute with everything, it also provides shade for my face. It's a total win win for me. Below are some tips for buying and wearing this leather cap trend.

Tips:

1) Buy a solid colored leather cap because they're easy to incorporate into any outfit. They add an instant touch of chicness and sleekness to any look. Note: I personally like solid accessories because I'm not really a pro at mixing prints. But if you are, by all means go crazy with printed and embellished caps!

2) You can style it with something feminine like a short dress or miniskirt to contrast the sweetness with some edge. 

3) You can cap off your casual t-shirt and jeans and instantly create a chic look. I personally like to add heels to most of my outfits (unless I'm running around all day) so when my clothes are more casual, I counter it with lots of accessories like layers of jewelry and heels.

Leather Cap: Urban Outfitters

Palm Tree Printed Blazer: One Teaspoon 'November Rain' (here)

Silk Tank Top: The T Refinery (Planet Blue)

Shorts: CarMar (LF Stores)

Peep-Toe Booties: Dolce Vita 'Niven' (here)

Bracelets: Vanessa Mooney (here and here) and Luv AJ (here)

Necklace: Vanessa Mooney (here)

My first plate of food...out of like 5 hahaha

Typical Natasha...Stuffing my face with food. 

Don't bother me...I'm eating, Eddie!

As the night went on, more and more old friends stopped by for pool/jacuzzi time! Notice how they're all guys?! Lol.

Tree Huggers

Although I come off as a girlie girl, my absolute favorite thing to do is go camping with my boyfriend! We typically go beach or desert camping together so camping in the forest was something new for us as a couple. We would love to get out of the city more often but the trouble is just finding the time for these trips. My boyfriend's work schedule is so unpredictable so that makes it hard for us to plan anything. This time around, we went with his family to Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. We left Friday before the sun came up and returned Sunday night. We also kind of cheated with the whole "camping" part of the trip this time because we stayed in their nice fancy trailer with 4 beds, a full kitchen, a shower, and a flush-able toilet lol.

This post isn't really fashion related at all but more of a little journal of my hiking adventures.

Day 1

We set up camp and went exploring around the campsite, which was right in between a meadow and a creek. Absolutely gorgeous!

Cap: Nike

Tank Top: Emma and Sam (LF Stores)

Bottoms: Adidas (here)

Sneakers: Asics

Sweater: Woodleigh (similar here here)

Obviously we were really roughin' it huh!?! Lol.

 

Hanging out by the creek.

Do you even lift, bro?!

It's Shamu!!! Eddie went swimming with a killer whale...in the middle of the forest!

Grilling some shrimp and veggies for dinner!

Attempting to make s'mores on a propane grill because the Camp Host wouldn't allow campfires for the time being. Major fail.

Day 2

Cap: Nike

T-shirt: Emma and Sam (LF Stores)

Shorts: Nike (similar here)

Shoes: Asics

Jacket: Orage (similar here)

(if you were wondering what the heck I was doing with a snow jacket 

in the middle of summer, it's because the cave was freezing inside)

Enjoying the nice cold air blowing out of Crystal Cave as we wait for the tour to begin.

These pictures don't do this cave any justice! (Tip: tickets sell out every single day so buy your ticket a day in advance)

The beautiful waterfall right outside the Crystal Cave.

Exhausted! Taking some breaks as we hike up the steep mountain after the cave tour.

After the cave, we visited one of the oldest living things on earth...General Sherman!

The boy and I with General Sherman. 

They cut a hole in the trunk of a giant sequoia that had fallen decades ago and made it a walkway...I saw a hole in the center and had to take a peek inside lol

Enjoying some beers while we stargazed. And then we made s'mores on the stove top in the trailer because the propane grill was such a bust the night before.

Day 3

Woke up at 5:30am to head to the Big Trees Trail and had to pull over and snap a shot of the sun creeping over the mountain.

 

Our hike to the Big Trees Trail.

Crawled my way on a fallen tree to the center of the meadow that's surrounded by giant sequoias. Fun fact: this picture was taken right before Eddie saw a bear and told me to calmly get back to the trail so we could hurry up and leave. If he had kept the panorama shot going, we would have captured the bear! I can honestly tell you, my heart was beating a mile a minute when I saw that bear! Luckily the bear didn't see us.

We only managed to get 1/4 of the way through the Big Trees Trail so we were pretty bummed. But we stopped by General Sherman again for some more pictures. This time we weren't fighting with 100 people for a quick picture.

Tree hugging.

We went back to camp and picked up Eddie's dad to go scout out a future camp ground when we stumbled upon more trails.

We parked the truck and hiked up to Buck Rock Lookout...which has to be one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

Climbed the steep steps to reach the lookout tower. Counted 171 steps that someone had to build...8,507 above sea level! Fun fact: back in the day before the lookout tower was built, someone would climb to the top of the rock and keep an eye out for fires. If there was a fire, that person would quickly climb down and ride his horse to the fire and put it out. How awesome is that?!

Note the old 70ish year old man fixing the flagpole on the right!

We went back to camp again after Buck Rock and fueled up on hotdogs and raspberries and hit some more trails. This time in search of the meadow near out campsite. We never found it lol...

So we went back to the creek for a quick dip.

Cap: Urban Outfitters

T-Shirt: Emma and Sam (LF Stores)

Pants: Lululemon (similar here)

Shoes: Keds (similar here)

Jacket: American Apparel

We brought alittle something home with us! Our own giant sequoias! Eddie and I are racing to grow the tallest, prettiest, and biggest tree during our lifetime!