Salt and Pepper

You know the feeling when you wake up with the sound of rains? Yeah.. that same amazing feeling is what I am talking about.
It was fantastic this morning. Lately, Phoenix is surprising me. It’s so beautiful when it rains here. The past 10 days have been wonderful. And it rains when I least expect it to!

Usually, it’s sunny in the morning, and then by evening when it’s time to leave for home, it starts to rain. How incredible is that! Well, that is how it should always be! Perfect romantic evenings.
Today was one such perfect morning. And I love having coffee when it rains (or even when it does not rain).. and today was no different!
Happy Monsoon :-)

Well, enough of weather news.. let’s come to the outfit part. Lately, I have been mixing a lot of prints.

Check the below pictures - how I mixed prints before (click on the link below for complete posts).

 1 / 2 / 3

For today's outfit - I wore scribble print pants and a polka blouse. The more you experiment, the more you get good at it. Trust me, it works!
Well, what do you think of this outfit?

Remix –
See how I wore pieces from this outfit before -

Pants / Blouse

Cheers!
Ritika

Linking this post to the IFB Project #107: Printed Matters

Top: Forever 21
Pants: Loft
Shoes: Payless (similar)
Watch: Invicta

Nerd Chic

As described in Wikipedia, a nerd is a person, typically described as being overly intellectual, obsessive, or socially impaired. I was never a nerd in my growing years, not even when I was a student or when I started working. I have always been a very outgoing person.
I can strike a conversation with a complete stranger with complete ease. Though I don’t do it all the time (obviously), I am just saying that being conservative was never really my style.. I was very liberal..

And for this, I would like to give all the due credit to my mother. I still remember how my Mom always taught me to be very open and frank with my thoughts. Even when I was in school, she used to encourage me to talk to new joiners in the class, help others with studies, be a volunteer for various activities etc. For obvious reasons, I used to be teachers’ favorite!
Well, over the period of time, this habit has developed in me, and again, all thanks to my mother, I make friends very easily!

Anyhow, for today’s post I thought of dressing up like a nerd ~ in a good way! These reader glasses complete the look perfectly. The red lips add that extra oomph to the otherwise not so special outfit.
Need I say it's a perfect work wear outfit?
P.S. Love these Forever 21 shoes (wore here before), however they are not very comfortable. Hence I wear them specially when I know I would not be doing a lot of walking – and today was one such day!

Cheers!
Ritika

Tank Top: Ann Taylor | Linen Pants: Tommy Hilfiger | Shoes: Forever 21 | Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters | Watch: Fossil

Tango with me

For  a long time, I had a love and hate relationship with cropped tops. I loved them on models, other bloggers etc. and hated them on myself. So it was more of a hate relationship from my end!
I never wore a cropped top in my life (till today)! And when I sat and thought about it, I came up with the following reasons for my hatred towards the cropped tops –

1. They suit teenage girls more than women with curves. And I have got curves. <Hence, cropped tops is a bad idea..>
2. My upper body is heavier than bottom. <See - cropped tops is a bad..bad idea..>
3. I do not have those super-toned, super-flat abs which makes the situation worse. <I already told you - cropped tops is a bad idea..>
4. It just will not suit me.. I am just not made for it. <How many times do I have to say that cropped tops is a bad idea..??>

- Well, truth be told, we all do that. We all have these preconceived notions about some or the other thing in our life (and sometimes, people). We tend to reject it by saying it’s not good enough, or its not made for me etc. even before trying!

Like my husband dislikes the idea of eating at a new place. According to him, one should not experiment with food! Eat only where you have eaten before! However, my opinion is completely opposite! I love going to new places and trying different kinds of cuisines. Hence I keep dragging him all the time to new eateries. And it always turns out good (okay fine – most of the times). We just have to give it a try!

So anyways, back to our cropped tops… I bought this orange top back in September last year from the clearance section of Forever 21 (obviously I didn't think much before buying it). And since then, it was sitting in my closet waiting for its turn to come out in the sun! And yesterday, just like that, I was in the mood of wearing something I have never tried before – something different from my usual style! I picked this top and keeping it the center piece, I styled the rest of the outfit.
- That’s the story of this cute little outfit. And I love how it turned out.

Confession – Sadly after these pictures were taken, I suffered with a wardrobe malfunction. It so happened that I was in the dressing room trying a skirt in a store and these pants got stuck in the wooden hanger on the wall. Since I did not know they were stuck in the hanger, I simply pulled the pants from the hanger in a quick motion and there you go – before I knew it, there was a big tear and my favorite pants were ruined! Just like that! The damage was irreparable, hence, I bought a skirt from the same store, put it on and discarded these pants..
<Sob.. sob.. they were my favorite..> I have already bid adieu to these pants. You are free to do so too!

Cheers!
Ritika

Cropped top: Forever 21 (similar here and here) | Pants: Forever 21 | Shoes: Sole Society (now available in brown) | Necklace: Janpath, New Delhi (exactly same) | Sunglasses: Aldo | Watch: Michael Kors | Clutch: Gifted by MIL

Let it Rain

It was 5 in the evening. I sat in my car. It was dark and cloudy, it looked as if the clouds are about to touch down earth! Tiny drops of water started falling on my windshield. I was amused to see it.

Sitting in my car, I called my husband (who was still working in office) – ‘Honey, you won’t believe it! Guess what?”
And before he could reply, I snapped, in a very cheerful voice – “It’s raining outside! Though very tiny droplets are falling, but still everything is looking so beautiful. When are you gonna come home?”
(Yes, you are allowed to become so happy when you live in a desert. Rain is very special to us)!

Husband: “Yeah, I know It’s raining. I can see from my office window. Looks pretty! But I can’t leave right now. I have work to complete.”

Me: “Oh! Well, then see you at home! Love you. Bye!”

I turned my car ignition on and plugged in my iPhone to the music system tuning in to my favorite rain song and drove the car off the parking lot. I was enjoying every bit of the moment.
As I was about to reach home, a sudden urge of drinking a hot mocha came through! And before I knew I  was driving towards the Drive-through lanes of Starbucks.

I reached home finally. It was pouring by then! Like they say – it was raining cats and dogs. I parked my car in its usual parking space and called husband again – “Hey, where are you?”

Husband: “I'm at home. Where are you, since you left before me?”

Me: “Yes, I did, but then I went to grab a cup of coffee since the weather is so pleasant. I wanted to have one!”

Husband: “Ok, so where are you now?”

Me: "I am right outside. Sitting in the car.."

Husband: “ What? Well, then why are still sitting in the car? Come inside! I am missing my lovely wife in this lovely weather!” (right, he never fails to let go any chance to flirt with me)!

Me: “Yeah, I love you too, but I can’t come in! It’s raining so hard, I will get drenched the moment I step out of the car!”

Husband: “So what! I thought you loved rains and you will look hot too!!” (see, flirting again)..

Me: “I do! But I don’t want to spoil this nice dress that I’m wearing plus these shoes are definitely not made to be soaked in water!”

By this time he came out in the patio and was laughing hard looking at me – as I was running in my heels towards the house. He was enjoying it!

I entered home, dropped my bags, threw my heels in the air, changed in to my sexy shorts and a tee. In less than a minute I was out of the house again! He was still in the patio enjoying the rain.. I finally got to get drenched! I danced, sang and laughed! It was amazing.. loved it!

Husband was still standing, laughing at me and clicking pictures from his phone! I was singing, dancing and sipping my favorite mocha! What’s not to love!

There are very few unplanned things in life make that you smile, make you happy! Don’t let go such moments! Live them.. to the fullest.
I love rains and I loved that evening...

~ The best thing you can do when it's raining is to Let it ~

Cheers!
Ritika

T-Shirt: American Eagle (also styled this t-shirt with a formal skirt) | Shorts: Thrifted

LA Part III: Malibu & Santa Barbara

Read Part I | Part II

This is the last part of my Los Angeles travel series. It was the last day of our vacation and we wanted to use it completely. There was still so much to do and so little time left.
We checked out from our hotel early in the morning and thought of spending the whole day at the beach.

We drove to Malibu beach but guess what – the sun was not shining.. It was cloudy and gloomy! Not a perfect beach-y kind-a day but we managed to play a little in the water! Mind you – the water was cold, very cold (but this girl was having hell lot-a fun!)
We spent an hour or so there and then left for Santa Barbara and reached there after a 2 hours’ drive and boy, did we love that city! What’s not to love? The weather, the city, the shops, the restaurants, the crowd – the whole vibe - Ooh! I can get settled there – like forever!
It would be an understatement if I say that Santa Barbara is the most beautiful city I have ever been to (yet)!

We relaxed (literally slept) on the sunny beach of Santa Barbara for the rest of the day. And when the sun started to set, we quickly set off for city surfing. I loved walking on the streets, clicking endless pictures with my beau.
Sadly my lovely vacation ended here. We then drove back to Phoenix! Our Home-Sweet-Home (Hot Home actually)!!

Hope you enjoyed the series!
Few pictures!

Cheers!
Ritika

Swimsuit Cover-up: Ann Taylor | Sunglasses: Forever 21 | Scarf: Forever 21 | Red Tote: Tommy Hilfiger
Striped T-Shirt: Abercrombie & Fitch | Skirt: Forever 21(old) similar (similar & I bought this one) | Sandals: Asos

LA Part II: Natural History Museum & Beach

Read LA Part I

The next day we decided to go the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Science Center. It was a good experience to learn about so many species which are extinct now.
I wore my favorite flats to be as comfortable as I can for the walking we had to do!

Then post lunch, we went on a stroll – and guess where – Beverly Hills! The whole vibe of that area is so posh. We then came back to the hotel in the evening. Since the sun was still shining – we decided to quickly change in to something comfortable and head to the closest beach!
Santa Monica it was.. (which happened to be one of the most happening beach I have ever been to)! There was a local fair going on the beach. People were laughing, enjoying, dancing, partying, getting tatted, there was this giant wheel, a roller coaster and many other entertaining rides for kids and adults! Fun all around!

The sun kept setting and it started getting cold. We sat there for hours, watching the sea, chatting, making future plans, listening to the relaxing sound of night waves and before we knew it was already half past 10! That's when we realized we did not even have our dinner! We all then rushed to our hotel before we died of hunger! (Don't worry we reached just in time)!! ;)

Some pictures from the day -

Cheers!

Ritika

Sweater: Tommy Hilfiger | Skirt: Thrifted (yes, can you believe it!) | Sandals: Payless(old) |Sunglasses: Aldo | Bag: Forever 21 (similar in blue) |Watch: Michael Kors

Maxi dress: Loft (Asos-similar; Loft-similar) | Denim Jacket: Gap | Red Tote: Tommy Hilfiger | Flip flops: Aeropostale | Hat: Burlington Coat Factory (similar)