Santa Monica

To beat the Monday blues (and the winter blues if I may add), I am penning down the finale post from my SoCal travelogue series. As part of this series, I have blogged posts in the past about my travels to San Diego (that you can read here and here ) and posts on Hollywood, the famous Laguna beach and an Indian-foodie haven in LA suburbs. 

We spent last day of our SoCal trip (that we took in the summer of 2012) in the company of close friends, home-made food (believe me, by the end of this trip we were craving for some comforting home-made food) and the gorgeous Pacific waters. 
Incidentally, the last day of our trip fell on 4th of July (US Independence Day)! We were invited over for a '4^th July BBQ' party hosted by close friends at their new abode which they recently purchased in the LA suburbs. The house was magnificent, located within a plush gated community, with the patio-area overlooking the valley. The new home was indeed decorated very beautifully with great attention to detail.They had recently installed a BBQ station in the backyard along with brand new patio furniture. Thanks to our gracious hosts, we were treated to some lip-smacking BBQ chicken, bhutta (BBQ'ed corn) and mushrooms, paneer and veggie skewers while sipping on chilled beers. The guys gladly took up the BBQing part while we ladies took to chit-chatting in the patio area. And well, that was not it! After a round of sumptuous BBQ goodies, we had an even more awesome lunch that included delicious aamras (fresh mango pulp), choley (chick-pea curry) and hot pooris (fried Indian bread). 

After such a hearty meal, we were in no mood to do any tourist-y things and luckily we did not have many things planned for the last day. We drove to the famed 'Malibu coast' for a walk by the beach admiring the swanky beach homes of the richie-rich residents of Malibu. The scenic coast of Malibu is home to many Hollywood celebrities and affluent executives in LA. 
Next on the list was the final destination of this trip and a must-see place if you are in the LA neighborhood – the Santa Monica pier and boardwalk. The place is buzzing with activity; tourists, talented artists displaying their antics and street food and shopping places. The boardwalk itself is quite crowded but it has the some of the best views of the Pacific Ocean. Though it kinda gets crowded in the evening, I would still recommend to visit it for watching the setting sun. The view is simply spectacular and hubs took some classic shots from the boardwalk. 

Moving on to the outfit, my colored-denims (cropped) and floral top had a quite SoCal vibe to it. The denim-vest was a part of my mini-haul at the last shopping mall in the US territory. A fedora and comfy flats completed my tourist-y look. I avoided any accessories like bracelets, cuffs, rings or scarves, keeping in mind the hot and humid weather by the coast. 
(Quick tip: I created a cropped colored-denim look by doing one-big fold at the bottom. This especially comes handy when stepping out on beaches or when you are going to be doing a lot of walking. The cropped look adds a relaxed feel to the outfit while keeping the denim cuffs from being soiled)

Well, that completes the SoCal travel series, hope you enjoyed reading it! Please do not hesitate to shoot me an email if you have any travel-related queries. Enjoy the pictures :)

NewYorkandCompany colored denims | Next UK floral top (similar) | Levis denim vest (similar) 

| Aldo boat shoes | Michael Kor's women's chronograph (similar) | Coach bag 

Hasta la Vista, California!

P.S.: Happy April Fool's Day! So tell me, did you get fooled today? :)