Monday, May 20, 2013

Jamming Prints

**This is a pre-scheduled post while I am away on a vacation in India**

Print-mixing is quirky & fun..and if you remember you have seen it herehere and here. But, nine out of ten time, I have tried jamming prints when dressing up on weekends. With the daily schedule, I hardly get time or peace of mind to think of trying something quirky. Whenever I get time (I am up early or have the liberty of reaching office late), I spend time in the closet to dress up my best that day. 

Today's outfit of the day is one of such. It's inspired from fellow DC-based blogger and personal stylist - Naina. I loved how she showed that a casual striped-tee can be paired with something delicate an classy as a lace skirt. Well, now you know the perks of scouring fashion blogs. 

Anyhow, this would be the second time I have found inspiration from a fellow fashion blogger to pair this pretty lace skirt. I don't have a striped-scarf; so went with leopard print one..I think it works when it comes to jamming prints, what do you?


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

How I Styled - Denim Vest

In the past one year I have sported the denim vest three times on the blog and numerous times off the blog. I bought it on our quick shopping escapade to the last mall in the US before you hit the Mexico border. It was almost another country on the other side of the shopping outlet..one-of-its-kind shopping experience indeed! Well, it sounds like an impulse buy, but I tell you, it is one piece in my closet that can transform a plain-jane look into something remarkable. 

Take this, the pink denims and floral top combo is so ordinary - nothing exciting about it. Add a denim vest and it transforms the look; the vest gives an edge to the outfit plus breaks the monotonous girly hue. Denim-on-denim trend has been around since last year and a denim vest is perfect to try this trend out-of-the-ordinary way. 
StyleTip: The denim vest is a rugged piece of clothing and so works very well with the loose, flowing tops. The vest minimizes the baggy effect while giving a structure to the outfit. 

So, my friends, case in point is that you have to try this amazing clothing piece! Hope I have convinced you enough, and if not, be inspired from the pics below on how I styled it!

1 - 2 - 3


This is my last post before I hop on the plane to meet my family and friends in Mumbai, India. I am going to slow down my blogging speed so you might experience a down-time on the blog. I am planning to schedule posts so don't forget to check back and sorry if I am not able to catch up with you all and visit your blogs. I promise I will make up when I am back to the US :)
All you bloggers in Mumbai (or bloggers visiting Mumbai), would love to meet-up with y'all. Drop me a note at zingofmylife@gmail.com and let's get the conversation going!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Bollywood style

It's that time of the year, folks! I will be on a trip to homeland starting this weekend! Absolutely excited state-of-mind, right now! Too many things on the list..last minute shopping, packing, blogging (yes, you will be seeing some scheduled posts), finishing off the kitchen stocks, cleaning, and lots more. Well, you be prepared to be bombarded with the tales of how I tackle the supremely hot weather, hog on yummy desi delicacies and chaat, and take a trip to good ol' Mumbai!

Back to the post, last weekend, we treated ourselves to an Indian-lunch buffet, at Bollywood Bistro in Fairfax,VA. The buffet luncheon was almost after ages; last time we hogged on a buffet was in summer of 2012. The buffet was very-well priced at 9 bucks with a good spread of Indian delicacies that could just elevate anyone's mood. All the curries (both veg and chicken) were flavorsome and spicy. We ended the meal on a sweet note, thanks to the warm and delicious Gulab Jamuns. All this was followed by a much-needed dose of saunf (fennel seeds) and an extended stroll in the Old Fairfax district to get us out of the slump-iness that follows after an elaborate Indian meal.  
About the restaurant decor, it was plain A-ok. I mean, the bollywood theme is so awe-inspiring  and they could have ran-off wild with it, but sadly it was kept quite conservative. Well, that's not a deal-breaker though! So if you are want to indulge in some good Indian food in Northern Virginia, you know where to head to. 

Moving on to the outfit, I had been on a lookout for this striped dress the moment I saw it on Veronica aka DP in Cocktail. And lo' behold, my much-loved store was selling it this spring so how could I not grab it :) The best part of this dress is that it gives me a plain backdrop to try all sorts of whimsical styles. Well, for now, I went with my style-statement trinket - the bauble necklace and then of course some tan-colored accessories to keep it simple overall. It was not very chilly or hot, just in between with a cool breeze last weekend; so out with the boots and trench. So basically past weekend, my culinary and fashion experience were both a' la Bollywood style! 

Anyhow, I will get back to packing now..gotta rush it! Have a Happy Monday!

Old Navy striped dress (similar, similar) | Born Boots | The Limited tan cross-body and earrings | 
Esprit Trench | Groopdealz bauble necklace (last seen here) and bow ring
Ahem...so who wore it better? :P

P.S.: Sharing this post on YOLO Mondays at Mollys. Molly and I are featuring a similar style of black-and-white striped dress on the Monday blog-post...how awesome is that!

Friday, May 3, 2013

Closet Organization series - Jewelry

First things first, it was so awesome to host a giveaway of a beautiful necklace. The giveaway ended on May 1 and the winner was chosen via random.org. The winner is *drumroll please* Seepz from That Sassy Girl! Seepz, I hope you love the necklace as much as I did. Do send us a pic when you wear it :) Thank you so much everyone of you who entered the giveaway!

Now on to this post, it's been long that I wanted to do posts on closet organization. So this post is related to things I used to accessorize everyday, which is jewelry, watches, perfumes!
I am type A personality when it comes to organizing. I guess, organizing is my next favorite thing after shopping. Usually I have had the same plan/structure for jewelry organization through all these years in the US. I say that 'cause when we moved to a new place after last year, my dressing table setup almost looks the same as it was in my apartment in Boston. All the necklaces, perfumes, watches, earrings are in the same place as they were; the only difference being that it's in a more bigger space that is.

So moving on, today I am going to give you a glimpse inside my closet and dressing table to show you how I have learnt to organize the jewelry (daily as well as occasional wear) and my thought-process behind it. Organization no doubts has benefits like we all know i.e. everything is in place, looks neat and clean but the most important one is that my daily-getting-ready time has drastically reduced. Once I am sure about the color I am going to wear, I can pick the jewelry within seconds (if not minutes ;)). Now who doesn't want this suvidha (value) when you are in a mad rush to dash out of the house every morning?

All these ideas are either picked from pinterest, lifestyle bloggers and some of them (like color-coding storage) are my very own that were born from the need to make my morning routine easier. The tools/organizers/containers I have used are pretty simple and easily available in stores like Target, Walmart, Home Depot or the Container Store (this one was not in Boston, but it's in Virginia).
So now, enough of prose and now to the graphic details. Today, I want to show you how to organize necklaces and earrings in my closet.

The most practical and obvious storage for necklaces is to hang them up against the wall. It's right there in front of you to choose and they don't get entangled as opposed to storing them in a box. I bought these drill-in 8-hook organizer from Home Depot and got them fixed (thanks to hubs). While unpacking, I weeded out the ones that I did not wear for a year (no way I was going to try them on now, especially since I wasn't working any more. Also new place means new stuff, right? *wink wink*). Thanks to my super-organizing part of the brain, I color-coded and style-coded the necklaces.


All small ones (one locket/pendant) necklaces went on the top rack and the long ones on the rack below. I tried to keep 3-4 necklaces per rack; that allowed for enough space to not get entangled and also to make them easily viewable and accessible (which was the whole purpose of this exercise). The special-occasion necklaces were moved to the right-most hook of the rack. In between I filled out the ones I use daily, color-coding them - black, blue, brown, red.


The multi-color or beaded ones went in the racks below, also the long-dangly ones. All statement necklaces occupy two hooks on the right-most side of the bottom hangar. All in all, this looks neat organized and I know exactly where to look for the right necklace. When I am putting back the necklace in the evening, I make a point to put them at the right hook from where I took it from - this one minute of effort goes in a long way to keep things sane in the busy routine.
Tip: Use push-pins (the ones you get in your office) to hang necklaces, if you are cramped for space or don't want to drill permanent holes in your apartment. I did just that when I lived in a smaller apartment in Boston. 

Moving on to earrings, I got this 3-drawer plastic organizer from Target (you can get it in Walmart too). Initially I just dumped all my earrings in the top two drawers. The third one I use to store occasional items like bindis, nose rings, hair clips, etc. Over the time I realized, earrings are the worst things to choose and pick in the morning - first of all they are so tiny and then they come in pairs. So if you don't find the second one, then you are in ride to waste 10 mins finding the second one or ditch the plan of wearing them altogether. So, there lesson learnt - always color-code and type code them! I used these small plastic containers we usually get in Indian stores.


Additionally, I had a lot of small jewelry/watch gift boxes from stores like Banana Republic, Fossil in very good condition. All the black colored earrings went in the lid of one box, all pink and red in next and all blue in the next and so on. Again, all these were the dangly/hoop ones. The tiny tots like studs, went in another small box. The metal ones (steel /silver and gold colored) went in one box. Since I don't have a lot of earrings in one particular color, I paired a couple of colors together, but you can always keep them separate if you space and quantity. Life is easier now, especially choosing the tiny earrings. I seem to find the ones I want to wear in a jiff.

The key in organization is to know your needs and your jewelry. If you have jewelry in a particular color you don't need to color code. If you have a lot of necklaces for different occasions. it's always better to type-code them. All this will take 3-4 hours of your weekend time, but it will save you those precious minutes in the morning rush, and you will thank yourself for taking this step towards organization!

So, this was all about getting the necklaces and earrings in place. I am planning to do separate posts for accessories like bracelets/cuffs, watches, etc. Hope you liked this post, it was great sharing some tips or tricks with you all!

P.S.: Sharing this post on Friday Fancies at Long distance loving.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

April Recap

This month blogging took a new turn for me. Yeah, it was the birthday month but then I also blogged almost without a break! And then during the birthday week, even more - 4 out of 5 days. It's not about the numbers but about the fun, enjoyment, connecting with fellow bloggers, readers and friends you have haven't been in touch with for a long time. Yeah, one fine evening I got a call from one of my long-lost friends to tell how much she loved my pictures in the vibrant colored blazer! I was so happy to catch up with here after so-many-freaking years..and that she reads my blog and that she loves it :) yay! Gratification at it's best!

Anyways, enough of the mush and onto the real stuff now. April was a month with a weird weather...it was scorching hot, snowing then somewhere down the line it became pleasantly warm again, then it rained, then it was cold and windy and so on. Well, what can you do? Just dress up as the weather wants you to, right? That's just what I did - I adapted to the whims of the weather Gods and brought along a blazer, trench or a scarf every other day.

Anyhow, here are the looks from the last month, tell me which one is your fave?

Linking posts here - (Left to Right and Top to Bottom)
1. Blog Birthday with a Pop of Pink
2. Black & White
3. Birthday weekend
4. Santa Monica
5. Photographic Memory
6. Crushing on Coral
7. the Mantra print
8. No More Snow

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