Birthday Edition

A dress always makes me feel lady-like and that's the kind of feeling I was going in for my birthday this year. Extra points to the weather, for allowing me to flaunt my bare legs in my absolute fave print - florals! I got this dress on sale during the holiday season last year and had decided to save it for a special occasion. With such a vibrant print, you hardly need any accessories or any other fluff to perk up the look. That's the beauty about wearing dresses, I guess!

Hubs decided to show off some color; love that coral shirt. It's so difficult to get any color (other than blue) in men's wardrobe so this shirt we got whilst shopping in Bombay is just the perfect edition for summer...ooops I mean spring time. 

Anyhoo, birthday was relaxing, husband served breakfast (poha & tea) and lunch (chilli chicken both dry and gravy versions...I am a lucky girl!) while I was busy taking calls, and responding to birthday wishes on Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram...birthdays are getting busier thanks to the social media :) My gal-pals had arranged a special surprise during our shopping spree, a day earlier. So all in all, I had a fun birthday week! 

And yes, spring is finally here! All the trees laden with gorgeous flowers, especially, the cherry blossoms in the DC area, is a sight to behold! Well, hello there Spring..where were thou?

Fossil dress | Payless pumps | Tory Burch purse | Capwell & Co. Bracelets | 

Marc Jacobs bracelet watch

MIA

I know, I know, I have been in MIA (Missing in Action) for quite sometime now...OK not sometime, but one whole month of March! There were Anniversaries, Birthdays, Celebrations, lease expiring, apartment hunting, event hosting, skiing and snow-tubing and many more things going on. Yes, all of these in all the days and weekends of March! Phew! March has to be one of the super busy months for me..I seem to not catch a break.

I am glad April is here, but it does look busier! Oh well, I decided to scram some time and sit down to write up this post..so how have you all been? Its been long we connected..hope you are having a wonderful weather and enjoying the joy that springs brings! 

Any-who, dead-busy as I was, one thing was good that, almost every other weekend I was dressing up my best, feeling gorgeous and, sometimes, I we managed to even get the outfits pictures clicked! Win-win, right?! Moving on to the outfit of the day..I got this dress for a friend's wedding  reception almost 3 years back now and never got to wear it. I ended up having to skip the reception due to a last minute business trip to Ireland. Long story short, I always craved to wear this beautiful spring/summer-print dress and never got around doing it until few weekends back. I wore it with a knit-shrug and I did swap those heels for a nice blue flats for a beautiful spring-day out! 

P.S.: Thank you all so much for your kind words and the over-whelming response to the 'How We Styled It' series. It is my first time starting a feature on the blog other than just outfit blogging. I was humbled by the shout-outs and praises showered by the blogger community...you gals are the best! I look forward to many more working with all you brilliant style bloggers out there!

Jones New York dress and knit-shrug from DressBarn | Assorted bead bracelets c/o Capwell + Co. |

DKNY Watch | Pearl necklace and earrings set gift from hubs

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Blogger Meetup

Shruti and I met up one of the weekends for a late brunch (more like late lunch but since it was a Sunday we decided to call it brunch). Shruti teams up with Richa, her sister, to write at Urban Mantra, which is one of my favorite lifestyle blogs. The sisters describe their fashion, food, travel and their experiences from two happening cities on the east coast - NYC and DC!

We share similar interests in food, travel and fashion and so majority of the time was spent filling in each other about travels to home, travels in US, Doonya fitness, Bollywood, best places to eat in DC, brands, fashion, and weather of course :) All this was in between gulping down fresh margaritas and savoring authentic Mexican food at Oyamel in Penn Quarter part of DC. If you are in DC, do take a trip to Oyamel for yummy Mexican food served tapas-style. It's part of Chef Jose Andres group of restaurants, and they are quite famous for their appetizer servings (another fave is Jaleo that we visited for J's birthday dinner).

Anyhoo, weather being so fickle and cold these days, I opted for tights, booties and a printed dress to give myself a cheery-feel! A bubble necklace and statement ring completed the look. Though most of the time I was wrapped in the black wool-coat and scarf around my neck, but that doesn't stop me from sharing my outfit of the day with you, right? :)

Target Dress | Bubble necklace from Groopdealz | Booties from TJ Maxx | Ring from Francesca's  

Shruti and I on the colorful sofa at Oyamel

Margaritas, Tacos (chicken, fish and mushroom) and Garlicky shrimp

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Emerald Tones

We celebrated J's budday with pomp last month. It was a weekday plus a cold and chilly one; but that did not stop us from having some fun. Actually lots of fun!

The birthday evening was spent in three parts, first up was tapas style early dinner at his fave Spanish place - Jaleo, followed by Whiskey tasting at a pub that stocked the poison from around the world and then ended the evening at a fancy lounge club with another cake-cutting, compliments of the club. It was a fun night, and for one moment we forgot the cold, and windy weather outside while we collected the warm fuzzy memories of the night!

I wore a bright emerald dress; was kinda looking forward to buying one and got a perfect one at Target. The blazer is from Target too. I was happy that finally I got to flaunt my new watch! The Birthday-Boy looked dapper in a Banana Republic blazer and a Van Heusen shirt.

Makeup wise, I tried something different. I got a eyeshadow palette with green tones, and went with nude-colored lips. I am so used to trying on a dark color, mostly in red or pink tones, on my lips that it kinda felt different to me. I don't know if it suits me, what do you think?

Target Emerald Green Dress and Blazer | J. Crew Necklace and Belt 

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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!

San Diego and Striped Dress

San Diego is a bright sunny happy place and we got to spend two whole days in this place!!Day one was spent at the La Jolla Cove and chit-chatting and enjoying a drink with bunch of friends as you have seen here.
Day two was spent well at the beach and the zoo! yes - A zoo - The world-famous San Diego Zoo!

We kicked off the day with some time at the serene Coronado Beach. Coronado is on the other side of SD, and has a historic importance to it. You will see locals strolling and enjoying life, tourists admiring the place and many a US navy officers in the vicinity! yep, that was the shining glory for me - men in uniforms, who doesn't admire that now!

The Coronado hotel and resort is a sight to behold, old world charm and what not. The beach is open to public and also the small shack that sells refreshing but expensive margaritas. We got one and headed for the beach - it was filled with happy families, children prancing around in water and building sand castles. ooh and did I tell ya, we spotted a F-16 jets on a routine - they have a navy base near-by and guess it was my lucky day :)

After some quiet time we headed for the San Diego Zoo around mid afternoon.
Time for Travel Tip - we should have actually done the reverse - visit the Zoo early am when the animals are awake and energetic. by mid afternoon they are all lazy and hiding away in their caves from the throngs of visitors.

Nevertheless, I don't think I missed seeing any one in particular..they were pretty much all visible. The zoo was buzzing with crowd - old and young - all excited alike. Its def a must-visit place if in SD, the star attraction being the huge but cutey cute Pandas, the vibrant flamingos, humongous hippos, giraffes - all so close by you could touch them almost. The zoo has buses, escalators and cable car rides for convenience but I would say reserve at least 4-5 hours for a complete tour.

One last tip - I felt chilly in some parts of the zoo, so better take that jacket/cardigan with you. 

This is what I wore on a fun-tastic day in SD - my tangerine striped dress. I got it from Aeropostale 3 years back and have wore it only once on a trip to Orlando. Its and eye-catcher and screams fun for sure! what better place than So-Cal to don it, right?
This time I paired it with contrasting turquoise beaded jewelry and my comfy leather boat shoes (my trusted-walking companions). I love how the tangerine and turquoise look like a match made in fashion-heaven :)

What I am wearing - Dress: Aeropostale (2009); Boat shoes: Aldo; Purse: Coach;

beaded necklace: JC Penney; Earrings: India; 

Ring: India; Beaded bracelet: Puerto Rico street shopping;  Aviators: Tory Burch;

Watch: Michael Kors Womens Chronograph (Gift from Parents); iphone case: Kate Spade

Senorita with her Margarita!

The Zoo's superstars!

Momma Giraffe n her cutee baby/Kung-Fu Panda munching away/Flamin-Go/Chillaxing Kangaroo