Myrtle beach

Lately, the weather has been so gloomy here in the DC - with all the rains and cloudy days - that I have started to miss summer already. And by summer I mean the beaches, lounging by the pool, eating fried stuff and sipping ice-cold drinks. And also wearing shorts, skirts and all the summery clothes...man! can we have it all back already!

Anyways, I thought now that I have all these thoughts running amok in my head, I thought this might be the best time to share some outfit pics from summer. I got this pretty pink skirt (in the pics below) almost on the last day of my trip in India. Yeah, I was shopping till the very last day there..I can't get enough of all the pretty stuff, what to do! Another motive behind shopping so late in the trip was getting to eat at the food court in the shopping malls.
The stalls in the food courts, in India, are TO DIE FOR! You get to eat these awesome delicacies, dosas, pani-puri, chaat, biryani, kebabs, indianiz-ed burgers, chinese noodles and rice (slurrrrppp...). I think all my intentions to even step in the mall is - to go to the top floor (or whichever floor the food court is located) and hog on the desi fast-food, especially pani-puri - the one that you get made in BISLERI aka distilled mineral water! For all I know, I am going to miss all this and even the fact that food courts serve delicious food. I mean there are food courts in the malls here in the US, but all the food is just super greasy, no chaaat (!!), and somehow I am not even hungry anymore when I step in the food courts here.

So yeah back to the shopping, I had been on a lookout to buy a skirt during my India trip and voila! I find it on the very last day there! I was so happy that I found it on a deal. I paired it with a bright top for our summer weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We took these pics in the balcony which had some really gorgeous views of the Atlantic Ocean ....all daaaayyy looonng! The crystal clear water, cool crisp air and just sunny-sun.....it was all so surreal I tell ya!
Can't wait for the summer now...what about you?

Westside pink skirt | Target Merona blue tee | Francesca's fedora hat |

Levis Denim Vest (as seen here and here) | Old Navy flats |

Back in the groove

I am back..back in the groove! Just figuratively though, 'cause in real sense I am sulking and reminiscing about the good times spent with family and friends, good food and good weather (oh yeah, the Mumbai weather was so cool and romantic thanks to the monsoons) . But well yeah all good things come to an end and for now I have decided to just wallow in my sorrows (after effects of an India trip I tell yeah!)

Moving on, I am so touched and blessed to have supportive readers and caring blogger friends like you! Thank you so much for browsing through the blog and dropping you comments/suggestions. I really appreciate all this love. And though I have been lagging behind, I promise I will make up and be sure to read all your blogs..slowly but surely!

Well, leaving you to some catchy pics in my fave mini and a striking neckpiece thanks to my sis-in-law. You can make out from the hair that these pictures are from my pre-India trip days, right? Wait...what ..you didn't know I changed my hairstyle?

Gap denim mini | Banana Republic basic grey tee | Statement necklace Gift from sis-in-law |

Payless Nude pumps | Groopdealz bow ring | Fossil cross-body bag

 

 

Photographic memory

You never know what might turn into your fashion inspiration. There is no dearth of inspiration thanks to the fashion blogs, entertainment  websites, apps like instagram, twitter, facebook and then of course there is the maha (humongous) source of inspirational pictures that is - Pinterest.
And the inspiration to my outfit of the day is a picture I saw in September, last year, on one of my must-read blogs - The Zar's. Ash, the blogger behind Zar's, had bought an exquisite lace skirt and a pink dress which she had taken a brilliant snapshot of and featured on her blog, as part of the haul posts. The striking combination of hot pink with burgundy stuck with me ever since then.

Incidentally, when I saw the same lace skirt supremely marked down (hello, Black Friday sales), I had to buy it! In my head I only had one look clear; the one that Ash had unknowingly planted in my fashion-conscious part of the brain. Burgundy/Maroon/Wine/Oxblood was all over the fashion magazine last fall and if I were in fall right now I would have definitely paired it with more fall-appropriate colors like mustard, browns, grey,  black, etc. But right now it's summer, and so I just went with the right pop of color that this skirt needs - hot pink!
So there you go peoples, today you are witness to one of the looks thanks to my photographic memory!

Ann Taylor lace skirt | J. Crew hot-pink top | Payless nude pumps | 

Coach bag | Beaded necklace from Groopdealz

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P.S.: Do visit Ash's blog - The Zar's. Ash is a wonderful photographer, foodie, fashionista and an amazing writer. I dig her clear and lucid writing. 

No more snow!

It was so gorgeous last week that J and I couldn't resist to step out for a dinner-n-drinks soiree after work. And what better than vibrant florals to welcome this beautiful weather, right? I love the floral print with a black background; makes it easy to pair with variety of colors right from black, white, pink, green, red and so on. Multicolored-hoop earrings and a bright pink silk clutch added the perfect touch of glamour for a weekday date-night. ~~DIY Tip: Press the handles of the purse, inside the purse, to transform a purse to an over-sized clutch.~~

Comfortable wedge sandals completed this weekday dinner-date look. These platform strappy wedges are one of my faves; they are of perfect height, easy on feet, and I can walk in them for hours with no pain (go figure high-heeled pumps!). So, if you are looking to buy heels this summer, than definitely invest in a pair of platform wedges. The platform gives the required height without being uncomfortable or shaky. 

Anyhow, back to the dinner, and as expected, there was a wait in almost every other restaurant! But thankfully, we got a place on a patio table in a restaurant that is right in the heart of the town center. Needless to say, some drinks, apps and lots of people-watching followed thereafter :) 

All in all, a lovely time to revel in the the fact that, there will be NO MORE SNOW! *runs around in circles*

Target Merona floral skirt  (on sale - buy it here) | Ann Taylor lime green tee | 

Silk purse/clutch from Newbury street, Boston | Aldo wedge sandals (similar/similar) | 

Shoppers Stop hoop earrings (similar) | Ring from Lake Anne farmer's market |

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P.S. Shocked to hear about the blasts at the Boston Marathon today! I have lived in Boston for five years and it's like my second home after Mumbai! Breaks my heart to hear this :( Thoughts and prayers to everyone affected! 

Crazy good date-night

This is what I wore on a date night, dinner and a movie! It was one of those rare days when everything goes as planned – house work, cleaning, relaxed afternoon, picture-perfect photo shoot and then a dinner n movie. check, check and check!

Date night started with a cozy dinner at - Karaikudi (in chantilly, VA) - a restaurant that serves authentic Chettinad cuisine. We started off with Rasam (perfect for a chilly night)and then moved to idli-wada sambar (my absolute favorite!) and finally finished off Chicken Chettinad with Chapatis/Rotis & Rice. 
The food itself was finger-licking good but super spicy & HOT! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy spicy food; but this was beyond my expectations (and in a real bad way!). The Rasam itself was tasty but again too way peppery for me (I left it half way while husband finished it off). The idli-wada were delish; sambar was served in meager quantities :( I mean charge me more but at least serve a cupful of that delish sambar! The Chicken Chettinad was as authentic as it could get - had a very home-madey taste to it! Awesome! Rotis were a let down (should have just stuck to parathas).
Though most of the patrons are from India, I am pretty sure that not everyone is aware of the fiery Chettinad cuisine. I wish the servers would have mentioned to me the level of spiciness and heat in the food. Well, having said all that, I think I won't mind going back there for the 'original' south-indian taste every dish had and probably will stick to idli-wada sambar/dosa. 

Well, though the dinner experience was a little setback for me (husband loves super-spicy food, so he had no complaints :)), the movie turned out to be SUPERB! We watched Argo that night. If you haven’t watched Argo yet, then go WATCH IT NOW!! Ben Affleck – the director and lead actor – is freaking 'brilliante'! 
I was spellbound after the movie; Argo is definitely one of the best movies in recent times. I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, but I loved watching the 1970's setting and was pretty excited when they showed Washington-Dulles airport in one of the shots. (I live quite close to the airport, you see ;))

It was quite chilly that day (which is how the weather is usually here now) so I picked my quirky skirt and paired it with a black turtle neck. Turtle necks I am not a big fan of! They make me a little bit uncomfortable around the neck area. But the fact that they are so warm and cozy, I do wear them on chilly days. Boots and leggings and a Crazy good necklace completed the look. So you see, I 'winterized' my 'summer' look here. 
I got this necklace from Tanvi’s very own boutique– Crazy & Co. Thanks to my stars, I won a giveaway for a gift card to Crazy & Co. on Vidhya's blog here. I was in love with this tribal-inspired design since I had seen the House of Harlow necklace. The best part is that it's black, which makes it totally versatile.

So on date-nights, do you try new restaurants or prefer the tried-and-tested ones? Do tell. 

What I am wearing: Skirt - Anthropologie (seen here); Turtle-neck sweater - Ann Taylor Factory Outlet; Boots - Born @ The Tannery, Boston; Statement necklace - Crazy & Co.; Earrings - Local boutique in Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA; Ring - Aldo; Belt - NY & Company; Purse - Linking Road, Mumbai, India; Glasses - Burberry; Jacket - H&M

The delicious Chettinad cuisine!

Idli-wada sambar on left and Chicken Chettinad on right.

I wore the statement necklace again on Monday with formal wear and 
it paired great, don't you think? :)

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Quirky prints

I love skirts, I really do. And I love skirts even more if they are printed – quirky prints, is what I am talking about. 

I got this Geisha-printed yelllaaww skirt from Anthropologie; it was 100 bucks originally but when it went on sale, it was mine :) I never owned a quirky skirt before...before when I didn't know fashion blogs existed, when I didn't know to take fashion risks, when I didn’t know I could rock a printed skirt. Yeah, that’s the 'before' I am talking about :)

So back to present, with a fashion blog, with fashion risks and printed skirts neatly tucked in my wardrobe, I confidently say – Buy printed skirts, even better if it has a quirky print coz you ‘can’ rock it!

I love the cute little Geishas on the skirt, that its cotton (best fabric ever!) and that the skirt has pockets (yay!) The first time I wore this skirt was on our annual anniversary vacay to Puerto Rico in 2011. The black tank top just paired safe good with the skirt, no fancy accessories and I was good to go. Well to my credit, I was just getting on to the 'fashion-blog-reading' bandwagon :)

Cut to present in 2012, I am quite confident of mixing prints and this is my latest spin on styling it - a la’ risk-taking-fashion-blogger style :).  I styled the look by pairing the skirt with a B/W stripe top; I wanted to break the monotony from the yellow-black-white colors with the turquoise beaded jewelry and watch. The belt adds the right amount of definition to the look (since reading/following blogs, I have started believing in belts too!). All this thinking and effort in putting together a great outfit was well worth it - one of the visitors at the museum actually said that she loved my look! Now don't you just love when a stranger compliments you :)


This was a comfy outfit for a day out in Washington DC when J's best friend from college and his wife were visiting us from India. We had a fun day out with them; it was also the first time we were visiting DC after we moved here (Though I have been to DC twice when I was in Boston). We took them around to all the historic monuments in DC, the Smithsonian Museum and to the happening place called Adams Morgan (a suburb in DC).
It was so much fun to hang out with friends you knew from college time; getting all nostalgic, trying to catch up with each others lives and just being yourself. I quite frequently miss doing it, now that we are in the States, I miss all my college friends *sob* 

Well, last but not the least here are three tips to style a printed skirt: 

1)  Pair it with a tank top or plain tee. Select the primary color from your print. If you can’t point one primary color, go ahead with any color on the skirt. You just want the tee color to be in contrast to the skirt.

      2) Pair it with a striped top. Stripes are a safe way to mix prints and instantly enhance the chic quotient. 

      3) Pair it with polka dotted tee. If striped top is here, can the make polka dots be far behind? Polka dots are a sure way to fire up that outfit.

If the printed skirt is a mish-mash of varied colors, even better! Just pick a different color plain tee/top/tank each time and the number of looks you can create is just limitless ;)

I can see that this skirt will pair great with browns, cream/white tops, polka dots..totally worth the $50 I say :)

Which of these is your favorite look?

Outfit-1 details: 

Skirt - Anthropologie

Black tank and watch - American Eagle

yellow beaded necklace - Colaba causeway, Mumbai

black sandals - Catwalk, Mumbai

cross body bag - DSW

sunnies - Guess

Outfit-2 details: 

Skirt - Anthropologie

B/W striped top - Espirit outlet store

Brown belt - NY and Co.

Blue beaded necklace and earrings - JC Penney

Turquoise watch - Swatch

White Flats - GAP

brown beaded bracelet - street shopping in Puerto Rico

Oversized sunnies - American Eagle

Clutch cum wristlet - Burberry

P.S.: For readers in US - if you haven't visited Anthropologie, then I would suggest that you should indulge in at least window shopping there. I love their skirts;  top-of-the-line material and the print is always one of its kind! I would definitely recommend combing through their sale racks every now and then.  

P.P.S: Linking it to 'What I wore Wednesday' here and here. 

TV shopping

Another challenge/Remix from IN-FB and exciting as ever…Black and White! There are infinite possibilities with this combo ..black pants, white pants, dresses, scarves, bags..OMG the list goes on and on! It was pure madness when I sat down to think about a look for this challenge. Well, but I had sorta decided the guidelines for this challenge for myself - pair items that were never worn before or even items that were never paired before. So there it was now, much simpler and focused.

With the criteria narrowed down, I decided to go with my new purchase black tiered chiffon skirt that I shopped on TV. Yes you got it right, shopped on TV!! Well ok, I bought it online but I was TV shopping for sure on a network called ‘HSN’. I discovered HSN I think sometime last year while flipping through channels, and since then I have been switching to HSN on and off. But since the down time (got off the work grind) I could watch some of their interesting shows and this is where I spotted this skirt. I was looking for one and decided to take the plunge – looked it up online and ordered it to be shipped to our new apartment in Virginia (well I was in between shifting to our new place, but I was not going to let go of such a good deal:)) I was happy with the skirt when it arrived, it fit me great, and I can already see it worn 100 different ways. It is definitely - a wardrobe essential! It was not trans-p so no needs-of-the-skirts-slips ;)

I went with the skirt and my fav polka dot blouse n black vest. Polka dot blouse/top is another wardrobe essential – who doesn’t love polka dots, man!! I threw in some accents with a cute red wristlet and red pumps. For jewelry, I went neutral with silver n white. 

The black skirt was a catch, and it’s a boon on those days of summer – when you are too lazy (or busy) to shave/wax but hell, you don’t want to miss out the fun of wearing skirts!! ;)

Well peoples, what do you think of this look? Do share your tips for dressing up a black skirt.

Tiered Black skirt - Antthony Design Originals via HSN

Polka dot blouse - H&M

black vest - NY and Company

Red wristlet - Shoppers stop

Jewelry - local boutique

Watch - Casio (Husband's)

Ring - Inorbit, India

Red pumps - Kelly & Katie, DSW

Glasses - Burberry