Ellie-Style: Rooftop Polka Dots

This is my last Ellie-Style post from California! In honor of it being the last Ellie-Style from CA we decided to head up to the roof where you can see Oakland in all of its glory. Thinking about moving back to Virginia is getting me excited about wearing dresses again! Unfortunately the cooler weather here has made jeans and sweaters the more comfortable option. With the heat and humidity (which I miss dearly!) in Virginia, I will welcome dresses back into my wardrobe.

{Like I've said before, I don't claim to know anything about fashion. I just enjoy wearing pretty clothes and taking pictures. :) }

(free sunglasses from our apartment, Target sweater (old), vintage dress with bottom part sewed by me, Target sandals (old))

Ellie Style - Ocean Beach

Andy and I have been meaning to check out Ocean Beach for a while now. It is directly on the other side of San Francisco (from Oakland) and is a large stretch of beach, almost the length of San Francisco. I always thought it would be a chilly beach since it is directly exposed to the Pacific with no bay or inlet protecting it from wind and fog. We were surprised when we picnicked there though. With the sun shining it was actually hot and Andy even took his shirt off, oh boy! :) A dress and sweater was perfect for the day. I quickly lost the sweater and exposed my white shoulders to a bit of sun. It was lovely! (I am especially a fan of navy stripes on the beach!)

Lands End dress (last year) and sweater, Target sunglasses and sandals

Ellie Style: At the Pier

A few weeks ago Andy and I checked out the Santa Cruz Pier. It was a warm day, but on the pier it was cool and windy. I am loving this mint color for spring, especially in jeans! Growing up, I was a huge fan of colored pants when just plain bluejeans were in style. I am glad to see colors coming back into pants! I think you have to be careful what color you chose depending on the size of your hips though. Some colors can make you look a lot larger than you are. This mint color is borderline, but I love it! Mint jeans and polka dots and long pier walks, oh my!

 Lands End sweater, target blouse, American Eagle jeans, h&m shoes

Ellie-Style: Sky Blue

Spring, wonderful spring! On this particular day I seem to have dressed to match the color of the sky. Pretty shades of blue. I love it when we are out and I find a fun background to take pictures with. A fun background is not normally something I look hard for, so when it pops out I am overjoyed. This corrugated wall was next to some of the most beautiful blossoming trees. Unfortunately the trees were in a parking lot, so I opted for the corrugated wall for my pictures. The wall definitely added some fun drama and texture, not to mention it was the outside wall to REI, a place full of adventure.

Target fedora hat, The Sak purse, Forever 21 blouse, Gap jeans, Target sandals, street vendor sunglasses

Ellie-Style: Plaid for San Francisco

We live in Oakland, so we tend to get a lot more warmth and sunshine than San Francisco. When heading into San Francisco though, one must be mindful of the weather. A city's weather has never been so interesting to me. One neighborhood could have warm sunshine, while another is cold and drenched in fog...so interesting! Never have I encountered that anywhere else in my whole life. Also, as a whole, San Francisco tends to be about 10 degrees colder than Oakland. (From my observations.) So each time we head into the city I am sure to read up on the weather beforehand. I have come to realize that San Francisco is a sweater and boot kind of city. These staples will fly just about any day of the year, awesome! It is also a city for layering. When we moved here, a friend told us his rule of thumb is 2-layers for day, 3-layers for night. We have been pretty safe sticking to that rule.

Target sweater (old), American Eagle plaid button up (from a friend), Gap skirt (similar), Korean boots, The Sak purse

 

Guy Style - feminine looks with a masculine edge

I recently found a tumbler site called Boy. Inspired and I love it. I have found myself liking the majority of the outfits on the site. This surprises me for some reason. I can't quite figure it out. I guess I have always thought of my style as feminine, but in taking a closer look I don't think that is always so. During the summer, I live in skirts and dresses, but when it is NOT hot outside I steer clear of the flowery billowing frocks for fear of draftiness. I hate to be cold, so I tend to go the pants route in any weather under 60 degrees. I also like clean lines, simple pieces, and solid colors...for the most part. It is fun to discover new and different style likes. With style being a way of expressing yourself, the sky is really the limit. So here are some of my new favorite boy-inspired looks:

 To start with, this is actually me. Some girlfriends and I threw a 'guys night' party a few years ago.

 All images, except the first, are via Boy. Inspired

Ellie-Style, Rooftop Drinks in San Francisco

Andy's cousin came to town on a business trip a few weeks ago, so we arranged to meet him one night. He was staying at a swanky hotel on top of Nob Hill in San Francisco, so that's where met him. When we got there, he told us he had heard mention of a rooftop bar with views of the city, so we jumped on the idea. We took the elevator as far UP as it would go. At the top, we were greeted by a live pianist playing on a baby grand. He was surrounded by numerous little tables with candles, and then magnificent floor to ceiling windows. We chose a table next to a window and admired the city views while we waited for our martinis to arrive. It was truly like something out of the movies. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like lugging my camera along (big mistake), so I don't have any photos of the night. The memory will have to suffice.

New hairstyle! I don't know if I like it, but it was fun to try.

Vintage jacket (from here), New York & Company top, CAbi skirt, TJ Max purse, Target tights, Korean boots

Green for St Patrick's Day

I am a huge fan of holidays! Especially those holidays that you can dress up for, which is most actually. I'll take any excuse to don a color that I don't usually wear, or a hat that would normally look out of place. In college there were all sorts of opportunities to dress up for theme parties etc. Since being out of college though, I have found a lack in those types of parties and events. Luckily, San Francisco is one colorful city where anything goes. There doesn't need to be a special reason to wear something out of the normal, like monochrome green. I love that! For those of you who don't live in the Bay Area though, here is a gathering of fun green items (all under $80) to help you celebrate this St. Patrick's Day. Oh, and make sure you drink some green beer too!

Information on individual pieces Here.

Green dress, $42 / Retro inspired dress / Green cotton dress / J.Crew sports shirt / H&M shirt, $23 / Short skirt / Old Navy / Skirt / Topshop / Old Navy top sider shoes / Michael Antonio colorful heels / Pieces leather shoulder bag / Anthropologie swarovski crystal jewelry / Charlotte Russe jewelry / Kate Spade / Sunglasses

Ellie-Style, Brunch

Andy and I recently went for brunch in Emeryville, Oakland and this is what I wore. (I'll write a brunch review of the place we went in a future post.) Our Oakland weekends lately have been sunny and warm, around 60 degrees. The flowers and blossoms are also starting to come out, which is fun. Having just moved here from Virginia, a March spring is very exciting! I am not used to this warm of weather or seeing signs of spring this early. It has definitely made my heart lighter and puts a spring in my step. I will be excited to start brunching outside more as the weeks progress. Yay for spring! And speaking of spring, this light blue sweater with rolled up jeans was a perfect color and style for the day.

TJ Max sunglasses, old Target sweater, TJ Max purse, Gap jeans, h&m flats

Ellie-Style Backpacking

This Ellie-Style post is a little different from most. Here in California (Bay Area to be exact) there are tons of outdoor things to do. It is impossible not to spend most of your free time out in nature. Between the beaches and the mountains, the outdoor possibilities are endless. It is good to have some staple clothing items for these adventures. While I love to look pretty, I also enjoy functionality. Being outside hiking most of the day requires more functionality than pretty...but it is possible to have both! At least in my opinion. I chose a girlie pink wicking top, so that not only would I look cute, but I would have the functionality of my top wicking away the sweat and keeping me dry as I hike. My pants are light and quick dry so if I hike through a stream and get wet, they will dry quickly. They also roll up and button, so if I decide to wade into the ocean they won't get in my way. Everything else is pretty basic for hiking. Despite how far out in the wilderness I may be though, I always try to keep a feminine touch, in this case my pink top, and my pearl earrings.

What are your go-to hiking pieces? Do you try to keep femininity while playing outside, or do you let it all go out the window for the sake of necessity?

Ellie-Style Rooftop

Like I always say, I don't claim to know anything about fashion, but I do like to feel good in my clothes while trying to look good. So here's a little piece of my style. Andy and I went to dinner with some friends a few nights ago and decided to snap some pictures before heading out. (We discovered our roof!!) I am so excited that it is already getting dark later. If Andy gets home at a decent time we still have a bit of light left. I am excited for lighter evenings and long strolls around Lake Merritt in the coming months.

  Jacket-Etsy vintage, Blouse(similar)-Forever 21, Jeans-Gap, Clutch-Etsy vintage, Shoes-Steve Madden

Ellie-Style, Restaurant Week SF

It has been quite a while since I've done an Ellie-Style post. Last weekend Andy and I headed into San Francisco for Restaurant Week, so I took the opportunity to snap some outfit pictures. Restaurant Week is a tradition of ours. It goes back to the years we lived in Washington DC. We had a wonderful, knowledgeable friend who always picked the restaurant for us. Twice a year when Restaurant Week was held we would all dress up and enjoy a wonderful 3-4 course meal together at a restaurant that we wouldn't normally go to. It was something I always looked forward to.

Now that we are living in the Bay Area we have decided to continue the tradition. Restaurant Week popped up on my radar so I started researching restaurants. Let me tell you, it was a chore! A fun chore, but a chore none the less. With so many restaurants to choose from in an area that I hard know, I had no direction. I decided to start with the neighborhood that we have visited a few times- The Mission. From there, Andy and I narrowed it down to the kind of food we wanted. We decided on California Fusion...whatever that is. When in California, eat the Californian food, right?

blazer (similar)-JCrew, dress-Target, tights-ModCloth, shoes-Target, belt-clothing swap, purse-Etsy Vintage

So we made reservations at Luna Park. The food was great, like melt in your mouth amazing! Unfortunately it was too dark in the restaurant to take pictures, so I didn't get to document the experience very well...next time. It was a fun first time doing restaurant week in San Francisco. I eagerly await the next time it happens.

 The only picture I have of dinner. We started with goat cheese fondue- amazing!