SAN FRANCISCO - ghiradelli and garages

After two days of orientation at Berkeley, I was free to spend the rest of the week in San Francisco! This is actually my first time up here, so I was so excited to explore the area. Of course, we had to partake in as many tourist-y activities as possible! 

fruit cup for lunch

I need to start off by saying that I'm absolutely obsessed with this city for many reasons, but especially because of all the colored garages! As a fashion blogger, I'm always looking for cool backgrounds for my photos. In San Francsico, every single house/apartment/mural is the perfect place to shoot pictures, but I especially loved this black garage, pictured above.

[remember when I told you that I LOVE the color black?]

Don't worry though, I made sure to fit some color in with this super cute red garage door I spotted on Lombard Street. 

For those of you who don't know, Lombard street is a super cool street in San Francisco famous for its winding, floral path. The street is absolutely beautiful and overlooks the city below, providing a spectacular view.

my favorite house on Lombard St.

As if I hadn't spent enough time gawking at the amazing garages (read: "photo backgrounds") I found at every turn, on our way to Ghiradelli Square, I found the most beautiful ivy wall. I think I've actually seen a picture of this house on tumblr at some point...

Anyway, in this picture, I was standing in front of a 20-foot ivy wall. I was in heaven. 

My mom was not. I made her take pictures...the whole day...

Thanks, mom.

Enough about garages. Sorry. Here's a bit about what I'm wearing. I wanted to stay comfortable as always, so I threw on my black t-shirt dress and a vintage Levi's jacket I picked up in Berkeley. I also wore my Toms sunglasses and white converse as usual.

My sister wanted to be in the pictures. You can tell that our agendas weren't quite the same.

On our way to Ghiradelli Square, we encountered a beautiful park right by the water. Obviously, I became a 5-year-old again and decided to frolic/lay in the grass.

But we eventually made it to Ghiradelli and splurged on desserts despite the fact that it was already 6:30ish by this point. I'm sure eating dessert before dinner every once in a while won't kill you, despite your parents' repeated warnings against doing so since you were a baby.

my mom's espresso sundae. heavenly. absolutely heavenly.

All I have to say is, I'm thankful for all the hills I walked in San Francisco, because without them, I wouldn't have been able to eat all the food I consumed over the course of my trip. Amen.

MONOCHROME BLUE

My Nikon J1 came in the mail yesterday! This means my photos will most likely be taken on that camera now, instead of my iPhone, and I'll start filming videos and posting them on my YouTube channel. Exciting stuff.

I wore this outfit the other day when I went to MILK with my friend, Bridgette. Didn't catch that post? Read it HERE! The sun was blazing and it definitely verged on 'hot' at some points, but for the most part, this outfit was perfect for that day's mid 80 degree weather. I've mentioned before that I love black clothing, and that most of my wardrobe is black (75%, I think i said). So it's somewhat ironic that all the outfits I've posted so far have been completely devoid of black clothing items. I'm a fraud.

I don't think I mentioned this in my "MILK" post, but despite our efforts to not spend large amounts of money on clothing that day....

...yup, I made two (ridiculously) expensive purchases. Yay for the closet, nay for my bank account. [You'll find out more about those items in a future post or video :)]

Ahhhh, confused as always.

After a light lunch at the Grove, we headed to Beverly Hills to visit the Kitson store on Melrose Ave.

Before walking into the store, I told my friend that I wasn't going to buy anything. At least, that was the goal. You can probably guess that I caved, and ended up buying something. I won't tell you what I got yet, but look at this pillow! I want it for my dorm, so hopefully I can go back to Kitson sometime soon.

HAHA I wish.

Enough of this, lets go back to the outfit. I got the top in Japan, so I couldn't find the link for it, but the back is a solid knit whereas the front part is mesh-y and has a floral pattern embroidered on top. I love this top SO much, even though I don't wear it very often. It's very unique and perfect for summer, since the mesh is cool and slightly cheeky,  but still completely appropriate with a bralette worn underneath (I wore this one). 

I also love these boyfriend jeans. I recently picked them up at Zara, and the wash is just the right color - not too light. I'm not always a huge fan of distressed denim, but I am when it comes to boyfriend jeans. Boyfriend jeans can be tricky to pull off because they do have a boxier fit and can make you look larger. Distressed details can help offset this unfortunate occurrence. My shoes are white converse, the same ones I wore in this post.

My sunnies are from TOMS. I'm kind of obsessed with them. What's great about TOMS products is that for every item you buy, the company gives something back to people in need. For every pair of sunglasses sold, TOMS provides medical services that give eyesight to someone who is visually impaired. So not only do you get a super cute pair of sunglasses, but you're also helping out people who may not be as fortunate as you are!

These are some of my favorite items in my wardrobe right now, so hopefully you guys enjoyed this post! I would love to hear your comments :)