Mosaic Staircase in San Francisco

OOTD-SF

When my husband and I drove to San Francisco the other weekend, I wanted to make sure we had a few fun things lined up after he was finished racing. Including an outfit of the day. Hehe!

Rightfully so, people assume California is hot and sunny year round. While I thought that too, upon moving to the sunny state I was a little incorrect. Yes, the sun certainly shines what seems like 360 days out of the year, but it’s not always a warm day — especially if you head up to San Francisco.

Now living here almost a year and a half I can tell you what Northern California’s weather truly is like. I find that the weather rarely goes above 25-28*C during the summer months, and it certainly cools down in the winter. This winter I did an outfit of the day on an unusually warm day back in January. I was roasting. But for the most part you could easily wear a hoody layered under a lightweight jacket paired with some comfortable Uggs. Basically, my uniform.

Since it’s warming up I thought I was overdue for another outfit of the day. More of these coming soon, since I miss them so much! Hope you enjoy as much as I enjoyed putting this together for you guys!

Ardene-Sunglasses

Bench-outfit-with-backpackAs for the photos of me hanging around right outside someone’s house in San Francisco, posing for pictures next to this super colourful flower vine thing growing around their garage. No biggie. This was just the street we parked on for my husband’s Escape From Alcatraz triathlon. But when you find a primo parking space at 3:30 in the morning, you grab it and look for a coffee shop, not look around your surroundings and see what’s pretty.

Bench-Canada-in-CaliforniaBut when you walk back to the car, you’re all like. Whoa hey, didn’t see that this morning. Let’s take a picture here before heading to the hidden staircase! Then you’re husband is all like “really? In front of someone’s house? What if they come home?” Pfth, they’re not going to … c’maaan. And just as we were finishing up, the owners of the house opened their garage and pulled in. Not that it matters I was posing, I wasn’t inside their house robbin’ it or nothin now.

SF-OOTDGoogle and Yelp are a fantastic resource for us, especially living in a new country. Google’d the heck out of “hidden secrets of San Francisco” and it came up with this mosaic staircase on 16th and Moraga.

Crowded-mosaic-stairsWhich, mind you… was not so hidden, nor secret. By the jeeze I swear everyone and their mother was out taking photos of this set of stairs that Sunday afternoon.

SF-Hidden-StairsAnd that’s when my layers came off. It was super chilly obviously before the sun rose and I was down by the water watching my husband race. Once the event was done, and we were walking around a bit more I only ended up needing my jacket and a tee underneath.

SF-hidden-StaircasesWe had patience, and waited until there were either a few or zero people in the photo, and snapped away. All while apologizing, Canadian style, while people waited for us to take our snaps, then it was their turn. “Oh so sorry! Sorry, let me get out of your way!”. Ha!

Anyway! Onto a few more pictures and outfit details.

Sun-Mosaic-stairs

San-Francisco-Mosaic-stairs

SF-hidden-Staircases

What we didn’t expect was a nice trail up the street from the hidden stair case, with incredible views of San Francisco. A little foggy, but that’s the City for you.San-Francisco-skyline

Windy-SanFran

Nikes

Bench-closeup

Funzo-in-SFMe and my fancy pants, and a final picture in my true form, just to make you laugh or smile :)

Outfit details
 Sunnies: Ardene | Jacket: Bench Canada | Top underneath: Costco
Sneakers: Nike | Leggings: Bench Canada | Backpack: The North Face

 

Have an awesome rest of your day!

Disclaimer: Bench Canada gave me a gift card to shop on their website and that’s where I picked out the jacket and leggings!

 

 

Continue Reading

Dior Addict Tie Dye Fluid Sticks

Dior Addict Fluid Sticks and Tie Dye blushesDior Addict Tie Dye Fluid Sticks swatches and review:

My first products from Christian Dior makeup was their fluid sticks last April.  See all three swatches below!

Swatches of Dior Addict Fluid Sticks from Tie Dye collectionLeft to right: 449 Ciel Rose, 379 Tropiques, 779 Plasir.

Limited Edition Dior Addict Fluid Sticks from Tie Dye collectionLeft to right in the same order as above: 449 Ciel Rose, 379 Tropiques, 779 Plasir.

Dior Fluid Stick lip gloss in Ciel Rose449 Ciel Rose. I find this one is the easiest (and perhaps most “boring”) colour of them all. Definitely a safe bet if you were undecided as to which one to buy. This one will look great as it’s a basic yet flattering everyday colour.

Dior Fluid Stick lip gloss in Tropiques379 Tropiques. Now this one would be so fun for summer coming up.

Dior Fluid Stick lip gloss in Plasir779 Plasir. This one might be my favourite. A little hot pink, a little coral. A whole lotta fun.

These are such a unique lip product. Goes on like a gloss, sets like a stain and lasts for hours. I love the applicator too, so smooth and glides on the lips with ease. I felt like the previous Fluid Sticks I’ve tried by Dior bled a little on my lips, and I’m not one for lip liner so I skipped on them and tossed the Dior Fluid Sticks to the side. However, they must’ve changed their formula — because these are more creamier than before and dare I say it, I really do enjoy wearing them! I’m not even a lipstick, lip gloss wearer, but these have found a permanent home in my purse. It’s kinda fun, really!

How often do you wear lip sticks?

Which colour is your favourite on me?

Think you’ll pick one up for the upcoming summer season? If so, which one would you ultimately go for?

Want to see more from the Dior Tie Dye collection? Check out my links below for a makeup look, and some lipstick swatches!

Continue Reading

Laid back California style with Prius

Prius-five-headerGuys, my car is slowing giving me car troubles! I’m so sad — we’re going to fix the few expensive issues it has, but for now I’ve decided I cannot take it up any of the steep San Francisco hills while I’m playing tour-guide with my bestie.

Nancy-in-PriusWeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baker-Beach-and-PriusSo what better way to show her the steep roller-coaster-like streets in San Francisco than one that doesn’t guzzle gas, and is just as small as my little Mazda?

Standing-on-Prius-FiveWe went on a 2 day girls getaway excursion to The City (the locals way of saying San Francisco) and then back down the coast for some beach days? Nothin’ better than it my friends.

Red-2015-Prius-Fivein-CarmeThe car arrived on my birthday (ahem, May 7th for all those who are late wishing me a Happy Birthday) ;)

Rear-of-2015-Prius-FiveI have to be honest, the prius never did call out to me when I was looking for cars. I wasn’t a huge fan of the shape of the exterior, I wanted something round and sportier like my Mazda, or even a cool looking Scion.

The Prius is undeniably a popular car. We were seeing different models of the Prius zip around all of the cities we were visiting when reviewing the car. It’s no surprise Toyota has sold over 1.6million of them since they were first introduced.

Keyless entry to the car is the first feature I certainly noticed, and would like to have on my buy-list for the next car purchase. You also didn’t have a turn-key ignition, just needed to press the start button. Madness to me! At first when the car was dropped off, I had no idea how to work it, so I went to one of my neighbours who has one, and asked him to help me out, haha! He was showing me all the tips and tricks with the car.

Prius-2015Can’t tell you how great this one was on gas, due to all the stop-and-go traffic once you hit San Francisco, and parking was easy because hello I’m a professional parallel parker. No, trust me — I am. If you’re having difficulties I will get out of the passenger seat and into the drivers, and parallel park any car/truck for you. The Prius Five had a backup camera, which was so much help for me, especially considering it was a new-t0-me vehicle.

2015-Prius-Five-dashboardEnough about my parking brag, the prius is a hybrid and obviously means it’s fantastic on gas. My car holds a 55 liter tank (14.5 gallons), and the prius’ tank is a 45 liter (11.9 gallon). Didn’t have to fill’er up much at all, due to it being an amazing city car to zip around in.

Red-2015-Prius-FiveGas prices are SO much cheaper down here than they are in Canada, so I’m still adjusting to how inexpensive it is to fill up my car while living in the USA. It’s great not having to spend over forty bucks to fill up a tank.

Hanging-out-of-PriusI’m sure some of the prius cars come with a sunroof, but that’s one thing I definitely missed. I feel like I am in a convertible when the sunroof is open, the windows all rolled down and the music just cranked. Wind blowing through our hair, driving through the California coast. I MEAN… COME ON. I love living here. Have I said that yet? :)

Inside-Prius-Five-2015The Guy and I will always have a car with a hatch back or a car with a trunk large enough to fit his bicycle, the Prius Five is roomy enough for that.

2015-Prius-Five-wheels

2015-Prius-Five-frontseatWith my Mazda, I have many buttons on the steering wheel so I can set the cruise control, switch radio stations or crank the volume. Pleased to see it available in the Prius since it comes second nature to me when driving, especially for long distances.

2015-Prius-Five-backseatBack seat spaciousness isn’t a huge deal breaker for me, since it’s usually only me or my husband driving each of our cars solo. We don’t usually carry many passengers and I can count on one hand how many times someone has sat in the back seat of my car. Although, that could change in a number of years considering we’re a married couple now!

Prius-dash

Prius-in-Pacific-GroveWith my Mazda, I have many buttons on the steering wheel so I can set the cruise control, switch radio stations or crank the volume. Pleased to see it available in the Prius since it comes second nature to me when driving. But the coolest part that sets it apart is that all you have to do is glide your finger over the buttons you want to press on the steering wheel, and in your peripheral vision on the windsheild, you’ll see what button you’re hovering over, so you don’t have to look down and check! Madness. Technology.

2015-Prius-Five-dash

2015-Prius-Five

MPH-to-KMHThe Prius Five was so quiet, and I noticed that especially when I was slowly driving through a parking lot, pedestrians didn’t realize I was behind them because you don’t hear the engine of the car going. So I thought that was a little interesting.

Pruis-5-2015I was not a fan of the center console though nor the built in navigation. I’m not the hugest fan of built-in nav boxes anyway because I feel like I can’t update them as often as I can with my BlackBerry and the maps app on that. The centre console was at an awkward height. I forget which arm it was, but when I was resting either elbow on the two sides, one was significantly lower than the other. And there wasn’t a proper place for a bit of lipgloss, or my cell phone to rest, unless I put it underneath. I’d rather have that space entirely open.

If you’re looking for more information regarding the Toyota Prius Five check out their website.

Disclaimer: The 2015 Prius Five was loaned to me for a week to review. All opinions are my own.

 

Continue Reading