Find Fun Walls

Hey hey! Hope your week is going well. Today I will be showcasing an outfit and giving a tip I learned that can help take your pictures to the next level.

My tip: find fun walls that make your outfit and picture stand out.

Walls come in all shapes and sizes. There’s the traditional stone and brick walls, but there are also walls that are colorful and highly decorated. I love finding walls that compliment my outfit.

 

LA has a lot of cool street art throughout the city so it’s easy to find a patterned wall to use as a background. I actually found this wall on the side of a parking garage near Melrose. I chose this wall because the red and black pattern on it was bright and looked edgy.

I wore a striped button up shirt from FashionNova that I knotted in the front and black Topshop pants. To finish off my look, I wore teal, velvet heels.

I like versatile outfits and pieces that I can rewear multiple ways. If I throw on some flats with this outfit it works for a casual, everyday look. If I button up my shirt and throw on a blazer, it’s a professional look.

What pieces do you have in your closet that you love to rewear? Where are some good picture locations in your city? Let me know in the comments below and enjoy the rest of your week!

Rocking a Topshop Hoodie Dress and Vans for a Casual Slay

Hey hey! I hope your week has been fun and productive so far. It’s been a chilly and rainy few days here in LA, so after work I’ve been staying warm and cozy inside my apartment, doing yoga, catching up on a few of my favorite podcasts, and reading.

When it gets chilly in LA is definitely nothing compared to chilly in Baltimore, but i still try to dress appropriate for the weather. LA chilly is around 50ish degrees and requires a light jacket or sweater.

Some of the LA natives would call 50ish degrees cold but thats because they never felt 20 degree Baltimore or east coast weather lol.

I love dresses more than any article of clothing. Anytime i get to wear one I will. I recently found a great deal on this topshop hoodie dress.

Right when i saw it I knew I had to have it in my closet. It comes in a dusty rose pink color and the bright red color I purchased. I purchased it in red because I actually don’t own a lot of red and I loved how bright it was. I love having a colorful wardrobe!

Now some might say that this dress is outside my normal dress attire and they would be correct. My dresses are normally fit and flare, bodycon, or maxi dresses. Having it be so different from what I already own is one of the main reasons I wanted to buy it.

I paired this dress with gray and white checkerboard Vans that have red roses on them. The red in the shoes popped along with the red dress. I wanted this look to be casual, but still stylish as well. Buying a dress that is super comfortable and cute is a great find! Throw on some boots or heels with this dress and you have a cute brunch outfit or party outfit.

Aside from loving dresses, I also love fun walls! That’s why I was so excited when I found this wall near my job. The wall is green plants in a wooden pot fixture in the shape of arrows. I didn’t realize how cool the wall looked with my outfit until I saw the pics.

Visit my Instagram page @coralbuttons to see more pictures and to get some style inspo. Let me know in the comments below if you would rock a hoodie dress and if you would wear it more casual, dressed up, or both. Have a lovely rest of your week!

#OOTD

Hey hey!

This #ootd is actually from my birthday which was November 18th, but life has been a little busy since then with Thanksgiving and flying back home to Maryland from LA to visit my family! 🙂

I don’t have many pictures from visiting my family because I was trying to focus on spending time with everyone and staying disconnected from social media as much as I could.

I did however take a lot of pictures on my birthday so I hope you like my outfit pictured throughout this post!

This dress was actually given to me by one of my previous coworkers…thanks Kelly! It fits great and it is super flattering.

I got my blue heels from Macys last year for my birthday and I thought that it would be a cool tradition to wear them every year on my birthday until I forget or outgrow them lol.

On my birthday, Shawn and I just went to the movies and out to eat at a restaurant called Sizzler. Have any of you eaten there before? It was yummy!

I am blessed to see another year and sorry for the late post showcasing this outfit, but let me know in the comments below if you like it! Enjoy your week lovelies!

Smorgasburg LA!

Last Sunday I decided to take a trip to a place here in LA that I’ve been wanting to visit for some time called Smorgasburg!

If you are like what in the world is that, let me explain. Smorgasburg is held every Sunday in downtown LA from 10 am to 4 pm. A bunch of local shopping, food, and drink vendors set up tents to sell their amazing food or awesome merchandise.

Attending Smorgasburg is also a great date idea! It’s lowkey, fun, and you get to try out new food and drinks.

I found out about Smorgasburg on Instagram when I saw numerous pictures showing delicious looking desserts and drinks and I knew I had to visit. I love all things shrimp so I knew I had to stop by the Shrimp Daddy booth to get a meal and I’m so happy I did.

The meal left me speechless. Take a look at it below:

I ordered a pineapple boat which is grilled shrimp, mac salad, rice with curry paste, and pineapple chunks served in half a pineapple. The plating is beautiful and it tastes delicious. I definitely reccomend trying it out if you attend Smorgasburg.

To finish off my meal I got a yummy, mango ice cream cone from Wanderlust creamery. I give it a 10/10!

I decided to wear a dressy casual look to the event. I paired a black and white polka dot, crop top from H&M with skinny jeans from Topshop, and black heels from Nordstrom Rack.

I also rocked a sporty fannypack from FashionNova. What do you think of my #LOTD #OOTD? Let me know in the comments below. Also tell me if you’ve visited Smorgasburg and have a fave food spot or plan to go, I want to go again!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

One year LA Anniversary!

Just four days ago was my 1 year anniversary of moving to LA. It’s crazy to think that I’ve already been living here for a full year. It really flew by! This post is going to be a timeline of a few of my favorite LA moments over this past year. Enjoy!

Moving to LA – 10/22/17

Visiting Echo Park – 10/31/17

Visiting The Grove – 11/3/17

First birthday in LA – 11/18/17

First holiday season in LA – 12/8/17

New year, new look – 1/1/18

First rainy day in LA – 1/8/18

Visiting Griffith Observatory – 1/16/18

Visiting the Love Wall in Beverly Hills – 2/8/18

First Valentine’s Day in LA/Visiting the Natural History Museum – 2/14/18

Attending my first wedding – 4/21/18

Celebrating my 6 year Anniversary – 4/25/18

Visiting Santa Monica – 5/4/18

Visiting La Brea Tar Pits – 6/6/18

Attending Janelle Monae concert – 6/28/18

Visiting Manhattan Beach – 7/10/18

Visiting Little Tokyo – 7/24/18

Visiting the Beverly Hills Sign – 8/9/18

Hiking to the Secret Swing in Elysian Park – 8/23/18

Visiting Universal Citywalk – 9/27/18

The adventure continues – 10/2618

Hope you enjoyed traveling through time with me and I look forward to bringing you all on many more journeys! Have a lovely weekend!

California Crop Top

Can you believe that September is almost over and in a few days it will be the first day of fall!? It’s crazy because in LA it still feels like summertime.

It’s been consistently in the 80’s or high 70’s these days. That’s why the outfit shown below is perfect for a sunny, September day.

I wore a blue crop top with the word California on it, adorbly decorated with flowers and butterflies. I paired my crop top with denim cut-off shorts and yellow Vans to accent the flowers in my top.

My top is $15 from Topshop, my shorts were $20 from Forever 21 and my Vans were a gift!

I recently realized that I don’t smile often in my pictures, so I made the decision to smile during every photosession from now on. I can have more serious photos taken as well, but I want to make sure I get a few smiling shots in the mix since it is outside of my comfort zone.

I love my smile, but for some reason I just don’t feel like I photograph well when I’m smiling, so I want to break down that wall I have on myself and challenge myself to embrace my smile more in pictures.

I posted the pictures featured in this post on IG @coralbuttons, so if you follow me you saw my caption saying: “Smile more, #lifeisgood” and it’s true so smile and make the most out of your day everybody!

Is there something you want to improve on when it comes to your style or your photos? Let me know in the comments below!

Secret Swing at Elysian Park

Happy Monday beautiful people. I hope your September is off to a great start!

Today I want to take you to a land far far away…well not really far away but moreso up in the air. I recently visited a hiking trail in Elysian Park in LA to try to find a secret swing and to my surprise I found it!

It’s called the Secret Swing because it is up a secluded hill and not many people know about it unless you did some research like I did. I really wanted to visit the swing because the view is amazing.

To visit the swing I wore a simple black maxi dress paired with floral vans. Shawn and I rode a Lyft to the bottom of the hiking trail and from there its just about a 5-7 min hike up to the swing.

I wouldn’t reccomend swinging too hard on the swing because it is very high up and there is no fence to protect you from falling. Gently sitting on it like I did will still make for a great shot.

If you are in LA and want to do an easy hike I definitely reccomend visitng Elysian Park and the Secret Swing.

Do you like the view? Would yoy be scared to sit on the swing? What do you think of my outfit? Let me know in the comments below and have a great week!

Teal Takeover

I’m excited for today’s post because I get to talk about my favorite color, teal!

In case you have no idea what teal is, it’s a gorgeous shade of blue-green.

I love teal because it looks great on literally everything. Teal clothes, jewelry, shoes, even hair, are all gorgeous.

My OOTD is a lovely, teal and floral crop top paired with teal cropped trousers and white flats. I love the sleeves of this top because it resembles the ones seen on a kimono.

This top was an affordable $17 from Nordstrom! My trousers were $20 from ASOS and have a side zipper which I love much more than the traditional front zipper and button combo.

My flats are also from Nordstrom and cost around $25. I love the bow detail on them!

Teal is just one of those colors I feel looks great on me! It’s the perfect shade to match my complexion and hair.

What’s your favorite color and how do you think it looks on you? Let me know in the comments below and have a lovely week!

Relaxing on Manhattan Beach

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

The perks of now living in Los Angeles is that beaches are literally miles away. I visited Santa Monica pier a few months ago, you can read that blog post here and recently I decided to visit Manhattan Beach.

Manhattan Beach is fun, family friendly, and also has a pier like Santa Monica beach.

The waves were crashing, kids were giggling and playing games on the sand, and the weather was perfect, not too sunny and not too chilly.

I wore this Misguided one piece bathing suit to the beach for the first time and I loved it. It’s flattering and just the right amount of sexy.

The suit has a low-cut, V neck and it has thin straps for a little side boob action and a scoop back. The lips on the suit gave it an edgy, flirty touch.

I actually can’t swim so learning how to swim can be my excuse for going to the beach often 🙂

There’s so many beaches in California, I can’t wait to visit them all. What’s one of your favorites in LA or California?

Let me know in the comments below and tell me what you think of this Misguided one piece bathing suit! Enjoy your weekend lovelies.

The Mondrian Wall

Los Angeles is full of art! Every few blocks there’s either a wall painting, a stylish modern building, or an awesome tourist spot where you can take gorgeous photos.

Recently, I found a photo spot called the “Mondrian Wall” here in LA.The wall is on the side of an art store called, Artist & Craftsman Supply LA.

It’s super colorful and makes for a perfect photo op.

At the wall, I wore a black, ruched, bodycon dress. I decided to go with a black dress to make the colors behind me on the wall pop.

I paired my black dress with yellow Vans and Quay, cateye shades. This is a look that definitely can be dress up for a nighttime dinner or kept casual like how I wore it.

I challenge you this week to find a new photo spot in your city. You may have to walk a few blocks or drive a different route, but it will be worth it!