simplyxclassic - Page 5 of 97 - a life and style blog

March 27, 2017

2017 Spring Trend: The Color Yellow

Spring Trend For 2017: Yellow

I don’t really pay attention to trend reports but one color I’ve been seeing everywhere is YELLOW! I love it because yellow is one of my favorite colors! It’s such a happy and cheerful color, how can anyone not love it? This pleated dress is one of my favorites– no seriously, it really is. I own this same dress in black and white! This dress is currently $22 and comes in petite and tall sizes as well. I’m 5’5 and am wearing a small regular.

If this dress isn’t for you, I picked a few other yellow options for you to warm up your spring wardrobe.

March 23, 2017

Things To Do in San Diego

– San Diego Travel Guide –

If you’re following me on instagram then you know that my family and I took a trip to San Deigo for a quick 24 hour getaway. SD is only about 70 miles from our home and though we have been a few times before we never really explored the beautiful coastal city until now.

shop my maxi here

Our first stop was Holy Matcha— a cute little cafe with green leaves wallpaper, pink furniture and gold accents.
After we matcha’d up we drove down the street to a charming little store called, Pigment to take a few pics in front of their “instagramable” succulent wall and pink gradient wall. Rylie cashed in her Chinese New Year money and picked out a unicorn plush for herself.

dress // basket tote // bag charm // shoes

Next on our list was Sea World. This was my first time and I was excited to see some marine life.

basket tote // bag charm // hat

We checked into Hyatt Regency La Jolla where we were greeted with friendly smiles and a beautiful newly renovated suite. We had lunch at their oh so chic restaurant & bar Drift eat + drink. I definitely recommend the beet & melon salad as well as their ceviche and cheese & meat platter. Everything was excellent. Rylie enjoyed her cheesy mac c cheese (I did too). This restaurant would be fabulous for any occasion– girl’s night, business meeting, Sunday brunch… The twinkle lights look so magical at night and they even provide blankets if you choose to dine outside.

dress // basket tote // bag charm // similar heels // hat

On our second day, we stopped by the popular Communal Coffee.

top // jeans

After coffee we decided to explore the area so we went to Torrey Pines Gliderport to view the flights. It was amazing to witness– next time we go back to SD, I am doing this for sure! Oh and the superbloom in the area is amazing!

$16 dress c/o Tobi

Lastly we visited to Salk Institute to admire the beautiful architecture but sadly they are renovating so most of the buildings were covered up by black cloths as you see in the picture above. Regardless, the view was beautiful and I still got a chance to admire some of the building.

I sincerely wish we had more time in beautiful San Diego! There’s so much we didn’t have a chance to do and explore which is why we’re already planning another trip for the near future. Please leave me any recommendations below! You can see our last trip to San Diego here and last year’s day trip to the Carlsbad flower fields here.

March 20, 2017

What’s In My Shopping Cart

Sharing what’s in my shopping cart…

ombre maxi dress // cami & shirt combo // one shoulder stripe top // gingham dress // red floral print dress // lace espadrille // blue fringe sandals // red fringe sandals // text floppy hat // rectangle basket tote // round basket tote // yellow tote

Spring is finally here and I’ve been doing a little shopping. I just couldn’t help myself because there are so many fresh new prints and styles. Share with me what’s in your shopping cart? What have you been loving lately?

March 14, 2017

Oahu’s Best Instagram Spots

Sharing a few of Oahu’s best Instagram Spots for photos.

By now I think you all know how much my family and I love Oahu, Hawaii (read about my other trips here, here and here). This was our 4th trip to the Island and since I already did a mini guide, I wanted to share a few of my favorite ‘instagram worthy’ spots.

– Lanikai Beach –
dress // hat

This beach is absolutely breathtaking with it’s turquoise water and white sand. I wish I could say that my photo above is photoshopped but the colors are true to what they are in real life. We spent 3 of our 7 days on this beach alone which is quite a lot for us because both my husband and I love to explore new places. This was also Rylie’s favorite beach because the water was calm enough for her to play in.

– Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade –
1279 S. Kihei Rd #309, Kihei
dress // hat

You must stop by and pick up a refreshing strawberry lemonade slush. Their cute mason jar with their signature sticker logo alone is enough to make your social media followers swoon.

– Giant Tree Swing –
53-936 Kamehameha Highway Hauula, Oahu
dress // hat

This giant tree swing was a hidden gem and it was so hard to find this location because a lot of social media people tend to hush up on specific locations… Well we found it and I’m sharing it with all of you! This beach is quiet and small but is SOOOOO beautiful! We spent a couple of hours here lounging and playing– had we have known that it was a good spot to snorkel, we would have brought our gear.

– Angel’s Wings –
62-620 Kamehameha Highway, Suite A Haleiwa, Oahu
top // shorts // shoes // sunnies // hat

This little wall is located right outside of Anahulu’s shaved ice. Get your shaved ice and snap your pic– two instagram worthy shots for the price of one! #boom!

– Kakaako Street Murals –
442 Cooke Street, Honolulu
dress // hat

The next set of photos come from one location that is covered with beautiful murals all around. The address above is a general location– you really just have to drive around and take your pick but keep in mind that you may not be able to snap a pic of a specific mural you have in mind because artists are constantly painting and then repainting so what’s there one month may not be there the next.

dress // hat // flip flops

top // shorts // shoes // bag

dress // bag // hat

– Arvo Cafe –
675 Auahi St, Honolulu

This yummy cafe serves yummy avocado toast and matcha chia seed pudding.. I also love their smoked salmon toast too!

– Waimanalo Tire Swing –
dress // hat

This swing was found just by chance and I’m sorry to say that this is the only location I don’t have an address for. It’s located at behind a set of homes towards the start of the beach if that helps at all.

Olive & Oliver
Surfjack Hotel – 412 Lewers St, Honolulu

How cute is this pineapple cup and wallpaper? The chai tea latte was excellent <3 This little coffee and clothing shop is the cutest boutique. I wanted to buy up everything in the store but my hubs wouldn’t let me #debbiedowner

– Pillbox –

This was quite a hike but if I can do it, anyone can do it! As you can see, you get a gorgeous view of both Lanikai and Kailua beach. As much as I hate the “outdoors”, I definitely recommend this.

– The Royal Hawaiian –
dress // hat

The famous pink hotel. If I had more time I would have done a #ihavethisthingwithfloors picture.

That’s it for now! Check back next week for part two where i’ll be sharing more photos and outfits from our trip.

March 2, 2017

Travel Checklist: 5 Things To Do Before A Vacation

Travel Checklist

Today I am sharing my travel checklist. These are 5 things I always do before a vacation. I’m a lazy vacationer so if there is anything I can do to minimize any kind of thinking on my vacation, I’ll do it. Whether it’s a weekend getaway or a long haul trip, I always make sure I do these things before heading out.

Prepare Your Home

I’m sure most of you already do this but I always clean out our fridge and empty out our trash cans. I do the laundry, vacuum and clean so we return to a clean home. Don’t forget to organize your bills and mail. Depending on how long we’ll be gone, I always make sure our bills are scheduled to be paid on time and if necessary I put a hold on the mail. One last thing I do is lower the a/c so we’re not wasting energy.

Check The Local Weather

It’s so important to know what the weather is like before your trip. Rain is a big fat BOO. However I would rather know about it ahead of time than be caught off guard.

Research Areas To Explore

As a blogger, I’m always looking for the perfect location. Whether it’s for a picture perfect photo or a cool restaurant, I get on social media and search through hashtags. I find that this is the easiest way to find unknown and less popular but oh so cool spots. It’s also really inspiring to see how other people captured their vacation. This really helps me to get out of the bubble of only visiting hot spots for tourists and explore.

Plan Outings and Daily Activities

Once I have all of the locations and spots I want to visit on my vacation, my wonderful husband will map everything out so we know exactly where everything is located. This is to help us plan out our days so we’re backtracking or visiting an area twice. We also make sure to know the business hours to prevent us from wasting time or any feeling disappointed we missed something. I know this may sound weird but planning really helps us to relax and enjoy our time. I think it’s because we don’t have to worry about, “what are we doing today?” or “where are we eating tonight?”

Plan Your Outfits Ahead of Time

Once I have my activities planned, I put together my outfits. Knowing that I’m wearing for which day and activity is a huge time saver. I normally plan two outfits for each day– a comfy outfit for the daytime and a nicer look for the evening. We tend to do a lot of physically draining activities in the morning that require us to shower and clean up for the evening. I also like to plan my blog photo outfits by location.

I would love to know your travel tips and what you do before you leave for a vacation.

March 1, 2017

TurboTax Self-Employed

TurboTax is the only program I use to file my taxes each year.

Get your own TurboTax here

MY JOURNEY

Tax season is right around the corner so I wanted to share with you how easy it is as a self-employed individual to file taxes using TurboTax. When I became a blogger 5 years ago I knew I would have to file taxes and to be honest I was very overwhelmed because I didn’t know anything about the process. I’ve never filed taxes as “self-employed” because I was never self-employed. I had so many questions like, how am I suppose to file, what are the things I can write off and how the heck and I suppose to track all of that? Read more about my journey below.

WHY TURBO TAX

We have always used TurboTax in our home because it has been the easiest and most convenient for us. TurboTax is VERY user friendly with their step-by-step process. I love how they break down each section and page. This helps me stay on track by minimizing any confusion. If you make a mistake on a previous page, it’s easy to go back and fix and if you accidentally exit out, everything will save automatically. After my blogging business took off I knew that TurboTax’s Self Employed Tool was the way to go to file.

TURBOTAX SELF-EMPLOYED

If you’re a small business owner like myself you should definitely check out TurboTax Self-Employed. I personally have found this to be the best tool for myself as a blogger. I am constantly making purchases for my blog whether it clothes, beauty products, web domain / support, ads, business meeting receipts, gas & mileages and the list goes on and on. Before I knew about TurboTax’s Self-Employed, I was always disorganized and spending hours shuffling through receipts! Who has time for that? TurboTax Self-Employed allows you to track your expenses and tax deductions to ensure you receive the highest return without all of the paper trail nightmare. Their Expense Finder tool will scan your bank account and credit cards to identify business expenses which can eliminate sorting through receipts. You can also use their Expense Estimator that will estimate your potential tax-savings.

Another awesome feature TurboTax Self-Employed offers is their SmartLook feature. This feature allows you to talk to REAL PERSON! What is more frustrating than to sort through hundreds of forums and threads trying to find the answer. TurboTax’s SmartLook gives you the option to have a REAL PERSON to give you a call back, schedule a call or post a question to their message board. You’re not left hanging clueless on your own.

Lastly I want to talk about the Quickbooks Self-Employed tool. You can add your bank account and paypal to Quickbooks Self-Employed and it will automatically import your transactions, track your mileage and help maximize deductions. You can also download their phone app to help you sort out business and personal expenses to keep you organized. A new feature that’s just been added is the ability to snap a pic of your receipts to keep on record #paperless.

I have been using TurboTax for the last couple of years and it has been a life saver. A simple and efficient tool to use. If you’re a small business owner, don’t get stressed out this tax season– instead Download TurboTax’s Self-Employed and let them do all the work for you.

Have any of you used TurboTax’s Self Employed? If so, please let me know your thoughts below!

This post is in partnership with TurboTax

« Previous Page
1
…
3
4
5
6
7
…
97
Next Page »