What I wore: SoCal vacay

I'm not quite sure how we have already been home for a week and a half! It makes me sad because it was such a fun and relaxing, though jam-packed trip! As usual, I had to share exactly what we did and what I wore!

For background - his mom rented a house in Anaheim, CA. His brother and his girlfriend live in Altadena (just outside of Pasadena) and we planned to visit them and celebrate the week of July 4th there! My sister, dad, and extended family live in SoCal also, so we were definitely planning on seeing them while we were there! In addition, my dad's 70th birthday was the 16th, but we agreed to have his party on the 8th since the husband and I were already going to be in town. All that said, this is what I wore!

Day 1: Travel day

Necklace: Kendra Scott "Aiden" | Top: American Eagle (option) | Bottoms: Banana Republic (option) | Shoes: American Eagle (option)

Day 1 was a travel day, so I of course I had to be comfy. We were landing at LAX around 9am, but we weren't able to check into the house until around 4pm. I decided on shorts and an off the shoulder top. I figured it was a safe outfit if we ended up outside for an extended amount of time. We had to stick around at the airport until his brother's girlfriend landed (she lives there, but was coming home from a weekend trip), and once she landed, we headed to lunch. Nothing fancy because it had to be toddler friendly, we just went to Islands for lunch (plus cocktails because... vacation.)

We also took time to go to the grocery store to pick up some necessities for the week. We timed it perfectly and ended up at the house right at 4pm. Once we claimed our rooms and got settled, we spent the night lounging by the pool! My sister, brother in law, and nephew made the trek out to us which made me happy!

Day 2: Studio tour

See outfit details and read about the day here.

The husband's family took the boys to Legoland, so we took that opportunity to do the Warner Bros studio tour. That tour got its own post, and you can read about it here! We finished around the same time as his family and met back at the house for dinner. We planned to eat out but figured the boys had little tolerance for that, so we ended up picking up some In and Out and eating it on the patio by the pool. Perfect ending to a fun-filled day!

Day 3: July 4th

As crazy as it sounds, I wanted to make sure I did some Pilates while I was there. After all, how often do I have the opportunity to take Pilates classes in the morning! I found a studio about 5 miles from the house called The Pilates Place. I signed up for classes Tuesday at 7:15am, Thursday at 7:15am, Friday at 6:30am, and Saturday at 8am. It was perfect! I got my workouts out of the way in the morning, which meant I wasn't sleeping in, and it also meant I wasn't drinking myself into a stupor unable to function each morning. Win win win.

After my class that morning, we made our breakfast at the house and literally spent the entire day in and around the pool! We had burgers and brats for lunch and ordered some pizza for dinner. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came over again, so it was great to spend so much time with them!

Day 4: Beach day + dinner

Romper: Gap (option) | Tote: Charming Charlie (c/o) | Sandals: Sanuk

Wednesday we didn't have any hard plans in the day time, so we decided to check out the beaches. We drove to Huntington Beach and ended up having lunch at Fred's Mexican Cafe. Nothing like eating Mexican with an ocean view! The server recommended that we drive to Laguna Beach, so we did just that. I wasn't planning on getting in the water this day because I was pretty red from spending the entire previous day in the sun, so I opted for comfort in my favorite romper and cushy sandals.

Laguna Beach

It's not often that I get to selfie on the beach, so naturally I had to do it! Also, can we talk for a second how wonderful baseball caps are?! It's even easier to throw on a hat than it is to put my hair up. I love it. I can literally roll out of bed and put on a hat. And it's great for the ocean breeze and bright sun, too!

Dress: Express | Espadrilles: Steve Madden "Barre" (option)

That evening, we all went to his brother's girlfriend's grandmother's house for dinner. (Did you follow all that?!) It was yum. They ordered food from a local Armenian restaurant so we had steak and lamb and rice and hummus and veggies and did I mention it was yum? I didn't bring many outfits with me that weren't beach/pool clothes, so I went ahead and wore this dress which I've mentioned before that I have in two other colors.

Day 5: Visit my fam

It was already day 5 and I hadn't seen my parents yet! Time passes too quickly! I had my morning Pilates class and then by the time I got back to the house, the husband's family was packing up for Disney! We skipped Disney and decided to use the day to see my fam. But first, the husband needed a haircut and I was in dire need of a mani-pedi.

Bag: Rebecca Minkoff "Astor" | Bracelet stack: Charmed Stacks (c/o) (use code CARYLEE for 10% off!) | Ring: Kendra Scott "Odette" | Polish: OPI "Cinnamon Sweet"

After our respective grooming appointments, we drove out to my sister's house where my parents were watching my nephew. We played for a bit until my sister came home and then we headed to Santa Anita mall so we could eat at Din Tai Fung. SO GOOD. I love dumplings. And carbs. I just love carbs!

Top: American Eagle | Necklace: Kendra Scott "Aiden" | Bag: Rebecca Minkoff "Astor" | Shorts: American Eagle (option) | Shoes: American Eagle (option)

We had to wait a half hour or so to get seated for dinner, so the husband and I did a quick lap around the mall. Ok, not really a full lap, but he had his heart set on getting some Adidas shell toes, so I followed along. This allowed me to take a good outfit selfie, too.

Day 6: Pool day + family pics

Friday - I had Pilates that morning and it was another pool day! We also grilled out and celebrated his nephew's birthdays. That also meant we had a quick Target run so we could pick up some gifts for them to unwrap! It was a pretty chill afternoon because we were going to be taking family photos on the beach at sunset later that evening (read: we couldn't be wasted so we could be presentable for photos!)

Top: H&M | Shorts: American Eagle

It was beautiful! I can't wait to see how they turned out. We were all wearing some version of navy, blue, corals, pinks. We took some photos in the sand, some by the water, some on the pier, some under the pier. His brother's girlfriend knew a photographer, who was the one taking our photos. Though the husband took my pic above.

After photos, we stayed in Huntington Beach to eat dinner. We ended up at Sharkeez for more Mexican. (Not complaining.) It was great! The weather was perfect enough for us to sit outside and eat and I had the best Watermelon Mojito!

Day 7: Dad's party

See outfit details and read about the party here.

Saturday morning I had one more Pilates class and then I had to pick my brother up at the airport at 10am. He was exhausted, so he napped while I laid out by the pool one more time. The party started at 5:30pm, but I planned to get there no later than 4pm to help set up. That meant I had to be ready to leave by 3:15pm and basically start getting ready by 2pm! That didn't leave much pool time, but I soaked up as much sun as I could!

The party really was the best way to end the trip! Unfortunately, our flight was at 10am the next morning, and to give us plenty of time to allow for traffic, we planned to leave the house at 7am. That isn't really awesome after a night of adult beverages, but it also wasn't as bad as it *could* have been either! The sleep deprivation was way worth it!

Thanks for letting me share every last detail of the trip! I always love saving my snaps after every day because they serve as my video diary of everything! It's funny how fast you forget the details! Anyway, hope everyone is having a great hump day!

Also - you have one more day to enter the $250 Nordstrom gift card giveaway! The anniversary sale goes live to the public on Friday, July 21st, so now is your time to win you some money to shop! See this post to enter.