TRAVEL + FASHION: Santa Monica, California

Last March, I was very privileged to be given the chance to spend four days in Santa Monica, California, sponsored by K-Swiss International. The K-Swiss brand originally came from Santa Monica. And so, armed with my K-Swiss Sneakers, I explored Santa Monica!

Since I was given 4 days in Santa Monica, I decided to go on and spend an entire month in the USA. Of course, after my stay for K-Swiss at the Fairmont Hotel, I would be on my own for a whole month. I knew this meant that I could not pack all my fashionista outfits with me. Preparing for one month meant super light packing which I really dreaded and thought would be impossible for me to achieve! So, because I had to pack lightly, I decided to pack a lot of blacks and dark colors and just play it up with scarves, jewelry, sunglasses, etc. to be able to change looks. I'll be posting most of my US outfits so I could show you how I played up my very scarce wardrobe during my one month stay. Believe me, living out of a suitcase and having limited outfits was sheer torture for me and I'm just glad I survived an entire month!

The Fairmont Hotel was indeed an awesome choice by K-Swiss. I loved the amenities and most of all the beautiful beach front view!

The weather was definitely too cold for me. I was surprised to see that most locals would be in their swimwear and sunbathing at the beach. I was too used to Manila OVEN-STYLE weather so the cold took a bit of getting used to. I headed to the beach pier in my all black and double layer outfit while most girls were frolicking in the beach in their bikinis. As much as I wanted to wear the bikini I brought with me, I had no choice or I'd freeze to death!

To add a bit of color to my all black outfit, I accessorized with my pink K-Swiss Sneakers, My purple shades and silver ring. Despite the simplicity of my outfit, I loved how my reddish dark blonde hair color stood out against the all black. It took me awhile to adjust dressing in layers since my Manila outfits consisted mostly of short shorts, dresses and tube tops. Layered dressing certainly wasn't my forte but I knew I needed to make it work for my one month stay!

at the Fair on the Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica was a lot of fun. So many tourist spots, nature and street art that I couldn't resist taking photos of. During our free days we, explored the place by just walking around and getting lost a lot. Doj (my boyfriend) and I enjoy the getting lost part of our travels! Despite the frustration of not knowing where to go, it is kind of fun when we have no idea where we are and we just end up laughing at ourselves and taking endless photos. I remember our first HongKong trip a few years back and how we got so lost after partying until 2am. We had no idea how to get back to our hotel and ended up asking for help from a policeman who didn't speak any english! How we managed to get back to our hotel was a long story! Getting lost in Santa Monica was a bit easier because we didn't have to put up with the language barrier. And because of the cool weather, we didn't sweat at all even if we knew we had been walking really far already. 

After my daytime adventures of this day, Iwent to meet up with my long time bestfriend, Apple, from New York. She came all the way to see me in Santa Monica because it's been 6 years since we last saw each other in Manila. I was also due to travel to New York in 2 weeks but I guess we were too excited to see each other already. Apple went to my hotel with her friend Kourtney and they took us to our first fine dining experience of this trip.

My bestfriend, Apple. Isn't she super sexy???

And because I traveled light, rather than changing into a whole new outfit, I just changed up my accessories to convert my outfit for night. I changed my K-Swiss Sneakers to my Nine West boots and replaced my shades with a scarf. Yep, black is the easiest outfit to accessorize and will save you the hassle of thinking what to wear next when traveling. I really didn't want to stress myself figuring out my outfit combinations. Of course in the back of my mind, I knew dressing for my New York trip in the next two weeks would be more than my all black outfits. I'll figure it out then. =)