Salty air and offbeat record stores. The sound of skater boys swishing around the streets and Tame Impala blasting from a passing car on the 101. Admiring the waves crashing from the meditation gardens and the aroma of food grilling on the barbecues. Thrift shops and boutiques galore with unique finds and quaint coffee joints. Encinitas brings out the retro bohemian and eclectic in you and there’s no place else quite like it. Not only has this town influenced my everyday life, but it’s helped develop my personal style along the way.
After finishing my morning meditation and yoga session, I received a group text from my friends asking to grab brunch and explore our little beach town. I’m always game for a good acai bowl and an adventure. So I quickly threw an outfit together, made myself an almond milk coffee to go, and hopped in my beloved blue VW bug I call Luna.
Despite it being a beautiful and sunny day here in California, I decided to throw on my go-to denim jacket and Levis as living on the coast calls for slight winds and unexpected overcast weather. As we were making our way to one of our favorite coffee hangs, Pannikin, we couldn’t help but feel inspired by the cute little neighborhood we were walking through. This one house, in particular, glistened in the hot sun with its salmon pink exterior and black and white striped awning matching my button-down top, which was obviously a sign from the universe manifesting an impromptu photo shoot. Can’t waste an opportunity, am I right? The cherry on top was the El Camino parked in the driveway as a final retro touch teleporting us back in time.
Channeling my inner Kurt Cobain through my retro white oval sunglasses, I completed my look by styling a black and white striped button-down top tucked into a pair of dark wash gray Levis cinched at the waist with a simple black belt. I also threw on a medium wash denim jacket with a faux sherpa lining to give it a more casual look. My finishing touches included my holy grail black loafers (these bad boys go with everything), my new favorite summer handbag from Kayu Design (Stars and fringe… what more could a girl want?), and my trusty Brixton engineer hat.
After wrapping up our mini photo shoot, we finally made our way over to the coffee shop where we snagged a bench on the grass overlooking passing cars on the 101 and Pannikin’s quaint yellow facade. In between sips, we discussed our plans for the remainder of the day while holding onto our oversize mugs filled to the brim with frothy chai lattes.
How do your surroundings affect your everyday style? Let me know in the comments below!
