General Fashion

Exploring Mission San Buenaventura in Ventura

 in General Fashion / Travel  tagged chloe / eileen fisher / marc fisher / outfits / summer 2019 / ventura by

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wearing: sunglasses / earrings / lipstick / necklace / classic black dress / nail polish / handbag / boots (color sold out, similar here)

One of the sites we always like to visit when traveling throughout California is the local mission; if there is one. The missions are part of California history, and an important part of how our state was settled and formed. Our kids learned about California history in fourth grade, but it’s great to renew those lessons by visiting historical spots and reminding them of their history.

The mission was founded by the Franciscan order with Fr. Serra to help spread Catholicism in the new world. It is one of the smaller California missions, and offers a glimpse into what life may have been like in the 1700’s and 1800’s. It was founded in 1749. It was then seized by the Mexican government in 1833, and then after the United States took over, President Lincoln returned the mission to the Catholic church in 1862. The only original structure on the site today is the church building and the garden. The museum, which is on the other side of the garden from the church building, contains original artifacts which are fascinating.

They have wooden bells! Apparently there were pirates in the area, and in order to keep the mission and it’s people safe from pirates who frequented the now-Ventura harbor, the mission rang wooden bells which could be heard by people staying in the mission, but not the outside world. I’m trying to figure out how a wooden bell could be heard; but apparently it worked like a charm!

The museum also contains items used in the 1700’s and 1800’s by mission residents and Franciscan’s. It’s really interesting to catch a glimpse from that time period. If you visit downtown Ventura, be sure to tour the mission and it’s museum. It’s a small site to see, packed with a ton of history. It should only take about 45 minutes to visit.

I wore this classic black dress which is great for travel. It doesn’t wrinkle and can be dressed up for dinner with heels, or worn casually with boots, sneakers, or flats during the day. There is a self-tie in the back of the dress which is great for helping to give it some shape. The cap sleeves are actually OK, my arms have a farmer’s tan, so my apologies if it throws off the look of the sleeves. haha I am looking forward to wearing this black dress throughout the rest of the summer season, and well into the fall season. It’s really versatile!

Shop my little black dress look:

Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for more from my Ventura road trip!

XOXO
Cathy

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Escaping the heat in Ventura

 in General Fashion / Travel  tagged casual style / chloe / fall 2019 / levis / outfits / summer 2019 / travel style / vacation outfits / ventura by

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wearing: pearl earrings (similar here) / sunglasses / summer lipstick / fall long sleeve tee / nail polish / Chloe bag / fall jeans / espadrille mules (on major sale!)

Is it crazy hot where you live? It’s in the high 90’s, low 100’s here in the San Francisco Bay Area right now! It’s so warm, we are all melting! In order to escape the heat, and also take one last quick trip before school starts, we decided to take a mini road trip down to Ventura.

If you are not familiar with the California coast, Ventura is a small beach town south of Santa Barbara. It’s not super crowded, and it has a large harbor, good restaurants, and plenty of cool fog! Love fog right now!

Our first day in Ventura felt so good. It was roughly thirty degrees cooler than at home, and we actually felt a little bit cold. This was such a good thing! We left home in the morning and drove for five hours down the coast. We arrived in Ventura around 2:30pm and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Four Points Sheraton near the Village, which is a small shopping area next to the boat harbor. It has shops, restaurants, and a carousel which was closed-boo for us! It was a nice place to stay since we could walk to the restaurants, and enjoy harbor views.

We ate dinner at Water’s Edge, which is not in the Village, but a short walk on the other side of the harbor. The food was out of this world! I enjoyed the “Trophy Pasta” which was crazy good-and my family really enjoyed their meals too. If you are ever in the Ventura area, this is a restaurant you will want to visit! The views of the harbor are beautiful, you can watch the sunset, and the food is really yummy. Love that!

Shop my casual denim look:

We packed more into this weekend getaway! Stay tuned for more from Ventura!

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO

Cathy

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Canon G7X Mark II review

 in General Fashion  tagged canon / lifestyle / reviews / tech gear by

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You might be looking at this post and wondering why I am writing about the Powershot Canon G7X Mark II on a fashion, style, and beauty blog. Well, it does tie into fashion-I swear! Just keep reading. . .

One of the big things that hurts my back when I attend New York Fashion Week, or when I am traveling, is carrying around my heavy DSLR. Fashion week and travel in general, require a lot of standing and walking. To alleviate the back pain and shoulder pain I experience when traveling, or attending fashion week, I needed to lighten my load. That load being my very heavy Nikon DSLR.

Last January I did some research. I found out about this amazing camera which could replace your DSLR. The Canon G7X Mark II is this tiny little point-and-shoot camera which packs a ton of power. It has all the settings a basic DSLR offers. You can go from auto mode to manual mode. You can adjust the ISO, the f-stop, and more! While you can’t switch out the lens, the built-in zoom lens has enough “zoom” to get clear and crisp close-ups of the runway, outfits (pose at that painted wall!), and travel sites.

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On my Nikon DSLR, I have to go into the menu and scroll through it in order to adjust my ISO etc. It is time consuming, and sometimes I can miss the shot because I am fiddling with my camera settings. When it comes to travel and fashion week, speed is of the essence. The Powershot Canon G7X Mark II has this fabulous dial underneath the dial which lets you switch modes. This dial lets you quickly adjust the camera according to the light-without going into a menu to adjust your settings. This is a huge game changer in situations where the light keeps changing and you need to be speedy to get the right shot.

Here is an example of a photo I took of a model walking the runway at the Son Jung Wan show last February during fashion week. My Canon G7X Mark II did a great job of capturing a moving model. I was also able to adjust the settings quickly for the tricky lighting. Another thing that was tricky about this shot was her jacket. It has sequins, which are difficult to photograph; especially on a moving object. I thought the camera did a good job considering I was shooting from my seat and not the photographer’s pit.

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The Canon G7X Mark II is also great at capturing depth and color. Here is a photo I took in Hawaii. One of the breathtaking things about Hawaii is the shades of blue in the Pacific. The ombre waters are stunning, and I feel like the camera did a great job capturing them. I purposely focused on the water and blurred the lava rocks. I like how it turned out. Who knew a point-and-shoot could do this?

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In addition to being able to adjust the Canon G7X Mark II like a DSLR, it has a flip up screen which allows you to shoot in selfie mode. Sometimes you want a higher resolution selfie; or maybe you just want to have some fun. Either way, the flip up screen is a lot of fun. You can see a selfie taken with my Canon G7X Mark II below. I took this selfie with my daughters on a recent hike. We had fun flipping the screen and turning it in order to get the view in the background. My DSLR definitely does not do that!

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DSLR Alternative

All in all, the Powershot Canon G7X Mark II is an amazing alternative to a DSLR. It can switch from auto to manual mode. The camera comes with easy to follow directions, and there are plenty of YouTube videos out there to help with specific settings that might not sound logical in the manual. I found it easier to learn than my DSLR. Despite not being able to change lenses, the built-in zoom lens is adequate for travel, blogging, and taking runway photos from your seat.

You don’t have to be a blogger to use this camera! So many people bring their DSLR to their children’s sporting events, talent shows, plays, music performances etc., the Canon G7X Mark II is a great alternative which can take beautiful videos and photos. The resolution and quality rivals a low to medium level DSLR. It also offer wi-fi capability which is great for uploading photos to a laptop or iPhone while on the go.

Lighten your load! The Canon G7X Mark II is compact and lightweight. I can carry a smaller handbag at fashion week, and when I travel, than I did back when I carried around my DSLR. The small size is great for travel, and it won’t break your back. Love that!

When I purchased my Powershot Canon G7X Mark II, I also bought a large memory card and a second battery. It’s always nice to have a back-up battery when traveling in case you take a ton of photos all day and need to swap the battery. For a memory card, I recommend Lexar. They make great cards. Always get a big one to store videos and keep yourself from running out of room while traveling.

Shop the Powershot Canon G7X Mark II camera and accessories online:

I am in love with this camera, and I take it everywhere I go so I can snap photos of my kids, and to blog! If you have any questions about it, please feel free to ask in the comments below, or shoot me an email.

Thank you so much for your support!

XOXO

Cathy

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