The Mango Tree

Happy Friday!! Ending the week on a little wanderlust from our trip to St. Lucia. Because we wanted both the exotic mountain and luxury beach experience, we stayed in two different hotels on our trip! We spent the first few days at the rustic Stonefield Resort and the last few  days at the luxurious Sugar Beach resort.

The thing I didn't realize about St. Lucia is that you honestly and truly have to take a taxi everywhere you go. Forget walking around town to find a great place. You better have somewhere in mind ahead of time and be prepared for a fairly expensive taxi.

Luckily, there was a great restaurant on-site at Stonefield called The Mango Tree. The food was much pricier than I'm used to, but we found that's pretty common for the area. Oh well, YOLO. 

I wanted to wear something super special for our last night at Stonefield, so I wore my custom Zophia blouse (named the Julien Top!) My good friend Betsy designed the shirt and I knew St. Lucia would be the perfect occasion to rock it. I love that this piece was totally tailored to me, giving it the perfect fit. Oh, and did I mention it's on sale right now?! 

I paired this with a pretty Elizabeth and James skirt that I initially tried on the top with. It was my first fitting and we met at Intermix so Betsy could show me how versatile the top was. I tried it with this skirt and WOW it fit like a dream...but the price tag left me feeling very, very sad. $265 was a bit much for a summer skirt, so I sadly said goodbye and vowed to snag it as soon as it went on sale. WHICH IT DID 3 months later!! Yes, it's a summer skirt, but you know full well I am going to try to do everything in my power to make this work for fall. Challenge accepted.

I also brought along this gorgeous clutch from Jeffrey Levinson. I've never felt leather so soft in my life. It's an investment piece for sure, but in the few weeks I've had it, it's garnished more compliments than any other bag I own. Not to mention Olivia Palermo has one of his bags and so does Diane Guerrero (from OITNB!) 

I finished off the look with some jewelry from my favorite local jewelry gals...the cutest Rachelle Celine midi rings and rose gold necklace from my babe Sophie Blake. Stay tuned for more St. Lucia goodness next week!

Wearing Elizabeth and James skirt, “The Julien Top” via Zophia (on sale!), Jeffrey Levinson clutch, J.Crew mules, Sophie Blake necklace in rose gold and Rachelle Celine midi rings.

The Best Black Jeans Out There

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Do you guys have an item of clothing you can’t stop wearing? Like you wear it so much that people basically think it’s all you own? You wear it so much that you are hesitant to put it in the wash because then you wouldn’t be able to wear it for an hour? That’s how I feel about these Citizens of Humanity jeans from South Moon Under. Like I have separation anxiety when I leave these behind (skinny jeans don’t exactly fly in corporate America…) Because when I fall for something, I fall HARD. 

These have been my go-to’s for the last, oh, 8 days since they’ve landed on my doorstep. I wear them with heels, I wear them with flats, I wear them with scarves, I wear them with hats (didn’t know I was a poet, did ya?) They’re so comfortable too - like honestly, they feel like sweat pant leggings but look like a million bucks. I’d say that’s a major major win.

It gets better. From now until October 25, South Moon Under is having their annual Denim Event, which means 20% ALL of their full price denim. So umm, you best get your little booty over there and into their jeans asap. Ok, wait. Maybe those weren’t the BEST choice of words, but ya get my drift. 

They carry my favorite brands like Citizens of Humanity, Free People, BlankNYC, 7 For All Mankind, Joe’s Jeans, J Brand and more. You can find the South Moon Under closest to you here!

Not only are jeans 20% off but they’re also collecting old jeans to donate to Cotton Incorporated’s Blue Jeans Go Green™ denim recycling program! Basically your old denim will be converted into insulation and a portion will go towards communities in need, which is such a cool and creative way to give back!  

Also! I’ve been feeling extra sassy since getting my hair chopped and colored (ahem, hand painted) by the incredible Nadine Matar at PR at Partners on K Street. So I dressed up the black jeans/white tee look with these sweet fringe booties (these are sold out, but these are almost identical.) 

If you hit up the South Moon Under Denim event, be sure to come back here and tell me what you get!! Or if you need help deciding on a pair, tweet me your options to @juliengarman! 

Wearing Citizens of Humanity jeans via South Moon Under c/o, Halogen tee from Nordstrom, Gap bandana, AMI Clubwear booties c/o (similar), Clare V clutch, Goodnight Macaroon jacket and Claire Ashley X Makeup Meltdown lipstick in Anguilla c/o, and Essie nail polish in Bahama Mama.

Waking to Dinner in Soufriere

I don’t know about you, but typically, I’m a terrible packer. I bring far too much and end up with so many options that overwhelm me when I’m trying to decide what to wear. This trip though, I felt like I really had it together and packed JUST ENOUGH outfits. Or so I thought.

During the day, it’s SO easy. Swimsuits all day, cute clothes (aka look presentable) for dinner. Seems like it wouldn’t be that hard. But this one night…I realized I had packed ONE OUTFIT UNDER what I’d need on the trip.

Cue mini meltdown. Since we were walking (more like trekking) into town (we thought we’d save money on a taxi this one night and it was NOT WORTH IT - always hire the taxi if your destination is more than 2 miles away), there were lots of things to consider. Comfortable shoes (I’d brought five pair of shoes total - one heeled sandal, one sneaker, one slip on and two pairs of sandals.) Plus I had to wear an outfit that was nice but walkable. I was stressing out.

I finally landed on this skirt/top combo that ended up being one of my favorite from the trip (figures.) I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret - I scored this Alexis skirt for $40 on Thredup. WUT. Yes. A $400+ skirt lives in my closet and I only paid 10% of that. 

Totes didn’t mean for this to end up like a thredup infomercial, nor did I mean to get all crazy pants with my stressful getting dressed situation, but hey. It’s MONDAY. And on Mondays, anything goes. (Especially my sanity.) ;)

On Julien: Skirt, Alexis (similar.) Top, GAP c/o (similar.). Necklace, Take 5 Boutique. Bracelet, Sophie Blake. Purse, VASKA via Estiletta c/o.

Tet Paul Nature Trail - St. Lucia

One of the big reasons we choose to go to St. Lucia was because of how lush the island was. We didn’t just want a beach - we wanted mountains to accompany it. I wouldn’t say I’m outdoorsy by any means, but I do love myself a little adventure now and then.

After a few days of beach lounging and a whole ‘lotta soaking in the sun, we decided to hit up some of the local hotspots.

We started off at the sulfur springs mud bath right when it opened at 9 AM to beat the tourists and sure enough, we were the first ones there. What an awesome experience - my skin was the softest ever after rubbing down in the volcanic mud. Afterwards, we went to a tiny waterfall, Piton Falls, afterwards and it was ok. Not to be a downer over here, but I’ve swam in quite a few waterfalls and this one just wasn’t my fave. It had a warm pool of water and I have to wonder - why is the water so warm? 

Next up was the Tet Paul Nature Trail. Let me be honest for a sec here - we had these grand plans of hiking a much more intense hike, the Gros Piton, while we were in St. Lucia. It wasn’t the length that scared us, it was only 3-4 hours. Maybe I’m making excuses over here, but we got so caught up in doing nothing (oops) that we opted for a much easier hike (a walk, really) that boasted incredible views of both piton mountains. #noregrets. Well maybe just a little ;)

This was definitely one of my favorite activities of our trip. We learned all about the fruits, vegetables that grow in St. Lucia and got to see the island from the coolest vantage points! 

For the hike, I wanted to wear a piece from my new favorite sportswear company, ADAY. They were super new to the athleticwear world, but they’re already making a splash.

Their carefully curated collection of pieces are wearable, comfortable and insanely cute. Sorry there’s not a whloe ‘lotta face photos in this, but DID YOU SEE THE BACK OF THIS SPORTSBRA and ARE YOU DYING RIGHT NOW?! Because I am. 

I'd highly recommend you check them out if you're an active girl like me. And stay tuned for SO MANY MORE St. Lucia posts next week. It might be rainy on the East Coast, but it's always sunny on itsjulien.com ;)

Wearing ADAY sports bra and everything else is so old that you wouldn’t want it anyway ;)

Anse Chastenet Beach

Before I get into all the juicy deets about this day in St. Lucia, I wanted to share a little story about how we decided to go on this trip.

It was mother’s day. After many weeks of evaluating the trip options we had come up with, we had decided - we weren’t going on a big trip this year. We’d go to Florida, get a beach house with some friends, take it easy.

But then, over dinner with Shawn’s family, his brother and sister-in-law announced they were going to have a baby! GAME CHANGER. All of a sudden we all looked at each other and instantly knew - this was our last chance.

Not to sound like a downer here…I’m sure you can take your baby lots of places. But it would be the last time the four of us took a trip together. So we knew it had to be somewhere amazing.

We went through a few ideas, Aruba (mainly because we had milage points but ultimately decided against it since we wanted more than just a beach atmosphere) and St. Lucia (which I discovered existed during a season of the bachelor many moons ago.) After seeing a few photos my favorite bloggers took there, we decided that it would be the perfect spot to celebrate our anniversary and our siblings-in-law’s babymoon.

On our first day on the island, we took a little boat to Anse Chastenet Beach, right around the corner from where we were staying. We spent the afternoon snorkeling, eating at Petit Peak (thanks to a rec from Gal Meets Glam) and soaking in some much-needed sun. Taking the boat ride was a perfect way to get a little introduction to the island where we’d be spending the next week.

Stay tuned for more St. Lucia posts in the next few weeks!

On Julien: AMI Clubwear dress and sandals c/o, South Moon Under necklace, vintage straw bag via Snobswap and borrowed hat.