A Preview of Spring: Falling Flowers and Bright Denim

Prabal Gurung x Target Floral Crush Tee, Current / Elliott denim, Zara colorblock heels

The weather last weekend was amazing; we went to the park one day and went to Fred Segal for some Umami burger and shopping. A very spring outfit for mid-February. I love this Prabal Gurung x Target tee shirt, so bright and happy!

Final Verdict: Prabal Gurung x Target Review

Prabal Gurung for Target Floral Crush dress, Prada sunglasses, Zara colorblock heels

I received my anxiously awaited Prabal Gurung for Target order on Friday. I was happy that I was able to order everything that I wanted online but had no idea how the collection would look in real life. For the most part, I was pretty happy with the collection and my purchases, though some items will be going back for sure.

I was immediately drawn to the Floral Crush dress when the lookbook was released, I love the exuberant floral print with the cascading blooms, reminds me a bit of Mary Katrantzou's floral digital prints. I also like the shape of the dress, girly and perfect for spring. Happy to say that this dress is a keeper, it definitely needs a belt, otherwise the waist is a little high, lacks shape and looks matronly, but the print is just as saturated and happy in real life, the skirt is the perfect length with a bit of volume and pockets, and the 98% cotton material is cool and comfortable. 

I was really excited for the black short sleeve Date Night print dress from the lookbook, but realized that it was 100% polyester after purchasing it, so knew that it was probably going to go back. I just don't like the feel of polyester, plus it wrinkles easily and gets staticky. The dress fits nicely and I like the print, but will go back because of the material. I would reconsider purchasing it on sale, but it's not a must have. I love the Date Night print though, I'm glad I got the sweatshirt. I actually prefer the Date Night print to the Floral Crush print in real life, it's quite bold and a little trippy, while the Floral Crush print is a little blurry. Happily, when returning this dress, I found the Date Night sleeveless blouse with mesh on the shoulders that I overlooked at the launch, which I've been kicking myself over ever since. Love the blouse, pictures to come...

Prabal Gurung black short-sleeve First Date print dress, MMM x H&M heels, Prada sunglasses

I was most disappointed in the next outfit and it is all going back, except for the long-sleeved floral crush tee. The shorts are just too big and frumpy with strange black contrast, and the blazer is too boxy, long and not tailored well, reminds me of a waiter's jacket. The shorts are a size 2 and the blazer is an XS so there are no smaller sizes. It's also way too much pattern all together, and I'm having a difficult time figuring out how to style each piece individually. The long sleeve tee is great though, thin and will easily go with anything from jeans, leggings and skirts, I've been already wearing it all weekend, pictured here. It's too bad, I really loved this outfit from the lookbook, but it just doesn't work in real life. The outfit doesn't look or fit anything like in the lookbook. The shorts and blazers were a couple of the most coveted items from the collection and sold out quickly, so I guess I'll make someone happy with my return!

Prabal Gurung x Target Floral Crush Blazer, Shorts and tee shirt

I also got the black and white wedges, not pictured. I am on the fence with them; I don't love the material, but they are true to size, fairly comfortable and I like the style. I would have preferred them more if they were all black, white is going to dirty too easily. Fit wise, I thought everything fit pretty much as I expected. I find that Target always runs big, so I bought the smallest size for everything, size 2 for the two dresses and shorts, XS for the sweatshirt, blazer and long sleeve tee. So final tally of for sure keepers: Date Night print sweatshirt (which I love), First Date Sleeveless Blouse, Floral Crush dress, and Floral Crush long sleeve tee. Definitely satisfies my urge for a refreshing spring wardrobe update.

Happy Sunday: Sheep's Milk Yogurt Pancakes

Thanks to little k, I've been cooking a little bit more since she started solid foods (where does the time go? she's growing so quickly). She doesn't eat enough quantity wise to use up, say, a whole sweet potato, so we will use the leftovers. It has forced me to go to the market more often, and I usually just buy whatever looks good, is organic, local and seasonal. She's also starting to eat some finger foods so I keep that in mind when making our meal, to have a portion that is unseasoned that I can give to her. I think she enjoys eating the same thing that we eat, and we try to eat our meals at the same time, plus it keeps her occupied while we enjoy our meal. Last night, we made a roasted sweet potato, garlic, red onion, kale whole wheat pizza, and she had baked sweet potato fries, yellow squash and a little pizza crust for dinner. This morning, she had sheeps milk yogurt with bananas and blueberries for breakfast, so I used the remainder of the sheeps milk yogurt for whole wheat blueberry pancakes (she had a little pancake as well which she liked). We are starting with sheeps milk yogurt for now, as sheeps milk is supposedly more similar to human milk. I have to admit, I find it a little gross, its quite sour, and I couldn't even stomach it mixed with fruit (luckily she ate it), so it was perfect used up in the pancakes.

Not So First Date: Prabal Gurung x Target First Impressions

Prabal Gurung for Target First Date print Sweatshirt, T by Alexander Wang jersey skirt, MMM x H&M invisible wedge heels

Tonight, we went out for one of our first nights out sans little k, aside from a couple of dinners with friends and work related events. We had a lovely dinner at Ado, coincidentally also one of the last restaurants we went to before little k arrived. Apropos for my new Prabal Gurung for Target First Date print sweatshirt, one of my favorite online purchases from the Prabal Gurung for Target collaboration which arrived today. I really like the vibrant, busy tropical kaleidoscope print, and plus it's a sweatshirt, easy to wear with anything, everyday. I have to say, I had my doubts about the collection before it came, but I really like everything that I bought; it will be hard to decide what to keep and what to return. The two prints are really fun and the fit of everything actually works, for the most part. More pictures from the collab purchases here.

Happy Lunar New Year! Prabal Gurung x Target Online Purchases

Image from target.com. I picked up the whole ensemble: the Floral Crush blazer, shorts and tee

Update: full review here, outfit post here and here
After a nice lunar new year eve's dinner at my house, I stayed up what's considered late for us these days last night to catch the online launch of the Prabal Gurung for Target designer collaboration. With little k's unpredictable wakeup schedule and sleep disruptions the last few days (teething? a cold? developmental milestones?), I couldn't drive around to the various LA Targets before opening hours, nor will I be able to stalk the stores for returns as with Missoni and Jason Wu. Fortunately, I was able to get online probably within minutes of the collection being uploaded around 11pm and was able to buy everything that I had my eye on, including the two dresses and wedges that I previously posted about as well as the entire Floral Crush print blazer, t-shirt, shorts combo (not that I would wear it all together) and the First Date print sweatshirt. I got lucky as everything but the tee was sold out in my size by morning, if not within minutes. While I gravitate towards minimalism, neutrals, cozy knits, and monochrome for winter, I really embrace more feminine looks, cheery prints and patterns, especially florals, for spring. Just makes me happy, especially as the weather has been so cold (relatively) for the last few days. The prints in this collection are more unique and identifiably Prabal Gurung, I had no interest in the solid color items which really could have been from any designer. I love how everything looks in the lookbook, but not sure how it will look in real life. I anticipate returning some items due to fit and fabric, particularly the all synthetic items as I didn't have a chance to check out fabric content before buying, plus it's just a lot from one collection, but at least I can try everything on within the comfort of my own home and cull later. Stay tuned for actual pics and reviews...

First Date print sweatshirt and black and white wedges. Image from target.com