Pioneer Park picnic with an Old Navy bargain hunter

Over Memorial Day weekend, I gathered with friends for a picnic at Pioneer Park in Mission Hills to celebrate a bit of scattered sunshine with a bit of wine. After scouting cute dogs most of the afternoon, I started scouting for cute outfits. At a nearby birthday party in the park, a blonde in a fun floral-patterned shirt stood out to me.

I came to find that this flowery, long-sleeve, split-neck tunic cost only $5 on sale at Old Navy and I had to know more. “I just look for sales and wait. And Old Navy — I feel like they’re not that expensive to begin with, but they just have classic stuff, so you don’t have to buy things in season. You could just wait until it’s on sale.”

It turned out that Paula, 31 and from North Park, was quite the bargain hunter. “It’s easy and versatile enough that it’s not going to be out of season in a couple months,” she reasoned. “I don’t buy it unless I think it’s a good deal.”

Her day-in-the-park wear also included a pair of skinny ankle-cropped jeans and crisp white tennis shoes (both also from Old Navy) along with a set of taupe, rounded Ray-Ban sunglasses that provided a nice pop of contrast to the ensemble.

Paula explained how she grew up having to wear uniforms from kindergarten through high school, as well as when she played in sports. “It wasn’t until college that I was like, ‘I have to pick out my clothes every day?!’” she joked. “So it was a big learning curve. And I went through a lot of interesting fashion choices in college!”

Taking a closer look, I noticed her dainty teardrop choker necklace. “A local San Diego artist made this necklace!” She pointed to a friend a few feet away, who bought it as a gift from Simply Local in North Park. Paula was also given her intertwining rose gold rings as a gift on a recent trip to Korea.

“I just like things simple and delicate, nothing too flashy. I think I have a bold enough personality that my clothes don’t need to compete with that. They can take a back seat!”