General Fashion


5 summer must-haves

Summer is here! This means we are all planning day tips, weekend getaways, and exciting vacations. In order to make summer beach days fun, air travel organized, and the season stress-free, I wanted to share with you my five favorite items to use while traveling this summer season. They are not revolutionary, just practical; and I happen to love them, so I hope you do too!

Sturdy and identifiable suitcases

The summer season usually includes at least one vacation getaway. This means we all need sturdy suitcases which are easy to spot when they come off the baggage claim carousal. It is a good rule of thumb to not have expensive luggage since someone might want to steal it; that being said, you also don’t want something so cheap that is falls apart when it gets tossed on, and off, the plane.

I love my purple luggage set. I have had it for about two years now and it holds up really well. I check my bags when I fly, and aside from some scratches, they look great! They are also easy to identify during baggage claim. You can find my set on sale right now here. That handbag is a favorite of mine, and can be found online here.

Comfortable yet fashionable shoes

addidas IT shoes

Comfortable doesn’t have to mean frumpy! If you don’t already own a pair of Adidas Superstar’s, now is the time to grab a pair! Everyone from grade school students to Fashionista Grandmas own a pair of these sneakers. They are comfortable, and offer some serious street style cred. You will need a pair this summer for walking around theme parks such as Disneyland or Great America. You will also need a pair if you are traveling; they are great to wear while site seeing! You can find them in stock online here.

Essential travel accessories

tde travel accessories

So remember that thing about sturdy luggage for flying? You will want a luggage tag for your checked bag. Now that TSA is planning to make us take more out of our carry-ons, it is getting to the point where we might as well check everything! We will all need another luggage tag for that.

Also, we are heading towards the era of the “Real ID,” this means we all should have a passport and/or passport card. If you plan to travel a lot, a passport cover is essential for keeping your precious ID protected while you are on the go. Mine can be engraved with your initials and can be found online here.

Beach beauty travel-size products

garnier travel products

Summer vacation usually includes a lot of time in the sun and sand. These travel beauty products are TSA friendly and also help combat humidity and tired skin. I swear by the Frizz Guard for hot, humid summer days! I don’t do well with frizz, I would die without this product. You can find it online here.

Summer friendly beauty products:

*Garnier products were gifted by the company, all thoughts and opinions are my own

Thin, packable beach blanket which doubles as an airplane blanket

If you read my recent Tahoe trip recap, you may have noticed this beach blanket. It is actually really thin, and folds nicely into a small little shape which fits inside a handbag. Love that! It is great for sitting on while at the beach, using as a lightweight blanket in the car on road trips, or as a giant blanket on an airplane. It could also be used as a large beach wrap. Love it! You can find it for under $40 online here.

These are five things I find essential for the summer season, for both stay-cation days, and vacation days! What are your favorite items to help make summer fun and stress free?


Girls weekend in a printed maxi skirt

casual maxi skirt outfitsummer maxi skirtsan francisco bay area bloggerhandbag blogsummer outfit idea

wearing: rose gold dangle earrings / Chanel sunglasses / Chanel summer lipstick / black v-neck tee / rose gold cuff / Essie summer nail polish c/o / blue printed wrap maxi skirt (order one size up-runs small) / pink tote / white watch c/o Daniel Wellington (use code BAYAREA15 to save 15% off) / pink wedge espadrilles

This past weekend my husband and my son went off to Cub Scout camp. This meant my two daughters and I had a weekend with just us girls! Can you say-Girls Weekend!!

Friday night we watched a movie and ate dinner at home. On Saturday, we did something the boys don’t like to do-we went shopping! I took the girls to Sino at Santana Row for Dim Sum, and we shopped around Santana Row. The weather was warm and summer-like, so it was a beautiful day to be walking around outside. While we were walking around, my cute little ten-year-old snapped these pictures for me. Isn’t she great!

Saturday evening we did some house-cleaning (so not glamorous), and watched another movie on TV. Super fun! On Sunday we went to church, did a Goodwill run, and ran a few errands. The rest of the day my older daughter had some volunteer work to do, and of course, homework! Ugh, cannot wait for school to be over!

All in all it was a quiet, family weekend with my girls. This easy breezy maxi skirt paired with a comfy tee worked perfectly for the hot weather, and hanging out with my daughters.

Are you getting out and enjoying this summer weather?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

blue printed maxi skirt


Playful casual summer look

ruffles in the daytimecute outfit ideadaytime rufflesgivenchy antigonacasual summer outfit ideasummer espadrille wedges

wearing: mother of pearl and rose gold earrings / Chanel summer lipstick / Chanel sunglasses / white ruffle top  (under $60!) / rose gold cuff / Essie summer nail polish c/o / black leather strap and rose gold watch / boyfriend jeans / Givenchy Antigona / black espadrille wedges (under $100!!)

It is entirely possible I am obsessed with this season’s ruffle trend. I have stocked up on four tops this year with ruffles! I’m not counting peplum as ruffles; do you count peplum as ruffles? It seems like a lot of pieces from one trend, but when you love something, why not go all in!

You might be tired of seeing me in my boyfriend jeans, after all, I have owned them for a couple of years now, but they really work well with all of the ruffle tops I’ve aquired for 2017; and they create a daytime ruffle look which is comfortable and easy to wear. When paired with skinny jeans, I find ruffle tops take on more of an evening look; at least here in the Bay Area.

I wore this summer ruffle top outfit to meet up with my friend Dawn from FashionShouldBeFun.com. She is one of my best blogging buddies, and she has turned out to be a great friend! If you are not already following her, be sure to follow along!

We met up at Pizza Antica at Santana Row for lunch to catch up on life, and talk about new trends in web design. When you blog, you work alone, so it is nice to have other blogger friends to talk to about things like web design, and other business topics related to blogging. I’m always looking for ways to tweak my site to make it easier for you navigate, if you have any suggestions, likes/dislikes, feel free to leave them in the comments below!

After lunch, I went home and finished planning our summer camp schedule. I am a little frightened at how many camps I signed my kids up for! We have art camp, baseball camp, archery camp, tennis camp, lego camp, and writing classes! Whew! I might need to clone myself to drive my kids to and from all their camps this summer!!

This ruffle top was perfect for my busy day since the fabric was comfortable, and the off-the-shoulder sleeve actually stayed off without constantly popping over-the-shoulder like so many tops do! It can also be worn with both shoulders down, but I like how it looks one up, one down. Although it sustained a few wrinkles, they were not that noticeable, and super easy to iron out when I got home. I cannot believe it was under $60!! I think it will look cute dressed up this summer with a black pencil skirt for more of an evening look, and a small black shoulder bag.

Have you scheduled out your summer yet? Have you ever over-scheduled summer like me? (searching for beach days!!)

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

*photo credit by Dawn/Fashion Should Be Fun

cute ruffle tophot to wear ruffles over 40