Entertainment
How To Actually Rock A Swim Suit This Summer
This should not come as a surprise to anyone, but...
18 June 2019
97
This should not come as a surprise to anyone, but...
Here is your ultimate packing list for your summer break trip in just a duffel.
My challenge this week was packing for two different locations with weather ranging from 40 degrees as the low all the way up to 95 degrees as the high, but I am in high hopes for the weather to increase even above that. So, if the weather God's are listening right now, I would much appreciate that. Anyways this is your ultimate packing guide! I've put a lot of thought into how you can bring a minimal amount of clothing in just a duffel and how that you can make a week plus amount of outfits from that.
Summer is rolling around the corner and it's time to pack your bag for warmer weather! It has been a cold and rainy in Kansas (at least this week) and I'm so excited to be getting away.
For summer I'm headed to Colorado and California and I'm going to give you a packing guide to fit all your essentials in a duffel. So, if you have to pack lightly here are the items I'd say are most important.
Below is my packing guide:
Its going to be warm and I would like to be laying by the pool everyday if it is possible so that is why I am packing multiple swim suits! I love to mixed and matched with each other. Plus I have practically more bottom because a few of them are reversible with a print on one side and then just black or a solid color on the other side.
I am bringing a few tops. The most important ones to bring though, would be a white T-shirt and a black tee. This is because they can be worn in almost every single one of my outfits. SO save space and stick to more neutrals and then just one or two bright or crazy printed tops.
For bottoms I am bringing just a few different washes of jeans (white, light, blue, navy, black, embroidered), some basic black leggings, I also will through in a few of my colored fun pair, and I also have a pair of flowy tan and white polka dot pants that tie in the front which will definitely have to make the packing list.
For outerwear, I am bringing a black and white pullover sweater which can be worn by themselves or I can also throw them over any of my tops of dresses if I get chilly. Both with having both a black and white one I will be prepared for all situations. Basics are a way to go, especially when trying to pack light! As well I am bringing a jean jacket and my black Lululemon vest from a few seasons ago, but it is so insulated and warm and I love traveling with it! As of now, this is all I have thought out to bring but a few more might get added in later.
As for dresses, it is also like swimsuits for me. I love and want to bring them all. One of the dresses that I am bringing with me that is a free people orange-red printed sundress. It has a cap sleeve on one side and then scoops down like it would be a one-shoulder dress and then the other side has two criss-cross spaghetti straps. Then it pinches inwards at the waist and has a rope like a belt that ties and then the bottom drapes down and has two layers of ruffles that are longer to one side so it looks more dynamic, playful, and fun when you move... Although I am not going to go into all the dresses that I'm bringing in this detail. If you are cramped on space again bring the basics and then secondary bring a few fun, flirty ones — if you have room.
For shoes I am bringing pair of platformed espadrille sandals that I am in love with, a pair of basic black and Metallic UGG sandals, and tennis shoes. I may through in more later but I would say that these are the two most important ones that I will be wearing throughout summer.
I also am bringing a few activewear pieces, Like running shorts!!! these are my favorite thing to wear after sundresses just because they are so comfy to thow on, all purpose, and casual. Which also doubles as my pj's because I love sleeping in t-shirts and running shorts. I also am bringing a cute summery bag, sunglasses, and a book for the pool. Then, of course, I am bringing all the essentials: underwear, socks, bras, toothpaste, glasses, sunscreen, face soap, and the tiniest bit of makeup.
Side note I also will be traveling with my school backpack so in there, of course, is my computer, water bottle, wallet, camera and any sort of charger that I will need!
Disclaimer this packing list also is based on where I'm going and would work for similar weather locations however you may have to make tweaks. As well these are stock photos to just give you an idea of things I am bringing.
Items are subject to change. I have officially still two weeks before I need to actually have it ready.
Hope that you enjoy and that this helps packing easier. Peace out Manhattan, KS see you soon!
IT'S SO HOT!
It's that time of year. We're all outside by the pool, trying to be our tannest selves. I've been doing it quite a lot lately, and I've come to realize that the same thoughts run through my head every time I'm out there. Don't lie, you know you've thought all of these too.
Whether you are going somewhere warm for spring break or dreaming of summer days when you'll be lounging in a swim suit all the time, everyone can relate to the dread that is bathing suit shopping.
As someone who is very self-critical, it is important to me that I find a bathing suit that makes me feel confident. When I am half-naked on a beach I want to look good and not obsess over whether everyone is staring at me and thinking that I look awful. And although I know most people are too caught up in what they are doing to even care what I look like I still think it is important to be able to know myself that I look good. This all starts with the right bathing suit.
A couple days ago I was on Instagram looking at my discover page and wondering how everyone finds such cute bathing suits for spring break when I came across poolpartytrends. I clicked on their page and realized that this was what i was missing all along.
Poolpartytrends doesn't sell bathing suits but instead they highlight the cutest bathing suit styles of the moment and lead to to places where you can buy the bathing suit of your dreams! It is a sunny little blog with bathing suits for any occasion. Do you need a bathing suit for Vegas? They have a blog for that. Just curious about what is going to be popular this season? They have you covered!
Moreover, a lot of the bathing suits they link can be bought on Amazon prime, which means a great deal for a cute suit! I never thought I would find the perfect bikini and be able to get the top and bottom for less than $60, but now I can! I have always been a huge advocate for shopping for clothes on Amazon, but was always skeptical about the idea of buying bathing suits. But now I can see reliable reviews and real people modeling the suits before I think about buying!
If you still need a last minute swim suit for Spring break or want to start your summer shopping early I'd head over to poolpartytrends.com and see what is in style before making any purchases!
If you follow these tips, then you will for sure have the perfect beach body.
Growing up, I never felt comfortable in a swimsuit. Girls with model-like bodies surrounded me while I was at the pool and beach, and as a result, I would always compare myself to them. When I entered high school, I wanted to fit in, and as a result, I started to work out excessively and had a rigorous diet. I once starved myself for a day so that I could have a chicken sandwich and fries from Chick-fil-a. I was losing weight, but I wasn't healthy. Nobody in my family batted an eye at my unhealthy weight loss that summer, they were just glad that I was losing weight.
I didn't get my "perfect swimsuit body" that summer, instead, I got an unhealthy relationship with both food and my body that took me six years to overcome. Throughout those six years, I had an on again off again diet and workout routine that I had. I cut meat from my diet, carbs, ate a ton of fruits and veggies, nothing seemed to work.
I hated eating in public as well, and during my sophomore year of high school, I ended up eating lunch alone in my journalism teachers classroom every day. I felt like everyone thought that I was fat and disgusting and that I didn't deserve to have friends. I started to isolate myself, which soon led me into a deep depression.
I started getting treatment for my depression when I graduated high school, but I never really got treated for my eating habits. This caused me to leave school for two years and focus on getting better. At first, I thought the initial cause for my depression was just a chemical imbalance in my brain, which is true, but as I began to dig deeper, I realized that a lot of my issues sprung from me hating my body, and striving for a body image that I could never achieve.
For a couple of years, while I was in therapy, I continued to spiral back and forth with the eating and workout routine that I had in high school. I started doing everything I could to get the perfect body so that I could wear a bathing suit. It wasn't until my sister got married and I had to participate in the wedding that I truly began to change the way that I see my body. I started doing an intense workout and diet for the wedding so that I could look pretty in my bridesmaids dress, but I soon realized that I wasn't working out or trying to lose weight for myself, I was only doing it to so that I could be pretty for my sister. I soon stopped the diet, and the intense workout sessions and I am happy to say that I now have the ideal beach body, but it still took a lot of work for me to get it.
I had to gain confidence in myself. After six years of hating my body, I had to reevaluate the way that I saw myself completely. It wasn't easy, and to this day, I still have moments where I feel incredibly self-conscious about my body. But, everybody has flaws in their bodies. I know I'm not the only one of my friends who is self-conscious about their body, but everyone has a perfect body in their way. We all have the perfect beach body, and it doesn't matter what size bathing suit you wear or if you have any flaws on your body. We are all perfect in our way.
'"Strappy brown sandals"...I'm pretty sure they may be at the bottom of my closet. "Bathing suit"...check. "White tassel tank top"... I CAN'T FIND IT.'
Summertime is a time for adventure, fun, and travel. Traveling is so much fun whether it be a few hours Up North to the lake, spending a few months backpacking through Europe, or flying across the country to explore California. However, traveling requires packing and if you're like me the packing part isn't much fun.
I'm usually the one with a list pre-planned for everything in my life, from my daily to-do lists to the order of how I'm going to organize my closet. But when it comes to packing, this doesn't work so well because no matter how many lists that I make, I end up sitting on the floor staring at an empty suitcase with stuff strewn across the room. The process of packing is overwhelming and I dread having to pack anything.
I know I'm only going to be gone for a week but I always want to take enough clothes for two weeks. I end up having to limit what I'm taking, which is stressful. I need to have clothes in case I get invited to a Royal Tea (ya girl can dream) so I get overwhelmed when the dress I would need won't fit into my suitcase. If you're like me, packing is a five stage process.
The very first stage of packing, when you are still smiling and filled with excitement for your adventures. You make a list thinking that making a list will make your life easier and that packing will be a breeze.
Your list is organized by day with each outfit and any extra clothes you want to bring just in case you happen to run into your celebrity crush and they ask you to dinner *looking at you Chace Crawford*. One last look at your list before you start what you think will be the easy-breezy process of finding your clothes.
You are still smiling as you start to find your clothes. You mark the first two clothing items off of you list and you think "this packing thing is so easy". Now, you are trying to find your blue pin-striped dress that you need because it will go so well with the atmosphere of the place your family gets brunch at while on vacation. How else are you supposed to get Instagram worthy pictures of you at brunch if you can't find that dress.
It has been half-an-hour and you still can't find your dress and you need to have it. You give up looking through your closet and you find it hanging in the front of you sister's closet, but you have no time to ask questions. You still have a whole list of clothes to find.
The process of finding your clothes ends up taking a few hours and has involved the help of your mom, sister, and your grandma who lives next door. You no longer have a smile on your face and you just want to get your suitcase packed so you can go to sleep.
You are sitting on your bedroom floor surrounded by the pile of clothes you just found and you have no idea where to begin. You look at that dreaded list again and start to fold the planned outfits together. Your outfits are packed in the order that you want to wear them. You keep packing and packing until you realize that you have packed all of your clothes.
At this point, you want to jump up and down because all your clothes are packed; BUT, you have no room in your suitcase left for your shoes or anything else that you need like shampoo, conditioner, soap, you know, the important stuff. You are ready to cry because you know have to unpack everything that you just packed.
This is the easiest stage of packing... you turn that dang suitcase upside down and just let everything tumble to the ground. With all your clothes tumbling to the ground, your hopes of getting to sleep soon will go along with it.
Now, you have finally reached the last step of packing which means you have to edit that packing list you made during Stage One. You will have to make the choice between the cocktail dress that you are packing just in case some guy you meet at the beach invited you to a fancy dinner party or the more practical sundress that you need to take for the family pictures that have been planned for weeks. Continue to make those difficult decisions until you think you have taken out enough outfits so you have room for the important stuff.
Congratulations, you made it through all five stages and now you get to repeat these steps until everything fits into your suitcase. The smile will soon return as you finally get to fall asleep to dreams of the vacation that you will soon be on.