Summer vacation always seemed like a magical time. You said your goodbyes at school and unless you lived in pretty much the same neighborhood, you lost touch all Summer until you showed up on the first day of school taller, tanner and usually with a new hair cut. There was no Facebook to check and see that Becky used Sun-In until she bleached her hair yellow-orange or that Brad grew two feet in three months. It was always a surprise on the first day of school to see how everyone had changed.
Now that my son is in pre-school and I’m a stay-at-home-mom, summer time really means something again. Mostly the loss of any and all my free time, but also a new defined moment in time that I had forgotten about over the years. So to prepare for my newly rekindled love affair with summer vacation, here are 5 Ways I Prepared for the Return of Summer:
#1 -Bring on the Blond – The first thing I did was give my hair a summer jumpstart by heading to Cortello Salon for a full head of highlights. A little more blond gets me in the summer mood. They also set me up with their own brand of hair oil, Reform Beauty 4U, that offers UV protection, plus makes hair look all smooth and silky. The goal here is to end the summer without the dreaded bleached-out straw hair.
#2 – A little portable shade – I got a pop-up tent off Amazon because I always need a break from the sun when I’m at the Beach. I just can’t handle it like I used to when I was younger and could fry myself all day and not even break a sweat. It’s great for the kids too! It pops up really easily, but folding it back down into a little disk to fit in its bag is a pain in the butt. I had to watch a YouTube video to figure it out and even then it was a struggle. I’ve seen a lot of people just folding them down flat and carrying them back to the car in defeat.
#3 – A new bikini – I went to Target and actually got myself TWO new bikinis because they were so reasonably priced. So here is my first bikini photo in three years. None of my pre-baby bikinis seemed to offer enough coverage to withstand a day at the beach that involves sandcastle building, wave jumping and toddler-wrangling. I was happy to find one that didn’t ride up my butt and they came as separates so I could get the top one size bigger and not worry about anything popping out when bending over to pick up the kiddo. This suit is by Mossimo and the print is called Primrose Chevron.
#4 – A new sun hat – I needed something to shade my face so I was in search of a big floppy hat. I got a straw hat by Billabong that was immediately commandeered by my son. I feel like I have a whole collection of big floppy sun hats in my future.
#5 – Sunscreen in bulk – I got a couple of sunscreen multi-packs so I could have sunscreen stashed everywhere! It’s in the car, garage, front and back porch, beach bag, bathrooms… so there’s no excuse not to grab it on the way out. Now that the summer bugs are starting to show up, I’ll be doing this soon with bug spray too.
So now that I’m ready head-to-toe (I got a bright blue pedicure too) it’s time to hit the beach! And hide in my tent with my hat and sunscreen, lol.
What are your summer essentials?
