What I Wore (and Read) on a Summer Vacation
Plus a new romance start-up that I'm SO excited about.
*Note that this newsletter might cut off in email, but you can read it in its entirety via web or app
I, like many, have a complicated relationship with social media. I’m often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content, especially on instagram, but lately, even on substack. This is probably my own fault for following so many people on both platforms, but I’ve been feeling overstimulated by screen time lately (can you tell I’m a parent of a toddler?).
I think about this overstimulation a lot when I’m posting to my own instagram, often worrying if I'm sharing too much…or too little. Not enough tags? Or too many? Don’t even get me started on links—I never know where to draw the line. I don’t consider myself an influencer whatsoever, but I do want to share things I like from time to time. I’m just a gal who spends too much money and has a lot of opinions on things, ya know?!
That was a round-about way of getting to the point, which is to say that I recently shared a lot of vacation outfits on instagram, but didn’t tag any brands. I never want to bog down feeds with irrelevant information, especially if I’m sharing a lot already. But since I received DMs asking for brand IDs, I figured I’d round up everything here instead, where all the tags are in one place—and hopefully less stimulating than buried in a hundred slides of beach photos.
If you want to skip to the book recs, they’re towards the end!
Fair warning, the lighting in my hotel rooms was not stellar. Normally, I would’ve taken better shots, but I was unfortunately sick for 85% of the trip (go figure). You get the gist!
While I’m sharing, let’s talk packing philosophy. I’m someone who is extremely disorganized and chaotic in my daily life (my 99,000 unread emails can attest to that). But when it comes to planning outfits for trips, I become borderline psychotic. Whether it’s a 2-day or 10-day trip, every day is methodically planned out based on weather and activities. I almost always pack two outfits per day (daytime and dinner), each with varying accessories depending on that day’s plan.
I want to arrive at a destination and not have to think about a single thing, especially what I’m going to wear. All items are organized by day and stacked neatly (read: stuffed to the brim) in packing cubes, so when I unpack, the first outfit I see is the one I’m wearing next.
Of course, there are always extenuating circumstances that might force me to pivot and wear something different, but I like to plan for that as well. Scratch that—it brings me an immense amount of satisfaction (call it my Olympic sport?) to only pack garments that can easily mix-and-match with one another in case of changing weather, a cancelled reservation, an added excursion, unexpected bloating (bye jeans), what have you.
For this particular trip, which revolved around our toddler, we planned to spend our days by the pool and beach, so I packed simple swim-adjacent items for daytime—oversized shirts, pull-on shorts, pareos, linen separates, and flip flops. For evenings, I love dressing up for dinners, so I brought lots of fun summer dresses and skirts, all paired with easy sandals (these A. Emery leather flip flops are a real hero for me).
I also always pack a few extra staples like a sweatshirt and comfy pants for lounging, t-shirts in case I spill on myself, sneakers for activities (that I’ll wear on the plane), and one or two workout sets in case I’m feeling inspired (I’m never feeling inspired though).
If you’re wondering whether or not I use the same packing method for my toddler, the answer is yes, although I have to include an insane amount of extra clothes due to drool, food spillage, diaper mishaps, etc.
As for my husband, he has refused to partake in my madness and—gasp—packs clothing at random, never consulting the itinerary (that he creates, by the way). And what do you know? He almost always forgets a key item and/or runs out of shirts before the trip is over. Shocker? NO. He doesn’t use my method.
Questions and/or concerns over my wellbeing? Let me know! I’ve also rounded up allllll the links here in one handy-dandy list.
I spent a lot of time reading on this trip, which is not much different than my day-to-day back home, but there’s something really special about diving into a book on vacation, chaise lounge et al. I wanted to finish my summer reading list, but unfortunately, those books were still on hold in Libby, so I breezed through a few others instead, all of which I really enjoyed reading—with a few caveats, which I’ll notate below.
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood: Our STEM queen, Ali Hazelwood, returns with a storyline that’s a bit darker (and a lot spicier!) than her previous novels. It follows a biotech engineer having a secret, no-strings love affair with an investor who’s hostilely taking over the food science start-up where she works. And yes, the male lead is another broody, muscled brainiac who falls in love first (Hazelwood’s specialty), but her formula somehow always works. If it ain’t broke! Even so, I loved it, but I also love everything she releases.
Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle: I could write an entire newsletter about this stellar dark academia fantasy (with light romantic elements!) that follows two students at a prestigious magic university. Read the full synopsis here (because I don’t think I’ll do it justice in one sentence), but think a college-aged Harry Potter mixed with Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House. A cult-like secret society; a powerful, lunar-based magic system; mysterious deaths; portals, dark holes, and parallel universes—the world building is completely immersive and bewitching. I’m so looking forward to the next book in the trilogy, releasing in November.
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center: I started this on the last day (and since finished!), but I loved a lot about this book, often laughing out loud at Katherine Center’s witty dialogue and sparkly protagonist. I had a hard time with the male lead, who I thought was too harsh for the majority of the narrative, but other than that, I enjoyed Center’s commentary on the romance genre as a whole. The story follows an aspiring screenwriter, Emma, who lands the gig of her lifetime: re-writing a rom com script written by Hollywood’s favorite screenwriter, Charlie Yates, who has absolutely butchered the script—and no wonder, he doesn’t even believe in love! Even with its character hiccups, the story had many redeeming qualities.
Last thing. Are you familiar with 831 Stories? Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur, the geniuses behind A Thing or Two newsletter and podcast (and formerly the founders/curators of Of a Kind, too!), are diving into the world of romance with a new start-up that’s part imprint, part merch, part events, and more. I’ve been following along on instagram since they launched (I’m seriously the CORE demographic lol), eagerly awaiting news on their upcoming romance titles (and debating which trope hat to buy). They just announced the first: Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff, releasing on September 10 (which I’ve already preordered!). You must must must read about 831 in this Vanity Fair article. I’m literally giddy excited to see where they take it.
Thanks for reading!
ICYMI:
*I occasionally use affiliate links and will receive a small percentage of a sale linked through this newsletter. For books, I always advocate to borrow from the library (Libby!) or buy in your local bookstore. If you’d like to buy online, consider bookshop.org
Okay, you had me at dark academia fantasy! Ordering immediately. And I love both the looks and the book recs.
Love every outfit. I wanted to screenshot all of them on ig and love that they’re in one place here yay Tysm!