Vacation Essentials:

Sun, Sand, + Ice Cream ….

Hello Vacation

Outfit Inspiration From My Beach Town Getaway

When you work hard you should also play hard, am I right?! I mean… that is what we work so hard for.

I had a bit of a travel bug come up recently - so it was time for a little getaway! My best girlfriend actually prompted this trip and I am so glad she did (and that I allowed myself to be spontaneous). If you don’t have time or means to go on a full vacation (like myself, currently) a weekend getaway can be the perfect kind of mini-vacay to satisfy a travel itch. Living in Sacramento I think I am pretty lucky, because no matter what sort of getaway I want to do I just have to head 2 hours in any direction for it. Mountains? No problem! Beach? You got it!

This particular weekend getaway, we headed a little further down the coast though - about 4 hours south to check out the adorable little beach towns of Monterey and Capitola.

There’s a group of ladies in our office that arrange this trip every year in April, and even though we weren’t set to go this year, our schedules happened to clear, and there was rooms availale - so we took it as a sign and joined them at their fun beach house in Watsonville. Watsonville is the perfect place to stay because it isn’t priced like a tourist destination but is close enough to visit both tourist towns we wanted to see.

This is the same weekend I got my Nasty Gal order in - and let me tell you, it was just in the nick of time!

The package literally came in as I was getting ready to head out. Feeling crazy unprepared (because most of the vacation wear I intended on bringing were items I had never even tried on!!) I threw the package in the car with us and we took off. A few hours later, we were falling asleep to the sound of waves crashing outside out window. Best way to start a mini-vacay trip.

We woke up the next day rested and ready to go explore!

Day 1: Walking around Monterey’s Cannery Row we headed to Monterey.

For Day 1 of our weekend mini-vacay, all I wanted was to be comfortable, but I could not resist wearing my new Nasty Gal Yellow printed tee. It says, “One of a Fucking Kind” and I couldn’t be more in love with it.

Fortunately for me, I bought a size large so that it would be over-sized, baggy, and comfortable (which probably could have been achieved with a Medium), but it totally worked. The only drawback was that I had to put pants on LOL. But these jeans were so comfortable that all together I felt like I had gotten away with something. Never do I get dressed in jeans and a tee for car rides and wandering around... that’s what leggings are made for. So, with that in mind, really says something about the comfort level of these fabrics and fits.

The high-waist mom jeans I’m talking about, and are pictured above, are IDEAL. They fit so well - they are loose where they should be but still have enough structure that even petite gals like me can rock them. As a petite woman, I have to say searching for a good fitting pair of mom jeans can be quite the task. I didn’t think I’d ever find them. I tried this pair on almost as a joke to myself - like “HA- let’s see how bad these look!” But to my surprise they are perfect. My Sun hat also came from Target... IN THE DOLLAR SECTION of all places. It is obviously the most amazing $3.00 find I have gotten there. Target has everything these days.

When putting everything together I was super excited I had brought my black and brown leather Steve Madden sandals because they made me feel like the tortoise shell earrings matched in somehow. And even though the sun hat didn’t necessarily match either - I wore it any way. I tied up my shirt to get my waist back from under all that fabric (too much baggy can be a bad thing - tying your shirt up around your waist is a great trick for keeping your shape) and because I just think it’s cute. I vetoed the belt for this day though, because, vacation food… LOL

We wandered around Cannery Row for a little shopping and then did the ultimate touristy thing of having lunch at Bubba Gump’s while we were there. My favorite shop was this cool local olive oil shop called, “Monterey’s Tasty Olive Shop” just across the street from Bubba Gump’s. They have a ton of specialty flavors of olive oils and vinegars that you can mix and match to sample with little pieces of sourdough bread. Their staff was super friendly too and all gave out great recommendations of what to mix and try. I picked up some cute nik naks and a present for a friend from their gift shop area and we called it a day.

Well…. sort of. You can’t do a beach town and end the day without going to the beach. I sat down in my comfy mom jeans, toes in the sand, and watched the waves until sun set. Talk about relaxation.

Day 2: Exploring Capitola Village

For Day 2 of our mini-vacay I wanted so badly to utilize every item from my Nasty Gal order - though that wasn’t practical. An outfit only has so many components….

So, I compromised and put aside what could be considered city wear and embraced this amazing blue dress and the accessories from Day 1. I wanted to wear the swim suit, but Watsonville in April is still MUCH too chilly for all of that. In theory, that’s what I’d wear on the beach with sun hat + beach towel in tow. The dress has an awesome beachy vibe to it when paired with a sun hat and I was all for it.

I hesitated slightly when purchasing this this dress from Nasty Gal, but I’m SO glad I just went for it! It is so very light and comfortable, takes up no room in a suitcase, and makes enough statement on its own to pass up accessories. The front tie bow is super cute and trendy right now, but the placement of the tie is what’s really awesome because it helps define your waist and break up the solid fabric. The extended short sleeve is one of my favorite parts of the dress because my arms aren’t something I’m into showing off right now, and it covers them up without drawing attention to them. More so than that, it made it so I didn’t have to worry about any sunburns on my arms or shoulders while walking around all day! (that alone makes this the perfect vacation dress). With a mock turtle neck and extended sleeve paired with a thigh high slit in the skirt - this dress is a mythical combo of modest and sexy.

I was excited I picked this outfit for exploring Capitola Village because I felt much more put together than the previous day but also felt much beachier, which goes with this beach town’s vibe.

Capitola is the cutest little beach town with so much to see and check out. Lunch at Zelda’s on the beach is seriously a must - even if you choose to sit inside and avoid the wind. It was super windy on day two of our trip, so we opted for an indoor window seat that felt just as good as being on the beach, minus the seagulls and my napkin flying off the table 500 times.

After lunch we sat by the ocean for a while and watched several families enjoy their time in the sun as we tanned our legs. After we got our fill of the beach we walked around the village for a while before deciding we couldn’t call this vacation without one more thing…. ice cream. A fresh waffle cone full of creamy goodness makes you slow down and can really take you back to simpler times in an instant, so I truly believe it’s a vacation (AND mini-vacay) essential.

We were heading back home this day, so we took our time enjoying our cold treat while meandering through the brightly colored buildings, taking pictures the whole way. Blessed with the best who always jumps into action as my A1 photographer whenever the opportunity presents itself, we got some fun shots of this beautiful blue dress against some really fun colored backgrounds.