What's In My Beach Bag

Packing a beach bag is simple, but there are a few items I cannot live without for the day. Living in Florida allows us to enjoy summer just about all year long, so I've really honed my beach bag packing skills since moving here. Sometimes we take a car full of stuff to the beach for long days, but I do have a few essential items that are must haves no matter what.

... my must have beach bag items ...

1. gold sandals  2. cat eye sunglasses  3. iphone case

4. sunscreen  5. spf lip balm  6. baseball cap

7. straw bag  8. striped beach towel

I spent my summers swimming and playing in the lake where I grew up in northern Michigan. Over the years, I experienced my fair share of bad sunburns. Today, I'm aware of my increased risk of skin cancer due to those sunburns. That scares the heck out of me, so I rarely (almost never) set foot outside in the sun without skin protection these days. Sunscreen, sunglasses, and lip balm with sun protection are all non-negotiable items when it comes to packing my beach bag. A hat helps keep the sun from my already prematurely aged skin. Even though I've had a lot of bad sunburns, today I'm much more proactive when it comes to my skin.

walking along the shore of the Atlantic on South Beach in Miami

Oh, and I always bring along my iPhone for impromptu pictures on the beautiful beach!

I just know that Tory Burch flamingo case would look perfect in my hand

while enjoying the sound of crashing waves. :)

. . : . : . What's in your beach bag? . : . : . .

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Dushanbe Tea House | Boulder, CO

Boulder, Colorado is full of great restaurants, but there's one place in town where you'll get a unique experience you won't find anywhere else. That place would be the Dushanbe Tea House. Not only is the tea selection remarkable, but the food and architectural details of the building will blow you away too.

exterior of the tea house

The city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan, Boulder's sister city, gave the tea house as a gift to Boulder. Artists from Tajikistan hand carved the ceilings and columns without the use of power tools. When seeing the creation in person, you can't help but be amazed. Visiting the Dushanbe Tea House is one experience you shouldn't miss when visiting Boulder.

My cousin and my friend Laura, who I spent the weekend in Boulder with, joined me for brunch and tea at the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House. I had been looking forward to visiting the tea house for weeks. There is an extensive tea selection, and I'm no tea connoisseur, but I do enjoy a good cup of tea every now and then. We had a really nice pot of oolong tea while we enjoyed our meal.

pour me some tea, please

Boulder's sister city of Dushanbe gave the tea house to Boulder as a gift. The ceiling and columns were carved by artisans in Tajikistan, and no two columns are alike. Just sitting inside the tea house and taking in the sights is a great way to pass some time. Sitting inside the tea house while gazing at hand carved columns and ceilings is enough to inspire even the least artistically inclined.

interior carvings on columns and ceilings

Aside from the tea, we all enjoyed a wonderful meal from the brunch menu. You really couldn't go wrong with any of the menu items, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals. The silence after the food arrived spoke for itself. I enjoyed every single bite of my omelette, potatoes, and biscuit.

chives!

If you are in or visiting Boulder, do yourself a favor and make a trip to the Dushanbe Tea House. You won't regret it. Even if you don't like tea, there are so many other things you will enjoy while there.

Black & Gold Accessory Love

Lately I've been on a bit of a black and gold kick. Years ago, I never would have been caught dead wearing gold jewelry, and somewhere along the lines I obviously had a change of heart. These days it seems I've been slightly favoring gold over silver, and I guess that's okay. Change is inevitable, right?

top : target  |  jeans : h&m  |  necklace : windsor  | shoes : target

{ left to right }  old from forever 21 (similar)  |  handmade by me  |  baublebar

I especially love how gold really pops with a black accent near it. For the longest time I'd wanted the House of Harlow 5 Station necklace, but the price tag wasn't very appealing. When I found a knockoff at Windsor for about $10, I knew I had to have it. It's going to be a go-to necklace this summer.

How about you.... do you like gold jewelry?

Let's Pretend It's Sunday

Hey friends! Can we just pretend that I didn't forget to write and schedule my Sunday Currently post yesterday. Or maybe we can just pretend that today is Sunday. Then we'll skip right over Monday and move on to Tuesday tomorrow. Okay? Good.

wearing one of the bracelets I made this week

reading still nothing. This is one of the longest breaks from reading I think I've had in a long time. I really need to get my hands on a new book soon. It's been far too long.

writing nothing much. I guess I've been so busy painting and making bracelets that I've been neglecting other creative outlets.

listening to an episode of Modern Family playing on the television. My husband just had a root canal, and he's lounging on the couch and relaxing right now. Poor guy.

thinking that I'm hungry and need to eat something for lunch!

smelling my Flowerbomb perfume wafting through the air around me. Love that smell.

wishing for a trip to the beach soon. We really don't get there often enough.

hoping that Florida temperatures and humidity stay as low as possible. Maybe Orlando is cooler than Tampa, because summer has scared me as much as it used to...

wearing (see photo above) H&M skinny zipper ankle jeans, black tank and a grey dolman sleeve top from Target, and one of the bracelets that I made.

loving that we have a trip to Michigan coming up this summer. I can't wait to spend time on the water and hopefully take another trip to Mackinac Island too.

wanting food to magically appear in our refrigerator so I don't have to visit the grocery store this week. Ha. Wishful thinking.

needing to make a trip to the grocery store. Ugh.

feeling seriously amazing that we just watched Nik Wallenda cross the Grand Canyon on a tightrope wire last night. Wow. Just wow.

clicking through some gorgeous dresses on Rent the Runway. I've been wanting to rent one of their beautiful dresses for a while now, but we don't really have any upcoming occasions that would call for a special outfit. Darn.

* If you missed previous editions of The Sunday Currently, you can see them all here

Now link up your edition of The Sunday Currently with Lauren

Summer 2013 Wish List

Let's ring in the first day of summer with a seasonally inspired wish list. Why not, right? The past couple of months have found me doing very little blogging, and I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things. What better way to get back into regular blogging than by dreaming up a fun summer wish list for Long Distance Loving's Friday's Fancies?

photo taken during our recent trip to Miami

Summertime has been a hot-button subject around here the past couple of years. Mainly, my husband and I have had a tough time adjusting to the summer heat and humidity in Florida. I'm cautiously optimistic, but this year we aren't dreading the summer season as badly as the past couple of years. I really hope we continue in this positive direction, because summer lasts a really long time in Florida. Let's see how we're faring come August. On to my summer wish list shall we...

{ clockwise from top }

Michael Kors Jemma aviators

C Wonder iphone case
Sun Bum sunscreen

Rebecca Minkoff Mini M.A.C. handbag
Sam Edelman Gigi sandal
Hipanema beach bracelet

Summer in Florida deserves some colorful and fun accessories, and it also requires some stylish sunglasses for all the sunny days we get. I'd be happy to get my hands on any of these summer wish list items. What about you.... what's on your summer wish list?

Oh, and to really set the mood for summer:

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now go link up with {av}
at Long Distance Loving

Denver Hyatt Regency : Fun in an Elevator

The Hyatt Regency in downtown Denver is full of surprises. You might even find a cow in an elevator during your stay. You're probably wondering how the heck a cow can fit into an elevator, but it can. Me and this cow even had a little stare down while headed to our, me and my husband's... not me and the cow's, room on the 13th floor. Most hotels don't use the number 13 for a floor, but the Hyatt Regency in downtown Denver does. We stayed on the 13th floor and lived to tell the story. Don't worry, the cow made it out alive too. I can't say the same for the ones we drove by in the eastern Colorado feed lots though. Sad.

The elevator videos are one of the things I always look forward to while visiting, or staying at, the Hyatt Regency in Denver. I was sad to discover that many of the elevator screens weren't working during our stay, but we did stumble onto a couple of different elevator cars that had working screens. I suppose if you were afraid of elevators, a nice calm country scene, or a cow in your face, might ease your fears a little. If not, at least it provides a little bit of entertainment.

My husband didn't want his picture with the quiet country scenery,

but I made him pose next to it anyways. I'm such a nice wife. Ha. ha.

- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -

Speaking of being a nice wife, I also made my husband pose with me for a couple photos in these same elevators on our wedding day! We even smooched in one of the elevators. Don't tell anyone, okay?

photos by Alison Rose Photography in Denver

Who knew elevators could be so much fun?!