Wecome to my lovely city of Vancouver. Expensive Real Estate? yes. Rainy three quarters of the year? yes. Gorgeous during summer months? Hell yes!
There are officially 11 days until the first day of summer–yes I’ve begun to count down. The sunny days are now more frequent with slight showers few and far between. The days are getting longer and the best tell-tale sign is the summer breeze that is just getting ever so warm with still the slightest of spring coolness. It’s like summer is just itching to say ‘I have arrived!’. In preparation for summer, there are a few rituals I always partake in to make sure that I am all summer ready. The most usual of course, is the ever so frequent visits to the gym lol trying to get that body tight and ready for summer (or at least what least resembles a round balloon in my case haha).
Without further adieu, here are my usual summer rituals:
Swapping Clothes for the Season
Everyone’s got clothes that they swap during different seasons–bathing suits for summer, coats for winter. I have some summer items that I usually try to store to make room for the colder season and this is one of those rituals that I try to set aside time for; I swap my out of season clothes! I think a lot of people do this, they switch any clothing that needs to go into storage with those that are more seasonally appropriate. it’s also a good time to start taking coats and jackets to drycleaning one by one in preparation for the colder weather later! The start of summertime is a good time so you don’t have to rush and take all your jackets at once. It’s financially smarter to take a couple here and there throughout the summer months! It also gives me an excuse to purge any fashion faux pas and some that I can donate or sell!
Summer Scents, lotions and sunscreens
One of the things that gets me excited for the summer is getting new summer scents. I love having tropical scents that are floral, fragrant and remind me of tropical paradise! It is amazing how much a nice, summery scent can be such a pick me up! I also try to stock up on sunscreens both facial and body, although for facial I do try to have on hand all year. It’s good to have them handy even when it’s still slightly rainy so that once the sunshine comes out, you are good to go! I try to keep a travel size in my purse on the go, or after a work out when I get outside. Preparation is the key! It’s also a good idea to invest in after sun care, more and more are now coming out with lotions and balms to soothe the skin and hair after a day out in the sun! Also, it’s good to have a nice spritz for summer on hand too, I use Evian or the Fix plus. You will be pleasantly amazed that it makes such a difference and leaves your skin softer! If nothing else, it’s a good cool down in a can!
Skin maintenance
When I say skin, I mislead–I mean to say body hair haha. If you’re like me and a little on the hairy side (thanks mom and dad) this is something that you’ll have to deal with every summer. When the sun starts coming out on almost a daily basis and I start to wear shorts, dresses and skirts it becomes part of my weekly maintenance to make sure that I have a body that’s shorts, skirts and dresses friendly! While I’ve been proned to sensitivity from waxing, I do the more primitive shaving and depilatory creams. It’s important to keep up this maintenance so that you won’t end up saying ‘I can’t wear shorts today, I didn’t shave’. I’ve recently tried facial laser and it hasn’t been bad so maybe in the future I may just end up doing the same for my legs or arms!
Hats and sunglasses
If I haven’t stressed it enough, sun protection is very important. I get that a lot of ladies like to tan but too much of the sun can be detrimental to your health. It’s also good to have extra protection like hats and polarized sunglasses just for extra protection. It will keep you from feeling the intensity of the heat!
Summer Playlist
This one is just for kicks and giggles, it’s fun to have a summer playlist compiled to enjoy the day to! I personally gravitate to old school and whenever I hear the Will Smith song Summertime, I feel like the season has arrived! This is kind of like swapping my clothes, taking out my winter playlist and switching it to my sunny days list in anticipation of summer time! It’s like your ultimate pick me up.
Polish it up!
I always make sure that my mani/pedi are on point during summertime. it’s hard because I have a slight aversion to feet touching so that makes pedis slightly hard to do haha. I spend an afternoon during the weekend painting my nails to make them pretty in anticipation for their summertime debut!
Are your summertime rituals the same as mine? Do you have other interesting ones that you care to share!? Let me know!
Also, please add me on Bloglovin’ if you like following my blog! the support is appreciated!
westcoastwifestyle.wordpress.com 