Beachin' It

I hope you are all having a great week! We're still visiting with family near the prettiest beach in Florida, and the sun finally came out yesterday so I could make an after-work trip to Siesta Key Beach! I didn't get a chance to lay out but I'll take any excuse I can to walk with my hubs on the softest, whitest sand ever.

Don't judge my unfashionable rainbows, clearly I'm not a fashion blogger...

But seriously, how white is that sand!? I'm hoping to make another trip there before we leave. I need another day to soak it in and relax.

Beach Towel.

Maybe its my Type-A personality but there are a few things I cannot forget when I hit the beach.

Headphones + iPhone for music. Most days I don't use these because who doesn't love hearing the crashing waves?! But on busy summer beach days when the people next to you are chomping on chips (and causing seagulls to dive bomb the scraps your new beach neighbors are stupidly feeding them) and blasting some sort of Pitbull garbage music, headphones (and probably a relocation of your beach towel) are necessary.

Sunscreen + Chapstick. I don't even recognize myself in some of my college photos because I was so tan. Class for 3 hours, pool time for 4. It was a rough life. But now my skin cannot handle that so I have to lather on the sunscreen. I still use some 15 SPF oil but definitely not on my face or chest. I love the Neutrogena Ultra-Sheer lotion because it doesn't make my face feel oily or gross.

Monogram Tumbler. I love this tumbler for water or other beverage of choice!

Over-sized Towel. I love love massive beach towels. Like the two-person towels but I keep it all to myself. I saw huge turkish towels at TJ Maxx recently for $15 and I'm totally kicking myself for not adding one to my beach towel collection.

Sunnies. I've been loving my Raybans this summer. I don't go anywhere without them, but they are especially good on the beach because the UV protection is great.

Reading Material. Love me some trashy magazines at the beach. I can't do books, I'll get them sweaty or covered in suncreen. They don't appreciate that at the library and I'm too old school for an e-reader.

Also, am I the only one that hates coming home with sand on everything? I usually bring a ziploc bag to protect my phone and money from the sand just in case things get rogue. Somehow I always end up with sand in my mouth... it's the worst.

One thing I've been wanting to add to my beach bag is a sand spike for your drink (see above about hating sand on things). I've got my eye on these monogrammed drink holders or maybe even this college version!

What is your must have for a beach day?! Anyone have beach vacations coming up?