Summer Favs & Go-To's for Moms

Hi friends! To welcome in summer, I started creating a list of my favorite products and go-to's for summer back in April (with moms in mind), as I always love a good recommendation. Life happened and I'm finally wrapping it up! I also created a "Summer Essentials for the Park, Pool, & Beach: Kid Edition" list that is mainly focused on kid favorites and makes life at the park, beach, or pool much easier and more fun!

Disclaimer: These are not great pics of me. My hubs snapped them quickly on my phone, so sorry about the bad lighting and awkward poses. I prefer to be the one behind the camera taking the pictures, so just bear with me! I've had a lot of friends asking for links to some of the outfits from our vacations so didn't want my insecurities to get in the way of passing on some of my favs! Hope you find a few fun finds as well!

ESSENTIALS:

To begin, ever since I more than damaged my skin with my share of tanning beds in high school and early college years, I've tried to play it extra safe out in the sun. For this reason, I always use a good SPF and rely on self-tanner until I get a more natural tan by the end of summer (after using SPF 50 daily outside with the kiddos). I've tried TONS of self-tanners, so I was thrilled to find one I will definitely be buying back! This Beauty by Earth Self-Tanner is free of a lot of the harsh chemicals as it a more clean, natural version compared to many others on the market. The fragrance is actually quite pleasant compared to most of the others I've tried too. It gives a nice brownish golden tan (not orange which I loathe!). Overall, I've been using this all summer and would highly recommend! I bought the Medium to Dark Self-Tanner for most of the year and the Extra Dark for the summer and/or when I hit the beach. My natural color is "ghost" so you can see the self-tanner color in a lot of the pictures below as I brought this with me to the beach so I wouldn't be transparent.... Here's an example of the self-tanner. To be clear, my hubs does not have any self-tanner on, so it's a good comparison of a fresh-out-of-winter-with-T-shirt lines tan.

So I'll confess, I never got on the Stanley water bottle train and was determined to find my own train... I finally did that when I found these awesome Owala insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottles! They come in a variety of colors, sizes, styles, have a built-in straw and big gulp feature, and don't leak if the lid is closed, They come in kid-sizes too so my daughter was thrilled when we had matching water bottles,and she proudly takes it everywhere with her (she's 5 so I'm soaking in the "mommy and me" stage for as long as I can!) My son now wants one too so it's on his birthday list!

One of my all-time favorite household products is our Vitamix Blender. We use ours daily for smoothies, sorbet, protein drinks, soups, healthy popsicle blends, salsas, and so much more! Vitamix Blenders last up to 10x longer than an average blender so we believe it's well worth the investment. When my son was going through a tough time with PFD (pediatric feeding disorder - the backstory is on the blog but thankfully we've come a long ways in 4 years) we lived on daily smoothies twice a day to get calories in him. This Vitamix Blender blends the smoothies better than any blender I've had before, and I can't recommend it enough! Perfect for healthy summer breakfast drinks, snacks, sorbets, or healthy popsicles this summer!

SUMMER WARDROBE:

This adorable Romper is my new favorite color. It reminds me of the ocean. Not only is it super cute but it's just about as comfy as you can get for the summer! Snag it HERE! There are other colors too, but I loved this "lakeblue" color!

I'm obsessed with this Knit Tank Striped Dress! Not only is it super cozy, but you can wear a regular bra with it too which for me is a huge win! I received tons of compliments on it so had to include it! I chose the blue and white stripe option but it comes in a variety of colors and options! I also love this One-Shoulder Bodycon Midi Knit Dress, but you have to wear a strapless with this one, so the other Knit Tank Striped Dress is my overall fav. Both would be super cute preggo too!

I was skeptical about these Shorts but decided to give them a try. They are now my new favorite shorts as you can dress them up for church, brunch with the girls, or a dinner out. Here are a few of my fav looks! To go with the below shorts, I found this perfect Classy Knit Top. It looks so much cuter in person with the shorts than in the pics on Amazon. Since I'm shorter (barely pushing 5'4"), it doesn't show much or any tummy skin as I try to avoid a full crop top! To me, it looks classy and very country club-ish, so it's perfect for a brunch or evening on the town with the high-waisted shorts! Pair it with some gold jewelry and bracelets.

The Hot Pink Shorts look cute with a striped or solid top and a cute belt (which I forgot). I have them in black and hot pink! Check them out HERE!

I also ordered a few of these Knit Sweater Vest Tanks which go well with the shorts too. They are longer but a cute front tuck and belt make it look adorable! These Pleated Summer Blouses can be dressed up or down and look great with the above shorts or with jean shorts for a more casual look. I love the dusty rose, black, and lake blue colors.

I also ordered these Casual Summer Sleeveless Rompers in the Army Green and the Royal Blue and love them both! This BodyCon Sweater Dress surprised me with how cute it actually turned out. I need to get an updated pic of this as it's a new fav. Pair it with chunky white sneakers for a fun, casual look.

I also love and get lots of compliments on this Casual Denim Summer Dress. Sorry I don't have a great picture, as this is all I can find from vacation, but you get the idea and can see more pics in the LINK.

Side note, if you want a great vacation spot, check out Watercolor in 30A. The pic below was taken at the Old Florida Fish House which is one of our favorite spots for live music, good food, and a beautiful ambience! I'll be making a post on all the places to hit on 30A soon, so make sure to subscribe and stay tuned! Follow @lifewithlittlez (with a "z") on Instagram for more fun too as I'm going to build this account back up since it was hacked and I had to start over. (Casual Denim Summer Dress below.)

SWIMWEAR:

When it comes to summer, I live in my swimsuit cover-ups. I ordered quite a few to try, and these are the ones I'm keeping! I ordered this Swimsuit Coverup in both beige-white and blue green and love them both!

This light pink skirt and adorable Crocheted Swim Coverup is also a fav (it also comes in other colors too!). I probably should have unbuttoned a few buttons at the top to make it even cuter, but with the kids, you just throw on clothes and go, so I didn't even look in the mirror on my way out to the beach. One lesson learned, make sure not to throw it in the dryer like I did... I'm reordering it again since I love it so much and live in cover-ups in the summer!

I haven't tried this on yet but ordering this fun and functional Swimsuit. This looks cute but also like it would hold up well when chasing toddlers around at the pool!

I have this swimsuit in the hot pink and also ordered the army green. It has nice built-in support so you don't have to worry about cold water if you know what I mean. Again, not a great pic, but I'm not the type of person to go around taking selfies in a swimsuit, so this is the best I could find. The pics on the LINK are much better.

I also love this Cupshe Crochet Mini Dress CoverUp (shown below in white) and have it in the white and turquoise colors, both in size small.

ATHLEISURE:

This is one of my go-to Golf / Tennis Skorts. The back is pleated and has a zippered pocket which is convenient. I have a size small in coral. I pair it with these Cropped Tanks (also shown below in the waterfall pic). I actually ordered a few sizes and styles and went with the "waist" length in size XL/XXL as I don't like things super tight, and they still fit great!

These are my go-to FAVORITE Athleisure/Everyday/Workout Shorts (though my working out these days is normally chasing the kids around). I ordered a size small and have them in a variety of colors and love the more muted Dark Gray Blue374 shorts (in the pic below) too! Not a great phone pic, but it does show they hold up to the test of time.... Probably worn these over 50x so far including a few hikes like to hike Catawba Falls (below).

To go with the above Workout Shorts, these Cropped Tanks (shown above with the coral skort and in the waterfall pic). I have "waist" length in size XL/XXL even though I'm normally a size small as I like a little room in my tops. I love the Color: Ivory+dusty blue+sphinx colors but am going to order this cropped set too as I love the color combos! So many great options to choose from!

I also love these Comfy Cropped Tanks. These are a baggier fit and super cozy. I ordered the coral and white in size small.

POOL ESSENTIALS & ACCESSORIES:

I LOVE this Collapsible Everything Bag for the beach, groceries, park, etc. It folds up for travel when we go to the beach and fits all the pool toys, mini cooler, and towels. It's one of my favorite bags. I had it monogrammed just for fun and love the look! It comes in a variety of colors too and is on sale right now too!

This is my other go-to beach bag for when we are at the beach all day. We usually put the towels in here if we bring our other cooler and larger pool toys In the other bag. They don't carry this exact one anymore, but I found this similar navy and white striped, nautical Beach Bag which had great reviews.

I also am a huge fan of the Goodr Sunglasses. I have a few pairs including the tortoise (shown below and in many of the other pics too) and "sunbathing with wizards" turquoise color. My hubs has a few pairs as well. They are lightweight, fit amazing, stay on well, and don't break the bank.

I love this versatile, neutral Crossbody Bag! Dress It up or down and fit all the goodies inside! I love the size as it can fit in my keys, phone, sunglasses, wallet, small sunblock, and has plenty of room for other goodies as well!

These are my favorite go-to pool and beach Sandals. They are super comfy, come in a TON of colors (I went with white since they go with everything), and easy to walk in!

I'm loving the "tennis shoes with everything" trend as I love being comfy and being able to run after my kids at a moment's notice. These adorable New Balance sneakers are some of my new favs. My young friends tell me the funkier the better (I'm looking at you Olivia!), so this is a good in-between for me. They come in a variety of colors too!

I love these Clear Travel Bags and use them to stay organized for the pool, park, or when we travel. The come in a variety of zippered/seam colors so we each have a different color to stay organized when we travel.

OUTDOOR FUN:

For a fun summer project, we love these Shatterproof, Weatherproof, Cafe Lights! Hang them on the deck, pergola, patio, etc. for a fun summer vibe and enjoy friends and family while entertaining with the perfect cafe lit ambience!

I love these outdoor Melamine Dinner Plates! They remind me of the ocean and are perfect for the pool! I also love these Unbreakable Lightweight Colorful Plates which are dishwasher safe and microwave safe too!

Thanks so much for reading and hope you found some good gems! Check out the "Summer Essentials for the Park, Pool, & Beach: Kid Edition" post too for more kid-approved summer favs, and make sure to subscribe and follow @lifewithlittlez on Instagram for all the fun!