Life’s A Beach

Looking back, I still can’t believe that I had stayed away from the beach over the last few years during the summer seasons. I’ve already opened up about that a few times before and touched on the insecurities that I had faced for awhile. That all changed for me earlier this year when I went to Cabo and fully embraced wearing a swimsuit. It felt good! Now, I can’t wait to be on the beach. It’s definitely a happy place for me and a huge part of that is because I’m back to being comfortable in my own skin. I struggled a lot with my body over the last few years and I’m thankful to feel confident once again. It’s very freeing when you’re able to accept yourself exactly the way you are, flaws and all.

I see so much body shaming on social media and it’s usually from women. It’s happened to me before in the past and it made me feel really bad about my body. Words can definitely hurt and sometimes they stay with you forever. My hope is that one day we could get to a point where we all appreciate each other’s beauty, in all its forms, instead of making someone feel bad about themselves. That day might never come, but I’ll continue hoping for it.

Last week, I had the idea to do a shoot on the beach in this cover-up set. My mom and I drove down to Long Branch. It’s my favorite beach in Jersey. It was supposed to be 90 degrees, so we figured that this would be the perfect beach day. If you read my last post, then you already know we don’t have the best of luck when it comes to doing our shoots. Well, this day was no exception!

When we got there, it was high tide and the winds were crazy, making it much more difficult to take photos. I had to keep holding my hat otherwise it would have flown away into the ocean. The first photo we took was this one of me sitting on the rock. Two seconds later that wave behind me came crashing over me completely soaking me from head to toe.  It was cold as hell! I was drenched. I think I was in shock at first. I didn’t even run away from the wave. I just saw the look on my mom’s face and tried to register what just happened. Haha. THEN, I ran! A little too late though. I didn’t have on a full swim suit, just the top, so that was not the most comfortable feeling. I didn’t have a change of clothes either. It was definitely not 90 degrees out. It was actually much, much colder than we expected it to be. I had to walk around for awhile trying to dry off so we could attempt more pics. I mean the purpose of going there was for the shoot, so we were determined to get a few more in. After I dried, we tried again in a different spot but it seemed that the winds were getting stronger. The sunlight kept coming in and out. It was getting even colder by the ocean. We took as many pics as we could in about 15 minutes and then decided to grab lunch and drinks instead. I think that was a better idea, haha. One thing’s for sure, these little adventures make great stories and also give my mom and I some quality time together.

Cover-up Top: WET Swimwear [love this] | Shorts: WET Swimwear [love these] | Bag: Zara [also love this] | Sandals: Mari.A | Hat: Nordstrom [sold out, also love] | Bikini Top: WET Swimwear [old, similar here]

 

I’m headed to Miami this month for swim week and I will definitely be taking this cover-up  set with me. I love how flowy and loose-fitted it is. The best part is that you can totally wear them as separates if you wanted to. That’s my favorite part about co-ords. I’ll be packing the rest of my beach essentials too. I can’t travel during the summer time without a hat or a straw bag. You can’t really see in the photos, but part of the hat actually got a little ruined when the wave crashed over me. I don’t think it was supposed to get wet. Now I’m on the hunt for another one!

This straw pom-pom bag is the perfect little beach bag. Unfortunately I didn’t see it on the Zara site anymore and it’s been hard finding a similar one. If you come across it at the store I recommend you get one! I’m also crushing on the round basket bags that you’ve probably seen everywhere. I just bought one from Etsy that you can check out on my insta. Loving all these summer accessories! They make me happy. 🌴 Hope you liked the photos we managed to get and thanks for stopping by today!

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