1. Embracing the straw visor
OK, I know, I know. A week ago I was solidly against the oversized packable straw visor, mostly because it reminded me of my glamorous grandma and all of her homies back in the day, but then I watched this favorites video by Dr. Dray (she’s a dermatologist, and she is all about sun protection). She mentions how much she loves her packable straw visor because she can put her hair up in a bun on the top of her head while she wears it! YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW MIND BLOWING THIS WAS TO ME.
Since my hair is past my shoulders, it’s always a struggle to figure out where to put my bun or ponytail when I’ve got a hat on. I end up wearing buns/ponytails low on the back of my head, but I don’t really love that because then my hair sits against the back of my neck, and I get really hot. Anyway, I ended up going back to Nordstrom rack and grabbing the visor for $15, and I LOVE IT. I wore it today to go hiking, and my hair was off my neck, and it felt really good.
2. Finding Rosie in the weirdest places
She’s been getting creative lately with her napping spots. Here’s her new favorite hiding place: Connor’s old play mat, where she keeps some of her stuffed animals (Connor, not Rosie).
3. The radio station Q-102.1
I try not to get too attached to any radio station here in the SF Bay area because the ones I love just seem to always disappear mysteriously! Seriously, one day you get in your car, turn up your favorite ’90s hip-hop throwback station expecting to hear Lil’ Kim, but then you hear the screech of guitars from a speed metal band instead.
Anyway, I was flipping through the channels in my car the other day, and this station is one of a handful I can actually tolerate. In the span of 10 minutes, I heard Wham’s Careless Whisper, Mariah’s Emotions and 2Pac’s California Love. GLORIOUS!
4. TJ’s Traditional French Brie with sliced Opal apples
THIS COMBO, OMG! After you try it, you’ll love me and hate me at the same time. Eating apples with brie is really nothing new, but the TJ’s Traditional French Brie will take your breath away. It’s what I like to call “a funkier brie,” so it’s got that pungent, smelly toes aspect to it (which I love), and it’s just so, so soft and creamy. When you eat it with sliced yellow Opal apples, goodness gracious, it’s a heavenly experience.
5. Keeping a small army of sunscreens on hand
I’m earnestly trying very hard to be diligently wearing sunscreen (that’s a lot of adverbs!). I’ve read that it helps to keep a variety of formulas and types on hand, and that’s what I’ve been doing lately.
I think it’s working for me! Previously, I would only keep one or two bottles around the house, but now that I have a bunch of them on hand, it’s been easier to remember to wear sunscreen, especially when I have different options available (spray, lotion, even stick sunscreen) to suit how lazy I’m feeling at any particular moment. Also, now I know I’ll always have some on hand! I used to always wait until I finished a bottle before getting a new one, but now I just always have sunscreen around. It’s kinda cool!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Happy hump day. ?
Wow, I never thought of being able to wear hair in a bun or high ponytail with a sun visor, either! I am tempted to get a visor like yours now, too!
I was just thinking today that I need to purchase my Summer sunscreen soon. Are any of the ones in your photo particular favorites? I’d love any recommendations you might want to share!
Hi Heather,
It is GAME CHANGING. I have a good amount of hair and it’s not colored so I feel OK about piling it up on the top of my head (I feel like there’s enough there to still protect my scalp). If I was still doing very expensive hair coloring like I did years ago, it would probably be a different story. LOL! I hope you try it; it’s very comfortable.
Funny you should ask about the sunscreens because I have a sunscreen roundup coming soon. I’m still on the hunt for *the one* to rule them all, but out of this batch I really like La Roche Posay. Although FYI, it’s not perfect; if you wear lots of white you do have to wait until it thoroughly sets, otherwise it can stain white clothes. The CeraVe tinted is also excellent!
I need to pick up some new body sunscreen. Very important as it was up and Hettie and I go on nice walks.
I love Rosie in the toys. Jiji used to hide in a closet with all my purses and nap there at our old place. He also really likes the cupboard in our downstairs bathroom, we call it his office. Sometimes he just zooms across the house to let himself in there. He’s often on the back of our couch, but in his favorite spot he sometimes turns the lights off on us ?
I love seeing all the four-leaf clovers you and Hettie find! You have the best luck.
How fancy Jiji is to have his own office! I think that’s what Rosie believe this whole place is. It *all* belongs to her — after all, she needs a science research facility! — and we are merely her tenants.
We’re both working from home right now, and we say Jiji is in charge of human resources. He us, after all, in charge. I don’t know how he and Hettie will deal when we start going into an office again!
They’ll spend their days figuring out how to take over the world, I’m sure! 🙂
I totally hear you on the staw hat. My only question is if you dye your hair how do you protect it from the sun? I was trying to find a good hair sunscreen. I love that radio station as well. I listen to it all the time. I’ve been eating the individual serving size of TJ brie cheese with regular apples as a mid day snack. It’s so good! Elvis the cat naps in his blue tent next to an open window. He seems to love open windows. My new sunscreen love has been SuperGoop glow sunscreen. Although I just got the Paula’s choice one during the last Sephora sale to try next.
Hi Leah,
There are sunscreen sprays out there designed to either protect your scalp or your strands. Sun Bum makes one for the scalp called Scalp & Hair Mist SPF 30. For strands, the one I’m trying out is Rene Furterer Solaire.
Thanks! I’ll have to look into those!
For sure! I’m a little less concerned about my hair because I no longer dye it, but if I find anything good, I’ll let you know.
I wish I still had enough hair to wear a visor. It’s a hat for me. I always just flipped my ponytail up into the hat. That’s the way I wear my riding helmets too. My old trainer was a stickler for no long hair hanging out of helmets.
Love Rosie hanging out with all the toys. Nibbler loves the heated cat house Dear Daughter brought over (even though I don’t have it plugged in). She also loves it under Dear Daughters old bed and on the top bookshelf near the ceiling.
I like your Nike shirt. I’m always looking for long sleeved shirts with stand up collars to keep the sun away.
I have at least 7 bottles of sunscreen going right now. I love it when I can find smaller 30 to 50 mL bottles so I can pop one in my bag as I’m going out the door. That way I can top off every couple of hours.
Oh, thanks for noticing my shirt! It’s so old (I bought it to run a half marathon years ago) but one of my favorite items. I can’t remember the exact name of the product but they have something similar now called the Element. It’s a half zip for running. The shirt I have doesn’t chafe and keeps me cool when it’s hot and warm enough when it’s cold. I bought it when I was much thinner (pre-baby), and it’s still is pretty forgiving. I think Nike tends to run small so if you’re thinking about getting an Element (I kinda want one now), you might want to go a size up.
Oh, thanks for the info. If it’s from years back, I think I have one similar to that from Nike, but haven’t been able to find recently.
I find I can get away with my regular size for tops from Nike, but I definitely need to size up for bottoms. Now that I’ve started riding again, I’m looking for those long sleeved, high collared, covering but cool tops to keep me protected from the sun.
If you have Tuesday Morning stores in your area, you might want to check them out the next time you want a hat or visor. Their prices tend to be lower than Nordstrom Rack. We lost a few Tuesday Morning locations in my area due to the pandemic, but there’s still one that’s in the same shopping center as Nordstrom Rack.
I thought the sun visor was a great idea as well until I burned my scalp – my hair is fine and blonde, so it simply doesn’t offer enough protection.