Getting Ready for Sunny Days.

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A few favorite recent buys and discoveries for sunny days ahead —

01. The Janessa Leone Felix Bucket Hat (seen above). Foldable / packable and therefore brilliant. The bucket shape has been trending for two seasons now, and it takes me straight back to my late 90s / early 00s roots. I loved a bucket hat! The slightly longer brim and raffia material makes this one feel a bit more relevant than my patterned canvas ones of yore. If you’re after something a bit less trendy/more refined, I love the styles from Freya — especially the Gardenia style — and Sarah Bray (<<I own and love this, but it is not great to travel with, even to the pool — very easy to smash). I also really love my Sunshine Tienda Palm hat — it’s sturdier than my Sarah Bray (more structure) and the firmer brim makes it easy to read with at the beach / in the sun.

02. Already made a big to-do about these, but finally completed a ten year penance for losing my designer sunglasses in a Target dressing room (RIP) and invested in these Celines. I was tempted by the oval Celine Triomphes, but I had to stay true to myself and avoid trends here given that I intend to wear these for the next few decades. The Celines work on my (very small) face. (So THIS is what sunglasses are meant to feel like. I’ve generally tolerated but disliked sunglasses forever, probably because they’ve always been too big for me.)

03. Supergoop pump bottle of sunscreen. We keep this by the back door. The pump applicator is actually genius when applying in the vast quantities we do before sending our children out the door.

04. I just started applying Dune invisible gel sunscreen before my moisturizer — so many of my products have SPF built in but as we spend more time in the sun, I need a dedicated layer. Mr. Magpie also asked me for a moisturizer with SPF built in and I bought him Supergoop’s weightless multi-tasking facial moisturizer to try since we’re both big fans of the other Supergoop products.

05. If you’re less a straw hat gal and more a ballcap girl, I feel you. All the cool girls are wearing Alex Eagle. I need to find a few friends to go in on an order because the international shipping is insane if you’re just buying one hat. I also love my Clare Vivier ballcap!

06. I’m pretty well teed up for summer swim with my Hunza G fleet, but I am contemplating adding this Follow Suit with its pretty cut-outs and delicate neckline. (Your mini can match, sort of, with this!). I also love this bandana print Boteh, the mix and match tops and bottoms from Left on Friday (such fun colors), this Lisa Marie Fernandez, and this logo Toteme.

07. For cover-ups, I am very close to clicking order on this Negative shirt and short set, and a pareo from either Cesta Collective (pre-order only ATM) or Sunshine Tienda. (Crochet cover-ups have been trending, too, and this inexpensive style is fun in the bright colors — kiwi green, marigold!)

08. I’m not a flip flop lover, but they are a necessary evil for beach/pool, I find. The TKEES are my favorite. Very low-profile, almost invisible, and last forever. A good pricepoint, too! I’ve had the same pair for about a decade.

09. My top pick for a beach read! I have this queued up on my Kindle already. A disputed inheritance, a murder, Italy…! Yes pls.

10. These are not the most aesthetically exciting, but these Tommy Bahama folding beach chairs are the gold standard. Weigh close to nothing, can be carried as a backpack (we underestimated how important this feature was…), have a pocket for phone/keys/etc, have a cupholder. They do everything! Business and Pleasure released a more attractive competitor but I can’t vouch for its quality and not sure if it can be carried as a backpack. Worth looking into, though. I will say when I bought our TB chairs, I did a fair amount of research, and the TBs consistently came back as the top ranked.

11. I have a few stacks of these inexpensive pool towels on hand for summer activities / sprinkler runs / water play. Never ceases to amaze me how often we use them in the summer, even without a pool in our backyard.

12. Just read about this sand removal bag for beach days! So clever, especially if you have little hands and feet that whine about the sand!

P.S. How do you plan a great vacation? (Comments are incredible!)

P.P.S. We all know about triggers. But what are your anti-triggers, your green flags — the things that make you lean closer?

P.P.P.S. A great party dish.