Links You’ll Love
Health & Fitness:
Adding some healthy recipes to your repertoire is a great way to stay in shape and make sure that you’re getting all the necessary nutrients and vitamins. Here are some great options to try out:
- Choosing Raw’s Quinoa Chickpea Burgers with Za’atar Spice and Creamy Tahini Sauce
- FitSugar’s Tasty Twists on Traditional Hummus Recipes
- Prevention’s Summer Fruit Recipes And Vegetable Ideas
Interested in the benefits of a raw diet and how eating high raw can help your health and digestion? Why Raw? Revisiting the Question from Choosing Raw.
Staying hydrated while you’re working out during the summer is key, whether you’re hitting the gym or going for a long run, it’s something that you need to be sure that you’re considering – 5 Tips for Staying Hydrated in the Heat.
And what’s life without a little dessert? 25 Vegan Desserts – Including every delicious thing from Coconut Tiramisu to Fudge Daddy Brownies to Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread to Caramel Peach Sticky Buns.
You can eat it or you can take it in a pill, but you should be sure that you’re getting enough! Enough what? Garlic, of course. Read Organice Your Life’s Garlic health benefits.
Fashion:
Here’s a fun, quick project that will help you entertain fashionably at your next dinner or cocktail party – Cupcakes & Cashmere’s Sparkly Rustic Tray DIY.
Need some new nail art ideas? Check out Refinery 29’s Nail Art’s New Wave: How To Get The Bubbly, Beautiful “Pop Fizz” Look.
I’m a fan of Fashion Vibe’s Zina Charkoplia’s personal style so it’s great to see her showing up on others radar as well – Looks of the Week & Looks of the Week. Check out some of her best looks on WhoWhatWear’s Style Stalker piece.
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Bathing Suit Season… Le Sigh
Clearly I’ve been procrastinating… It’s June and the fact that I live in chilly San Francisco and have selective amnesia when it comes to the necessity that is the bathing suit, means that I’ve been putting off this piece. As if suddenly a beach or pool day will rear its ugly head when I hit publish and I’ll actually have to put a bathing suit on.
Gulp.
Last year’s Bathing Suit Season post primarily focused on finding the right bathing suit for your body type, something that every fashion magazine tries to walk us through while showing the same model as an example of each body type… As if there weren’t enough frustrations when it comes to this topic!
So for swim suit season 2012 I’d like to share some of the fun and interesting articles I’ve found over the last few months on new styles of suits, tips for preparing yourself mentally for the bathing suit shopping & wearing experiences, and of course, some healthy eating and exercising ideas to make sure you stay in bikini shape all summer long.
Je Ne Sais Quoi:
Fit Bottomed Girls – Large Lady Lumps? 6 Tips to Find Your Best Fit Swimsuit & 6 Athletic Swimsuits You Will Actually Want to Show Off
Refinery 29’s 9 Swimsuit Styles For Every Shape & Size includes fun, flattering trends like high-waisted bottoms, triangle tops, fashionable one-pieces, retro-inspired maillots, and even bandeaus.
FabSugar editors chose their favorite suits for the 2012 season including everything from too cute stripes, vintage-inspired floral prints & risqué cut-outs to what celebrities are wearing & how to find similar styles – Our Ultimate Swimsuit Guide — Get the Best Fit For Your Body. You can also check out Lauren Conrad’s picks on her blog – Tuesday Ten: Swimsuit Guide.
Everyone has a different figure and different parts of their bodies that they love or want to cover up. So why not get some advice from someone who spends her daily life helping women find the most flattering undergarments for their shape? Linda “the Bra Lady” Becker is a bona-fide expert when it comes to choosing a bra and now she’s using her knowledge & know-how to help us choose the best swim suits. So check out Linda The Bra Lady’s:
Mentality:
Making sure that you approach your next trip to the pool, river, lake, or beach with the appropriate mentality is incredibly important. Feeling secure and confident can make you look better than the most expensive swimsuit that money can buy. So let’s hear from some of the self-love experts out there and see what they have to say!
- The no-nonsense Holly from Holly Would If She Could includes gems like “Don’t hand over your power to a skimpy piece of spandex!” and “No one is worried about what YOUR thighs look like, and if they are — well that’s their problem” in her post Real Life Style: Look Foxy In A Bathing Suit – No Starving or Exercise Required.
- Empowered women speak out for Shape Magazine – Curvy Girls Reveal: What I Love About My Body – 10 women who empower us to feel great about the skin we’re in.
- Prevention Magazine’s Healthy Body Image: It’s never too early to start building one includes some great tips like learning to ignore the media and learning the art of acceptance.
- You hear all about bikini bootcamps this time of year but I propose that we all tackle a different kind of bootcamp this season and really whip ourselves into shape – Radical Self Love Bootcamp:
Health & Fitness:
As I stated in my Healthy Mentality post in mid-April my goal for this Spring & Summer was to change my habits and mental approach to getting in shape. Rather than feeling stress when it’s time to get ready for bathing suit season each Spring, planning detoxes & cleanses, or going on crash diets, I want to stay healthy, in shape, and in control of my body, my exercise regime, and my eating habits year around.
Sound like a winning plan to you too? Check out the post, it’s divided into Workouts, Food, Motivation, and Extras, and is filled with inspirational sayings galore.
Inspiration:
And just in case you’re like me and a little inspiration is what you need, then check out these pictures over at Modelinia – Supermodel Approved Swimwear for Beach Season!
Curious what I toss into my beach tote when I’m planning a water day? Below are a couple of my current favorites from my swimsuits and cover-ups collection.
{Left: BCBG Bandeau Bikini, Center: Forever 21 Polka Dot One-Piece & Right: H&M Reversible Bikini}
{Left: Express Sun Dress, Center: Victoria’s Secret Eyelet Romper & Right: Sarong}
So what do you think? Are you ready to throw on your favorite suit and head out for a day of sun & fun without the stress and worry?
Bathing Suit Season
Is there anything more shocking than that moment when you realize that you’re going to have to put on your first bathing suit of the season?
While I have no beach plans for this summer, I do have a trip planned for September that may include some quality suit-time in Southern France. So once we’ve whipped ourself into fighting shape, the next step is to pick the perfect suit to maximize our assets. One of my biggest pet peeves in magazine articles about bathing suits and body types is that they use the same rail thin model to showcase the suits for pear shapes, boyish figures, curvy girls and petites. Really?
As I am at the mercy of the photographs that I”m able to find online to share with you, unfortunately I will be failing in that respect as well. That being said, I will do my best to provide you with the most flattering suits available for all body types.
Athletic/Lean Build:
If you have an athletic build, narrow hips or a smaller upper body, you can rock those itty bitty triangle suits with ease. The triangle shape on top will emphasize what you’ve got and the tied sides will flatter your hips and butt. And if you’re more of a one-piece girl, try on a great colorful suit with cut-outs or a fun monokini.
{Yellow String Bikini – $42 Top & $44 Bottom @ Victoria’s Secret}
{MARC by Marc Jacobs Cut-Out One Piece – $142 @ Bloomingdale’s}
{Nanette Lepore One Piece – $139 @ Bloomingdale’s}
Pear Shaped:
If you’re more pear-shaped – i.e. smaller on top with more generous hips – You want to make sure that your suit has thicker sides on the bottom so that it covers all your assets. Or try a pin-up inspired one piece suit, the more ruffles and polka dots, the better!
{Ruffled Peach Bikini – $20 Top & $18 Bottom @ Victoria’s Secret}
{Leopard Print One Piece – $58 @ Asos}
{Heart Print One-Piece – $89 @ Mod Cloth}
Curvy:
If you’re a curvier girl who wants to show off what she has – Thank you Beyonce, Thank you Ditta – You want to make sure that your suit has enough support. Namely thicker straps. Another great choice is a skirted one piece, which will really lengthen the torso.
{Multicolored Bikini – Top $28 & Bottom $21 @ Victoria’s Secret}
{Coco Rave – $94 @ Macys}
{Polka Dot Retro One-Piece – $89 @ Mod Cloth}
Miscellaneous:
If you’re anything like me, your body doesn’t fit into any of the convenient categories above (I’m tall with an athletic build, but still on the curvy side) so here are some suits that will flatter just about any body type.
{Victoria’s Secret – $26 Top & $21 Bottom}
This suit has thicker straps around the neck on top and full coverage on the bottom. While we may not all look like Alessandra Ambrosio, in this suit we can at least look our best!
{Shoshanna Bikini – $92 Top & $99 Bottom @ Bloomingdale’s}
Personally, white, strapless, and ruffled on top are the first thing that I always rule out when I’m bathing suit shopping. While white suits always look amazing on the hanger, they rarely look anything but cheap once they’re wet. Strapless is a great look and I always gaze enviously at girls who can pull it off, but unfortunately if you’re generously proportioned on top you will spend most of your time adjusting your bathing suit rather than enjoying yourself. And finally, ruffles are intended to emphasize a smaller chest which means that they can make you look top-heavy if you have a larger chest.
{Tankini – Top $49 & Bottom $29 @ Victoria’s Secret}
What’s your go-to bathingsuit style? Are you going to try a new style this season?
Moi Contre La Vie 