Monday, July 29, 2013

pass the sunscreen. and another mojito.

 I knew I liked you people. I mean, that's why I invited you all to join me on an amazing blog-friends non-conference vacation, after all. And then you all (well, 55 of you. That's legit in my book.) played nice and voted in my survey? AND THEN YOU ALL PRETTY MUCH VOTED FOR THE SAME THING??! I knew we were BFF for a reason.


 Apparently we can all agree that being lazy, tan, and responsibility-free in the sun is the best way to spend a vacation, judging by the vast majority of you choosing either the all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean or (and) the cruise in the Bahamas. A few of you ambitiously selected a few other places as well (or just picked ALL, which is also legit)...and for awhile, actually, the DUDE RANCH was in 2nd place to the resort!! That was cracking me up! Apparently you cowgirls get up and vote early, since you were ultimately surpassed by folks preferring cruising and museums tours. Which...you museum people? Yeah. Sorry, but that was the WRONG CHOICE. Unless you want to hear me whine and complain for endless hours, or watch me disappear into the coat room with my Kindle. Just send me a text when you're ready to leave and do something fun, like eat. Or watch paint dry. The only thing worse than going to a museum on vacation is going to tour a battleship. And I speak from personal experience. Many times. It's a miracle I survived my childhood, actually. No wonder I watch so much reality TV. I'm still trying to balance out all those educational vacations.


This drink is for YOU, boring Battleship Texas tour! May my feet never cross your threshold again!



I drink this in remembrance of the Museum of Boring-ass Space or whatever it's called. Washington DC, you stand for everything boring in this world. Boring museums and politics. Mark my words: I will never waste another second of my life within your zip code!!!

Anyways. Sorry for the digression. You should be glad you're not Matt: I regularly decide to vent all of my pent-up museum and walking-tour and battleship aggression on him. Poor guy. I wonder if there is group therapy for this sort of thing? Never mind. We can discuss while we're laying next to the pool in the Dominican Republic or something. Free therapy! (Except, not free...but whatever)

Other folks made some great alternative suggestions which I will take into account for our next blogger getaway:



1) Yes, my house IS basically a resort. You've seen my pool, and you know I make a mean cobbler and strawberry-coconut soda. What else could you hope for?

2) This is a fabulous suggestion. I totally didn't even consider this, but I've seen gorgeous pictures of such places (in what, like Arizona or something? California? Some other place I've definitely never been?) and would be all for hitting up such a place!

3) ONE HUNDRED PERCENT YES. Whoever wrote this, I love you and how you are keeping my best interest in mind. 

4) Ummm...I'm going to have to go Google a map to see where the heck Ottawa even is, but since all of my Canadian blog friends ARE totally awesome, I'd say this is a possibility! Is there a hockey game we can go to while we're there? How about a battleship? HAHA DON'T ANSWER THAT.

So anyway, I'm glad that at least most of us can agree that resorting in the Caribbean is the way to go. I think that those of you who voted for the cruise can be easily convinced: the all-inclusive is exactly like a cruise except that you don't get seasick, the booze is free, and you can't possibly get stranded in the middle of the ocean for a week with no electricity, pooping in a bag. Sooooo....yeah. That should be all the convincing you need. Plus your dinner can look like this every night:

 

So thank ye kindly for voting. If you were hoping to discourage me from obnoxiously creating surveys and begging you to vote, you have basically accomplished the opposite by being such good little voters. I'm already scheming what my next riveting survey topic will be. Get excited. Or offer suggestions. Also good.

 A couple of weeks ago, after my friend Kristin scored some amazing deals at Old Navy and then I went to ON to try to get the same things but the SALE WAS OVER and it was too late and I chastised her for not telling me about the sale BEFORE the sale (or at least on the same day) and she said 'don't you get their emails?' and I said 'probably, yeah, but they either go to my spam box or I ignore them cause don't nobody have time to actually LOOK AT all the store emails they get' and she probably rolled her eyes and I said 'next time just TELL ME when there's a good sale' and she said 'okay'...WHEW, take a breath. Sorry, I didn't want to make a semi-unimportant story longer by including punctuation...SO, now Kristin dutifully (and by 'dutifully' I mean...she is totally an awesome friend and this is above and beyond the normal call of friendship duty) forwards me any PARTICULARLY GOOD Old Navy sale emails WITH her own notes at the top of the email about which items she thinks I might be especially interested in. I KNOW. Don't you wish you had a friend like that, to personally curate sale ads for you? (Jealousy is appropriate here) So that is how I knew that on Saturday, I needed to be hitting up the $5 swimsuit sale at Old Navy! I am a huge fan of ON bathing suits, and what with my *ahem* all-inclusive resort vacation quickly approaching (my real one, not the distant-future one I'm planning for blog friends!), I have been needing to add a few more bathing suits to the collection. I didn't have time to actually go to the store, but I own enough of their suits that I'm confident shopping online...and THEN I discovered that online ONLY yesterday, you got 25% off your whole order!! So basically what I'm saying is...I cleaned up at Old Navy (dot com) yesterday. Two bathing suits, two shirts (one chambray button down...FINALLY, maybe I'm the last person on earth to get one?, one fancy tank top), and a pair of khaki shorts...I am about to have a happy mail day sometime soon!

Alright. That was a boring story. Sorry. I'm just really excited because VACATION CLOTHES mean vacation is SOON! Now that the Bathing Suit Situation is pretty much set, I'm moving on to finalizing my sunscreen selection. And I need help. I typically use a separate/different sunscreen for my face (usually advertised as a 'faces' sunscreen, or oil-free, or something)...but I'm not loving my current one. Anyone have a face sunscreen that they particularly love? Not an everyday moisturizer with SPF...a legit beach sunscreen. Do you use separate sunscreen for your face, or have I fallen prey to a marketing scheme? Also, bonus points if your sunscreen recommendations do not include oxybenzone, as I'm not especially interested in enhancing my endometriosis. That's like...the opposite of vacation. Something more on par with battleship touring. And now we all know how I feel about that. So! Recommendations! Go!  And Happy Monday!

24 comments:

  1. Now that we know where we're going, WHEN are we going?! :)

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  2. I'm with Aubrey... yay for you going on your vacation soon and all that, but when is ours?!

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  3. Tell us WHEN and I am there!!! I can pack a bag in 2.5 seconds so for reals. . . I'll be ready to go!

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  4. I really like Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen...it's one of the very few that doesn't break my face out and make me super oily. BUT, I just looked up the ingredients, and of course it contains that oxy-something you mentioned above. Boo!

    I can't speak for Badger products, but if you're looking for chemical-free, I do know a few people who use this organic sunscreen and seem to like it a lot.

    I've been wanting to try it, and our upcoming Caribbean getaway is just the excuse I need to purchase some! So my bags are packed and I'm ready to go--just let me know when/where and I'll be there!

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  5. Totally missed that poll, but I'm on board with everyone else!!

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  6. One of us really needs to win the lottery now that we've all decided where we're going!!! My vacation countdown is 9 days!!!! :)

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  7. I agree with Amanda about the Neutrogena dry touch...I'm allergic to everything else. I use it on my face (allergy issue), too. But, it does contain the oxy ingredient. Bummer!!!
    Hey, I was thinking rather than sending the $1,000,000 you promised just take me on an all-inclusive!

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  8. I am so jealous of your upcoming vacation. And your amazing ON deals!

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  9. So now I feel the need to go check the ingredients in my sunscreen! Arg!!! I believe the article should have mentioned which ones contain the ingredient mentioned. Also, if they realize the link I believe they should take it out of their products. You know it makes sense because in the long run--future consumers. I don't use seperate face sunscreen. We used Banana Boat Protect and Hydrate Sunscreen and liked it because it didn't feel greasy. It also has the benefit of having aloe, but I checked the ingredients just now and it has Oxybenzone 3%, and Charles' Coopertone Water Babies has 4% in it! I just googled sunscreen without Oxybenzone and it gave a list of products looks like Ocean Potion is one to check out--which I believe you already like:) Have lots of fun on your trip. Looking forward to seeing lots of fun pictures.

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  10. Ottawa is in the province of Ontario which also houses the city of Toronto. I on the other hand am in British Columbia (above Vancouver). There's your Canadian geography lesson (almost as boring as battleship tours) but the sound of a blogger vacay is anything but boring.
    PS - I'll have you wearing Matt's boxer-briefs under maxi dresses yet. they're like bicycle shorts only softer. xo

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  11. I'll see you in the Caribbean! So cool you have an Old Navy guru and tons of prizes coming in the mail. (I call online purchases prizes because it feels like you won something when you come home to find packages!) No stellar recommendations for sunscreen, but make sure you pack extra aloe vera gel spoken from the gal who always forgets to put sunscreen on :)

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  12. I am also a HUGE fan of old navy swimsuits and I love their shorts!

    As far as sunblock...
    1) Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch SPF 45 Sunblock has been by go to for my face. I always use separate face and body sunscreens.

    2) If you want a chemical free sunblock that is easy to rub in and does not leave you with a white tinge I would recommend
    BabyGanics Cover Up Baby Sunscreen For Face And Body 50 SPF - I have tried a TON of mineral sunscreens and this has been by go to with my daughter all summer! Sadly, must of the mineral sunscreens are WAY more expensive.

    PS - I also just purchased the Babyganics Face stick at Target today.

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  13. maybe if you keep posting about this someone's rich parents or grandparents will have a time share they can't use someday and we can all rendezvous!!!

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  14. I am a sunscreen/hat freak*

    I love:
    EltaMD UV SPORT
    "BROAD-SPECTRUM SPF 50
    UVA/UVB Sun Protection
    SPF 50 with 9% Zinc Oxide
    Won't rinse off in water or drip into eyes and sting when you sweat
    May be applied to wet or dry skin
    Great for swimmers, runners, golfers, skiers and all outdoor activities
    Safe for use with children
    Very Water Resistant
    Noncomedogenic, paraben-free, sensitivity-free, fragrance-free

    Active Ingredients: 9.0% Zinc Oxide, 7.5% Octinoxate, 5.0% Octisalate"

    Love this STUFF
    It's on the pricy side so I tend to only use it on my face arms, and chest but I can run a 5K, hop in the pool swim for an hour and it stays on w/ no stingy eyes!
    And then Neutrogena(UltraSheer Dry Touch)on my legs belly and back.

    For when I don't need something waterproof:
    "EltaMD UV CLEAR BROAD-SPECTRUM SPF 46"
    Worth every penny.
    Like many things in life you can purchase it online.

    *Most likely bz my first job (from HS through grad school, over a decade) was as a lifeguard/swim instructor SO I have already spent A LOT of time out doors.

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  15. i'm glad that i was in the majority with the all inclusive! i've never used a different sunscreen for my face but i'm not really picky about face lotion or oil so maybe that's why. sorry for the lack of help! jealous of your $5 swimsuit finds. maybe i'll have to go sign up for those emails! :]

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  16. I have no sunscreen recommendations, but I can sympathize with very questionable vacation decisions foisted upon us by our parents. My mom and dad once thought it would be a fabulous idea for our family to tour a restored Shaker village. In July. In Kentucky. Have I mentioned that Shakers had not yet been introduced to the wonderful invention that is air conditioning? That deserves at least a couple fruity drinks, I think.

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  17. I totally need someone to go through all my sale e-mails for me. And it feels like Old Navy is having a sale about every three days!

    And yes, yes, yes -- Ottawa is definitely the way to go since it's relatively close to me. We can totally see a hockey game and we can skip the Canadian War Museum and it's battleship wheel! Ha!

    Oh wait, if this is an all-expenses paid blogger meetup than my vote for the resort still stands.

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  18. I hear ya.....just got back from Boston and saw a looott of the historical stuff.....just enough that it wasn't overkill.....but I was longing for a beach and some fruity drinks there for a while :))

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  19. Forts are pretty awful to visit, too. I remember having to go to many super boring places like that with my parents when I was a kid. Whenever I have kids, I will leave the educational stuff to school field trips.

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  20. Yeah I totally voted for the dude ranch. Beach vacays are great and all but a dude ranch would be equally relaxing and it would be a nice change of pace!

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  21. Girl, just let me know when. You KNOW I'll be at the resort! :-)

    I'm actually on board with somebody's (*coughErikacough*) house, too. Par-tay!

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  22. Birds of a feather flock/blog together. Sorry. Bird reference. Umm, I'd do something cute with a manatee but I prefer to not liken myself to something so round, albeit cute.

    DANGIT I hate I missed the swim sale!! I need a new one!

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  23. Lol! Well, I'm honored to have garnered a part in a whole paragraph on your blog. ;) As far as sunscreens go, I've always used one for both face and body and always go with an oil-free version. I really do like the Aveeno 30spf I've been using this year, but the bottle size might not be conducive to a week in Mexico.

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