What I packed for a spring beach trip - fashion

I was lucky enough to spend three days earlier this week a block away from the ocean in Laguna Beach, California with a great group of women from my church.  The forecast called for anywhere from the low 50's to mid 70's, with a chance of showers thrown in.

I don't know about you but for me time at the beach is wonderful no matter what the weather forecast,
but in the Spring it can tricky to pack appropriately given it's fickle nature.  Taking into account morning fog, beautiful sunny skies and afternoon cloudiness, even without the chance of rain it would be easy to seriously over pack or to under pack and be totally unprepared for the changes.

Since a friend was driving and I knew the trunk space would be limited, I really had to think my packing through and take things that would be appropriate for either conditions using only one mid-sized suitcase.

Here's what I packed for my spring beach trip...

1.  Three pairs of jeans - blue skinnies, grey straight and white straight
2.  Three t-shirts - one long sleeve navy pin stripe, one long sleeve pink and one short sleeve white
3.  One cap sleeve black floral print blouse.
4.  One long sleeve blush pink ruffle blouse.
5   One light blue short sleeve peasant blouse.
6.  One dressy grey and white hooded sweatshirt/sweater.
7.  A casual rain coat.
8.  Silver jewelry, I used my favorite five and added a drop feather pair of earrings.
9.  Flat sandals, navy blue chucks, platform sandals and a pair of flip flops.
10. Room mate friendly pajamas.

 (tops)

(shoes, jacket and room mate friendly p.j.'s)

(jewelry)

As it turns out, the weather was picture perfect, everything you would want it to be.  I ended up wearing just about everything I took with the exception of the white jeans, rose colored ruffled blouse and platform sandals.  The lighter sweater and casual raincoat were all I needed for warmth and the limited jewelry worked out just fine.

That's one of the nice things about beach stays, the comfy casual atmosphere of most shops and restaurants allows for dressing up or down limited clothes.  All it took to for my blue jeans and peasant blouse to be restaurant worthy were the dressier sandals, feather earrings and a part up do with my hair.  I wore the same jeans with a long sleeve tee for a morning walk on the beach with my converse sneakers and they were totally appropriate there as well.

My husband can't imagine wanting to spend time with friends in such close proximity (there were nine of us in three bedrooms with one bathroom) but the nearness is actually one of my favorite parts. This was a planning event and I think not having to come and go from conference rooms to hotel rooms allows for more creativity.  And being in such close confines with others for a couple of days also makes home all the sweeter to get back to.  All in all the time away was a huge success.

Have a wonderful first weekend of spring my friends.

xo, Patty

p.s. If you want to read another post on maximizing your clothes wear ability you might want to read my post on styling a white t-shirt and jeans.