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Summer Travel

Fun Things -Plus The Serena & Lily Summer Sale

May 27, 2021 By kimwheeler 6 Comments

Serena & Lily

Just a quick post with a few fun things.. First, I wanted to let everyone know starting today, Serena & Lily has 20% off everything at The Summer Event. This will be the biggest sale of the season. Use code DIVEIN for 20% off from 5/27 – 6/1. I know a few of you sent me notes about ordering things I have in my house like the barstools and rug, and also my outdoor furniture. This is a great time to pick an item up on sale! A few of the fun summer things..I am going to order this bookcase I have been thinking about.

  1. The La Jolla Basket is one of my favorite S&L things and is cute in a bath for towels and laundry or to hold kid’s toys. I have mine in my new closet and I love how it looks and hides the laundry.
  2. The Palm Pillow Cover for outdoors is in four colors and is water and UV resistant to last many seasons. I love the navy and light blue in this, but the green and sand colors look very Palm Beachy and chic.
  3. I have this Pacifica Lounger in and the matching sofa (8.) in the unbleached Driftwood color and love them. They are made of a resin that looks like wicker and is so strong. After almost two years, mine still look like new.
  4. The Mallorca Beach Towels remind me of my trip to Sorrento where the hotels all have lovely striped beach towels! These come in a Turkish Cotton and 6 colors with a pretty fringe. I’d love to have a stack on my deck!
  5. The Sunbrella Lido Pillow comes in three sizes and many colors. Love the colored piping and button detail..
  6. Campagna Beach Towels come in round or rectangle and so lovely!
  7. The Teak Beach Chair comes in three adorable fabrics and is a backpack style for easy toting around. For little adventures or even on your deck

Everything on the sale you can view at Serena & Lily. Sale ends June 1st.

Speaking of Sorrento..

Are you missing travel? After a more than a year of home time, I’ve really got the travel bug. We are planning a family summer trip, but not abroad. Pictures of our summer trip to Positano and Sorrento recently came up on my photos and I was feeling wistful for all the beauty there. I thought maybe others would enjoy the pretty hotel in Sorrento and its blue aesthetic and get ideas for future travel plans..I shared it on my Instagram this week and saved it on the highlights if you want to see more and get the particulars. Here’s hoping we will all travel more soon…

If France is on your list, Conde Nast Traveller just published its Prettiest Towns in Provence . I’ve been to a few on this list, like Eze, L’Isle Sur La Sorgue and Aix, but there are a lot on this list I had never heard of. Definitely one to bookmark and use to plan future adventures.

They also have a great guide- A Road Trip Through Provence’s Lavender Fields. Just wonderful to see, even if you have no trip planned.

All these Provence photos Conde Nast.

One thing we can all use for travel is a sun hat that folds. I just bought this canvas hat at Anthropologie and it is flattering too.. Frances Valentine has the identical hat for a lot more. This is a good price -$38.

Anthro also has the CUTEST fringe tote which I am still thinking of..Love the braided straps. What a fun travel tote and also beach/pool bag when you arrive!

Because I haven’t been doing my usual tennis and walking due to my toe injury, I am obviously feeling a bit heavier, so started to eat cleaner. I’m on my third day of no sugar and it’s been fine. I’m trying to stay away from refined carbs and bread too. I was stuck for what to make for dinners and remembered these grain bowls with hummus we did last summer…

I start with dollop of hummus in each, and add chickpeas, walnuts, avocado slices, romaine spears, tomatoes, sliced bell peppers and quinoa- ( I use Whole Foods frozen). The guys like shredded chicken added to theirs too. I give each a few turns of fresh pepper and some crunchy sea salt and drizzle with some olive oil. Pretty easy and filling too.

I’m looking for more clean recipes so I’ll share any good ones I get. I also made this PF Chang’s Lettuce Cups from Damn Delicious on Monday and that one is definitely going on the rotation- so good and pretty healthy too. ( I forgot to take photos- next time!) Please share any great sites or recipes you love for clean eating if you care to in comments! I find it so helpful to hear what others are doing too.

Well, that’s it friends. Wishing you some fun for the long weekend

Kim

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Filed Under: Summer Travel, Uncategorized Tagged With: #californiahomestyle, #californialiving, #goodthings, #serenaandlily, #serenaandlilysale, #serenasale, #summertravel

A Summer Postcard…

August 9, 2017 By kimwheeler 14 Comments

Sorrento

Hello everyone!. Sorry for the absence. I checked out for a bit. We did a trip to Italy for my husband’s 50th and then met his family in Switzerland where we shared a house. My sons have been home and we have been enjoying a lot of lazy days without schedule and to be honest it’s been very nice. I have been trying to be away from the computer and social media and enjoy an old fashioned summer. Thanks to that I have enjoyed three books and am working on another.

 Life has been a bit of a blur and as much as I like things like Facebook and Instagram, I just realized how much time daily is given up to such things. Books stacked on my bedside weren’t going to read themselves if I didn’t find some way to do less yet more meaningful things. This summer I tried to eat more ice cream, sit in the yard more and watch the birds, garden, hang with friends and generally be  in the moment.

 A hot day in Rome in the Monti area with my sons Griffin and Jackson.

Being in Italy and Switzerland, you notice how adept Europeans are at savoring summer, the good weather and getting out during the warm months. Walking through the narrow streets of the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome on evening, we saw people migrating to the street with their chairs, a glass of wine, food and sometimes a dog. They chatted with their neighbors or just sat and took in the warm night. A roaming string group moved throughout the neighborhood playing Mozart and people  meandered by on bikes. It made me feel envious that they really get what it means to enjoy life.

Here in California, with beautiful weather more days than not, it is rare to see people coming outside to socialize with their neighbors in the evenings. I read that in societies where this is common, people have the longest life expectancies. It makes sense. It has to be good for the heart and the soul.

Positano. 

Speaking about good for the heart, I have to tell you about the Berner-Oberland, where I stayed in Switzerland. This area is nestled in the heart of the Alps, surrounded by mountains and lovely lakes. There are no cars or roads and the only way to get around is via gondolas, trams and cog-wheeled trains. We stayed in the town of Wengen, which is just lovely and has a charming village with wonderful restaurants and shops and is surrounded by little farms and Swiss homes.

We walked everywhere and most days did over 20,000 steps- most uphill and at high altitudes. Our Air B&B was a walk up a small, steep hill and I struggled too get up there at the end of a the day, but by the end of the week, it became much easier. My husband and I swore we had never seen so many older fit people in our lives. They walked those hills with ease and clearly the diet of Alp cheese, sausages and local beer wasn’t hurting them too much. After a day of adventuring, I slept like a baby each night wrapped up in my down comforter with the sound of faint bells from the nearby goat farm.

Walking in the Berner-Oberland above and below.

In later posts, I’ll share all the details about Italy and Switzerland in case you plan to go. Both are wonderful yet so different. In fact packing was my biggest challenge on this vacation as I brought one carry-on size suitcase. Resort clothes were on my mind when I packed for Italy as we spent most of the time in Positano and Sorrento. Rome however requires a little more city dressing and of course Switzerland requires mountain clothes. That means clothes to hike in and layers. I brought a rain jacket and a ultra light puffer coat (I never travel anywhere without it), but still ended up cold. Fortunately I found a Benetton store in Grindelwald and was able to get a pair of black leggings to sleep in and to wear under jeans in the 40 degree evenings and to the Jungfrau. I never thought I could be so cold in JULY! Turns out it was an exceptionally cold week when we were there.


Griffin with family friend Bill on one of our hikes and the Jungfrau glacier below.

 You can walk out on this glacier to a hut. Yes this is July!


In the darling town of Gimmelwald.

Our last day of Switzerland we had warm weather and explored the beautiful city of Zurich. I loved it and wow talk about stylish people. They are turned out with very simple jackets, trenches and pretty tailored pants and cool shoes.  These people looked amazing and the Swiss are beautifully groomed- men and women.

Zurich

One trend that was very big in Europe was the Birkenstock! Europeans are obsessed with them. My friend Jeanne told me all the Italians had then last year, especially the silver, gold or white versions. I saw the same in Italy and all over Switzerland. However, one difference is the way they wear them- it’s usually with a tailored sundress, so the look is a little casual dressy and it looks great.

When I got home I pulled out my old Michael Kor’s version of Birks and have been wearing them with my simplest black sundress and feeling cool!

Now we are off to St Louis for a wedding, so I hope I’ll have more from there to share too. If anyone has tips for that area, I’d love to hear them. I know we are going to the arch and I am excited for this wedding!

Hope you are enjoying summer and the simple things.

Kim

Filed Under: Europe Travel, Savoring Summer, Summer Travel, Switzerland and Italy

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