#summer

Weekend Meanderings- Summer Essentials, An Easy Dress, a Great Read & More

June 10, 2022 By kimwheeler 39 Comments

Hello it’s our Weekend Meanderings time with Elizabeth and Juliet. I hope your week’s been nice. Ours has been heating up and we even had humidity this week. There are some things I can’t live without during the heat and I thought I’d share a few..

Carve Shorts

I love dresses, but I live in shorts most days of summer, especially when I’m at home. I don’t know what it is about these Oahu shorts by Carve Design, but they are the most comfortable and flattering pair I own. They are the tiniest cord and never look or feel tight. Last year I bought them in the cement color and wore them tons. I just ordered them in this olive, another good neutral. The inseam here in 4 inches. I like my shorts slightly oversized and bought an 8 in these.

If you like a longer short they also have a 6 inch inseam version..

Chantecaille Ultra Sun SPF 45 Primer

I love this primer and sunblock in one and how it makes my skin look. I often wear it alone if I’m not going out. It is a bit pricey, but I find it lasts a long time and has excellent ingredients that actually improve your skin over time. It has a very light feel and a little goes a long way.

Body Lotion

I also tend to get drier legs and arms and use more body lotion in summer and this Fresh Seabury is hydrating, nourishing and soothing.

Stronger Sunblocks

For sunblock, we buy ELTA MD Face and Body lotions as everyone here is sensitive and can’t use many of the drugstore brands. We love both of these and have for years. I just noticed you can buy them as a bundled together now on Amazon for the summer and save $16!

Summer Jacket

Here in California, we always need some kind of light jacket for most evenings. Last summer I bought this Tommy Bahama Two Palms Jacket and it’s been a staple that goes with so much, is light, but cozy. It travels well and I love it with shorts and over dresses and the raw edges make it look cooler than normal. I keep wondering if I should get another, but the natural color is so good with everything. The white or olive would be my second choice.

Loving Frank Book

I love getting into a good book in summer and began a new novel this week on the recommendation of an Instagram pal. Loving Frank is based on the affair that Wright had in 1903 with the wife of a couple he was building a house for. It’s a blend of fact and fiction and won countless awards a few years back. This one description of it from reviews:

“Loving Frank is one of those novels that takes over your life. It’s mesmerizing and fascinating–filled with complex characters, deep passions, tactile descriptions of astonishing architecture, and the colorful immediacy of daily life a hundred years ago–all gathered into a story that unfolds with riveting urgency.”

Sounds like a great summer read..

An easy summer dress

When the high heat hits, all I want is an easy dress to wear with slides to stay cool. This pretty indigo number came onto my radar and it ticked all the boxes. Love the color, shape and length..and well, pockets! This is another great style from Madewell who does simple California chic so well!

Microsoft’s New Green Work Space

I was able to finally take a tour of my husband’s new Microsoft work digs which I’ve been wanting to see for a while, but you know pandemic and all… He’s been talking about it for a while since it’s not only a beautiful design, but it extremely green.

It’s a work space reimagined so everyone has gardens and open spaces they are looking at or able to work in. They even have windows that crank open, and walls open to the outside. They want employees to mostly use natural light when they can and all other power sources are all from their solar. They use no municipal water except sinks and drinking water. Everything is recycled stored and reused. They actively are storing extra rainwater from their living roofs to improve local Stevens Creek and restore the habitat of 30 species.

I had lunch at one of the many restaurants and then we took a wander to the smoothie bar. Everything is in regular dishes and glasses and coffee mugs instead of disposables. Smoothies were one thing that wasn’t.

It’s light, bright and truly open air, unlike most office buildings. Birds and butterflies were enjoying the space as were workers. Obviously Microsoft has money to do this, but they are innovating how we think about work places. If work spaces can feel less sterile, and more like a home (many living room type spaces like above left), how nice is that? Wandering outside the walls to work or just open the window, get fresh air and work by sunlight, are all things we need more of. All spaces are designed around courtyards, paths, rooftop gardens and walkways that bring the outside in. I loved seeing seeing artichokes, lemons, flowers and blackberries thriving next to Max’s desk area.

I thought it was pretty cool and that’s why I wanted to share it here. It’s truly visionary and it was designed by WRNS and more about it here.

Bryce Dallas Howard’s Home in AD

Bryce Dallas Howard, star of the both the Jurassic and Twilight series, and now a director in the footsteps of her father, Ron Howard, has had an interesting life and recently built a home to reflect her life in film. It also has a lot of pink and was made to flatter a redhead, which she and her designer, Claire Thomas are both. I thought it was lovely and fun you can see more of it on AD this month here… How do you all feel about pink decor? Is it growing on us more?

Sorry if this post seems short. I had a busy blog week and also wrote a Signature Style post about the latest lipsticks I am loving here and also a Five Ways to Bring a Summer Feel to Your Home for Project Design.. So if you aren’t sick of me yet, you can click on those for more! LOL.

Well that’s my meanderings for this week. Please stop by Elizabeth and Juliet’s blogs too see what’s on their radars this week…

PINECONES AND ACORNS

MAKE MINE A SPRITZER

Thank you for being here. Have a lovely weekend,

Kim

If you missed last week’s blog, I shared Jubilee fun, Father’s Day Gifts, ( still adding to those), pretty summer tops, an outdoor lantern I love and more.

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Summer Lists and Things

July 9, 2021 By kimwheeler 16 Comments

Hello I haven’t written a weekend post for a while and I thought I’d share some fun things with you all. I hope you’re enjoying summer and the small pleasures that come with it. We just got back from spending a couple days at our little cabin in Tahoe and I really enjoyed the simplest things there like biking to the lake and making dinner and eating on our deck each evening.

Now that we are back home I’ve got a little list of things I want to do before summer is over.

My Summer List:

Bring a picnic to the beach

Badminton and ping-pong and night tennis!

Books..at least get through my stack on my bedside and preferably while lounging outdoors

Make ice cream,

Go fruit picking,

Watch the stars and make s’mores,

Camping

A road trip somewhere in California

Hike and lunch in Carmel

Museum visit and lunch in San Francisco..

I could add more, but those are on the top of my summer list! What is on yours?

One summer thing I’ve been enjoying is Wimbledon, after not having it last year. It really doesn’t feel like summer without Wimbledon. It’s been a different year with most of the big names out, but I’ve loved watching all the young kids coming up. In honor of the finals this weekend, I think we’ll make Pimm’s Cups. We have fresh cucumbers and berries, so why not? I haven’t made it for a while, but the best recipe and most authentic is from California girl, Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking.. It’s delicious refreshing and simple and you can make it light with less Pimm’s and more fruit and ginger ale for lightweights like me. ..

By the way, if you aren’t familiar with Gaby, I love her straightforward and delicious California cooking. I have this cookbook and have made so many recipes out of it- and the family are fans too. Right now, her house summer salad with peaches and avocados from her Instagram is my next one to try!

Back to Wimbledon, I honestly miss overseas travel and hope to get back to the U.K. next summer. Seeing everyone enjoying their drinks and the tennis, made me want to go even more. One of my favorite things about Wimbledon is seeing the audience and what everyone is wearing. Some of my favorites..

Gingham seems to popular still! I love the butterfly dress on Eddie Redmayne’s wife. And I didn’t know Pete Davidson is with the lead of Bridgerton, Phoebe Dynevor?? Interesting. More of the people and looks here on Bazaar.

Tennis has been making a comeback in popularity and especially last year it had a surge as it was one sanctioned sport that could be played pretty safely. I have noticed so many more retro tennis clothes and regular clothes with a tennis flavor. I love this terry set by Sundry..

And Free People has all kind of cute tennis/workout looks like this dress..

And I love this look for any sport with the black cap and sneakers.

While we are shopping, Anthropologie has a new promotion that’s a tribute to my all time favorite, Audrey Hepburn, with a lot of cute things that have a nod to Audrey’s iconic style.

I once sat next to her as a 20 year old getting a manicure at Elizabeth Arden in Beverly Hills. I was there on a vacation and decided it might be fun to get my nails done. I had no idea who was next to me until she began talking and her voice and mannerisms were unmistakable. She was sweet and kind to everyone and I wish I had the guts to say something to her, but I was young and very shy. She smiled at me and I was privy to her whole conversation about starting a film with Richard Wagner at the time.I thought she was wonderful and as she was my mother’s favorite, I can’t help thinking of my mom with anything Audrey!

Also reminding me of Audrey was this look from Frances Valentine..

If you missed my Instagram post about Darcy Miller, she is a great one to follow. I love her account, and she used to be Martha Stewart’s right hand. She is a genius at celebrations and right now is having a cute Camp Darcy, that has summer projects to try if you have kiddos at home, like these cute family herb pots.

And if you read my post last week on Serena & Lilly, you may be interested in their Summer Tent Sale which just began and is a great time to get some very cute things for the home at a discount! There are beach towels, outdoor pillows, cute napkins and trays and much more!

Right now I am trying to get through my stack of books and I am really enjoying Clothes.. and Other things That Matter by Alexandra Shulman about her life in fashion and being the editor of British Vogue for 25 years. If you’re close to my age you will enjoy the eras of fashion we lived through and how they correlate to her stories in the book.

And if you are missing travel as my husband and I are, we are binging the series, Travel Man on Prime. It’s a lot of fun as he does world cities in 48 hours. It’s a few seasons past, but there is a lot to watch and I think he’s goofy and hilarious. He teams up with a different comedian each episode to explore a city. So fun.

Have a great weekend and start knocking those books and things off your summer bucket list!

Kim

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Summer Things

July 9, 2020 By kimwheeler 23 Comments

Just a short post to say hello! Hope your July is going well. With all the home time, I’ve been obsessing on trying to get my den/media room together to show you all. It’s taking more than usual time trying to shop and decorate from mostly home and online. Honestly, it’s not my bag, I’m usually a touchy feely person that has to see things, but I’m adapting. You’ll have to wait until the next post to see how it came together, but in the meantime there’s a some cute summer things I wanted to share with you before they are gone!

Dresses are my jam right now when I am not wearing those white shorts I shared about. This black gauze shift from Target has been THE find of the summer- easy to throw on, adaptable from house dress to going out. I love the lightness and pockets!! I wish it came in more colors- most are out of stock, but honestly I didn’t dig the other offerings them as much as the black.

I love the lightness of it and I think where the waist drops it flatters. Everyone else seems to look good in it also. My friend Elaine came by and surprise.. she also had bought it too and adorably styled it with a hat and sandals. This dress fills the need for something in the heat we can throw on, add cute sandals, a basket purse and go!

E also bought this Target dress ( in easy gauze-love the no ironing plus pockets) and wore it the other day- so, so pretty in the teal color, which is the only tone left.

Ray-Bans have always been my favorite sunglasses and the polarized version is a must here in California. I lost my last pair a year or so ago and ever since, nothing has been as good. I recently ordered myself a pair of the New Wayfarers in from their site as they are on sale and they came in a couple days and I have forgotten how cool they are! A classic that will always look good.

My woven bag at the top of the post was a Zara find from last summer. I just saw a nearly identical version at Nordstrom right now. I love the color and size of this bag.

How is your book reading going? I’m trying to spend at least one hour each afternoon in the yard with a book. I am determined to make it feel like vacation in some way this summer…

So I’m almost finished with this fun read that I wrote about ..recommended by the one and only Contessa of course!

And now today I got two more books I’m excited about in the mail…

The Warmth of Other Suns, chronicles the great migration from the early 1900’s to the 1970’s of black Americans from the south to the western and northern cities. The Mercury News called this the most underreported event of the 20th century. The writing is highly praised as are the stories of real families woven into the narrative.

Another book recommended by an Instagram friend and reader is the Ralph Lauren book, In His Own Fashion, which came out late last year and I finally ordered. It’s part picture book, part biography. So much to enjoy in this book, including its bookshelf appeal!

I’d love to hear what you’re all reading too..

I barely wear any jewelry being at home so much now, but I’ve been throwing elasticized bracelets on as they are easy. I know a few people asked about my bracelet stack from Instagram. I collect them from travels, etc.and mix a few, wear it for a week until I’m sick of that look and change it up again. Right now I am obsessed with this look from the Bauble Bar and am going to preorder this Turquoise Pisa Bracelet to add to my beads.

Right now all the Pisa Bracelets are another 15% off with code PISA15. These with the initials are fun too and inexpensive!

Is your mask game strong? If you need to upgrade or order more, Tory Burch finally got her cute styles back in stock and for $35 you receive 5 and 100% of the money goes to good causes. It’s nice to have multiples so you have choices. The more we make mask wearing what we do, the sooner we can get out of this pandemic!

It’s fig season and I’ve shared my favorite summer fig dish on my Instagram stories. If you’re not already, follow along on my Instagram where I post a little more frequently with recipes, shopping finds and more. I love to share some great finds and don’t always have time to blog about them, but I do there.