#summerfinds Archives - Northern California Style

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.

I’ll be back soon with my media room reveal and a few other things!

We are almost to the weekend!

Kim

Some links on this post may generate a small commission. Thank you for supporting the blog.

Hello friends. How is your summer going? I hope you are getting out to savor a few of those quintessential things I am like evening bike rides and ice cream bars (way too many!) I just wanted to check in for a minute and give you a few updates… Epic insanity here right now trying to move back to our house in about a week and a half. I told my husband the other night it was the first time I thought I may actually have a break-down. I realized I four lights that have to be returned didn’t work and need to be replaced and about 100+ knobs were still to be chosen for the house! Not to mention a whole host of other things I haven’t even gotten to yet. I was feeling it.

Then shockingly yesterday I got the knobs chosen in a miracle one hour with a wonderfully helpful gal from Belmont Hardware in Cupertino. I couldn’t believe it. I was so relieved I could have cried as I am naturally a bit indecisive and the choices for cabinet hardware are infinite and we had eight spaces that needed knobs. Crazy right? I was so happy and then a friend who just finished a renovation contacted me to ask if I’d like to purchase two of her bathroom lights she didn’t use. They were my style and adorable. Unbelievable. So things were looking up by time I went to bed yesterday! On that note, I felt I could take a few minutes to blog about things I’ve been loving for summer. I’m able to breathe a little today.

In the process of shopping for the renovation I’ve been finding all kinds of cool things and I am in love with some of the vintage photos on One King’s Lane. This print by Santa Forlano, from a 1962 Glamour magazine is so lovely- the colors, the tree- it all feels like the tones in my house too. I am thinking this would be lovely somewhere..Not sure exactly, maybe in my all white bath or the bedroom?

This Slim Aarons print of women at a pool in Athens also is cool. I’d love this above a tub or in the pool bathroom. The vintage swimming cap reminds me of my grandmother who had a whole collection of these when we were kids and how cute are the bathing suits and sundresses here with Athens in the backdrop? Wish I could find such a swimsuit now!

This photo though seems more personal to me – also Slim Aarons titled Lake Tahoe couple. It reminds me of my parents who were both huge swimmers- my mom a water ballet ( synchro) swimmer and my dad, a water polo player. Looks like this was taken at the iconic CalNeva lodge which straddles the California Nevada border and was a glam hangout for the rat pack types in the 60s. We spent many a day by the pool as kids at home and we often had dragged the puffy chaise pads like this to the pool edge. I may have to get this one. It also makes me wonder if I could find our own vintage photos and do something like this though the likelihood of blowing one up successfully are probably slight given the quality and whereabouts of negatives…

While we are on pools, I collect pool themed books. Our house in wrapped by a pool so I decided to embrace it. I started accidentally one day at my local vintage bookshop I came across a rare copy of Kelly Kline’s Pools book for a song and then found a very old Slim Aaron’s book. That got me going and now I grab them when I see ones I like. I plan to have a stack on my coffee table when I move back. A new pool book just came on my radar..

Splash by Annie Kelly and her photographer husband looks gorgeous. I die just looking at this cover pool! It has photos by pool type and inspiration and has a few celebrity pools too.

In that summer state of mind, want to feel like French girl on your next trip to Whole Foods? Well then you need a proper market tote like they use in Provence and all over the Cote D’Azur for shopping trips and errands. This little gem showed above, popped up on an Amazon search for something else and I love it. I almost bought the exact one on last year in Antibes, but the challenge was getting it back with all the other stuff I crammed in the overhead bin. I didn’t want it ruined so I held off. Then here it is on Amazon and able to come in like a day!! Even if you use it for beach trips, or just to hang on a simple hook by the door you have instant summer chic.

I also love striped summer throws for sofas, across tables and on the ends of beds. When I see one I like I grab it and now have big basket full of these for the cool evenings here in Northern Cal. This striped one is cute, also Amazon. I’m thinking of getting a few for the boy’s beds and just having their sheets and this for summer.

By the way have you all gotten in to Turkish towels yet? They are so much better than the usual beach or bath towel as they dry crazy fast, look super cute too. I bought a bundle of these at Homegoods at the beginning of the summer as I plan to replace all the heavy pool towels with these. They can just get hung up and dry in a flash. No more big loads of beach towels – so much greener and I don’t need to use the dryer. In fact they are so cute I am thinking of getting everyone these for the bathrooms now too. They are also good for kids who need to take a towel to camp or to the beach. They roll up to nothing.

This brand is Oeko certified and has the gamut of colors! Check them out. Do not underestimate how cute these look hung on hooks. They add that summer something to a bath or the yard.

Speaking of summer chic, a photo I took two years summers ago in Sorrento came up online. How dreamy is this square with wicker baskets, blue glass bottles and the cutest gal with with her wayfarers and scarf tied bun enjoying a paperback? I look at this and see La Dolce Vita right there. A reminder to make time each day for more of those naps, books in sun-dappled corners and luxuriating in all the good of summer while we are in it.

That’s it for now kids. Hopefully I’ll be back soon with more if I survive the next two weeks!

Kim

Photos property of NorthernCal Style unless noted. Links may sometimes generate commission which helps support this blog. Thank you