10 Summer Fashion Things I Can't Live Without

I'm not usually the kind of girl who talks about clothes all the time (there are plenty of people out there like that if you want to read a blog by someone who does). In fact, I like to consider myself a tomboy. But once in a while, I do enjoy a little bit of glitz, glamour, and fabric talk, because I do care very much about whether or not the fabric I'm wearing is soft.

Now, I know everyone on the internet has done a list like the one I'm about to do. I know they've been doing them since the internet first became available to the general population (slight exaggeration? Maybe). But I still want to make my own list of 10 summer fashion things that I, personally, can't live without.

So, without further ado, here is my list.

I love this pair of flip flops!

1. My favorite pair of flip flops. These shoes (see the above picture) have serviced me for a good four or five years now and while they're starting to get a bit worn out, they're insanely comfy and I wouldn't trade them for the world. 
2. Denim shorts. For me, having at least one pair of denim shorts is essential to my summer wardrobe. They're comfy, they go with everything, and I can dress them up or down for just about any occasion.
3. All of my summer camp T-shirts. I have five of them now, most of them from the same camp, and they're my go-to shirts when I want to wear something comfy and awesome-looking.
4. Bandanas as headbands. When I got a pixie cut in the spring, I didn't like the way I looked when I wore anything but a T-shirt and jeans. So I started wearing bandana headbands, which look really good with t-shirts and shorts.
5. Brightly colored nail polish and nail art. I'm not good at drawing at all, so my nail art isn't exactly on the same level as Picasso, but I still do it. I did a flamingo and a cupcake last summer and they were pretty cool!
6. Bright colors in general. If it's bright, I will probably wear it. Well, aside from anything with ruffles, which I can't stand, but I adore neons and they just seem to go with summer.
7. Striped shirts. And when I say stripes, I mean horizontal stripes. Maybe it's just the nautical-ness of navy and white, but something about them just screams summer, the beach, and warm weather.
8. Friendship bracelets. Like the kind you made at summer camp. I have three of them that I've made myself, and I think the fact that they're the kind of thing you make at summer camp makes them so endearing to me.
9. Peasant tops. I grew out of my favorite one, but I adore peasant tops, especially in the summer time. Why? No idea. They're just fabulous.
10. Graphic shirts with fruit on them. I love any shirt that has a pineapple, a watermelon, or a strawberry on it. They're very summery, make me think of picnics, and every time I look at them, I think to myself, "Man, I could use a pineapple/watermelon/strawberry right now." I am very food-oriented. :)

Did I ever tell you how much I suck at top ten lists? I start out thinking that I've totally got ten ideas, but then by about #5, I forget everything I wanted to write. But I made this one! So yay!

Happy summer!

Love,

Glitter Girl

Happy Canada Day, Summer Camp Packing, and Other Random Stuff

Happy Canada Day! The 1st of July is the day when all the lovely Canadians celebrate their country. Canada became a country on July 1st, 1867, when the British North America Act (better known today as the Constitution Act, 1867) united three colonies (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada, now Ontario and Quebec) into one country. And, since my parents were born in Canada, we kinda-sorta celebrate Canada Day. Well, we ate about 4/9 of a really big cookie cake thing, but we do celebrate it.

In 18 days, I will be leaving for summer camp. And believe me, every day that passes makes me more and more excited about it. I only go once a year, so it's kind of a big deal to me. And when things are a big deal to me, I tend to go WAY WAY WAY overboard in terms of planning them.

Which is why I now present to you the ultimate guide/my top five tips for packing for summer camp!

1. If they give you a packing list, try to follow it. There's usually a reason of sorts for everything on the list, so always at least pay attention to it. They may also have special equipment for what you'll be doing that they expect you to bring, so having some foreknowledge about this stuff is useful.
2. Don't be afraid to pack extra clothes. Unless you're going to an absolutely indoors-only summer camp, which I highly doubt, you are going to get dirty. Likely very dirty. Possibly even extremely dirty. That, when combined with the chance of rain, means that you may need to change clothes. I also ended up in a cabin where when I changed into a camp t-shirt for our unit photo, when I changed back into the clothes I'd worn that day, they told me specifically to put on fresh clothes. So yeah.
3. Bring practical shoes. Don't bring your best pair of high heels. Summer camp usually involves mud, gravel, uneven terrain, and a lot (I mean a lot) of walking. You can sacrifice fashion for a little while if it means your feet won't be killing you by the end of a morning.
4. Try to make your stuff take up as little space as possible. Now, if you have the most enormous suitcase/duffle bag/trunk/backpack in the history of the universe, this suggestion doesn't apply to you. But if you're like the rest of us and don't have that much space, you're going to have to make all the stuff you're packing take up as little room as possible so you can fit all of it. Pack it in Ziploc bags. Roll it up and elastic band it together. Fold it REALLY REALLY tightly. Cram insanely. Whatever works for you.
5. Dress for the weather. I cannot stress this enough. If you pack for 90°F weather and it's only 50°F where you're going, your camp trip is going to majorly suck. It's the same the other way around. Try to find out what the weather's going to be like before you go, and if possible, bring at least one outfit for cooler temperatures if you're going somewhere hot, and at least one outfit for warmer temperatures if you're going somewhere warm.

Well, Happy Canada Day, happy travels to all of you who are traveling this summer, and happy winter to all of you in the Southern Hemisphere where the seasons seem backwards to us Northerners!

Love,

Glitter Girl

Aimless Ramblings about Summer Camp

What do you do when you have a packing list, most of the clothes you intend to bring on your trip are clean, and you are practically exploding with anticipation?

I'm going to summer camp in just a smidgemeter under three weeks. This will be my third year there and let me just say, I've been eagerly awaiting this trip for well over a month (when I booked it) because to be honest, I consider the camp to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. And that's saying something, considering I've been to quite a few beautiful places.

I've got every outfit for the seven days I'll be there planned. I'm setting aside clothes I intend to wear while I'm there so that I don't have to do any last minute laundry (because speaking from experience, doing laundry the day before a trip massively sucks). I know already that packing for me is likely to take all day, and I have an event the day before I leave, so I know exactly what day I'm going to use exclusively for packing. Over-planned? Okay, yeah, I tend to overthink everything, so I may-or-may-not have over-planned things just a tiny bit.

And of course, that over-planning has lead to an insane amount of excitement.

I really want to be packing right now. I want to be sitting on my bedroom floor putting my clothes into Ziploc baggies and putting them in a suitcase. But that would be crazy. I still have three weeks to get the last bits of laundry done, obtain bug spray and sunscreen (essentials where I'm going), and just generally prepare. I have three weeks to obsess over which horse I'm going to be riding.

Speaking of horses, I get the feeling that I probably shouldn't be allowed around horses! LOL! Why? For some reason, every time I've ridden a horse at this particular camp, I've injured myself in some way. My first year, I had my toes stepped on multiple times while walking out to the ring because the horse I was on was very food-oriented (read: oh, look! Yummy clover!). And then last year, I actually had to jump off a horse!

Freaked out? Excited?

Good, because I'm about to tell you how it happened.

They split us up into two groups on the first day; the first group would ride, and the second group would do a ground lesson, which involved learning something like tacking a horse, horse colors, basic horse anatomy, etc. Then, the second group would ride and the first group would do a ground lesson. I was in the second group.

Let me just preface the story by saying that my horse and I did not get along, mostly because of my own anxieties (I was so sure that I was going to get the horse I'd ridden the first year I was at camp) and because I was too stubborn to take my counselors up on their offer to let us change horses.

So one day, the first group was washing a horse and the second group was riding. I was riding past where they were washing the horse and then suddenly, my horse spooked and reared up.

I am not a particularly experienced horseback rider, and I certainly don't know what to do with a rearing horse! So somehow, I managed to dig up some information about how to properly jump off a horse in about two seconds and I jumped off as fast as I could.

According to some bystanders, I almost landed on my feet, but not quite.

I didn't hurt myself too badly; I just bruised my tailbone and the fall knocked the wind out of me. But it definitely shook me up! And who doesn't get shaken up after falling/jumping off a horse?

But I managed to get back on about ten minutes later. I'm very grateful that my mom always tells me that if you fall off a horse, you should get back on.

I've cried at closing campfires. I've eaten walking tacos (which are really good, by the way). I've gotten yelled at by my counselors because my cabin talked too much at night. So basically, the rituals of camp.

And now that's coming round again.

I can't wait!

Love,
Glitter Girl