Monday Musings- Travel and More
Happy Monday, ladies. I’ve been feeling restless and a bit rebellious this week. Skin and sun care, travel, and fall fashion are all on my mind. I have months of blistering weather left when I get home, but the cooler temps here in Vancouver have me dreaming of fall.
Travel
I’ve always wanted to see the Maritimes, so we’ve finally booked a cruise for the end of the summer. Our last cruise was a Viking Riverboat cruise back in 2019, and it’s time to cruise again. I know travel isn’t for the faint of heart these days, what with flight delays and Covid concerns, but I’m tired of waiting because life can be so much shorter than we expect. Even though it’s over two months away, I’ve started to think about what to pack. I’m thinking I’ll bring lots of jersey knits, light layers, and neutral colors.
I’ve been trying to talk my husband into long-term travel, but we haven’t nailed it down yet. How fun it would be to rent an apartment for a month overseas. Italy, Spain, or Portugal comes to my mind. A friend of mine goes to Venice for a month or more each year, which sounds fantastic! Have you ever done something like that before? We don’t have a dog keeping us home anymore, so now would be a great time to try an adventure like that.
Sunscreen
I freely admit to being sunscreen obsessed.
My daughter brought back a slew of fabulous sunscreens from France, and I’ve been deep diving into them. I’d never heard of the SVR brand and love how this sunscreen feels. SVR is a French dermo-cosmetic brand that has been around since 1962. It made me realize just how vast the array of product lines that we aren’t exposed to here.
Outfit Of The Week
Looking ahead to fall, the ’70s are definitely on trend, as reflected in this week’s OOTW. I got married in the 70s, so obviously wore these styles in their first go-around. Some say that if you wore a trend the first time, you shouldn’t wear it again. Hmmm…do you follow those “rules”? I certainly don’t.
BTW, most of this OOTW is part of the N-sale.
Camel, brown, and gold are not in my official color palette, but I love them, and I’m not planning to let that limit what I wear this fall. I guess what’s on my mind most this week is going with my gut, doing and wearing what I want, regardless of any rules.
How dedicated are you to dressing within a designated color palette?
Thanks for reading, and remember to wear what makes you feel confident.
Was never a fan of wide leg jeans and it is something that I will not purchase. I love slim leg pants.
You seem to have a lot more ads popping up on your feed😩
Hi Jennifer,
Yes, we all have this travel obsession deeply in our hearts as a natural consequence I suppose, of the Covid damages and of our age.We have been in London for 10 days which were such a relief in terms of holiday and temperatures,exept for the first 2 days of hot weather – a nice excuse to spend time in the Westfield mall.
Blistering temperatures are ahead of us too because in Bucharest the weather is really hot these months, but I hope we will be back on track sometime at the end of summer.Anyway, I took your advice and I was more careful about quality , rather than trend.
In London the weather is cool and soothing but in the country side ( with Trip Advisor) there is such an unexpected Indian summer, it s a nice and overwhelming vibe of fall and it s not only me who had this feeling. I wish you all the best, a long and beautiful adventure on the cruise, good health and happy new memories for your heart and your family ! Oh, those sandals! I bought some sandals from All Saints and my husband encouraged me ti do it because they reminded him of our youth as students in that period of time you just mentioned !
Best
Mihaela
Have a wonderful holiday, Mihaela!!
WE HAVE ALWAYS ENJOYED cUISING. THE LAST TWO WE TOOK-THE rhine valley cuise with viking and the ST LAURENCE SEAWAY WITH holland american. Both good trips and good ships. Both stenuous,so if one can cut it, I AM AL IN FAVOR. ONE HAS EVERYThING ALL TOGETHER-TRANSPORTATION HOTEL,FOOD,ENTERTQINMENT
Jennifer, your cruise plans sound great. I hope you chose a smaller ship…so much nicer when going off the ship , and also when dining on board.
My firm choice is PONANT explorer ships… just 92 cabins max. My solo cruise in April from Lisbon to London was excellent. Portugal, Spain, northern France ending with the ship sailing up the Thames through Tower Bridge. Fantastic , with just 84 on board.
Our ‘first ‘ cruise is finally timed for March 2023… postponed twice due to Covid from mid March 2020 ( we could actually see our ship out in the bay in Martinique) . Snorkeling and swimming from the ship in bays that can handle a small ship.
We are also booked ( ‘cause life is short when you’re in your 70’s!) for a Mediterranean cruise with PONANT for late summer 2023…Barcelona to Nice including Majorca and Corsica.
I tended to be very comfortable for any excursions, but sophisticated style for on board dining. Black & white one evening ( outfit bought for 2020 cruise ) but otherwise kimonos and slim pants with colourful jewellery. All in my colours for a soft fall palette, which worked well together. No one was wearing sparkly outfits.
Have a wonderful time…the colours 🍁in that part of Canada will be outstanding.
Nova Scotia ( especially Lunenburg ) is a particular favourite of ours, and our trips in late September have been very special.
Thank you for the recommendation! I’ve not heard of the Ponant line. We like the smaller Windstar bit even they have more than 92 passengers. I be looking into them.
Just saw that you are cruising the Maritimes! Wonderful!
I like dressing within my designated color palette because it turns out, those are the colors I love and was wearing anyway, with maybe a few exceptions.
I can’t think about fall too much just yet, as we’re in the middle of a brutal heat wave. I just bought 7 pairs of shorts! I do love your OOTD!
I take that back; the week after I bought the shorts, I bought 7 pairs of pants! Some were actually capris, and skinny pants in summer colors, with a few pairs of cargo pants and a sweater thrown in, but all will carry over into the fall.
I would love to travel months at a time, but too many home obligations remain a part of my life….maybe someday. I agree, life it too short to keep putting things off!
Where will you be cruising to? That sounds wonderful right about now, since we have not gone on a summer vacation, and unfortunately have no plans to travel right now. C’est la vie!
Loved the Maritimes in September! My only disappointment was dense fog in Peggy’s Cove. Would love to do the whole trip again. Enjoy! PS We added on with a rental car down the coast of Maine. It was a good choice.
I do mostly stay in my color palette for several reasons. First they just look best on me. Then, it’s much easier to coordinate items in my wardrobe for multiple wear. It makes shopping so easy, no debate over those colors I love ( like hot orchid!) that look terrible on me. I just admire them and move on.
I married in the ‘70’s too and loved the styles. I’ve always been aware of what does and doesn’t flatter me do some returning styles I will happily wear again, and others not. Except for exaggerated bell bottoms. At my 5’4” height I need high heeled shoes with those and I rarely wear them now. I wore 3” wedges back them. Loved them.
The warm fall colors are right up my alley…camels, warm browns, softer whites. We don’t have cool fall weather so finding fall colors in summer styles is tricky. But our store merchandise buyers do make a noble effort. 😊
Jennifer, I’m loving those palazzo jeans, but am curious…do you feel like they look good with flats or do they need to be worn with heels?
I think they need a small wedge or platform to hang properly. Heels seem too flimsy, to my eye, with pants that have a solid looking bottom like these.
Thanks Jennifer that’s really helpful!
Thanks for your post today, Jennifer. I always look forward to them.
There are so many beautiful places here in the US and they lend themselves to long term travel for those of us who aren’t able to go overseas.. A year ago, we flew to Boston, spent a few days, (we loved Boston) and then rented a car and drove up the coast of Maine, and spent time in Camden, Maine. We loved it and felt right at home. We did the same thing a few years before that, but went to CA, specifically to Pacific Grove. I think the trick is to staying in a airbnb or vrbo in a neighborhood, as opposed to a hotel out on the highway. Staying in a home, in a neighborhood, really gets you into the middle of things and you learn the culture and people very quickly.
Both great places to spend time. We love Pacific Grove. It’s so special.
I would love to go somewhere for a month. It sounds wonderful. Everything fall is what I’ve been thinking of too. It’s finally in the 90’s here and I’m not a fan. That sunscreen looks great, I’m also obsessed!
I prefer cooler temps too.
This sounds like a wonderful trip
Jennifer.
And yes we travel for long periods the last ten years. At least 2 months at a time. Spain, Italy, Portugal, Australia and NZ, France…and more…
We rent through Airbnb mostly and love the life. My husband would like to always stay longer, even move….but you must consider if you need medications, family issues, etc. We no longer have a dog, no kids and retired.
Usually you can take a 90 day supply of medications with you but meds cannot be shipped to most countries as far as I know. In fact it was a learning experience getting my covid booster in Spain. We are trying to find a place for an even longer stay.
We loved them all.
We will be heading to Paris and London again for holiday time Nov to Jan.
If you pay for and endure a long flight, you may as well stay awhile. Covid has disrupted a few trips. And sadly it’s not going away soon.
Great point about prescriptions! Your trips sound wonderful.
Great post. FYI the La Roche Posay sunscreen is available in Canada at Shoppers Drugmart. Bought some last month and use it daily. It has a touch of volour so itvreplaces my foundation. Highly recommend
We had a month in London over Xmas 2018-19. My daughters friend sublet her apartment. It was on the High Street in St Johns Wood – perfect position. We absolutely loved it even though it was winter. By the time I left store owners were recognizing and greeting me – really had a feeling of what it would be like to live there permanently. With Britains brilliant train system it was also a good base to venture further afield on day trips. I thoroughly recommend. I’ve also had excellent shorter stays by using the super host feature on Airbnb.
Having a home base from which to make day trips has worked out well for us. We spent a week on each coast of Ireland in a holiday home and did day trips in a rental car. We did this two years in a row and there is still more to see. This and another European river cruise is on our travel agenda for if and when Covid and travel woes are gone . Being immunocompromised means no large cruise ships for me.
I prefer smaller ships too. They’re just more pleasant. Ireland is so wonderful! Your trips sound great.