Issue 105: Two swimsuits, Two lessons

and a new favorite long sleeve!

My husband and I spent a week at the lake with our three kids, ages 6, 4, and 2. Our third summer doing it.

No matter how packed our car is, I will always bring fresh flowers. Even if said flowers have to sit on my lap for the 2.5 hour drive. Instantly makes a temporary space feel like home.

It was beautiful. Idyllic. But entertaining, cooking, and cleaning after a 6-year-old boy, a 4-year-old boy, and a sweet but highly energetic and stubborn 2-year-old girl in the middle of nowhere is no easy feat.

People asked me how the week was and the only honest answer is that I literally felt like I was on survivor.

I packed a lot of swimsuits for the week. But the two I wore the most taught me alot.

Suit one: the one that does two jobs.

This one is from Left On Friday.

I’ve talked about racer backs a lot this summer, and this is the holy grail.

Elongated. Low back. Low sides. Chic and family-friendly at once.

I wore it constantly.

Worth noting that many of their pieces also come in tall, so I recommend it for my long-torso’d clients alot (love this in coconut). Wearing here with my orange donni pareo and a french braid with no hair elastic because it’s day 4 of unwashed lake hair so i didn’t need one.

It also works great as a top. I threw black pants over it for every farmers’ market and ice cream run. The reason I have been wearing it so much is not just because of the cut. It’s the quality. It’s how good it feels on. (I also wore it this week in new york to grab dinner, outfit details at the bottom of the issue. It really takes you from the lake to the city!)

Think how good it would look as a top with this vintage leather celine skirt. The pants I am wearing are zara and they are a few years old but I’m going to call these by aflalo an alt because they would have the same function in my closet for me. I. haven’t stopped thinking about them since I saw them! Bag is old herve chapelier but this vintage purple bottega is a fun tote that works the same.

I was thinking about why I reached for it so often when I heard Rose Colcord, founder of CouCou, on Fashion People with Lauren Sherman. She said she started the brand because she discovered she had two drawers of underwear and intimates. One full of pieces that were comfortable but didn’t make her feel beautiful. And one full of pieces that made her feel beautiful but weren’t comfortable.

CouCou exists to close that gap.

That’s this swimsuit for me. It’s not choosing between practical and beautiful. It’s both. (thank you Rose for helping me understand that)

a beautiful moment among the chaos. Husband making us wings. Kids doing gd knows what.

The second swimsuit taught me something completely different.