Learning to Enjoy Summer

This post is sponsored by thredUP. Keep reading for a code to receive a 40% discount on your first order. 

Right around the time of the summer solstice I read a passage from Melody Beattie’s daily meditation book, Journey to the Heart, to my Saturday morning yoga class. It was all about learning to enjoy summer and the importance of finding ease and play in our lives. It resonated with my students and I’ve had several of them approach me in the weeks after class to tell me how much they needed those words. I also feel like it’s something that I have to be reminded of every single summer.

As most of you guys know, my default is “work, work, work, work, work” (I can’t say or type those words anymore without hearing or singing Rhianna…haha) but for the last few years, I’ve found myself craving a slower pace during the summer and putting that into practice. I think it started back in 2014 when I was going through a lot of job and relationship changes. I decided to make it my “summer of yes” and got out and about in ways I never had before. I ended up joining Dorie for her family’s annual beach vacation and a planned two day stay turned into nearly a week.

Three years later and I’m still crashing my BFF’s family summer vacation…and I’m still working to slow down the pace of my summers. Our Europe trip provided a great start to the summer and ever since we arrived back, I’ve definitely been taking it a little slower and easier. I’ve slowed the pace of posting on my blog, I’m allowing myself to nap when I feel like it, I’m reading more, I’m eating intuitively and freely, spending time with family, subbing out classes when I feel tired or burned out and having real dialogues with Tanner and my close friends about adding more substance and quality time to relationships.

Here’s the reading from Journey to the Heart. I hope it speaks to you too!

“Learn to enjoy summer, that wonderful warm time when everything is in full bloom. Summer isn’t forever, but don’t ruin it by fussing. Forget about the winter just past, the autumn that lies ahead. Immerse yourself in the good times, the fullness of summertime.

We may have gotten so used to the other times, the colder times, that we’ve forgotten how to enjoy the sun, the warmth, the play times. The good times. Each moment of our lives is important. Each moment of our lives is a spiritual experience. To live fully in joy, we need to learn to enjoy the good times as well as weather the storms.

Most of us are proficient at hunkering down and getting through the winters of our lives. Now, it’s time to learn something different. Take off your heavy wraps. Grab your straw hat and go bask in the sun. Tomorrow’s lessons will take care of themselves. Today the lesson is learning to enjoy summer.”

I love, love, love the message about becoming as proficient at enjoying good times as enduring the hard times. I think it’s such real and valid thing for so many of us.

One of my goals for enjoying this summer is to get dressed and get out to do fun things because I feel so good and have so much fun when I do. I feel like a broken record but unless I make an effort, I can sometimes go 7-10 days without getting dressed or putting on makeup since my work wardrobe is workout clothes. Tanner and I both teach seven days a week so sometimes I find it hard to justify getting dressed and doing hair/makeup when I know that I’m going to sweat again soon later in the day or the next morning. I also find it hard to break out of our routine to actually plan fun summer activities that require me to get dressed. Last weekend Tanner and I had a serious discussion about this and decided that we are going to sit down on Sundays and plan the week ahead, including when we’re going to spend time together and making plans to go out and do fun things.

I updated my “travel/function” wardrobe earlier this summer with my Europe trip but I needed a few additional “summer fun” outfits as I feel like I’ve been wearing the same white jeans/shorts and tops and dresses for years now. One of my favorite place to turn for wardrobe updates that won’t break the bank is thredUP. It’s the world’s largest online thrift store where you can find like-new clothing from your favorite brands at a fraction of the retail price.

thredUP offers an incredible amount of selection on their site – everything from dresses to shoes to shorts to accessories to swimwear to athletic clothing and much more. They even offer kids and maternity clothing. thredUP makes it easy to navigate the site and you can search by brand as well as filter by size, color, price and style to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Once you’ve placed your order, your items arrive nearly folded and packaged. Every item you order is triple inspected by hand to ensure quality. I have honestly never received anything from thredUP that hasn’t seemed like-new and you wouldn’t believe how often you can find things that are new with tags!

I wanted to share three new outfits that I ordered from thredUP recently as well as how much I saved so that you can see for yourself how awesome this online shopping resource is.

Summer Date Night Dress

This dress from Aqua is lightweight and breezy and just the perfect mix of casual and dressy for summer date night dinners. I have quite the list of Charlotte-area restaurants I’d love the wear it to including Kindred, Dilworth Tasting Room, Luca, Sea Level, Burton’s and many more. The Charlotte restaurant scene is growing so fast!

This dress retails at $190 but I got it on thredUP for $40.99 and you would never know it wasn’t brand new.

Day Dates + Casual Nights Out

I’m usually a casual summer dress and skirt kind of girl but this year I am all about shorts! They are comfy, cool and easy to move around in.

The moment I spotted these Parker shorts in the designer section of thredUP I added them to my cart. I love the pattern, details and colors. Since there is so much going on with the shorts I thought it would be best to pair them with a fitted black tank, which I also grabbed from thredUP. I find that you can get HUGE steals on basics.

The shorts retailed for $179 and I got them for $36.99. The Banana Republic tank was $35 retail and $12.99 on thredUP. Total savings on this outfit was $164 which is more than enough to pay for a fun day date with your partner or friends!

The Casual Go-Anywhere Outfit

I totally admit that I judged jean shorts when I was in college (I’m a UGA grad and we always said, “Gators wear jean shorts”) but I am so glad they are having a moment right now.

I feel like white and denim is one of those combos that will always work. These shorts are Free People and I got them for $18, marked down from $68. The top is Anouk and a great deal marked down to $32.99 from $143. It’s so soft and flow and will take me into fall paired with skinny jeans as well.

My total savings from this thredUP shopping trip was $472. Y’all…that’s enough to plan tons of summer outings or even a whole weekend away. This isn’t the first time you’ve heard me sing the praises of thredUP on my blog and it’s a resource I’ll continue to turn to for budget-friendly fashion. If you haven’t tried thredUP, I can’t recommend it to you enough. I also use it to order clothes for my nieces…it’s great for kids too!

thredUP is offering PBR readers a special discount! The first 100 people to use my code PBR40 will get an extra 40% off their first order. (Applies to new US customers only. Redeemable online only. Discount up to $50)

Do you find that you naturally slow down during summer or is it something you have to make an effort to do? 

Favorite summer activities, traditions, trips, etc?