Minnesota: What I Packed

We are back from our annual trip to beautiful Minnesota!

Here are the items I packed for our 10 day trip. 

I could have packed a lot less, but we had a variety of events (from swimming suits to

time around the fire with mosquitoes to shopping and eating in restaurants) and a wide range of possible weather, so I wanted to be prepared.

With all the outdoor activities, clothes aren't as rewearable, so I packed a new outfit for each day.

Almost everything got worn!

Here is a little movie of the outfits I created while I was there . . . 

The weather was generally in the 70s and 80s.  We had one chilly rainy day.

Everything I brought was appropriate, though I wished I had taken a small umbrella,

a rain jacket, and potentially a second swimming suit.

Here is a closer look at the items I took.

skirt on left: Dasbayla (Amazon)
skirt on right: Rekucci (Amazon)

all skirts: Dasbayla (Amazon)

both skirts: Rekucci (Amazon)

skirt on left: Bongo (Mervyn's many many years ago!)
shorts: Ross

skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
shorts: Ross

floral blouse: Karl Lagerfelt (TJ Maxx)
plaid blouse: Ross
striped t-shirt with palm trees: Target

Isn't this sparkly t-shirt cute?

I wore it for the first time on our trip.

Both of these very light soft sweatshirts are from Macy's

The patterns are very feminine and pretty!

vegan t-shirt: Amazon
herbivore t-shirt: Amazon
floral burn-out tee: Macy's

black tie-waist pants: Express
crochet jeans: INC International Concepts (Macy's)

black pants: Target
denim pants: DKNY (Macy's)

Powered by plants t-shirt: Amazon
heart-print blouse: Macy's

plaid embroidered top: Ross
light hooded sweatshirt: Old Navy

skirt: Rekucci
t-shirt: Maison Jules (Macy's)

sweater: Maison Jules (eBay)
jeans: INC International Concepts (Macy's)

I decided on this for my travel outfit.

scarf: Target
skirt: Rekucci
blouse: WhoWhatWear (Target)

Here are most of my items, all rolled up.

And now we move on to the outfits I created from those ingredients!

Day 1

Friday

travel day, dinner at Chipotle

This blouse traveled great and looked nice the whole time.

The only trouble I had with this outfit was that it was VERY hot in the airplane before we took off and after we landed.  There was no breeze coming out of the blowers at all.  I have been having trouble managing my body temperature normally, and I just couldn't cool down.

I got very queasy and almost fainted.

Of course, this probably would have happened no matter what I wore, and I could've taken off the blouse, since I was wearing a camisole underneath.  

Day 2

Saturday

 lunch at Davanni's Pizza, travel to my parents' lake house

This was my first experience wearing this adorable palm tree print striped t-shirt and

I love it!  It's from Target and it was only $12.99!

It felt summery to me and I love how the light bounces off sequins during the daytime.

 Day 3

Sunday

drive to Bemidji (2 hours), Greg's Grandma's birthday party at park on lake Bemidji, 

drive back to parents' lake house 

I enjoyed playing in the lake!

Lake Bemidji is gorgeous, cool, clear, and sandy.

My outfit worked just fine for all these activities.

I really like the tiny floral (sometimes called ditsy floral print).

After seeing some of the other photos, I'm not sure I love how 

this brand of flared skirts fit.  They're a little bit too flared, I think, and they keep creeping up, making them shorter than I'd like my skirts to be.  We'll see how I feel after the summer is over.

 When we got back to my parents' lake house, I put on these pants from Target

with embroidery at the hems.  They are drapy and comfy (elastic waist!) and cute.

Eventually, it got much chillier and I needed to put on a sweatshirt instead of the blouse.

Day 4

Monday

time by the lake, kayaking, swimming, lounging, playing with nieces

I found this t-shirt at Target online before we left for our trip, and I bought two: one for Greg and one for me.  They are soft and flowy and fit great!

I put my hair up and tied a scarf (also from Target) around the bun.

It takes some of the heaviness of my hair and spreads it out a bit more so it's not

quite as heavy.  That way I can handle it being up longer.

I didn't last long before I NEEDED to be in the water!

(This is wonderful.  For many years, I've been fatigued enough that even some of my favorite things - like swimming in the lake, being on the JetSki, and boating - haven't seemed worth the effort. This year was different!)

This is what I bought for my new swimming suit.

I bought it at Macy's.

The top is by La Blanca and the bottom is from Go Gossip.

I don't know why they're different brands because they were sold in the same area and they

match perfectly.  It was wonderful to not have to put sunscreen all over my arms, stomach, and back.

I didn't get even a little bit of sunburn.

Here is a more accurate representation of the colors.

I LOVE the turquoise - it's very beachy!

Day 5

Tuesday

lake day - swimming, kayaking, lounging, playing with nieces, faux birthday party

(we celebrate all our birthdays together at the cabin so we can share the fun and see each other open presents!)

I went down to the dock in my jammies (Target) in the morning.

It was beautiful.

Later, I put on this outfit.

Nice burn-out t-shirt with a soft hooded sweatshirt and the same flowy black pants with

embroidery at the hems.

I was nice and cozy after getting chilly at the dock.

It wasn't long before I took off the sweatshirt.

Later that evening, we went for a pontoon ride.

We enjoyed looking at all the houses along the lakeshore.

Day 6

Wednesday

more lake, more swimming, more lounging, more playing with nieces

I put my swimming suit back on pretty early and got back in the lake!

But here's what I wore afterwards.

Day 7

Thursday

out to eat for my parents' anniversary (49 years!!!), playing with nieces

The weather was rainy and chilly (hooray!)

Day 8

Friday

travel to Greg's Dad's house, hanging out, chatting

I didn't like this outfit . . . it started out chilly and ended up pretty warm.

I started out in jeans and this gray sweatshirt, but as we were packing up,

I got really hot, so I put on a skirt instead of the jeans.

I tucked in the sweatshirt and it looked okay, but 

I certainly wouldn't wear these two items together again.

Day 9

Saturday

shopping (5 Half Price Book stores!), dinner out

This outfit was perfect for the day.  I needed my denim jacket in the restaurant.

Day 10

Sunday

visiting an animal education center, dinner out

I was sad to see many of the animals in too-small cages, and I don't approve of zoos in general,

so this place wasn't what I expected.  I expected more of a wildlife rescue situation.  I was HAPPY to be able to get to interact with deer up close.

Once again, I needed the denim jacket in the restaurant.

I LOVE this denim jacket (by Guess) because of its fitted shape and cropped length.

It hits just at my waist, which is where most of my skirts hit, so it emphasizes my waist.

Day 11

Monday

driving to my parents' house, cooking dinner, getting re-packed and ready to fly out

This outfit was great for everything we did.  

Day 12

Tuesday

Flying home again

I have to take a moment to talk about this FABULOUS bag!

I used it every single day of the trip, and it's the only bag I really want to carry now.

It's the prettiest color, it goes with every outfit, and the two pockets in the front were wonderful for my camera and my phone.

It was great as my smaller plane carry-on.

Here's a similar one.

There you have it!  Every outfit I wore on my vacation!

As you can see, I have a summer outfit equation: skirt + floaty blouse or t-shirt + ballet flats.

Works well for me and is easy.  Because I know what fits that equation, I usually don't buy weird things that I won't wear, thus saving myself money!

Did you have a favorite outfit?