Pocketful of Joules

Keeping with the summer and vacation theme, I thought I’d share another one of my favorites with you. I’d been eying Salt Water sandals for YEARS and finally pulled the trigger and ordered a pair last year. I LOVE them!

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My Saltwater sandals.. in their element. 😜 #saltwatersandals

A post shared by pocketfulofjoules (@pocketfulofjoules) on Jul 15, 2018 at 10:23am PDT

I decided on red, because I can’t resist a great pop of color. I wore them all summer long with my shorts, skirts and dresses. They are made out of a great leather with rust-resistant brass buckles, AND they are made to get wet!

That’s right, they are waterproof.

In fact, many people get their ‘perfect fit’ by wetting the sandals and then wearing them until they dry. I didn’t end up doing that because mine fit great right out of the box, but it’s an option.

I ordered mine from Modcloth because they tend to have a bunch of different color/size options: find them here!

I did want to talk for a sec about sizing. The Salt Water sandals’ brand is a UK brand, so the sizes are UK sizes. So, be sure to order your correct size:

• UK3 = US5
• UK4 = US6
• UK5 = US7
• UK6 = US8
• UK7 = US9
• UK8 = US10
• UK9 – US 11

I typically wear an 8.5, so I went with a UK7 and it fits perfectly. So, if you are a half size… go ahead and round up a little.

Are you a Salt Water Sandals fan?

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I last posted about my swimsuit shopping extravaganza in April 2018 (find it here) I knew I had a bunch of beach time coming up, so I wanted to add a couple new swimsuits to the mix. I ended up adding two new swimsuits to my collection at that time:

The Boden Amalfi Bandeau Swimsuit (currently on sale in a bunch of colors/patterns find it here) and the Land’s End Women’s Perfect V-Neck with Tummy Control (no longer available).

With our fabulous Hawaii vacation coming up, I knew I wanted to order another suit or two so I could rotate out a couple that are looking extra worn. Once again, I did all my swimsuit shopping online and came up with two winners for 2019.

Boden Santorini Swimsuit (find it here)

After having such good luck with Boden last year, I thought I’d give them another shot when I saw this cute striped suit on their website. The original price is $90 (with free shipping) but it is currently on sale and I expect it will pretty much be on some sort of sale for the next couple months.

I previously tried a US12 and a US14 in Boden swimsuits and find that the smaller size fits be better. This one is extra great because it has silicone taping at the bust so there is absolutely no slipping. Great booty coverage too. This one will be going with me to Kauai!

Esther Williams Classic Swim Suit (bought through Amazon, find it here)

I love my red polka dotted swimsuit and my black cherry swimsuit from Esther Williams and previously bought them from Modcloth. I was doing some searching for different patterns and found both the Esther Williams website and that they carry them on Amazon! Amazon had the best price, as well as free shipping AND free returns… so I went with them.

As with my other Esther Williams suits, I sized up to a 14 for the best fit. This fits consistent with my other swimsuits and the pattern is pretty much perfect for our Hawaii vacation. I just checked and it is currently priced at $74 (with free shipping and free returns) which beats the $89 and not free shipping over at Modcloth.

Bonus: Long Sleeve Rash Guard (bought off Amazon, find it here)

I’m typically not a rash guard kinda girl, but I’m super pale and tend to burn so I decided to pick one up to wear on our vacation. We are doing a 3-hour tubing trip on Kauai, so I thought it would be perfect to layer this over one of my swimsuits for extra sun protection.

I love the mix of stripes, floral and solid black on this shirt and it is actually super flattering too! I’m planning to wear this tubing, but also pack in in our beach bag to throw on if I feel like I’m getting a little too much sun.

If you want to see any of these suits in action, I’ll probably be posting lots of photos from Hawaii on my Instagram account!

Disclaimer: This post contains ShopStyle affiliate links and an Amazon affiliate link. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

I had an awful-very-bad-day last week, so I decided that I really, really, really needed a mental health day. Which is how I ended up taking off a random Wednesday with no plan, other than to treat myself gently, eat some yummy food… and do a little thrifting.

Two Thrifting Tips:

Tip #1: If you have a kiddo just starting to read thrift stores are a TREASURE trove of books. I bought Jack 15 books that he can read himself for just 99 cents each. And once he outgrows them, I’ll be donating them back to the thrift store for another kiddo to enjoy. So, don’t forget about the kid’s books!

Tip #2: Look for off-season items! Many people who go to thrift stores are looking for immediate use items, so don’t be afraid to look for warm weather stuff in the middle of the winter and cold weather stuff as the temperatures are rising. This month I found a great sweater and pair of booties. Sure, I can’t wear them right now… but that doesn’t mean I won’t love them in the fall!

{Pssst, you can read about my previous thrifting adventures here}

Soft Surroundings Tank Top, $2.99

Soft Surroundings is known for their super soft fabrics and kind of ridiculous prices. I scooped up a cardigan from the brand when thrifting a couple months ago and really like it, so when I saw this tank top I threw it in my cart. It’s just an easy tank that I’ll be adding to my pajama drawer and wearing the heck out of this spring and summer. Would I have paid $30 – 50 for it from the Soft Surroundings store? Nope. But for $3 I’ll certainly enjoy it!

Loft Striped Sweater, $6.99

To answer your question, no I don’t have enough striped sweaters! This one is super thin and soft, without being transparent. It also has NO wool in it and is perfectly oversized and slouchy. So expect to see a lot of this one in the fall when the weather cools back down!

Loft Skirt, $19.99

This one was a total thrifting ‘splurge’ at $20, but it still had the tags on it for $59.99 and I really liked it, so I figured I’d pay up a little. This one feels very ‘Anthropologie’ styled to me and I originally thought I’d wear it to work with a nice tops and/or cardigan. But, then I realized how cute it looks with a graphic tee, so it’s possible this one may make some weekend appearances too!

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A post shared by pocketfulofjoules (@pocketfulofjoules) on Apr 24, 2019 at 9:50am PDT

Cobb Hill leather sandals, $5.99

Once again, the power of ignoring size labels in thrifting worked for me. These are marked as a size 7.5, but they fit more like a typical 8.5… which is my size. I love the pretty greenish/blue color of these and I wore them already last week!

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A post shared by pocketfulofjoules (@pocketfulofjoules) on Apr 25, 2019 at 4:39am PDT

Clarks leather and suede studded booties, $7.99

I saw these on the thrift rack and they SCREAMED well-made from a pile of plastic/pleather boots. I LOVE Clarks boots and shoes and these are gorgeous in person. They are a mix of brown leather and suede with the fun studded straps. I found them online and they are called the Swansea Grove suede motorcycle booties and they are currently selling for $150 on Amazon. They fit great and I’m going to pack them away so that when I pull out my fall clothes it’s like I found a new gift for myself!

Did you have any luck thrifting this month? Share your scores!

I mentioned recently that Jack grew out of a bunch of his clothes. Again. So we made a quick shopping trip to buy him a few more things and suddenly the boy has an opinion on fashion.

Normally, he just puts on anything I lay out on his dresser the night before – with the random exception of suddenly not liking a shirt because it’s too scratchy.

So, if you have a 7-year-old who is obsessed with comfortable clothes and video games, here are his top picks:

Jack’s t-shirt picks:

These three were his favorites, along with a few other options that we saw in the store that are not online: Pac-Man Graphic Tee, Minecraft Graphic Tee, and Super Mario Graphic Tee.

Jack’s shorts picks:

We always have a few pairs of cargo shorts on hand, but Jack tends to wear the work-out shorts for most of the summer. We found a few great options at TJ Maxx and picked these two pairs up from Old Navy: Cargo Jogger Shorts and Go Dry Mesh Shorts.

Jack’s shoe & sock picks:

Jack isn’t the only person in our house obsessed with Rothy’s! When they launched the kid’s sneakers I let Jack pick out two pairs — he went for the blue octopus and the flames. He wears one or the other every single day and I finally threw the octopus pair in the washing machine earlier this week because they STUNK. One quick wash on cold later and they are clean again AND smell great! He likes to pair his slip-on sneakers with these striped Cat & Jack Ankle socks from Target. You can find Rothy’s kid sneakers here.

I have to say, I love Jack’s cool video gamer style!

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