Five Things: Beach Vacation Must Haves

Ladies, you know we cram our travel bags with everything that we can possibly fit inside them, but there are some items that are a bit more important than others and just help to make any vacation complete. So since this year for vacation we're going to the beach I thought I would share with you my beach vacation must haves. I had to really narrow it down for my Five Things link up party, but you know there are definitely more than five things in my bag! 

1. Five Things link up is posted every Thursday at Midnight EST. Share any five things that are on your mind right now. Whether it's something you are obsessing with on Pinterest, a new and exciting event going on in your life, or even sharing five of your favorite books; it's totally up to you. 

2. Please put the Five Things button on the post you're sharing for the link up; sharing is caring, the more players involved the more fun we'll have.

3. Please follow both your hosts Diana from The World Around Her and Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama via Facebook {here and here} and/or Twitter {here and here}. As it’s not mandatory it is greatly appreciated.

4. If you tweet about your post or Instagram it, feel free to tag me or Tairalyn and use the hashtag, #FiveThingsParty

5. Check out the other bloggers who have linked up, show them some love and comment on at least one other bloggers link-up post.

Shall we get the party started...

1. A great beach tote bag is a must, how else am I going to carry not only my own must haves, but items that everyone else wants while relaxing pool side or on the beach! I bet we actually have more of our family members items in our beach tote than our own things, am I right or am I right?! PS this awesome DIY bag was made for my birthday by my lovely friend Busy Bee Kate!

2. SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN, SUNSCREEN!!!! I cannot stress this beach vacation must have enough. There's a personal story to go along with this, but I'll leave that for another post. Just please wear sunscreen. 

3. If I'm relaxing on the beach or tanning at the pool I need a good book to read, I cannot just sit there and people watch! I just finished John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars", I loved it and loathed it at the same time. It started out really great, the main character Hazel is a sarcastic teen that reminded me of my own girls, so she pretty much came to life for me right off the pages of the book. However, there were just too many unrealistic events for me to really feel like I was connecting with any of the characters. Yes, I cried and cried some more, cancer sucks and I have dealt with loss in my life because of it, so on that level I did connect, but as a whole I wanted more. Oh, and don't get me started on how it ended! Overall I would give it a B. Have you read it, what did you think? So, now I need a new book to read, any suggestions? 

4. If you're going on a beach vacation you need the perfect swimsuit, one you can feel comfortable yet sexy in. A few years ago I purchased a high neck swimsuit at Kohl's, similar to the one in the photo, and now I'm convinced that this style is the best ever (well for my body shape that is)! I'm a once piece swimsuit kind of gal, how about you? 

5. You can't enjoy a vacation without the right tunes! Before I moved to the burbs I didn't really listen to country at all, it was actually on my can't stand list, haha! But then something happen when we moved here and I became an almost country only chick, believe it or not this girl from the city is listening to country music! I just can't stand most of today's pop music, I still love my Matchbox Twenty, One Republic, Pink, and other rock pop artists and singer song writers. But the "today's hits" station on Pandora just turns me off and has me running in the other direction. It seems to be all rave, night club type music; just not for me. So now that country has gone more rock and pop I've become obsessed with artists like Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, The Band Perry, Lady A, Rascal Flatts, and Jake Owen, who just so happens to have the perfect Summer song out right now... "Beachin''...it can't get better than that, can it?! 

So, where are you headed this Summer for vacation, what are your top must haves that you cram inside your luggage? 

Link up with us and share the five things that are on your mind this week, we want to hear what's going on in your life too!