How to Pack for Vacation, and OOTD, and Vacation Highlights

We just got back from Lake of the Ozarks earlier this week and it was a great trip, and really the first one Brian and I have been on since getting married nearly seven years ago and definitely the first one with Grant.  My parents rented a house, so I didn't need to worry about "roughing it," (thank goodness!), but I did really put some thought into what we should pack.  We needed to take food for meals, some toys for Grant, and all of our clothes.  I wanted to make sure not to over-pack but I didn't want to under-pack either.  We were there for six days, which was in my opinion, a great length of time for the trip.

Here are some things I did to make sure I could still look cute, but still have everything fit well into one suitcase:

• Keep accessories to a minimum, I chose three versatile necklaces and left all my bracelets at home.
• Chose neutral shoes. I picked two sandals, gold and black, that would go with everything, therefore taking up less space.
• Chose light-weight, low wrinkle pieces of clothing.  Who wants to iron on vacation, pick pieces you won't have to worry about and breathable fabrics too.  
• Plan outfits ahead of time and take a quick picture of each outfit, then pack all the pieces of the outfit together.  This will simply getting ready in a new environment.  I don't know about you, but it always takes me longer to get ready in a new place, and digging though your suitcase to pick out an outfit is no fun. 
• I also packed planned outfits I've worn before.  In my opinion, vacation isn't the time to try new outfits, what if you don't like it once it's on, no fun.  If you want to try a new outfit on vacation, make sure to try it on ahead of time to make sure you'll like it.
• Take one extra outfit for back up and one or two basic shirts if the outfit you planned doesn't fit the daily activity.
• Pack extra undergarments, and plastic bags for your dirty clothes to keep them separate from your clean clothes.
• Pack one light jacket, like a denim or utility jacket. It is summer, but you want to be ready for cool mornings.

Here's a visual of the outfits I planned and wore.  These worked out great. I pretty much wore them in the morning for our activities, then lived in my suit in the afternoon and into the evening.

I had my sister snap one outfit picture while we were there.  I wore this for a morning of going to the outlet mall nearby.  It ended up warming up quickly, so the jacket didn't stay on long.  I think I've worn this top and shorts together about a million times.  I really love it with my necklace from Edith Marie Jewelry and my favorite gold sandals of the summer.

Denim Jacket: The Limited similar

Top: Arc and Co. similar

Shorts: Loft similar

Necklace: Edith Marie Jewelry same

Shoes: Crown Vintage same

Lake of the Ozarks was really fun, here are few pictures from the trip.  Grant was able to fish for the first time and loved it!  He caught a number of Perch who like to hang out around the dock.  We also went boating, mini golfing, and swimming like crazy.  I also had my first experience in over a decade on a jet ski, that was super fun and Brian and I only fell off once.  Yes, vacation was fun and I'm definitely going to try to make a point of planning a trip like this each year from now on.