This post is sponsored by my friends over at Athleta 🙂 Thank you Athleta ILYSM!

Hey hi hello! Happy T.. (omg I almost just typed Tuesday lol) THURSDAY babes!!! It’s been a crazy busy but FUN birthday week for me over here!! If you follow me on Instagram then you probably saw that I took the afternoon off yesterday to hang out in Malibu with my friend Aerial 🙂 I was inspired to have a little beach day after receiving a few new summer pieces from one of my favorite activewear brands Athleta (Yes, they have swimsuits!!!They are great quality AND cute- I was excited to learn they make swimwear too! More on that later though!)

Even though I live about 10 miles inland from the beach I rarely go (which I am definitely going to change after yesterday because it was so nice) I know not everyone has the luxury of taking an afternoon off to explore nature (I feel beyond grateful that I was able to and I do not ever for a second take that for granted)  but if you happen to have that opportunity I highly suggest you do it because those few hours spent by the ocean yesterday left me feeling recharged, relaxed, grateful, with a nice little tan and ready to conquer the rest of the week 😉 I had such a great day yesterday that I thought it would be fun to do something a little different than I normally do, and write a blog post with my tips on how to have the perfect beach day #Namastshay style!

Step 1: Grab a gal pal and plan a day and time that is “off hours.” Generally the beach is SUPER busy on the weekends here in L.A., so we decided we would go mid week on a Wednesday hoping it would be less packed (and to our delight it was, we had the whole beach to ourselves!!) ! We left at about 10am to head to the store to pick up some snacks for the beach…which brings me to step 2!

Step 2: Pack a picnic! We brought fruit, snacks, sushi (mine was vegan of course 😉 ) tea, water and some sweet treats in a little cooler and planned to have lunch on the beach!

Step 3: Wear your favorite swimsuit and maybe even bring along an extra one for photo ops at and around the beach! I decided to wear my new bikini from Athleta (this adorable blue tie die bikini is called the Tulum Ladder Bikini & the Tulum Bottom) to the beach as I was looking for something that was good to get my tan on in, but also sporty enough so that if I felt like doing some yoga or running on the beach I would still feel supported and comfortable while moving around. This suit totally delivered! I felt fully supported and the coverage was just perfect. I am also obsessed with anything and everything tie die so I LOVE the print, I will definitely be taking this one with me for my summer travels!!!

 Like I said above I LOVE the print on the Tulum Ladder Bikini & the Tulum Bottom! But beyond that I love the over-the-shoulder straps (they are so comfortable) and the little keyhole detail on the top (which is on the back and front!) The top is substantial enough that you could totally rock it with high-wasited shorts or a long flowy high-waisted skirt and feel comfortable and have enough coverage so that you don’t feel too exposed!

Step 4: Explore! I feel like normally when I am going somewhere I go right to my destination and then right home with tunnel vision, I never take time to explore around or on the way to/from where I am going. Yesterday Aerial and I allowed time for us to stop if we saw something that caught our eye and I am so glad we did because that made our beach day all the better! I realized yesterday that by leaving time to really be present, you really open yourself up for the opportunity to not only see and find things that inspire you, but also give yourself time to take a moment to really take in the beauty that is our world. Often times I feel like I need to get away or go on a vacation to see a beautiful view, but yesterday proved there is much beauty to be enjoyed right here where I live… I bet that is the case in your neighborhood too.

After a couple of hours on the beach, we decided to pack up and head home before traffic, so I threw on my Athleta Sun Lover UPF Dress coverup which is not only light weight and so super cute with the little mesh trim around the bottom, but also protects your skin from the sun! We got back on PCH to head home and on the way we found this awesome little look out point which had the most gorgeous unobstructed views of the ocean- it was the perfect photo op!

 Which led us to my favorite spot of the day: this beautiful pink house! (Y’all know I love pink!!)

Side note: I love how casual yet crisp the Sun Lover UPF Dress is, it can totally be dressed up or dressed down depending on the occasion. Also worth noting: the material is SO SOFT and silky almost, it kind of feels the way your favorite soft workout pants feel. I went for white because… #summer 😉 but it comes in a few different colors!

Can we also talk about how amazing is this pink house though?! I need to live here, right?! 😉

Remember in step 3 when I told you to bring along an extra outfit or swimsuit for photo ops at and around the beach!? Well this why!! I am so glad I brought along an extra suit because we felt super inspired by this amazing spot we found so I put on my Aqua Lotus Tie Front One Piece to snap a couple more photos!

I usually have a hard time with one pieces because I have a long torso and they never seem to fit right, but the Aqua Lotus Tie Front One Piece fits PERFECTLY!! It is so so so cute on, so comfortable and I can totally see myself wearing this on vacay this summer at the beach and then throwing a long flowy skirt on with it to go out for a meal! For as much coverage as it has I still felt sexy and confident.. which is my favorite way to feel sexy, in a feminine and not overtly exposed way 🙂

It truly was the perfect beach day; we had the beach all to ourselves, enjoyed a beach picnic, a little yoga, explored Malibu on the way home, found inspiration and got creative – all in style and in comfort thanks to my new Athleta pieces!! It felt like a mini vacation all in under 4 hours. It was much needed.

Hope you enjoyed this Athleta inspired post!! I know this is different from my usual blog posts but I truly had so much fun with this one.. if you loved it too leave me a comment below and I’ll start doing more little day recaps/look book posts like this! Also, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for more fun photos!

PS: All of the pieces featured in this blog post can be found by clicking here or the direct links are below for easy shopping 🙂 :

Aqua Lotus Tie Front One Piece

Tulum Ladder Bikini & Tulum Bottom

Sun Lover UPF Dress