I hope you all had a great Mother’s Day! Today and with summer quickly approaching, I wanted to start the chat on sun safety. As a mom, sun safety is both the number one thing on my mind and the last thing on my mind come summer. It’s number one in the sense that I’m constantly making sure my kids are protected from the sun and/or wearing sunscreen. I’m constantly reapplying and checking their skin. However, it can sometimes be the last thing on my mind when it comes to myself. Enter Mott50.

I was recently gifted this top, bottom, and cardigan to test out and they’re just as cute as they look online! I love this blue (it’s called wedgewood blue) and also these lemon colored stripes– they also just came out with a fruit print (Sol Fruit) that is the perfect combination of pastel and island and it’s adorable! I want it in this suit! I chose these high waisted bottoms, The Joana High Rise Moderate Coverage Swim Bottom, because they have a little more coverage which is necessary when chasing after two little kids on the beach. I tried these high rise cheeky bottoms and while I loved the look, they rose up a bit when walking around the house so I didn’t think they’d be practical for my #momlife. Also, I like this top, The Courtney- Removable Cup Swim Bra, because of the cute back and sweetheart neckline. I took out the cups because I don’t love extra padding and love it without!

As a kid and even into my teenage and college years, I only remember caring about getting a tan. Sun safety was not high on my list and I don’t think it’s importance really registered for anyone in my family. I vividly remember at least two times in my life having a really bad sunburn, possibly even sun poisoning, and I never want to experience that again. The older I get, the more important sun safety becomes as the more knowledgeable I become about sun damage, anti-aging tips, and health concerns. Also, my mom working in a dermatologist’s office really opened my eyes to all things skin-related in my early twenties. I had a mole removed on my arm in my twenties and found out that it was atypical so since then, I’ve gone for skin checks, though somewhat inconsistently. This year, I had another mole removed and will now go for yearly skin checks.

I’m definitely someone who also struggles with seasonal depression and anxiety so getting some sun, in the safest way possible, is extremely important to me when I can. Mott50 makes super cute, sun safe swim suits and clothing that doesn’t threaten style budget. Their suits are fun, stylish, colorful, and are UPF50+!

Bonus: Mott50 is working on becoming a more sustainable brand! They even offer some pieces, like the cardigan, The Marilyn Long Sleeve Cardigan, I’m wearing, made of bamboo!

Is there something that’s been keeping you sane during all this craziness and uncertainty? For me, it’s been trying to get my house in some kind of order (it’s not!) and looking forward to summer. We have a Disney trip planned for July that I’m still not sure whether or not we’ll take and we typically spend a lot of time with my family at the beach and with Joe’s family by the bay. While there’s no way of knowing how much or how little traveling we’ll actually be doing, I do know that the rest of the world will go on, the weather will warm up, and summer will inevitably arrive so I’m trying to just look forward to those things. Are you still practicing social distancing? We are but it seems like some people are loosening their standards and I have mixed feelings about it all- frustrated that some people are making their own rules, confused about what we’re really supposed to be doing, and just generally feeling over it all. Whatever it is you’re doing, I’m sending love to you all! Thanks so much for being here- I appreciate you more than you know!