Lori’s Favorite Ways to Relax at the Beach

Happy summer, y’all!! It is officially summer and that means pitchers of sweet tea, glorious sunsets, family vacations, and weeks that feel like long weekends. If you’ve been following along on my Facebook or Instagram, you’ve already seen pictures from our recent family beach trip with my son’s family I love coming down to our condo in Florida, everything about the beach just puts me in a happy mood.

There’s nothing like a barefoot walk on the sand with Eddie and feeling the surf nip at my toes while we talk about life. It’s the smell of the ocean and the comforting breeze, the way the sun warms my skin (that’s been slathered up with 50+ sunscreen), and the memories we create when we’re joined by family and friends.

But I’ve got a secret I’m going to share with y’all. Even with this landscape literally outside my window, I still have a hard time shutting my busy mind off. You can physically walk away from your office or place of work, power down your laptop, and put your cell phone on silent, and your mind will still be running a mile a minute. As a business owner who’s responsible for our huge store plus an entire team of managers and employees, I’m constantly thinking about everything from inventory to wedding dates right down to my brides and their gowns. When we were filming Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, that was an added stressful element to my day-to-day life. I was constantly preoccupied with thinking about syncing up Monte’s schedule to shooting times and business deadlines; when I finally managed to take a weekend off, it took a long time for me to just unwind.

This being said, I have the most amazing staff. I know when I walk away, my business is in good hands, but that doesn’t keep my mind from thinking about how things are running in my absence. I know I’m not alone. Did you know that most Americans take 4 full days of vacation to completely relax? When you’re only away for one week at a time, that’s more than half of your off time spent worrying about work and other responsibilities! That’s such a shame.

Over the years, I’ve come up with a list of ways to take me from zero to chilled in a matter of hours – not days! Here are my top 5 favorite ways to relax on a beach vacation:

Lori and Eddie cook together at the beach

Take a Nap – Europeans have been taking afternoon siestas for centuries and for good reason, that afternoon powernap is so beneficial! A short afternoon snooze can immediately lift your mood and ease your stress. Shut the blinds and make sure your bedroom is at a comfortable temperature. Consider leaving your cell phone in another room but set a timer, you don’t want to sleep the day away and then be an insomniac all night.
Cook a New Recipe – Cooking is not my forte, but I love to experiment when I’m at the beach, I feel like everyone is more forgiving when I mess something up 🤣! I like to prepare in advance so I have all of the ingredients sent to the house via Shipt (use coupon code LORI20 for $20 off your first order of $50 or more, new members only) and then I pour myself a glass of wine, kick off my shoes, cue up some of my favorite country music and get to work. I recently switched to a gluten-free diet, so I have to do a lot more food prep and cooking myself. This pasta with cherry tomato sauce (I use gluten-free pasta, of course) is an easy recipe that’s a crowd-pleaser.
Read a book – I do my best reading while at the beach and for good reason, it’s the perfect distraction! I leave my day-to-day responsibilities behind while getting swept away by exciting plots, dialogue, and characters. When I’m traveling with Mollie, we swap beach reads and then have our little book club discussing the highlights, which is such a fun night activity. Check out this list of top 33 beach reads for this summer. And if you prefer to listen to a book while you’re relaxing on the beach, enjoy the rhythmic tones of my Southern drawl with my audiobook Say Yes to What’s Next, available on Amazon.
Stay hydrated – It’s really easy to forget drinking when you’re at the beach, especially when you spend all those hours in the water. You forget when you’re surrounded by the surf that you need to be drinking, too. When you’re dehydrated, you get lethargic and cranky, and that just makes everyone miserable. I love this pitcher from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I have two in my kitchen and make refreshing fruit water each morning. Add strawberries, oranges, lemons, and limes. We take one with us in our cooler to the beach and one stays nice and chilled in the fridge. It’s a must-have for the hot summer months!
Never miss a sunset – One of my philosophies in life is to never miss a sunset. No matter where I am – whether I’m at home in Atlanta or on a beach vacation – I stop and watch the sunset. It’s amazing to me that the sun sets, every single day, yet no two days are alike. Watching the sunset is almost restorative and meditative, I connect so much with my faith watching the sky turns beautiful shades of pastel. And it makes me so very thankful for my life and the privilege of being here to witness the sunset for another day.

Are you heading to the beach for your summer vacation? Share with us your favorite relaxation tips & techniques in the comments!

Till Next Time,

Lori’s Favorite Ways to Relax at the Beach