Saturday in Newport.

Top. Jeans. (my favorite white ones, under $70) Shoes. (under $40) Bag. (get 30% off with code DRESSCORILYNN30) Sunglasses. Necklace.

One thing I’ve noticed in myself, and others is how easy it is to feel this huge FOMO over other people traveling and going all these great exotic places, especially in the summertime.  It always feels everyone has these big exciting plans, and I’m like, trying to make sure I’ve got dinner on the table by 6. ;-)

As of right now, we don’t have a big family vacation planned yet.  My husband and I are heading to Paris this fall, but we didn’t put anything on paper for the summer, partly because everything has been such a whirlwind since the move, and partly because we’re kind of enjoying that honeymoon extended vacation feeling of moving to a new place, and partly this has just been an expensive year for us.  We just bought a big old farmhouse on acreage.  Buying a house is expensive, and so is fixing up a house, and buying new furniture to fill that house, and taking care of the land that goes with it.

I don’t know about you, but it’s really easy to for me to feel like I’m the only one not at the party, when we’ve got other things happening or this is just not the year for the big fancy family vacation.  One of the things that has brought me an immense amount of joy, and peace is getting out of the idea that in order to create beautiful memories with our kids, we have to spend a lot or travel far.  There are so many moments waiting for you right in your own backyard.  Living in different places all over the country has taught me that, and it’s been such a game changer for our family.

There are so many memories waiting on day trips or inexpensive over-nighters all within a couple hours driving distance from your house.  Wherever you live.

When we lived in the PNW we visited the Islands a lot, or drove out to the coast, over to the mountains, or up into Canada all the time.  It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with Seattle and the PNW, because we made so many simple happy memories there.

Now that we live in New England, we’re busy exploring all that this beautiful spot on the map has to offer us.  On Saturday, we took a day trip into Newport, Rhode Island, and I have to tell you, we all fell completely in love.  We explored the cute little neighborhoods, found the house my mother-in-law lived in when she was a kid and her dad was stationed in Newport for the Navy, we played on Easton Beach all afternoon and walked down Cliff Walk.  Then we drove around and found all the gorgeous mansions like the Breakers (definitely making time to tour that on our next trip), watched the sun go down over the water on the most gorgeous coastal outlook and then stopped for sandwiches and ice cream at Newport Creamery.  We finished the night by blasting all our old 90’s favorites and singing at the top of our lungs as we drove the 1 1/2 hours back to our farmhouse.

I can’t believe how many amazing gorgeous places are a short drive from home.  I can’t believe how such a simple day-trip can bring so much joy and so many happy memories.

ps.  I wore these amazing platform oxfords all day for the first time (which could have been a mistake of epic proportions given all the walking we did) but my feet didn’t hurt one bit.  And I’ve got to admit, I love the added height!  Also, I’ve become a total backpack convert.  It’s the perfect thing to carry on a day trip.  So much room for everyone’s jackets (which, let’s face it, I always end up carrying) and my hands were free all day which was so, so nice.  (I’ve got a code for 30% off the backpack you see here, to get it just enter DRESSCORILYNN30 at checkout.)