#MDVPSummer19: Portugal Coast & Summer Must-Haves

And just like that, hello Summer. Oh, how I’ve missed you dearly. There’s nothing like the warmth of a summer sun, as you lounge on a European beach, reading your new favourite pump-up book, and laugh alongside your best friends with a cold drink in hand. Paint enough a picture for ya? 

We made it our mission to explore the Portugal coastline for this year’s #MDVPSummer19 editorial (the seasonal content pilgrimage I take with my 3 best friends – Dave, Victoria, and Peter), and to say that we had all the summer fun is an understatement. Like always, across all of our blogs, we’ll be showing you guys some of our favourite Summer must haves (sprinkled with jaw-dropping sights of the Algarves and bustling cities of Lisbon and Porto). But with that, let’s hop right into what I’m getting hot for (see what I did there haha) and what I think you’ll love for the scorching season ahead.

For me, summer means not only fun-in-the-sun, but a moment to bask and refresh ourselves – to let loose, to recalibrate, to do what’s been on your bucket list all year, and for lack of better terms… to go for it!

Rounding up all of my Summer must haves, why and how they’ve kicked off my Summer mood, and a bit more of my favourite moments from picture-perfect Portugal!

What better way to kick off the summer than picking up a few reads you’ve had your eyes on and fuelling up your mind while laying beachside? I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the summer months. And, of course, since I was traveling for a total of 4 weeks, having a few page-turners was a must. I normally plan my reading lists around my mood and goals for the season (I love a good novel, but there’s nothing I love more than a reading list that helps me learn and empowers me). My theme I created for my reading list this summer was “Pumped Up”. I’m in my second year of a full-time career as a content creator and have a few goals lined up in the future that I really wanted to pump myself up for, so it felt fitting. 

And when it comes to putting my reading list together, there’s literally nowhere else I would go than to Chapters Indigo. I remember being a little girl and every summer, instead of going to a toy store, my family would bring my to Chapters Indigo and I got to choose any book I wanted in the store. Ever since then, it’s become a sort of seasonal tradition for me (although I can safely say that I can now read more than one book across a full season haha)

For our trip, I picked up two books I had my eyes set on and that were at the top of my reading list:

Girl, Stop Apologizing (Rachel Hollis)

I honestly didn’t think I would love this book as much as I did. It was like sitting down with my girlfriend for a coffee date where she picked up all of my dreams off the ground and gave them a running start (and shared some hard truths that only she could tell me).

The Moment of Lift (Melinda Gates)

Having worked in tech for most of my life, I’ve idolized Mr. Gates, but always wondered about Melinda. This book, filled with anecdotes of inspiring women all around the world and their unique stories, totally made a Mrs. Gates fan girl out of me. 

Here are some other summer reads that are on my list and that I’m continuing to read now that I’m back home for the rest of the season: 

1. Girl, Stop Apologizing (Rachel Hollis) | 2. The Moment Of Lift (Melinda Gates) | 3. The Spanish Promise (Karen Swan) | 4. Resistance Women (Jennifer Chiaverini) | 5. Mistakes To Run With: A Memoir ( Yasuko Thanh) | 6. The Bride Test (Helen Hoang) | 7. One Summer In Paris (Sarah Morgan) | 8. Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, And a Mother’s Will To Survive (Stephanie Land) 

I carried a few others above through a Kobo and a few on the Kobo Audiobooks App (which, ps. you get a free trial for here). They ended up being so great for our day trips (where my backpack was already filled with camera gear and outfits). I also had no idea how much we would be training around from town to town in Portugal, so these definitely came in handy. 

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If you’re looking for more summer reading inspiration, no matter what your summer reading list theme is, I would highly recommend checking out Chapters Indigo’s Summer Reading Round Up. You’ll have your reading list for the next few months ready to fire up and go! 

I used to completely overlook my skincare in the summer months. Blame it on carefree 20-something mindset, I suppose. But now that my skin and I have a developed a better longterm relationship, skincare is something I prioritize every single season; and I like to think that my skin and I have a much better understanding of each other because of it. 

If you’ve ever visited any of my social channels or my blog, you’ll know that CeraVe is one of those skincare brands I deeply love. It doesn’t have fancy bottles and it doesn’t have a luxury price tag, but it’s truly one of the best skincare products on the market. The biggest thing for me is that their products work and are so accessible to everyone. If you haven’t heard of them before, CeraVe formulas are developed with dermatologists and are created with 3 essential ceramides that help to repair your skin’s natural barrier. They rip away all the unnecessary aspects of skincare and focus on the results. Their products have almost single handedly helped my psoriasis and I haven’t met a CeraVe product I didn’t love. 

For the summer, I switched up my go-to winter SA Cream For Rough & Bumpy Skin (which I still use for my really dry psoriasis prone spots) for these two (that are the perfect summer getaway skin-companions): 

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream (with pump)

This cream, like all of CeraVe’s formulas, are non-greasy and provide all day hydration to your skin after one use. I love using this right after I get out of a shower and love that my skin feels hydrated all day long without feeling like I need to re-apply (even after being out and about and in the sun all day… of course, with SPF). I use this on my entire body, so I bring the full-size around with me when I travel. The pump addition to this is by far one of the best travel tips (it’s easy to lock up and it’s a no mess, no fuss application). I know it sounds like a small detail, but when every pound in your suitcase matters, it’s mucho importante. 

CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser Bar

Dave and I personally prefer bars to body wash, especially when we’re traveling. It’s so much lighter and easier to bring around than a big bottle of body wash. I’ve been using the CeraVe Cleansing Bar for over a year now and love that it doesn’t dry out my skin like other bar soaps. It actually contains 5% of the CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, so while you’re removing the dirt from the day, you’re also moisturizing. Added Bonus: you can use it for your entire body, including your face!

Oh summer fashion – how I love to love you, and also love to hate you haha Like most Canadians, I embrace the heat of the summer (since it’s so fleeting for us), but when you’re exploring new sights and traveling the world in the heat of it, there’s nothing I love more than a goody easy outfit. And summer shorts sit as the outfit-must-have in all of this. 

I bring dresses around with me, but most of the time, you’ll actually find me in a favourite pair of comfy shorts. Whether with a tied up graphic t-shirt, over top a swimsuit, or refined with a pretty linen shirt. Its versatility also helps with the outfit variety (given luggage weight is a sensitive topic for me haha)

My go-to shorts this season come Gap. They have such an incredible selection of shorts (in different colours, fits, and rises) that are so versatile for every summer look. The kicker: they’re also SO comfortable. I could literally sleep a full night comfortably in these shorts (which TBH, may or may not have happened haha).

 The ones I fell in love with are the High Rise 4″ Mariner Denim Shorts, but now that I’m home and realized that these babies have literally carried me throughout the entire trip, I have my eyes set on a few more. I’ve linked some of the favourites I’m looking to pick up here: 

1. High Rise 4″ Mariner Denim Shorts | 2. Mid Rise 3″ Denim Shorts with Frayed Hem | 3. High Rise 4″ Denim Shorts with Secret Smoothing Pockets | 4. Mid Rise 3″ Denim Shorts | 5. High Rise 4″ Denim Shorts with Raw Hem | 6. Mid Rise 5″ Denim Shorts with Distressed Detail | 7. High Rise 4″ Denim Shorts with Button-Fly

Needless to say, “who loves short-shorts? Mel loves short-shorts!” has been sung a few too many times these past summer months.

What’s summer without some good summer beats right? I’ll be honest, we mostly listened to Fado (a classical Portugese folklore style of music) and Brazilian beats while we were in Portugal. That said, if you consider e=books and podcasts to be hot tunes, I definitely tuned in on those hard on our trip. 

I did want to mention the vehicle by which I was consuming these hot tunes though. This trip, I totally fell in love with a pair of headphones called the Jabra Elite 85h headphones. I picked them up from Best Buy before my trip and they made a world of a difference. Not only did the noise cancelling capabilities of these babies come to rescue (since June is Portugal’s biggest festival months and their nightly street festivals last all night), but they’re super intuitive. They have something called SmartSound capabilities (which allows it to automatically adjust to your surrounding sounds). The battery life on these is insane, holding a charge for 36-41 hours. It’s also equipped with Voice Assistants. 

If you’re looking for a new pair of headphones to listen to those summer tunes, definitely check these out. They’re exclusive to Best Buy though, so I’d head in to one of the stores and give them a try! 

I guess it seems quite obvious given we decided to go all the way to Portugal to share our summer must-haves, but getting away for the summer and exploring definitely needs to be on your summer must-have list. Personally, I love heading to Europe in the summer. There’s something about summer in Europe that makes you feel like you’ve jumped into an Eat. Pray. Love. sort of movie. 

If you’re looking for a summer getaway, Air Transat has some incredible steals and packages that will take care of everything for the perfect trip. They have so many options for a Portugal vacation, if you’re looking to head to the land of egg tarts and street festivals. Right after my trip to Portugal, I headed to Southern Italy on Air Transat (more on this soon). Until then, you can check out some of the incredible destinations they offer (and some deals I personally have my eye on already) here.  

As I list out all of these amazing things I would recommend for you for the summer, it’s not lost on me that budget is often a limitation. My parents instilled in me from as long as I can remember that value and scoring the best deals is almost as important as the thing itself (I’m not saying that this is a healthy way to look at things haha but it’s certainly easier on the wallet)

And if you haven’t heard of Ebates, then you’re certainly in for a treat. I’ve been using Ebates for about 3 years now. It’s a program that’s completely free to sign up for and the jist of it is that you get cashback on the purchases you make, just by clicking through their links to the retailers. At first, it almost seems too good to be true, but friends, after 3 years of receiving cashback cheques in the mail, I can personally attest to the fact that it not only works but the cashback adds up. 

Almost everything I picked up for this summer getaway (but also basically everything that I buy), I did through an Ebates link. From outfits, to tech gadgets, to the miscellaneous things you need for a trip (even Amazon is a cashback enabled retailer!!!), Ebates is literally your go-to first stop before buying anything. Their list of retailers is extensive, so anything you need you can likely get cashback on. There have been a few times I’ve forgotten to click through Ebates and the lack of cashback I didn’t get back still haunts me to this day (I’ve since downloaded their app, so I feel better prepared to never forget haha)

Some of the things I was so surprised to see on Ebates was grocery stores, services, and travel! For this particular trip, I picked up a ton of things from Amazon, dresses from Hudsons Bay, and some of my favourite beauty refills (yes, Sephora is on Ebates too!). Here’s a round up of my favourite cashback retailers you can earn with via Ebates: 

(Link to each retailer’s Ebates Link and their cashback amounts – they change all the time but you can click through to get an idea) /// 1. Amazon | 2. Aerie | 3. Asos | 4. Best Buy | 5. Dyson | 6. Forever 21 | 7. H&M | 8. Topshop | 9. Sephora | 10. Hudson’s Bay

You’ll also want to make sure that you sign up so that you get notifications on their flash sales and special offers (when cashback rates can be up to 30%!). 

You guys are like my family, and as my family would say, where there’s a deal to be had, you share it with the world. I look forward to being proud of your Ebates cashback cheques you get in the mail. 

You can sign up for a free Ebates account and start earning cashback immediately here. 

Wherever you’re celebrating the hot months, I hope you’re doing it with a happy heart and I hope that these must-haves inspired a bit of summer loving in you too! Cheers to another incredible MDVP trip and to many more summers like this!

*** This post was made in generous partnership with our friends at Chapters Indigo, Cerave Canada, Gap Canada, and Ebates Canada. All thoughts, opinions, and recommendations are exclusively my own.

What are some of your current summer must-haves? Are any of these your summer must-haves too?