Dressing for Cervia – From Day to Night

I LOVE going on holiday.

Specifically, I love my yearly ritual of going to the beach alone with my son for a few weeks in June and having my husband join us on the weekends. Think of this as the Emilia Romagna (where I live) version of having a cottage! Moms take their kids to the beach in June because the air quality is said to be very curative and healthy for kids (want to know more? I've written about it here).

Since I spend the week living in my bathing suit and the same tank top I really look forward to the weekend, when my man arrives, to have an excuse to get dressed up.

Over the next two weeks, I'll be sharing so many things about CERVIA, a historic city on the Adriatic Coast in the Riviera Romagnola. I'm partnering with the region of Emilia Romagna to promote some of the great things that tourists can do in the area. So over the next 14 days I'll share my style, real mom street style, recipes and where to go in Cervia if you are planning a visit with kids! I'll also be sharing some great gluten free restaurants and traditional street food spots, since....what is Italy without Italian food?

Cervia's Nature Park

Last Saturday we decided to skip the beach altogether and concentrate on exploring what Cervia has to offer. One of the things I love about vacationing in this area is that there is so much to do aside from the beach. It is rich in nature and history, and since it is a very popular family vacation spot there are lots of festivals and events that are organized for families.

One of these events is called FamilyLand, which is basically different events throughout the area organized for families at specific locations. Almost all of them are free and many were perfect for my three year old. When I saw that there would be an event in Cervia's historic Nature Park I jumped on the chance to go, because I had heard that it was really beautiful.

The Nature Park is immersed in a beautiful ancient marine pine forest, with stunningly beautiful scenery. You can pack a picnic and enjoy your own food, or go to their fully stocked Cafe (of course....we're in Italy!). I'm not really into zoos these days (long story) but I DO LOVE visiting farms with my son so he has contact with animals. At the Nature Park there were horses, goats, peacocks, pigs, geese, ducks and other typical Italian farm animals. On Thursday I'll be sharing more about the Nature Park, the Adventure Park and the Butterfly house in Cervia, which are all 5 minutes away from each other.

From Day to Night

I really like dressing up for my husband on the weekends when he visits. I know I don't have to, but there's just something about not seeing each other for a week (or two) that makes me want to put in the extra effort. It isn't always easy dressing nicely when you are a mom and on the run doing kid friendly things all day. We had evening plans for dinner, but were spending the day at the Nature Park without plans to go back to our apartment.

I wore a sexy-ish tank top from Zara that was really simple but with side cut outs and other details. This top was bought almost a year ago from Zara's online sale and has been sitting and waiting patiently in my closet to make its debut! I live by the rule of "Buy now, where later", which I've coined Fashion Foresight, and I'm really happy with this tank purchase, especially because it was under 7 euro!

I paired the tank with a pair of "fancy shorts", meaning shorts in a nice jacquard fabric with a pretty pattern. These were also bought on sale from Forever21 two YEARS ago and have only been worn a few times. I'm making way more of an effort to wear everything in my closet before I buy new clothes because I own so much.

I try to make sure that even when I'm "dressed up" I'm always comfortable enough to play and move freely. I hate being restricted by my clothes, however, I also don't want to leave the house in yoga pants! This was a pretty good solution. During the day I wore flat simple sandals and before dinner (and a playground escapade) I swapped into wedge heels which were comfortable enough to walk and play in.

I'm pretty fair, so even a bit of color goes a long way. As much as I'd like to say that I don't care about getting a tan....I REALLY do! I love my skin with some color, and I find that in the summer my self confidence really increases with a nice tan and I don't wear any make up! Soon I'll share the rules of tanning like an Italian (yes, they even have rules for tanning!) and how you can get some color even if you are super pale....safely!

#REASONSTODRESS Real Mom Street Style Linkup

Welcome Porcelina's World as my lovely co-host!!

If you LOVE Vintage fashion with a modern twist you will love her lifestyle blog. She's been blogging for over 5 years and is also a writer for In Retrospect Magazine. Her blog is filled with her stunning Vintage style and adventures to beautiful spots in the UK, like her most recent post on the Clevedon Gardens. PLUS, she's getting married soon and is sharing so many great tips (my fav is how to shop for a Vintage wedding gown....I totally swooned). Please stop on by her blog, Porcelina's World, you will not be disappointed!