Weekly Recap #10, 2023

Boy, what a full two weeks! If you keep up with my Instagram, you know that I just spent the most amazing nine days in Puerto Rico with family. I treated it as a proper vacation and didn’t do any work—either for my day job or for my blog, aside from a few Instagram Reels and Stories. Which means I have a lot of catching up to do now, including posting two weekly recaps today. For reference, this post covers March 6 to March 12. I plan on sharing full Puerto Rico outfit and travel guides soon, so just consider today’s weekly recaps as little teasers!

To provide some background, my paternal grandfather is from Puerto Rico originally and recently moved back to the island. Along with lots of great aunts and uncles (my grandpa is one of 13 children!), I have one immediate aunt and cousin who have lived there for several years. I’ve only been to Puerto Rico once before, on a family vacation, when I was 12.

The idea for this trip started as a conversation between my dad and me… He asked last fall, “Now that you have a big girl job, where do you think you’ll go on your first vacation?” I didn’t think about it long before asking him if he wanted to join me in Puerto Rico. Before I knew it, my aunt who lives in Denver and my dad’s brother wanted to join, so it became a family reunion of sorts! And an extremely fun one, at that. My dad, my uncle, my aunt from Denver, and I spent the first few days of the vacation staying at an AirB&B in Old San Juan. Then we picked up my grandpa and drove to Humacao on the east side of the island, where my other aunt lives, and stayed with her for the remainder of the vacation.

Monday, March 6

Today was my last day of work before starting my vacation, so I was running around like crazy all day trying to leave my projects in a good spot, finishing packing, cleaning my apartment, etc. I haven’t worn these brown mid-calf booties with this dress before but loved the combo—it would be super cute for fall.

Brown Patterned Dress: Charming Charlie, $40 ($1.82 per wear), last worn here | Brown Booties: Express, $23 ($2.30 per wear), last worn here

Tuesday, March 7

Travel day! My dad (who flew into town yesterday), my aunt, and I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn to drive to the airport and start our adventure. We flew about 3.5 hours to Orlando, had a four-hour layover, and then flew another 2.5 hours to Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan. My other aunt (who lives in P.R.) picked us up from the airport and dropped us off at our AirB&B, right in the heart of Old San Juan. We did a little nighttime exploring around our place and then spent the evening catching up in our unit, which bizarrely had a bathtub and spiral staircase in the middle of the courtyard—if nothing else, the perfect spot for a photo-op.

I forgot to snap a pic of my travel day outfit, which consisted of a cropped tank top, straight leg jeans, and a tie-dye sweatshirt for the chilly airplane. We started our vacation off right with a couple of overpriced airport drinks during our long layover, which is where these beautiful flowers came from!

Black Crop Top: American Eagle, $8 ($1.00 per wear) | Tie-Dye Sweatshirt: American Eagle, $18 ($1.20 per wear) | Straight Leg Jeans: Express, $15 ($1.25 per wear), last worn here | Sneakers: UIN Footwear, gifted by brand, last worn here

Wednesday, March 8

We had the most amazing leisurely day wandering through Old San Juan—getting coffee down by the water, exploring the city’s cathedral (the second oldest in the Americas), eating stuffed avocadoes for lunch, and walking the perimeter of El Morro, a Spanish fortress. In the afternoon, we got piña coladas at the place where they were supposedly invented and dressed up for dinner at an Argentinian restaurant (I wore this dress but forgot to snap a pic). We tried to go dancing in the evening but ended up at a seemingly haunted piano bar instead.

How stinking cute is this cobalt blue romper? I bought it a few weekends ago when my aunt and I attended that fashion show. I almost didn’t buy it because the length is a little out of my comfort zone, but I’m so glad my aunt convinced me otherwise. It was the perfect piece for exploring and went really well with my extremely comfy UIN sneakers.

Blue Romper: Aspen Lane Boutique, $68 ($68 per wear), buy here | Sneakers: UIN Footwear, gifted by brand, last worn here | Sunglasses: Loft, $20 ($1.43 per wear), last worn here | Wicker Purse: Shop LC, gifted by brand, buy here

Thursday, March 9

We had another leisurely day exploring the colorful streets of Old San Juan, allowing ourselves to get distracted by all the souvenir shops and photo-ops. We got impromptu sangrias at a renowned old hotel and then wandered the grounds of La Casa Blanca, the oldest house in San Juan. We also toured El Morro—lots of walking today!

I got this floral tank top on sale from Francesca’s right before my trip and absolutely love it. It looked super cute with denim shorts and sneakers for a day of playing tourist.

Floral Top: Francesca’s, $5 ($5.00 per wear) | Denim Shorts: Target, $18 ($0.86 per wear), last worn here | Sneakers: UIN Footwear, gifted by brand, last worn here | Sunglasses: Loft, $20 ($1.33 per wear), last worn here | Wicker Purse: Shop LC, gifted by brand, buy here

In the evening, we got dressed up and Ubered out of Old San Juan, to the fancy hotels on the water, with the intention of going dancing. Dancing in Puerto Rico has been on my bucket list for a while and was the one thing I really wanted to do while there… Unfortunately, my aunt was explaining that the nightlife still hasn’t really recovered from Hurricane Maria and Covid, so there was sadly no dancing to be found. We made the best of it though and joined two drunk people who were salsa-ing in the hotel lobby, ha!

I was excited to break out this hand-me-down, tropical two piece set (airport hair flower still going strong), but I started to think it felt a little costume-y halfway through the night, like I was impersonating a hula girl… At least my French braids from earlier in the day made the cutest crimped hairstyle.

Black Halter Top: Hand-me-down, last worn here | Tropical Skirt: Hand-me-down | Nude Heels: Amazon, $46 ($6.57 per wear), last worn here | Orange Purse: Airport boutique, $30 ($2.31 per wear), last worn here

Friday, March 10

My aunt took us back to the airport this morning so we could pick up our rental car for the remainder of the trip, and then we made our way to my grandpa’s place. My grandpa recently moved back to the island, into the house where his parents used to live. It was really special to hear stories of his youth and to see the house that is featured in some of my parents’ own tales from when they visited Puerto Rico in their 20s.

After an hour or so of sipping Medallas (Puerto Rican beer) on my grandpa’s front porch, we all piled into the car and started the drive to Humacao, where my aunt lives. We stopped halfway there for lunch at my grandpa’s favorite spot, which serves huge mojitos that come with a popsicle inside—they were amazing! Once in Humacao, we had a relaxing evening catching up with my aunt and playing Cards Against Humanity on her back patio.

Gingham Dress: Thrifted, $20 ($2.22 per wear), last worn here | White Sandals: DSW, $45 ($0.70 per wear), last worn here

Saturday, March 11

We spent the morning exploring in El Yunque National Forest before enjoying a delicious seafood lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water. In the afternoon, a few of us wandered to a beach near my aunt’s house and spent an hour reading and relaxing before the sun went down. I wore this tropical one-piece as a top under my denim shorts, thinking it would look so cute… but I’m not in love with this outfit. I think the cutouts and lines of the swimsuit are actually unflattering when the shorts are layered over top. Of course, I didn’t realize this until looking back at the photos…

Swimsuit Worn as Top: Macy’s | Denim Shorts: H&M, $25 ($1.09 per wear), last worn here | Sneakers: UIN Footwear, gifted by brand, last worn here | Sunglasses: Loft, $20 ($1.25 per wear), last worn here

My aunt and I decided we would make the effort to dress up for dinner every night during this trip, even though I’m not usually the type of person to change outfits throughout the day. I threw on this white crop top and these navy palazzo pants that my friend brought back for me from her trip to India. Isn’t this outfit so cute with the pops of orange?! A full post of this look will be coming soon.

White Bungee Tank: American Eagle, $8 ($1.33 per wear), last worn here | Navy Pants: Gift | Orange Wedges: Thrifted, $13 ($6.50 per wear), last worn here | Orange Purse: Airport boutique, $30 ($2.14 per wear), last worn here

Sunday, March 12

My aunt gave us a driving tour of her neighborhood, and we saw several incredible, multi-million dollar mansions overlooking the water. Then we found a hidden beach nearby and spent all day lounging there—reading, snorkeling, sipping Medallas in the sunshine… It was so relaxing.

I changed into this thrifted floral romper for dinner on the water. Afterwards, a few of us went for a nighttime walk in the nearby golf course, hoping to spot some fireflies, but instead we heard a terrifying growl coming from under the bridge that could only have been a chupacabra. We spent the evening telling stories and smoking cigars, because what else do you do on an island on a Sunday night?

Floral Romper: Thrifted, $34 ($6.80 per wear), last worn here | White Sandals: DSW, $45 ($0.70 per wear), last worn here | Wicker Purse: Shop LC, gifted by brand, buy here

. . . . .

Which of these tropical vacation outfits is your favorite? I had so much fun packing all these looks and breaking out tanks and dresses in early March. It was especially exciting to wear such summery clothes knowing that it was snowing back in Denver! As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.

 

Miles of smiles,
Grace