Hello!  My name is Erin, and I write the blog Popcorn, Pugs & Peonies.  I am thrilled to be doing a guest post for Martie today.  I live in Northern California, and relish any time I can spend at the beach.  Unfortunately, the climate here doesn’t always cooperate by delivering actual summer weather, so I try to take advantage of warm weekends when we have them.   

When I started to put together a post about my perfect beach day essentials, I fell in love with a bright palette based on primary colors.  It is worth mentioning that everything here is from Target, so the price is right for any budget.  I love the idea of lying in a hammock with a frozen cocktail in my hand, while watching the tide roll in.  I think a juicy read is essential (I recently started reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and can’t put it down), and I wouldn’t complain if there was some grilling going on.  All that sun makes me famished.  Lastly, I never forget to protect myself from the sun with sunblock and a nice big hat.  The older I get, the more I notice damage that the sun has already done, and I am determined to prevent any more.