Category: Recommended

6 Must Haves for Summer 2019 at the Beach

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I’ve compiled a list of what I deem essential items for the incoming season: Summer. 

A Filled-to-the-Brim Hydroflask

(Yes I know it is missing in the photo.) Hydration is probably one of the most underrated aspects to living a healthy lifestyle. Whether it boils down to getting your daily 100 ounces of water to reduce inflammation and ensure peak physical performance, or just guzzling gallons after a big night out, water can be your best friend. Also, the single use plastic epidemic is getting scarily big. It is guaranteed when walking the beach you will stumble upon thousands of water bottle caps, and even just the full empty water bottle. Do your part and also ensure you can be your best self and invest in a reusable water bottle. Hydroflask makes one that is pleasing to the eye. I suggest getting the 32 oz Wide Mouth, since all you need is ~3 to hit your 100 ounces and get in the “bonus realm” (100+ ounces of water a day).

A (Soft) Surfboard

It is never to late to pick up surfing. All you need to do is try one surf lesson and you will realize how much fun can be had trying to learn something new that revolves around summer. After a couple of goes, you might want to try it by yourself, and if you have the bills purchase your very own surfboard. While there are levels in price to this item, a soft surfboard tends to tick all the boxes. Durable, check. Cheap(er), check. Stylish, check (depending on the brand). A soft surfboard is a board that everyone can learn on, and even the experienced fellow can have a go and grin from ear to ear. My preference might have a slight bias, but Catch Surf makes a damn good soft board, and cater to beginner and expert riders. My quiver consists of two, the 54 Special for fun in a small bundle (you can for sure rip on these) and the stand up boogie AKA the black ball battler (you can for sure rip on these, if your name is Kalani.)

A Good Pair of Sunnies

In a perfect world, the sun is shining all summer long. You need to protect your eyeballs. You need to also be looking A-1 at the beach, driving, or pretty much doing anything outdoors. You could flex these inside, but I wouldn’t recommend it (unless suffering from a >tier 3 hangover, but how about instead you scope this). This is a staple pair of sunnies. Whether it’s one old reliable all summer long, or a couple of styles to switch it up with, it’s hard to leave the house without these on. While I dabble in all brands, I found Otis Eyewear makes a pretty nice pair, both durable (glass lenses make them tough to scratch) and fashionable. The only downside to this item is it might run you a couple blue faces and they can be gone in an instant (deaths including dropping, sitting on, loosing, drowning). My personal favorite is the Winston.

A Stylish Sarong/Towel

Probably one of the most multi-functional items on the list is the sarong/towel. If you have ever frequented Coachella, you might have seen a bunch wrapped around people’s heads or necks, and then doubled in use as a matt to sit and listen to the sounds. These could be used also at the beach, in the same exact way. A very easy to fold and lightweight one works best, ensuring it will fit in your beach bag and be easy to tote around. The cherry on top for this one is you can get some pretty aesthetically pleasing ones, with fun and foreign patterns. I purchased 2 for Coachella and am anxious to get them some use at the beach. You can find them all over the place, mine are from Amazon.

A Gritty Grill

It’s getting to that time of the year where sunsets are as late as it was when you would cuddle up in bed and read a good book in those colder months. Little is more euphoric than grilling with some of ya mates with a blazing sunset in the background. You can potentially get some good Instagram content and are going to end up with a delicious meal. It’s for sure a win win. When it comes down to which grill, I have no idea. Ours is pretty average and in rougher shape, but that just adds character. Maybe a Traeger?

A Classic Beach Cruiser

Living in a beach community that ramps up in traffic over the summer has always been a blessing and a curse. While on one hand there are many new people to meet and it makes the town a little more exciting, the flip side of the coin is overcrowded roads and lines at coffee shops. Getting in the car can be a real drag when it is a beautiful day, and a normal 10 minute commute can turn to a 20 or 30 minute commute. A bike helps solve this problem, making it easy to move around in the crowded streets. Get some fresh air and take in some sunshine while moving from A to B. I always opted for the garage sale bike that needs a little bit of love, just for the culture. A little elbow grease it’ll be looking like new. I also did this since I never locked up my bike, and they tend to get stolen often.

BONUS: Half-Day Fridays

Maybe just a California bias, but these definitely don’t suck. When the sun is shining, nothing feels worse than being inside. Working can make it tough to get out and absorb some vitamin D, but with this awesome holiday(?) it makes sure everyone has an equal opportunity to earn a tan.

Curing a Hangover in Stages

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There is certainly an agenda when thinking of how to cure a hangover. First and foremost, you need to do some damage control and assess the situation. Then, you can truly prescribe yourself the “cure” for your morning haze. I am about to give you an inside scoop on the hangover to cure ratio and give you a doctors notes for prescription. You are welcome in advance.

“I’ll just have one beer.”

I swear sometimes even a little bit of alcohol can deal you a hangover the next morning. While equally as shitty as a normal hangover, this one can get served the easiest of cures to be fixed. All it takes is some coffee. Obviously, hydrating the night before can prevent this one overall, so you’d best not get this one often.

Pre-gaming an event.

At any time you are “pregaming” an event, you are just throwing yourself into the ring. A hangover is on the horizon. While sometimes one that feels like the one above, it often is a little worse. Most of the time, a coffee and snack can turn this one upside-down. This is strictly in relation to a “casual” night out, and not to be confused with pre-gaming before a send to the bars (the cringe). This one relates more to events, rather than bars (some events definitely excluded). A good combo to work with the coffee is a surf. And this is where we kind of go on a tangent————-

Surf and coffee has eliminated some of the most lethal of hangovers, and is for sure the go to for me when needing a quick fix. There are some things to make note of, before heading into this sort of ritual post party. First, the actual surf is very important to factor in. While it can’t be too small to where there will be no fun had, if it’s really on the cook a lot of things can go wrong. The sweet spot is probably 2-3 occasionally 4 and occasionally 5. Enough for insiders to be mellow, but also enough size to get a cover up and also do some proper turns. While waves being on the cook can cure a hangover, often the floggings when blowing a wave tend to sting extra (and happen to occur often when hungover). Whether it getting vaporized by a set or just blowing a lot of good waves, know that the pumping surf hangover cure is a toss up. Stay in the “couple fun ones zone” and you’ll be in the clear.

—–This is where I had to retire writing for the day to engage in Cinco de Mayo—–

Ok, I am back. Let’s get back to this diagnosis. (I know I screwed up, this post coming in a day late.)

A Night Out on the Town.

This is when we are all linking up and hitting the bars. Often with some sort of debauchery in mind, this one can for sure get dangerous. If you have gone out on one of these missions the night before and had a coffee and a surf and still feel the haze around your head, the next logical step is to get some food. While lots of options are out there, there is an apex of the food pyramid. This would be the breakfast burrito. With some greasy meat, flour from the tortilla, and gooeyness from the cheese-potato combo, it is almost a foolproof way to fix you. The best part: they typically are cheap, so your wallet will say thanks after opening the bank safe last night at the bar.

Ouch. This isn’t fun.

This is pretty much the final stage of the hangover scale. From here nothing new really comes into the equation, everything just can get amplified. The times when you sleep in later than you wanted, probably didn’t drink any water before bed, and wake up to texts from other people who stayed out longer than you. These might cause a giggle, but you soon remember how hungover you are. This is when you make a break for the holy grail of hangover cures, pedialyte. Slug one of these on top of the coffee surf and breakfast burrito and you are ready to rock and roll. If a hangover still persists after this concoction of medicine, you are just going to have to tough it out. Feel free to bookmark this post and refer back when you wake up and ache a little.

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Sunday Scaries Turned Monday Motivation: The Case for “Working” 7 days a week.

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For most Americans, 9-5 corporate hustles take up the 5 days of the week people refer to as the weekday. We go in and out of the office, and sometimes even get productive before and after entering the building. Whether it is a gym session, surf, good breakfast, or a walk, it feels good to do something before or after work. When Friday hits, corporate America gets hit with two days of open agenda, and with it two nights of no restrictive wake up times. Some people hustle 7 days a week, some people work two jobs. For most, the grind never stops.

When someone hears working 7 days a week, the idea is often gawked at. “Everyone needs a break.” Do they though? Think of an athlete or entrepreneur. There is limited days off. Success is definitely not bred from laziness. Most people have it or they don’t. And it doesn’t even have to be literal work. Work 5 days a week then train hard for something Saturday and Sunday. Work 6 days a week and dedicate a day to the passion or skill you wish to excel at. Work 7 days a week and build that brand or sling your sales to achieve maximum success.

The proof is in the pudding. And the pudding tastes good. No matter how tired you can end up, there is nothing sweeter than knowing a day was spent well. A good night sleep and early bedtime are signals of squeezing all the goodness out of a day. And I am not saying ditch the late nights. Let loose Friday or Saturday (or both). Meet new people. Get a little reckless. Especially while young. Obviously try not to push it, but everyone needs a little vice in his or her life. You just have to promise one thing: this won’t stop me from doing what I planned the next day.

 

Under the Influence (4 substances)

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If you happened to read the initial post on this sight, you have a decent idea of how my last couple months have gone and what type of person I am tailored to in a professional setting. Lets back peddle a little. As a follow-up to the last piece, I think talking about how I’ve became the person you see on socials or in person can be attributed to the things you see daily and what you associate yourself with. Obviously there are things that are very concrete related to how I act and present myself (my family and upbringing). But in this digital age we live in, we can really get involved and learn things from people you may never have the chance to meet or see on the daily.

Open up Instagram and your feed at any given moment can be cluttered with all different sorts of things. From a meme to a sports highlight to a supermodels post, anything can pop up in no particular order (well, I guess the algorithm is a thing) and give you a sensory overload. This can be amplified if you have lots of diverse interest and also follow a large amount of people. My feed tends to go a little something like this: surf photos and clips, GQ posts, tattoos, memes, sports clips, skateboarding shots, the list goes on as you can tell. I follow a lot more people than companies, as I think you can take more out of this rather than buying into a company’s style and sense of direction. I would be blatantly lying if I denied using certain accounts for things from technique in surfing to picking out an outfit for Coachella. Whether it’s friends I don’t live near or celebrities, I draw influence from Instagram daily.

On top of all this, we have a whole universe of video content on YouTube we can also tap into. We find bite sized clips on the gram but some videos really can get a person of interest to open up, whether in the form of a day in the life, vlog, interview, or podcast. This is something no one should take for granted. Everyone on this earth has an attribute someone might find attractive, and listening to master of these certain traits can better help expand the mind. A great example of this is the HBO special The Shop. (Click the image to be taken to the episode featuring drake in full you have some time to kill, it also features the like of Victor Oladipo and Elena Delle Donne)

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Before the Internet, this would be the equivalent of sitting in on a conversation with Michael Jordan, The Beatles (I’m not saying drake is equivalent to them, but he did just break their record of having top 10 billboard songs), and a business mogul of equivalence to Maverick Carter (I can’t give a solid example on this one). There are also other top tier athletes and cultural icons that speak on the show, but Bron Bron and Drake alone scream excellence. Listen carefully and you might end up with a nice little take away.

No matter what how you chop it up, outside influence is ever apparent in the society we live in today. So much so one can be paid to be an “influencer”, as in just posting things relative to their image. This is an interesting entity to me, as most influencers are essentially flexing wealth, followers, or physical appearance. While many people have inspired me, direct influence is apparent in a handful of personalities I deeply enjoy. Here is a brief breakdown that I think reflects me as a person and gives a snapshot of genres I like to explore on the daily.

ASAP ROCKY

I write to hip-hop music. I drive to hip-hop music. I lift weights to hip-hop. I wait until 9pm every Thursday to see the new hip-hop releases. While music in general is a large part of my existence and I listen to all genres (except country), I would say 90% of the time hip-hop is blasting through my speakers. I could probably write a whole post on just my hip-hop artist preferences in general. However, if I had to boil it down to one artist I play the most, it would go to ASAP Rocky. It started in 2011 when I first heard “Peso.” Fast forward to 2018, ASAP dropped him long awaited album “TESTING” that would receive mixed reviews. This, tied into his ventures into fashion, is the reasoning why he has had influence on me. Rocky has been known to be a trendsetter and often swims against the grain, combining forward thinking with a keen sense of style. Rocky was one of the first to utilize his music presence to travel into other genres, and do so very successfully. ASAP Rocky showed you aren’t confined to borders of profession and how you can use following to help support outside endeavors.

KELLY SLATER

King Kelly. The greatest surfer to ever live no matter how you splice it. Kelly’s dominance has spanned over 20 years with close to no signs of slowing down. He also just happened to create the world’s most perfect artificial wave. All of this aside, one thing Kelly is crowned with and often overlooked is his extreme health regimens and diets. Kelly was one of the first action sports athletes to cross train and really bring the aspect of going to the gym to help perfect your craft. This has been apparent in popular sports since their beginning, but has been seen as taboo in the action sports world. However, when people finally starting connecting the dots between Kelly’s age and peak performances, people started jumping on the health train. While Kelly is only a surfer, it would be foolish to think snowboarders and skateboarders alike did not catch wind of his success and get inspired to get in the gym and get a stricter diet. In 2018, all action sports athletes of the highest-level cross train and pay attention to what they put into their body. All thanks to Kelly.

DYLAN REIDER

Dylan was a skateboarder by profession, and by far one of the most influential and stylish of the generation. His influence and overall respect from his peers is immeasurable. Dylan passed in the month of October back in 2016, but has lived on in skateboarding and will forever. Dylan channeled his style and outside passions in a similar sense to ASAP, branching out from skateboarding and modeling for companies such as DKNY. Funny enough, he would be in an ad campaign along side ASAP and also Cara Delevingne. Largely scrutinized for the way he dressed and also coming out with a signature shoe that resembled more of a dress shoe silhouette than a skate shoe, Dylan did not care what people had to say. His skating did the talking. Dylan knew he didn’t want to be defined just by skateboarding and broke boundaries none had really explored in the industry before. And his video parts are highly regarded as some of the best skateboarding in recent years. Dylan’s style on and off the skateboard has directly influenced many, including myself.

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FRIENDS

Guilty by association is something I learned very early on in life. The people you hang out with directly influences your image and also curates you to act certain ways and mesh with your peers. All throughout my life I have had very diverse friends groups, and all of which have taught me important lessons. From my quiet upbringing back east to my current living situation in Southern California, passionate people achieving their best person always have surrounded me. This has always deeply inspired me both on a professional and moral standpoint to achieve my best person and never give up on a dream. From entrepreneurs to athletes and everything in between, let me use this moment to thank everyone that has spent time with me and rubbed off a little bit of themselves on me.

Outside influence is everywhere and ever more apparent the more the online world advances. We can get inside information at the click of the button in little to no time, and really has destroyed privacy in general, making your private world very public. Whether this is for better or worse, it is here to stay. You can either use it as an advantage or let it be a disadvantage to you. The world is in the palm of you hand (literally, just unlock your iPhone).