Camille’s Carry-On Essentials

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a pretty streamlined packer, and the same goes for my “personal item” bag that gets stowed under the airplane seat. The key is to strike that balance between feeling underprepared, and feeling overly laden down with a too-heavy tote (the opposite of a vacation mentality!) I actually used to bring way more stuff with me, but after lots of travel over the years, I’ve finally mastered the art of bringing only what I know I’ll really use and leaving the rest at home. There’s something really freeing about heading to a destination with a little extra room in your bag for the potential treasures you might want to bring back home with you! Click through for my carry-on must-haves, and I’d love to hear in the comments: what are the items you can’t bear to leave home without?

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Office Style :: Hotel San Jose

Austin’s beloved Hotel San Jose serves as a favorite watering hole for locals, a must-visit spot for boutique hotel lovers from across the world and as one of the overall iconic epicenters of cool in the city. We stopped by for this month’s installment of Office Style to find out more about some of the stylish inn keepers who run the place where dogs are always welcome and everybody knows your name. They dish on what makes this inviting spot so special, their picks for the songs of the summer and what it’s like to bring a cocktail to some of their favorite celebs who frequent the place.

photography by nicole mlakar

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10 Best :: Summer Hats

One of the best things about summer is fully indulging my love affair with hats. (You’ll rarely see me on a hot day without my favorite straw fedora from JM Drygoods.) It’s an accessory that serves so many purposes: protecting fair skin from the harsh summer sun, adding a bit of flair to a ho-hum outfit, and hiding less-than-perfect hair. (And when you’re not wearing hats, they can make for great set dressing on a coffee table or bed!) So whether you’re a maniac for millinery or feel timid about hats in general, click through our selection of the best summer hats of 2014 and try one on for size:

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How To :: Shop Smart for Antiques

Downton I adore you, but my first love on PBS will always be Antiques Roadshow. If you haven’t already discovered it for yourself, the show is part adventure, part history lesson, and part treasure hunt for those who love history and stories revealed through unique objects. With the Roadshow stopping in Austin this year to film three episodes, we simply had to take advantage of the knowledgeable appraisers who were in town to participate. We were lucky enough to get set up with appraiser Sara Wishart to talk about maker’s marks, collecting china, and how to shop smart at the antique market. And — to add to the fun — Michael and I got to have two of our own items appraised at the Roadshow! Read on for Sara’s tips and to find out what happened when Michael and I arrived on set…

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Besties :: Kate and Claire

When we first created the Besties series on the site, I had this particular pair of stylish creatives in the back of my mind. Claire Zinnecker and Kate Stafford Weaver have both long been part of the Camille Styles team (Kate lends her photographic eye to Pretty Simple and Claire has created dozens of ingenious interior DIYs for her series, Transformed ). Their friendship is one that stands out for both it’s depth and span: these two sun-loving blondes have shared over twenty summers together in Austin, and all the seasons in between. We caught up with Kate and Claire at Deep Eddy Pool to talk about style, pursuing your passions, and a strong friendship forged in the blue-green waters of Austin summer. With a shared sense of faith and commitment to hard work, still waters run deep between these two quiet creatives.

photography by nicole mlakar

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10 Best :: Lake Houses

I don’t know about y’all, but there’s nothing that screams summer to me quite like a day spent at the lake. I love that feeling of familiarity when I dip my toes in the cold water, plants tickling my legs and waves made by boats rolling all around me. Even the murky dark waters of uncharted territory that I used to be so fearful of hold promise of adventure and discovery. I can’t wait to feast on barbeque all day and then watch the moonlight reflect in the waters. So when I dream of the perfect summer night it can only end one way: in a cozy lakeside abode, listening to the soft waves crash onto the shore and racing back to the waters in the morn. Keep reading to dream on with me….

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Summer Travel Essentials with The Weekender

It was on a trip to Ireland when she was eight years old that Lauren Greenberg caught that elusive and impossible to shake travel bug. “I took pictures with my mom’s Minolta and wrote in my travel journal every night,” she remembers. Since that first trip, she has travelled the world — celebrating along with the Spaniards in Barcelona following their World Cup victory, trekking through a jungle to find secret hot springs in Taiwan (that day ended with eating grilled squid on a stick at a bustling night market), cruising all around Paris and the Champagne region by Harley and watching the sunrise over Machu Picchu. After years of sending itineraries and travel advice to friends, she decided to turn her expertise in to a blog and just launched, The Weekender, that showcases her highly curated itineraries for her favorite destinations. She’s mastered the art of packing light, so we asked Lauren to share a few of her summer travel essentials.

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