Thursday, March 21, 2019

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Shein Bathing Suit Review

I always get a ton of questions about my bathing suits and where I get them from. Whenever I mention that the majority of them are from Shein everyone wants to know more about the brand and if they are a trustworthy company. Shein is a brand from China that ships worldwide. Everyone is always skeptical of the brand because of the large selection and cheap prices. I don't believe all reviews for the website are wonderful if you were to look them up online but here is my honest review...


1. Selection 
I've truly never had any crazy issues with Shein. I order a lot from them. Yes, I love how cheap the prices are but I also love the fun selection they have for everything. My love for the website started with bathing suits. I was wanting bold, fun, colourful bathing suits and I thought most bathing suits online were so boring. When I stumbled on Shein I wanted every bathing suit. 
Bathing Suit: Shein

2. Quality
When it comes to bathing suits I think the quality is great. Don't expect next level quality, but I think it's totally comparable to most brands. I have well over 10 bathing suits from them and I've never had issues. I've also never had issues washing any item either. I even wore a full piece white bathing suit thinking it may go see through when I got it wet..but it passed the test!!
Bikini: Shein

3.Fit
The fit is the only thing that can be a little tricky. I love to read reviews for each item because people will give their honest opinion and let you know if the product fits big, small or true to size. I still order my regular size small and for the most part everything has been fine. My last order of bathing suits I did decide to order medium because I did notice some smalls were a little tight (they still fit) but I wanted to be super comfy and medium was great. If you are tall lady like me (I'm about 5'9 - 5'10) most of the dresses and skirts are going to be way too short. I try to stay away from skirts and dresses. 
Bikini: Shein

4. Shipping
I think within the last year Shein has majorly stepped up their game with everything. When I first started ordering from them my packages would honestly take a month to arrive. Now I find them totally comparable to most brands. I believe my last shipment took 11-12 days. If you want something for a trip I would still give yourself some extra time just incase. Most of my orders have been under $100 and I get regular shipping and I've never had to pay Canadian duties. However, my last order was over $100 with express shipping and I did have to pay $30 in duties. I wasn't sure if it was the price or the express shipping that was the reason for duties, but just be aware of that!
Bikini: Shein

I believe those are the majority of questions I get asked. If you have any other questions feel free to comment below or private message me on Instagram at @syd.hoff

-Sydney Hoffman

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Monday, March 11, 2019

Boca Grande Florida


Earlier this month my sisters, mom and I went on a little vacation to Boca Grande Florida. Devon and I were getting a little sad about the crazy winter weather Toronto was having and we needed to go somewhere warm. Devon searched hidden gems in Florida and Boca Grande popped up. I had never heard of Boca Grande Florida but it looked so quaint and tropical. When we arrived we realized it's definitely not a tourist spot. The majority of people are retired and wealthy. It was so quiet and everyone was SO nice. After 5pm most places in the town close up, so if you are wanting to party at night this isn't the place for you. However, my sisters and mom loved that even more!
As you can see from the photos above the beaches are beautiful. There are tons of public beach access spots all along the main strip.

As I mentioned this isn't a very touristy spot so there weren't many hotels to choose from. The building I'm standing in front of is the main place to stay. Unfortunately we booked so last minute this was completely booked but its so adorable inside and out. The Gasparilla Inn has the cutest decor and they own many restaurants throughout the town like Pink Elephant and The Inn Bakery which we went to every morning.

The coffee and ham&brie sandwich on a croissant was DELICIOUS.

We ended up finding only one hotel available at The Boca Grande Resort and it was wonderful. I wouldn't really call it a resort exactly but it was very cute, clean and everyone was friendly. It was definitely further from the beach and town but we rented golf carts and had such a fun time carting around everywhere. In fact everyone there has golf carts. They even have designated golf cart paths that make getting around super simple. Beside our hotel there was a shop called Kappy's Market. It had everything from Florida merchandise to food to golf cart rentals. It was very convenient to walk over and rent a golf cart for the weekend. 


The Loose Caboose was another favourite restaurant of ours. This is located in the heart of the small town. Everyone working there was so kind. The food wasn't fancy at all but tasted amazing.

Our very favourite spot we went to almost every night was South Beach Bar and Grill. We would head there to drink on the beach and watch the sunset. After sunset we would head inside and get food which was so so delicious!


Make sure to check out my Instagram for other photos and a highlight of my stories @syd.hoff.

-Sydney Hoffman