Shopping in the Pearl District gives you the special chance to support superb local businesses, all within reach.  The Pearl provides ultimate shopping experiences.  For example, all in one day trip, one could pick up a cupcake at Cupcake Jones on 10^th and NE Everett, peruse shoes at Halo Shoes, then come one block west to Popina Pearl to get your most important summer purchase!  

Getting the word out about fun Portland summer activities required the help of Dot Zero Design, a fabulous local design company that has created the Popina website as well as many other high-end websites, logos and product packages.   Dot Zero has created some little handbill beauties to pass around to our friends about The Big Float.  Because of their utter exquisiteness, we expect that everyone in Portland proper will be feasting their eyes on The Big Float.

Swimwear body type advice by Popina!

Did you know that only 8% of women are hourglass shaped? That’s not that many of us!  But if you 8% are listening, shopping for swimwear needs to be based on what suits accentuate your curves best, or uses your waist as a focal point. 

Ladies with this figure are basically free to wear any type of swimsuit! Lucky! Hourglass girls can choose which parts she wants to up-play, depending on their own preference, all you have to do is follow the advice in the other figures’ posts.

A great swimsuit for an Hourglass shape is the Red Solid Lynne top from Popina.  It’s a great underwire swimsuit with support to play up your chest features. 

Paired with the Popina Skirted Boy Short, you’ve created an ultra feminine pairing that plays on all your curves and really shows off your defined waist!

Swimsuits for Hourglass shapes to avoid:

·      Horizontal stripes (vertical stripes work better to highlight your curves!)

Kona Brewing will deliver a classic Portland Beer-drinkin’ time at the TBF after party. 

Picture in slow motion: After The Great Crossing, you will gallantly toss your survival PDX raft aside, grab a cold one, and raise a glass to Kona, for providing 15 kegs of “Liquid Aloha” beer, a symbol of their support for transforming the Willamette River for our city!

       Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray!

The Liquid Aloha Kona beer will be flowing all day long as you meet new friends, listen to awesome live Portland music, and celebrate the new frontier!

Being a frontiersperson of river faring never tasted so good. Aloha!

Here’s some advice for ladies who have slender legs and lower portions, and tend to carry their weight in the center of their bodies!  We want to choose a swimsuit that draws the eye to your shoulders, and has a plunging neckline, or belted center. 

A few celebrities with apple shaped figures are Jennifer Hudson, Tyra Banks and Angelina Jolie.  Sure, I know Angelina is thin (because most celebrities are unrealistically thin), sure, but she’s apple shaped!  Apple shaped doesn’t mean big… it’s a shape – duh!  Everyone with this shape has to shop with the same rules of thumb to get the suits that look good for them. 

One Piece Swimwear and Tankinis are great for Apple Shape Figures.  Popina offers a huge selection of one-piece styles that have retro charm - perfect for coverage while still being flirtatious.

One great suit for Apple girls is this Walnut Vamp Suit by Jantzen Swimwear available at Popina Swimwear.  It’s got shirring that camouflages the belly area and also detail at the top to bring the eye up to your chest and shoulders. 

Another good swimsuit for Apple shapes is the “Gina” Black and White Polka Dot Retro Tankini by Popina.  It also has shelf bra cups for extra support!

Swimwear styles for Avoid for Apple Shape Figures:

·      Two Piece (unless Tankini!)

·      Neon colors or lots of embellishments

Looking for Portland Volunteer Opportunities this summer?  The Big Float asks you to come on board The Big Float Event July 31, 2011.

This is my friend Lauren. AKA LoLo.  She will be volunteering in PDX for the Party/Fun team! She will be making sure the after party is set up for maximum fun times, and then she will tear it down.  She <3s destruction. She is very cool and if you sign up to volunteer with her, maybe she will tell you tales of how she once met a seal in Antarctica!

Long and lean ladies: listen up for swimwear advice! Women who want to show a little more curve in their hips and waist when wearing a bathing suit should stick to these heuristics when shopping this summer. 

Pencil shape ladies need swimwear that breaks up the straight, contoured lines of their body.  These ladies will want to gear their searches toward swimwear with bright colors, embellishments and ruffles.  These features give your look a more feminine style, softening the contour of your body.  Horizontal stripes can also break up the long body lines, too!

 This Vintage Bandeau Top from Popina Swimwear has an adorable tie that pops out from the form in the center, naturally ruching the center for more detail.

Pairing this top with this Popina Pin-Up Boy Short with Draw Cords complements the top by adding more feminine features to the suit.  These can also be adjusted for maximum customization.

Swimwear for Pencil Shape Bodies to Avoid:

·      One Piece Swimwear.  Unless it’s a cut out design, all the color and fabric running down the center brings the eye inward, rather than outward, thus not accentuating your curves.

·      Solid Colors (especially dark solids).  It’s better to have your swimsuit color pop off your body than hide!

Doing any Oregon river tubing  this summer?  Here is your simple guide to river fun:

1.     Find a few friends

2.     Head to Popina Swimwear to pick up your Portland inner tube, a purchase that helps out Willamette Riverkeepers.

3.     Take 2 cars out to Dodge Park on the Sandy River, only a 20 minute drive from Portland (Exit 12 from I-205)

Did you know that an electric trolley used to bring people out to Dodge Park to go to the river?? Why did that end?

4.     Park one car where you plan to end up at the end of your float.

5.     Scope out the end-of-float site to familiarize yourself with the surroundings.  This will make it easier to figure out when you’re supposed to stop floating!

6.     Everyone hop in ONE car

7.     Drive upstream. Remember, driving takes a lot less time than floating, so don’t go too far.  (I made this mistake once and floated for 5 hours as the sun was setting!! Brr.)

8.     Park the car and leave everything you can live without:
You CANNOT live without your keys to the other vehicle (keep them in a Ziploc baggie). A fanny pack is nice to put all these things in.

9.     FLOAT ON! Like Modest Mouse, ya’ll.

Retro Swimwear by Popina is all about getting you into the most sexy and flattering suit possible!

Finding the swimsuit that looks sexiest on your figure is all about the right cut.  Popina Swimwear has retro swimwear for every shape – you just need to find the right one!  Going to the swimsuit store with the knowledge of what suits you best will eliminate some frustration about why some suit styles seem to be unflattering.  

Today I will focus on the Pear Shaped ladies.  “Junk in the Trunk” is our middle name…and it’s awesome.  Beyoncé, Scarlet Johansson and Jennifer Lopez are some celeb pear shape ladies. For these bodies, I suggest patterned swimwear that has bright colors or embellishments on the tops and solid colors and basic lines on the bottoms.  For example, this Shirred Keyhole Bikini Top with Calico Ribbons gives a lot of attention to the upper parts, drawing the eye up! Don’t be afraid to try separates, or two-piece swimwear.  This way you can mix and match to find the right pattern for the top, and a complimentary color solid for the bottom.

Swimsuits to avoid with Pear Shape Bodies:  

·      Bottoms with frilly embellishments - NO!

Happy suit shopping!

Did you know that the Hawthorne Bridge, TBF take-out site, is the busiest biker and transit bridge in Oregon? According to Wikipedia, about 800 cyclists and 17,400 bus riders have the chance to see you Portland river tubing in at the East Bank after the “Great Crossing” of the Willamette! It will be a site to behold…

These are some things these people will see you doing and therefore be jealous of you for:

1.     Enjoying the water

2.     Having fun with friends

3.     Eating at some of the most delicious food carts in the Northwest

4.     Flaunting your swimwear

5.     Drinking Portland keg beer from Kona Brewing!

6.     Going through a human car wash!!

7.     Aaaaand supporting your local river, with Willamette RiverKeepers!