After a morning working at farmer’s market, I have no plans ahead except writing up this blog post and hopefully getting some work done on my story. A warm summer breeze is breathing through the open window, making my coffee steam rise up in spirals — and all this to say, it is finally is starting to feel like summer! I want to share a few of the reasons I’m looking forward to the season of sunshine — and reasons for you to be excited too.
I’ve put together a list of fifty memories to make this summer. Now, I definitely won’t be doing all of these, but I’ll probably pick a handful every month and sprinkle them throughout my planner so I always have something to look forward to every week. Without further ado, here are your fifty top ideas for making awesome memories in summer, 2018!
“Every summer, like the roses, childhood returns.” — Marty Rubin
- Visit a farmer’s market and wander through the booths of fruit and flowers. Bonus points if you wear sunglasses and carry a wicker basket in the crook of your arm.
- Pull out a beautiful journal and begin writing down every single thing that brings you joy — the feeling of sunlight on your skin, laughing so hard you can’t breathe, the people you call first when you have good news, spinning until you’re dizzy, popping bubblegum, unexpected compliments, hot showers at midnight. Keep adding to it every time you’re happy or grateful, and look back through the list every time you’re not.
- Start a water-balloon fight — or a nerf gun fight, or a pillow fight.
- Next weekend, grab a good friend and go hike to the top of a mountain. The view is worth the breathless climb, always.
- Check out the new cafe that everyone has been raving about. Buy a huge mug of coffee and a biscotti to dip in it. Better yet, try a new cafe every weekend for your Saturday morning brunch.
- Attend a yoga class. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m really curious to see what the whole “hot yoga” thing is all about, and one of my goals this summer is to try a class with my best friend.
- Grab some friends for a drive-in movie. Bonus points if it is a Pixar or Disney movie, because then it is more nostalgic.
- Make a playlist of favorite songs of the season (Need some good tunes? Check out my spotify account for some fun playlist ideas to get you started).
- Read that book you’ve always wanted to read. My copy of Middlemarch is waiting on my nightstand.
- Go on a weekend road trip to somewhere you’ve never been before.
- Have a garage sale and declutter your stuff. Donate what doesn’t sell — you’ll get rid of stuff and make some money all in one shot. Stow the cash away in a jar for a plane ticket.
“Some of the best memories are made in flip-flops.” — Kellie Elmore
- Purchase a balloon. Keep it in the passenger seat of your car and give it a name like Ophelia. Optional: use a succulent instead.
- Take your friends to a u-pick farm and pick basketfuls of fruit. While you’re at it, take a polaroid for your journal (for the memories!).
- Make pancakes and coffee on a slow Sunday morning. Spend the rest of the day puttering around: open all the windows, do yoga or stretches, wear your comfiest clothes, and rearrange everything to refresh your space.
- Go on a long drive with no destination. Kick off your shoes, turn on the radio, and roll down the windows.
- Write a short story. It can be about literally anything (but murder mysteries are fun).
- Get a chalkboard from your local craft store. Write a new haiku on it every week.
- Buy a ticket to your local county fair and ride the ferris wheel, the rollercoaster, and the swings.
- Wear a dress and go romp in a field of wildflowers. Take many pictures and make it your new profile photo because — well, because you look awesome, that’s why.
- Attend a local concert (Taylor Swift is in the books and yes, I am very ready for it)
“I could never in a hundred summers get tired of this.” — Susan Branch
- Run through grass barefoot. Is it really summer if you don’t do this at least once?
- Rent a bike and explore your city for the day. Pack an adventure backpack with snacks and a journal. Stop only for coffee.
- Become a master of baking chocolate chip cookies. As in, try every recipe you can possibly find and figure out why every ingredient needs to be there. Your friends (or family) will love you forever.
- Do something (safely) crazy: go hang-gliding, skydiving, bungee jumping, or rent a jetskii.
- Print pictures of all your favorite memories and paste them up on your bedroom wall.
- Go to a cinema spontaneously and see whichever film looks most interesting.
- Do a technology cleanse for three days. No laptops, cameras, iphones, nothing. Go live your life and make some memories that no one remembers but you.
- Swing at the park (you’re never too old).
- Experiment with creating various homemade ice cream flavors — strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, blueberry, sorbet, etc. Make it your goal to try a new one every Friday night.
- Buy a flower bouquet from a roadside farm stand. Arrange the blossoms in a vase where you will see them first thing every morning, like a happy thought to start your day.
“Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Write a kind compliment or quote on a sticky note and put it on someone’s dashboard in a parking lot.
- Do a marathon of a tv show. I would wholeheartedly recommend Stranger Things, if you haven’t heard of it yet.
- Make your own acai bowl.
- Do a three-day juice cleanse (but be sure to drink lots of water and coffee, eat lots of fruits and salads and plants. Stay energized) or something similar that involves eating lots of plants and drinking lots of water.
- Start waking up earlier. Watch the sunrise once in a while. Embrace the surreal feeling of being awake before the rest of the world, of being surrounded by nature in its most pure and quiet state.
- Photograph everything around you, create your own filter in the VSCO app, and make your Instagram account awesome. This doubles as a visual gratitude list, because (if you do it right) you’ll start to notice happy things in your life.
- Start planning your dream trip. Did you know plane tickets can get down to less than two hundred dollars?! I didn’t know this until yesterday. If you stuff $5 of coffee money away every day, you’re forty days away from a plane ticket somewhere new. Research your dream destination and make a vision board of all the things you would do once you’re there.
- Redecorate your whole room. Start with a Pinterest board and figure out what you like: bohemian tapestries? plants everywhere? a dreamy pastel color scheme? neon lights and a vinyl record player? Your room is the limit. Just a tip: clean sheets make any night’s sleep better.
- Swim in a lake — or in the ocean. Whichever is closest. Notice the way time slows down out in nature. Isn’t it a beautiful feeling?
“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.” — Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Get a new haircut. Why not?!
- Dance more! My friend and I are going swing dancing this Saturday and I can’t wait.
- Stargaze late at night during a meteor shower. Bundle up with blankets and hot chocolate and think about life, the universe, and everything in it.
- Put together a picture scavenger hunt (i.e. take a picture in a mirror, take a picture of the team climbing a tree, video evidence of dashing through a grocery store humming the Mission Impossible theme). My friend did this for her birthday a few years ago and everyone had so much fun.
- Whip out a journal from under your bed and try your hand at bullet journaling.
- Live simply and get rid of anything that doesn’t make you happy (blog post on this coming soon!)
- Use index cards to write out your favorite quotes and poems. Tape them to your bedroom mirror so you see them often. Soon enough, you’ll have them memorized and be able to recite them from memory, in case you’re ever stuck in an elevator.
- When is the last time you lost yourself in well-written story? Ask a good friend (someone with a similar taste in books) if you can borrow one of their favorite novels. It just might turn out to be your next favorite.
- Have a backyard bonfire and roast shish kabobs and marshmallows.
- Set up a bird feeder outside your window so you can watch the birds in the mornings while you drink your coffee.
- Go through your photo feed and pick out your favorite pictures of friends, family, places, and memories. After they’re printed and framed, organize them as a gallery wall in your room.
“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music — the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself.” — Henry Miller
While I was putting this list together, I felt so inspired for the summer. I’m stoked for making a vision board for my journal, getting into a regular workout routine again, enjoying coffee in the early mornings, and (let’s be honest) making money at my part-time jobs. I’m stoked for lip-syncing to 90’s rock songs on the drive into town, for going to see movies in late-night neon cinema lights, for reading books for fun again.
Summer 2018 is going to be amazing, you guys. It will be magic. I feel it in my bones. Our days in the sun don’t last long, but that only makes them more special, doesn’t it? Summer is too short not to enjoy every minute of it.
Sending lots of love your way,
<3 Olivia Grace
