“People forget years and remember moments.” – Ann Beattie
Good morning! I’m writing this from my back porch, where my mom and I just finished having coffee and talking about all the late happenings of life. Just before we finished, a bird fluttered up to the porch rail, not two feet away from me, and stared at us. The little fellow just cocked his head and stared at us for a spell and then flitted away. I could hardly keep from laughing.
Now, my mom is furiously vacuuming in the next room as I type this up. This past week has been the last swing of final’s week for my online classes, which means that finally — finally — summer can begin. I’m still working a lot of double shifts to save up, but there has been a handful of wonderful things that make my soul as happy as a bird perched on a porch rail. Now, without further ado …
Ambiance Videos
… the best thing since biscotti. There is apparently a whole realm of ambiance videos on YouTube that are designed to transport you to almost any setting imaginable! Who knew?! You can study in a library with rain drizzling outside the paneled window. You can sit in the woods on a quiet afternoon, or listen to the hum of crickets in a swamp, or even visit a medieval pub like the Green Dragon. My personal favorite? Waking up in Hogsmeade Village. It is every bit as magical as it sounds.
NadaMoo Ice Cream
In preparation for having her wisdom teeth taken out, my best friend found this magical dairy-free ice cream at a specialty grocery store. It’s made out of coconut milk but tastes just like ice cream! I picked up the mint flavor and the cookies & cream (which actually tastes more like cookie dough, but who’s complaining?). This little magic is perfect for hot afternoons when you really, really, really just want some nice cold ice cream but also feel obligated to keep to the summer health cleanse you decided you’d do last week.
Bella Grace: Summer Edition
A magazine dedicated to finding beauty and magic in the everyday. I can’t say enough good things about this magazine, but I can tell you that it’s like receiving a seasonal vision board volume delivered to your mailbox. Tuck this away in your nightstand drawer for whenever you need a little dose of soul inspiration.
Rose Facial Toner (Trader Joes)
A spritz of this in the morning and you smell like a rose bramble on a quiet lane that leads to an overgrown brambly cottage in the countryside, lush with budding blossoms and the distant chirping of birdsong and long evening walks with dreams watercoloring your imagination. Also, it’s only four dollars.
Transatlantic | Colum McCann
A little taste of Ireland before I fly across the Atlantic to see it myself. The professor of my upcoming study abroad program recommended this book as a summer read, though we’ll be studying it in depth this fall when we travel to Northern Ireland. When I first started reading it, I was struck by the loose poetic style of it. It seemed at first like reading a collection of short stories, seemingly unrelated, so I wasn’t sure where it was headed at first. Eventually, the separate timelines all wrapped together in a fascinating historical fiction. Definitely not what I expected, but definitely worth the read if you’re looking for a finishing touch on your summer reading list.
One last thing … this week I put together a list of nostalgic rock songs that will get you groovin’ on your drive to work. Check it out on Spotify when you have the chance. It makes my heart happy.
Happy jammin’!
<3 Olivia Grace
