Happy July! How did we get here, can anyone tell me?! One day it’s Easter and now all of a sudden it’s mid-summer and were scrambling to figure out 4th of July plans. After March (the longest month in the history of time,) it seems like every month has just gone by faster and faster. I genuinely cannot believe that this year is more than halfway over!! I hope you all had a wonderful month, although I doubt it could possibly have been better than mine (!!!) I added a few more categories to shake things up a bit this time around, hopefully you guys like it! Here’s what I’ve been loving this month:

READING – reviews on my goodreads account as always! But included my star rating here for you guys this month!

  • Beach Read by Emily Henry *****
  • New Moon by Stephanie Meyer ****
  • Wish You Were Here by Renee Carlino ***
  • The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata *****

BAKING/MAKING

DRINKING

  • High Noon Sun Sips Hard Seltzer – these are the best! They are so much better than every other seltzer I’ve tried because they’re actually made with vodka and not malt liquor like the rest. I don’t think I can ever go back! The pineapple and peach are my favorite, but all of the flavors are so delish, you need to try them.
  • Starbucks – Ry has been going a few times a week in the mornings to use up some old gift cards, and I can’t get enough iced coffee. I know I’ve mentioned before that I’m not the biggest coffee drinker, but I have never appreciated it more. It’s the little things right now.

LOVING

  • LUS Brand 3 Step Curl Care – specifically step #3 which is an all-in-one styling product. I use it and then add some gel because I haven’t been brave enough to try it on its own yet, but I can tell an immediate difference in my curl clumps when I use this stuff. I use the “curly” but they have a wavy, curly and kinky-coily formula. And I saw they just came out with liter size bottles!
  • Billie razor – I have used this for over a year, but when we came to LI for quarantine, I left mine in Brooklyn. I had been using a regular BIC razor and finally got fed up and ordered a new one. And let me just tell you, if you aren’t already using one you are MISSING OUT. Ladies, get yourself a Billie razor! For only $9 your shaving life will be completely changed, I promise.
  • Origins High-Potency Night-a-Mins – this is an oldie but goodie that I found buried in the medicine cabinet at my parents house. I remember getting some full size Sephora-reward samples of this stuff a while ago, and when I ran out of my regular night cream, I reached for it. I have to say that I LOVE it and will definitely buy it again once I run out. My skin is so smooth (but not greasy) the morning after I use it. It seems they have a dry and an oil free formula now (mine doesn’t specify and might be an older formula – oops!) but I can’t wait to try the oil-free one.
  • Glossier Generation G Lipstick in Cake – this isn’t necessarily new, but something I found in the bottom of my bag and used a bunch of times this month. It’s the perfect sheer peachy-nude shade, and it’s matte which I always LOVE. These lipsticks are a little drying, but they give such a subtle wash of color that looks like it was applied and then blotted away. This whole line of lipsticks is amazing and if you haven’t tried them, I bet you’d love them too.

LISTENING

  • Caamp – Peach Fuzz and No Sleep have been on repeat for pretty much three weeks over here.
  • Next to You by John Vincent III – obsessed with this song
  • Song for Radio by Shoos Off – I can’t turn this off! I found it while listening to the For You playlist on Spotify and when I downloaded it, it probably played on a loop for 45 minutes before I realized – and I still didn’t turn it off.

WATCHING

  • Outer Banks – we finally finished it and I loved it! I know I already talks about this in May things, but it actually took us that long to finish it because I am a terrible bing-watcher. But John B is everything.
  • When They See Us – I actually do not even have words for this. If you have not already seen this docu-series on Netflix, you need to watch it. I have never felt so much watching something on tv. I have never cried like that.
  • New Moon – had a virtual watch party with the Twilight Re-Read book club gals, and it was the most fun I’ve had on a Tuesday night in a long, long time. Highly recommend a virtual watch party for literally anything you’ve been meaning to watch. It is so much fun.
  • Hitch – I watched this movie basically three times a week this month while laying in bed. It’s one of those things I can put on the tv when I don’t feel like really paying attention to anything, but I still enjoy every minute of it. They’re taking it off Netflix on July 31st and I. Am. Crushed.

CRAVING

  • Ralph’s Italian Ice – we cannot stop getting it. At least twice a week someone in this house is DoorDashing an order. I feel like I’ve talked about this here before, but it is still very much a problem!!! My new favorite is their key-lime pie flavor. SHOCKER!
  • a Rocket Fuel – I don’t know if I’m craving the actual thing or the territory it comes with but either way, I need it. And who even knows when that will be able to happen. Sigh.

DOING

  • Making Anklets (!!!) – you guys have been keeping me BUSY making anklets from my Etsy shop. I can’t even tell you how excited it makes me when I see the little notification that a new order came in. So glad you all are loving them, they’ve been so fun to make! Everyone’s love and support has been so overwhelming, I seriously cannot thank you all enough.
  • Kayla Itsines BBG – I can’t say I’m doing this, per se, but I would say that I’m attempting it. I’m doing a modified version because my foot still is not 100%, but this workout absolutely kills me. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that after the first day I was so sore that I couldn’t walk down the stairs without whining…for an entire week.

CELEBRATING

  • Matt’s 24th Birthday – it was a Monday but of course we didn’t let that stop us from playing Ride the Bus on the deck with Twisted Tea. We had pot roast for dinner, as we do on June 1st (:)) and he requested a cookie skillet that I botched the first time and had to scrap it and make a new one at what felt like midnight at the time.
  • Finally posting this little space to social media for my friends and fam! – It was nerve wracking and I needed the re-assurance of 3 VIP readers before I did it. But I did! And you all did not let me down, of course. Everyones love and support has been so overwhelming! Thank you for reading, it makes me so incredibly happy to see you all visiting the site throughout the week.
  • Father’s Day – a BBQ featuring the most delish surf & turf grill and lots of mojitos. Cornhole, swimming and poker. Some of my very favorite people. And of course, plenty of Coors Light for the Dads. It was the nicest Sunday.
  • WE’RE ENGAGED!!! – I’m sure by now you’ve seen this somewhere and if you haven’t, hi it’s very nice to meet you. But this of course has been by far and away the highlight of June. And 2020. And ever?!?! It happened on June 27th at the beach. It was perfect and I’ll be re-living it every day for the rest of time. A full blog post/story time is coming soon and I will be sure to come back and link it here. But I will say this right now: some things really are worth waiting for. We couldn’t be happier.

So that’s that! June was good to us and I hope it was good to you, too. What have you been loving this month? I’m always looking for suggestions of new things to try, and who knows, they could end up in July’s round-up!

with love, jak