It’s summerrrrrr! ☀️😎🍉🏖️🍦
Did you read that in Olaf’s voice? No? Just me?
Okay, anyway…Happy Monday! Summer has quickly come upon us again. In case you haven't had a chance to check the calendar - It's June. HOW?!
As much as I love summers for the breaks we get, it also gives me too much time. I don’t like to have a lot of time on my hands. Therefore, I try to come up with a list of things I want to do each Friday.
Every year, when summertime rolls around, I get those butterflies in my stomach. You know, like you do when you're on an airplane when it takes off for your next vacation. Or just before the curtain comes up, sitting in your seat at a concert before your favorite artist appears from the center of the stage. Or when you're on a boat, out in the middle of the ocean and it dips a certain way that makes you feel like you're flying.
On many Fridays from summers past, I've made it a deal with myself to map out a plan - try new places, take myself to coffee, go swimming, focus on my health – You get the idea.
I always have this idea that it's going to be the best summer ever. Which is fine, in and of itself, but tends to put a lot of pressure on me for no reason. And then, if I don't book a spontaneous trip to Italy or meet the love of my life in a coastal town I've never visited, I'm heartbroken. Because I set myself up for impossible scenarios that were never going to happen.
I always wish that we had a place to go as a family that we visit every year. I guess it used to be Palm Springs, which we did a few summers. Lately, my heart has been set on Maine, envisioning a house on the beach with a group of friends or family all staying in one house, with big dinners, sitting around a fire pit; making s'mores, telling stories and reminiscing, watching sunsets…All the things you'd see in a film because that seems to be my basis for everything, HA! 😂
When you're basically the only single gal of your entire friend group since jr. hi, high school, college and adult years, it can feel like a downer at times. Traveling becomes more of a logistic bummer - booking an outrageous room you can't split with anyone, renting a car because Ubering on your own these days can be a gamble and getting a feel for the city to make sure you're staying in decent areas. It can be done, and I've gone on solo trips, whether for the day or a quick night or two stay, but it does take more planning and prepping, as well as “unagi” as Ross Gellar would say: A state of complete and total awareness. Or, friends have their trips planned with significant others and families, which is understandable. It's not as easy to just call someone up and go on a last-minute road trip (usually).
But, maybe I just use those as excuses. And it's time to stop holding myself back! It's time to enjoy the summer ahead, whether it's the best or something a little less anticlimactic than I'd hope.
Here are a few ways to enjoy summer even if a cinematic moment isn't in the cards.
