10 Things for Summer

It’s sweet summer time, y’all, and I am just loving every second of it! I love the foods, the smells, the trips, the spontaneity, late nights, living in your swim suit, and keeping the windows wide open all day long. PRAISES. Yesterday we were at the lake with friends for the 4th, and though I got a little (okay, a lot) crispy, it is my favorite kind of trip. Sleeping in your clothes you sat by the bonfire in, living in your swim suit all day, and grilling out with old and new friends… I love it all.

I find myself particularly nostalgic and excited during the summer about the little things, and I thought it’d be fun to share 10 of those with you that I am loving this year.

1. Reading Harry Potter
   I have been “reading” Harry Potter for almost two years now. I just haven’t been able to sit and read like I want to, and it has resulted in me being on book 2… did I mention it’s been two years? HA. But there is something so childlike and fitting for the summer to read Harry Potter in my free time, though. It feels like for just an hour, or any chance I get, I get the opportunity to be carefree and youthful for just a moment. It’s so good for the soul.
2. Cucumber Salad
   This is my summer go-to! It’s thinly sliced and peeled cucumber with halved cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, and white wine vinegar. If you like purple onion, dice them up and add that in as well. If you’re feeling really crazy, add in some fresh feta cheese on top for the perfect summer salad!
3. Chocolate Dipped Cones from DQ
   Paul and I have joked that pregnancy has made my tastebuds revert 15 years. I have craved foods I loved as a child, like mac and cheese, fish sticks, corn dogs, potato chips and dip, and.. chocolate dipped cones! They are seriously the best, and they absolutely take me back to car rides home after long days on Canyon Lake. They just taste like my childhood summertime, and I am loving it.
4. 90’s country music
   I am a country music kind of girl most of the time, but for some reason when summer comes back around, I want the oldies. Like, the classics. Give me the 90’s country playlist on iTunes for four hours with the windows rolled down on a good car ride to nowhere and I am the happiest girl in the world.
5. Big Tassels Earrings
   I had my eyes on these babies by Accessory Jane for a while and finally got them. They are so fun and definitely make any summer outfit instantly better. They are available in a ton of different colors, too, and I think I might have to grab me a couple more… 😉
6. Large Iced Waters from Sonic
   Listen y’all, getting in the proper water intake during pregnancy is hard work. I started getting the large iced waters from Sonic almost daily a couple weeks ago, and it really starts me off for the day on the right foot. I grab one on the way to Pure Barre and sip on it during class and I just keep refilling it throughout the day. Besides, whether pregnant or not, water intake is important no matter what- especially during the summer. Give it a shot! Plus.. I mean, that ice. Am I right?
7. Trader Joes Mango Lemonade
   This stuff. I really need not say much more. It’s like adult Sunny D.
8. Summer Drives
   One of my favorite things to do is hop in the car and go for a drive. I don’t need a plan, although it usually ends in ice cream, but I just love to drive and look at homes with the windows rolled down, my doodle in the back seat, and my baby to my left. I take after my parents a lot in this, because I can remember them doing this a lot growing up. And they still do. If they’re at home and bored, they just like to hop in the car and go look at small towns they’ve been to a hundred times, but they like to see what new homes are for sale or dream up new ideas about fixing stuff up. I am totally my parent’s kid.
9. Breakfast Dates
   The summer is a slower schedule for both Paul and I, and one of our favorite things to do is grab breakfast at our favorite spot on the square before diving into work. I always get the Simply Breakfast- two eggs, tomato slices, and the country potatoes.. haha. If I feel adventurous, the egg white omelette. I also have found myself having a lot more breakfast dates with sweet friends lately, and I love it. Raise your hand if figuring out how to do friends in adulthood/married life is hard. IT IS TOUGH. But, I am finding breakfast dates is the way to do it, and I love it.
10. Morning Walks with Doodle
    Listen, walking the dog is not my favorite thing in the world. We live on the third floor and it’s dang hot outside. I ain’t gonna even try to milk that. With baby on the way, though, I have been thinking a lot about how things with doodle are going to get more complicated once he’s here. Of course I hope things don’t have to change a lot, but I know it will. I have decided to soak in my time (in an effort to also make my mind up that walking her is fun… haha) with the doodle and enjoy our morning walks together, because they won’t be just us for long. I love running through the sprinklers with her and making her run up the sidewalk with me. It’s a simple joy, but something worth mentioning to me.

    Happy summer time, friends. I hope you also have a list of simple joys and things that make your summer the ultimate. You are loved, and I hope you know it!xoxo- Han

    All photos by Cottonwood Road Photography for The Cake by HannahTop is from Ashley Lemieux, but sold out. BUT, there is a very similar one available here, here, and here.
    
    My cute heel is here.