Issue #43: June 2024 Favorites
Meeting Jax Taylor, a new board game, fake tans, and more
Summer has arrived, and my simple, boring summer is off to a great start. I’m looking forward to a few weekends with no big plans, which means we can hike, paddle, and sit on blankets in the grass reading books.
I’m a bit embarrassed not to have a single book to recommend this month (except the one that I’ll be reading next.) But I think it’s clear that I’ve spent more time playing outside this month. Let’s dive right in.
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June 2024 Favorites
🎥 Hit Man
What can I say? I’m in a bit of a Glen Powell phase. We put on Hit Man on a rainy Saturday afternoon and loved it. The story is inspired by a true story, but the movie took a lot of creative liberties. Gary Johnson plays a professional hitman to help out the police department, but everything goes wrong on one job. It was a clever story and included the perfect mix of comedy and action to entertain my husband and me.
🚔 A Boston Police Coverup?
True crime podcasts are our go-to on long road trips, but I rarely listen to single episodes covering a story, especially on a podcast that I’m not a regular listener of, but this one was fascinating. Karen Read is currently awaiting a jury verdict in her trial, so it’s a very real-time situation. If you haven’t heard this name, go give this podcast a listen. I’m super interested in how this plays out because things are just not adding up.
Here’s the link for the podcast episode.
☀️ Isle of Paradise Drops
If you’ve spent more than an hour with me in the sunny months, we’ve probably had a conversation about sunscreen. I have fair skin and burn quickly, so I’m always obsessively putting on SPF. Even if I did get color, it’s just automatically pink. I found these drops that I can add to my moisturizer in the morning and it helps give my face a little color to look less vampire-like without any harmful UV rays. It’s super easy to apply and doesn’t leave any gross color on my hands.
I’m tempted to try the body drops, so I don’t need sunglasses on to see my legs when I wear shorts. I linked to Sephora because they have a great return policy if you don’t love them as much as I do.
☕️ Morning Person Newsletter (and Leslie Stephens)
My favorite Substack to read is
. It comes out each Tuesday with a bonus on Sundays. With almost 150 posts, Leslie has covered a wide variety of travel destinations, recipes, commentary on wellness products, and raw, personal updates. I know I’ve recommended this before, but I just got to see Leslie speak at Third Place Books in Seattle because her debut novel is out. She was incredibly kind and a delight in person. Subscribe here:
One thing she talked about that has stayed in my brain for the last 24 hours is about the algorithms that we allow to select our content. The way that Netflix tells me what I want to watch next and Goodreads recommends the next book I should pick up and Spotify makes playlists for me—I hadn’t given it much thought before. It’s why I like to subscribe to a few emails like hers and it’s why I send one out myself. I love hearing from real people about the things they love, especially when it’s things I might not have found on my own.
I’ll be starting her book in the next few days when I finish my current selection. Let me know if you’re reading it and want to email about it. It’s outside of my usual scope, next few days w and I’m excited to read a dystopian tale that will likely serve as a reminder of how technology can go wrong. Grab a copy of her book here (it’s on sale).
🏙️ Vancouver, BC
I just spent a weekend in Vancouver with a few of my girlfriends, and we had the best time. We walked, biked, hiked, drank, ate, and there was one TikTok dance filmed to Down Bad by half our group that will likely never see the light of the interwebs. I’ll share a breakdown of our favorites soon, but it was the perfect city for our small group to explore. I left with a long list of other spots I want to try next time I’m there, which is the sign of a good experience, in my opinion.
♟️ Wavelength
Board games are the best, but it can be hard to find a new one that is quick to learn and fun for a group of friends. We played Wavelength a few weeks ago on a Friday night, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it again. You play in teams, and each round can be completely different based on how the dial sits and what descriptors you have to use. The newbies picked it up in just two minutes of explanation (which is important for me.) If you’re looking for a fun new group game for summer nights at the cabin, grab this one.
🏐 Kickball
Last Sunday, we were lucky enough to be included in a “Yes Day.” Our friend’s son got to create his own itinerary for a “Yes Day,” and the organized Google doc had us penciled in for some of the midday activities. I was honored. The activities included a fish ‘n chips lunch, kayaking in Lake Union, and kickball. I was exhausted from my weekend in Vancouver but excited to participate in this special day.
We had a blast, but the stand-out activity for me was kickball. We played three-on-three at the local baseball field, and the first to 13 won. I cannot remember the last time I sprinted multiple times while smiling and enjoying myself. Am I becoming the person who is considering finding an adult league? Probably not, but I will try to get a group of friends to consider this activity at least once this summer.
📺 Non-Housewife Bravo Shows
Bravo is always my favorite way to kick back and turn off my brain. But there has been a bit of a lull in the housewives content lately. I decided to commit to the Bravo shows featuring people around my age, and it’s been fascinating. I’ve always dabbled, but now I feel like I’m fully invested. Between the broken engagement on Summer House, the scandoval of everything on Vanderpump Rules, and this strange new spin-off of The Valley, I’ve just expanded my Bravo fandom.
Also, I met Jax while on the streets of Vancouver. My friends didn’t get it, but I was able to text a few people who made the cringy selfie worth the effort. He’s such a butthead on TV, but how could I pass up this opportunity?
It’s been a little bit since I brought up Love is Blind, but I thought this Vulture piece about season 7 and the behind-the-scenes was interesting.
Kids home for summer break? Show them this cool website and let them explore and scroll for a while.
Summer TV is back. With The Bear and House of the Dragon, we have some good television to watch. There are a few shows on our list, but we just don’t get through it as fast in the summer months when the sun is up past 9 PM.
Planning a European trip this summer? Try these underrated and less crowded cities instead of the typical hot spots.
This piece made me want to take more candid photos of the people in my life. Watch out, the camera is coming out this summer.
How many of these things did you do when you were bored as a kid? This reel made me want to buy a mechanical pencil.
Now, I’m going to process the 10 minutes of the presidential debate that I was able to watch. I couldn’t imagine having to cover this as a reporter tonight. Best of luck to those people.
Let me know what you’re watching, reading, listening to, or dreaming about. I hope you’re having the most boring summer in the best way. Thanks for sharing, commenting, hitting the love button, and reading!
Cheers!
Steph