summer bucket list + fixations

just the hits #37

Jun 15, 2025

∙ Paid

There’s something about summer that softens me a bit.

I slow down (well, I try to). I make a bucket list of things I want to do (though they’ve gotten shorter and less ambitious as I get older). I curate little things that spark joy - a fixation outfit, a happy playlist, and diving into the shows and books I’ve been saving for this specific season.

I’m following

Jo Piazza

’s lead on manifesting summer based on a mood (mine is peaceful). I’m taking a page from

Grace Atwood

’s book and have a minimal bucket list. This is not the summer where I’m finishing my book proposal, traveling somewhere new, or hitting a major fitness milestone. Please hold me accountable.

My summer bucket list is laughably simple - and I love it:

Take up tennis again. My plan is to take a lesson on Fridays with my husband, and to book a court to play while Rhaki is taking his lesson.
Daily quality time with my parents. Sanity walks with my dad are one of my few happy pandemic memories - we’d make multiple rounds around their own neighborhood as Rho scooted by and Rhaki snoozed in his stroller. We have a nice trail behind our home - just under 2 miles - and I want to go for a morning walk with him after camp drop-off. Mom and I have our evening talks once everyone is in bed, which I look forward to whenever we’re together in person.
Have an intentional friend date, weekly. While there are plenty of impromptu hangs with my neighborhood girlfriends, I also know I’m mentally better when I have a planned friend date on my calendar. The same goes for family playdates (every two weeks for those).
Family Saturdays. As much as I love ditching the weekend schedules we have in the city, I know our family needs a bit of structure in the mornings. My tentative plan is walk the trail together, hit up the Wrightstown Farmers Market for an early lunch (I still dream of their breakfast burrito) and our flower and produce haul, and do something the kids want to do (swimming, a movie, a hike - anything that isn’t at the house).

And now, my summer fixations:

My annual summer playlist (Sapphire is our family’s favorite song right now)
This summer’s uniform is this Doën-esque blouse (at a fraction of the cost, and 100% cotton) paired with linen blend pants (last year’s fixation) or these shorts. I’m in my 5th year with these Birkenstocks, and am lugging everything in my new customized BaubleBar tote.
I’m applying this sunscreen and swiping this peel pad every morning, and exfoliating with these at night.
I’ve been saving Maine Characters by
Hannah Orenstein
, One Golden Summer by
Carley Fortune
, The Art of Vanishing by
Morgan Pager
, and Kennedy Ryan’s Skyland series for summer. I do want to finish the Legendborn series as well.
Summer is for Love Island USA (and drinking exclusively from this water bottle) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I hope we finally dive into Andor (I know, I know), and I’ve lined up Ginny & Georgia as my backup show.