Cherries and Wicker – A Summer Favorite Things List

Back in February, I joined up with Anne Bogel and other bloggers to post about what was saving my life in winter. For sure, winter can be a bleak time when we need some life giving practices and a focus on celebrating the small things. It’s easier to thrive in the summer. Still, there are challenges in summer that make life a bit heavier than we’d like. Take swimsuit shopping, for example. Or cooking in 100 degree weather. So I thought it’d be fun to do a favorite things post in the summer. Because you know I’m always on the lookout for favorite things after failing to have any favorite things a year ago.

Here are a few of my favorite summer things this summer!

1. Target Swimsuits – I told myself I would be a serious swimsuit shopper this year. I’ve had the same suit for three years and I was sick of it, even thought it was holding up surprisingly well for a $30 Target swimsuit. I scoured all the boutique websites friends were posting for great swimsuits, but nothing called my name. (Shout out to Camellias and Copper for collecting some great options in this post.) Then I happened to be passing through Target with only one child in tow, and thought, “Hey, I’ll just look real quick.” And I found a suit I loved in less than ten minutes. Sold! Apparently I am firmly in the Target swimsuit camp. I’m simply not a serious swimsuit shopper yet.
2. Rainier Cherries – I always thought these cherries looked gorgeous when I saw them gleaming in the produce aisle, but I never bought them because of the price tag. How different could they be from these much cheaper Washington cherries? Oh, I was missing out. Rainier cherries are my new favorite summer snack. But for my favorite summer dessert, see the next item…
3. Aldi Super Premium Ice Cream – Aldi is currently selling ice cream with only five ingredients in it – cream, sugar, eggs, milk, and cocoa or vanilla flavor. It is so choice. And only $2.99. Also, their Mango ice cream bars are highly addictive.
4. Short runs – It’s pretty cool how “in” it is to run in 5ks, 10ks, and lots of other ‘Ks these days. We need better health in our country, and the popularity of running can only be a good thing. But I’ve come to grips with the way I run right now, and that is not with a lot of ‘Ks. My 10-15 minute run three times a week isn’t going to impress anybody, but I love it. I’m up early, I’m outside, I’m moving my body and breathing hard, but I’m not wearing myself out in this time of life when I’m already pretty dang tired.
5. Wicker chairs – I got two of these wicker chairs from my husband for Mother’s Day/Our 12th Anniversary (they were on the same day this year), and they were every bit as wonderful as I thought they’d be when I oh-so-helpfully e-mailed a link to them to my husband a few weeks before Mother’s Day. (I’m learning.) I love sitting in these every chance I get, but especially early in the morning with coffee.
6. Games with my kids – I am not as good as I once was at playing imaginatively these days. It’s sad, but I’m too tired and too distracted by my endless to-do lists. I still want to engage in play with my children, though, so having the perimeters that a game gives is invaluable. Our current favorites are Labyrinth and Authors. Uno and Monopoly, Jr. are also go-tos, and our favorite preschool game is and probably will always be Hi-Ho, Cherrio! I’m hoping to get Old Maid soon, another simple card game I think my kids would love.
7. Ektorp Ikea couches – I’m telling you, once you have a couch that is washable, you might never go back. I’m livin’ the dream here. Sweaty kids/self? Spit-up from baby? Blood from the giant cut my son somehow didn’t realize he had on his foot? The dreaded stomach bug? It all comes out in the wash. They are quite comfortable, too, even according to my husband who was pretty resistant to the idea of Ikea furniture at first. We are now both big fans.
8. Grass – Grass has made our summer. We’ve been living without it in our backyard for a year-and-a-half, but now that we had a good landscaper come and scrape the backyard of all its ivy and other infestations in June, we have been able to lay down some sod and voila! our backyard is an oasis. Summer vacation to the beach? Not happening this year. But a green backyard is a fabulous trade-off, in this family’s opinion.
9. Book Launch Teams – I’m on two book launch teams this summer that I am thrilled about! Basically, that means I get to read advance copies of books and write about them. I’m like “eek!” inside every time I think about it. Look for reviews on Ruth Chou Simon’s new book and Melanie Shankle’s new book this month. Both books will release this Fall.
10. These water bottles are so great for older kids. They don’t break, they don’t leak, they keep things cool. Violet had a smaller one, too, but she went all rogue two-year-old on us and threw it away at a baseball park this spring for no apparent reason. Sheesh. Toddlers. They are so cute and equally crazy.
11. Every Mile Mattered – Nichole Nordeman released a new album on July 28th. I’m not a fan girl of any band or musician (other than maybe Switchfoot), but this has been on repeat nonstop on my Spotify app. I especially love her rendition of Beautiful Day.

And that wraps up my summer favorite things list! I hope your summer has been full of small and significant delights, and that many more are still to come.