ISSUE 05 - - - - - - JULY 2026
"Anne had the golden summer of her life as far as freedom and frolic went. She walked, rowed, berried, and dreamed to her heart's content." ~ L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Welcome to the next addition of my blog!
This also doubles as a YouTube video: Summer Diaries Ep. 3. If you don't want to read this...watch it here! For now, though, we have my whimsical summer guide---or, Me Casually Yapping About My Summer Goals. (But I think the first has a better ring to it).
Hopefully this will give you some ideas to make the most of your summer! Without further ado...
Summer Intentions:
the feel: Studio Ghibli movies (slow life, noticing the small things)...with a dash of Percy Jackson Camp Half-Blood.
now playing . . .
Never Gonna Let You Go - Third Eye Blind
Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus
In Too Deep - Sum 41
Slide - Goo Goo Dolls
How I prepared:
The first thing I did this summer was to have a deep clean in my room---and filmed it to motivate myself (you can watch the video
here.) After the clean, I felt so accomplished and motivated.
Vision board-collage: a couple days after that...I printed out some small pictures I found off Pinterest, and made the collage page in my journal. This is how it turned out---I'm super proud of it! I included the media I was consuming/wanted to consume this season. Speaking of that...
The Media:
Now that school is over, I have a lot more time to consume books and shows and movies like never before! I'm not going to dive too much into books but two series that I definitely want to read this summer is:
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians (the perfect fantasy summery read, since I'm pretty sure every book is set during the summer. don't quote me on that, though.)
- the Christy Miller Series (also perfect for summer, because although every book isn't set during the summer, it's set in California! Also, the books are so short and easy to fly through.)
Those are the main two series, but of course, I'm getting so many books out of the library and I love just getting random novels and seeing if they're any good. These are some others that scream summer to me that I might get to if I haven't already:
- Emma M. Lion's Unselected Journals
-Love + Gelato Trilogy
-Sense and Sensibility
-Pollyanna Grows Up
-This Dreamer
Onto the shows and the movies...
Honestly, I don't enjoy modern TV much. I find everything to be very repetitive and...the film quality, the 'IPhone face'...bleh. My favorite time for shows are 90s-2000s, so that's when most of these were made.
Boy Meets World: this is a sitcom made in the 1990s which is so underrated. I love the storylines, and I love the characters so much. It follows Cory Matthews with his family and best friend. The first season is totally different from the others, way more 'childish' might I say? But the seasons age up as the characters age. Give it a watch!
Little House on the Prairie: this is one of the only modern shows---that I still haven't watched yet, as I'm writing this blog on July 8th and it comes out tomorrow, July 9th. I'm actually terrified for this because I grew up with the books and the television series from the 70s, so I hope Netflix doesn't ruin it...!
Happy Gilmore: I recently watched this movie from the 90s and I loved it. To put it shortly...it's about a guy with immense rage learning how to play golf and having a natural talent at it. Trust me, it's good. I know it sounds boring, but just watch it a
nd you'll see what I mean about it being so entertaining!
Some additional movies...
- When Marnie was There
-Enola Holmes 3
-Pirates of the Carribean
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians
- The Sound of Music
Goals:
In order to have a delicious summer, in my opinion, you must have a motive to not sit around doom scrolling every day. Whether that be "not sit around doom scrolling all summer" or something like "fill an entire sketchbook" or "get the splits." Here are my main three goals:
- Write an entire first draft
I break them down so I can slowly work my way to completing them! For example, in order to write 80,000 words, for the rest of my summer break, I'd have to write roughly 1,300 words a day...which is a lot, but hey, I have so much free time!
Additional Things
No-Screen Days
This one may very well be the hardest to complete, but I believe they are necessary to a slow-lived, vintage inspired summer. I haven't done one of these yet, but I really want to, where the only screens I'm allowed a day are computer writing time and a movie. I'd be bored out of my mind, but I feel like it would be a good thing, especially on hot, sunny days where I'd be forced to go outside and find something fun to do.
Rediscover an old hobby/pick up a new one
Whether it be something you loved to do in your childhood, or something you've been meaning to pick up...now's the time to do it! For me, this hobby was friendship bracelet knotting. One of my inspiration pictures on my summer moodboard had a bracelet stack with mainly knotted bracelets, and I got so inspired that I decided to pick the hobby back up. I love making them while watching a show or movie!
Doing things solo
Recently I went for a bike ride by myself, and I had fun. I explored the construction along the far end of my neighborhood, and saw what new houses were being put up. Just being by myself and exploring the town, not having a destination but just biking wherever, was really fun!
Alright! That's about it for my whimsical summer guide---it isn't much, but it's what I've been doing recently. Remember to watch the video version if you want more visuals of what this looks like, comment below what summer habit you're starting, and I'll see you later!
-Christine Marie
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