Summer Bucket List

I write similar posts every year, where I share the items on my summertime bucket list and the summery or beach-setting books I hope to read. While my reading has been shit, I usually can count on my nice porch to bring my reading mojo back. I’m finding that working from home, for some reason, makes me read LESS and not more. I hope the warm weather continuing will help me get into reading.

Bucket List & To-Do’s

Take a couple of local nice-weather day trips

We’re blessed to live about an hour away from Mystic, one of my favorite places in Connecticut. Our state overall has been doing much better than many others from a Covid transmission perspective, so things have been reopening. I’m still not ready for indoor dining personally and have yet to eat outside on a patio (even though that’s been open for multiple weeks already), but I feel ready for that part somewhat soon. Anyways, I hope to take a day trip or two in Connecticut on a nice weekend day (and/or during our Fourth of July week of vacation!) to Mystic and probably Niantic or a similar coastal town. 

Enjoy friends’ backyards and pools

We’re still social distancing to a pretty decent extent, but we’ve been able to see friends from a distance by setting up chairs in backyards and hanging out that way. One of our friends has a nice swimming pool so we’re hoping to spend time over there and grill out with everyone a few times. We’re tentatively scheduled for a day during that week/time off because we were all supposed to go to Niagra Falls and still have the vacation days.

Start and finish a show we’ve been meaning to watch

Chris and I definitely need to rest and relax during our week off. I know that we have been on the weekends because what else is there to do (lol), but we still manage to be busy. We’ve visited our parents and friends’ backyards, run some errands (since we don’t go anywhere during the week after work), and spend time working on our gardening. I want to spend some time cranking through a TV show we’ve been meaning to watch. I think there are a lot of options for this but I can’t think of any off the top of my head. I want to have one lazy day (maybe a day when it’s super duper hot so we don’t want to go outside, or a rainy one) at home where we binge-watch a show and toss in a movie or two as well.

Clean and organize the house

I feel like I always put this on here, but clearly it’s still needed. We’re working toward hopefully getting a dog in the near-ish future and we need to get rid of clutter and better organize everything. The Covid grocery shopping addiction means a bunch of cans and stupid stuff in the kitchen (we have legit no pantry) so I need to get allll of that under control. We have to file and throw away paperwork, clean from top to bottom, organize and get rid of clothing we don’t need or wear, and just get rid of a bunch of random shit.

Have a picnic 

We don’t have a lot of great parks or open spaces near us but there are quite a few in easy driving distance, off the top of my head! I’d like to pack a lunch or pick up takeout from somewhere and eat it on the grass with Chris. Just a nice way to get out of the house and have a meal in the sunshine!

Go to the beach

I famously don’t love the beach but will constantly (a) put it on my summer list as something I MUST do and (b) get pissed if I don’t do it. I love the concept of going to the beach but hate the heat, sand, sunscreen, and sun in general. So yeah, you’ll find me in a chair under an umbrella reading a book and that’s about it.

Summery Book TBR

I read contemporary all year long, but there’s something about a book set in the summertime, in a beach town. I just crave that vibe even though, as I said, I’m not a beach lover.

Elin Hilderbrand is a summer queen, but I’ve really only read her winter books! I hope to get to some of the summery ones soon, like 28 Summers, this year. It’s her newest release. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction in general but sometimes a setting and timeframe appeal to me. Summer Darlings takes place on Martha’s Vineyard in the 60s, so I’m sold.

I didn’t love my first book by Jessica Pennington but I’ve heard Meet Me at Midnight is great from a few friends. The plot is right up my alley too. Mary Kay Andrews is another popular summery fiction book, like Elin Hildebrand, so I need to make moves on her books. Hello, Summer is her latest too.

 

I’m a major sucker for books set on Cape Cod so of course The Second Home is on my list for this summer. It sounds great! And finally, the latest book in the Haven Point series! I’m always so excited to see a new release every year or season – this one is Summer at Lake Haven.

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