I’m teaching a class!
and I are hosting an online workshop about how to get published. After coaching dozens of friends about how to pitch journalists and book publishers, we decided we’d share our collective knowledge in a 90-minute webinar. Get all the details here!I’m looking for readers to feature. Have you carved out space to create in a small home? Do you have a nook where you write, paint, sew or whittle? Reply to this email, and I might feature you in an upcoming newsletter.
June is such an in-between time. We’re a week out from the official first day of summer, two weeks out from the end of school in New York City, but it feels like summer already: The days are long, the birds are singing at an ungodly hour, and the mosquitoes are biting. I’ll admit my mind has already skipped ahead to the lazier pace of the summer camp schedule. However, my kid managed to break his finger, so swimming and many fun summer-y things are off limits until it’s healed. As I countdown the days until we’re actually done with school and my kid gets his cast off, I’ve made a list of things that I’m excited about for summer, and I’m sharing part of it here with you.
I find that making a list of things I want to do in the ten precious weeks of summer vacation makes it more likely for me to do them. I hesitate to call it a bucket list, but solidifying some specific dreams can go a long way towards making the most of the season. I encourage you to make your own.
Foraging all the berries
The idea of picking and eating wild foods has really sparked my son’s imagination, and I am nurturing this curiosity. We went on an epic mulberry foraging adventure this week, and I hope we can continue to seek out berries all summer long. We made some hand pies following Marie Viljoen’s recipe. I used the rest to make a chia jam, which is basically just 10 oz. of fruit cooked down for 10 minutes with 1 T. of chia seeds and a splash of honey stirred in.
delivered some very important tips for fluffier berry corn muffins that I will be using come blueberry season. Do you have favorite ways to use up an abundance of summer berries?Styling summer sheets
I’ve noticed that bedding brands, including Morrow, are styling their sheets with three colors on one bed–and I just love this mix-and-match look. Plus, this is a great way for someone in a small space to enjoy different bed styling with fewer sheets: You can buy just a pair of contrasting pillowcases to get a fresh combo. (This is also why I adore duvet covers with different patterns/colors on each side.) I plan to order some pale green shams to pair with my already-owned light blue sheets and olive coverlet.
Tearing through my summer reading
The list of books I’d like to read this summer is much longer than I will possibly manage, but here’s what’s in my queue: On the literary front, I’m reading Long Island by Colm Toibin (my book club’s most recent), gearing up for All Fours by Miranda July, and awaiting Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. In the realm of beach-y reads, I read Emily Henry’s latest Funny Story (it’s spicy!), and I’m looking forward to my friend
’s All The Summers In Between, ’s Sandwich, and Queen of the Beach Read Elin Hildebrand’s latest Swan Song. My nonfiction list will probably get ignored, but one that might make the cut is The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan. What are you looking forward to reading this summer?Visiting secret gardens
One of my favorite things to do is visit gardens, especially private gardens. Seeing how someone has made a personal garden is so inspiring, so I am encouraging you all to go on a garden tour if the opportunity arises. The Garden Conservancy hosts “Open Days” across the country and local nonprofits often do garden tours as a fundraiser. One spot I’ve been dreaming of visiting for years is Manitoba, the home and garden of Russel Wright.
Read last year’s summer lists:
Logging off
Lately it feels like everyone is talking about how detrimental screen time and specifically social media can be to our mental health. Personally, I’m hoping to scale back the time I spend online this summer and debating logging off of Instagram entirely. Following the advice of
, I created a filter to send all my newsletters to a dedicated folder, so I can read them at a set time, instead of letting myself get distracted the minute they hit my inbox. Per my pal , I’m thinking about deleting “infinity pools,” including email(!), from my phone as an experiment, and I’m curious about the app focusedOS.Naming things
It has been my experience that once you know the name of something—a plant, a bird, a butterfly—you actually notice it more. I’ve been using the PictureThis and Merlin Bird ID apps to beef up knowledge of plants and birds. In addition to IDing the names of plants, I use PictureThis to practice botanical Latin. I love that the Latin names of plants are universal across regions and even languages, and once you start to learn them you realize the naming conventions hold clues about the plants.
“Playing” with clothes
I’ve never been a big clothes horse, but I read a few posts lately that have helped spark my excitement for putting together outfits after 4+ years of WFH. When
wrote, “While I want to look “good,” I no longer really know what “good” means to me, and the only way to figure that out is through play,” the word ‘play’ really opened up my mind to the idea of trying new things. I love everything writes about getting dressed, but especially this recent post on finding your personal style. And ’s advice to look at a brand’s stuff on Poshmark, Vestiare, The Real Real because it’s “a good way to see if you’re into the clothes or just the way they’re photographed and styled,” was also so helpful.Enjoying open water
Last summer my husband fell in love with open water swimming and he keeps saying, “You’re going to love it.” So, I’m aiming to get my freestyle back into fighting condition. I also want to get out on the water more on kayaks, paddle boards, and other low-key watercraft (I learned last summer that in midlife I suffer from violent seasickness out on the ocean). Of course, I’ll be wearing my favorite swimsuit.
And everything else
Sleeping in late(r); iced coffee; fireworks; fireflies; homemade popsicles and the store-brand ice cream sandwiches; summer birthdays; linen dresses that feel like nightgowns; lemonade; camping; an ice-cold movie theater on a hot, humid day; sandals; the absurd abundance at the farmer’s market; yard sales and library book sales.
Finally, one summer goal for LIVING SMALL: I want more outside voices via interviews and profiles. If you want to suggest someone to be featured, please email me laurafenton@substack.com. I’m also launching a new profile series called Small Takes in a few weeks that I am super-excited about.
I'm ahead of the curve. When sheets die, there is enough good fabric left to make pillowcases. So my pillowcases always match the penultimate set of sheets. And since I get sheets at the thrift store, the two rarely match one another.
I'm definitely checking out Morrow, so thanks for referring that place. Just dropped nearly $2K on an Avocado bed frame and mattress for my new place and am in need of bedding for it. I love the different way they style their sheets and am going for a beachy color scheme (beige, yellow, teal-y/turquoise-y/minty-blue)