Morning everyone,
Writing to you from one of my favorite summer settings: my couch with the AC on full blast with no intention of venturing outside. Sometimes the most deliciously indulgent thing you can do on a gorgeous summer’s day is stay indoors and lay. (Also, I just started watching The Americans and WOW.)
The pressure of summer to be FUN can sometimes make me sad, so in case anyone else is feeling a little off, ashamed, or mildly blue for not being beachside and sprawled on a blanket next to a lover and your shared cooler, or by a lake with friends and your ice cream cones, greetings from an anti-social, semi-melancholy, just OK day.
One of the things I turn to when I feel this way is When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön, and rather than try to reinvent the wheel of it’s OK to not be OK, here are two paragraphs I fell in love with yesterday that get right to it: (and then on to the fun food clothing)
Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look. That’s the compassionate thing to do. That’s the brave thing to do. We could smell that piece of shit. We could feel it; what is its texture , color and shape?
We can explore the nature of that piece of shit. We can know the nature of dislike, shame, and embarrassment and not believe there’s something wrong with that. We can drop the fundamental hope that there is a better “me” who will one day emerge. We can’t just jump over ourselves as if we were not there. it’s better to take a straight look at all our hopes and fears. Then some kind of confidence in our basic sanity arises.
some kind of confidence in our basic sanity!!!
Anyway, when shit isn’t the issue, the usual culprit for keeping me indoors on a hot day is not knowing what to wear. When the weather gets tough in any other season, there are raincoats, hats, scarves, and sleeping bag-esque coats to help us out. To me, 90°F with 60% humidity qualifies as inclement weather and the tricky thing is there isn’t any article of clothing that can help with that. In fact, the mere concept of clothing in these temperatures makes me irritable.
Accessories however. . .
some very glamorous summer-themed looks:
I’m not much of a potato chip person and rarely eat them plain, but they make for an excellent topping. Nestle them in a burger, crunch ‘em on top of a hot dog (or omelette—thank you, Chef) and please please please wedge them inside truly any deli sandwich.
These would be fantastic for my bunions💗🍦
And this thought just occurred to me: the meaty straps can be customized with ketchup and/or mustard decals.
I genuinely want and need this bathing suit.
The height of luxury.
Happy summer eating to all, and if anyone has any wisdom to impart or recs to share re dressing in humidity I’d really appreciate it.
Till next week,
🌞🌭Ariella
The hot dog heels took me OUT.
Thank you, I feel that summer sadness guilt, I appreciated hearing this