Boring Girl Summer
The calendar might be empty but the days are packed with pleasures.
I don’t have any summer plans.
No trips to Europe or lakeside Airbnb rentals. No family cottage to stay at.
I’m at a peculiar time in life where I don’t have major responsibilities (like raising children or owning my own home) but I still have minor ones (like working to pay the bills and making dinners). I make enough money to buy myself books and fancy groceries, but not enough to travel very far or decorate my home with all the furnishings I find online.
Believe it or not, there are no weddings on my calendar this year.
It’s a boring girl summer for me.
In past years, I would have stressed about this. Attempting to manipulate the situation by scheduling more and spending extra money to “get away” for the weekends. But the luxuries I chased didn’t always guarantee satisfaction.
This year I have an endless reading list, a wonderful husband, and I’m only a few blocks from the ocean. This year the backyard is bursting with peonies and figs—nectarines are right around the corner. Don’t let my empty calendar fool you, my days will be full and rich with pleasures.
As you may have gathered from the photo above, I’ll be channeling Italy in the early 80s. A timeless summer where everything you need is within arms reach. A summer that existed before Instagram. Where days are planned around bike rides to the lake. And you show up for breakfast in your favourite dress because, by the time noon hits, it’s too hot for clothes.
A summer with the luxury of boredom.
Soon enough, the island I live on will be flooded with tourists. The traffic will be backed up and the lines at the supermarket will grow longer, but I won’t be bothered, I’ll have the luxury of time. I’ll have the luxury to rest, to spend days offline, to listen to music and nap in flower-filled meadows. The luxury to laugh with my girl friends and savour the sweetness of each moment.
I know it’s a time in my life that won’t last forever, yet somehow I already feel so much gratitude for it. The simplicity of it all. The romance of the mundane. A chapter I’ll look back on and become nostalgic for in coming years. Somehow, the joys and luxuries I was looking for will be found in the simplicity and quiet moments of my unplanned summer.
Forget about your phone. Find it floating around the junk drawer in the kitchen three days later when you go to look for matches.
Arrive at the farmers market thirty minutes early to chat with your neighbours and take home the best heirloom tomatoes in town.
Spend all day preparing a meal. Make it completely from scratch. Touch, smell, taste, and visually admire each ingredient.
Wear your bathing suit as an outfit because there’s no air conditioning and your stomach deserves a little kiss from the sun.
Eat the juiciest stone fruits and citrus without a napkin in sight. Then jump into the lake before all the sugars make your hands, neck, and chest sticky.
Skinny dip. Dance. Sing. Yell at the top of your lungs. Run as fast as you can. Walk on the grass with bare feet. Make sand angels at the beach.
Write poetry for yourself and keep it a secret.
Make love in the afternoon.
Lounge in the backyard and read while you drink homemade iced tea sweetened with local honey.
Sleep under the stars. Pull the mattress outside if you need.
Continue being grateful for each and every day.
Savour this one precious life.
Ciao ciao,
PS. To my absolute delight, Boring Girl Summer has been mentioned on some pretty amazing publications including:
The New Yorker
Elle Magazine
The Cereal Aisle
First Image : Gianni Berengo Gardin
Second Image: Call Me by Your Name
Collage Images: @phthaloruth @corasolmar @photisserie @lackofcoloraus @guaymas.guaymas
I can't even begin to express how validating this is for me. Every summer I worry about not having enough "plans" and start filling up my calendar to the point of becoming burnt out or become stressed when I feel like I don't have "enough" fun activities. I've actually been starting to feel this way as we near summer and have become increasingly worried about how to fill my weekends.
This changed my perspective on summer. I savoured every word of this post and look forward to my Boring Girl Summer filled with simple pleasures. What an absolute gem of a post! Lauren, your writing gives me chills.
Sounds like heaven. My oversheduled summer calendar now wants a re-do.