Things I'm Loving Lately

I’ll be honest with you, folks – late spring and early summer is my molasses-slow season. In my bookings, in my movement, in my energy. I’m literally picturing the slow melt of an ice cream cone, where the weather isn’t wicked hot yet but it’s warm enough to liquify something cold.

So instead of forcing myself to write something about periods, or nutrition, or body image or more, I want to share a little bit of my brain space and the things I’ve been loving lately. I try to show up as my most authentic self – I'm a person just like you!

I’m leaning into the slowness of this season for me, and really noticing the things that bring me joy here. Most of my year is busy and busier, and taking this time to reflect feels valuable to me as the years go on.

1. The Disney Dreamlight Valley video game. Like many millenials, I grew up on the Nintendo console (with the big, bulky game inserts) and then graduated to the Wii system when it came out. My childhood favourites were Mario and the Aladdin video games, and I keep a healthy enjoyment of Just Dance in my back pocket.

Earlier this year, I stumbled upon Disney Dreamlight Valley through TikTok and decided it might be fun to try, even if it didn’t stick. Needless to say, it has stuck. I love the storyline and quests, and seeing all my favourite Disney characters again and again. And who can deny the childlike joy of having magical powers to save the kingdom?

2. The hand-me-down lounge chair in my backyard. I grew up with this white convertible lounge chair on our back porch, with a big puffy cushion covered in a blue-green leafy pattern. You could set it up to sit upright like a chair or lay it flat to get your suntan or nap on.

My parents handed it down to me this spring, and I’ve been spending as much time as possible on it – reading, working on my computer, sitting and sipping on something. It reminds me of the gorgeous summer days of the past, and I’m excited to have it living in my own backyard now.

3. “Summer drinks”. My partner and I coined this term a few years ago when we started mixing flavoured carbonated waters with juice and frozen fruit. In our first home, which had no air conditioning, we would make new combinations every evening to keep cool and switch up the oceans of water we were drinking.

We’ve kept this fun little tradition alive, and we’ve graduated into using grenadine, “sun tea” (steeping tea in the sunlight, a well-loved trick taught by my Gammi), and more to make them even more summer-y. We’ve acknowledged how we know exactly what we mean when we say “summer drinks”, and I love this endlessly.

4. Unmaking the bed every morning. In the transition from spring to summer, the temperature gets warmer and this sometimes means some sweaty sleeping (even with central air). I’m happy to wash our sheets, but throwing a new set on every day feels like way too much laundry, not to mention I don’t own that many pairs of sheets.

I’ve started “unmaking” the bed, to keep the sheets open to the air for freshness – I’m not going to lie, it seems to cool them down through the day as well, which means a lower temperature sleep and less sweaty evenings.

5. Napping mid-day. I’m an early riser by nature (with the occasional long snooze depending on how busy and active I’ve been), and by the afternoon I start to feel the energy drain out of me. When I have the time, I love settling down for a quick cat nap – 10 or 15 minutes is usually enough to put the pep back in my step, which my partner finds unbelievable and maybe a little enviable.

I usually nap on the couch because our living room is darker during the daytime, and it’s just perfect. I don’t even find it to disrupt my evening sleep – if anything I’m sleeping better at night because I’m not absolutely exhausted and have had time to decompress.

There are probably a million things I’m really loving lately, if I sit down and truly think in depth about it, but off the top of my head this is what stands out to me.

What are you loving lately? I’d love to know – share in the comments!