The Little Things No. 41

The last Friday of every month I like to reflect on the past four weeks and appreciate the little things. I truly believe that gratitude is one of our greatest gifts and helps us find happiness in the every day.

Dear friends,

Is is the end of another summer month already? The end of July always makes me so sad. July is one of my favorite months, and not just because of my birthday. I love July for the Independence Day family gathering we have with all of my cousins, the fireflies lighting up the night sky, hot days spent swimming at the local lakes, and the sunflowers in bloom. July is the month where my soul takes flight. I hope that your summer has been off to a lovely start. Thins month I feel that there is much to feel gratitude for.

The little things on my radar this month are:

Reading outdoors. I finally got over my pandemic reading slump and I am reading books again, delighting in adventurous and romantic stories.

I was featured in July’s issue of Yankee Magazine! I love Yankee and it was an honor being included. I was a little unhappy with the way the photo was cropped and the lime green of the shutters were altered to be darker than real life, but all in all I have decided I am being too nit-picky and I need to just feel gratitude.

My tomatoes are growing! Unfortunately my garden suffered with all of the extra rain and my lettuce and basil bolted so I had to cut it all down to regrow, but all in all my garden looks lovely. I’m hoping it all comes back now that most of the downpours are over. Next summer I will make a tomato trellis between the two garden beds.

Our friends Payton and Olivia got married! It was a beautiful day.

The night before the wedding I was crying in my closet because none of my fancy dresses fit. Matt couldn’t even drag up the zippers. It felt awful. I knew that I gained some pandemic pounds and I am at peace with that, but I was really sad that my beloved dresses wouldn’t fit. Not a one. Thankfully, I had this new slip dress in my closet and I had ordered a size up.

I turned 31! Every year I start my birthday with my “birthday breakfast,” a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. This year wasn’t any different. My favorite.

For my birthday my dad bought us tickets for the Block Island ferry to join him and his girlfriend on an island adventure. He reserved a couple mopeds and we scooted across the island. Everything my teenage dreams were made of.

I took my friend Ben and Courtney’s engagement photos on their sailboat! The full blog post will be published today at www.livelovelyphotography.com! 

We also went blueberry picking this month at the Litchfield Hills Blueberry Farm. I had never been blueberry picking before. It was so tranquil and lovely.

On a particularly anxious filled and stressful day I took some time for myself and went for a walk and painted at Topsmead State Forest. This is one of my favorite Connecticut parks. I haven’t oil painted in years and it felt amazing to pick up a paintbrush again.

It is sad that the wildfire smoke from out West can be seen from here. I cannot imagine how terrible it is for the people and wild animals living close to the fires. I think about them often.

This month I also became a Timeless Organics brand ambassador! It is such an honor and I feel like it will also help my tiny business to thrive. I love this brand and use it every single day so it feels good being able to support their business and work creatively for them.

I am so thankful for the warm days of summer. I hope that August does not go by as fast as June and July.

What are you grateful for this month?