The June Edit
No links just things that made me feel good this month
Hello loves,
There are no products and therefore no links in this months edit. Just a few things that made me feel good in a month that brought a lot of changes. You can read more about that here (update: I got the job!). I leaned hard on nostalgia & comfort this month which you will see below!
Book
The Mother-Daughter Book Club, Susan Patterson & James Patterson.
I’ve been in a bit of a reading rut this month and only managed to finish one actual book (this one).
I got halfway through another book that was very well written and interesting but ultimately just felt too heavy for me. Every time I picked it up I left feeling depleted rather than restored.
So I gave myself permission to stop. I may come back to it!
I went looking for something lighter and landed here, and it was exactly the tonic I needed. Fun to read, pretty short (compared to some of the chunkier books I’ve picked up recently) and most importantly, I didn’t feel emotionally wrung out by it.
A great reminder for me that not every book has to change my life. Sometimes I just need something fun that makes me want to pick it back up again tomorrow.
Very loosely centred around a book club, this novel comes with the added bonus of plenty of book recommendations woven throughout. It’s also set in Italy, where the mothers and daughters travel together, and the endless descriptions of beautiful food absolutely inspired a few meals we ate while I was reading.
TV
Off Campus
As an almost-40-year-old it felt slightly weird to enjoy this as much as I did, in the same way I felt about becoming completely obsessed with The Summer I Turned Pretty last year.
But I’ve realised what makes these coming-of-age dramas so intoxicating for us millennials…
It’s nostalgia.
We grew up on Dawson’s Creek and The O.C.. Watching Off Campus felt like stepping right back into those (glory) days.
Great music. Great characters. Great storyline.
I’m obsessed & I can’t wait for the season 2.
Movies
Apparently June has been the month of comfort rewatches.
Partly for familiarity. Partly for inspiration in the home, garden, interiors, style.
I explained here that once all of my children as in education placements come late August this year I plan to do a little light DIY around our home because it feels wrecked after years of having at least one small child in it at all times.
I rewatched Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride Part II for exactly this reason. The kitchens, the flowers, the outfits, the feeling of home… inspiration perfection.
Then my daughter requested we watch The Devil Wears Prada because she’d never seen it and some of her friends had.
What a joy to revisit an old favourite through her eyes. We already have a list started for what we’re watching next.
Then my husband and I watched What Women Want so it seems like apparently I’m in my Nancy Meyers era. This is not my favourite of hers in terms of style, but still such a fun watch.
Next up, I will be watching This Is 40.
Because I will indeed be turning 40 in just a few weeks… and it feels very relevant lol.
Journalling
Okay this one is a bit of a shameless plug.
This month I started a Journal Club because through every season of life (good, bad and everything in between) I’ve leaned heavily on journalling & I love it!
I use it to process experiences. To make sense of things. To untangle thoughts.
Writing has always been one of the ways I understand myself (guys, I’m a Cancer & I am, as deep as the ocean).
But I also love using my journals to capture my life as it happens, a sort of time capsule.
I start a new journal on my birthday each year and store them in years.
Last year was Year 39.
On my 40th birthday I’ll start Year 40.
I love knowing I can revisit them later.
And hopefully one day my children will too.
Having lost my dad in his 50s, I would LOVE to be able to sit down and read his thoughts at the age I am now.
His worries. What mattered to him. What he was trying to figure out. His ordinary days. His hopes for the future. That perspective would feel priceless.
So I see my journals partly as a gift to my future self and hopefully one day a gift to my children too.
Journal Club is for women who feel life has changed them and want to intentionally decide what comes next. Through journalling, reflection and one monthly focus at a time, we create more alignment between who we are and how we live.
It’s a monthly space to pause, reflect and intentionally explore one area of life through guided prompts, playlists and thoughtful extras.
This month we’re exploring:
The Next Chapter.
More specifically this week:
Who is the woman we want to become?
Not in a dramatic reinvention kind of way, or by becoming somebody else. But by intentionally creating more of what we want within the lives we already have.
Part of this week’s work involved a guided visualisation exercise recorded by me where we:
Met our future self.
Looked around her home.
Asked her questions.
Got to understand what she values and how she moves through the world.
If visualisation isn’t your thing there is also:
A mood board exercise to visually build the future self and life you want to create.
A playlist of handpicked songs that feel like stepping into your next chapter.
Plenty of journal prompts to ponder.
Examples from my own journal entries.
A little community of women exploring this alongside you.
If you’ve been feeling a little restless, reflective, curious or like life has changed you in ways you’re still making sense of I think you’d really enjoy this month.
