Currently

It's finally our favorite season around here, and with 4th of July just around the corner (how, so soon, I can't really wrap my brain around ... ) I wanted to share a few of my summer favorites. Unfortunately I've been cooped up in the house all week long glued to my laptop, juggling the babe with a fever who wants to be held as I type. Which certainly makes things more complicated. But my eye is on the prize. Three days, with great food, our dearest friends and that beloved old faded flag swinging from a palm frond in the sunlight all weekend long.

It's the holiday we look forward to most every year, so it's what's been keeping me focused during these dreadful days locked inside.



Here, a few things I'm digging this season:

Reading: The Girls, by Emma Cline  which I bought because of an article I became engrossed in one lazy Sunday morning about the brief friendship between Denis Wilson and Charles Mason and "The Family." It's what ignited a whole new intrigue in the gruesome history I had priorly known only in fragmented detail. The book is already an instant hit and with good reason. I made the mistake of reading it when I knew there was no time to loose myself in it and it too some major will power to set it aside. Cline's prose sweeps you away and lands you right in the hazy glow of a "honey suckled" hippy nightmare.

Wearing: Cutoff thrifted Levis daily, this Black dress for evenings, and alternating white button downs because they're the only airy alternative I can find to the sundresses I usually stick to.

Loving: The Plum and Sparrow Kenyan storage tote that seems to be the only bag I have that can hold the bulk of my beach goods. And looks great doing it. (Discount details below)

Watching: Blood Line. It's tropical, dramatic, and staring Coach Taylor. What else need I say.

Hearing: my summer staples - exotic Elvis. Paul Simon, Sam the Sham and Dick Dale. Mike revived his love for the Standales (he played in a 60's surf band when I first met him) and so all of these are reflected in the playlist I made HERE. A mix of swanky, sweaty 60's classics. Think Don Draper, tanned and woozy in Palm Springs. At least I did while I was curating most of it. . .

Looking Forward to: A couple days in Topanga Canyon, bunking in an old Japanese tea house with a rope swing on 13 acres. Listing compares it to "rugged camping" and hints that the house squeaks with every foot fall and yet it only made me love it more.

Preparing: A menu for next weekend. Which is always fancier in mind than proves in reality. But that's ok. Should I ever learn that hot dogs wrapped in heated tortillas is the cheapest, easiest solution, my life might be too easy, and then what would I do?

Searching: For yet another sunhat to replace the one I ruined last month. And while I still hold out faith that I'll stumble across a suitable one at the Good Will, time is of the essence, and I'm getting desperate. Any suggestions welcomed.



*Plum and Sparrow are offering readers here 15 percent off using the code: HouseINhabit15 - offer good until Wednesday.