"In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me, there any an invincible summer."
Albert Camus
I absolutely love each season. With all the fullness of my heart, I love every single one of them in a different way.
With the arrival of summer, I feel like a part of me is set free. Summer is for warm weather. Bathing suits. Sunscreen. Messy hair. Barbecues. Fireworks. Late nights on the porch. Camping.
And now that it is summer, I am happy to revisit my summer traditions:
1. No makeup. Yep, you read that correctly. I try not to wear any makeup in the summer! If it's a special occasion, I'll get crazy and put on some mascara, but for the most part, I go completely makeup-free for about 3-4 months. I can't tell you how amazing this little tradition has been for me AND my skin.
2. Curly Hair. When summer rolls around, I try to just let my hair do what it wants. No blowdrying, no straightening. Just big, messy and crazy curls. Sometimes, it drives me nuts, but it's good to just let it be for a while. And, it's a LOT easier and I get so much more time in the mornings!
3. Wake up earlier. I try to be awake, showered, dressed with coffee in-hand by 7:30am.
4. Go to bed later. Yeah, combined with #3, I get less sleep during the week. But, it stays light here until about 9:00pm, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it. So, I go to bed much later than I usually do. Around 10:30 or 11:00.
5. Get out! I make an effort to leave the house and do something every day. Yep. Every. Single. Day. Whether that's go to the river, lay in the sun in my backyard, or just go to the grocery store, I try to leave the house every day.
6. Write Letters. I think about people I haven't spoken to in a while, people I care about, people who are in other countries, and I actually hand-write letters to them. There's nothing better than getting a beautiful, heart-felt letter in your mailbox from a friend in the summertime... telling you of their adventures in life.
What do YOU do every summer?
I'm a teacher who's enjoying her second day of freedom, and I haven't yet decided how I'll spend this particular summer.
ReplyDeleteThree things are givens, though: reading (and more reading), travel, and spending time with my family.
Come on over and see me sometime!
some rituals have changes since my son arrived last summer, but my most favorite one is going out to my parents' place in the country for a swim or to just lay by the pool.
ReplyDeletegetting out for sure as well as less makeup and hair doing! I hate getting ready and straightening my hair so its usually in a messy bun all summer long :))
ReplyDeleteI totally do the "no makeup" thing too ::much to my mothers dispair:: I, also, love to write letters. I have always been that friend that tries to write to the important ppl in my life when I can. Glad to know I am not the only person out there who forgoes email for the real deal sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI love your rituals!! I'm doing the letter writing thing this year too - it's my goal to write a card or letter, just because!, each week!! We can check in on each other + make sure we're trying to accomplish it! :O)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your list! What great ideas. My only ritual is not straignting my hair and letting it go curly. I love your idea about the make up one, i'm going to have to do that.
ReplyDeleteSleep in - that's my favorite thing to do in the summer. I follow that by catching up on my reading and 'doing lunch' with my friends. What could be better than that?
ReplyDeletePS - I gave you an award today on my Living in Love with Jesus blog :).
Aw, KIM! What's the link?! I can't access it from your comment!
ReplyDelete