I want to offer a big welcome to the new subscribers! Welcome, and I’m so glad you’re here! 🥰
This monthly newsletter is not just about recommendations, interesting articles, recipes, and fun finds. It's about sharing a part of my life with you. You can find the recaps for the previous few months here: May, April, and March. So, grab a cold drink, get comfortable, and let’s get caught up. ☺️
June Chit Chat 🌼
June was the month of travel, and it’s nice to be home for a while. Here is where we went:
At the beginning of the month, we drove our youngest and her 85-lb dog from our home in California to Washington. She is settling there (across the Puget Sound from Seattle) with our other daughter and her husband while her spouse is on deployment. We stopped halfway for the night, stayed in the quaint historic lodge, and then drove through the remainder of Oregon and into Washington. It was a breathtaking drive! We enjoyed the week with our daughters and son-in-law and their dogs and were sad to say goodbye.
We spent the second half of the month in Hawaii. My husband and I spent the first eight days in Ko Olina, Oahu, relaxing in the sun, swimming in the ocean, taking walks along the beach, drinking Mai Tais, and watching incredible sunsets. We had the best time!
Our second week was spent in Poipu, Kauai, with our son and daughter-in-law. It was a week full of adventure and relaxation. We kayaked, hiked, saw waterfalls, sunned, swam, shopped, and loved hanging out together. We are thankful for the blessing of traveling with our adult kids. ❤️
Everyday Loves
While traveling, I used this sturdy hat clip to hold my beach hat to my luggage.
I slathered on this facial sunscreen daily and wore my beach hat most of the time, and I succeeded in keeping my face free from sunburn or suntan.
I read ten books while in Hawaii, and here are a few I enjoyed: Happiness Falls, The Leftover Woman, The Frozen River, and Outlive (more about this book to come in a future post.)
What I loved the most this month was all the time I spent with my family. 💗
Noteworthy Links
Two articles about tipping (it seems everyone wants a tip!): How to Tip with More Confidence and 5 Times it’s OK Not to Tip.
Valuable Advice from 90-year-olds for living a fulfilling life.
From the Kitchen
I hardly cooked at all in June, but here are three salad recipes I bookmarked to make this summer:
Tell me, what books are you reading? What are you making for dinner on a hot summer day? What things are you loving? If you’re receiving this via email, hit reply and let me know your favorites, or you can comment below. Thank you for reading. Have an amazing July! 🇺🇸
With love, Natalie xx
“July is hollyhocks and hammocks, fireworks and vacations, hot and steamy weather, cool and refreshing swims, beach picnics, and vegetables all out of the garden.” Jean Hersey
Hi! You had such beautiful photos of your family and trips! How wonderful you were able to make those memories. I loved the advice from the 90 year olds, some solid wisdom. And your tips on tipping was great! It’s so hard these days. Thank you for another great read! I am on vacation now and it’s the highlight of my year so far ☺️ Xx
Lovely to catch up on your family news and travels, what a month 😭🙏🌞 and yet still lots of wonderful links to follow up and enjoy, too!🤩💗 (Especially for a fan of avocado and halloumi! 😄😍) Super-interesting to read about tipping etiquette from a stateside point of view, especially having just got back from Europe where it can be really tricky – and fascinating to hear the advice across services as well. I need to literally take a leaf out of your book and make time to read more even when away from home, somehow I never manage to do as much as I hope to – I was listening to Summer Joy Gross’ new book, The Emmanuel Promise, on Audible whilst in Italy last week, and found it deeply moving. Other hardbacks lined up in my TBR pile now I’m home, too! 📚 Sending love. 💗🥰