Last week I made the fluffiest pumpkin pancakes and they were delicious, but these ones are my favorite. I forgot how good sweet potatoes pancakes are, why don’t I see more of this combination on breakfast menus? So far this the batch I will be making more of this fall.

Next week, I am testing out pear pancakes. Because I am a pear girl, that is my favorite fruit. So I am excited for this recipe. I am curious to see how they will work out. Is it better with the fruit as a topping or the pear mixed directly into the batter? We will see, and I will let you know next week.

What you will need:

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons (38 g) granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon (12 g) baking powder

• 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda

• 2 teaspoon (6 g) cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon (2g) kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon (2g) ground ginger

• ½ teaspoon (2g) ground nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 cup (255 g) of roasted, mashed sweet potato

• 1 ¾ cups (420 ml) cultured buttermilk, room temperature

• 3 tablespoons (42 g) of unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

• 2 teaspoons (8 g) of vanilla extract

Kitchen Notes:

• Bring your ingredients to room temperature. Let the buttermilk and eggs come to room temp., and allow the melted butter to cool slightly before mixing.

• Do not overmix. Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients with a spatula until well combined. A few lumps are normal! If you overmix it will develop gluten and the pancakes will be tough.

• Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes. This allows the flour to hydrate, resulting in tender pancakes.

• No buttermilk? Make a quick substitute. For every 1 cup of buttermilk, combine 1 cup of whole milk with 1 tablespoon of squeezed lemon or distilled white vinegar. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before using. It’s not the same as cultured buttermilk but it works in a pinch.

• Swett potato has natural sugars that will lead to browning faster, so lower the heat if the exterior is becoming dark before the center has finished.

• Also if you are comfortable using stainless steel pans, use those instead of nonstick, you get a better rise. I like recommending nonstick because its the safest and everyone is more comfortable using them. But I find I get fluffier pancakes when making them on a stainless steel pan.

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Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (250C). Wash and dry the sweet potato, then pierce it several times with fork. Cover it in foil and roast until completely tender when its easily pierced with a knife, approximately 45-60 minutes, depending on its size.

Let it cool enough to be handle, remove the skin and mash until smooth. Measure 1 cup (about 250 g) and let it cool to room temperature before making the batter.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the room temperature mashed sweet potato and eggs until well combined.

Then whisk in the buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla together until well combined.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together just until mostly combined. It’s okay if there are a few small lumps in the batter. We do not want to overmix.

The batter would be thick and scoopable but still be able to slowly spread when it hits the pan.

5. Let the batter sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the griddle or large skillet, I prefer a nonstick pan, over medium-low to medium-high heat. Once the batter is done resting, do not stir it again.

6. Brush the pan with butter to lightly grease it. Working in batches, add ½ cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until the edges look set and bubbles appear across the surface. Flip gently and cook the second side for another 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown.

Sweet potato has natural sugars that will lead to browning faster, so lower the heat if the exterior is getting dark before the center has finished. I like to cover my pancakes with a lid to help them cook evenly.

7. Serve warm with butter and your favorite toppings. You could do some toasted pecans and maple syrup. But to me they are perfect on their own.

What I have learned from this recipe is that my mom likes it more cinnamon forward, my dad loves more nutmeg and my sister doesn’t want any sugar in it. So make it your own. Lean into whichever spice you love the most. You can’t go wrong with this one. Just be careful with nutmeg, its a powerful spice.

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Set the ambiance

A playlist that feels like September….

A playlist with fall vibes to cook with, the perfect soundtrack for a slow fall morning.

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I am so ready for the weather to shift, my heart and mind are in fall season already. I need pumpkins and all the spiced baked goods I can possibly get my hands on. If you share the same sentiment. Here is the perfect recipe to welcome fall into your home. Its a pretty straight forward recipe nothing elaborate.

I am thinking of testing out apple and pear pancakes later this week. I’m just full of optimism during this time of year.

What you will need:

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups (250 g) of all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons (38 g) of granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon (12 g) of baking powder

• 1 teaspoon (4 g) of baking soda

• ½ teaspoon (2g) kosher salt

• 2 teaspoon (6 g) of cinnamon,

• Optional: 1 teaspoon of Pumpkin spice

Wet Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 cup (255 g) of pumpkin puree

• 1 ¾ cups (420 ml) cultured buttermilk, room temperature

• 3 tablespoons (42 g) of unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

• 2 teaspoons (8 g) of vanilla extract

Kitchen Notes:

• Bring your ingredients to room temperature. Let the buttermilk and eggs come to room temp., and allow the melted butter to cool slightly before mixing.

• Do not overmix. Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients with a spatula until well combined. A few lumps are normal! If you overmix it will develop gluten and the pancakes will be tough.

• Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes. This allows the flour to hydrate, resulting in tender pancakes.

• No buttermilk? Make a quick substitute. For every 1 cup of buttermilk, combine 1 cup of whole milk with 1 tablespoon of squeezed lemon or distilled white vinegar. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before using. It’s not the same as cultured buttermilk but it works in a pinch.

Method:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, pumpkin puree, melted butter, and vanilla together until well combined.

3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold together just until combined. It’s okay if there are a few small lumps in the batter. We do not want to overmix.

The batter would be thick and scoopable but still be able to slowly spread when it hits the pan.

4. Let the batter sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the griddle or large skillet, I prefer a nonstick pan, over medium-low to medium-high heat. Once the batter is done resting, do not stir it again.

5. Brush the pan with butter to lightly grease it. Working in batches, add ½ cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until the edges look set and bubbles appear across the surface. Flip gently and cook the second side for another 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown.

6. Serve warm with butter and your favorite toppings. You could do some toasted pecans, maple syrup, chocolate chips, apple compote or cinnamon butter.

I try to watch my sugar intake during this time of year, because I bake a lot. So I either replace the sugar with allulose or I just skip adding any sugar. They still taste amazing. and when I am lazy, I just make the 3 ingredient pumpkin pancakes: pumpkin + eggs + cinnamon.

Set the ambiance

A playlist with fall vibes to cook with, the perfect soundtrack for a slow fall morning.

🌿 Want more recipes?
Browse the full Sun-Drenched Table Archive for seasonal dishes, cocktails, and weekly inspiration.

check out some of my other post:

Thanks for being here! Here are other ways you can show your support:

❤️ Tap the heart below (it helps more readers discover my work!)

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It is September on the calendar, but my thermometer says otherwise. Here in Texas, September has arrived but not with its promise of reprieve. The forecast is showing me a beautiful 103°F straight into the second week of the month. Yaaayyyy, global warming. At this point, it feels less like a seasonal transition and more like an atmospheric standoff. Summer refuses to leave and autumn just sems so far way from reach. We are stuck in limbo and I’m suffocating.

The problem is that while the weather refuses to change, my reading mood already has. I am done with light beach reading. But I am also not ready for a cozy reading list. It would feel ridiculous anyway. I cannot romanticize sweater weather while the pavement outside could cook an egg. Instead, I find myself reaching for books that occupy this strange space between seasons.

The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Woman in White, and The Portrait of a Lady feel strangely at home here. Not because all three are literally about unbearable summer heat, but because each captures a different part of this atmospheric standoff: confinement, exhaustion, lengthening shadows, psychological unease, and the unsettling feeling that something is beginning to change even when the world around you appears stuck. They are not quite summer books. They are not cozy autumn books either. They are books for waiting. And since I am forced to sweat through part of September, I might as well lean into the madness.

The Suffocating Limbo of the Castle Walls

There was a point during this heatwave when my home stopped feeling like a sanctuary and began to feel like a prison. I know, I know. I sound dramatic. But that is genuinely how it feels. I haven't left my house in weeks unless absolutely necessary. The air conditioning runs constantly, fighting a battle it was never meant to win. Days and nights begin to blur together. The blinds stay closed. The rooms get darker. And the walls that are supposed to protect me from the elements now feel like they are keeping me trapped.

Anyway, while I was having yet another breakdown, my friend recommended me The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. It was a brilliant recommendation for the stage I’m at mentally. It’s gothic, it just feels right for this transition period. It follows Emily St. Aubert, whose idyllic early life eventually gives way to isolation and captivity inside the looming Castle Udolpho. The terror is the confinement. And that is exactly why the book feels so appropriate to me right now.

Obviously, my house is not an eighteenth-century Gothic castle, and my thermostat is considerably less threatening than Montoni. But after enough weeks of planning my entire existence around dangerous temperatures, I understand something about the particular madness of staring at the same walls every day because the world outside feels inaccessible.

Like Emily, I am experiencing a very mild form of captivity. Mine just happens to be enforced by a late-summer climate that refuses to let me go. So if you are also developing cabin fever, wandering from room to room, checking the weather app as though the forecast might suddenly take pity on you, Radcliffe's shadow-drenched terror might make you feel a little less alone. Or at least give you a much prettier prison to imagine.

When the Heavy Night Breeds Secrets

My only reprieve these days happens at 3:00 AM. I wake up before the sun, slip into the kitchen to make an iced coffee. It is still hot outside, but it’s the only time of the day the world feels calm and quiet. More importantly, it is one of the only times I can take Prue outside and actually let her enjoy herself without worrying about the heat. The rest of the day is a test of patience. The heat makes me irritable, delirious, and it thoroughly tests my temper. I feel like I am running on pure willpower and exhaustion, just trying to survive while hoping for autumn’s arrival.

This is where The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins feels almost perfect. The novel opens up on the last day of July. The long hot summer is beginning to fade, autumn is approaching, and Walter Hartright is already physically and emotionally worn down by the season (like me!). While Walter is walking into the night, he meets a mysterious woman dressed entirely in white. Honestly, what better conditions could there be for something weird to happen?

Collins does not need a supernatural monster. The atmosphere has already destabilized the world before the mystery even begins. The night is heavy, Walter is exhausted, and reality seems just soft enough around the edges for the appearance of this strange woman to feel simultaneously impossible and completely believable. To me that is the magic of the oppressive late-summer weather. After enough heat, everything begins to feel slightly feverish.

The weather isn't the villain of The Woman in White, nor does it cause the mystery that follows. But it gives the beginning of the novel its perfect psychological temperature: exhausted, heavy, restless, and waiting for something to break. Which, unfortunately, is also my current psychological temperature. As the novel unfolds into secrets, manipulation, stolen identities, surveillance, gaslighting, and people desperately trying to understand what is happening around them, that feeling of instability only deepens.

I find myself drawn to Marian Halcombe's exhausted survival mode. Not because Marian is battling a Texas heatwave, although I would personally enjoy seeing how she handled one, but because so much of her story requires remaining observant and clearheaded when her nerves and body are already being pushed to their limits. I relate.

If the heat has you waking up at strange hours, losing track of what day it is, and feeling untethered from reality, The Woman in White might be the perfect September book. At least Collins gives the delirium a mystery.

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The Endless Afternoon and the Lengthening Shadow

Not every part of late summer feels like a prison. There are moments, usually around golden hour, when I remember why I love it. I can already see the light changing, everything outside turns honey-colored. For a few minutes, summer becomes beautiful again instead of something I am trying to survive.

But September light is different. Even when the temperature hasn’t gotten the message yet, the sun has. The evenings arrive a little earlier. Shadows stretch a little farther across the ground. Something about the light begins whispering that the season is moving whether the heat wants to admit it or not.

That feeling makes me think of The Portrait of a Lady.

Henry James opens the novel with afternoon tea on the lawn of an English country house during a summer afternoon. The kind of summer afternoon we spend the entire season trying to manufacture for ourselves. But the light is already beginning to fade. The shadows are lengthening. And knowing what is waiting for Isabel Archer makes that beautiful opening feel different in retrospect.

When we meet Isabel, she seems to embody all the possibility of that summer afternoon. She is curious, fiercely independent, imaginative, and convinced that an enormous life is waiting for her. She wants experiences. She wants freedom. She wants to see the world without allowing someone else to decide what her life should become.

Then her circumstances change. She inherits money intended to expand that freedom, and eventually she marries Gilbert Osmond. A man whose controlling nature slowly transforms the life she imagined for herself into something far narrower. Reading the novel now, I cannot help seeing Isabel’s trajectory as a seasonal one. Not because James literally turns the novel into a progression from summer to autumn, but because that first golden afternoon casts such a long shadow over everything that follows.

The openness becomes enclosure. Possibility becomes restriction. Light becomes shadow. And the woman who once seemed to have an entire world stretching endlessly before her begins to discover how small a life can become. Isabel reminds me of my mother and the circumstances that shaped her life.

Maybe that is why The Portrait of a Lady feels right for September. There is something melancholy about this month even when it is still unbearably hot. Summer has not disappeared, but we can already see its ending in the light. The golden hour arrives earlier. The shadows stretch farther. James understands the strange sadness of looking at something beautiful while already sensing the darkness gathering at its edges.

Reading Ambiance

I love to have a good background soundtrack while I read whether is a lofi playlist or classical jazz. I hope these paylists set the mood for you as much as they do for me.

If reading and vocals are not your thing, I get it. Here is lofi playlist you can trust.

The Waiting Room of the Season

Maybe September is not supposed to feel like autumn yet. At least not here. Maybe this month belongs to the in-between. We are still staring out the window at a blazing sun while mentally wandering toward October. We want crisp mornings, cold air, dark evenings, soup simmering on the stove, and the first night when opening a window finally feels better than turning down the thermostat. But we aren’t there yet. And I don’t particularly want to pretend that we are. That is why these three books feel like the right companions for this strange stretch of the year.

The Mysteries of Udolpho understands confinement, the madness of feeling trapped inside while another world seems to exist somewhere beyond the walls.

The Woman in White understands exhaustion: the heavy, feverish atmosphere of a summer that has gone on long enough and the strange psychological state that emerges while everyone waits for it to break.

And The Portrait of a Lady understands the lengthening shadow, the beautiful melancholy of standing in golden light while already sensing that something darker is approaching.

Together, they create exactly the September reading mood I have been searching for. Not summer. Not quite autumn. Something suspended between the two. There is comfort in admitting that seasonal transitions are not always beautiful. Sometimes there is no cinematic first day of fall. No sudden chill in the air. No convenient morning when you wake up, pull on a sweater, and discover that the world has transformed overnight. Sometimes autumn arrives first in your mind.

It arrives in what you want to cook, what you want to watch, what you want to read. It arrives in the changing light outside your window while the thermometer stubbornly continues to read 103°F. So I am done pretending I need to choose between seasons. Until the temperature finally drops and the first real autumn wind clears the air, I will be right here turning the pages and watching the golden hour. Waiting for the weather to catch up.

-Lily H

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If you are new here, welcome to my little corner of the internet where I sort through my thoughts, share my current obsessions, and try to make sense of the world one month at a time.

As someone who deeply struggles with the month of August, I have realized that having non-negotiables is the only way to survive it. This month is incredibly challenging for me. The triple-digit temperatures make me feel completely delirious, and I become very particular about my surroundings. With most of the world battling historic heatwaves right now, I know I am not alone.

Here are the specific items, routines, and rituals keeping me sane, comfortable, and grounded while the world burns outside.

1. Iced Drinks Only

At this point in the summer, hot beverages are completely dead to me. No cappuccinos, no lattes, if it doesn’t have ice, please don’t bring it near me. I am living on iced matcha, iced coffee, and endless pitchers of fruit-infused water. Even with my AC working perfectly, the relentless Texas heat keeps my house at a steady 80°F. The system simply cannot bring the temperature down to a comfortable 75°F. On the hardest days, when I just need to take the edge off, an ice-cold dirty martini is a non-negotiable.

2. Low-Cook “Mains”

I have been relying heavily on seafood because it cooks in minutes without heating up the kitchen. Salmon in the air fryer takes exactly ten minutes, and I appreciate its simplicity so much right now. I am also tinned fish’s biggest fan; it serves as my lunch for weeks straight. A tin of high-quality fish paired with potato chips, olives, pickles, radishes, cilantro, and pickled onions is a perfect, no-cook meal. But the true pièce de résistance is shrimp cocktail. It is my ultimate emotional support dish. I boil enough shrimp to last three days. Nothing feels better than coming home from a dreadful, humid day to a cold, zesty shrimp cocktail.

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3. Hopeful TV & The Album of the Summer

I was incredibly excited for Silo to return, but if I’m honest, this season is a bit too slow-paced and I’m finding myself bored. Instead, I’ve turned to Ted Lasso. I don’t know why, but I have cried during every single episode. It radiates the same hopeful, comforting energy of Parks and Recreation. I am also enjoying Star City, dare I say I enjoy it more than the original series.

For music, my absolute album of the summer is Heatwave by MICHELLE. I cannot stop listening to it. It perfectly captures all the emotional stages of the season, from the fun, playful early days to the late-summer delirium. If you listen to their track “IDEAL,” you will instantly understand. This band is guaranteed to be my number-one spot on Spotify Wrapped.

4. Ultimate Hydration & Cooling Skincare

I wish I could write like an editorial fashion magazine and give you a glamorous guide to achieving sun-kissed skin. But let’s be real: I am just trying to keep my skin from melting. I heavily rely on facial mists and never leave the house without one in my purse. My absolute favorite is the Summer Fridays mist. If you are looking for deeper hydration, I alternate between the Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Moisturizer and the Laneige Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Cream. I live by these two moisturizers. My favorite evening ritual involves the pixi eye patches, followed by a Dr. Jart Hydro Firming Face Mask before bed. Its the perfect way to end my day.

If you do want that glowing, sun-kissed look, skip the sun and grab the Tom Ford Soleil Blanc Shimmering Body Oil (which has beautiful amber notes) or my personal favorite, Soleil Neige, for its crisp, citrus-floral scent. Th beauty gurus got me hooked on these years ago, and they still deliver the perfect summer glow.

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5. The Sacred Peppermint Shower

Because of the environment I live in, a shower is no longer just a routine, it is a sacred daily ritual. I need to feel completely refreshed, so I am leaning heavily into peppermint-scented everything: shower gels, body scrubs, shampoos, and lotions. I don’t think I have ever bought this much from Lush during a single summer, but we’ve also never experienced a summer this terrible. If I could recommend only one product to survive August, it is the Lush Magic Crystals Body Scrub. It completely transforms my mood, elevates my shower, and resets my day.

6. Fragrances to Replace My Garden

My Texas garden has been completely decimated by the heat dome. I am used to it by now, August is notoriously the worst month for gardeners, but it still breaks my heart. To make up for the loss of my blooms, I am leaning heavily on floral fragrances inside. I recently treated myself to La Bomba by Carolina Herrera. It has my favorite scents of peonies and vanilla. I am not ready for summer floral scents to leave just yet, so I am wearing this one as much as possible.

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7. Curbside Pick-Up & Delivery Services

I have entirely given up on traditional grocery shopping. Getting my groceries delivered is a splurge, but it is one I willingly make for my sanity and comfort. I used to go shopping at 6:00 AM to beat the heat, but life has simply gotten too busy this year. I keep telling myself I will make it up to my wallet in the autumn. Who am I kidding, though. When fall arrives, I always end up spending more money than any other time of the year.

8. Crafting for the Future

To keep my hands busy while staying indoors, I am currently working on cempasúchil (marigold) garlands to decorate for Día de los Muertos. I know the holiday is still a couple of months away, but you can rarely find authentic decorations like this in the US. If I want them, I have to make them myself, and this indoor time is the perfect opportunity to get ahead.

9. Escaping Into Another World

InKONBINI: One store. Many stories is were I escape to when I need peace and quite. First, lets talk about the graphics, they are so nostalgic. One of the reasons I was drawn to this game. Second, the music delivers unmatched lofi vibes. Japan just gets it; they know exactly what people want, and it feels like the creators listened to the masses and leaned entirely into it.

August please be kind to me, I am really trying…..

August won't last forever, even if the thermometer says otherwise. Until the autumn breeze finally hits Texas, you can find me hiding indoors with my air fryer salmon, my peppermint showers, and a very cold drink. If you are also battling this heat dome, please let me know: what are the non-negotiables keeping you sane this month?

- Lily H

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After a long day of work and driving through traffic, these are the playlists that help me decompress. Nothing in the soundscape is too busy, just chill enough to get me through Dallas traffic jams and the occasional road rage driver (if you know, you know).

1. Chill & Ride - the bootleg boy 2

Lofi jazz-hop in the best possible way. I love to wake up to this playlist, it’s so soothing and chill. Arnold, riding an empty bus with his headphones and a Walkman, is the absolute peak of classic, golden-era lofi nostalgia. Nothing captures the raw, comforting essence of 90s nostalgia, quite like Hey, Arnold!

Best paired with: A long evening drive, your favorite drink, and watching the city lights blur against a glass window.

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2. Chill Drive - the bootleg boy 2

These chill-hop beats instantly capture that exact feeling of clocking out after a long, exhausting shift. Hitting the highway and letting the stress of the day melt away. The beats are smooth and melodic, layered with jazzy chords. It is the perfect soundtrack to get through a stressful highway jam. Trust me, it helps.

I do not like driving in Dallas, it puts me on edge. People drive like they don’t have someone waiting for them at home. So, I use this mix to help me through the worst part of my commute.

Best paired with: A golden sunset and a safe drive home.

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3. Chill and Drive - the bootleg boy 2

Packed with dusty jazz chords and heavy, slow-tempo tracks, this one is the perfect background loop for when you are winding down after long day. And if you pay close attention, you can hear a beat that sounds close to My Neighbor Totoro. It’s small, but it’s there.

Best paired with: An iced drink, an open window and a quiet evening where you have nowhere to be.

4. On the Run - the bootleg boy 2

Ending the list with Finn and Jake cruising in matching suits feels like the perfect close to an evening drive. This mix carries a quicker, head-nodding rhythm that keeps you moving forward. A little spacey synth and slow jazz-hop percussion captures the cozy feeling of going on late-night drives with your best friend to get some Whataburger.

Best paired with: Your bestie in the passenger seat and a late-night run to your favorite fast-food restaurant (mine is Whataburger).

Maybe I will write an article about the sub-genres of lofi in the future, but for right now, I will be delivering these lofi mixes to introduce you to my favorites and the occasions I believe they pair well with.

Let me know if you like any of them! I love to connect with people who share similar music tastes.
- Lily H

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A roundup of the tiny things bringing texture, color and comfort to my life this week. The outside world is a bit much right now, so today we are keeping things light. Grab and iced coffee and let’s dive into the current loop.

🎧 August Playlist: Golden Hour Traffic Jam

Not sure if its because I am ready for autumn, or because these triple digit temperatures are worse this year than any other. But this playlist feels like it belongs between August and September. It carries the emotional transition of those two months. Let me know what you think.

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🚿 A Summer Shower Essentials

I had to run back to LUSH this week to restock on the Magic Crystals body scrub, I am obsessed. I cannot get enough of it, and honestly, we went through our first jar so fast. I guess I shouldn't be surprised the weather has been hot, so we are leaning heavily into mint scented anything to feel refreshed. If you try anything this summer, make it this one.

I made the mistake of taking Dylan with me to LUSH. A Leo and a Taurus shopping together is never a good for the wallet, which means we bought way more than we needed.

Dylan is such a kid at heart and they had the new Super Mario Galaxy collection on display. He completely lost it! If I hadn’t reasoned with him, he would have bought every single item.

Last year we tried the Mario and Luigi shower gels, so this year he got Protect the Galaxy shower gel (which has heavy notes of blueberry and lots of glitter). While he loves it, it’s a bit too sweet and overpowering for me. However, he also got lumas shower jelly, and I love it. Its has a grapefruit and raspberry notes, and the jelly texture makes it such a sensory experience. I don’t know why it took me so long to purchase one of their jellies, if it wasn’t for Dylan, I don’t think I ever would have ventured out!

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🎮 InKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories

First, lets talk about the graphics, they are so nostalgic. One of the reasons I was drawn to this game. Second, the music delivers unmatched lofi vibes. Japan just gets it; they know exactly what people want, and it feels like the creators listened to the masses and leaned entirely into it.

The game pairs soft visuals and warm cozy lighting with an ASMR-like soundscape filled with subtle, everyday sounds which help you relax and sort of escape into its universe. Gameplay is only seven days long, which has some people complaining but I really enjoyed it. Its such a chill game, a must try if the world feels a bit heavy (which August always seems to do to me). I’m even thinking of getting the collector’s edition from Japan.

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🫒 Current Hyperfixation: Olive Everything

Does anyone else get completely consumed by a hyperfixation? This past month, for me, it has been OLIVES. I don’t know why, but I see them everywhere: in paintings, in decor, and specially in jewelry, I must have that bracelet of a fork poking an olive, and the ring with stacked cocktail olives, screams my name. I will not link the ring, because it is an outrages price. But I am definitely a taurus.

I would love to know: what tiny things are helping you get though the week or surviving the rest of the summer? Are you hyperfixating on a specific song, binge-watching a new show, or leaning into specific self-care ritual?

Let me know, I am always looking for new recommendations to add to my list!

-Lily H

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In Mexico, we have so many salsas that you could write multiple books on the subject alone. The variations are endless, you can boil, char, grill, or smoke your ingredients, and each method completely changes the flavor profile.

We eat salsa with everything, or we add chiles (peppers) to everything. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it doesn’t matter. We add salsa to soup, we expect chiles in tamales, and we squeeze jalapenos into our morning eggs. In Mexican cooking, the holy trinity is onion, jalapeño, and tomato. Almost every traditional recipe includes these three ingredients.

I never realized how true this was until my boyfriend (now husband) and I moved in together. He is a white boy from Oklahoma, my “southern belle”, and he quickly brought it up because his digestive system simply could not handle my cooking at first. Poor guy 🤣. I make so much salsa that I have a blender completely dedicated to it. Try making a smoothie in a blender right after making a spicy salsa. I dare you!

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The Rise of Salsa de Tomatillo

Salsa de Tomatillo is my absolute favorite. I eat it with everything. Tomatillo salsa is one of the Salsa Verdes (which we have plenty of) its bright, tangy, tart and herbaceous.

When I fist moved to the United States, the mainstream food craze was all about Pico de Gallo, then guacamole. Over the past few years, tomatillo salsa has finally exploded in popularity. It is incredibly versatile:

• Breakfast, lunch, or dinner topping

• A flavor booster for a Cava bowl

• A braising liquid to cook pork or beef

• A vibrant dressing for taco or stews

• A perfect addition to any seafood; shrimp, salmon, octopus, you name it.

• This salsa on top of Barbacoa, to die for

• Inside a torta, this would be my last meal on earth

There are still so many incredible Mexican dishes that haven’t made it to the U.S. yet because they are mostly cooked inside family homes or the ingredients are not accessible. My friends in Dallas always ask me to name my favorite Mexican restaurants in town.

I always give them the same answer: my house. No one cooks better than my parents.

Besides, in this economy, I rarely go out anymore. When I do spend money on a meal out, I don’t choose Mexican food. I go for ramen or Indian food instead.

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My thoughts on Tex-Mex

Most of what I see out there is Tex-Mex. Don’t get me wrong, Tex-Mex has some amazing dishes. I am a huge fan of breakfast tacos. But I have some strong opinions:

• Cheese: I do not like American cheese melted on top of my enchiladas.

• The Name Game: I hate when people call flautas “taquitos.” I cannot stand the slander! Somewhere in translation, the true naming convention was lost. Every time my husband says “taquitos” is like nails scratching against a chalk board.

• The Menu: I am not a fan of chimichangas, and I really do not like puffy tacos. Why choose a puffy taco when you can have an authentic one?

• The Hype: I will never understand the obsession with Chipotle or Taco Bell.

• The Exception: Queso dip. Bomb!!! Especially if it has jalapeños, I absolutely love queso dip. Just not with Velveeta cheese, criminal using that cheese. Use good quality cheese.

Tex-Mex was originally built to introduce Mexican flavors to American palate and make them more approachable. Personally, I think they underestimated American food lovers. The more authentic the food is, the more people seem to love it.

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Never Stop Being Curious

Salsa recipes change completely depending on the region of Mexico. Everyone makes them differently. Someone in Monterrey might boil their tomatoes, while someone in Jalisco absolutely will not.

Ultimately, Mexicans love to experiment. We have so much fun in the kitchen and we never stop being curious. That is the true spirit of our cooking, everyone has their own secret, perfect ingredient.

You should experiment with your salsa, too. One day, test how it tastes with Knorr chicken bouillon. Another day try it with kosher salt. See which one you prefer! Lately, I have been playing around with different flavored salts myself.

Here is my go-to recipe to get you started.

Authentic Salsa de Tomatillo

Ingredients

• 10 medium tomatillos

• 2 serrano peppers (or your choice of chiles)

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• ½ white onion

• 1 cup fresh cilantro (add more if you want it extra herbaceous)

• 1 tablespoon Knorr chicken bouillon (or ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, to taste)

Heat Level Disclaimer: The original recipe uses serrano peppers, which are quite spicy. If you are sensitive to heat, I highly recommend starting with jalapeños instead. Add just one jalapeño the first time. If it isn’t spicy enough for you, add more next time or level up to serrano!

Method

1. Remove the husks from the tomatillos. Rinse them thoroughly under warm water to remove their sticky residue. Cut your onion into two smaller pieces.

2. Add tomatillos, serrano peppers, garlic, and onion to a large pot. Cover the them with water. Do not add any cilantro or salt yet.

3. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatillos and peppers change color to a muted green. Keep a close eye on them, you don’t want your tomatillos to burst.

4. Transfer the cooked tomatillos, onions, serrano peppers, and garlic into a blender. Add the fresh cilantro and your Knorr bouillon or salt. Blend until it reaches your preferred consistency.

5. If you want a more fluid salsa, you can blend in a splash of cooking water, though I rarely need to do this.

Blender note: I have a Vitamix, which allows me to toss in the cilantro in whole, and it blends it perfectly. If your blender isn’t as powerful, I highly recommend chopping the cilantro before adding it to your blender so it doesn’t get tangled in the blades.

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Variations to try

For more texture: Stir in some finely diced raw white onion, extra chopped cilantro, and cubed avocado after blending.

For a smoky flavor: Instead of boiling, grill or char the tomatillos, onions, peppers, and garlic on a comal or skillet. I only do this when I more time in my hands, but the smoky depth it brings is incredible. Trust me, its so worth it the hassle.

How to use it: Pour it over enchiladas, pork dishes, or chilaquiles, dip your flautas in it, drizzle on top of zopes or tostadas. It is perfect for making Huevos Ahogados (drowned eggs) or classic Huevos Rancheros.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you do make it let me know did you boil or char the ingredients.

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When I was growing up in Mexico, I spent more time at my grandparents’ home than my own. My grandmother was the best cook in our family. Everyone in my family cooks, and they are all great, but she was the best. Their house was right across the street from mine, so I was always there.

I have always been an early bird, even during summer vacations. I would wake up early just to see my grandpa off to work, waiting by the fence to wish him luck. He had the key to our front gate, so he would let me out and take me over to his house so I wouldn’t wake up my parents and sister. My parents knew this routine, so they were never scared that I had gone missing.

Being up that early at my grandmother’s house meant prepping for the week. She would take full advantage when I was there; she would make me water the plants, clean or help her in the kitchen, which is where most of my favorite memories of each her live. While she made us coffee, I sat at the kitchen table cleaning dried beans, separating the rocks and debris. It is a simple ritual that I still enjoy today. Every time I make them, I think of those mornings at her house. It’s one of those recipes that is ingrained in our DNA. I eat beans every day; however, it depends on whether I wasn’t too tired the night before to soak them. This is a simple recipe, just time consuming, but worth it in every way.

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Recipe: Frijoles De Olla

Yield: 2 cups of dried beans will yield roughly 4 to 5 cups of cooked beans. This equals about three standard 15-ounce cans.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of dried pinto beans (or any dried bean available to you), soaked overnight

• 1 white onion, cut into halves

• 6 garlic cloves, peeled. I use a whole head of garlic but that’s just me.

• 1 tablespoon o f salt, or to taste

Note on Chiles (peppers): Some people like to add dried chiles (árbol, cascabel, guajillo) or fresh chiles (jalapeño, serrano, habanero) straight into the pot. I don’t, because I treat this batch as my baseline. If I want to develop deeper flavors, I will do it after the beans are cooked. This is mostly because people have different levels of spice tolerance.

Like ME: One time I tasted my aunt Lola’s beans. She loves her food to be super spicy and usually adds habanero to everything. Well, I was 5 years old. I had no clue this was the way she lived her life. My mouth was on fire, I cried for a long while, and to say the least. I never tasted anything in her kitchen again!

Method

Prep Note: Before cooking, make sure to sort through your dried beans to discard of any rocks or debris. Rinse them thoroughly, cover with cold water by at least 2 inches, and soak at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours. Drain and rinse them one final time before cooking them.

• To a large pot or Dutch oven, nothing smaller than 6 quarts, add the soaked beans, onion, garlic cloves and 8 cups of water.

• Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer with a lid slightly open.

• Cook for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep a close eye on the liquid as it reduces. If the water drop below the beans, add more hot water. Make sure they are covered by at least one inch. Do not add cold water, as it will slow down the cooking process.

• When the beans have 30 minutes left of cooking, add the salt.

• To test for doneness, you can fish out one bean and press it between your fingernails. If it smashes easily like a baked potato and it holds it shape. Your beans are ready.

You can eat them as-is at this point, add them to a soup or have them with some eggs for breakfast. But we are going an extra step further. I am teaching you how to make refried beans next.

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When I think of refried beans, my mind goes right back to Mexico. Refried beans tucked into a warm flour tortilla were my ultimate childhood comfort food. I distinctly remember my mom bringing them to our school during lunch breaks for my sister and me. Free school lunches are not a thing in Mexico; parents either send you with money for the cafeteria or street vendors, or they drop off your food. My parents always chose to drop off our lunches.

In fact, even getting into school was a challenge. Education is not free in Mexico, like it is for most children in the U.S. From elementary school on, you have to pay tuition, and enrollment isn’t guaranteed either. Schools have limits on how many children they can accept every semester. Parents would have to line up outside the school for days just to secure a spot for their children. While my dad stood in those long enrollment lines, we would bring him breakfast, lunch and dinner. My mom or grandpa would even take his spot so he could go home, shower, and get back in line later that day.

And what is the best meal to eat while standing up on a crowded sidewalk? Tacos filled with warm refried beans. It’s wild how a simple meal carries the weight of those memories. Today, I use the fresh frijoles de olla we just made to recreate that exact comfort. Here is how to transform them.

Recipe: Refried Beans

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of sunflower oil, lard, corn oil, olive oil, or coconut oil (your choice)

• 1/2 white onion, chopped into small pieces

• 4 cups of cooked beans

• 1 cup of bean broth

  Tip for Ultra-Smooth Beans:: If you prefer your refried beans to have no lumps or skins, use an immersion blender to blend the cooked beans and broth together in a separate bowl before pouring them into the hot pan with oil.

Method

• Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat until hot. Use either cast iron or stainless steel.

• Sauté onions until you get golden brown edges.

• Carefully add the beans and bean broth into the pan with the onions.

• Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to a slow simmer.

• Use a potato masher to smash the beans directly in the pan until you reach your preferred consistency.

• Once they are smashed, start stirring the beans constantly. Cook for 10-15 minutes (depending on how hot your pan is) until they look pasty and start to pull away from the edges of the pan. Trust me, it’s worth it!

• Give your pan a gentle shake. If all the beans slide together as one cohesive mass across the pan, your refried beans are ready.

To Serve

Sprinkle some crumbled queso fresco over the top of your beans and enjoy them with tortillas chips, or tuck them inside a flour tortilla.

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Variations:

Every household makes their beans differently. Some lean into chiles, others pile on the onions, some strictly use lard (like my grandmother), and others layer in fresh herbs. Ultimately, it comes down to what you are craving. Here are a few of my favorite ways to change things up:

• Garlic Confit Boost: I love garlic, so I tend to go heavy. When I have time, I love making a batch of garlic confit and tossing it into the pot of beans during the final 20 minutes of cooking. I do this to all my soups. As you can see, I love garlic.

• The Chile Kick: You could add dry chiles (árbol, cascabel, guajillo) or fresh chiles (jalapeño, serrano, habanero) right into the frying oil with the onions to give the beans and extra kick. I like this variation with black beans, it’s way better when the bean broth carries the heat (this is my mom’s favorite variation). You can add chiles while you boil your beans or after while you refry them. Its up to you.

• Traditional Lard Method: If you intend to use lard for your refried beans, make sure to heat the lard on low medium heat until it changes color to a golden light brown. This is when you can add half an onion cut in small cubes, let the edges get golden brown then add your beans and mash them. Work on getting them to the right texture of refried beans or whichever texture you like (this is my favorite variation).

Notes on Texture

The texture of your beans is completely up to you. Sometimes I like mine to be chunkier and rustic, and other days I want them creamy and smooth. Sometimes I want them more loose, so I add extra bean broth, it makes the perfect dip for a piece of sourdough bread.

So much information I know, I did not even get into Ollas but I do not want to overwhelm you. I hope you enjoyed this recipe and if you make it let me know which direction you chose.

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This summer, I am challenging myself to be more positive about August. It’s tough though. If I’m honest, there are very few positive things to say about this month. Usually, I just feel overwhelmed by the relentless heat and humidity. My usual routine is to hibernate, staying indoors all day long and only venturing outside once the evening shows some relief.

But as I sat with that feeling, of me not wanting to be so negative. I had a realization; I have lived in Texas for 15 years now. Back during my high school and university days, I used to escape the summers entirely by spending them in Mexico City. The weather there is so much cooler and wetter than what we experience here in the DFW metroplex. But when I graduated and stayed in Texas full-time, the reality of its summers truly set in. Some years they weren’t too bad, but others they were brutal.

Over the last decade, I have realized I have quietly built up a collection of routines to cope with August. For me and I like to say I speak for almost every Texan, this is the hardest leg of a Texas summer. In June, the heat is kinder. In July, you still have some stamina. But by the time August rolls around? You are just completely exhausted. My patience is gone and I find myself thinking, “I literally cannot do this anymore.”

Can anyone really blame us? We are staring down a straight month of thirty-plus days with temperatures tracking over 100°F.

So, this isn’t a bucket list of grand adventures. It is a sanctuary list of low-fi, highly intentional activities designed to keep you completely away from the heat while preserving your peace of mind. I hope these routines bring bit of comfort and relief to you this month.

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The Escapades (outings that guarantee a blast of cold air)

• Indoor Ice Skating: Every August, this is the very fist activity I book. Trading the suffocating Texas heat for an indoor sheet of ice feels like a glitch in the summer matrix. My local ice skating rink has an olde-school jukebox, and I love to play “Unwritten.” Does anyone remember the movie Ice Princess?!

• Go roller skating: Lofi music, neon-lit hardwood floors, Y2K vibes, and the absolute best concession stand food I have ever found. It’s especially fun if you go during themed nights, my favorite is ‘80s night. The music was just iconic back then.

• Go bowling/ Visit an arcade/ Ride bumper cars: Lean straight into childhood arcade nostalgia because it’s always air-conditioned. Honestly, doing this gets me so ready for carnival fair season.

• Spend an afternoon at a museum: Walking through quiet, beautifully chilled galleries where time slows down. Museums are my comfort place, I go there more than any place in town. I just love the peace and quiet. It’s so serene, and I always treat myself to lunch on their patio afterward. Its my favorite outing.

In-House Alchemy (Small, creative kitchen projects)

• Make fun ice cubes: Freeze stars, hearts, or moons into your water to make romanticizing daily hydration a little easier. Its just a nice, simple way to add a touch of whimsy to my morning routine. I see everyone on social media adding sprinkles to their drinks but that’s too much sugar for me. I’d much rather take my sugar in the form of a homemade flavored syrup.

• Make a syrup for the month: I love to be playful when it comes to my iced coffees and matchas, so once in a while, I add homemade flavored syrups. This month I am leaning into blackberry and maple syrup blend to elevate my morning coffee or a glass of sparking water.

• Bake a key lime pie: Test out a brand-new flavor combination (like blackberry!) and embrace the temporary heat of the oven. Trust me, it is so worth it. This has become an annual tradition in my home. Every August, without a fail, we bake a key lime pie.

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Sensory Transitions (Preparing your mind and body for autumn)

• Take a peppermint shower: Starting or ending your day with a cooling, tingling sensory reset is truly amazing when humidity peaks.

• Save seeds for next year’s garden: A quite, tactile way of reminding ourselves that a brand new season is always on its way. Collect faded flower heads and dried seed pods, shaking the seeds into small paper envelopes to store away a little piece of this summer for next spring.

• Notice what’s reaching it’s peak: Paying attention to what is thriving right now before the landscape shifts. Bake that peach or apricot galette before the season disappears.

Low-Fi Mindfulness (Digital detoxes and mental space)

• Leave the house without your phone: Even if it’s just for a brief, ten-minute walk around the block right after the sunsets.

• Open your notes app: Write down the fleeting things you want to remember from this summer before September arrives.

• Start a playlist that helps you through the season: Curating the exact vibe you need to keep your headspace cool.

  
  Here is a playlist with the perfect summer vibes:

I hope your August is easy and kind
- Lily H.

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I cannot romanticize August, no matter how hard I try. It’s not in me. While I appreciate her for the abundance she brings and the beautiful, tangerine light she casts, August and I have a complex relationship. She thinks I should endure, and I feel she is trying to kill me.

Every year, I forget how hot August actually gets. I don’t know if it’s a biological survival mechanism, but I block it out completely. I am always hopeful. Every year, I tell myself, “Hopefully it’s not that bad this year. You never know.” But hoping is for fools when you spend your summers in Texas. Even though my brain blocks the memory of the heat, my body remembers. By mid-July, a primal, subconscious panic sets in. I see the Target ad for school supplies, and my heart skips a beat. My body knows before my mind does: August is coming.

The heat here isn’t just a temperature; it’s a dense, suffocating cloud that settles on your chest the second you step outside. When you walk through it, you can feel it pushing back against you. It has its own physical force.

If august insists on slowing us down, maybe we should let it. Since I can’t change the weather, I’ve decided to change the terrain. Instead of waiting for September to start living again, I’ve started paying attention to the places where August keeps sending me. If the outside world is going to force me into an aggressive hibernation, I am going to make that hibernation beautiful. This is how I stop merely enduring the Texas heat, and how I start curating a cool, softly lit, magical world of my own inside my home.

creating my summer observatory

August is what happens when sunlight overstays its welcome. It’s such a different feeling from July. July invites you outside with open arms, but August asks you to retreat indoors and watch the world glow from the safety of your window.

In order for me to survive the month and conserve energy, my blinds stay shut. I only open them for small, intentional windows of time, just long enough to catch the sunrise or sunset. Beyond those brief moments, the house is dark. But I refuse to live in a gloomy cave, so I create ambiance for myself.

Instead of natural light, I lean heavily into a world of curated, technicolor illumination. Rather than sticking to standard bulbs, I use light to completely paint over the darkness. It starts in my office, where a neon cat sign I bought 4 years ago at Target still glows. I never put it away, and during August, its intense, electric purple single-handedly transforms my office into a magical, late-night lofi oasis.

In my living room, an IKEA FABO lamp pairs with a Govee floor lamp dialed into soft, amber hues (I know the image shows otherwise, but my living room is painted in coral color, so that is the effect the light creates). But because they are smart bulbs, the pallet is entirely fluid. I treat the walls like a canvas, shifting from sunset oranges to moody cinematic colors depending on the vibe.

Above the archway, my Coraline dragonfly string lights finally get their moment to shine. I originally brought them out in the spring to add some whimsy, but now that the blinds are closed all day, they can finally fulfill their true potential.

If a room ever needs an extra layer of comfort. I move my constellation projector out of the bedroom, where it usually soothes me to sleep, and let it cast stars across a different ceiling. I even swapped out my candles for incense; when it’s this hot, burning wax feels counterproductive.

It is all about reclaiming the dark. In fact, I am currently hunting for the final piece of my summer observatory: the IKEA Blimp pendent lamp designed by Tatsuo Konno in the late 90’. I had one as a teenager, and though I recently lost a frustrating bidding war on eBay, the search continues. She is a beautiful, space-age piece of nostalgia, and exactly the kind of light that would tie my entire summer observatory together.

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the triple-digit shower ritual

When stepping outside feels like stepping into an oven, the shower becomes a sensory reset button rather than just a hygiene routine. These are my to-go products that make my showers the most rewarding experience of August.

Body Scrubs & Exfoliators

• Ocean Salt: A refreshing blend of coconut oil and avocado oil brightened with grapefruit and lime tones.

• Rub Rub Rub: A gorgeous, floral escape featuring the scent of mimosa, jasmine and orange flower. I buy this one, every year and I cannot get enough.

• Magic Crystals: An absolute feast for the eyes. It is the most beautiful, vibrant magenta color I have seen a Lush scrub ever have, packed with refreshing mint oils and fresh sage infusion.

Shower Gels

• Dirty Springwash: An invigorating burst of refreshing spearmint and menthol crystals. I am completely obsessed, I have already bought two this summer.

• Intergalactic: A minty mood-booster that delivers the most refreshing shower experience ever. This one is my favorite. I’m on my third bottle.

• Sleepy: A classic, soothing, lavender scented shower gel. Perfect to help calm your mind at the end of a long, hot day.

If you take anything with you from this journal, I hope is this. Treat yourself to a sensory shower.

p.s. take your showers in the dark, a complete game changer.

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heatwave fuel: tin fish, salads & a baking tradition.

When it comes to the kitchen, my August philosophy is simple: use the stove as little as possible. Emphasis on try. If I find a recipe that is truly worth the hassle, I will cook it. But for the most part, my survival relies on a rotation of crisp salads, sandwiches, and premium tinned fish.

My absolute favorites are Fishwifes’s smoked mackerel and tinned octopus from Spain. Because of economic tariffs it nearly impossible to get my hands on that Spanish octopus, at least, that’s what Central Market told me. It’s a major tragedy for my summer pantry, so I treasure what I can find. On the days I want treat myself, I build a board around Spanish chorizo.

My favorite meal this summer is highly specific. I take a kettle chip, smear some smashed avocado right on top of it, and then I add a little mackerel and some cilantro or dill, depending on what I'm craving. I top it with a little chili crisp and a squeeze of lemon, and that’s it. Super low effort. I could easily eat this every single day, but because premium fish is a luxury, I have to pace myself.

When I want something fresh and simple, I turn to my year-round staple: a bright fennel salad. It is a perfect dish in my opinion for hot summer days. It has arugula and thinly shaved fennel tossed in a zesty mustard-orange dressing, topped with red pickled onions and toasted pumpkin seeds for an incredible crunch. It’s light, vibrant, and requires absolutely zero heat. (I placed the hyperlink to this recipe on the image).

Despite my best efforts to not use the stove, every August I love to bake a Key Lime Pie. It has become a tradition at this point. This year I’m thinking of trying a new combination with blackberries. I’m not sure if I will incorporate it into the filling or maybe just do a blackberry compote on the side. We will see.

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my soundtracks for august

I have two playlists for you. Music is such an essential part of how I survive August, so I curated these playlists to get me into a good headspace in case the humidity gets to be too much. Hopefully, they do the same for you. Summer Heatwave has a soulful indie-pop vibe, while Golden Hour Traffic Jam has a sultry, cinematic indie-rock mood.

Let me know what you think and if you would like more recommendations. Here is my article, to the BEST lofi mixes for a slow morning. Trust me, I live by this music.

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august media escapism

Something new, something old. Some of the stuff I am excited to watch this month:

📺 My Brilliant Career - August 13th
This series definitely looks like it belongs in August. It’s based on the Australian novel of the same name and it fallows a young girl who is determined to become a writer instead of conforming to the life her family and society expects from her.

🍿 Lady - August 14th:
I love Sian Clifford, that alone is reason enough for me to watch it. The Guardian called it “Outrages… like Saltburn on shrooms” which completely sold me. 😂

🍿Filipiñana – August 28th:
It fallows a 17-year-old teen girl who works at an elite country club, who uncovers dark, violent truths beneath the resort’s pristine turf. Visually, it looks like it has a cinematic color palette similar to a Wes Anderson film. So I’m excited to watch it.

What I’m watching:

📺 Drops of God:
I AM OBSSESED, I love this show. The first season is about a fierce inheritance battle between a wine protégée and the biological daughter of a master wine collector. I don’t want to give away to much, but it is worth giving it a try. My friend didn’t like it because the characters speak in Japanese and French most of the time, but I love using subtitles, so its wasn’t a big deal to me.

If you need more sun-drenched vibes, check out last weeks post.

I hope your August is easy and kind. I will be going into my hibernation.

See you in September.
-Lily H

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In my last newsletter, I mentioned I was diving into a Wes Anderson marathon to survive the August heat. Today, I want to invite you into that sanctuary with me.

It begins with the whimsical lighthearted energy of a childhood vacation, peaks in blinding, sun-drenched mid-season heatwave, and winds down into a quiet, late-August introspection. While the rest of the internet is rushing to wrap themselves in autumn flannels, I am choosing to stay firmly in the present moment.

To survive these final, heavy weeks of summer heat, I am turning to the cinema of Wes Anderson. He doesn’t just direct films; he paints them using heat-hazy color palettes, brunt oranges, buttery yellows, and dusty turquoises, that mirror our exact seasonal feelings.

Today, I want to take you through a curated summer marathon of his filmography, tracking the emotional journey of the season through a director’s lens.

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🌊 Stage 1: The Bright, Blue High-Summer (Escape & Adventure)

🚀 1. Bottle Rocket (1996)

We kick off our summer marathon at the very beginning of Wes Anderson’s filmography. Bottle Rocket thrives on a quirky, chaotic energy that feels instantly familiar to me. Growing up in a small town, my friends and I used to pack into a car and take road trips to Houston or DFW just to see art exhibits. Watching this movie brings back the exact reckless spirit of those early summer drives.

But beneath the clumsy heist plots and humor, Bottle Rocket captures a deeper truth about travel: road trips are inherently introspective. When you are trapped in car for hours, the journey becomes a mirror. It turns into a silent test of your relationships, and just like the characters in the film, friendships can go through real strain under the pressure of the road.

Visually, this film represents the crisp, early days of vacation. The color palette relies heavily on soft greens, sky blues, vibrant primary yellows, and deep crimson reds. The lighting doesn’t feel oppressive or heavy yet. Instead, it favors clear, sunlit southern skies and open daytime lighting rather than dramatic sunset filters.

For example Anthony is frequently dressed in a bright red sweater or jacket, marking a primary focal point in the frame, perhaps because of his character’s romantic journey. Meanwhile, Dignan wears yellow motifs, famously culminating in the bright yellow jumpsuits the crew wears during their clumsy heist. The visual choice beautifully shows us that the heist is going to be as clumsy and chaotic as Dignan himself is.

Ultimately, the film has a fresh quality that captures the hopeful, messy excitement of youth before high-summer heat truly settles in.

Note: Because this debut film was made on an extremely low budget, Wes Anderson wasn't quite able to achieve the stark, saturated colors of our iconic Texas sunsets like he did with the rest of his future filmography. However, if you know what those horizons look like, you can see their true influence later on. To me, those Texas sunsets are alive and well in the warm, golden color palette of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

🌊 2. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

Who doesn’t love the dream of escaping to the sea for a coastal summer? Inherently, we are all drawn to those childhood ideas of pirates, deep-sea diving, and mythical creatures. But beneath the gorgeous blue water of this maritime escape, the movie tells a very real story about dealing with pain.

For me, the visual style feels like looking at a collection of old retro toys. Wes Anderson frames Steve’s world of grief through a lens of childhood imagination by playing with two opposite color palettes. When the characters are feeling emotionally distant or isolated, the scenes are washed in faded, muted tans and pale, dusty yellows. Like an old plastic toy left out in the sun too long. But whenever the mythical sea creatures appear, the screen bursts into bright, saturated neon’s.

It is a stunning high-summer escape that reminds us that sometimes, we use beautiful fantasies and bright colors just to survive our heavy realities.

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Stage 2: The Sun-Drenched Mid Summer Heat

⛺ 3. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

This film captures the golden, nostalgic, aching heart of a childhood summer. It represents that specific point in our lives when we were kids, entirely disconnected from the burdens of the real world and living in a self-made bubble of adventure.

Visually, this film is a masterclass in using color to evoke that deep sense of nostalgia. The screen is heavily bathed in buttery yellows, faded khaki, and soft, sepia-toned amber tones. Rather than feeling crisp and fresh like the early summer setting of Bottle Rocket, the lighting here has a thick golden, sun-drenched haziness to it. The color choices give the film a warm weight to it, that makes the landscape feel like an old polaroid picture. If you think about it, it perfectly encapsulates those endless mid-July summer afternoons before the real exhaustion of August sets in.

☄️4. Asteroid City (2023)

While Moonrise Kingdom is a warm childhood memory, Asteroid City is the relentless, blinding reality of a 100°F August afternoon. Think heatwave vibes. It is the peak of the season where the sun is so fierce that it bleaches the color out of the world, forcing everyone to slow down, seek shade, and look inward. To be honest, that’s what August does to me.

The characters are isolated in this tiny desert motel, grieving and trying to make sense of their situation. Here, they have to face their problems head-on; there is no hiding from them anymore, because intense heat does that to you.

Usually, I purchase this cake from HEB for my husband because I know I can be a pain at some point during the August stretch. If you are from the South you know what humidity can do to you.

Note: This film represents perfectly what is like to live in Texas during the absolute peak of summer.

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🚂 Stage 3: The Golden Late-Summer Introspection

🧳 5. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

We close our summer marathon at the very end of August. This film marks the definitive transition away from chaotic summer adventure and into quiet, mature introspection. If I am being honest, I always struggle with August. It’s a love-hate relationship. I feel like the month splits itself into two distinct episodes of chaos. The First two weeks are the most brutal, the temperatures are well over 105°F every single day and humid making the heat even more oppressive. Which means I am in survival mode. Asteroid City, with its blinding overhead sun, perfectly represents that first half of the month for me.

But as soon as you hit the third week, the heat and humidity start to calm down. It is a stark, highly noticeable shift where your brain finally moves out of survival mode and into an introspective headspace. The Darjeeling Limited feels exactly like that transition.

The story follows three estranged brothers on a slow, hot train journey across India, forced to face their grief and let go of their emotional baggage before a new chapter can begin. The film beautifully captures this late-August mood through its color palette of rich marigolds, vintage browns, and deep jewel tones. This heavy-golden atmosphere feels exactly like a late-August sunset to me. The air is getting quieter, the light is fading, and you are forced to sit with your own thoughts. It is the perfect, melancholic ending to our seasonal journey, gently easing our minds out of brutal summer heat and transitioning us into a new chapter of life: autumn.

Whether you are to survive a 105°F heatwave or watching the golden hour light grow longer from your window, I hope this marathon brings a little bit of cinematic sanctuary for your August. I would love to know: what is your ultimate, go-to movie when you want to escape into a summer mood? Do you prefer the bright ocean blues of The Life Aquatic or the rich ambers of The Darjeeling Limited?

-Lily H

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A roundup of the tiny things bringing whimsy, color and comfort to my life this week. No deep essays today, just a collection of recent obsessions, late-night media binges, and cozy habits I wanted to share with you over a cup of coffee.

🎵 Summer Album: Heatwave by MICHELLE

I am completely, entirely OBSESSED with this album, every year as summer approaches. I have it on a loop. Trust me, listening to it is a truly cathartic experience. Right now, the outside temperatures are well over 100°F, and the beat of this album is perfect to give you a boost during a heatwave. It has the right vibe for summer. Every single track captures a specific type of energy, but my absolute favorites are “THE BOTTOM,” “IDEAL,” “LOVE UR NAME,” “STUCK ON U” and “2.25.” If you listen to “IDEAL”, pay close attention to the end of the track, the lyrics get so playful and fun right as the song wraps up. It is the ultimate summer soundtrack. I am one of their biggest fans.

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🎬On the Screen: A Wes Anderson Summer

If you know me, you know that I struggle though the summer. Specially when August rolls around. In order to survive the heat, I turn to cinema as an escape, and right now, I am firmly in a Wes Anderson state of mind. There is something about the way he captures light and color that perfectly mimics a heavy Texas summer. The burnt oranges, faded ochres, dusty turquoise, and buttery yellows that define films like Asteroid City, Moonrise Kingdom and Bottle Rocket look exactly like our stark, cloudless, heat-hazy skies.

Even though those movies are not set in Texas, you can clearly feel how growing up here influenced his eye for color. He captures exactly what a person in Texas sees every single day, translating that specific landscape into something magical. His films have become a true sanctuary for me this season, which is why I am officially going through a full marathon of his filmography this August.

🚿 A Summer Shower Ritual

The only way I can survive a Texas summer is with a cold shower, and lately, I am leaning heavily into refreshing, icy scents. I am Lush girl at heart, just as much as I used to be a Teavana girl (rest in peace to true favorite).

As soon as the temperatures reach triple digits, I rush to Lush to pick up the Dirty Springwash shower gel. It feels like the absolute act of self-service. It is incredibly refreshing, and I truly cannot live without specially during a heatwave. In the part of Texas where I live, the weather doesn’t cool down in the evening; if it is humid in the morning, it stays just as heavy and humid at night. Because of that, coming home from evening walks with my dog, Prue, and stepping into a freezing cold shower with a crisp peppermint shower gel has become my most sacred summer ritual. To add to the icy vibe, I have also been pairing it with the Intergalactic shower gel to turn my bathroom into a refreshing, minty oasis. It is the only thing getting me through August.

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I would love to know: what tiny things are helping you get though the week or the summer? Are you hyperfixating on a specific song, binge-watching a new show, or leaning into specific self-care ritual? Let me know, I am always looking for new recommendations to add to my list!

-Lily H

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If you find a mix you like, please let me know. I love to connect with people who share similar taste in music.

My number one mix. There is no other lofi mix that can top this one for me. It instantly puts me in the right mindset. I love it when the beat picks up after the audio sample finishes. There is truly nothing else like it out there; not many creators can achieve this level of quality. Including audio samples is a distinct part of lofi music that I feel we are loosing among newer creators.

This one is much more chill, and I absolutely love it. It is perfect for rainy days or midnight drives. This is definitely an account to subscribe to; the bootleg boy 2 has so many mixes I love.

We don’t really see this type of classic, retro loop visual art anymore. Now, most of lofi playlist use AI generated artwork. Which takes away from the authentic vibe of what lofi truly is. I understand it’s a way to cut cost but it makes me appreciate even more those who put the effort to create original artwork. Its just sets the right vibe and that matters so much with lofi mixes.

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This one is nice for midday lounging around the house while reading or working on a puzzle. Honestly, one of the coolest parts about lofi is how it uses this specific type of artwork. This classic anime visual style is exactly how you can distinguish the OG lofi creators, nostalgic mixes from everything else. The genre is legendary for capturing that ethereal, cool 90s and Y2K aesthetic that just instantly sets a mood.

90sFlav is one of the absolute OG’s. he helped give birth to the lofi genre. If you have listened to lofi for a while, you will instantly recognize the iconic tracks on this compilation. It is a timeless and classic it never gets old. The tracks are incredibly smooth, making it the perfect background soundtrack for when you just want to zone out, watch the rain, or clear your mind after a long day.

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I used to study to this one back in university and I still love reading to it today. It is so jazzy and carries a distinct autumn vibe to me, this is the perfect soundtrack for September. I mean, who doesn’t associate cozy coffee shop vibes with autumn, right?

There is one lofi mix I been in search for the past 6 years, but I just can’t find it. I vividly remember the artwork: it had a gorgeous anime aesthetic with a bird’s-eye view looking straight down from above. It featured a girl laying on lush green grass, with beautiful sunlight filtering through the tress and casting shadows around her. I think there might have been a river flowing right next to her. Not sure anymore, to be honest. Maybe she was laying under a blanket.

If this description rings a bell or you know the channel that used this thumbnail, please let me know in the comments.

If any of these mixes become part of your routine, I’d love to hear about it. I always love to connect with people who share similar taste in music.

I hope you enjoy them.
-Lily H

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Every August, my house begins to glow orange.

Not because I’ve decorated for autumn. The light simply changes.

Each afternoon, just before sunset, amber light spills across my walls, softening every corner of the house. It only lasts a little while, but it’s enough. Without realizing it, I begin thinking about pumpkins. One minute I’m slicing peaches for dessert or bringing home another basket of tomatoes from the market. The next, I’m wondering if the craft stores have unpacked their Halloween items.

The temperature hasn’t changed. Summer certainly hasn’t. But somehow, my imagination has.

Maybe it’s because August asks so much of us here in Texas. The afternoons are relentless. The air conditioner fights to keep up. My garden, though tired, keeps trying. I wait until dusk to walk Prue, when the sidewalks have finally surrendered some of their heat and the cicadas become the soundtrack to our evening. By then, I’m ready for something that reminds me the seasons are still moving. Not because I’m finished with summer, but because summer is asking a lot of me.

Every year, somewhere between the last peaches of the season and the first pumpkins appearing on grocery store shelves, I find myself celebrating Summerween.

To me, it has never felt like a trend. It feels like a threshold. The kind of moment when one season hasn’t ended, but another has quietly begun to occupy your imagination. Summer is still here in every practical sense, yet your heart has already started rehearsing for the next act.

I wonder if that's why Summerween has found a home in so many hearts. It isn’t about rushing autumn. It’s about honoring anticipation. Because sometimes, the sweetest part of a season isn’t its arrival. It’s the moment you realize it’s finally on its way.

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What is Summerween?

Think of it as a celebration where the warmth of late summer and the playfulness of Halloween meet.

It's carved jack-o'-melons glowing beside a pool, skeletons floating lazily on inflatable rafts, beach picnics with orange gingham blankets, horror movies projected onto a backyard fence, citronella candles flickering beside ghost-shaped desserts, and friends gathered around a fire pit sharing stories long after the sun has gone down. It borrows the playfulness of Halloween while holding tightly to everything we love about late summer evenings.

At its heart, Summerween is simply an invitation to play. It reminds us that celebration doesn’t have to wait for October or for the calendar to tell us it’s time.

Halloween belongs to crisp air, sweaters, and falling leaves. Summerween belongs to warm nights, swimsuits, campfires, and backyard projectors. It celebrates the last golden stretch of summer in its own wonderfully strange way.

One of the things I love most about Summerween is that there isn’t one “right” way to celebrate it. Some people gather on June 22, the fictional Summerween date from Gravity Falls. Others throw parties throughout July, and many celebrate whenever it feels right for them.

For me, though, it has always belonged to August.

By then, I’ve had time to enjoy summer for everything it is. The peaches have been eaten. The tomatoes have found their way into countless meals. I’ve spent evenings outside until the cicadas took over. Summer has had its moment. Only then do I feel ready to invite a little bit of autumn into the conversation.

Summerween doesn’t replace summer. It helps me say goodbye to it well.

I think that’s why this tradition has stayed with me for so many years. It isn’t about rushing into fall or pretending summer is already over. It’s about honoring the season we’ve been given while celebrating the one quietly waiting just beyond the horizon. Every season deserves both a beginning and a farewell.

For me, Summerween has become summer’s farewell dinner. A tradition that lets me gather the people I love around one more table before backpacks, football Saturdays, shorter evenings, and autumn quietly take their places. It’s my way of thanking summer before opening the door to what’s next.

Why We Invent New Traditions

I’ve always believed that traditions are living things.

Some are centuries old, passed down through generations until we can hardly remember where they began. Others are much younger, created around kitchen tables, during family vacations, or between friends who decide that an ordinary day deserves celebrating.

Some of my favorite traditions aren’t written on any calendar at all. They’re the recipes made every August because that’s when the peaches are sweetest. They’re the evening walks taken only after the cicadas begin singing. They’re the movie watched every October, the pie baked every Thanksgiving, or the candle lit on the first cool evening of the year. None of those moments became traditions because someone told us they had to. They became traditions because they gave shape to our memories.

Maybe that’s why Summerween feels so meaningful to me. It reminds me that traditions don’t have to be ancient to matter. They don’t need official recognition or a place on the calendar to become real. Sometimes all it takes is a group of people deciding that a particular moment in the year deserves to be celebrated.

I think we spend so much time waiting for the next holiday that we forget we’re allowed to create celebrations of our own. Summerween feels like a beautiful reminder of that. It invites us to gather around a table, watch a movie under the stars, carve a watermelon instead of a pumpkin, or laugh with friends simply because summer is beginning to change.

Perhaps that’s how every tradition begins. Not with permission, but with people deciding that an ordinary moment is worth returning to, year after year.

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The Story of Summerween

Before Summerween appeared on Pinterest boards and store shelves, it existed in one fictional town tucked somewhere in the forests of Oregon.

Back then, most of us weren’t scrolling through TikTok or hunting for Halloween decorations in July. We were racing home from school, dropping our backpacks by the front door, and turning on the television just in time for our favorite afternoon show. That’s where many of us first met Summerween.

In a town of Gravity Falls, Halloween came twice. Since pumpkins weren’t ready in the middle of summer, people carved jack-o’-melons instead. Children went trick-or-treating beneath warm skies, candy filled their buckets, and somewhere in the woods lurked the legendary Summerween Trickster, waiting to see who truly embraced the holiday.

At the time, I don't think any of us realized what that episode would become. It was simply twenty-two minutes of wonderfully weird storytelling. But sometimes that's how traditions begin. A single idea quietly finds a place in people's hearts, and years later they realize they never really let it go. The writers imagined Summerween. The audience carried it into the real world.

By the time I was in college, Summerween had already found its way into our little group of friends. After spending the summer scattered across different hometowns, we would all return to campus in August, catching up before the semester settled into assignments, exams, and routines. Summerween became our excuse to gather. We’d decorate, watch scary movies, eat far too much food, laugh until midnight, and hold onto those last carefree evenings before life became busy again.

Looking back, I don’t think we were just celebrating a fictional holiday. We were celebrating being together again.

Years later, Summerween has found its way onto Pinterest boards, TikTok feeds, and the shelves of stores that finally realized people had been celebrating it all along. I actually love that. Not because a corporation made it popular, but because they finally noticed something people had quietly built for themselves. Maybe that's the best kind of tradition, the kind that grows because people genuinely want to return to it.

And perhaps that’s the real magic of Summerween. It reminds us that traditions are still being written and that we’re allowed to write our own. So if you’ve never celebrated Summerween before, let me show you how I’d spend one perfect late-summer evening.

The Summerween Menu

I don’t think Summerween needs an elaborate menu. In fact, I think it’s more fun when it feels like the kind of food you’d naturally eat at the end of summer, with just enough Halloween mischief mixed in. The grill is still hot, the watermelon is still sweet, and someone inevitably brings a dessert that’s a little spooky and completely unnecessary. That’s exactly the point.

Welcome Drinks:

🎃 Jack-o’-Lantern Italian Soda

🍊 Orange Cream Floats

🍋Blackberry lemonade

Something cold enough to survive an August afternoon.

From the Grill:

🍔 Jack-o’-Lantern Cheeseburgers

🌭 Mummy Hot Dogs

🌽 Mexican Street Corn

Summer is still here, so dinner should taste like it.

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🎃 Jack-o’-Melon Fruit Bowl

🧀 Ghost Charcuterie Board

🍍 Pineapple Lantern Fruit Tray

🍫 S’mores

My favorite decorations are usually edible.

One of my favorite things about Summerween is that the food never asks summer to leave. Watermelon sits beside candy. Fresh corn shares the table with ghost-shaped desserts. It’s playful, a little ridiculous, and somehow it makes perfect sense.

p.s. several of these recipes will eventually find their way onto Sun Drenched Table. I’ll link them here as they’re published.

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Setting the Scene

One of my favorite things about Summerween is that it doesn’t ask you to pack away summer. In fact, I think it works best when summer is still very much a part of the celebration.

I still bring out the bright plates, fill bowls with watermelon and pineapple, and keep everything feeling colorful and relaxed. Then I simply layer in a few hints of Halloween—a skeleton or two, orange twinkle lights, maybe a spooky serving tray I’ve collected over the years. It’s less about transforming the house and more about letting the two seasons meet in the middle.

I also don’t think you need to spend a fortune decorating. My Halloween collection has grown slowly over the years, one little piece at a time. Every August I simply pull out a few favorites from storage, add fresh fruit from the grocery store, and suddenly it feels like Summerween again.

I love beginning the afternoon indoors while the Texas heat is still lingering outside. But as dusk settles in, we carry everything into the backyard. That’s when Summerween really begins.

If you’re looking for ideas, there are so many directions you could take:

• 🏊 The Floating Lounge – Set up a backyard movie night with skeletons relaxing on inflatable pool floats.

• 🔥 The Twilight Campfire – Gather around a fire pit for ghost stories, s’mores, and ambient acoustic music.

• 🍉 The Glowing Patio – Scatter carved jack-o’-melons across your patio table or carve pineapples into tropical lanterns.

• ✨ The Golden Hour Shift – Hang simple strands of orange twinkle lights to illuminate your favorite people as day turns to night.

The truth is, Summerween isn’t about perfect decorations. It’s about creating a space where summer and autumn can exist together for one evening. Whether that’s a backyard filled with string lights or a tiny apartment with one cheerful skeleton on the kitchen counter, the magic comes from the people who gather there.

The Soundtrack to Summerween

Every party has a soundtrack, and this is mine.

I wanted a playlist that felt the same way Summerween does. One foot still planted in summer, the other slowly stepping toward autumn. It begins with songs that remind me of warm evenings, road trips, and golden sunsets before drifting into something a little stranger as the night goes on.

You’ll hear classic rock, dreamy indie, ‘70s nostalgia, a little synth-pop, a touch of Halloween, and songs that simply felt right the moment I added them. I don’t think playlists need to stay inside one genre. They just need to tell a story. This one tells the story of an August evening that slowly becomes a Summerween night.

p.s. if you hear Fleetwood Mac playing while someone carves a watermelon into a jack-o’-lantern, you’re probably doing Summerween exactly right.

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Movies for When the Fireflies Come Out

Every Summerween needs a movie, I don't think every movie needs to be terrifying. Some are nostalgic, some are campy, and a few are genuinely unsettling. Together, they feel like the perfect bridge between late summer and the first whispers of autumn.

Family Favorites:

📺 Gravity Falls
The reason Summerween exists in the first place. If you've never watched the series, this is where the tradition began. Disney+ has the full series, but if you're simply curious, the Summerween episode is available to watch for free on YouTube and yes, I've linked it.

📼 The Goonies
If Summerween had an adventure movie, this would be it. Treasure maps, pirate legends, first crushes, and one unforgettable summer spent believing anything was possible. It's impossible for me to watch this without wishing I were twelve again.

📼 Monster House
A neighborhood where the haunted house really is haunted or possessed? It’s spooky without ever becoming too scary, making it the perfect bridge between late summer adventure and Halloween magic.

📼 ParaNorman
My favorite animated Halloween film of all time. The autumn color palette alone makes me want to curl up with a blanket, but it's the story that keeps me coming back. Funny, heartfelt, and surprisingly moving, it's one of those films that gets better every time I watch it.

📼 Scooby Doo On Zombie Island (1998)
The movie that proved Scooby-Doo could actually be scary. It’s full of Louisiana swamps, eerie Southern atmosphere, and just enough nostalgia to remind me why this has remained one of my favorite Scooby adventures.

For Late Nights:

📼 Cocaine Bear
I know...just trust me. Yes, it’s exactly what the title suggests. And somehow it’s also one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in years. Equal parts absurd, gruesome, and completely self-aware, it’s the kind of movie that has everyone yelling at the screen between fits of laughter.

📼 The Ring
One of those horror movies that quietly gets under your skin. Rain-soaked, eerie, and unforgettable, it's the perfect choice if you want Summerween to drift from playful into genuinely unsettling.

📼 House of Wax
A gloriously over-the-top slasher with some of the most memorable practical effects of the early 2000s. If you're squeamish, maybe skip this one. If you're a horror fan...welcome. (Also Dean and Tristen are part of the cast, wild.)

📼 Fear Street
Three movies. Three different decades. One connected story. It somehow manages to feel like a love letter to every era of slasher films while still creating something completely its own. If you start the first one, plan on watching all three.

📼 Hell of a Summer
If Friday the 13th and summer camp had a younger, funnier cousin, this would be it. It's campy in every sense of the word—equal parts slasher, comedy, and nostalgic summer adventure.

📼 Halloween H20
One of my favorite Michael Myers movies, and I honestly don't think it gets the recognition it deserves. It strips away a lot of the excess and gives Laurie Strode one of her strongest stories in the entire franchise.

📼 The Faculty
Aliens quietly taking over a high school? Sign me up. It's one of those wonderfully '90s horror films that's funny, creepy, and endlessly rewatchable. Every Summerween needs at least one late-'90s classic.

📼 Constantine
I somehow come back to this movie every year. It's dark without feeling like full-blown Halloween, and the world it creates is one I never get tired of revisiting. If you love supernatural mysteries with incredible atmosphere, this one belongs on your Summerween watchlist.

New Favorites:

📺 IT: Welcome to Derry
I'm saying as little as possible because this is one of those stories that's best experienced without knowing too much. All I'll say is...I'm still not over that ending.

📺 Widows Bay
If your social media feeds haven't convinced you yet, let this be your sign. The atmosphere alone had me hooked. Foggy, mysterious, and completely addictive, it became an instant favorite.

📺 Cape Fear
Not technically a Summerween show...but somehow it feels like one to me. The humid Southern setting, the simmering tension, and the gorgeous cinematography make it impossible to look away.

Whether you’re introducing someone to Gravity Falls for the first time or revisiting an old favorite, I hope one of these becomes part of your own Summerween tradition. After all, the best movie isn’t always the scariest, it’s the one everyone still talks about long after the credits roll.

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The Summerween Bookshelf

By the time Summerween rolls around, I've usually started reaching for books that sit somewhere between sunshine and shadow. They're atmospheric without feeling heavy, mysterious without being relentlessly dark, and perfect for those slow August evenings when summer is still here, but autumn has started whispering at the edges.

These are the books I’d want waiting on the coffee table:

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
If Summerween had an official novel, this might be it. Bradbury captures that magical moment when childhood wonder collides with the first shadows of autumn. Every page feels like standing outside on the last warm evening of the year.

The Haar by David Sodergren
If you're looking for horror with heart, start here. It's eerie, surprisingly funny, and unlike anything else I've read. Beneath all of the strange coastal folklore is a story that's unexpectedly tender.

The Feast by Margaret Kennedy
The kind of novel that quietly builds tension until you suddenly realize something feels terribly wrong. It's elegant, atmospheric, and perfect if you enjoy slow-burning suspense over constant scares.

The Pink House by Nelia Gardner White
This feels like discovering a forgotten ghost story tucked away on an old bookshelf. Quiet, mysterious, and wonderfully atmospheric, it's the sort of book that pairs perfectly with an afternoon thunderstorm.

I love that none of these books are in a hurry. Like Summerween itself, they live in that in-between space—where warm afternoons begin giving way to cooler evenings, and the familiar world starts feeling just a little more mysterious. If you pick up even one of these before August slips away, I hope it becomes part of your own end-of-summer tradition.

One Perfect Summerween Evening

If you asked me to describe my perfect Summerween, I wouldn’t start with decorations or a movie. I’d start with the hour just before sunset.

It’s still warm outside, but no longer unbearably so. The kind of warmth that makes you want to linger a little longer instead of rushing back inside. The golden light begins stretching across the yard, turning everything the same amber-orange that always reminds me August is beginning to change.

This is when I’d start setting the table. Not a formal table—nothing about Summerween feels formal—but one meant for passing bowls of popcorn, slices of watermelon, and desserts that make people smile before they’ve even taken a bite. A carved jack-o’-melon would sit in the middle, glowing softly as the sun disappeared, surrounded by little ghosts, flickering candles, and whatever mismatched decorations had found their way into the house over the years.

I love that Summerween doesn’t ask us to choose between summer and autumn. It lets them sit beside one another. Watermelon next to candy corn. Skeletons wearing sunglasses. Citronella candles beside flickering jack-o’-melons. A ghost draped over a patio chair while the grill is still warm from dinner. It’s wonderfully ridiculous, and somehow, it works.

As twilight settles in, I’d put on a playlist that drifts somewhere between surf rock and spooky season. Nothing too serious. Just enough music to fill the quiet moments while everyone finishes eating and the first stars begin appearing overhead.

Then we’d move outside. Blankets would be spread across the lawn. Folding chairs would circle the fire pit. Someone would inevitably bring an extra sweatshirt they never end up wearing because the night is still unmistakably August. The projector would hum to life, casting the first scene of a horror movie onto a white sheet stretched between two trees while cicadas slowly gave way to crickets.

I think that’s my favorite part of Summerween. Not the movie. Not the decorations. Not even the food. It’s that feeling that settles over the evening. The sense that, for just a few hours, summer agrees to share the stage with autumn. No one is in a hurry. The conversation stretches long after the credits roll. Someone reaches for another handful of popcorn. Someone else starts telling ghost stories that become funnier every year they’re retold. The candles burn lower. The fire becomes nothing more than glowing embers.

Eventually, everyone heads home carrying leftovers and promises to do it all again next year. And as I clear the table beneath an August sky, I always find myself thinking the same thing: Summer isn’t over, but we gave it the goodbye it deserved.

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Closing Thoughts

Tomorrow the temperatures will probably climb back into the hundreds. The cicadas will still be singing. The peaches will still be ripe. Summer hasn’t gone anywhere.

But tonight reminded me that seasons aren’t measured only by calendars. They’re measured by the evenings we remember.

And maybe that’s why I’ll keep celebrating Summerween. Not because I’m ready for autumn… But because every beautiful season deserves a farewell before we ask the next one to begin.

-Lily Hawthorne

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Summer rewards those who are willing to adjust their rhythm.

Since summer can be so brutal in Texas, I try look at what it brings with wonder and excitement. The peaches are finally sweet enough to eat over the sink. Tomatoes barely make it home from the farmers market before becoming lunch. Charcoal drifts through neighborhoods almost every evening, and somewhere, someone is making salsa with tomatoes they probably grew themselves. The garden hums with bees, butterflies dance between coneflowers, hummingbirds make their morning rounds, and every sunset seems determined to outdo the one before it.

It’s also the easiest month to waste.

The heat convinces us to stay inside. We postpone the road trip. We order groceries instead of wandering the farmers market. We promise ourselves we’ll watch the sunset tomorrow.

I’ll be honest, I have been guilty of all of it.

There have been Julys where I practically hibernated. Groceries were delivered, appointments were carefully avoided, and if friends wanted to see me, they were coming to my house because I wasn’t stepping outside unless absolutely necessary.

But this year feels different. Instead of surviving July, I want to experience it.

Because if there is one thing this month teaches us, it’s that abundance doesn’t last forever. The peaches disappear. The tomatoes fade. The long evenings slowly grow shorter. Before we know it, August arrives carrying hints that another summer is slipping away.

So here’s to not wasting July. Let’s live it fully.

Let July Decide Dinner

One of my favorite things about July is that it has already decided what’s for dinner. All we have to do is pay attention.

Walk through a farmers market and you’ll find peaches stacked in wooden crates, sweet corn waiting to be grilled, tomatoes so ripe they barely need more than flaky salt and olive oil, fragrant basil begging to become pesto, juicy melons, berries, and bouquets you didn’t plan on buying but somehow can’t leave behind.

July isn’t the month for complicated recipes. It’s the month for letting incredible ingredients do most of the work. Let peaches become dessert before you even think about baking a cake. Grill the corn. Slice the tomatoes thick. Blend the watermelon into agua fresca. Make fresh salsa while tomatoes still taste like sunshine.

Sometimes the best summer menu isn’t planned at all, it begins with whatever July is generous enough to offer

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The Soundtrack of July

Every season has a soundtrack. Autumn belongs to jazz. December belongs to old Christmas records.

But July?

July belongs to Lana Del Rey.

There is something about her music that feels inseparable from this month. Long highways disappearing into the horizon. American flags catching the wind outside roadside diners. Cherry Coke. Neon motel signs flickering to life at dusk. County fairs. Summer heat rising from the pavement after sunset. In the heavy, blinding glare of a Texas summer, her cinematic melancholia just makes sense. Her music lives somewhere between nostalgia and freedom, where every romance feels a little too short and every road trip feels like it could change your life.

Maybe that’s why one lyric has become almost synonymous with summer:

Hot summer nights, mid-July / When you and I were forever wild - Lana Del Rey

Who hasn’t had a summer that lingers long after it ended? The kind you only remember in flashes: the song that was always playing, the drive you wish had lasted longer, the person whose name still finds you every July. Lana understands that feeling better than almost anyone. Her songs aren’t really about forever. They’re about moments. One summer. One romance. One highway. One memory.

Maybe that’s why she feels so perfectly at home in July.

Whether you're a longtime fan or listening for the first time, let Lana Del Rey score one long drive this month. Roll the windows down. Take the scenic route home. July deserves a soundtrack.

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A Night That Brings Us Together

Whatever the Fourth of July means to you personally, it’s difficult to deny how deeply woven it is into the rhythm of an American summer.

The smell of charcoal drifting through neighborhoods. Folding chairs pulled into driveways hours before the fireworks begin. Children running through the yard with sparklers. Popsicles melting faster than they’re eaten. Someone insisting the burgers need just five more minutes.

For a few hours, people who disagree about almost everything stand shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the same sky. Maybe that’s part of what makes the evening so memorable. The fireworks only last twenty minutes, but they remind us that wonder still has the power to gather strangers together.

Whether you’re celebrating with family, hosting friends, or simply watching the fireworks from your backyard, I hope you take a moment to look around. July has a way of reminding us that some of life’s best memories happen outside.

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Read About Someone Else's Independence

One of the things I love most about July is that it quietly reminds me every country has a story about becoming itself.

We naturally think about Independence Day here in the United States, but independence has been fought for, celebrated, mourned, and remembered all over the world. Mexico. India. Greece. Haiti. Ireland. Poland. South Africa. Every nation carries its own stories of courage, sacrifice, resilience, and hope. History has a beautiful way of making distant places feel surprisingly familiar.

This month, choose one country you’ve never really learned about before. Read a novel rooted in its history. Watch a documentary. Learn how another nation fought to become itself. You may come away understanding your own country a little differently.

If you're looking to spend this July seeing the world through a different lens, these are the books I'd begin with:

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

If you’re drawn to stories that live in the gray rather than the black and white, this is one to savor. The Sympathizer doesn’t ask you to choose sides as much as it asks you to sit with contradiction. It’s thoughtful, and unsettling novel about identity, memory, and what it means to belong after your world has been turned upside down.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This is a novel that reminds us wars are never fought only on battlefields. They unfold around dinner tables, inside family homes, in friendships, and in the ordinary routines that slowly begin to disappear. It captures the hope that accompanies the dream of a new nation, while never looking away from the cost of that dream. It’s heartbreaking, compassionate, and impossible to forget.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Some stories stretch across decades; this one stretches across generations. Homegoing gently reminds us that the consequences of history don’t end when the headlines do. They echo through families, shaping identities long after the events themselves have passed. It’s one of those rare novels that leaves you thinking not only about where people come from, but about everything they carry with them.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

Not every struggle for freedom is fought across oceans. Some happen quietly, close to home. Inspired by real events, this novel explores the fight to protect Indigenous sovereignty through the lives of ordinary people. Offering a beautiful reminder that preserving freedom can be just as important as winning it.

What I love most about these books is that they don't read like history lessons. They invite us to experience history through someone else's eyes. They remind us that behind every revolution, every border, and every declaration of independence are families, friendships, heartbreaks, and quiet moments of resilience.

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July as an Act of Stewardship

If you’re new to gardening in Texas, July will humble you.

You stop checking the weather hoping for rain and start bargaining with it instead. Every afternoon feels like another battle against spider mites, aphids, squash bugs, and whatever new villain has decided your garden looks particularly appetizing this week.

July isn’t planting season here. It’s stewardship.

It means watering before sunrise, deadheading yesterday’s blooms, and pulling a few weeds before breakfast. It’s hard work, but it forces us to celebrate every sunflower still standing tall and every coneflower buzzing with bees. Because despite the heat, July is still breathtaking. Butterflies drift from bloom to bloom. Russian sage dances in the breeze. Black-eyed Susans refuse to quit, and zinnias bloom like little fireworks.

This is the month where gardeners earn autumn. While we're keeping everything alive, we're already dreaming about cooler mornings and the vegetables we'll plant when fall finally arrives.

Note: And if you need more help romanticizing summer, you might enjoy revisiting June’s journal, A Guide to Romanticizing Summer.

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Things Worth Leaving the House For

The temptation to stay inside all month is real. Believe me, I understand. But July is still happening outside, which means we just have to be more intentional about our outings.

Go to an independent bookstore. Catch a matinee. Spend an afternoon wandering through a museum or browsing a flea market. Go to a lake and take a dip, or go on a hunt for the best ice cream in town.

Take a drive to the next town over. Mine is Fort Worth. I never seem to leave without having a wonderful day and an even better bowl of ramen, yes, even in July. Sometimes all we need is a simple reason to leave the house.

Add It to Your July Watchlist

A curated list of everything I'm excited to watch this month, from highly anticipated returns to brand-new stories.

📺Survival of the Thickets (Season 3) – July 2:
Inspired by Michelle Buteau’s memoir, Mavis Beaumont is a plus-sized Black woman rebuilding her life as a struggling stylist after a messy breakup. If you haven't started this laugh-out-loud comedy yet, you have two full seasons to binge-watch in the AC.

📺Silos (Season 3) – July 3:
Premiering right on the eve of Independence Day, this dystopian thriller drops us back into a ruined, toxic future. A community survives in a massive underground silo plunging hundreds of stories deep, bound by strict regulations meant to protect them. This show is absolutely gripping.

📺Ride or Die – July 15:
I will watch absolutely anything Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham are in. This new action-comedy series follows two best friends whose worlds turn upside down when long-buried secrets begin to surface.

📺The Hawk – July 16:
Starring Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon, this is bound to be a hilariously chaotic watch. It follows Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins, a former champion golfer on the back nine of his career looking to make an unlikely comeback.

📺King of the Hill – July 20:
There is no better show to watch while hiding from a Texas July. Arlen feels exactly like home, Hank Hill's obsession with propane and lawn care hits differently when it's 102 degrees outside, and the dry, affectionate Texas humor is the ultimate comfort food for a hot summer night.

📺Furious – July 27:
If you loved Emmy Rossum in Shameless you’ll want to glue yourself to the couch for this one. This dark, slow-burn psychological thriller completely flips the script on traditional crime dramas. Rossum plays an FBI agent locked in a tense, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with a coldly calculating female serial killer.

📺The Ridge – July 27:
A Scottish doctor takes refuge with her sister in a remote New Zealand town, only to find her sister has mysteriously died. Shock turns to mounting horror as she’s drawn into a web of small-town lies. (Thank god for international streaming alternatives!)

📼 Jaws (Classic Rec):
This film was my personal introduction to the American 4th of July. I was living in Mexico at the time, and I completely fell in love with the iconic score, the pacing, and the coastal atmosphere. It was shot on location, and you can truly feel the weight of the shadows. They simply don't make movies like this anymore.

📼 Independence Day (Classic Rec):
This movie is a pure holiday tradition for me. It is a mandatory requirement to have this playing loudly in the background while I’m cooking on the 4th of July. It is the perfect blend of high-stakes 90s action, heart, and pure fun.

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A Few Dates Worth Noting

🚴Tour de France – July 4 through July 26:
Watching the Tour feels like taking a winding European road trip without ever leaving your sofa. Every stage offers a new rolling landscape, a historic village, and an escape from the heat.

🎆 Independence Day - July 4:
This year’s Fourth of July feels especially significant. It marks 250 years since the United States declared its independence. A milestone woven into a day already filled with backyard cookouts, sparklers, parades, and skies lit up long after sunset.

⚽ The World cup Final – July 19:
The final whistle always feels a little bittersweet.

For a month, the tournament makes the world feel small. We cheer for our own countries, of course, but somewhere along the way we begin cheering for the people too. You see the joy on one side, the heartbreak on the other, and you realize just how much ninety minutes of football can mean to an entire nation.

Note: I truly am in awe of how far Mexico has come, and what an incredible team the United States has put together.

🌕Full “Buck Moon” – July 29
Also called the Thunder Moon, it gets its name from the time of year when young bucks begin growing their antlers. It feels like a moon meant for becoming. A reminder that growth can be quiet, tender, and still incredibly powerful. Step outside after sunset, look up, and enjoy the show. No project to complete; just a beautiful cosmic reminder.

💐International Day of Friendship – July 30
Is a gentle reminder to celebrate the people who make our lives richer. The friend who always answers the phone, the neighbor who brings over tomatoes from their garden, and the childhood friend who still knows your favorite ice cream order.

Before July Slips Away Bucket List

Before the month slips away here is a list of small pleasures, seasonal traditions, and memorable moments worth making time for this summer.

• Watch fireworks light up the sky on a warm summer night.

• Spend a morning peach picking at a local orchard.

• Lose an afternoon inside a quiet, independent bookstore.

• Wander the farmers market and let whatever is fresh decide what’s for dinner.

• Stay outside until midnight at least once just to listen to the dark.

• Learn to spot one new constellation in the summer sky.

• Roll the windows down and listen to Lana Del Rey during a long, aimless drive.

• Cool off with a spontaneous water balloon fight in the backyard.

• Escape the afternoon heat at a local bowling alley.

• Hunt for hidden treasures and vintage goods at a weekend flea market.

• Find a lake or a pool and take a long, refreshing swim.

• Spend an hour flipping through crates to hunt for a new vinyl record.

• Sit on the porch and watch the heavy summer moon rise over the trees.

• Channel your inner child: construct a simple homemade kite, head to the park, and fly it.

• Lay out a blanket on the grass for an evening of quiet stargazing.

• Promise yourself you won’t let July become just another month on the calendar.

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One Last Thing

Before July slips away, I have one small challenge for you.

Stay outside until midnight. Just once.

Listen to the rhythmic hum of the cicadas. Watch the moon rise over the tree line. See if you can spot a constellation you didn’t know before. Make s’mores over an open flame if you can.

July asks so much of us. It asks us to endure the heat, battle mosquitoes, water thirsty gardens, and somehow keep showing up anyway. But if we’re willing to slow down long enough to notice it, July gives so much back.

So eat the peach while it’s dripping down your wrist. Buy the flowers. Take a road trip. Grill dinner. Take the long way home with Lana Del Rey playing through the speakers.

Don’t let July become just another month on the calendar. It only visits once a year.

– Lily Hawthorne

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Summer rewards those who are willing to adjust their rhythm.

The season asks us to rise a little earlier, linger outside a little later, and seek out the cooler moments at the edges of the day. In return, it offers some of life’s simplest pleasures: baskets of peaches and cherries from the farmers market, colorful garden flowers arranged on the kitchen table, homemade sorbets, dinners cooked on the grill, and sunsets that seem to stretch forever.

Here in Texas, summer is not always gentle. The heat can be relentless. By the afternoon, the garden droops beneath the sun, and even the most determined gardeners are reminded that nature will always have the final say.

Yet summer rewards those who are willing to adapt.

Botanical gardens stay open later into the evening. Yoga classes begin earlier in the morning. Neighborhoods come alive after sunset. Life shifts towards dawn and dusk, finding beauty in the hours when the world softens.

Perhaps that is what makes summer so romantic. Not because it is easy, but because it encourages us to live differently.

To enjoy breakfast on the patio before the day grows warm. To cool off with an agua fresca flavored with mint from the garden. To fill the freezer with homemade popsicles and fruit sorbets. To watch fireworks on the Fourth of July. To let the dog run through the sprinkler. To gather friends around the grill and stay outside until the last traces of daylight disappear from the sky.

For years, I viewed summer as a season to get through until autumn arrived. Now, I’m trying something different.

This guide is my attempt to pay attention, to notice the abundance that surrounds us this time of year. The fruit at its peak, the flowers in bloom, the long evenings, the unforgettable sunsets, and the small rituals that make a season memorable.

So, pour something refreshing, light a candle if you can, and settle in. Let’s make this the most romantic summer yet — together.

Intentions for the Season

Every season asks something different of us. Autumn invites us inward. Winter encourages rest. Spring arrives with possibility and renewal. Summer asks us to slow down. This summer, rather than rushing towards autumn, my intention is to embrace what makes this season unique.

Rather than filling this season with expectations, I prefer to begin with a few intentions. Not goals. Not resolutions. Simply gentle reminders for the months ahead.

Notice Abundance

Summer is generous.

Farmers market stalls overflow with peaches, cherries, tomatoes, melons, and herbs. Gardens bloom with sunflowers, zinnias, coneflowers, and cosmos. The days stretch long into the evening, giving us more daylight than any other season. This summer, I want to notice it. Not rush past it. Not save it for later. But appreciate it while it’s here.

Live at the Edges of the Day

Summer rewards those who are willing to adjust their rhythm. The most beautiful moments often happen before the heat arrives or long after it begins to fade. Breakfast on the patio. A morning walk. Watering the garden at sunrise. An evening spent outdoors watching the sky change colors. This summer, I want to embrace the hours when the world feels softer.

Celebrate Seasonal Pleasures

A homemade peach dessert. An agua fresca flavored with mint from the garden. Fresh flowers in every room. I cannot wait for those sunflowers. A bowl of cherries waiting on the counter. A chilled watermelon in the refrigerator. Taking a dip in the pool or going to a fair. Homemade popsicles. The joy of summer is often found in the simplest things.

Create More Moments Worth Remembering

Not every memorable summer requires a plane ticket or a carefully planned itinerary. Sometimes it’s a backyard barbecue. A sunset that stops you in your tracks. A dog running through the sprinklers. A scoop of homemade sorbet after dinner. Attend a sunrise yoga class. Water balloon fights. Stargazing. Cloud-watching. Bird watching. Small moments often become the memories we treasure most.

Remain Curious

Summer has a way of making us retreat indoors, rushing from one air-conditioned space to another. This season, I want to stay curious. To visit a museum I’ve never explored. To grow something new in the garden. To try a recipe I’ve never made before. To look up at the sky when the clouds begin to gather before a storm.

Find Beauty Before Autumn Arrives

As someone who loves fall, I often find myself looking ahead. Waiting for the cooler weather. Watching for the first signs of autumn. But every season deserves to be appreciated while it’s here. This summer, I want to resist the urge to rush ahead. The pumpkins will arrive soon enough. For now, there are peaches to eat, sunsets to watch, flowers to arrange, and long evenings to enjoy. And I don’t want to miss them.

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Summer at Home

Summer doesn’t ask us to completely reinvent our homes. It asks us to adjust them.

A linen tablecloth replaces a heavier fabric. Cotton sheets take the place of comforters. A pitcher of cherry limeade appears in the refrigerator. The grill gets used more often than the oven.

Little by little, the house begins to reflect the season.

I find myself drawn to lighter colors this time of the year. Blue and yellow tablecloths emerge from storage. Floral pillows replace the richer textures. Autumn artwork gives way to scenes filled with water, gardens, sunlight, and open windows.

Fresh flowers become part of the season indoors too. I wait all year for sunflower season. As bouquets begin appearing at the farmers market and in garden beds, they find their way onto kitchen tables, nightstands, and countertops, bringing a little of the outdoors inside.

Some years, I swap in reproductions of Pierre Bonnard, whose rooms seem to glow with summer light. Other times, it’s Monet’s water lilies or Matisse’s open windows that find their way onto my walls.

Summer, to me, feels a little like stepping into a Pierre Bonnard painting. Sunlight spills through open windows, gardens blur into dining rooms, and ordinary moments feel saturated with color. His work captures something I love about the season: the way light transforms even the simplest rituals into something memorable.

Summer, after all, is a season of light.

The curtains stay open longer. Suncatchers scatter rainbows across the room. Lights remain off well into the evening because the sun lingers long after dinner. Then, as the hottest part of the day arrives, the curtains are drawn to keep the house cool, only to be opened again as dusk settles in. It is a small ritual, but one that marks the transition from the intensity of midday to the gentleness of evening.

The rhythms of the home shift too. Morning coffee becomes iced coffee. Hot soups become salads. The freezer fills with homemade sorbets and popsicles. Fresh herbs grow in terracotta pots just outside the back door, ready to find their way into lemonades, marinades, and summer dinners.

Even self-care changes with the season. A cool shower after a hot day. Lavender incense burning in the evening. Fresh sheets. A cup of tea enjoyed behind drawn curtains while the sun continues its slow descent outside.

None of these changes are dramatic. But together they help create a home that feels in step with the season. A different tablecloth. A pitcher of limeade in the refrigerator. Fresh herbs by the back door. Together they create a home that feels attuned to the season.

And perhaps that is the secret to romanticizing summer. Not fighting the season. Not wishing it away. But allowing your home and your routines to evolve alongside it.

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The Summer Almanac:

Summer asks us to keep time differently.

Unlike autumn, with its holidays and celebrations, summer unfolds quietly. Its milestones arrive not on a calendar, but at the farmers market. The first cherries. The first peaches of the season.

There was a time when people measured the year differently. Not by school calendars or quarterly goals, but by what was growing. Cherry season meant one thing. Peach season meant another. Tomatoes arrived in their own time. Figs signaled that autumn was quietly approaching.

Somewhere along the way, many of us stopped noticing.

Summer became a blur of heat and errands and weekends that disappeared too quickly.

This almanac is an invitation to return to a slower rhythm. To pay attention to what is ripening, blooming, and arriving. To linger outside a little longer. To savor fruit when it is truly in season. To collect a handful of ordinary moments before they vanish.

This is not a bucket list.

It is a record of the things worth noticing:

🍒 cherry season (early June)
The unofficial beginning of summer. The first real taste of abundance after spring. Buy a basket from the farmers market. Bake a galette or a clafoutis. Make a compote. Eat them by the handful.

⚽ world cup summer
This summer, the world comes to North Texas. DFW will host several World Cup matches, bringing visitors, celebrations, and a contagious sense of excitement to the region.

Even if you don’t attend a match, there’s something special about sharing a season with a global event. Restaurants fill with fans. Jerseys appear everywhere. Conversations shift toward countries, cities, and places you’ve never been. Summer always feels a little bigger when the world shows up.

☀️ summer solstice — june 21
Official first day of summer and the longest of the year. A reminder to linger. Eat dinner outside. Watch the sunset. Take an evening walk. Let the day feel long.

🌇 long evenings
Not a date. Not a holiday. Just one of summer’s greatest gifts. The sunsets arrive late. Dinner stretches longer. Walks begin after eight o’clock. The sky lingers in shades of peach, lavender, and gold.

🍑 peach season (late June)
Perhaps the most perfect season of all. Peaches belong on kitchen counters, in cobblers, tucked beside burrata, grilled over charcoal, and eaten over the sink while their juice runs down your wrist.

🌙 strawberry moon — june 29
Summer has always felt a little magical to me, and full moons seem to magnify that feeling. Step outside after sunset, look up, and enjoy the show. No recipe required. No project to complete. Just a reminder that not everything worth noticing can be found at the farmers market.

🎆 4th of july
carnival rides, live music, BBQ, and fireworks light up the night sky — it feels like stepping inside a dream.

🍅 tomato season (mid July)
The height of summer. When tomatoes taste like tomatoes again. When a thick slice, a sprinkle of flaky salt, and a drizzle of olive oil become a complete meal. BLTs, caprese salads, sandwiches, and gazpacho. Buy the ugly heirlooms. They’re usually the best ones.

⛈️ First Summer Thunderstorm
There comes a point every summer when dark clouds gather on the horizon and the sky finally breaks open. The temperature drops. The air smells like wet earth. The garden breathes a sigh of relief. Pause whatever you’re doing and watch from the porch if you can. Summer thunderstorms are one of the season’s greatest gifts.

🌻 sunflower season (late July)
Roadside fields begin to glow. Bring a bouquet home, fill every vase you own.

🌰 fig season (early August)
One of the first signs that summer is beginning to lean toward autumn. The sunsets come a little earlier. A pumpkin display quietly arrives at the garden center. You catch yourself thinking about autumn. Don’t rush it. Fall will arrive soon enough. For now there are still peaches to eat. There is still sunlight to collect. There is still summer left.

🍂 august 15th: the first whisper of fall
Not an official holiday. Just a feeling.

Pumpkins appear in stores. Candles return to shelves. You start thinking about soup. Summer isn’t over yet but autumn is finally visible on the horizon.

This is also when my brain begins celebrating Summerween. The pumpkins haven't fully arrived, but the anticipation has. For someone who spends half the summer dreaming about autumn, this is the moment I've been waiting for.

But don’t rush the season just yet. There are still peaches to eat, sunsets to watch, and warm evenings left to enjoy.

And if you’re already embracing your Summerween era, you might enjoy revisiting last year’s journal, an enchanted guide to october

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Feed Your Mind: Summer Reading List

Summer offers something other seasons do not: time.

Long afternoons. Quiet mornings. Slow evenings. Moments that invites us to linger a little longer with a book, a new idea, or a story we can’t stop thinking about.

Maybe that is why summer reading feels so special. It isn't about racing through a stack of books or reaching an arbitrary goal. It's about choosing stories that reflect how you hope to experience the season.

A novel to get lost in. A nonfiction book that teaches you something new. A comfort read you return to year after year. A story that transports you somewhere else entirely. A book that simply feels like summer.

This summer, I find myself drawn to stories where place is more than a setting.

Perhaps it’s because I spend so much of the season adapting to the Texas heat, but I’ve become fascinated by the relationship between people and the landscapes they inhabit. A marsh, a wilderness, a drought, a stretch of coastline. These places don’t simply exist in the background, they shape the lives unfolding within them.

The books I’ve chosen this season explore a question I’ve been thinking about often:

What happens when a place becomes powerful enough to shape the people who live there?

These are stories where weather, landscape, and the natural world become forces in their own right. Sometimes beautiful. Sometimes unforgiving. Always unforgettable.

Here's what I'm sipping alongside a cherry limeade this season:

📖 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
What first drew me to this novel was the marsh itself. The landscape feels alive on every page, shaping the rhythms of everyone’s daily life, offering refuge, and demanding resilience in equal measure.

I’m fascinate by stories where nature isn’t simply observed but experienced. Where tides, birds, insects, and changing seasons become part of the story being told.

Best paired with an afternoon thunderstorm, a glass of cherry limeade, and the sound of rain tapping against the windows.

📖 The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
By August, when the Texas heat has me closing the curtains and dreaming of cooler weather. I inevitably find myself drawn to stories set somewhere cold.

This is a recommendation my dad made years ago, and somehow summer always feels like the right time to finally pick it up. Set in the Alaskan wilderness, this novel explores what happens when beauty and isolation exist side by side. The landscape is breathtaking, but it is also demanding and impossible to ignore.

Best paired with fresh sheets, a cold drink, and a day so hot you’re actively dreaming of snow.

📖 Land by Maggie O’farrell
Some stories ask us to pay attention to a place. Others ask us to consider what a place remembers.

Of all the books on this list, this may be the one I'm most excited to read. What draws me to Land is its exploration of memory, belonging, and the relationship between people and the places they inherit. It feels like the kind of novel that lingers long after the final page.

Best paired with golden hour, a notebook nearby, and an evening spent lingering at dusk.

📖 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Sometimes a classic is a classic for a reason. Few novels capture the power of the weather and landscape more vividly. Dust, drought, and hardship drive the story forward, shaping every decision the Joad family make. Turning the land itself into one of the story’s most formidable forces.

It’s a reminder that the environments we inhabit are never passive participants in our lives.

Best paired with a hot summer afternoon, a ceiling fan working overtime, and a renewed appreciation for air conditioning.

Summer reading doesn’t have to happen on a beach to feel special. Sometimes it looks like retreating indoors during the hottest part of the day. A ceiling fan humming overhead. Fresh sheets. A cold drink nearby. The afternoon stretching out ahead of you.

☀️P.S. If you have a favorite summer read, I'd love to hear about it. My reading list is always growing, and some of my best book discoveries have come from recommendations shared by friends.

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Add It to Your Summer Watchlist

Summer has always felt like movie season to me.

Maybe it’s because the afternoons are too hot to spend outdoors, or because the evenings seem to stretch on forever. Either way, there is something comforting about ending the day with a good film, a bowl of popcorn, and a ceiling fan humming overhead.

Some feel like summer itself. Others simply capture a feeling I want more of this time of year.

Looking at this list now, I realize many of these stories share something in common: a strong sense of place. They transport me somewhere else.

A coastal town wrapped in mystery. A villa in Tuscany. A summer camp on a remote island. A bustling city at dusk. The Greek islands. Sicily.

That is what I love most about summer movies. They allow us to travel without leaving home. For a few hours, we get to inhabit another place, another season, another life.

And on the hottest afternoons, that feels magical.

Here's my curated mix of atmospheric stories for the long days of summer:

📼 Moonrise Kingdom
A whimsical coming-of-age story filled with adventure, nostalgia, and the magic of childhood summers. I love anything Wes Anderson, he is brilliant. As a Texan, I can't help but mention that Wes Anderson is from Texas. His first film, Bottle Rocket, was filmed right here in DFW.

Perfect for when you want your night to feel nostalgic, adventurous, and wonderfully whimsical.

📺 The Leopard
A Netflix original, set against the sun-drenched landscapes of Sicily, The Leopard is a story about change, family, tradition, and the passage of time. The cinematography alone is worth watching: golden light, grand estates, and scenes that feel like paintings come to life.

What I love most is the way it lingers on place. The heat, the landscape, and the fading world around the characters become just as important as the story itself. I love historical shows, as I’m watching I am online researching the events.

Perfect for when you want your night in to feel atmospheric, elegant, and quietly reflective.

📺 Widow’s Bay
I AM OBSESSED!!! Part mystery, part folklore, and part puzzle waiting to be solved, Widows Bay has quickly become one of my favorite summer watches. Set in a coastal town filled with secrets, strange occurrences, and lingering questions, it’s the kind of show that invites you to pay attention to every detail.

The atmosphere is what draws me in most. Foggy shorelines, local legends, hidden clues, and the feeling that something important is hiding just beneath the surface.

Fair warning: you’ll likely find yourself theorizing between episodes. If you decide to watch it, please let me know. I desperately need someone to discuss theories with.

Perfect for when you want your night in to feel mysterious, atmospheric, and impossible to stop thinking about.

📼 Under the Tuscan Sun
If summer could be bottled into a film, it might look something like this. Sun-drenched landscapes, outdoor meals, beautiful gardens, and the reminder that life can surprise us in the most unexpected ways. It reminds me that sometimes the life we're meant to build begins after the plans we originally made fall apart.

Perfect for when you're craving wanderlust, golden light, and a reminder that new beginnings can happen at any age.

📼 Before Sunrise
A film that unfolds like a long summer evening. Thoughtful, romantic, and full of conversation, it reminds us that some of life’s most meaningful moments happen when we slow down enough to be present.

Perfect for when you want your night in to feel romantic, reflective, and quietly beautiful.

📼 Julie and Julia
Part culinary inspiration, part comfort film, and one of my favorite reminders that creativity often begins with simply starting. It always leaves me inspired.

Perfect for when you’re craving butter, ambition, and the motivation to begin a new project.

📼 Call Me By Your Name
Peaches, sunshine, lazy afternoons, and the bittersweet feeling that summer never lasts as long as we’d like. Few films capture the atmosphere of a season quite like this one.

Perfect for when you want your night in to feel dreamy, nostalgic, and achingly beautiful.

📼 Mamma Mia!
Pure joy. Sun-soaked scenery, catchy music, seaside views, and enough energy to make you forget about whatever is stressing you out.

Perfect for when yo need a dose of sunshine, laughter, and unapologetic fun.

📼 Jaws
Maybe it's the beaches. Maybe it's the Fourth of July setting. Maybe it's simply tradition at this point. Whatever the reason, no other film announces the arrival of summer quite like Jaws.

Perfect for when you want your night in to feel suspenseful, and iconic.

Whether you’re in the mood for mystery, romance, nostalgia, adventure, or simply a beautiful place to get lost in for a few hours, I hope one of these finds its way onto your watchlist this season.

After all, summer stories have a way of lingering long after the credits roll.

☀️ P.S. What is one film you believe everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime? The kind of movie you would recommend without hesitation.

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Summer Rituals

These rituals won't appear on a calendar, but they help me settle into the season all the same.

To me, rituals are the small things that signal a season has arrived. The first iced coffee. Opening the windows on a cool morning. A favorite perfume pulled from the back of the shelf. Watermelon chilling in the refrigerator.

None of them are particularly remarkable on their own. But repeated often enough, they become part of the rhythm of summer.

They remind me that summer isn’t something to endure. It’s something to participate in.

Opening all the windows
The mornings are my favorite part of summer. The light pours through the windows, birds announce the start of the day, and the house feels connected to the outdoors. I usually have the Merlin app running so I can identify whoever is singing outside. It is one of the simplest pleasures of the season.

Switch to Iced Coffee or Iced Matcha
The first iced coffee of the season always feels like a small surrender to summer. I love to lean into fruity syrups: cherry, blueberry, and strawberry. Afterall summer is when fruits are in abundance.

Find Your Signature Summer Scent
Fragrance sets the mood for me just as much as music. A single scent can transport me somewhere else entirely: a garden at dusk, a seaside vacation, a summer I thought I had forgotten.

Every season has its own scent, and summer deserves one too.

This is the time of year I find myself reaching for fragrances that feel bright, sun-warmed, and a little indulgent. Notes of citrus, ripe fruit, fresh herbs, salty air, and blooming flowers all seem to belong here.

The fragrance I keep returning to each summer is Tom Ford’s Bitter Peach. It reminds me of peaches left on a kitchen counter to ripen, golden evenings that linger past dinner, and the feeling that summer still has plenty of stories left to tell.

Keep Watermelon in the Fridge
There is no greater luxury on a hot afternoon than opening the refrigerator and finding cold watermelon waiting for you. Specially after you done some work in the garden.

Let Summer Shape the Menu
Summer changes the way I cook. Heavy meals give way to lighter ones. This is the season when I crave shrimp skewers, shrimp cocktail, grilled salmon, and anything brightened with citrus. The goal isn’t complicated cooking. It’s food that feels refreshing after a hot day and keeps the kitchen cool.

Summer, after all, is not the season for fighting the heat. It’s the season for adapting to it.

Build a Summer Soundtrack
Every summer deserves its own soundtrack.

A collection of songs that will forever remind you of this particular season. Something to play while cooking dinner, reading on the couch during an afternoon thunderstorm, tending to the garden, or driving with the windows cracked open.

Music has a way of attaching itself to memories. Years from now, a single song can transport you back to a specific summer evening, a favorite vacation, or a season of your life you thought you had forgotten.

This year, I have two playlists in rotation. Summer in the Passenger Seat (indie playlist) filled with songs for long drives and golden-hour walks. The other is what I affectionately call Romanticizing Summer: a collection of romantic French songs that make even the most ordinary errands feel cinematic. If I’m being honest, I believe music is essential to romanticizing a season. And this year, I’m not aiming for a good summer. I’m chasing a phenomenal one.

Enjoy a cold Shower
A cold shower after a day spent in triple-digit temperatures feels like one of life’s great luxuries. Summer turns an ordinary shower into something restorative. Add a lavender body wash, your favorite playlist, and suddenly it feels like a spa day.

Close the Curtains by 7 p.m.
By midsummer, closing the curtains becomes part of my evening routine. Not because I'm hiding from the season, but because I'm adapting to it. The house stays cooler, the lights stay dim, and my brain begins to prepare for rest while the sun continues lingering outside.

The older I get, the more I realize that seasons are not defined by dates on a calendar. They are defined by the small things we do again and again.

The songs we listen to. The foods we crave. The drinks we make. The routines we return to.

Perhaps that is why rituals matter. They help us notice the season while we are living it.

And years from now, when I think back on this summer, I have a feeling it won’t be the big events I remember most. It will be the iced coffees, the open windows, the scent of sunscreen and lavender, and the quiet moments that made an ordinary day feel like summer.

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A Gentle Summer Bucket List

A list of small pleasures, seasonal traditions, and memorable moments worth making time for this summer.

Not because every item needs to be checked off, but because sometimes a single afternoon, a simple ritual, or an ordinary gathering can become the memory we carry forward long after the season ends.

• Visit a Farmers Market Before 8 a.m. – Stock up on this seasons abundance: cherries, peaches, mangos, plum, and figs.

• Create a Flower Arrangement – Invite the season indoors. Fill a pitcher, vase, or mason jar with whatever is blooming nearby. Sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, peonies, or even grocery store flowers can become something beautiful when arranged with intention. Bonus points if you create an arrangement inspired by a favorite book, painting, or color palette.

• Host a Backyard Summer Party – Gather friends, fire up the grill, make a pitcher of something cold, and celebrate the season while it's here.

• Bake a Seasonal Dessert – At some point of the summer we all crave a little sweetness and making a cobbler, galette, pie, ice-cream, sorbet, popsicles, cheesecake, or banana pudding.

• Watch fireworks on the 4th of July - There is something magical about fireworks. For a few minutes, adults become children again, looking skyward in wonder.

• Have a Water Balloon Fight – Sometimes romanticizing summer looks less like a beautifully set table and more like laughing in the backyard with the people you love. A water balloon fight may not seem important in the moment, but years later it might be the thing you remember most.

• Do a Candle Reset – Rotate in floral and fruity scents. I usually lean more into incense this time of the year. They don’t emit heat the way a candle does.

• Host Sunset Cocktails - Watermelon, peach, or cherry cocktails enjoyed as the sun slips below the horizon. If you've seen Widow's Bay, you already know this is the social event of the season.

  

• Watch a Sunset – Summer rewards us with some of the most spectacular sunsets of the year. Purples, oranges, golds, and magentas stretch across the sky long after dinner has ended. Stay outside a few minutes longer than usual and watch the show.

• Make Homemade Sorbet – Few things feel more like summer than transforming ripe fruit into something cold and refreshing. Peach, mango, strawberry, cherry, or watermelon. Bonus points if eaten while standing in front of an open freezer deciding whether you deserve a second bowl.

• Visit a Botanical Garden After Hours – Summer asks us to adjust our rhythm. Many gardens stay open later into the evening, allowing visitors to enjoy them after the worst of the heat has passed. It's one of my favorite reminders that even nature adapts to summer.

• Attend an Art Exhibit - When the temperatures become too hot to spend the afternoon outdoors, museums offer a welcome retreat. Spend an afternoon wandering galleries, studying paintings, or discovering an artist you’ve never encountered before. This summer, I’m especially excited to see Samurai to the Imperial Court: Japanese Metalwork at the Dallas Museum of Art and The Holy Sepulcher exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum.

• Create a New Tradition – Whether it’s making a summer wreath for your front door, mosaic pavers, or an annual movie marathon, let this be the year you make it yours.

Choose a few and commit to them this season. Even one or two can transform an ordinary summer into one you’ll remember. The goal isn’t to do everything on this list, but to find a handful of moments worth anticipating, savoring, and returning to year after year.

After all, the most meaningful traditions often begin as simple ideas on an ordinary summer afternoon.

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Reflections

Before diving into the season ahead, take a moment to reflect on how you want to experience it. Not through productivity goals or endless to-do lists, but through the memories, rituals, and moments you hope to create.

For me, this usually happens on a quiet morning. A notebook open on the table. A glass of lemonade nearby. The windows open. Birds singing outside. Nothing particularly profound, just a few minutes spent thinking about what I want this season to feel like before it slips away.

Whenever I find myself rushing through a season, these are the questions I return to. They help me slow down, pay attention, and reconnect with what I hope this season will feel like.

• What part of summer am I most looking forward to this year?

• What seasonal pleasures do I want to make more time for?

• What does my ideal summer day look like?

• What do I want to learn, read, or explore this season?

• What moments do I want to remember when summer ends?

• What beauty am I overlooking in my everyday life?

• How can I work with the season instead of against it?

There are no right answers. The goal isn’t to create a perfect summer. It’s simply to notice the one you’ve already living.

Every now and then, one or two ideas rise to the surface. A reminder to spend more time outdoors. A promise to slow down. A commitment to make room for something that brings me joy.

I’ll usually write those down and keep them somewhere I’ll see them: on my desk, in my journal, even on the fridge, as a quiet reminder throughout the season.

Not because I expect myself to do everything perfectly, but because intentions have a way of shaping how we move through a season.

Closing Thoughts

If I’m being honest, summer has never been my easiest season.

I am someone who naturally gravitates toward autumn. I look forward to cooler weather, cozy evenings, and the first signs of fall long before they arrive. Summer, especially in Texas, can feel relentless. The heat lingers. The garden struggles. The afternoons demand patience.

And yet, every year, summer offers gifts I would miss if I rushed through it.

The first peaches at the farmers market. A sunflower opening in the garden. A thunderstorm rolling in after weeks of heat. An evening sky painted in shades of gold, orange, and magenta.

The longer I’ve spent creating this guide, the more I’ve realized that romanticizing summer isn’t about pretending the season is perfect. It isn’t about ignoring the heat or wishing I lived somewhere else.

It’s about paying attention. It’s about noticing the abundance hidden within a season I once spent counting down. That is the lesson I hope to carry with me this year.

Not every season asks to be loved in the same way. Some ask to be embraced. Others ask to be endured. Summer asks us to adjust our rhythm. To wake earlier. To linger later. To seek shade. To savor what is fleeting. To find beauty where we least expect it. And maybe that is enough. In fact, maybe that is the whole point.

So here's to the farmers markets, the peaches, the fresh flowers, the thunderstorms, the grilled dinners, the sunsets, and the small rituals that make a season memorable.

May this be your most intentional summer yet.
- Lily Hawthorne

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What is Pollo Guisado?

Pollo guisado is seasoned chicken slowly cooked in a flavorful sauce, essentially a Mexican chicken stew.
The sauce can vary widely: from tomatillo (green), to salsa roja (red), or something in between. Even within the same sauce, the flavor changes depending on the chile (peppers) you use, how you cook the tomatoes, and what vegetables you add.

Potatoes are my go-to, but carrots, squash, corn — anything you love — works beautifully. That’s the beauty of pollo guisado: there is no single version. The differences come down to country, region, and personal taste — and they’re all delicious.

I love making this on Sundays so I have something comforting to reheat on Monday. It makes starting the week feel easier, warmer, and a little more cared for. It just perfect during cold weather.

Serves: 4-6

When to Make:
Weeknights, Sundays, rainy afternoons, or when you need something grounding.

Serve with: Warm tortillas, frijoles de la olla, and cilantro rice (included below)

Ingredients

For the Chicken

• 2 lbs. bone-in chicken pieces (thighs, drumsticks, or mixed)

• Salt, to taste

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1–2 tbsp neutral oil (vegetable or avocado)

For the Guiso

• 1/4 piece of a white onion

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1.5 pounds (700 grams) of Roma tomatoes

• 3 cups chicken broth (homemade if possible)

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano preferred)

• 1/4 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tbsp Knorr Tomato Bouillon (this is my salt)

• 1 pound (500 grams) of potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

• 1 small jalapeño or serrano

• Chopped cilantro, for finishing

For the Cilantro Rice

• 1 cup of rice

• 1/4 piece of a white onion

• 1 cloves garlic

• 1 cup of Cilantro

• 2 cups chicken broth (homemade if possible)

• 1 tsp Knorr Chicken Bouillon (this is my salt)

• Chopped cilantro, for finishing

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This is one of those recipes I can’t get enough. I make it at least twice a month.

Method

1. Season the chicken
   Pat the chicken dry and season generously with salt and pepper on all sides.

   

2. Brown the chicken
   Heat oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
   Brown the chicken in batches until golden on both sides.
   Remove and set aside — it does not need to be cooked through.

   

3. Prep your vegetables

   While the chicken is browning, peel and cut the potatoes.

   

4. Make the sauce

   • Option 1 (Deeper flavor, Smoky): In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add 1.5 pounds (700 grams) of tomatoes, 1/4 piece of a white onion, 1 jalapeño pepper, and 2 garlic cloves. Let everything char slightly — this builds depth. Transfer everything to your blender, add 1 tbsp of Knorr Tomato Bouillon, 3 cups of chicken broth, 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano, 1/4 tsp ground cumin and blend until smooth and set aside.

   • Option 2 (Bright flavor): Add 1.5 pounds (700 grams) of tomatoes to the blender along with 1/4 piece of a white onion, 1 jalapeño pepper, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp of Knorr Tomato Bouillon, 3 cups of chicken broth, 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano, 1/4 tsp ground cumin. Blend until smooth and set aside.

   Note: I use Knorr Tomato Bouillon as my salt. Start with 1 tbsp, blend, taste, and adjust if needed.

   

5. Deglaze the Pot
   Pour the blended sauce into the pot you used to brown the chicken.
   Scrape up all the flavorful bits and cook the sauce over medium-low heat for 5–7 minutes.

   

6. Simmer the Guiso
   Return chicken (and juices) to the pot. Add potatoes.
   Ideally, the sauce should come halfway up the chicken — but honestly, I don’t stress about this. I cook this in large batches so I don’t worry about this part much.
   I love extra sauce. Sometimes I eat just the potatoes, rice, and sauce with no chicken at all.

   

7. Slow Cook
   Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook on low for 30–40 minutes, until:

   • Chicken is tender and pulling from the bone

   • Potatoes are soft

   • Sauce has thickened naturally

   Note: Because we’re using skin-on chicken, some fat will rise to the top. I usually skim this off once the stew is done.

8. Cilantro Rice

   While the guisado simmers, start the rice.

   

   Blend together:

   • 1 cup of cilantro, 1/4 piece of a white onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp of Knorr chicken bouillon and 2 cups of chicken broth.

   • I like to strain this blended liquid

   Cook the rinsed rice using this blended liquid:

   • Rice cooker: Use as you normally would (I use a rice cooker)

   • Stovetop: Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and cook until tender

   Fluff with a fork and finish with chopped cilantro. The cilantro flavor is suttle.

9. Finish & taste
   Taste and adjust salt.
   Sprinkle with chopped cilantro just before serving.

   

10. Serve
    Spoon cilantro rice onto plates, top with glazed chicken, and drizzle with extra sauce.

Kitchen Notes

• If the sauce gets too thick, add a splash of broth or water.

• This tastes even better the next day.

• Leftovers make incredible tacos or tostadas.

A Winter Table

Excited for Citrus season. If you need to know anything about me is I love citrus. So here is a Roasted Fennel & Orange Salad I love to come back to every year.

A Note from Lily

This is one of those recipes I make when I want to feel steady again.

It’s not flashy, and it’s not trying to impress — it’s just good, honest food that holds up over a few days and somehow tastes even better each time you reheat it. The kind of dish that waits for you patiently while life keeps moving.

I hope you make this your own. Add more potatoes. Change the chile. Let the sauce be as brothy or as thick as you like. Eat it slowly, or standing at the counter, or straight from the pot the next day.

If this recipe finds a place in your kitchen, I’d love to know.
Thank you for cooking alongside me — it means more than I can say.

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🌿 Want more recipes?
Browse the full Sun-Drenched Table Archive for seasonal dishes, cocktails, and weekly inspiration.

Question:

I am wondering when you are reading through the recipe do you like for the ingredients quantities to be given to you within the Method as well? that way you don’t have to scroll back tot he Ingredients section. Let me know

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This is the season for leaning into the strange and the magical. For bringing out…

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This is the kind of recipe that makes a regular weeknight feel special. You crisp the chicken skin, deglaze the pan with wine (my favorite part!), add stock, and finish with a buttery, silky sauce that feels almost holiday-like. Dylan said it reminded him of Thanksgiving — and he’s right. Maybe its the capers. For the side I made , Green Bean Salad with Herb Tahini Sauce, Crispy Shallots & Sesame Seeds. The Green Bean Salad is the star of the show, trust me its divine. His recipes are giving thanksgiving dinner to me. So it fits the vibe.

Servings

4

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

For the Pan Sauce:

• ½ cup dry white wine

• ½ cup chicken stock

• ¼ cup chopped fresh chives

• 2 tbsp capers, rinsed

• 3 tbsp butter, softened

• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

Method

1. Crisp the Chicken
   Pat the chicken thighs very dry with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper.
   Place them skin-side down in a cold, dry skillet. Turn the heat to medium and cook 10–12 minutes, until the skin is deep golden and crisp.

2. Finish Cooking
   Flip the thighs and cook another 8–10 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Transfer to a plate and loosely cover with foil.

3. Deglaze & Build the Sauce
   Pour off excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the skillet.
   Add the white wine and scrape up the browned bits. Simmer 1–2 minutes.
   Add the chicken stock, chives, and capers. Simmer until slightly reduced.

4. Finish with Butter
   In a small bowl, mash butter and flour into a smooth paste. Whisk into the pan sauce and cook for 1–2 minutes until silky and thickened.

5. Serve
   Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve hot.

Suggested Pairing

For a side, I served this with ’s Green Bean Salad with Herb Tahini Sauce, Crispy Shallots & Sesame Seeds. The dressing is everything, I used the remainder dressing on a salad the following day it was delicious. Dylan’s has asked me to make Mark’s Green Bean Salad three times already. It’s been on repeat.

Kitchen Notes

• Pan Sauce Technique: Deglazing is my favorite step — it lifts all the caramelized flavor from the pan and builds the base of the sauce.

• Stock Matters: Use a good-quality chicken stock (or homemade if you have it) — it rounds out the sauce and deepens the flavor.

• Dylan’s Note: “Tastes like Thanksgiving!” He’s right — the butter, wine, and capers give it that special-occasion feel.

Last Week at the Table

In case you missed it last week we had Roasted Poblano Corn Chowder. Perfect for Falls arrival.

🌿 Want more recipes?
Browse the full Sun-Drenched Table Archive for seasonal dishes, cocktails, and weekly inspiration.

Thanks for being here! Here are other ways you can show your support:

❤️ Tap the heart below (it helps more readers discover my work!)

💌 Share this post with a friend

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