Summer is in full swing in Virginia and I am LOVING it! There is a relaxed hustle and bustle in the summer that feeds my soul. We have been doing a lot of fun family activities, like going to the pool and Busch Gardens, but we’ve also done our fair share of patio sitting with a cocktail. I do have to remind myself to take a step back and relax sometimes because I tend to overbook my days. Here’s a few of my June 2019 favorites!
Like any good Millennial, I grew up watching Lizzie McGuire on Disney Channel and blaring “Why Not” in my bedroom. When I heard Hilary Duff was returning to TV in a show called Younger, I was totally on board! I originally only started the show for Hilary, but was hooked within a few episodes because the whole cast is AMAZING! Younger is hilarious, dramatic and easy to relate to, plus the episodes are less than 30 minutes. Sutton Foster plays Liza, the main character, a 40 year old woman trying to pick up where she left off in her career after taking an 18 year hiatus to be a stay-at-home mom. She ends up pretending to be 26 to get a job as an assistant. As you can imagine, the secret leads to a lot of crazy antics. Season 6 just started, and the first 5 seasons are streaming on Hulu. I actually just rewatched them and loved it just as much as I did the first time!
Jesse has been back in the kitchen cooking again and this time he’s been perfecting pizza! He has always made great pizza, but now he’s taking a more scientific approach to getting a great crust. The girls and I LOVE pizza night! Even Bellamy, who seems to like the crust the best. Plus, it means I get out of making dinner! He just got a new cast iron pizza stone from Lodge (this one) and it’s been amazing. One of the tricks to Jesse’s crust is broiling the pizza for a bit, so we needed a stone that could withstand the heat.
I have found my drink of the summer! It’s 21st Amendment Brewery’s Sparkale. It is a sparkling rosé ale with apple, cranberry, peach and cherry. I love rosé. I love light, fruity beer. And I love things that sparkle! So this is a win, win, win for me! I usually find Sparkale at The Fresh Market, but according to their website it’s also at
After struggling with driving in the blazing sunshine for the past few years, I finally bit the bullet and ordered a pair of prescription sunglasses. They were technically my Mother’s Day gift, so in case you were thinking I was a young, hipster – nope! I’m a middle-aged mom with terrible eyesight! Honestly though, I’m so glad I finally got them! It’s so nice to be able to read road signs while not being blinded by the sun. Or without being forced to wear sunglasses over my regular glasses like my granny did when I was a kid. I got the Calypso frames with prescription lenses for around $50 from EyeBuyDirect. They had so many different pairs of glasses to choose from I had a really hard time deciding what I wanted! I’m super happy with what I got and so far they have been great at withstanding the girls playing with them.
We bought passes to Busch Gardens for the year and have enjoyed several trips as a family already. As the weather gets hotter, we want to make sure that Bellamy stays cool in the stroller so we got a stroller fan. We ordered the SkyGenius Battery Operated Clipon Mini Desk Fan, at the recommendation of my fave Disney blogger Shannon of BRB Going to Disney. It clips right on to the stroller and can be charged via USB. I usually plug it into the car on the trip over to the park so that it’s charged and ready for the day. It’s pretty inexpensive, usually less than $20, and provides a little more piece of mind for being outside on a hot summer day with littles.
