Hi! Welcome to An Unraveling. Every month, I share the Top 4 things that brought me joy.
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I don’t know about you but August has flown by.
One moment, you're watching the Olympics Opening Ceremony, and the next, pumpkin spice is back in full force.
In all honesty, I’m ready for fall. Normally around this time of year, I’m trying to wring out every last drop of summer, but lately, I find myself yearning for autumn.
The coziness! The sweaters! The leaves! Apple cider donuts!
Maybe it’s because I’ve been feeling the melancholy of August more deeply this year. In the past, I have seen others describe August as:
Mellow
Idle
Bittersweet
Endowed with hues of slowness and emptiness
A silly season
The year’s Sunday scaries
The August blues
A time of reluctance
Feelings of funk
One counselor likens it to nature:
“Nature, in its essence, embraces idleness in August. Flowers languidly droop, trees are starting to discolour. There is a sense that a new phase is coming. That things will be dying off, shedding, cut back. But not yet. The tree is not rushing the process. It is simply idle, and waiting, taking in the last of the sun, before it departs for longer days in the southern hemisphere.”
And Sylvia Plath once said,
“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”
While I resonate with all of this, I am intentionally trying not to rush forward into the next season. Instead, I'm focusing on savoring the final moments of summer. It’s got me reflecting on questions like, "How can we truly savor everything a season has to offer? And how do we resist the urge to rush into the next one?"
For me, this has meant trying to remember all the small moments of delight that only summer can offer. As I continue to focus on consuming less this year, these simple pleasures have included:
The smell of sprinklers on freshly cut grass
Tiny ants carrying massive loads
Sidewalk chalk hopscotch (and always jumping through it, no matter your mood)
Sunset walks at 8 p.m.
Biting into the first peach of summer
Playing in the ocean’s waves
Escaping the heat by stepping into a library’s cool AC
When I slow down enough to notice these moments, they help me savor all that August still has to offer.
Though the month has flown by, leaving me with only hazy memories of what I’ve done or loved, four things stand out in particular.
With that, let’s get to the Top 4.
Your quintessential summer evening in LA. Since it’s free and within walking distance from us, most Friday nights you will find Jon and I there, loaded picnic tote on hand. Whether we’re catching up with friends on the grass or sitting front row, mesmerized by the music, it’s always a good time.
Ya girl is gluten free (boo), which is tough when my favorite food is bread. This means that I’m on a constant hunt for GF dupes of my favorite foods (think bagels, cake, scones, waffles, croissants, etc.). Enter, New Cascadia Bakery. This was, hands down, THE BEST GF bagel I’ve ever had. Life changing. Based in Portland but you can order all their goodies online here.
When I do occasionally indulge in gluten, I make sure it’s a Nicola Lamb recipe. Her newsletter, Kitchen Projects, is one of the best out there. So thorough. So cool. Zero misses.
The Olympics
I know, I know, I also said the Olympics last month but I just can’t get over it—especially the Breaking event. B-girls Nikka and Ami may be some of my new favorite athletes and I think it’s time we cut Raygun some slack (she tried her best). Bummed to hear it will not be returning for the 2028 games.
The entire month of August, this was me while I watched and you can rest assured that I’ll be applying to volunteer for LA 2028. Some other highlights I wept over include this, this, this and this.
What were your Top 4 favorite things from August?
If August wasn’t the fastest month of the year, which one was? How come?
If you really want to lean into the melancholy of August, read this and listen to this:
I would love to hear from you! What was your Top 4 of August? Comment below or message me.
Housekeeping
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