Summer is just flying on by!

I cannot believe it is already mid-July!

!!!

But, a reminder that we still have two months of official summer, so why not just knock it out of the park? Go off the rails! Paint outside the lines! Do your MF thing!

That is a reminder for myself, as well, to just do the fun thing every single day!

!!!!!!!

Ok, let’s get down to what’s been holding me together since we last talked.

• Crepe Walk— I have added a little exercise to my daily walks in an effort to both slow down as well as to appreciate Memphis’ copious crepe myrtles. I will stand nearly nose-deep into a bloom and not move until I have captured the perfect color name. Grape purple? No, violet…no, Ultraviolet! It’s one of those small things that has turned into a big thing— Are we taking the time to not only see, but to really look at the world around us? My new favorite crepes are Elle Woods (perfect sorority girl pink) on the side of my house and Jane Fonda (80’s aerobic neon) in my neighbors’ backyard.
• Speaking of landscapes, I finally upgraded my backyard with a little oasis flowerbed behind the pool! My darling landscaper built a retaining wall with gorgeous rosy-quartz stone to finally/hopefully put an end to the pool destruction from rain and other evil, summer elements. Of course I couldn’t leave it at that, so decided to enclose the area and build out a wildflower oasis! I met him at the contractors-only nursery, dressed for the part in Carhartt overalls and pigtails (I am a cartoon character) and picked wildflowers in juicy shades of pink, orange and red, and complimented it all with vibrant, lime-green hostas. The finished product is making me want to spend even more time poolside, which is a lesson to just do the damn thing!
• BPP (Brown Pilates Princess)– Memphis’ newest Pilates craze is courtesy of Ashleigh Hayes, a fabulous instructor I stumbled on years ago at my local fave MindBodyHaus. Ashleigh launched Evolve Pilates this past May, and it is now the spot for reformer Pilates. My sister and I did a 3-class teaser, and it confirmed that I must become a regular! The classes are hard and engaging, but still true to the Pilates method. Additionally, Evolve is a Black-female-owned studio, and you can feel it in every detail. The clientele is mostly women who look like me, which is a spiritual boost I have desperately needed in the boutique fitness space. The playlists are not oonz-oonz muzak courtesy of a corporate playlist, and Ashleigh encourages her clients to say hello and actually engage with our fellow Pilates girls during class. In short, the community is very apparent! Another shoutout– Evolve is in the Uptown community, a development that was imagined 30+ years ago as a true neighborhood just beyond Memphis’ central downtown business district. It has gotten a recent infusion of investment and creativity through the vision of Andre Jones, a local businessman who has dedicated his life to affordable, high-quality and diverse housing.
• I’m so embarrassed to even admit it, but Starbucks’ hazelnut shaken iced espresso has me in a chokehold! That’s it— that’s the entire bullet point.
• If you’re not neck-deep in fresh produce right now, like bffr! My entire day revolves around the pool and eating tomatoes/peaches/strawberries! I have been making fruit salads in weekly batches, so when the mood strikes, all systems are go. I rough chop peaches, nectarines, strawberries and add blueberries, a sprinkle of coconut sugar and lemon juice. Once all the flavors settle, it is the perfect mix for a low-lift yogurt parfait. The tomato combos are endless, since I am a year-round Tomato Girly. This past Saturday, following a particularly grueling spin class + a farmer’s market run, I slapped together my favorite summer sandwich of all time and devoured it standing up!
• Bath & Body— I have probably only talked about this in text threads, but I am devoted to the SACHEU lip stain in the color p-inked. After a full year of seeing that bizarre, dark lip all over the internet, I said f it, why not! It has a bit of a learning curve and did not stand a chance against a large popcorn + Sprite combo during a recent F1 showing, but it provides some long-lasting color and allows full lip color customization. On the subject of customization, I swung by local favorite Maggie’s Pharm for new body wash and came up with an undeniably warm-weather scent combo of coconut, santal, rich orange and patchouli! This is a nudge to add a layer of fresh citrus to whatever perfume profile you are currently rocking. Other mentions, my sister gifted me and my mom with this set and I can’t wait to take it on the road; still loving this a lot; and dying to try Ali Webb’s latest for summer hair!
• Ok, ending with some quick hits on things I’m loving lately– that first tingly dip in the pool after baking in the sun, really not GAF how your hair looks most days, a random baseball cap that can take a good sweat, pool drop-ins with best friends, not getting on a plane for 30+ days, a surprise text via someone you weren’t expecting to hear from, seeing an ex and kinda not caring at all, bad movies in the afternoon, finding a signature pool pounder wine for the summer, no manicures because there’s too much to do outside, actual books rife with sunscreen+pool+unidentified summer stains, really sweaty walks… The list goes on an on!

Happy mid-July! Remember what we talked about earlier– choose irreverent, choose fun, choose summer! LIVE LOVE LAUGH Xx

**photos via mostly me and the editorial spreads courtesy of simple magazine, but I have to give a special shout out to the incredible art of Christoph Niemann in the bottom left. Niemann is a frequent New Yorker cover artist, and so many of his images (I learned) are my favorite, most iconic works!