My Favorite Things: June/July (+Why I Haven’t Been Blogging Much)

So a little life update before we get to the June/July edition of Favorites. For a long time now, I haven’t been blogging nearly as much as I used to—once or twice a week and some weeks not at all. I hate that this is the case and I am 2,000% committed to changing that. I could list a million excuses why I haven’t been able to keep up the blog, but it really just comes down to me being my own worst enemy and needing to get the f*!k out of my own way.

You may remember I started an aromatherapy course about a year and a half ago. It’s taken me WAY TOO LONG to finish it—which is a story for another day—but I’m *so* close to the end and need to make these last few course assignments my priority over P&I. I should be a Certified Holistic Aromatherapist by late July (!!!). You have no idea how excited I am to share all that I’ve learned with you guys!

In addition to focusing on the course, I’ve been subbing a lot at Btone and picking up extra shifts way beyond my normal class load. This is because I’m taking the entire month of August off from teaching and moving back home to the Vineyard from late July through Labor Day. There are the obvious reasons for wanting to spend summertime on the island, but beyond those I am CRAVING some time to just focus 100% of my energy on the blog. There’s literally never been a time when the blog was my only job and I’ve always wondered (fantasized about) what I could accomplish if it was my sole focus. I think it’s going to be magical.

Until my course is complete and August hits, expect things to continue to be pretty slow around here. I’ll still post regularly to Instagram though so you know I’m alive. 😉

Favorite Products/Services

AGOLDE High Waist Denim Shorts

AGOLDE is a new-to-me denim brand and I’m officially a fan. I’ve been wearing these Parker Vintage Cut Off Shorts pretty much every single day the last couple weeks. They look so cute at the beach with a bikini top or paired with a crop or t-shirt tucked in. Definitely going to be on heavy rotation this summer! A lot of reviews said to size down, and I probably could have fit in a size smaller, but I like the more relaxed fit of my normal size.

Balayage by My Girl Christine at Marc Harris Salon

This is for any Boston readers in need of someone to cut/color/style their hair: I seriously can’t recommend Christine at Marc Harris highly enough. She rocks. I’ve gotten subtle balayage highlights from her in the past and this year went a little bolder and blonder. I’m lower-than-low maintenance (rock-bottom maintenance, if you will) and I love that balayage looks just a good as your hair grows out as when it’s first done.

(Side note: Dyeing my hair and moving to the Vineyard for the summer—am I having a mid-life crisis?!?!)

Rip Curl High Neck Bikini

visor is from H&M and sunglasses are MVMT (nicoleperr15 gets you $15 off your order)

I swear the skin on my chest is a solid decade older than the rest of my body. It’s definitely the area that’s seen the most sun burns over the years so I’m super cautious now about always lathering on the SPF and wearing high-neck bikinis if I know it’s going to be a long beach day. I found this striped Rip Curl top at Nordstrom Rack and can’t find it online, but here it is in another pattern as well as here and here. Also this is a similar cut from Ella Moss.

Favorite Workouts

The Street at Chestnut Hill

The other week I went to the weekly free outdoor yoga class that Lululemon holds at The Street in Chestnut Hill (for the record, I’m not consuming Shake Shack at 9:30AM—it’s lemonade in the pic haha). The Street has free outdoor fitness events all throughout the summer that you should definitely check out if you’re in the area. Since selling my car, I rarely venture out to the ‘burbs, but The Street is actually only a 2-minute walk from the Green Line—way more convenient than I thought!

Favorite Eats

CAVA

I think I included CAVA in the favorites roundup about traveling to DC but it’s worth mentioning again because they just opened in Back Bay on Boylston St. Now I can add CAVA to my fast-casual rotation of Sweetgreen, Dig Inn & Bgood.

Faster Than Light from The Juicery

This is my absolute favorite smoothie order from the Juicery in the North End: Faster Than Light, add spirulina. Delish!

Curried Cauliflower, Grape & Lentil Salad from The Minimalist Baker

I like literally everything Minimalist Baker puts on her blog and this salad was the latest of her recipes I tried. Easy, flavorful and 100% will make again.

Favorite Things I …

Watched

• The Jinx – SO GOOD. I’ve heard about this docuseries a bunch over my years of being obsessed with all things true crime and finally watched it this month. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so just trust me and go watch it if you love true crime. I needed The Jinx to rebuild morale after wasting hours of my life on that BULLSHIT series The Staircase. The case is interesting (so is the owl theory — Google that if you’ve seen the docuseries), but the show could have been *literally* 10 hours shorter than it was. I don’t need to see 15 straight minutes of you and your lawyer eating Doritos. Who edited this garbage?! Oh man, I’m getting heated all over again just typing this.

Listend To

• [AUDIO BOOK] Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk | If you’ve read/listened to other Gary V books, I wouldn’t necessarily say you *need* to check this one out as well (there isn’t a ton of new material in it, in my opinion). I loved it not so much because I learned a bunch of new things, but because it was exactly what I needed to hear at the time I listened to it. As I mentioned at the start of this post, I’ve been my own worst enemy lately when it comes to running this blog so Gary V’s message was a timely one.
• [PODCAST] The RFK Tapes | History + conspiracy = sign me up. I started listening to this podcast about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and so far really like it. It’s produced by the same people who made Crimetown (<– SO good about corruption and organized crime in Providence).

Favorite Moments

I’m sure you are all sick of seeing pictures of me and Joe at weddings so you’ll be happy to know we don’t have another one until September. 😉

Wedding Weekend on the Vineyard

dress is For Love & Lemons (currently sold out, but they frequently restock)

Had a blast at my girlfriend’s wedding on the Vineyard in early June! I loved switching it up with a long-sleeved dress but am glad I brought a pair of spandex shorts with me to put on underneath when it was time to hit the dance floor (liiiiittle on the short side haha).

4th of July Vacation Week

dresses are from Rent the Runway (<–that link will get you $30 off your first order)

We had weddings the weekend before and after the 4th this year so we decided to just take the whole week off. We started out on Nantucket for wedding #1, went to the Vineyard for a couple days to recuperate, went back to Nantucket for the 4th, then finally headed to Plymouth for wedding #2. It was so much fun and made me extra grateful to call Massachusetts home.

Now that I’ve inundated you with pictures of me and my boyfriend, I’ll stop being annoying and let you get on with the rest of your Monday.

xo Nicole