Summer’s been great, but I’m counting down the days until fall. We spent the morning at the Morton Arboretum a few weeks ago, which covers 1,700 acres and is filled with trees and flowers and fresh air galore. At a certain point it hit me that that’s all going to turn into a fall wonderland soon. And so began my excitement for the next season.
I’ve already started burning apple-themed candles, but the first day of fall isn’t until late September, so I’ve got a way to go until I’m told I’m allowed to put up random decor around the house. For now I’ll just be dreaming of colorful leaves, pumpkin patches, apple cider donuts, and a refreshing chill in the air.
For a look at what I’ve been up to and loving during this last full month of summer, check out my favorites below!
August Favorites
Armchair Expert – I have been binge-listening to this podcast nonstop since I first discovered it early last week (so much so that I haven’t even been watching TV like I usually do in my spare time). Never would I have thought I’d love hearing Dax Shepard talk so much, but I am so into the topics he and his guests (i.e., actors and “experts” on subjects) discuss, which he defines as “the messiness of being human.” It’s mentally stimulating, and I love the way he and his co-podcaster, Monica Padman, and guests debate topics.
Unbiased News – I’m hesitant to fully trust pretty much any news source these days, because so many of them are biased. I don’t want stories to sway me one way or another, even if they’re reinforcing views I already have. It’s a struggle for me to stay up on current events, because so much is disheartening and frustrating. But being ill-informed feels so much worse. In an effort to find unbiased news sources I could read without worrying about them brainwashing me, I found this list from the site MakeUseOf.com, and it has some good resources if you’re also looking for objective news sources online. (In addition to this list, I’ll emphasize how much I love my daily theSkimm emails again, which I’ve shared in the past.)
Superstition by Young the Giant – I find it impossible to get sick of this song. I love Young the Giant.
Virgin/Regular Bloody Marys – Add the vodka or don’t, I’m all about the spicy/salty tomato juice lately. We’ve started to make our own bloody marys using low-sodium V8 tomato juice, then adding a collection of ingredients, like Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, celery salt, and more. I’ve thought about sharing a recipe on here for the combo I use, but to be determined.
Thin Pullovers – Due to my skin burning so fast (and inevitably breaking out in a rash afterwards), I’m intense about keeping my skin covered. And since sunscreen is a pain to apply and reapply frequently, I’ve been wearing thin pullover sweatshirts a lot. This one’s from the Gap, and it’s my favorite because of how thin it is. It helps me avoid getting too hot but provides an impressive amount of coverage!
Sports Peppers – These bad boys were first introduced to me via Chicago-style hot dogs. After realizing I really like them, Matt bought me an entire jar of the pickled peppers, and I can’t. stop. eating them. Warning: they’re definitely spicy (if you have a mild-to-moderate spicy tolerance like me). But they’re soooo good on sandwiches and anything you want to squeeze the spiciness onto.
Utter Nonsense – Bars/breweries with board games are constantly exposing me to new amazing games. This “Utter Nonsense” card game is hilarious. (I believe this was the “Naughty” version technically, as opposed to the family version.) You draw an accent card and a saying card. You speak the crazy saying in the accent, and the other person has to guess the accent. Cue madness. And the realization that you don’t know how to do a lot of accents. (Full disclosure: we didn’t read the directions, but this system made the most sense to us.)
The Gold by Manchester Orchestra – I haven’t heard much from this band before, but this song really stuck out to me recently.
Latest Bread Recipe – I mentioned earlier this year that I’m working my way through Bread Baking for Beginners by Bonnie Ohara (inspired by Jenna Fischer’s bread journey on IG). I don’t know why I don’t share my results more, but here’s a look at the challah I made last week! I’ve never even had challah before (a traditional Jewish bread that’s braided), but I’m into it.
Digital Antenna – We went back in time recently and discovered the amazing world that is local television. Sadly, I am 100% serious about this. We’ve just had streaming services all year since moving from San Diego to Chicago (because the cost of cable is disgusting). We bought a $25 antenna from Target just to see how many channels we can get, and while I only care about 6 of them at most, it’s been so nice to be able to watch local news on the TV instead of streaming it on my computer.
