Hi Friends,
I know summer isn’t everyone’s favorite season, but it’s the time of year when I feel most alive! Which means this month’s roundup comes with an extra dose of enthusiasm (and only one tiny dash of boring adulthood...but we kept it cute, see item #2).
If you missed any recent newsletters, here’s where you can catch up:
Playing Dress Up in Las Vegas
The Mid-Year Edit (for paid subscribers)
Designing the Month: July (for paid subscribers)
Paid subscribers, don’t forget to download the Italian Girl Summer Companion: 15 pages filled with inspiration for embracing your most cinematic summer.
Coming next week (available to all subscribers):
My summer of backlist reading
How I’m finally catching up on all the books I missed last year, and beyond
Now onto the things that inspired me in June!
Between the World Cup, the NHL and NBA playoffs, and the releases of Off Campus and Every Year After, we’ve had no shortage of things to watch lately.
But Mindy Kaling’s newest series, Not Suitable for Work, is the one that stole the show for me!
It’s smart, witty, funny, and somehow already a comfort watch, a friend story wrapped inside a romance, complete with an end of the season love triangle that left me very invested.
If you love Friends, New Girl, or How I Met Your Mother, I think you’ll adore it as much as I did.
But if you’re like me and have already finished it and are impatiently waiting for Season 2 (not announced yet, we’re just manifesting here ✨), here are a few recommendations to tide you over:
Adults (FX/Hulu): A similar story about five twenty-somethings living together. It’s a little raunchier than Not Suitable for Work, but laugh out loud funny.
Never Have I Ever (Netflix): Mindy Kaling’s high school series, with relatable characters, heartwarming friendships, and another great love triangle.
Friends from College (Netflix): I feel like I’m the one-woman marketing team for this show that completely flew under the radar. It shares the same messy relationship dynamics as NSFW, but with a friend group in their late thirties. The cast is incredible, and the writing is exceptional.
If TV conversations are your thing, be sure you’re subscribed to my show, Film to Table! We have a few fun spin-off series coming soon. 😊
With all the traveling (and all the outfits) last month, wrinkle removal became a big focus in my life.
My old steamer wasn’t cutting it, mostly because it took up half my suitcase and I already literally had to sit on it to get it to zip closed. Enter my new favorite travel companion: a compact gadget that’s part steamer, part iron, and isn’t she stylish? 💅
It came with me to both Las Vegas and Los Angeles, where it steamed every one of my dresses (plus quite a few of Jimmy’s shirts).
If you travel even once a year and are tired of wrestling with giant hotel irons (or don’t want to ask your host for one), I can’t recommend this little thing enough.
Anyone who knows me in real life knows that when it comes to current music, unless it’s Taylor Swift, there’s a good chance I haven’t heard it.
But while putting together the Italian Girl Summer Companion, I was listening through one of the playlists I recommended when a song called Lover Girl by Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay) started playing, and I was like, “…wait, wait, what is this?!”
Cut to me listening to that track on repeat for the rest of the day. Then I moved on to listening to her album, A Matter of Time, on repeat, everywhere I went. I really made it the soundtrack on my travels (just picture me walking through LAX looking dramatic for no reason).
If I had to describe her sound, I’d call it “new old soul,” somewhere between She & Him and Rilo Kiley, mixed with Taylor Swift-style lyrics.
If you’re looking for something fresh that feels nostalgic, I think you’ll love her!
As much as I loved spending so much of June on the West Coast, my lips were not nearly as enthusiastic.
By the time we made it to Los Angeles, I’d gone through nearly an entire tube of my beloved Saie lip balm and finally wandered into Sephora to try the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Pink Sugar I’ve seen every influencer using, and I’m here to tell you that they are not incorrect.
I love the applicator, I love the scent, I love the texture, I love everything except the fact that I’ve had it for two weeks and I’m already mentally preparing myself to buy another tube.
How about you? What’s one thing you’ve discovered recently: a book, movie, recipe, podcast, product, or random little joy that you’d recommend to a friend? Leave a comment so we can all add a few more things to our Notes apps. 😊
When we recognize what brings us the most joy, we invite more of it into our lives. Here are five things that made me happy this week. Share yours below!
My mom and dad are in town for the week! We kicked things off with a welcome dinner at our house, and I’m looking forward to a week full of fun reservations and family time.
The Fourth of July felt extra joyful this year as we celebrated our country’s 250th birthday. I made another patriotic cheesecake, and we spent the day with both sides of the family.
We popped over to a cute neighborhood in Orlando for outdoor trivia followed by dinner at the yummiest food hall. A dream summer evening!
Continuing my backlist kick, I finally watched Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash. It’s a little weird, but it’s also one of those movies that consumes your brain after finishing it. If you’re open to artsier summer films, I’d recommend it!
I waited until this week to start paying attention to the World Cup, just in time to watch the U.S. lose! 🙃 I’m officially switching allegiances to Norway because I quickly became obsessed with their Viking Row Chant.
Whether it’s a giant leap, a tiny to-do list item, a habit change, or something else, there is power in accountability, and this is a safe space to share your aim. Some weeks, we’ll fail, others, we’ll soar, but with support, we’ll always keep going together.
Until next week, get out there and make something beautiful.
Michelle
🫶 Paid subscribers keep this newsletter going! Thank you for supporting this creative community.
If you’d like to keep hanging out, you can also find me:
🍿 Talking movies, food, and nostalgia on Film to Table
📼 Getting playful with memory and pop culture on Play Me a Memory
📷 Sharing bits of everyday inspiration on Instagram
And if this newsletter made you smile, think, or feel a little more like yourself, passing it along is always appreciated!
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