The Sunday Newsletter

Hi! Happy Monday (supposed to be Sunday)! While I totally meant to post yesterday, I’m getting to this a little late–I wasn’t feeling my best yesterday, but I hope everyone’s had a good week!

We’re getting further and further from Midsummer, but I wanted to give a little update on our successful Midsummer weekend! Last weekend I hosted a little Midsummer party with some friends in the backyard to celebrate. It’s one of my favorite Swedish holidays–always on or close to the longest day of the year, celebrating the summer solstice.

I spent most of the day prepping food while Lucas cleaned and set up the outdoor area. We finally hung string lights along the fence, and Lucas got a little push-and-pull lawnmower to mow our 10x10-foot lawn. The new grass has been such a game-changer–it makes the backyard feel so much cozier and actually like a place we want to hang out.

Since I wanted to keep things pretty casual but still have lots of food, I put together a bunch of easy dishes that required minimal time at the stove. The menu: baguette crostini with a shrimp skagen salad I made earlier in the day and kept in the fridge until ready to assemble, smoked salmon off our smoker (which I may have smoked a little too long) with a classic crème fraîche sauce, a platter of crispbread and sourdough with butter and cheese, and boiled potatoes with dill, olive oil, salt, and pepper. My friend Luci–who is also a great cook and works as a food stylist–came over early to help set up and made a really fresh and delicious corn and tomato salad, plus chimichurri tofu, for our vegetarian friends. We also had a little bar cart set up with lots of wine, beer, and homemade spritz syrups made by Luci.

For dessert, we had the classic–strawberries with heavy cream and sugar, and ice cream on the side for those who didn’t want cream. I love this dessert because it takes almost no effort, everyone likes it, and nothing beats fresh strawberries in the summer–especially if you can get them at the farmers market (which I couldn’t this time sadly…). If I’d had more energy and time, I would’ve made a strawberries-and-cream cake with vanilla custard, but I’ll save that for next year. And, admittedly, it was so nice to have to bake anything.

Another one of my favorite parts of Midsummer is making flower crowns, so I had everyone bring a small bouquet so we could all make our own. I usually celebrate Midsummer in Sweden with my family, so I’m always a little bummed when I can’t be there–but celebrating here in New York with friends definitely made up for it, and I love sharing Swedish traditions with them.

It was such a wholesome evening and the perfect way to officially break in the new garden. I already can’t wait to host more backyard parties this summer.

• Raspberry crisp - a Swedish version of a crisp that’s somewhere between a pie and a tart!

• Bacon & chevre potato salad - I spy the Fourth of July coming up in less than a week, hint hint…!

• Vanilla rhubarb pavlova - rhubarb season won’t last much longer!!

• No-knead breakfast buns - assemble the dough the night before, let it rise in the fridge overnight, and bake them off in the morning.

• Refy beauty cream blush - I’m usually a die-hard Rhode blush girl, but I got this one in the color Guava recently, and I’ve been reaching for it so much. It’s a super bright pinky-redish color, and I think it’s so nice for summer, especially with a little tan.

• K18 leave-in hair mask - I must admit, I was a little confused when I read on the back not to wash it out, but I was actually so happy to realize you do, in fact, just use it as a leave-in conditioner and style your hair as is with it in. As someone who puts off using hair masks because I don’t want to wait the extra time in the shower, this is a huge plus.

• Wide mouth 24 oz Hydro Flask - I usually am not a huge water bottle fan, but this one is skinny and tall, making it easy to fit in my work bag. They also have the cutest colors.

• Calpak Luka large duffel - I’m going to Sweden next week, and I don’t have a very big suitcase, so I’ve been trying to find a good travel duffel to bring with me, and I just got this one! Big enough to fit all my extra stuff, and it will be great for quick weekend trips too.

Thanks for reading and supporting! If you also did any type of Midsummer celebration, I’d love to hear from you in the chat!