For a Summer That Feels Good

A seasonal bucket list turned bingo board

I'm in my 30s now, and while I’m building a slow business and a slower life, I know things will inevitably get busy (as they are now). If I don’t do something, the seasons will just pass on by in a blink. I’ll get used to the changes without really noticing them, and BAM, it’s September and I haven’t caught a whiff of salty ocean air. So, each season, I create a bucket list. Do I get to all of it? No, there hasn’t been a season I have. But does it inspire me to do things? Absolutely. Does it help me slow down and really experience the season? Also yes. And is it fun? Yeah, yeah it is.

Listen, I’m into cooler and cold weather. My birthday is in the winter, and I enjoy the holiday season. But the last few years, I’ve started to appreciate summer for what it is. To notice the changes in sounds, the bright, dramatic greens and blues, the way people’s moods and clothes change is beautiful, and I get to be present. Keeping an eye out for more opportunities to eat outside, the whole category of cozy beach mysteries, new and local workshops and events - it all brings an overall sense of aliveness. There is much to admire.

Since I'm naturally a list maker (I have a proclivity for organization), I make bucket lists. In a few steps, here's how I do it.

1. Brain Dump

Just get out what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling, what I might want to do.

2. Gather Inspiration

This usually involves creating a mood board of some sort, looking through my old summer photos, and things. Here's my Pinterest board for this summer.

3. Create Buckets

I write out some mini buckets - pails, if you will - to categorize things like wellness, outdoors, and community, so I know I’m getting a good mix.

I laughed at pails, that was a good one wasn’t it?

4. Get Specific

Here I’m writing what I'd actually like to do. It’s easier for me to lead with a verb, like a to-do rather than an idea. Here’s the full list:

Experiences:

• Visit a summer-themed exhibit at a museum or garden

• Host a summer movie night outdoors

• Take a weekend beach trip

• Have a cookout

• Host a chill summer party (I believe the girls call what I'm thinking of the *coastal grandma* aesthetic)

• Volunteer outdoors

• Pick up summer fruit from the farmers' market

• Try out a new local event

Creative & Sensory Stuff

• Read three books set in the summer

• Make homemade ice cream or gelato

• Watercolor some fruit

• Wear a summer dress

• Decorate seasonally

• Create a letter pressed postcard with a summer quote or lyric, or poem, or a little haiku of sorts

• Keep an herbal plant alive

• Add summer bookmarks to the Little Free Library

• Bake mini summer tarts

• Write a dramatic seaside poem

Quiet

• Watch the sunrise and sunset on the same day

• Journal outside with no prompt

• Build my summer 2025 archive: photos, ephemera, and memories

• Daytime nap in the sun

• Cloud watch

• Don't flail or smack around when a bug inevitably lands on me. Be cool, chill, zen

5. Make it Nice

Write it in a journal, type it out on a typewriter, make it nice on the eyes. I made a bingo board in Canva!

6. Get Some Accountability

Get a partner, friend, loved one, somebody to do some or all of it with you. It can be hard to make time for ourselves, and stick to it. If not together, they can still hold you accountable for enjoying your Summer!

We are just two weeks into the summer but the heat and storms are making it feel like we're in the thick of it - so I’m very ready to get this bingo going. I haven't come up with any rewards for hitting bingo, let me know if you think of any. I'm happy to hold you accountable to enjoying the season, message me!