Monthly Musings: June 2023
Sweet friends, hello! Happy June! Welcome to our Monthly Musings: June 2023 post. How the heck are you? Have your summer freckles started to come in yet? I’ve been out walking a lot recently, and gosh, my summer freckles have well and truly arrived. Despite my natural vampire-ish tendencies, my newfound mission to get my 10k steps in everyday has put me in the spot(/sun)light more than usual. My freckles and I have been out there hustling every day, down at the seafront mostly, walking walking walking, and I’m pleased to say it’s paid off! I somehow managed to get over 10k steps daily last month – and it feels pretty great! I’m hoping to keep it up, but uyy the heat of the summer sun is almost too much for me. I’m in the process of begging my parents for their old treadmill, which will be a total gamechanger on exceptionally hot days. Pray for me?
Anyways, did you have a nice long weekend? We BBQ-ed and drank fruity cocktails along with the rest of the country, and man it was great! Shall we get down to the good stuff? Our thoughts for the month ahead are below. All the usuals are in attendance: wedding chatter, travel talk, baking plans, and some off-piste bits & bobs to keep us entertained. Happy reading!
monthly musings: june 2023
There’s been some good news on the wedding bulletin board since we last caught up! To start with: the bridesmaid dresses are sorted! They’re the ones I talked about in our April MM, and they’re perfect! I can’t believe how lucky we got because a) they’re beyond beautiful b) both bridesmaids love them & c) they were a bargain! Win win win! Next: Fiancé went suit browsing, and now officially knows what type he’s getting and where he’s getting it! And lastly: we finally chose a DJ for the night of! Things are really starting to shape up! Less than six months to goooo! 😀
*
Moderate-loosely related: we’ve started seriously planning our mini-moon. Yes, we’re having a mini-moon. We plan on escaping riiiiight after our wedding for a little time away together in our most favourite place, Italia. The rough outline is in – Bologna, Ravenna, San Marino, Parma + Modena – and we’re so excited!! More details to come once we have everything nailed down, promise! We’re still in the hotel booking stage, but gosh I can barely wait!
*
It seems almost pointless to bring this up so long after the fact, but it was the blog birthday at the end of April. This here little corner of the internet turned 11 years old and my love for it grew even stronger! Happy 11th birthday, Passionate Baker! Sadly, the occasion managed to pass us by without any birthday cake – I blame the wedding planning – but I’m looking to remedy this situation ASAP. If you want to take a look back over previous blog birthday bakes: browse the archive here.
*
Actually, speaking of baking, I recently created the absolute best chocolate muffin recipe I’ve ever come across. I’ve made them twice now, and they’re so insanely tender and light, yet chocolatey and oomf-inducing at the same time! I’m planning to whip up a new batch very soon, shoot them for the blog, and share with you asap. I just know you’re going to love them!
*
In case you missed it, my latest travel guide hit the blog a little while back! 6 Things to See in Monaco covers exactly what it says on the tin: 6 wonderful spots to hit when you visit Monaco. Have you ever been to the tiny little country perched on the French coastline? I’m so glad that Fiancé & I were able to visit it earlier this year – it was my 28th new-to-me country!
*
Related: I’m amending my 30 countries before 30 goal to 30 countries in 30. Many Every single one of my travel hopes and dreams for this year have fallen apart, so I’ve had to put this goal on pause until after the wedding. September – my 30th – is only around the corner, 91 days to be exact, so it’s just unrealistic. 30 countries in 30 is basically just the same thing anyways, right? At least, that’s what I’m telling myself in an effort to stop the self-loathing, failure ridden insane pity parties that have overwhelmed me of late. Gulp.
*
In a very unlike me turn of events: I want to start doing more fun hairstyles. I straightened my hair for the first time in a LONG time recently, and totally loved it! It’s so funny how a little styling can make such a huge difference! I really want to lean into making more of an effort – but hair has never been my forte. Case in point: I can barely do a straight up regular ole boring plait, let alone anything exotic – French, fishtail, or the like. But no more! YouTube seems like the reasonable first step, so wish me luck!
*
Let’s talk books, shall we? I’ve read some goodies lately! First: Sunburn, an Irish authored novel about first loves & summer fun, set in the Irish countryside. I normally try to avoid overtly Irish books, but I thought this was great! It’s sort of like a female version of Call Me By Your Name, but entirely different and just as worthy of a read. Second: None of This is True, Lisa Jewel’s next book. It’s written in the style of Daisy Jones & the Six: transcripts from podcasts, interviews, and Netflix docu-episodes; it’s really rather intriguing! Lastly, not an ARC, but I finally got to read Prince Harry’s Spare, which honestly broke my heart. I wasn’t expecting to come away from it feeling sorry for him – not because of anything from recent memory – but because of how almost neglected his childhood seemed.
*
Have you seen anything great recently? TV-wise: we just finished Fatal Attraction on Paramount+, and we’re a few episodes deep into Killing Eve. RE the former, we like the actors, but felt the show was dragged out and slow. RE the latter, we like it! Easy viewing, fun, and quirky! Movie-wise: there hasn’t really been anything great of late. The only new movie we saw and liked recently was Air, which we we gave a 4.5 on Letterboxd. Oldies we really enjoyed include: Boys Don’t Cry, 12 Angry Men, Philomena, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and, the classic, Mrs. Doubtfire. Don’t you just love a classic?
*
And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: June 2023 post! I hope you found something to take away with you, be it a book rec, a travel itch, or just something frivolous to ponder. Let’s catch up again next month!
Happy summer,
Vicki xo
related posts