Monthly Musings: June 2024
Hi friends! Hello! Oh my lord, JUNE! How did we get here so soon?! Gah! How the heck are you? I hope this post finds you bank-holiday-ing to the very best of your ability. Husband and I have fun plans to go out on a retro ice-cream date at some point and I can’t wait! If you’re wondering what the heckidy heck a retro ice-cream date is, allow me! We’re gonna go out, hunt around in those big chest freezers newsagents and the like have, and choose one retro ice-cream from our childhood each. The plan is then to go wander the seafront, reveling in the childish excitement, while hopefully it drizzles a little and the air feels magical. My love for ice-cream knows no bounds – which I’ve recently come to realize might be genetic, more on that below! – and I’m delighted to report it is spreading to Husband, too! All of that is to say, welcome to our Monthly Musings: June 2024 post! Have I convinced you to have an ice-cream yet?
Our musings for the month ahead are below. They’re light and airy and that feels exactly right for the level of chilled-out-ness I want to carry with me all weekend long. Enjoy, friends!
monthly musings: june 2024
Oslo was amazing!! Beyond what I was expecting! It was gorgeous! The city, the people, the kanelboller! We stayed in the lovely Aker Brygge district and were treated to the most glorious sunset night after night. On our final night, pictured above, we nabbed a dock-side lounger and watched the sky turn from blue to orange to pink as we shared an ice cream. It was the most romantic and perfect ending our little escape to Norway could have possibly had Oslo guide coming soon-ish!
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Related: I HIT 30 COUNTRIES WITHIN 30 YEARS! I officially touched down on Norwegian soil a whole 109-days before my 31st birthday, thus completing my crazy travel goal!! I just did a little digging around on the blog there; hitting 30 before 30 was actually my new year’s resolution for 2022! Of course, a global pandemic / a wedding / a whole host of other things got in the way, and as my 30th birthday came + went, I lowered my standards to 30 within 30. Different yes, but almost the same. And now it’s over! I DID IT! Part of me can’t actually believe it? I’m currently working on a 30 within 30 blog post(/s), so I’ll stop talking about it now. But ahhh! I’m so proud and happy!!
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Also related: we’ve booked our next trip away! It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment idea, and the flights were good value, so we just decided to go ahead and book it! YOLO, right?! It will be another new country for both of us, and it’s somewhere totally different! While we let the excitement of the new trip settle over us, we’re keeping mum about the whole thing and not telling a soul. More details to come soonish.. maybe! Only 97 days to go!
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In case you missed it: my three Tokyo city guides hit the blog last month! First there was Four Days in Shinjuku, then A Morning in Asakusa, and lastly 36 Hours in Shibuya. I hope you read them and I truly hope they help you out if you’re planning a trip to Japan’s capital! I’m just in the midst of putting the finishing touches to my Kyoto guide, and I can barely wait for you to get your hands on it!!
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In baking news: I made Deb’s Perfect Blueberry Muffin Loaf and can confirm that it is, in fact, perfect! We’ve also been baking our way through Nicola Lamb’s fantastic new book, SIFT, and l-o-v-i-n-g it. Last weekend we went for the 3pm Oat Biscuits – which are honestly just as good as, if not better than, real hobnobs! – and yesterday we whipped up her Roasted Strawberry Victoria Sponge, which was fab! I just love a Victoria sponge, and I’m almost positive it has nothing to do with the fact we share a name 😉
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We actually watched a lot of movies last month! Wonderful new-to-us screenings include: Next Goal Wins, Everybody Wants Some!!, Candy, and Man on Wire. Candy and Everybody Wants Some!! – although they’ve probably never been mentioned in the same sentence before! – were particular highlights for me; both fantastic and really well made. I’d also like to give an honorable mention to The Idea of You; the sheer cringey-ness of which I totally lapped up and reveled in. Fantastic rewatches include: Another Round – so stellar but why hasn’t anyone seen it!? – , The Ice Storm, and The Social Network. As always, here’s the link to our Letterboxd, if you want to follow along with our movie-watching in real time. What has been on your screen of late?
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Have you read anything in the last month? I polished off the latest Michael Connelly book, Resurrection Walk, and really enjoyed it! I mean, I always love a Harry Bosch/Mickey Haller book, but I felt this one was especially good. Also continued my deep dive into TJR’s earlier books with Forever, Interrupted, which I enjoyed but didn’t love. It was just slightly too much of a downer for me? I have one more book from her repertoire to hit and then I’ll be able to make an informed decision about my fave books of hers from 1-10; which I know you’ve all been itching for, ha! I’m currently reading Strangers by Taichi Yamada, which, while enjoyable in its own right(!), adds an extra layer of joy for me by being set in Tokyo. Oh, Japan <3.
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An oldie but a goodie: Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits. Strawberry season is among us and we must take full advantage of it while we can! If cheesecake ain’t really your thing, here’s another option: Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake. Mmm, Irish strawberries
And there we have it, our Monthly Musings: June 2024. I hope you found something to take away with you, and I really hope it’s those 3pm Oat Biscuits! I’d like to sign off with a little life advice my grandmother gave us last weekend when we visited her in the nursing home; it’s exactly the kind of sentiment I’d like to carry with me for the rest of my days.
Come rain or come shine, ice cream time!
Love, Vicki xo
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