hello! june is ending, and so has my 40th year on the earth. i decided as a gift? to myself i would have a party and make all the food. it was a small party but i still did nothing but cook and sleep for 24 hours. it was good to prove to myself that i could, but why? my friends are also very good cooks. still. a trophy (and leftovers) for me.

inspired by a pal, i decided to make a syllabus for the summer. it’s a tough season for me, so i thought having specific things to look forward to or prioritize might help! most of the books are things i already own or have requested from the library. i’ll circle back in september to see how i did.

read: A Cute Little Murder by Molly Harper (2026). This is the second kid-detectives-grown-up book I’ve read this year, and I can’t say I mind it as a theme. In this case, the detectives reunite on a remote island to save one of their careers, and the onetime watson finally gets her chance to shine. I thought this was going to be gay and it wasn’t, but I still had fun! Mostly with the setting, which was an early 20th century hotel in the great lakes. (Library paperback.)

watch: Widow’s Bay (2026). I rarely watch something at the right time to participate in the zeitgeist, but I managed with this and I’m so glad. A friend once described my ideal horror movie as “a spooky piece of wood” (referencing The Fog, my beloved), and I gotta say: Widow’s Bay is a such a spooky piece of wood, and really funny besides. I highly recommend it.

show: Spanish Love Songs. I saw them for the second time, this time in the TINIEST venue. Incredible experience. Since then, I’ve been listening to the 2018 album Schmaltz on repeat.

watch: Untamed (2025). I was looking for a murder mystery to watch with half my brain and this fit the bill. It was fairly predictable, but it can be fun to cheer with Robyn when a thing we’ve predicted in a mystery show comes to pass. I’ve put in years of work for this. I earned it. That said, I loved Ranger Vasquez and am looking forward to seeing what they do with season 2.

cookery: My seasonal cooking has continued! My dad is a big fan of peaches, so I made him a peach cake and a peach and tomato panzanella for father’s day, to say nothing of my birthday spread, which included this extremely good dill pickle pasta salad, a blackberry lime punch (i juiced the blackberries!), and of course my CAKE, which was lemon ricotta with raspberry jam.

read: A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas DiDomizio (2026). Had a blast with this story of a billionaire’s son who is sent to a wilderness summer camp with his pre-teen aunt to prove that he’s not too selfish and useless for his inheritance. I love a snob, and tbh Mikey could have been snobbier, but I still found this mystery smart, funny, and warm. (Library paperback.)

Dog

cat: