Hayley: When I suggested to Victoria that we write about all of our feelings about summer, she said "is it too early for summer tho lol, i feel like spring gets fucked" to which I replied "Yeah bc spring can get fucked." And that is the energy we are taking into this convo!
I wanted to talk about summer because I really hate spring, and this spring has been particularly brutal in Chicago. Spring is chaos, and not in a fun way like fall, where you're like ooooh I get to wear my boots today!!! I do, ultimately, love living in a place where I can experience all four seasons though because it constantly humbles me in a way that is second only to re-reading my high school journal.
My favorite season is winter, and haters can hate. I am reliably too sweaty to full enjoy the others, although they do have their perks. And my attitude on seasons and weather in general has changed a lot since becoming a dog owner.
Victoria, how do you feel about spring? And also, what is your favorite season?
Victoria: “Time of the Season” of course reminds me of the song of the same name by the Zombies. That song, to me, perfectly describes the late spring vibe. We are coming out of hiding! People are putting on tank tops and cropped pants and revealing tattoos we didn’t know about! Frogs are having sex (I don’t know if this is true but it feels right).
I think spring gets such a bad wrap because it’s the season most fucked by global warming. Winters are warmer than when we were kids, but it does still snow, and people will pretend it’s colder than it is for fashion reasons and seasonal holiday reasons. It takes longer every fall for it to get cold, but you kind of just let fall clothes take over November and early December, and you celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving no matter the weather forecast. Extreme heat makes summer suck deeply, but it doesn’t make it less summer. It makes it more summer.
And then poor spring. Every spring is too cold in April and too hot in May. Probably some of it is nostalgia, but things never felt quite this bad when were were younger. I guess part of the joy of spring as a young person, though, is that school is ending, and without out, it really loses its sparkle.
I used to say October was my favorite month, and then April. They’re inverses. But i’ve turned on April. November is now my second favorite month. Sorry to April.
So my favorite season is fall. I used to hate summer most but after the nightmare of the last two plus years, I appreciate that in summer there are many places to sit outside, in the light, spread out. I still hate sweating and being hot, but I see it’s appeal now.
And yet, summer is a fickle mistress. Last year i became very aware that as an adult, summer is more or less ten weekends. What will you do with your wild and precious ten weekends? Choose right or you’ll regret it the other ten and a half months of the year.
Hayley: I also agree that the pandemic changed my views on summer, and I fully appreciate the ability to just be outside instead of always inside. And of course, having a dog means that I enjoy the nice weather so that Tilly and I can take long meandering walks and I'm in a good mood. During winter I wear my ankle-length down coat and wool hat and yell "GO POTTY" at her like 4x a minute.
I do think that holiday preferences are closely tied to season preferences. My favorite holiday is New Year's Eve, and I'm a winter bitch. I do hate the tail end of winter when it just feels like you'll never see the sun again, but mostly I like having an excuse to stay inside and drink tea and read. And of course, the best thing about winter is that it gets dark super early so watching tv and movies is better because you are automatically in a movie theater-dark room and don't have to deal with glare on your tv screen (relatable or am I insane? sound off in the comments).
Winter is also better for cooking, imo. I love soups and stews, and it's really easy to make a big batch of that at the beginning of the week and heat it up throughout. In the summer I never want to use the oven or stovetop, so I feel like I get stuck in ruts of eating little snack meals instead of making anything substantial. You know I do love a salad, though, which is a delight to eat year round.
As much as I kept wishing for warm weather this year, I'm already getting drenched in sweat taking Tilly for a walk at 8:00am. I know what I will do with my wild and precious ten weekends: sweat.
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Victoria: Well I think winter has the upper hand, holiday wise, with December. December lulls you into a belief that maybe this winter won't be so bad. That's basically always a lie, but it is good marketing.
Something I feel strongly about is that every month should have a national holiday, and I think August would be a lot better if we all got at least one day off. April could use at least two days off. Get to it, government. I'm sure you have no other priorities right now.
The glare from the sun thing is so real — I keep having to close my blinds really tight so I can watch whatever movie or TV show is on my screen.
Winter is excellent cooking, but I can't count out the bounty of summer produce. Corn! Tomatoes! Cherries! Strawberries! Plums! Watermelon! More zucchini than anyone could ever eat! Hard to beat that.
The sweat issue remains. Why must bodies sweat? Feels like a manufacturing error. I would like to speak to the manager of having a corporal form.
Stuff Hayley Likes:
Victoria gifted me this iced tea pitcher when I got my new job, and I cannot recommend it enough. I keep making pitchers of tea thinking they will last me the week and they're gone in two days. The Strawberry Lemonade pitcher pack is my favorite so far, but rest assured I will try them all.
Two books that I can't recommend more highly: Tacky by Rax King and Dress Code by Véronique Hyland.
These are the most comfortable Apple watch bands I've tried yet.
Things Victoria Recs:
"The Baby" on HBO is a horror comedy series that is not getting enough hype! I also spoke to its star, Michelle de Swerte, for POPSUGAR, and she was a delight. (Actually she's the second star, after the baby). Also great on HBO Max right now is the "Spring Awakening" doc "Those You've Known." Took me right back to 2008 and cried many times.
Speaking of my job, last week I ranked every major couple in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. None of them are horny enough.
Friend of the newsletter Emmy Potter wrote a great newsletter of her own about Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe's dress. Very much recommend.