Sunday Duvet Reading: June Edition
it's here, it's toasty and it's the big, cosy round up of everything delightful from the last month!
Hello, hello! and happy Sunday lovely people!
You know when feels like a good time to start writing a newsletter?
…Last thing on a Saturday night as I sit here watching Neil Young sing Harvest Moon at Glastonbury on a very sticky June evening. Although I may never learn that leaving things to the last minute is a good idea (especially when you have endless chatter fizzing around in your mind and lots of lovely things to share), you have to salute me for being able to romanticise the last minute with finding painfully apt backgrounds to tap away to! Because does anything really say the end of June like a slow Saturday night festival set on the television (I know Neil would disagree, but as far as I’m concerned, if you can’t be there- pour a glass of something cool and put your feet up).
I feel like this month has flown by in a haze of dust, birthday cake and life packed into tote bags. Glorious in many ways, but peppered with unpredictability and a mild sense of disorganisation that has meant that most structure of my day-to-day has gone out of the window. Very, very excitingly we began a kitchen and dining room renovation this month and it has been beyond exciting and surreal to watch the bones of our home take on a new shape and structure.
Admittedly, I’ve never done or lived in a home that has had work done to it, so naively underestimated the volume of disruption and dust- but knowing that in the not-so-distant future (perhaps this time next month?!) there will be a working oven, dinner table and little open shelves for my tower of recipe books stacked on top of them feels so so exciting!! GAH! I keep pinching myself that we get to do this, so I’ll try and share some more next month (once I’m a little more on top of things- thank you for bearing with me this month, I know it’s been a smidgen more quiet than normal)!
June also came with birthdays (mine and two of my very best friends), a heatwave, a little harvest from our vegetable patch (WE GOT A COURGETTE, BABY!! and some… spiky cucumbers?), lots of hose fights (which I’m trying to really relax into- how are children so brazen and relaxed with a freezing hose?!), a beautiful wedding in the British northern countryside (with dancing to Liberty X and Girls Aloud, naturally), more packets of sharing crisps on grass than I care to go into (at one point during a picnic I said ‘I don’t think my hand has been out of a bag of crisps all afternoon’) and a trip to the seaside, which I hope marks the start of a very significant pebble collection…
Anyway- this month’s is a bit of a big ‘un so I’ll put in a pin in my chatter for now and let you tuck in with your eggs and cuppa! Have a gorgeous day, and week ahead folks!
P.S If the whole newsletter doesn’t display on email, it’s because it’s a little bit long this week (when is it not)! Open on your desktop, in a browser or on the app for everything in it’s full glory!
One of my favourite things to read this month actually came out yesterday, and it was from Viv Chen who writes the brilliant newsletter, The Molehill. Her newsletter is a total melting pot of primary coloured style inspiration and imagination and this week she shared an interview with none other than HAYLEY FREAKIN’ WILLIAMS. If you know me, you’ll know I am a huuuge Paramore fan- but last summer I was obsessed more than ever with Hayley’s Era’s Tour outfits; her Debbie Harry front woman presence and I just think she’s the absolute most bad ass ever ever (no way of typing that without sounding like an overexcited teenage girl). Plus, “all proceeds of monthly subscription upgrades to read the piece from now until Friday will go to the Garment Worker Center’s Immigrant Worker Defense Fund”. Which is also very, very cool indeed.
If you’re in need of a pep talk this month, a gentle hand hold to keep believing in yourself and following the thing that lights you up and sings to your soul; may it be from none other than the gorgeous Maggie Rogers. A joyful read on dreams that I could have filled a notebook quoting.
“Art is not an industry or a game; it is a practice. I’d tell that girl nine years ago that, over and over again, it’s your artistic faith that will save you. I’d tell her it’s kind of punk to take the long road. I’d remind her that no two artistic careers will ever be the same and that the numbers do not matter. What matters is how you make people feel.” - Maggie Rogers: The Truth About Dreams
Not only do I completely adore following Angela Scanlon (I have yet to give her podcast a listen but it is firmly on my list) but following her on Instagram, at a time where it feels like the platform can become a sticky hive of comparison is a joy. She shared this video earlier this week and I loved it. LOVED. One I will begin every week/day/morning watching.
If you want a nosey around a stunning home (and really, who doesn’t want to snoop inside a beautiful house)?! This popped up on my YouTube and all I can say is THAT KITCHEN! THAT WARDROBE! Do not let me near a paint sample pot after seeing this!
In terms of gorgeous send-outs; Daisy’s post on re-finding your confidence, Cat Cohen’s posts on everything (this one from April made me laugh out loud, but all of her writing does) and Natasha’s nostalgic summer list, featuring 8 of the best books to read at this time of year (and you know how I feel about seasonal reading)!
P.S, if you like beautiful British-made pyjamas and nightdresses as much as me, mark your diaries for this evening at 7pm as Emma from Calamint is having a sample sale and I just know there will be some total gems.
If you thought you were escaping the Glastonbury chat in this digital comfort blanket- I regret to inform you you are not. But! I do come baring news that whilst the FOMO might be rich, I also think that watching Glastonbury at home, from the sofa, with the back doors open and in some fresh pyjamas is a really really good second best option. Obviously I say that until I inevitably hear 250,000 people shout 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING SUNDAY BABY' when I watch Pulp’s not-so-secret set back and then take it all back in an enormous strop, but until then- it's a good bet!
Anyway; it feels like a bit of a cop out talking about this but truly if you want an insight into everything I'm listening to and getting over excited about it's sitting on iPlayer flip flopping between doing the butcher, the baker, the home and the family maker with CMAT and bawling my tiny eyes out to Lewis Capaldi. What a time to be alive! I also watched Gracie Abram’s and all I have to say is that I have been steadfast in my long hair era and now I could be buckling! Someone try and talk me out of it please…
Other wonderful things I have listened to and loved this month include but are very much not limited to:
Talking Heads releasing a video with SAOIRSE RONAN. Magic. The pair of ‘em.
Pulp in Concert at the BBC went up- and if you look carefully you can spot mine and my dads head which was VERY exciting! It’s also a glorious watch and my god I just love Jarvis.
Oh, Big Thief also have a beautiful new song which I couldn’t have summed up better than this:
My best friend is getting married and having a big ol’ party in August and I am ON THE HUNT for a dress. I know I quite likely have things in my wardrobe; but if there is a reason for a beautiful new frock and to celebrate, surely it is this. I saw the beautiful Anna in De La Vali this week and was on their website quicker than when I dashed to iPlayer when Pulp’s Glastonbury set started yesterday afternoon- and that was RAPID. The polka dots! The elegance! The sexiness! This black and red magnolia floral dress is a total knockout.
I discovered Project Bon and their art-like jewellery this month via my pal Harmony, and if Harmony says something is good- chances are, you’re going to want to know about it. Created in Barcelona, each piece is handmade and inspired by nature with a beautiful Mediterranean palette, and my oh my the earrings are so beautiful.
I feel like a lot of the girlies will already be familiar with My Mum Made It, but incase they are new to you as they are me- then let me introduce you! Their girlish nightwear-inspired pieces marry romance with childlike playfulness and everything has a completely ethereal main-character energy to it. The kind of dresses you want to picnic, nap and run errands in (in the most overdressed, chic, way possible).
Finally, this week I’ve been spotting some seriously cool inspiration from menswear brand Drake’s. My brother is already the biggest Drake’s fan because the guy knows what is UP. He has the INFORMATION! And you don’t have to spend long browsing their Instagram to see some impeccably suave styling and excellent creative. Inspiring, inspiring, inspiring! (And just perhaps, a tiiiiny bit hot to be thinking about today)!
I hope you have a gorgeous Sunday, stay cool and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. Here’s to Wimbledon, festival season and the best picky bit time of year! And! If you’d like to subscribe for more chatter, heart-to-hearts, diary posts, vintage recommendations, playlists and so much more, you can do so below for all my additional weekly send outs for £1.25 a week. Thank you for all of your wonderful support, it really means the world. I know it’s a lot and there are many, many newsletters to choose from so I am so very grateful to have you here.
This was such a lovely comforting read for my Sunday morning sitting with a cuppa 🥰