July has been hot. Record-breaking hot. And it’s making me nostalgic for childhood summers.
Sweet, sticky ice cream melting down your fingers. “Wanna hangout?” knocks and the slap of the screen door as you run outside barefoot. The lingering smell of sunscreen mixed with chlorine. Stacks of library books and bowls of watermelon slices. The first waves of cicada drones and fireworks crackling. Bike tires humming on hot pavement.
And above all, the feeling of three months of pure freedom and fun after sitting in classrooms for the majority of the year. As we've grown older, time has sped up and responsibilities have piled on, and summer has paid the price.
For July’s theme, we’re exploring nostalgia. We're bringing back revamped, old-school summer activities that hopefully spark the same magic they did when we were kids.
Your first task: Write down five things from a childhood summer that you can still taste, smell, or hear if you close your eyes. Keep your list somewhere close. When July starts to feel like just another month to get through, pull it out and let it remind you what “free” used to feel like.
Recreate this Mood Board for yourself:
- Embark on a summer side quest
- Make an ice-cold pitcher of lemonade
- Take silly pictures in a vintage online photo booth
- Pick a matching temporary tattoo with your bestie
- Change your background to an uplifting mood board
- Revisit a cult-classic film from the ‘90s
- Go on a “penny date”
- Romanticize what softens you
- Get a colorful Y2K manicure
Life, unplugged
🌻 Theme your nostalgic summer
Making summer feel “magical” as an adult can feel unrealistic or daunting. Instead of trying to do everything, pick a one-word theme to guide how you spend your free time. Here are a few examples to get you started:
🧩 Slow: Do a jigsaw puzzle, watch a full sunset from start to finish, have a FaceTime date with a long-distance friend, or cook a meal that takes all afternoon
🗺️ Adventure: Find a new walking trail, take a spontaneous day trip, join a recreational sports league, or try a new restaurant or cafe
🧶 Crafty: Arrange a seashell wreath, sew your own Coozie, start a junk journal, or make a pressed flower candle
🍦 Throwback: Rewatch your favorite childhood movie, find an ice cream truck, visit a roller-skating rink or bowling alley, play a board game you haven't touched in years
Familiar comforts
🍹 Host a summer block party
As a kid, the best summer evenings happened when everyone drifted outside and found each other. Adults caught up and swapped stories from the day, kids chased fireflies and argued over made-up game rules, and the evening stretched long until the streetlights came on.
These activities maintain the same spirit: gathering, laughing, and letting loose with the people in your community. Invite your friends, family, and neighbors over for a block party with a few playful, nostalgic twists:
- Throw a Slip 'N Slide happy hour: Lay out a Slip 'N Slide in your yard or a local park and add a cooler of frozen cocktails and mocktails at the end of the lane.
- Organize a silly driveway competition: Organize a round of four-square, hopscotch, or a chalk mural tournament. Loser buys popsicles for the bunch.
- Set up a s'mores bar: Use a firepit, chiminea, or portable grill, lay out the classic ingredients plus a few upgrades (peanut butter cups, flavored marshmallows) and let people build their own.
- Hold a backyard talent show: Set up lawn chairs, let everyone sign up for one act, and give out superlatives (“Most Creative Act,” “Best Use of a Prop,” etc).
Help desk
📚 Book recommendations for your summer reading bucketlist
Whether you're a die-hard bookworm or someone who only picks up a novel once a year, summer has a way of pulling everyone back into reading mode. Here's a stack worth packing for whatever kind of escape you're after this season:
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Set in a Tokyo cafe where customers can travel back in time, but only for as long as it takes their coffee to go cold.
On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah
A woman returns to her childhood lake town after her life falls apart, and slowly finds her way back to herself.
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
Two teenage lovers vanish from each other's lives for 15 years, then reunite and can't stay away, no matter how hard they try.
Burnout Summer by Jenna Ramirez
After a corporate meltdown leaves her questioning everything, a 20-something trades her cubicle for a beach town summer.
Reader insights
🤸♀️ Practice being more spontaneous
As kids, we said yes before we'd even heard the plan—a knock on the door was reason enough to drop what we were doing. As adults, women are split on whether they prefer mapped out or spontaneous social plans. Both have their place, but spontaneity often makes it easier to stay connected in the gaps between the birthdays, dinners, and planned weekend trips.
One survey respondent found less planning meant less pressure: “I think I'm just now understanding that spontaneous plans are better for me. I used to assume planning in advance would be more comfortable but it turns out it just stresses me out because I have more time to think about the event and can psych myself out by the time it gets here.”
If every social plan feels like a full-on event, it's easy to talk yourself out of going. The next time you have an open afternoon or evening, reach out to a friend with a simple invitation:
- Grab coffee
- Take a short walk
- Run errands together
- Watch an episode of a show
- Book a fitness class
- Get pedicures together
