June is here and normally I’d be jumping up and down with excitement. School is out, the weather is lovely, and I am usually plotting my next New England adventure. The start of June this year, well, I am just heartbroken. I’m sad for the state of our world. COVID-19, the horrific tragedy that unfolded before our eyes watching that sad video of George Floyd…the injustice. Now, our great cities being looted and set a fire. It’s hard to be upbeat when the world is screaming right now. My heart is just heavy and I don’t have the right words to say. I just know we need love and hope more than ever now.
We started our weekend celebrating our boys’ school accomplishments with an at home lobster boil and Midwest BBQ. It was a surf’n’turf party with our Midwest roots mixed with our love of New England seafood. I’m so proud of how both our boys have handled themselves with the unexpected distance learning changes. High honor rolls and they received some great end of the year awards, so we wanted to celebrate them and we did.
A shadow loomed over our weekend as the events of the day unfolded on the news and we felt some comfort in watching our live stream church service, but it was hard to not feel the weight of the world. We tried our best to answer our boys’ questions about what they saw on the news. I feel like I’m still processing so much, and all I can do at the moment is pray.
I always try to keep it light and bright here. I just couldn’t this time, so I hope you can relate to what I have stated above. It’s a strange time we are living in right now. I think about our high school seniors and how they are venturing into adulthood with so many uncertainties. They haven’t been celebrated in the usual way and I’m sure they are feeling uneasy about college and the future. I’m trying to keep things positive in our own home, especially for the sake of my boys. We have deep discussions and we are not immune to the hurt around us, but I do realize that we can’t let emotion solely dictate our actions. In a fallen world, there is always hope.
So, I am going to chose to stay positive, celebrate what we can, and hope and pray for the best. We still have a lot to be thankful for. We will have birthdays and holidays still this summer to honor. We will try to enjoy this world we are in however that looks in the months ahead. I still have work and commitments to follow through on. With that said, I am trying to be very careful and I think we all fear sounding tone deaf in these times. I’m always afraid of saying the wrong thing or being taken the wrong way. I am an optimist to my core. I do believe that after this storm we are in is over— the sun will shine brightly once again.
June Notes
What’s on my radar for this first month of summer…
T R A V E L
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CONNECTICUT!! — With the exception of our ‘“socially-distanced” photo shoot that we worked on recently at the Ocean House (I’ll share soon, promise!), we are keeping our June travel limited to Connecticut. There are still a lot of unknowns with COVID-19 and there are still travel restrictions in some of our favorite states, so it’s best to err on the side of caution. I’ll be capturing and photographing in some of my favorite summer spots in our lovely state so stay tuned!
S T Y L E
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Supporting New England brands— I have a lot of small businesses I’m featuring on the blog this month. From jewelry to apparel, there will be some good things I’ll share soon for you to support and they all have the perfect summer coastal vibes!
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Wrinkle free clothing— Yes, wrinkle free just perfect for summer. More soon 😉
L I V I N G
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Bon Weekends— I started this series a couple of weeks ago because we have been spending so much more time at home. Lord knows I love to take photographs and I am very particular and love to feature beautiful ones BUT… I also love the candid, unstyled ones just as much! So, Bon Weekend was started to highlight the candid moments from our weekends.
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WeekENDer— Thank you for messaging me and letting me know that you enjoy this Friday feature. Blog commenting is not very popular these days, so I often wonder if new series are well-received. I appreciate your emails and DM’s on IG for letting me know you enjoy them. So, I think WeekENDer will always be my Friday post.
That’s what I’ll be sharing in June and of course there will be more as the month unfolds. Thank you for your support! I’m excited to share more of New England with you!