In the era of TikTok and Instagram Reels, my true love for old-fashioned blogs remains. There’s something so nostalgic and comforting about reading a blog to me, and I could spend hours reading through a favorite blogger’s archives! And to me, the best thing is, in the age where everything is meant to be optimized for search engines, the posts that I love the most are the ones like these: slightly aimless, a little rambly, but just a peek into someone’s life at the time. So without further ado, here are ten of my summer favorites!
1. I have been obsessed with a new-to-me artist and can’t get enough! Dylan Gossett is a country singer who writes songs that make me feel so nostalgic and bittersweet. They’re perfect for long sunset walks and he has lyrics that make me listen to the same songs on repeat. “Love is tough but loneliness is twice as hard,” is so relatable and beautiful!
2. I haven’t been drinking this summer, so I’ve been turning to Athletic Brewing Mexican Lager! Tastes just like a beer, and while my drink of choice had always been a cocktail or a dirty martini, I really love a beer on a hot afternoon at a patio.
3. Bachelor in Paradise is so back, baby. I will watch The Bachelor series until they take it off our TV screens, mainly because I love to listen to the Game of Roses podcast, but I actually think this season will be a fresh, new start. I know a lot of people online don’t like that it feels different, but I thought the old seasons were feeling super stale, so I’m glad for a change!
4. This has been a summer of reading, and my friend LB and I are reading the John Ceepak mysteries. They’re some of her favorite books from high school, so it’s really fun to read them and talk about it! It’s a mystery series following a cop duo: John Ceepak who always abides by his own moral code and Danny, our narrator, who’s witty and sarcastic.
There’s something so nostalgic about books written in the early 2000s. In one of the books, Danny talks about one of the girls he’s dating who he hasn’t talked to in a few days. Cannot imagine being so casual about dating (but that might be more of a me thing than a 2025 thing?) but it’s really fun to read.
5. Speaking of reading, my favorite book in a few months has been Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell. She’s one of my favorite authors ever, and this book might have been my favorite of hers! It alternates between the POVs of our two main characters who are best friends who later have a second chance romance story. It’s just so sweet and messy in a way that feels understandable instead of frustrating.
6. My hobby this summer: long, long walks. I went from an average of 5K steps a day to 10K steps a day because I’m truly treating it like my job! I love a good workout class, but in 2025, I’ve been slowing down and choosing walking over 5+ workout classes a week. If I don’t wake up in time to go to a fitness studio, I still try to have an iced coffee and walk for at least 20 minutes in the morning, and I walk almost every evening.
7. A few podcasts I love on my walks: Celebrity Memoir Book Club + Las Culturistas. I love a podcast that just feels like I’m listening to a few friends talking, and these two perfectly fit the bill to me. They make long walks go by more quickly!
8. I’ve gotten a few Youth to the People skincare products in PR recently and have really been enjoying them. The Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum is light and refreshing, and the Youthscreen SPF is lightweight and non-greasy.
9. I tried Jot coffee for the first time this month for an Instagram collaboration and really loved it. It’s a concentrated coffee, so you can mix a tablespoon of it with water or milk to make a delish drink really easily. The cinnamon dolce flavor reminds me of the cinnamon dolce lattes I got from Starbucks when I was in high school and first started to drink coffee! They’re super flavorful but not sweet, so I love being able to add creamer if I want or keeping it as is to make an iced coffee.
10. New coffee shops in Birmingham! A few I’ve tried recently and loved: Lee’s Coffee at Wordplay, Daily Edition (not new, but. newly serving June Coffee) and Bandido.
I really love reading blog posts like this, and they feel like such a fun peek into someone’s life, so I hope you enjoyed this one! Hopefully I’ll keep it up and share them every month or so, but who knows…
