suddenly, this summer
there's nothing like summer in the city
I’m going to cut to the chase. I’m living in mid-June 2025 and what do I have to show for it? A sore throat from wildfire smoke in the air, freshly washed bedding, and a new purchase of tie-dye fruit roll ups. As usual, summer didn’t start out how I anticipated. The weather was having a temper tantrum and my early tan from April quickly faded. As I sat in the synagogue yesterday thinking about holy things (my upcoming birthday), I realized that the days are unfurling like a fruit by the foot and I had made the unforgivable error of purchasing fruit roll ups. Summer's lease hath all too short a date, you know. I will persist. I’m looking forward to this summer. The following is a list of my 2025 summer ins and outs, followed by some of my dearest friends’ submissions.
IN:
Periwinkle and red
Putting on my lipgloss and rubbing my lips together
Making a mix cd with personal audio touches
Talking on the phone in your bedroom for over an hour
Mini parades
Iced london fogs
Carrying a sketch book
Sharing your opinions
Getting basil from the garden
Emerald eyeshadow
Sudoku
Memorizing poetry
OUT:
Pushing yourself
Movies before bed (my friends are screaming “LIAR” at me right now) in bed
Sharing your tired opinions on any online comment section
Rattan furniture
Faux fur
Riding a bike without a helmet
Eyelash procedures (live a little!)
Overflowing closets
Hooking up with creeps/weirdos
Tatiana is skipping town during my birthday in favor of a westward road trip that I can picture perfectly. Well-worn sneakers, country music blasting through the car speakers, and spontaneous stops along the way. She is someone who lets the seasons guide her so deeply that she brought me to Le Petit Dep on St-Laurent when, to our surprise, it was decked out in Christmas decor in mid-November. When summer hints at beginning, she is immediately getting a tan at a terrace or a park or her hometown haunts (literally, there are ghosts). One of my favourite summer memories with Tatiana was when we were driving to the cinema with the windows down and invited the boys in the car next to us to join us at the new Zac Efron movie. They didn’t join us for what turned out to be quite a bland film, which was probably for the best. They knew they couldn’t live up to Zac. After the movie, we gave each other YOLO henna tattoos and breathed in the summer air as day turned to night until we blew up like balloons and floated away. There is no new Zac Efron movie this summer. I asked Tatiana about her outlook for summer 2025 and she wrote me back while sitting next to a woman wearing my signature vanilla fragrance on the metro. I guess in a way, I am also a hometown haunt.
IN:
Sunrise walks
Lawn games
Poolside picnics (screaming about how much I want to be swimming right now)
Hammocks in the park
Trying new ice cream shoppes
OUT:
Energy drinks (this one is personal)
Iced coffees with too little ice
Hairspray (the product. Hairspray the Musical is always in) (I agree)
Being in a rush
Tomatoes are currently on trend for some reason. I saw a linen dress with a tomato pattern this morning and thought of Adi’s tomato tattoo. She did a tattoo tour for my mom in the kitchen and it led us all to discuss tomatoes at length. What I appreciate about Adi is her enthusiasm to savour everything. We recently went out for dinner and shared pappardelle garnished with salsa verde. It was the perfect dish to follow the tangy caesar salad that we also shared. As is tradition, we talked through a handmade agenda of current topics including life updates, recent media intake, and our summer goals, textures and flavours. Our friendship flourishes in the summer. How many times can you be held in the water at Stonewall Quarry Park before you declare your love for each other? In our case, it didn’t take long. It happened before we even dipped our toes in. Adi still has the energy of a camp counsellor which makes her the ambassador of summer, even though she’s born on the first day of spring.
IN:
Noticing and celebrating new growth (this is about flowers probably)
Savouring
Eating an entire container of fruit in one sitting
Over the top sandwiches
Hibiscus
Colourmaxxing
After work beach trips (we must do this!!!)
Nostalgic music from 2015-2018 (I’m personally reviving Lemonade)
OUT:
Discussing your diet in the break room
Sacrificing comfort for style
Not wearing sunscreen
MOSQUITOS
Trying to be trendy
Air conditioned windowless basement offices
Using the oven (tell me about it! unless it is to make a galette)
Bev is traveling for two months with her betrothed this summer (one of my summer ins is calling someone your betrothed) but I don’t think she will ever forget her roots: spending a week of teenage summer vacation at drama camp with me every year. At the end of each session of camp, campers would cover the theater with handwritten sticky notes of admiration to each other, and we would collect all that were addressed to us before leaving the Peace Gardens and making our way home. It was a sweet end to a week of learning, performing, and getting up to G-rated shenanigans. Years later, Bev is still so earnest but will surprise you with twisted humour when you least expect. Here are her summer ins and outs.
IN:
Waving at babies in strollers
Your natural hair colour
Fiscal responsibility
Handwriting (yes!!!)
SPF 50
OUT:
Tankinis
Mindless TikTok watching
Motorcycles (my imitation betrothed won’t like this one)
Taking selfies on vacation
Unnecessary tipping
During the winter, I ran into Brigitta twice. Once, she popped into a shop while I was there. I saw her through the window and started jumping up and down. We kept holding hands while looking at treasures. The other time, we were both mall zombies who found each other on a busy Sunday afternoon. We do not get together nearly as much as we should, but we write each other. Text message emoji poetry, Pinterest chats, and letters sent through the postal service with ribbons and wax and stickers. She recently sent me a card with a list of things meant for holding (cups, hands, hearts). Her artistic vision infiltrates everything she does. This summer, she plans on focusing on comfort and a love revolution.
IN:
Soft girl summer
Luxuriating in delicious fabrics and fits
Midnight tea with the moon; a collaboration, a friendship
Two-piece pajamas in soft fabrics
Running your fingertips along arms and faces
Pelvic floor physiotherapy (I second this)
Appreciating the minutiae of already small things
True love of all kinds
Friends as soulmates
Redefining romantic love as sometimes separate from sexual romantic love
Living life romantically and with reverence
Pleasant nostalgia that energizes the present
OUT:
Hot girl summer
Suffering for fashion
Worshipping the moon
Sexy lingerie that makes you sweat. Sexy is comfy!
Forgetting connection
Pathological tight vaginas
Bulldozing through experiences
Sad nostalgia that feels like syrup you can’t wash off
My friend Angelica is a Slurpee fanatic and a huge Janelle Monae lover. Those two things exemplify summer (I thought Dirty Computer was the ultimate summer album and then Age of Pleasure came out, crowning Janelle Monae as a hero of summer jams) which means that Angelica takes summer fun seriously.
In typical Angelica fashion, their list of summer ins and outs became an impromptu video chat collaboration with Emily and Paul. Last summer, the four of us spent a weekend at a cabin. Some of my highlights are midnight margaritas (followed by immediate bedtime), appeasing Paul by watching Dunston Checks In, having malted milk soft ice cream, the shower being in my bedroom for some reason, and the moment during a big thunderstorm where I slipped on the wet floor in the sunroom resulting in a scrape and a big laugh. All of these pals are great summer lovers.
[The following list is edited for length.]
IN:
Cole Escola
Being melodramatic (as a nod to Lorde? either way, yes)
Gardening
Really attentively shaking people’s hands when you introduce yourself
Giving strangers a business card
Taking books out of the library (biased, but I agree)
Mischief
Flamboyance
Making found footage horror movies on your smart phone (I did this when I was a nanny and it was incredible)
Throwing your smart phone into a ditch / Not being able to be reached / Crying on the side of the road / Getting tired of not being reached and then getting a landline
Touching every patch of moss you see
Saying “that’s show biz, kid” when something goes wrong
Being a tourist in your own town (highly recommend)
Pretending to be someone else for a day
Walking as a preferred method of transportation
Singing to your friends - even if you’re not a good singer
Patioke (patio karaoke for the uninitiated)
Mini DVD players (this is maybe one of the best pieces of summer technology. lets go on a road trip again!)
Illegally downloading movies
Wrapping gifts
OUT:
Flip flops
Dating apps
Iced capps
Cow’s milk in coffee
Dairy Queen blizzards (moo? More like BOO) (I’m sensing an anti-dairy theme here)
Getting sand in your butt
Ignoring the climate crisis (impossible to do with all of the wildfire smoke in the air)
Staying indoors
Uncomfortable pants
Disney movies
Water bottles that can’t go in the dishwasher
Breakfast potatoes
Bus stops without shade
Tour guides
Being heterosexual (just lie if you are)
Teeth whitener
Being an asshole
“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.”
―L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams
You're the best thing to ever happen to everyone 🩷 I'M NOT KIDDING