:Summer 2026 Recap:

Remembering Why This Summer Was Great

It’s been a long time since I wrote just to get my thoughts in one place. Logging memories through my blog has always allowed me to cement those moments in my brain, keeping the fine details alive that would otherwise disappear like vapor. I’ve been feeling a deep urge that I can’t ignore to come back to this place. So here I am, logging the beautiful moments from this summer.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

We had every intention of kicking off our summer with an inaugural boat ride at the lake. Stella brought a friend and we hyped it up like it was going to be the best time ever.

Mother nature had others plans. Here I am shivering outside of Dominico in Meadville (LOVE this spot), waiting for our reservations with one of my favorite cocktails. It rained a lot and temperatures dipped into the 40s. This is why it’s great to have our own place at the lake… I always have backup clothes hanging around, like this Anine Bing blazer, just in case the weather doesn’t cooperate.

June

The first full month of the summer set the tone. It was packed! We found that we weren’t up north as much as usual. Stella is at the age when her activities (ahem, dance) require a lot of her time, even over the summer. Of coure, we are fully dedicated to honoring her commitments. So that was part of what kept us away. But we did make it up for my cousin’s golf outing, which raises money for the Addelyn McCoy Memorial Foundation. Learn more about Addelyn and what my cousin and her husband have given back to their community in her honor. CJ was part of a foursome with my other cousin and, needless to say, they had a fantastic time for a good cause.

CJ’s sister and her family live in North Carolina and they have the most incredible outdoor space. We’re often there in November, which means we don’t get to enjoy the pool. So CJ was insistent that we make the trek south over the summer this year to get the hot weather experience. It was a very wise choice!

And finally, we completed construction on a new indoor bar just before summer kicked off. We are both whiskey drinkers and CJ has unlocked a new hobby - collecting rare whiskeys. When we were in NC, he took advantage of his proximity to an establishment called Southern Spirits, where he participated in one of their weekly lotteries and snagged a couple of excellent bottles. I can tell my dear husband takes great joy in putting his newest acquistions on display, calling them his Dreamies.

He’s too cute.

July

More action fully packed into every minute! I spent the first full week up at the lake on my own. Well, my ride or die pup, Lucy, was along for the adventure. I had taken the time off from work so that I could focus on purging some of the things we’ve accumulated in our tiny lake house since COVID, get things better organized and clean things up. It was so satisfying and also very relaxing.

That vacation week streamed seamlessly into the weekend we celebrated my grandmother’s 98th birthday! Yeah, that’s right. Gramma is a total badass and I’ve got her badass genes in me! My mom and Gramma live next door to each other (Awesome now. Not awesome when I was a surly teenager), so we have a ton of space to spread out the whole family. Everyone came into town. Cousins. Cousins of cousins. They came from all over to give Bessie the props she deserves! It was an honor to celebrate her.

Stella was missed… she was at a dance camp, living in a dorm and fully enjoying herself!

Fun side note: CJ learned from my second cousins what “Navel Battles” are and I don’t think any of us will ever recover. And yes, navel is spelled correctly :)

July continued with the Pond/Djo concert. It was a thousand degrees but a thousand percent worth every drop of sweat. We love Djo and cannot wait to see another show.

Picklesburgh was sprinkled in there, with Stella heading Downtown with a couple of her friends on her own. They love to take the T and, while it gives me a minor heart attack, I also love that they take full advantage of being city kids. Note the hazy images… PIttsburghers will recall the smell of burning wood in the air from the wildfires in Canada.

CJ’s sister and her family came up north this time, which is always the most fun. And we had a wonderful visit with an old high school friend. Laughs upon laughs were had.

Finally, we had an unexpected trip to see friends on the other side of the state and, while the circumstances of our visit were emotional and sad, it was like water in a desert getting to see them when we didn’t think we would.

August

The last month of the summer included some really fun work trips with all kinds of vibes! It’s such a privilege to have a job that allows me to experience so many unique things and meet so many interesting people.

August is always the month when I start to feel some anxiety over the return of school. Stella and I were a really great team this year, making sure she had everything she needed to start the year off on the right foot.

We also spent some quality time celebrating two of our Virgos. My mom, i.e. my badass Gramma’s eldest daughter, turned 75 this year. We went out to dinner with family, celebrated my amazing mom, and played card games at the end of the night.

Mamma Mia! is Stella’s favorite movie right now. And with that in mind, we threw her a themed birthday part in our backyard. It was so beautiful! I’ll share more about that in a separate post but I would be remiss if I didn’t share a hearty THANK YOU to Kim Allera, owner of Olive+Rose Events. This is the second time I worked with Kim on an event and the experience is always top tier.

Labor Day Weekend

The holiday weekend started off a bit earlier than expected. On Thursday, we had our friend Hixson over to watch some Thursday night college football, which is rather common during the season. Our delightful evening was garnished by severe thunderstorms, hail and hurricane-force winds. Saucy! Somehow, we didn’t lose power although our grid tickled us with a few flickers. We were able to enjoy peaceful sleep in the cool comfort of an air conditioned house.

However, the high school and several of the middle and elementary schools were without power. So school was cancelled (lucky ducks). With her newly open day, Stella asked for a trip to a local coffee shop (i.e. Starbucks), and I was happy to oblige. Just as we were about to walk out the door, we heard a crackling sound. Stella glanced outside and saw our neighbor’s 150-year-old maple tree come uprooted and fall into the street, taking down all of the power, cable and internet lines with it. Needless to say, there was little we could do. So, CJ and I canceled what few meetings we had and focused on preserving our food and cell phone power as best we could. We ultimately decided to drive up to the lake that evening, where we knew we had power and therefore could enjoy the delightful chill of functioning air conditioning.

The weekend was a lot of fun. We had lunch with my mother-in-law on Saturday at Silver Shores and enjoyed a couple of their specialty Zombie drinks. We came back to the house, where I popped my bottle of champagne, laid in the sun, listened to music and read my book. We watched Penn State secure the W for the season opener and then we went to dinner at our ol’ faithful, Timbercreek.

Sunday we took it easy in the morning. We went to my mom’s house to meet fall in love with her new puppy, Penny. After lots of puppy nibbles, we went over to our friend’s house to hang out, chat about everything and nothing, and laugh a whole lot. I decided to try my hand at making espresso martinis and, I gotta tell ya, they were gooooooood. So good, in fact, that I may need to add the recipe to my Smokey Skinny Margarita and Whiskey Jam concoctions! We eased into the evening by watching the movie Cocktail, and realizing what a ridiculous concept that whole movie was. Don’t watch it. Or do, if you want a good laugh.

We returned to the homestead on Monday to find we had both power and internet and all was right with the world again.

It’s hard to believe just how quickly this summer flitted by, but here we are. Stella is already deep into test taking and paper writing, my work travel schedule is winding up again, and before we can say “Boo!”, it’ll be Halloween.

Fleeting moments are the pain and joy of life, though, right? Reminding ourselves how quickly it all passes makes them all the more precious. I hope everyone found joy in their summer and that the transition to fall has been a gentle one.