Image description: Amy in a white tennis dress leaning on the floor in roller skates.

This summer, I focused on something I needed, something I wanted and a memory maker.

I have no regrets about these additions.

Black Weekday Shorts | RW & Co

These shorts are an essential addition to my late spring and summer wardrobe. One doesn’t always want to wear a skirt to meetings. They are airy, tie well and thus far show themselves to be very durable.

White Tennis Dress | RW & Co

I tried on many versions of tennis dresses and had given up hope finding them all very unflattering to my body type. The algorithms must have noticed my searching as this white dress appeared on my feed on sale, and I gave it one last shot. This dress is everything I had been looking for. Built-in shorts, form-fitting but not too tight, a pocket for keys or a phone…you name it.

Blue Hoodie | White Point Beach Resort

We spend our vacations at White Point Beach, and this hoodie is a warm and comforting reminder that our cozy coastal beach vacation memories will come around again next year. A well-made hoodie for all who know what an east coast wind is like.

These are a few of my favourite things…

Summer Candles | Okanagan Candle Co.

I sincerely enjoyed testing the seasons of candles from this Canadian company. From this collection ‘Dock’ and ‘Campfire’ are my favourite. For me, joy in seasonal decor is often found in the consumable products from nature, food and things we make to use during that time.

Out on the Wire | Jessica Abel

Spending the summer reading and listening to various insights and courses on audio storytelling. This book is one of those items that has surprised me. Written through the art form of comic strips, Jessica drives home the surprising but very real truth that audio storytelling is primarily and, firstly, a visual medium. Sounds conflicting? Pick up this book, and you’ll be amazed at how true it is.

Royal Conservatory Level 1 Books | Royal Conservatory

Recently I decided to go back to the basics of my piano theory and skills. I had a unique education in music, and although I had worked through levels of piano theory, I bounced around more than not, which irked my last piano teacher to no end. Getting these books for myself brings me a lot of joy, and although very basic in nature, I think we can all benefit from going back to the beginning of our skills and be reminded of where we started.

SPF Tinted Moisturizer | Origins

I have been using the same SPF moisturizer since 2015, so it was a shock to the routine when I was told they were discontinuing that specific one. I finally landed on this one, which I might love even more than my beloved ‘Neutrogena SPF daily moisturizer 45’. The tinted nature of this product creates a cleaner finish and still leaves room for a bit of touch-up under the eye. Simple and classic is how I like to do it over here.

Enchanted Garden Puzzle | Hobbry / Chapters

I love Hobbrys collab with Indigo, and it was a no-brainer when I saw this lush image released in their puzzle series. The simple pleasures of passing a table and putting a few pieces in before one goes about their day.
I do puzzles like I do my coffee. Slow and steady.

Previous Summer Favourite Things

2021
2020
2019
2018

Carefully curating music to carry with me throughout a season is a way I connect with my goals, intentions and overall mindset.

Here is a sampling of the songs that stick out to me the most in this Summer collection I have made:

For the full playlist:
check it out on Spotify

Elastic Heart | Sia

Something about Sia’s raw voice, lyrics and how she puts together her music videos to represent her songs get me every time. She is a prolific artist.

Electric Love | Borns

Something about this song brings me back to electric pop in a nostalgic yet modern way. I love this song playing as I practice rollerskating.

Now I’m In It | HAIM

I have loved HAIM for many years, and this song reminds me of that young 20-something in me, with wide open summers, car windows down, wind in my hair and my best friend in the passenger seat.

august | Taylor Swift

august is one of those tracks that will keep coming back with each generation. T-Swift really gave the world a beautiful nostalgic piece to capture something so many of us understand.

”slipped away into a moment in time.”

I Think We’re Alone Now | Tiffany

I’ve been saying it before the cool kids realized. 80’s music is one of the best eras for music. Lyrics, musicality, beats, rhythms, energy, heart, soul…you name it. Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” captures a summer date night feeling that I love to be reminded of. Heat making the air thick, sun setting, waves crashing against the shore, bare legs skipping along… chasing each other down the beach.

Rushing and racing and running in circles
Moving so fast, I'm forgetting my purpose
Blur of the traffic is sending me spinning, getting nowhere

My head and my heart are colliding, chaotic
Pace of the world, I just wish I could stop it

- Emmy Rossum - Slow Me Down Lyrics

Since the beginning days of 2022, I have felt this build-up of unrest and concern. Something within was becoming at odds with the world around me. I have learned over the years that this often occurs before or during significant change.

The Summer of Slow is a meditation to remind me of my values in my personal and professional life.

What it looks like:

• Maintaining a strong AM / PM Routine (morning workout, breakfast, journals - bedtime routine etc.)

• Everything between the AM / PM routine is unscheduled (don’t freak out: appts, and contract deadlines still maintain a place in the calendar)

• A weekly beach day or evening

• Write a letter weekly (communicating with those I love slowly)

• Document mindfully (follow the inspirations and whims)

• Read for work & pleasure often.

• Visit the library often.

The world we live in is not a world that is geared to slow, yet the best and most provocative work I have been moved by so often has the story of years of thought and mindful work behind it.

I want to be that type of person.

The one who puts every ounce of insight thought, and curiosity into their work.
One can only do that at a mindful pace and from a place of intentional space.
Yet structure is where the work is honed, which is what I also seek to find in my Summer of Slow.

I seek to mine the gemstones of meditative thinking, processing, being and creating.

The underpinnings of what it means to slow the heartbeat to hear the world around me so that when I speak and move, I am doing it from a place of anchored confidence, compassion and intentions.

Onwards,

The noise of the world is getting me caught up
Chasing the clock and I wish I could stop it
Just need to breathe, somebody please
Slow me down