-A Toast to Summer

Hello, friends!

Do you have any plans for the summer? I’m one of those folks who always needs something to look forward to and, right now, it’s meeting up with some of my oldest friends to go skinny-dipping in Montana. And the rest of the summer I’ll gladly be settled in a lounge chair at the JCC during my kids’ swim team practice. My life is so glamorous, let me tell you! Below are a few other things on my radar this summer and I hope you’ll share your recs in the comments.

Xo,

Toby

• This summer I want to get stronger. The SLR app is rad because you can drop down and do just 5 minutes of exercise at a time and still feel like Michelle Rodriguez. (SLR)

• The beach reads roundup is my favorite post of the year and I’m busily tearing through books for the next edition. There are a ton to get through, with this one at the top of my list. Not to judge a book by a cover…but how stunning is that cover?! (Joy the Baker, Harper Collins)

• I’m hoping a Fairy Godmother will bring me a Beyoncé ticket before she descends upon Nashville in July. But, in the meantime, I’ll live vicariously through Hunter Harris. (Vulture)

• My daughter and I are gonna wear pink, pink and more pink to the Barbie love fest on July 21st. I’m even going to use a Q-tip to paint her miniature fingernails so we can have matching manis ‘cause I’m officially That Mom.  (YouTube)

• I’ve had the Baggu-Laura Ashley tab open for weeks now and still can’t decide which part of this charming collab to buy. They’re all so perfect for pool season. (Baggu)

• “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” –Henry James (Nashville Scene)

• Never thought I’d say this but I’m apparently into gaming now. My son is obsessed with the new Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom game and I’ll be hovering nearby during his summer vacation to see all the special effects. (Nintendo)

• This new show from Boots Riley coming out at the end of June looks amazing: I’m A Virgo. (Amazon Prime)

• And we don’t have to wait until then for the TV adaptation of American Born Chinese, which is coming out next weekend woohoo. Anybody else love that graphic novel? (Disney+)

• My brother and I are huge horror movie fans, with monster-on-a-vessel being my top sub genre, so we’ll definitely be heading to theaters for The Last Voyage of the Demeter this August. (YouTube)

• And there’s also the new Mission Impossible on July 12th, thank heavens for Tom Cruise. (YouTube)

• I try not to turn on my oven from June through September, so I can’t wait to try Joy’s recipe for No-Bake Tres Leches Icebox Cake. Yum X 3. (Joy the Baker) 

• On that note, I’m highlighting the new album from Jenny Lewis, out June 9th, for the title alone: Joy’all. (Blue Note Records)

• I jumped into the Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast, Wiser Than Me, with her Isabel Allende interview and plan on going back to savor each episode so I can soak up words of wisdom from all her friends. (Apple) 

• Obviously, we’re all going to be in the group chat this June discussing And Just Like That, Season 2—even though we all love to hate it. (Max, Twitter )

• Cate Blanchett dancing in the video for “The Girl is Crying in Her Latte” has me very pumped for the new Sparks album next weekend. (YouTube) 

• Finally, you can catch me not-so-patiently waiting around for the August 11th film adaptation of  Red, White & Royal Blue. I’ll even take a trailer at this point geez. (Teen Vogue)