Sure it is Spring, but do you wish it was Summer?

a little vitamin D / serotonin jolt in your inbox

Happy April! And boy, is it April. And don’t get me wrong - I like April. Tax Day aside, it is also my wedding anniversary month, my parents’ wedding anniversary month, my parents-in-law’s wedding anniversary month … Plus, things are blooming, birds are singing, bird dogs are thriving… good vibes all around.

But at the same time - the weather is still changing at the drop of the hat. I had to (gasp!) take the train into DC several times this week for meetings, and had to dress like an adult human for those and it was nearly impossible to get it right: it was chilly in the AM, boiling hot by noon, and rain just played this peek-a-boo game all day long. I have been walking the dog in rain boots for a week now, even when it is not raining. I mean, really.

And anyway, I love summer (I mean, look at the Very Breezy key graphic). I love warm weather, blue skies and warm rain, proximity to bodies of water, having a tan (I know, I know), reading a breezy (maybe even VERY breezy) book without interruption all day, rewatching movies etc. I have a Slim Aarons Palm Springs 60” photograph in the middle of my house (side note: all the illustrations in this newsletter are Slim Aarons photos). So, April always feels like a teaser for better things to come. But, guess what? You can sort of trick your brain into thinking it is summer: the smells, the clothes, the reads, the views, the vibes.

So, for this week - a Very Breezy approved list of summer-feeling pick-me-ups:

• Playlist first (obviously) - last summer I was targeted by bookstagram (gross) to buy A Perfect Vintage by Chelsea Fagan - and I did. The premise involved designing a boutique hotel in France over the course of a single summer (anyone that has worked in either design or hotels knows this is pure fantasy) while developing lust and love feelings for a French-heir-to-a-chateau who is 15 year-ish your junior (scandalous, I know). Anyway, I don’t really recommend the book (it was ok, I guess?) but as part of the marketing strategy they released a playlist to accompany it and IT IS PERFECT. Almost 4 hours of songs like “Sea, Sex and Sun” by Serge Gainsbourg paired with Billie Eilish, Beyonce and Vanessa Paradis (in a pre-Johnny Depp era when she was at peak ingenue/dating Lenny Kravitz levels) - it is the kind of list that can make your weekend. You’re welcome.

• Perfume - personally, smells are what drives most of my memories and when things smell like summer, that is my most favorite thing. In order of fanciness, here’s what you can do to make everything around you feel like you are on the Amalfi Coast as we speak:

  • Sol De Janeiro Rio Radiance - I have a total love-hate thing with their Bum Bum cream (I love what it does but HATE the smell) and every perfume they have put out until this summer is a little too sweet/supressed Bath&Body Works memories triggering. However this latest one is, dare we say, elegant? Top notes are coconut milk, warm sand (sure) but the ylang ylang and tuberose in the middle add a depth that feels more grown up. It also (wait for it) comes in body spray (is Sol De Janeiro Gen Z’s B&BW?) and a SPF50 oil (I bought the oil too, I couldn’t help it)

  • Vacation by Vacation - the whole Vacation Brand should basically be sponsoring this newsletter but I do love this smell a lot, even if I think it is a little overpriced for what it is - it truly just smells like the fanciest, most nostalgic sunscreen. They also revived and rolled Bain-de-Soleil’s inspired Orange Gelee back out (if you remember, you remember) but that is sadly sold out.

  • Beach by Bobbi Brown - If you were a child that was raised in the 80s/90s, this smells like your Mom smelled when she was going out for mussels in a linen shift dress with some really good woven sandals and big sunglasses on - a little headier than Rio Radiance (it’s the jasmine, that ultimate 80s perfume note) but being grown up is cool. (alt reference: it is what I imagine the Mom in “Call Me By Your Name” wearing as her summer perfume (the Winter perfume is obviously Shalimar). I live for this one.

  • Do Son or Philosykos - Ok, so this is a Dyptique either/or choice so you know they are both great and both expensive. Do Sol is like a classy summer bouquet: orange blossoms, tuberose-y vibes etc. Philosykos smells like you are on vacation in Greece, sitting under a fig tree, and a cool breeze is just, well, breezing. It is refreshing to a point of being gender neutral, and it is the only perfume I used a whole bottle of last year.

Home fragrance:

• Summer in Italy - Catbird has a sneakily great home / gift section and this is truly one of the greatest smelling candles in the world. It smells like orange blossom, honey and afternoon naps (their words, but I agree)

• This Vacation candle trifecta - which is basically a sensory journey of going on a mini retreat.

Coffee table books & Cookbooks

• Adriatico cookbook - I, in general, love reading cookbooks like essay collections and this is one of those that you stay for the stories and vibes as much as the recipes. Beautifully done.

• Hartwood cookbook - if Tulum, Mexico is more your vibe - this is the one to get.

• Slim Aarons photo books - from Women to Style to The Essential Collection, no one captured leisure (in any season, but especially Summer for our purposes here). Every home deserves one.

• Private World of Katherine Hepburn - this is not as readily available as the ones above but worth a hunt-down. Hepburn opens her doors to John Bryson and the collection of photos and moments that result is nothing short of aspirational.

Things to watch:

To me, summer is all about the comfort of a rewatch (even if the movie is not quite comforting). A few stylish, summer-y things I keep going back to always include:

• Talented Mr. Ripley universe - I have started the new Ripley and I like it (I think? I am going to do a whole newsletter in a few days on just snap judgments of watching 1 episode of a bunch of new shows, so keep an eye out for that). But NO ONE loves Andrew Scott more than me, but he is a little too old, and the Law/Damon/Paltrow/Blanchett/Hoffman era of the first one is hard to be beat. Or, if so inclined, dip into the OG “Purple Noon” with Alain Delon

  

• In the same vein the OG “La Piscine” (more Delon!) and the “A Bigger Splash” remake

• “Broken English” - peak Parker Posey (meaning gorgeous and neurotic, and in 2nd half of her 30s) meets a handsome, younger French man at a party, and then decides to run off to Paris with her hilariously aggressively feminine bff (a flawless Drea De Matteo) and find him. It sounds cute-but-psycho and it really scratches all the itches. Also, Gena Rowlands plays her mom!

• “The Pursuit Of Love” - how ALL of Nancy Mitford novels are not perfect mini series - I don’t know, but at least this one is. Also, a perfect Andrew Scott back-up plan to Ripley.

Also, substack just informed me I have PEAKED / REACHED email length here (I love that for us) - so TO BE CONTINUED? Let me know in comments if you’d like to see: books, clothes, random things like dishware / glassware, etc?

I’ll be back! Summer will be back!