june '26 postcard

who else is obsessed with widow's bay??? haha <3 but fr...

Hey, okay, yeah…you’re catching me in the middle of my quarterly oscillation between “I LOVE SHARING ON THE INTERNET” and my “do people even like my content? And am I perhaps sharing too much with the internet?” mood. Don’t worry, I won’t be asking for reassurance because in my heart of hearts, I love sharing and posting because it is fun. And returning home to that reminder can be enough to quell the voices (The! Voices!!) that I’m not Doing It Right.

Whatever that means. <33333

So anywhooooo, it is June. And we are in the sweet, juicy middle of summer (did that make you think of a strawberry? Or a peach? Because yes). When I was younger, my mom used to say that after the 4th of July, summer was pretty much over. So call that friend! Find a pool! Book that trip! Make that coffee! Summer won’t be here forever.

June was gooood. It was filled with growth (both irl and online), banana milk matcha, coffee at home, doggies in bandanas, pool days, snail mail, journaling, family, picking out my wedding dress !!!!!, ticketmaster queue anxiety, fun new make up, romantic getaways, and brown butter chocolate chip cookies in bed. The way summer should be!

a couple of june standouts:

1. I hit 10,000 followers on Tik Tok, which is such an insane number. It’s time!!! To give a speech! To 10k people!!! Like what. Anyway, I appreciate all the support as I talk books, journals, and all the other things I post lol. LOVE u fr.

   

2. I sent out another round of snail mail :) I love sending out my letters and I love hearing responses. I love summer! Thank u USPS for this.

   

3. My parents came to visit & we picked out my wedding dress!!!! I feel really good about it. Even if I don’t plan anything else (like that would ever happen), at least I have something to wear! <3

   

   don't mind my toes idk what is happening

4. some smaller things:

   1. I got presale day 1 (hashtag blessed) for Phoebe Bridgers and secured tickets to see her <3 WOOOO

      

   2. lots of little fawn in our neighborhood :) I wanna pet them so bad, but I would NEVER EVER. So I will yearn.

      

   3. our bathroom is finally renovated so we have been able to use it fully :)

      

   4. I WORE THIS REALLY CUTE OUTFIT! and I wanna show people bc i loved it and felt so cute <333333 anyway…

      

5. I journaled in my childhood bedroom in my twilight t shirt <3 and spent some time at my parent’s house !! It was great.

   

6. My fiance and I went to a BookPeople book event with Mary HK Choi and Shea Serrano. My fiance and I love Shea Serrano and we got to heckle my fiance about being a spurs hater!!! What a night!!!!

   

   

   my bangs DID look weird bc i walked by a big fan and forgot to fix my hair iT IS OK

7. My fiance & I went to San Antonio and stayed at the hotel where we got engaged! We just wanted a cute, romantic getaway. It was a great time and we ate good food, had a pool day, and even had some cookies delivered to our room! :) ILY4EVER San Antonio

anyone wanna see some journal stuff, perhaps??

journaling is getting it’s own section. I am sorry for so many pictures, I have 30,000 on my phone…even before social media hahaha. Okay <3 love u.

all things foooood:

Food is ALSO getting it’s own section because there are always a lot of pictures and I kinda feel bad making y’all scroll so much but also !!! I wanna share the good food :’) pls forgive me…

song of the month:

This month is a return to pop. maggots for brains by Olivia Rodrigo is our song !!! And I am currently listening to it on repeat while writing this whole newsletter.

This song is so magical to me. It almost sounds like The Cure (which is intentional, IYKYK) and it also feels so summer. Pop music, and girl pop music at that, get’s such a bad rep.

Pop music is the thing that keeps the world spinning, the birds singing, and the sun shining. So LOCK IN to this song and album and the other pop gals who are calling!!!!

Playlists: Apple Music !!!! and spotify:

show of the month:

ALERT! A NEW SPECIAL SEGMENT HAS ENTERED THE ROTATION FOR JUST THIS MONTH AND THIS MONTH ALONE ! (perhaps)

I gotta talk about widow’s bay. I’ve been screaming at everyone to watch this show since early May and I won’t stop now.

I had seen the trailer for it a few months ago and was SO ready. I love horror (y’all know, or maybe u don’t but now u do) but what I didn’t know was that it would also be hilarious. I don’t wanna say too much but it is definitely a show that you should check out.

rose, thorn, bud:

Rose: This summer is busy & fun! And I am accomplishing so many things on my bucket list <3

Thorn: This month I traveled home to attend the funeral for one of my sweet aunts. I always have such a hard time adding in the tough parts the juxtaposition of a monthly recap & loss is a hard one. But an important one, nonetheless. Life is hard and often sad, which is why I work to seek out the good. Thinking of my aunt and her family.

Bud: There is a lot of planning (for my wedding…and life) in my future that is filling me with joy and anxiety and dread and excitement alllllll wrapped together. So, you can bet your bottom dollar my stomach hurts! haha <3

reading, READING, reading:

This month I read SEVEN books. Sweeeet.

• The Bright Years - Sarah Damoff

• Set Piece - Lana Schwartz

• The Names - Florence Knapp

• Yesteryear - Caro Claire Burke (every girl is reading this and I AM JUST LIKE EVERY GIRL)

• Vampires of El Norte - Isabel Cañas

• The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector

• Pool House - Mary H.K. Choi

Reading is so fun. I love challenging myself to read outside of my comfort zone. I learn so much about myself and the world around me.

If you wanna talk books, pls message me or message my book insta (which is also where I talk A LOT about journaling) <3

affirmation/quote of the month:

⭐️ often imitated, but never duplicated ⭐️

We know and love this phrase. Lately, I have seen so many posts that make me do a double take. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am NOT that full of myself to think that I am the most creative and most special god’s gift to earth. I also understand taking creative freedom from other art. Yes!

AND I have seen several posts on substack using my monthly postcard format EXACTLY (although, the point of writing is to find ur own voice but I digress). Which is fiiiiine, I am not the inventor of the monthly recap nor categories!!!

BUT I was tagged in one in particular where they kept the same words and hearts (<3) and EVERYTHING but just swapped in their own pictures/changed activities. AND THEN I saw someone else rip off my snail mail design as theirs with just different colors (AGAIN, MIGHT I ADD).

GUYS PLEASE.

THE BEST PART ABOUT ART IS MAKING IT YOUR OWN. ART IS SELF EXPRESSION. IT QUELLS THE VOICES. So make it yours!!!!!

All I know is that I cannot do a thing about it and difference between plagiarism and inspiration can be a fine line. SighhhhhhHHHHhHhHHHHHHhhHHhhHH. I just remind myself that:

I tap into my own creativity, therefore my well will never run dry. I am the maker of the sauce. Their sauce can look like mine, but it will NEVER be mine. OFTEN IMITATED, BUT NEVER EVER EVVAAAAA DUPLICATED.

Amen. Bye.

recipe of the month:

I had this banana milk matcha in San Antonio and it was phenomenal. This is also a uno reverse section where this month I am asking for any fun milk/syrup/coffee/matcha recipe from you, dear reader.

I appreciate you sharing (if u wish!) <3

No pressure, ever ! ily :)

Guys haha okay I’m sorry for all the pics. JUNE WAS FUN! Next month, I will try to reel it in, three new sections at once was a lot and I understand.

I JUST FEEL HAPPY TO SHARE (we have shifted the other way from the opening lines of this post). :)

Anyway, pls share any fun things you have going on, summer or life, share a coffee recipe, ANYTHING. I love hearing back from people because then it is a conversation and not just me adding 20,000 pictures to this post. hah. <3

ily bye

Sam <3