P.S. Free Dessert and a Shot with Every Meal 🍨🍽🍸
Recapping my July faves (easy home reno ideas, my trip to Greece, summer recipes, + lots more!)
In case you missed it, my bonus P.S. issues are now monthly! This allows me to pack these issues with even more of the recommendations you love. Rather than every Monday, these issues now come out on the first Monday of each month (that’s today!) and serve as a retrospective of everything I’ve been doing, reading, watching, and listening to. As a reminder, P.S. is a bonus issue exclusive to my paid subscribers, and I will continue my weekly Friday issues for all readers!
Hi friends!
Happy August! Welcome to PS, my monthly newsletter where I round up alllll my faves from the month. These are longer issues, so I use headings for those who want to skim through the best parts.
If you’re short on time today, follow the key below to help you jump around:
✈️ Recap of My Trip to Greece
🌎Ways I’m Bringing European Vibes Stateside
🛠 Attainable Home Project Ideas (no renovation required!)
🌿🐱🌿 How to Be a Plant Mom and a Cat Mom
🍉 Summer Recipes to Make on Repeat
🎧 What to Listen to Next (Podcasts + Songs)
🎥 A Reel Worth Your Time
✈️ Recap of My Trip to Greece
At the start of July, I embarked on my own Mama Mia adventure!! One of my closest college friends got married to a man from Chania (pronounced han-ya), and Andrew and I got to join them for an incredible week of wedding celebrations. Chania is located on the island of Crete, the largest of the Greek islands. And since we experienced Chania with locals, we had an amazingly unique experience. Chania is a popular tourist destination, but importantly — it really doesn't feel like a tourist trap. It reminded me of Venice if it was a hidden gem and had better food. It’s also right on the Mediterranean sea, and to be honest I’ve just never been a “beach vacation” kind of girl, I’ve always preferred the hustle and bustle of a city to getting beat up by the ocean. But this trip straight up reformed me. With its *calm* crystal clear waters, the Mediterranean was nothing like the beaches of the US. Turns out, when you’re not getting beat up by waves and swallowing so much salt water that you throw up, the beach is actually pretty damn pleasant!
On our flight home, we had a layover in Frankfurt and stumbled upon a new-to-me Capri-Sun pouch with a resealable cap! I was curious how Capri-Sun ended up in Germany and discovered it was originally a German brand called Capri-Sonne. Their website has an entertaining timeline of the brand, which I recommend checking out for some fun party knowledge!
Whenever Andrew and I visit a new country, we always make a list of things we learned and cultural customs we want to try to bring back into our daily lives. It’s a really fun way to not only better remember our travels but also bring a little vacation spirit into the everyday. Which brings me to my first list of today’s issue…
🌎 Ways I’m Bringing European Vibes Stateside
Ouzo
Greece’s national spirit, this liqueur made by distilling grapes, is a new fave of ours. It has a strong anise taste, and is meant to be sipped, often served with a glass of water that can be mixed with the liquor. I’ve always preferred hard liquor (read: shots, lol) over cocktails or beer/wine because too much liquid really hurts my stomach (IBS problems, smh), which makes Ouzo an ideal drink!!
Dessert with every meal
Every restaurant we visited brought two things with our bill – a bottle of Raki (another anise-flavored liquor) and a dessert (for free!!). The shot with every meal was a nice touch for vacation, but what I’ll really be bringing back with me is the dessert! I always love a sweet treat after dinner, but it was a reminder to prioritize this as part of my meal routine. :)
Ordering for the table
Because we were there for a wedding, most of our meals were group dinners. My friend’s husband and his friends + fam would always order for the table, and we’d all share whatever came. It was actually a really nice perk because I got to just show up and eat! I was pretty unfamiliar with most Greek food going into this trip, so having a whole table of food ordered for me took the stress out and allowed me to try soooo many great things! The few times Andrew and I did have to get a meal on our own, it was so much harder to know what to get!
Umbrellas and lounge chairs for the beach
Returning to my evolving relationship with beach vacations, all the beaches we visited in Greece had rental lounge chairs and umbrellas!! I always knew these little luxuries existed, but I didn’t realize how much of an upgrade it would be from my meager beach towel on the sand until I tried it out myself. Andrew and I already have plans to buy lounge chairs and umbrellas to chill by the lakes in Minnesota.
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Join our paid community to unlock the rest of this issue, including:
🛠 Attainable Home Project Ideas (no renovation required!)
🌿🐱🌿 How to Be a Plant Mom and a Cat Mom
🍉 Summer Recipes to Make on Repeat
🎧 What to Listen to Next (Podcasts + Songs)
🎥 A Reel Worth Your Time