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There’s a Frog & Toad page that’s been active on my Pinterest account lately: Frog, sitting alone on a rock, says to Toad: “I’m happy. I’m very happy. This morning when I woke up I felt good because the sun was shining. I felt good because I was a frog. And I felt good because I have you as a friend. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about how good everything is.”
For most of my 20s, I lived a life of relentless breadth. Jumping from city to city, saying yes to everything, collecting experiences like some people collect stamps, with enthusiasm and without much thought about whether I really had room for them. It was exhilarating and ultimately also exhausting.
Featured image from our interview with Jessie De Lowe conducted by Michelle Nash.
30 things to do in June to stay energized this summer
This June I will do something different. I stay still. I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor (said labor: signing my first solo lease) and will spend this summer turning my space into the sanctuary I’ve always imagined: a humming sewing machine, open acrylic paints, a sweater on the needles that I may or may not finish before fall. I’m trading breadth for depth. And the more I share it with people, the more I hear: same.
Gas prices are high, euro summers feel a little out of reach, and I think we’re collectively rediscovering what’s already here. Not as a consolation prize, but as an improvement.
June, this year, feels less like a departure and more like an arrival.
So here are 30 ways to take advantage of that. To have a picnic and create and slow down and notice. Feeling, as Rana would say, that everything is fine.
Stay close to home
This is the summer to sit still and discover how much is already here. June in your own city has more to offer than you think. All it takes is leaving the house with a little intention and no particular agenda.
1. Go to the farmers market and let what you find shape your week. Instead of going with a list, go with an open basket. Strawberries, peas, fresh herbs – let the season decide the menu and you may discover a new favorite ingredient or recipe you wouldn’t have thought to look for.
2. Pack a picnic and head to your favorite park. Text three friends, assign dishes, and don’t think about it too much. A blanket on the grass and food from your own kitchen is truly one of the best things summer has to offer.
3. Take a sunrise or sunset walk this week. There’s something about the quality of light at the end of the day that makes even familiar streets seem worthy of attention. Pick a direction you don’t normally go, leave your phone in your pocket for at least half the way, and see what you notice.
4. Take a wildflower walk. Download an app like iNaturalist or PictureThis so you can identify what you’re looking at. Turn a walk into something closer to wonder.
5. Explore a neighborhood, bookstore, or coffee shop you’ve never visited. Novelty does not need flight. Sometimes the most interesting version of your city is just a few blocks outside your usual radius; you just have to go.
6. Create an outdoor corner at home. A chair, a blanket, and a dedicated spot outside tell your brain that this is a place to rest (not move, not plan, not produce). Give it a week and see if it becomes your favorite part of the day. Believe me, it will be.
create something
There’s nothing like the satisfaction you get from making something with your hands, something that didn’t exist before you sat down. The goal is not perfection; it never is. It’s just to remember how good it feels to do.
7. Pick up a creative hobby you’ve been putting off. Knitting, sewing, painting, pottery… whatever has been on the “someday” list. Someday it’s June. Someday is now. A $4 thrift store canvas and a little money spent on acrylic paint is all you need to get started.
8. Sew something wearable. A handbag, a skirt, a simple dress. Start small, follow a beginner pattern, and use what you made. There is no better feeling. (sew it yourself It’s my favorite book to start with! The patterns are forgiving and very fun.)
9. Make something from scratch in the kitchen. It’s not a recipe you’ve made hundreds of times (although those recipes have their time and place). Here we go for something new: fresh pasta, homemade bread or a sauce that lasts all afternoon. The process is the point.
10. Start a creative journal. It is not a diary or a to-do list. I mean a place for scraps, sketches, color swatches and half-formed ideas. Break the rules and get rid of the audience. This is for you.
11. Make wildflower or farmers market bouquets at home. Arranging flowers is a creative act that takes 10 minutes and completely changes the feel of a room. Trader Joe’s flowers count too.
12. Try abstract painting. No skills required, no results expected. Put on a playlist, choose three colors you like, and see what happens.
Gather around the table
Summer changes the way we eat together. Our meals are moved outside, the pace slows down and accommodation stops feeling like a production (and rather a part—oh!). This month, lean toward the type of gathering that’s less about impressing someone and more about being together.
13. Plan a Friday night cookout. Just a few friends, a simple table, and a menu that takes less than an hour to prepare. The long afternoons of June do most of the work for you.
14. Host a cookbook supper club. Pick a book (consider Camille’s favorite cookbooks), assign recipes, and let everyone bring a dish. It’s the easiest way to try new food and have a good conversation starter.
15. Try a new non-alcoholic drink. Summer is peak season for interesting NA options: shrubs, botanical sodas, adaptogenic drinks. Mix up something new (I’m starting with these non-alcoholic spritzes) and see if it becomes your go-to for the season.
16. Make a summer dessert board. Fresh fruit, something creamy, something crunchy and a little chocolate, obviously. It comes together in 15 minutes and looks like you planned it for days.
17. Host a neighborhood potluck. Assign categories (main dishes, sides, desserts), keep it low-key, and let your community do the rest. The best meetings are usually the least planned. (Proof.)
18. Set a table worth staying at. Linen napkins, something seasonal in a vase, candles even if it’s still light outside. The small details tell everyone at the table: we are in no hurry. Here are the tips for setting the table to make this happen.
Take care of yourself
Depth over breadth is also applied here. We’re not overhauling your wellness routine or adding 10 new habits to your morning. This month, we’ll pay more attention to what your body and mind are really asking of you and let you respond.
19. Start walking outside without your phone. Try it just once this week. The thoughts that arise when you are not filling the silence are usually the ones worth having.
20. Update your skincare routine for the season. Lighter layers, more hydration, daily SPF. Summer skin is your thing – here’s how to get the maximum glow.
21. Book a massage or spa treatment, no occasion necessary. Rest is not a reward for productivity. Schedule it like you would any other important thing.
22. Do a one-week home reset. Focus on one small area each day: a drawer, a shelf, a corner of your closet. The cumulative effect is disproportionate to the effort. These decluttering tips are the perfect place to start.
23. Clear mental clutter. A 7-day mental reset is the most effective way to create more clarity, focus, and calmness into your day, and summer is actually the perfect time to do it.
24. Develop a nighttime relaxation practice. Some nights, replace the Netflix spiral with something that actually tells your body to slow down: stretch, read, attend to something (for me, that’s my little container garden). Dim the lights 30 minutes before bed and see what changes.
Find pleasure
This is the Frog and Toad section. The part of the list that doesn’t need to be productive, optimized, or justified (although none of this really does). June has a kind of magic in the little things, and the goal is to notice it.
25. Make your summer wish list. Write it down, save it somewhere you’ll actually see it, and let it be aspirational without being a to-do list. I know you know: there is a difference.
26. Create your summer playlist. The one you’ll want to repeat from now until Labor Day. Start with a song that already sounds like summer and let it take you to a good place.
27. Visit a local gallery, pop-up, or art exhibit. Put yourself in the path of something you neither created nor expected. You never know what you’ll connect with.
28. Choose a summer reading book. The kind that you read in two sittings because you can’t stop. Take him to the park, to the bathroom, to the backyard. Wherever you do your best, it disappears.
29. Go to the movies. When the heat hits you, the theater is the perfect place to cool off and enjoy to the fullest for two hours. I consider it an underrated summer luxury.
30. Do one thing this month just because it seems fun. Not because it’s good for you, not because it’s a good story, and not because anyone else suggested it (even me!). Just because you want to. That is always enough.
This post was last updated on June 1, 2026 to include new insights..
