Mid-Summer Daydreaming
Like so many of life’s much-anticipated things, summer goes from just out of reach to a dream we can already feel fading.
Issue #10
An ice cream cone is the perfect metaphor for summer.
We spend half a year waiting for it.
Sure, ice cream is available all year round, but it’s suddenly more permissible and pervasive when summer hits.
Once it’s finally within our grasp, melting all over our hands, and dripping down our wrists, we’re suddenly in a race against time to consume it.
It’s a delicious mess and it’s about to disappear.
I don’t even have kids, but back-to-school energy is looming in my group chats. Fashion is pushing fall/winter in our faces. Network TV is advertising premieres in September.
Here’s a sad and beautiful song about the end of summer.
Vacations are shorter than they used to be in Italy.
Not everyone takes an entire month off, or completely relocates to a seaside or countryside location for the season. Vacations are staggered out between coworkers and businesses shutter more frequently during the week, but not for long stretches.
In Rome, beauty parlors are making appointments in late August. That’s a first for me.
When I ask them about vacation, they shrug and tell me they took a week in July. They may organize something in August. Maybe.
I refuse to get on board with the looming end of summer.
I hold on to it as long for as I can get away without wearing socks.
It’s why I moved to a city that feels eternally summery in that so much of life is lived al fresco.
As we tumble toward the end, one official summer month left, I invite you to settle into summer. Eat more ice cream. Buy more watermelon. Take as much time off as you can. Be a little lazier. Read more books. Take advantage of late sunsets.
As July wraps up, here’s a round-up of summer reading, from me to you.
XOXO, Annie
The Collective Illusion of Italian Summer
Do Italians really live better? Is everyone in on the lie? Does it matter? This essay is a meditation on the little lies that go a long way.
Italy’s Iced Coffee Conundrum
Despite myriad icy treats and cool confections, in Italy, iced coffee is rarer than the unicorn. Here's how to find it. Recipes at end!
The Inside Scoop on Gelateria Vivoli
Vivoli Gelateria is the latest addition to my on-going series, The Crown Jewels of Florence. In a city known as much for its swarms of tourists as its stunning art, architecture, and incredible food, the gems are hidden in plain sight.
Vivoli may be insta-famous, but it’s actually beloved by locals. Full disclosure, I skipped the line, but only because I was being force fed by delightful Chiara Masiero, owner of institution, Cammillo Trattoria. She insisted I try the Vivoli crema at dessert. She’s been serving it for years. I almost exploded, but it was worth it.
I talked with three generations of the family about the history of Vivoli (they just turned 95!), and of course got tips on what to order.
Between Heaven and Here: Darryl Gaines' Celestial Guide to People and Places
I chatted with dear friend and incredible astrologer, Darryl Gaines, about his his journey, and this AstroCartography stuff you've been seeing all over the internet.
Read: Is Your Next Vacation Written in the Stars?
Darryl is our latest tastefully premium partner!
I’m thrilled to promote him. In exchange paid subscribers receive a generous discount on their first reading with him.
I feel it too! I swim every morning and I can tell the sun is lower as it moves across the sky. Parts of the cove that were already in bright sunlight at 8:30 am are now shaded, the sun still behind the tree on the hill. sob