Sundaze 276: Making evenings feel like weekends

Happy Sundaze, my loves!

Let me paint a picture of today’s cosy writing spot: I’m sat at my just-so cluttered desk in a nook on our family home landing. I’m playing The Parent Trap for comforting background noise, an & Chai Meiji Soy Candle is flickering beside me, and I’ve just logged off work after eight hours of copywriting, website admin and week-start meetings. For me, this is the perfect setup for me to creatively run free and productively write.

And how about it? Now that the weather has lightened up in England, I feel like a whole new woman. The best corners of spring – longer nights, birdsong, fresh produce, sunshine and flowers everywhere – reconvened to bring me back to life and I feel worlds better than when I last checked in. Last week, I went out every single evening ‘just because’ it was sunny. From walks with Milo to evening runs with my sister, after-dinner nature wanders with my boyfriend to simply sitting outside with a book,

Making evenings feel like weekends

Is it just me that believes late spring and summer has a time movement of its own? Suddenly, moments feel longer, lazier, stretchier, calmer. Gone is the unbearable heaviness of being shut safely indoors, away from rainfall and darkness. And in comes the beautiful dappled light, the fiery sunsets, the hum of insects and bees, the lilting birdsong, the sheer joy of dining al fresco. That’s what life recently has been all about for me.

A few years ago, I unsubscribed from the concept of living for the weekend. Our weekends are just a slither of our precious lives and all seven days of the week hold opportunity for fun and downtime. While we all have life admin and errands and chores to get on with, who’s to say we can’t push that aside and enjoy an evening ‘weekend’ if our bodies and selves require it? Lately, the moment I sign off from work, I lean fully into the longer evenings and treat them like I would a treasured weekend.

Maybe it’s the Brit in me but when the sun is shining, I simply can’t resist saying: ‘BBQ?’, and recently that results in us nipping out to the supermarket and returning with a disposable barbecue tray*, some Mediterranean veg and vegan sausages, and getting going with a midweek dinner on the grill. I’ve perfected my crispy smashed potato salad and, frankly, evening home dining has never tasted better. Oh, and corn-on-the-cob rubbed with tajín and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. My childhood summers were all about being outdoors – albeit in Granny’s garden beneath the pear tree or snaffling fresh produce straight from her vegetable patch – and there’s something about late spring that makes me constantly want to be outside (eating).

I’ve also loved making up for ‘lost time’ and taking long nature walks whenever it’s not raining. At the weekend, my boyfriend and I bookended our dinner dates with gorgeous wanders through fields and district parks, excitedly looking at wildflowers and the insects all over the place! And I’ve been continuing this with phone-free wanders after work but before dinner – watching the sun slowly go down and how it changes the trees, grass, ducks and beyond is so humbling and grounding. Sometimes, the good life is just about returning to your nostalgic, childhood self.

How would you consider making your evenings feel like weekends?

*When I have my own place, I fully intend to invest in a proper barbecue grill!

Links I’ve Loved

Really enjoyed this Substack newsletter on being less available online.
Melina is implementing a buying ban and I loved reading about her plans. While I’ve been on a book-buying ban, I’m very tempted to join her on a low-spend rest-of-year.
Anh has great taste in books and her summer recommendations have gone straight on my TBR.
I’ve had lots of questions about my cute Kindle case with a built-in handle and it’s this one here!
We’re hoping to visit Bury Lane Farm soon to pick flowers and visit the farm shop. If you’re local to Hertfordshire, it looks SO nice.
I’ve found a great flow and rhythm over on bookstagram lately and love creating content over there. I’m planning plenty more bookish round-ups over there!