SUMMER LOVIN'
Crossing off our summer bucket lists, content creators you need to follow, plus, a FREE summer harvest menu!
Just Because is a weekly newsletter thoughtfully curated to inspire you to live an abundant life. Join the community for Tales from Candlelight Farm, craft ideas, hosting tips, book club, and more. Plus, follow along my journey as an aspiring children’s novelist.
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Summer Bucket List: crossing off our summer bucket lists!
Summer Watch List: content creators you need to follow! Plus, a few show recommendations.
Summer Harvest Menu: recipe ideas for vegetable harvest season!
If you’re a regular reader of Just Because, you know we’ve been slowly working on crossing off our summer bucket lists. This week I made a dent in my list by crossing off a few bullet items and making plans to cross off more.
Haven’s Summer 2026 Bucket List
Attend a baseball game (at this point just send me to a little league game)
Watch a rodeoHost an outdoor movie night (picking a date for August now!)
Visit New England (working with dreams and prayers for this one)
Read an Emily Henry novelMake a new quilt (baby quilt for my cousin’s first birthday incoming)
Deliver flower bouquets from the Giving GardenEnjoy a cousin cabin trip (planning in progress!)
See the new Spider-Man movie (happening this week!)
Watch 42 (maybe for my outdoor movie night?)
Host a farmers market
How is your summer bucket list coming along?
I’ve been escaping the heat and turning on some of my favorite creators for creative inspiration. Check out a few of my go-tos below:
Darling Desi is a modern day Anne Shirley— she’s fabulous and I desperately want to be her friend. Watch her most recent video here:
Sarah DeLotelle on Instagram introduced me to the concept of “woodland whimsy” and I’m obsessed. She throws magical outdoor parties and move nights.
Emily Ann is a modern day Hannah Montana. By day she’s a gardening-canning-crocheting, self called yeehaw-meemaw, and by night she’s performing live country music as an opener for Thomas Rhett.
Chelsea has me excited for spooky season with her incredible Halloween DIYs.
The Food Nanny is my go-to for easy recipes that taste good every time.
What’s Playing on TV
Netflix just dropped a remake of Little House on the Prairie that I’ve heard is AH-MAY-ZING!
I started The Rookie on Hulu but I can’t decide if I like it or not. My journey watching this series began with a TikTok edit about one of the couples, but it appears I need to watch EIGHT SEASONS before I get to see them fall in love. That’s a commitment I don’t think I have the will power for. If you’ve watched the series and loved it, please let me know if I should keep going or not.
The Five Star Weekend on Peacock was lovely, especially as a fan of the book. The main character, Hollis, invites five friends from different stages of her life to come stay at her house on Nantucket for the weekend. Drama ensues.
I’ve had multiple people tell me to watch Seeking Persephone on Amazon. It’s a clean regency series based off a book by Utah author, Sarah M. Eden. Fun fact—I attended a panel Sarah presented at an Utah writing conference earlier this year. You can read my recap of her panel here.
Despite record-breaking temperatures, I look forward to this time of the summer because hard work in the garden begins to pay off in the form of tomatoes, squash, peppers, and potatoes! But if you’re like me, sometimes you lack creativity with what to make with all of the abundance.
Here are a few of my favorite recipes (or recipes I can’t wait to try this year!) for gardeners and farmers market aficionados alike:
Zucchini Corn Casserole (one of my favorites!)
Tomato Pie (I’ve been wanting to give this a go for awhile)
Zucchini Banana Bread with Streusel
That’s all for today folks. Thanks for reading Just Because! If you enjoyed today’s post, please consider subscribing for more content like this, conveniently delivered to your email inbox each week.
Have a great week!
