Happy Friday!
This Memorial Day weekend looked a little different from the sun-soaked, pool-side fantasy I’d been curating in my head! It was rainy and slow, but it was relaxing nonethlesss — lots of reading and quiet time at home with the family.
Ironically, before the holiday, I shared something on my Instagram stories that felt a little vulnerable: I have some summertime sadness! Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had this shadowy feeling creep in around this time of year: where the world is glittering and golden and everyone seems to be thriving, and something in you just . . . doesn’t quite catch the light.
The response was overwhelming. So many of you felt it too!
And here’s the thing I want you to know: you are not imagining it, and you are not alone. Researchers first documented summer-pattern seasonal depression as far back as 1987, when a team at the NIH identified a group of people experiencing recurrent depressive episodes specifically during the summer months — and studies suggest that up to 30% of people begin experiencing seasonal depression symptoms in early spring through summer!
So if you’re out here feeling a little off-key while everyone else seems to be living their best rosé-in-the-sun life: give yourself grace.
Until our next correspondence,
xx Lauren
P.S. I published the very first ever The Lauren Letter Book Club post! Join in the fun by voting for our June selection below — starting this month, one subscriber will win a copy of the Book Club selection each month, too!
P.S. I promise to always keep The Lauren Letter free as my little exercise of trying to make the world a bit more beautiful. If, in return, you could considering giving this post a “like” or share with a friend, it would just mean the world to me.
Wearing | Frank & Eileen Patrick Popover
My favorite throw-and-go of the summer. I have in three different colors!
Eating | Wishbone Kitchen Corn & Tomato Salad
Easy, light, and so fresh — everything a summer salad should be. Just don't forget the fresh basil like me!
Reading | Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser
A completely captivating reimagining of Cinderella told from the "evil" stepmother's point of view — and I tore through it over the course of the long weekend!
Also finished over the holiday: How to Read a Book — a perfectly snackable, multigenerational tale of redemption, human flaws, and the beauty that can be found amidst it all.
Watching | Project Hail Mary
The perfect watch for a friend group, a date night, or a family movie evening. Fair warning: there will be as many tears as there are laughs!
Listening | Florescence, Maisie Peters
Maisie Peters is one of my favorite singer-songwriters alive, and her new album is incredible. Beyond her singles (don’t even get me started on “Audrey Hepburn” — possibly the most beautiful love song written), I’ve had “Old Fashioned,” “Questions,” and “Girl’s Just Flying” on repeat!
Trying | Pura Car
Following an overnight mushroom raviolo situation in my brand-new car that I will not be elaborating on further, I am now trying the Pura Car smart fragrance diffuser. The deciding factor? They carry NEST New York's Grapefruit — my ultimate summer signature scent — as a partner fragrance. It's subtle, it's lovely, and it is the furthest thing from stomach-churning Uber air freshener scent. Sold.
Champagne | Weezie Beach Chair Cover
Monogrammable, impeccably made, and designed specifically for a beach chair — the length is exactly right. Weezie's quality is genuinely unmatched, and this is the piece you buy once and use forever.
Frites | Amazon Beach Chair Cover
Inexpensive, cheerful, and comes with its own little bag — very cute. It's designed to fit both a pool chair and a beach chair, which sounds like a win until you realize that flexibility means it may drag a bit in the sand. Versatile and economical, but not without some compromise.
TIBL*
*Things I’ve Bought Lately
Mae Davis Interiors
Based in the gorgeous Mountain Brook, Alabama, this studio shares glimpses of their luxury projects and installs where not a single detail is missed. It is a true testament to what expertise looks like in practice. Follow for the inspiration. Stay for the eye candy.
