There’s a Frog & Toad page that’s been living on my Pinterest feed lately—Frog, sitting alone on a rock, telling Toad: “I am happy. I am 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 for a friend. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about how fine everything is.”
For most of my 20s, I lived a life of relentless breadth. Hopping from city to city, saying yes to everything, collecting experiences the way some people collect stamps—enthusiastically and without much consideration for whether I actually had room for them. It was exhilarating, and it was also, eventually, exhausting.
Featured image from our interview with Jessie De Lowe by Michelle Nash.
30 Things to Do in June to Stay Energized This Summer
This June, I’m doing something different. I’m staying put. I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor (said labor: signing my first solo lease), and I’m spending this summer turning my space into the sanctuary I’ve always imagined—sewing machine humming, acrylic paints cracked open, 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 that with people, the more I hear: same.
Fuel prices are high, Euro summers feel a little out of reach, and I think collectively, we’re rediscovering what’s already here. Not as a consolation prize—as an upgrade.
June, this year, feels less like a departure and more like an arrival.
So here are 30 ways to lean into that. To picnic and create and slow down and notice. To feel, as Frog would say, that everything is fine.
Stay Close to Home
This is the summer of staying put, and finding out just 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, snap peas, fresh herbs—let the season decide the menu, and you might 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 overthink it. A blanket on the grass and food from your own kitchen is genuinely 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 either end of the day that makes even familiar streets feel worth paying attention to. Pick a direction you don’t usually go, leave your phone in your pocket for at least half of it, and see what you notice.
4. Go on a wildflower walk. Download an app like iNaturalist or PictureThis so you can identify what you’re seeing. It turns a walk into something closer to wonder.
5. Explore a neighborhood, bookstore, or coffee shop you’ve never visited. Novelty doesn’t need a flight. Sometimes the most interesting version of your city is just a few blocks outside your usual radius—you just have to actually go.
6. Create an outdoor nook at home. A chair, a throw, and a dedicated spot outside signals to your brain that this is a place to rest (not scroll, not plan, not produce). Give it a week and see if it becomes your favorite part of the day. Trust me, it will.
Create Something
There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes from making something with your hands—something that didn’t exist before you sat down. The goal isn’t perfection—it never is. It’s just to remember how good making feels.
7. Pick up a creative hobby you’ve been putting off. Knitting, sewing, painting, ceramics… whatever’s been sitting on the “someday” list. Someday is June. Someday is now. A $4 thrift store canvas and a little money thrown to acrylic paint is all you need to get started.
8. Sew something wearable. A tote bag, a skirt, a simple dress. Start small, follow a beginner pattern, and wear the thing you made. There is no better feeling. (Sew It Yourself is my favorite book for getting started! The patterns are forgiving and so fun.)
9. Make something from scratch in the kitchen. Not a recipe you’ve made a hundred times (though those recipes have their time and place). We’re going for something new here: fresh pasta, homemade bread, or a sauce that takes all afternoon. The process is the point.
10. Start a creative journal. Not a diary or to-do list. I’m talking about a place for clippings, sketches, color swatches, and half-formed ideas. Skip the rules and ditch 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 changes the entire feeling of a room. Trader Joe’s blooms absolutely count as well.
12. Try abstract painting. No skill required, no outcome expected. Put on a playlist, pick three colors you love, and see what happens.
Gather Around the Table
Summer changes the way we eat together. Our meals move outside, the pace slows down, and hosting stops feeling like a production (and more like a part—ay!). This month, lean into the kind of gathering that’s less about impressing anyone and more about actually being together.
13. Plan a Friday night al fresco dinner. Just a few friends, a simple table, and a menu that takes less than an hour to make. The long June evenings do most of the work for you.
14. Host a cookbook dinner 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 built in.
15. Try a new non-alcoholic drink. Summer is peak season for interesting NA options—shrubs, botanical sodas, adaptogen drinks. Mix 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. Organize a neighborhood potluck. Assign categories—mains, sides, desserts—keep it low-key, and let your community do the rest. The best gatherings are usually the least planned. (Proof.)
18. Set a table worth lingering at. Linen napkins, something seasonal in a vase, candles even if it’s still light outside. Small details signal to everyone at the table: we’re not rushing. Here are the table-setting tips to make it happen.
Tend to Yourself
Depth over breadth applies here, too. We’re not overhauling your wellness routine or adding 10 new habits to your morning. This month, we’re paying closer attention to what your body and mind are actually asking for, and letting yourself answer.
19. Start walking outside without your phone. Try it just once this week. The thoughts that surface when you’re not filling the silence are usually the ones worth having.
20. Refresh your skincare routine for the season. Lighter layers, more hydration, daily SPF. Summer skin is its own thing—here’s how to get the ultimate glow-up.
21. Book a massage or spa treatment—no occasion needed. Rest is not a reward for productivity. Schedule it like you would anything else that matters.
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 the mental clutter. A 7-day mental reset is the most effective way to create more clarity, focus, and ease in your day—and summer is actually the perfect time to do it.
24. Build an evening wind-down practice. Some evenings, replace the Netflix spiral with something that actually signals your body to downshift: stretching, reading, tending to something (for me, that’s my little container garden). Dim the lights 30 minutes before bed and see what changes.
Find the Delight
This is the Frog & Toad section. The part of the list that doesn’t need to be productive, optimized, or justified (though really, none of this does). June has a kind of magic in the small things—and the whole point is to notice it.
25. Make your summer bucket list. Write it down, keep it somewhere you’ll actually see it, and let it be aspirational without being a to-do list. I know you know: there’s a difference.
26. Build your summer playlist. The one you’ll want on repeat from now until Labor Day. Start with one song that already feels like summer and let it lead you somewhere good.
27. Visit a local gallery, pop-up, or art show. Put yourself in the path of something you didn’t create and didn’t expect. You never know what you’ll connect with.
28. Pick up a summer page-turner. The kind you read in two sittings because you can’t stop. Bring it to the park, the bath, the backyard. Wherever you do your best disappearing.
29. Go to the movies. When the heat gets to you, the theater is the perfect place to cool off and completely check out for two hours. I consider it an underrated summer luxury.
30. Do one thing this month just because it sounds fun. Not because it’s good for you, not because it’ll make a good story, and not because someone else suggested it (even me!). Just because you want to. That’s always enough.
This post was last updated on June 1, 2026, to include new insights.
The post 30 Simple Delights to Add to Your June Calendar appeared first on Camille Styles.