You guys!! It is July!! It feels so crazy writing that. I have spent so much time thinking, writing, vibe-reporting about this Summer so it feels odd to actually be enmeshed in it. I am truly having so much fun, though. The past couple of summers have had extremely high highs and extremely low lows, but this one feels very stable. I’m appreciating it. I’ve mentioned how much trouble I have with free time, boredom, time spent alone, and how it’s made me a bit anxious knowing how much of that I’ll have this summer. However, I’ve done a good job of making and maintaining a routine for myself within this period of excess freedom. I am writing a lot, reading even more, cooking, working. I’m spending a lot of time with the people I love and spending a lot of time missing the ones that I don’t have the pleasure of seeing in person.
You guys know the drill by now. As we enter each new month, I embrace the Substackian tradition of reflecting on the prior one and filling you guys in on the products, moments, media and food that brought me joy. This month is pretty stacked across the board, so I'll cut right to my June favorites.
PRACTICES
It would be wrong to start this list without mentioning the important moments and memories that June brought. Julia came home! My dear friend and roommate spent the Spring semester abroad in Australia and moved back into our apartment at the top of the month. Having my girl around again has been such a blessing. Yeah, texting about each fresh Tana Mongeau update or new music release is fun, but nothing beats discussing these important topics IRL with my Jugna. Julia is one of the most special people in my life and I missed her so much. Her return was huge.
June birthday parties were huge. We kicked off with Santana at her gorgeous home in Huntington Beach. So many lovely faces were in attendance. It was a family affair, with all the beach BBQ vibes. Santana is so important to me and I had such a lovely time celebrating her. My other near and dear friend, Jenna, celebrated her 21st birthday last week. We threw a house party at our apartment and she, too, brought together so many different crowds and figures that I had been itching to see. I got to catch up with so many friends and just had a great time.
Work-wise, I had the pleasure of taking on yet another new role at my restaurant. It isn’t anything recurring or permanent, but due to some extenuating circumstances, I wound up expoing in the kitchen three separate times this month. In this role, normally filled by our executive chef, you sort of captain the ship that is the kitchen. You’re in charge of calling each ticket to the line, putting final garnishes on dishes, and sending them to the service staff to bring to tables. The Virgo in me loved this duty. It’s organized chaos in the best way.
I’m not sure how to qualify this last one, but I got a new tattoo this month! It’s been almost two years since I got my previous tattoo. The craving for something new began a while ago and I finally decided it was time to honor it. I had my friend Zee design a version of the necklace I haven’t taken off in nearly three years, since before I transitioned, and print it on my right wrist. It’s an asymmetrical pairing to the crown of thorns on my left wrist. I told my mother about the ideaduring my trip to Savannah at the beginning of the month. She approved but had some suggestions for what the necklace’s chain should be. We landed on a traditionally Irish set of vines. I love the end result. It’s still healing but I can tell it’s going to be gorgeous after my skin stops flaking off. Lol.
SHOPPING
I treated myself a few times this month. It was the start of summer, and I began the month on a family vacation where a large portion of time was spent bopping into the stores that color Savannah’s downtown area. I had some gorgeous pickups there, most notably a pair of ripped jeans from Anthropologie. I wear these constantly. They’re super comfy. I returned to LA and Julia and I hit the Grove pretty hard. I bought a long, princess dress from Aritzia that I really love. I got some new Brandy tops, too.
COOKING
I’ve done some good chefing at home recently. I made fried chicken sandwiches then baked peach scones with the leftover buttermilk. Cordy and I made cinnamon rolls from scratch for Jenna’s birthday party. Before you ask, no we don’t have a stand mixer in our college apartment! We’re just two strong ass women with arm strength and determination. They came out divine. Last week, I made a gorgeous hamachi crudo which I posted the recipe for! This dish was a major highlight of the month. It tasted the way June feels, if that makes sense
.
EATING
Some of my favorite products that I didn’t cook, but indulged in at home, include the Trader Joe’s Cottage Cheese Ranch Dip. This is definitely part of my recent cottage cheese obsession. Some chips and baby carrots with this stuff are an amazing snack. I also tried Trader Joe’s Pineapple Teriyaki meatballs. These make for a great filling in my wraps for lunch! Super flavorful and yummy. I also went through a Clif bar phase for a solid week this month. I had some kitchen shifts and let me tell you, these hit as a late-night snack on the drive home from Silver Lake.
DINING
I had some good meals out and about in Los Angeles this month. Shoutout Irv’s Burgers for a double cheeseburger. Julia and Cord and I went her one night and proceeded to film a little taste test. Pretty strong smash burger if you ask me. I tried Just What I Kneaded’s pride donut after a long run with Stella. This was more for fun rather than flavor, but anything from their pastry case is divine. I tried Secret Pizza with my friend Renee this weekend. It came as a recommendation from my manager at work, and though it was tasty, it wasn’t the best pizza I’ve tried in L.A..
At work, I had some gorgeous dishes this month. There were a lot of specials that came and went, but I was lucky enough to get my hands on. Our pastry chef, Tessa, made a corn biscuit with lemon whipped cream and Olallieberry jam as a brunch special one weekend. I had it for lunch after I got off my shift and she just never fails to impress me. We had a Barbequeer as a pride celebration and fundraiser for CHIRLA. We sold hot dogs and slices of cake, also made by Tessa, and I helped work the event. Again, after I was relieved of my duties and clocked out, I indulged in a dog and some funfetti cake. Each was delicious. I love my job.
MEDIA
This month, media pales a bit in quality as compared to all the aforementioned bounties. But there was still plenty of good stuff! Music-wise, my friends and I have been obsessing over Audrey Hobert. Cord and Julia put me on to “Sue Me” just in time for the release of “Bowling Alley.” I love both. I love her. I helped get Cord into her acoustic show at the Elysian through the KXSC music writing connect. Addison Rae’s debut album is awesome. Every track is incredible and I feel so proud? Of her. She’s just such a unique figure in culture that I was really rooting for, so I’m glad this project came out so well. I also loved Virgin. Lorde obviously never fails to rock the world with an album release. This one is really special. It’s definitely hitting at a good moment for me, as it’s central themes are like, gender queerness and anorexia recovery.LMAO. I cried upon first listen and haven’t stopped streaming since it came out. HAIM’s new album, I Quit, is also pretty great. There are definitely some standout tracks, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t getting overshadowed by the other two albums I’ve brought up. And lastly, I’ll mention “Nettles,” the new single by Ethel Cain. It’s the best song ever. It’s odd to call it a June 2025 favorite since I’ve been listening to its demo since high school. Oh well. It’s gorgeous. I’ll leave it at that, though, since the Ethel album will be getting its proper attention after its full release in August.
I watched some good movies this month. The Materialists was fun. Stella and I saw it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Matthew and I went to Bring Her Back and were spooked. This one was crazy but really really good. Body horror isn’t always done well, but this was a prime example of actually gross, yet necessary, imagery. He and I also watched Brokeback Mountain for its 20th anniversary screening. Neither of us had seen it but we both were obviously thoroughly impressed.
I didn’t watch much TV this month. I watched Sirens which was decent. I started the new season of The Bear and am impressed with the improvements they’ve made since the disaster that was season three. Actually, calling it a disaster is giving it too much credit. Nothing happened. Julia, Cordy and I started Love Island. We’re painfully behind but working to catch up. I have never watched any sort of dating show and let me tell you, this is like, seriously making me think about the world in a crazy way. How are these people real?
So another month is in the books. It was a very fruitful one (see what I did there? Cuz pride. haha.) I'm headed into July with a lot of excitement for my new apartment, some new music releases and hopefully some new memories that will surprise me and make me really happy! Thanks for reading. Bye.
Great recap!
Rachel Ormont erasure ❤️🩹