I'm having an Emily Henry Summer

move over Hot Girl Summer and Coastal Granddaughter Summer — there's a new sheriff in town

every summer comes with a new trend that lifestyle magazines try to shove down our throats.

there was Hot Girl Summer where everyone was listening to Megan Thee Stallion and tanning by the pool all day every day with a vodka seltzer in hand.

Coastal Grandma (or was it Granddaughter?) Summer embraced slow mornings, flowy linens, floppy sunhats, and, ideally, a house on the lake where you could spend the evenings sipping a glass of Sauv.

last year, it was Tomato Girl Summer — AKA the summer where everyone you know was in Italy (guilty!) and wearing bright red lipstick, experiencing la dolce vita while sucking down Aperol Spritzes. (Bath & Body Works literally created a tomato girl summer scent last year to hop on the trend. I love it here!)

I heard that this year we’re having a Nancy Meyers Summer… which seems to be a recycled version of the Coastal Grandma wave from two years ago?

at this point, I wouldn’t be shocked if there was a “Macaroni Girl Summer”.

every trend comes with its own respective moodboard, fashion inspo (and affiliate links to match), guidelines on what to do and where to go, and a playlist to act as your soundtrack, of course!

while there’s nothing inherently wrong with the trends — I’ve happily indulged in them, too! — sometimes it can all just be a bit dizzying.

so this year, I’m making my own rules — and I’m starting a new summer trend just for my own enjoyment.

I’m having an Emily Henry Heroine Summer.

which, for the uninformed, simply means I’ll be spending the next three months pretending I have work to do and instead choosing to wander into bookstores, drinking countless overpriced iced coffees, contemplating abandoning the career I’ve built for myself in pursuit of a long-suppressed passion, word-vomiting my emotional baggage to an alarmingly attractive man, experiencing an inevitable identity crisis, and — if all goes according to plan — coming out happier on the other side of it all.

if you’ve been around for even the smallest bit of time, you likely already know how much I love Emily Henry and her books (hi, Emily Henry <3). her writing is quick and witty and makes me feel sharper as a result. often while I’m reading, I stop to wish that I could be just a little bit more like the characters she so effortlessly creates. and after a bit of contemplation, I think I finally understand why I aspire to model my life after Poppy Wright or Harriet Kilpatrick.

(and not just because they always find love in the end.)

Emily Henry’s heroines somehow make their everyday lives feel like a movie.

they have favorite coffee shops and support local businesses. they impulsively go on day trips. they spend entire afternoons floating on the lake. they have the kind of banter that makes me want to google if there’s some sort of Flirting 101 class I can sign up for. they’re emotionally regulated (for the most part). they work hard, and they play harder. they’re deeply competent in some areas of life, and deeply disastrous in others. they’re not afraid to be human.

and sure, they usually fall in love — which, don’t get me wrong, would be nice too! — but before they get the guy, they fall back in love with their own lives.

I think that’s the part I’m longing for.

because realistically speaking, I probably won’t run into Gus Everett at my local bookstore. (partly because I am not located in the Midwest, and also because he is unfortunately fictional. though a girl can dream!!!!)

but I can choose to live my life a little more intentionally.

I can take a longer walk to the Metro just because the sun is shining. I can become a regular at the coffee shop across the street. I can say yes to plans just because they might make my life feel like a novel. I can go on my own sparkly little summer side quests, just because I want to.

so, in the interest of committing myself to the bit, I’ve organized my own Emily Henry Summer bucket list.

the goal is to accomplish some, not all, of the items on the list. but making an effort to incorporate even a few of these into my weekly rhythms will be enough to give me a summer I won’t ever forget.

⭒ the Emily Henry Heroine Summer Bucket List ⭒

• finish a book in one sitting (bonus points if written by EmHen herself!!)

• support a small business — and visit more than once

• judge a book by its cover, and buy it only because it looks pretty

• read with the windows open

• go out to happy hour with your girlfriends

• learn your barista’s name

• walk home instead of taking the Metro

• tan in the pool using a unicorn float

• go to a carnival and ride a Ferris wheel

• get caught in the rain exactly once

• eat a sandwich on the beach

• donate a book to a tiny library, and leave a note for its next reader

• stroll through a farmers market and buy fresh flowers — just because

• treat yourself to a pastry that looked yummy in the case

• go on a drive with the windows down and music blasting

• print out photos from your phone and hang them up

• make a homemade drink (even better if shared with friends)

• catch the sunrise without feeling the need to take a picture of it

• listen to a new album all the way through

• listen to an album you forgot you loved

• make ultra specific playlists for the morning, evening, and weekends

• write someone a postcard

• start a book club with your neighbors

• bake something from scratch

• let yourself have a silly little crush

• say yes to a plan you would typically decline

• compliment a stranger and actually mean it

• keep a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter

• spend one day completely offline

• wear an outfit you’ve been saving — even if it’s just around the house

• treat yourself to a solo brunch

• wander around a museum

• get an ice cream cone at sunset

• watch fireworks on a picnic blanket

• be corny and dance in the kitchen with a wooden spoon as a fake microphone

• make eye contact and smile at cute strangers

• have a day with absolutely zero plans

• write down things you overhear in public

• start the day with listing what you’re grateful for

• end the day by writing down one thing that made the day feel extra sparkly

my Emily Henry Summer may or may not result in me finding the love of my life. it isn’t guaranteed to make my life feel perfect by the end of it (because it never will be). but it is designed to make me feel approximately 37% more like my favorite leading ladies (I’m looking at you, Harriet) — and that’s enough for me.

now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to start checking these off my list (and hopefully find my own Tom-Blyth-as-Alex-Nilsen in the process.)

let me know — is there anything you would add to my Emily Henry Heroine Summer bucket list? I’m all ears!

P.S. — I did, in fact, create a soundtrack to accompany my own summer trend. press play on my “an Emily Henry summer” playlist for maximum romanticization!