Vibe Check: June 2025
Your Monthly Mood Board 🧚
Summer has arrived, Baby!!!
I am NOT sure how we got here so quickly, are you? 2025 has been a year of whiplash for me, with tons of projects, travel, and surprising opportunities. I am extremely grateful, but am definitely working hard to keep my head above water.
In an unexpected turn of events, I’m off to the French Riviera next week for a twelve-day solo adventure (part work, part play). I’ve been researching stony beaches, boulangeries, and boat rides, and the vibe for the month has definitely been affected. But there are always certain elements of June that truly sing to me.
June is juicy, June is joyful. June is gingham, cherries, and seaside waves lapping against a rocky beach. June is sunscreen, fruit stands, ice cream dripping down your fingers, and ladybugs sitting on your knee. It’s stone fruit and Stonewall.
To dive into the salty waters of June, here are some recommendations, fun summer fits, Pride awareness, and things to watch, read, and listen to!
🎶 Sterelob is one of our favorite household bands, and we were so excited about the release of their new album, Instant Holograms, on Metal Film. I’m really enjoying it!
📘 Looking for a perfect beach read? My friend Jessie Rosen’s newest book, All The Signs, just came out, and I can’t wait to read it on my trip!
🤣 My new favorite TikTok follow, Sfeeny, does THE funniest videos of matching celebrities to the inanimate object that they are “based on vibes”. Nicole Kidman is a crisp green grape. Ded.
👏 This song by Tom Cardy about being a Freelance Creative also made me lol.
📸 RETO Project is a very cool film camera co that I’ve been a fan of since I got their 3D camera about 6 years ago. I recently found their vibey Blossom 400 Disposable Camera that puts little flowers directly onto your film photos and I think it’s the cutest for summer!
🍩 I have a couple of kryptonite snacks, and recently indulged in one that I hadn’t had in agessss - Entenmann’s Soft’ee’s Donuts. One of the plain cake donuts with a cup of coffee is my dream way to start the day.
🏡 I LOVE seeing inside people’s homes, so I obviously loved this photo essay from The New Yorker: Inside the living rooms of notable New Yorkers.
🎧 I’m a MASSIVE fan of the Las Culturistas podcast, and I particularly loved this soundbite with Mike Birbiglia from this week’s episode about trying hard.
👩🍳 I’m not a cookbook girly, but Leslie Stephens recently recommended Coastal, 130 Recipes from a California Road Trip, and I keep looking at it in my cart.
💡 A good tip if you’d like for your Google searches to NOT include AI queries.
🍪 Look at this cupboard cookie cake!
🛍️ In preparation for my France trip, I’ve been on an uncharacteristic shopping bender. It feels like clothes to my taste are incredibly hard to find right now, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite purchases in case you need a summer wardrobe boost yourself:
🍒 LOVE the pattern on this Damson Madder Cherry Pie Midi Dress
🕶️ From Freyrs - Voyager Oversized Aviator Sunglasses
👖 From Quince, I’m excited about this matching gingham pants and top set, as well as this woven leather crossbody bag
🦺 From Everlane, this vest feels very French business casual, and striped wide-leg pants (on sale) are just my taste
👙 If you need a new summer swimsuit, Left on Friday makes my favorites!
🌀 This week, the NY Times Wellness section is doing a five-day creativity challenge with science-backed recommendations to boost creativity! Here are the first three days to check out: Master the Art of Daydreaming, Take a Page from Dr. Seuss (write a poem), and Start With Some Quick Doodles.
🌴 It’s no secret that my beloved home, Los Angeles, has been having a ROUGH few years (decade) in the film industry. In the Vulture piece, Hollywood Has Left L.A., they dissect the decline and interview industry players. It’s a bummer to read, but I’m hoping these types of discussions can help initiate a shift.
💪 In another somewhat depressing-but-interesting piece, It's the body fat, stupid, from Body Type, examines the current wellness fad of protein and muscle building as just another way to look thinner.
🏛️ Creator Becca Murray went to Congress for the Trending Up creator conference, and it’s an interesting look at how some content creators are using their platforms for good, and how certain government branches are helping them.
👩💻 I love the Emma Specter Vogue series, where she shares unfiltered thoughts as she views a piece of media. 47 Thoughts I Had While Watching the And Just Like That… Season 3 Premiere is pretty accurate. I STAND BY the hat, though.
💻 If you like this, psychotherapist Kaitlyn Elizabeth of Dialoguing (great Substack) does her own spin on this thought-dump series that is so fun!
We are HERE to celebrate all the queens and queers!
We should celebrate love, equality, and people being their authentic selves all the time, but this month is the perfect moment to go all out. Especially when so much of the LGBTQ+ community is under threat across the country. Below are some recommendations for celebration and advocacy. 🏳️🌈
🏳️⚧️ From Cosmopolitan: When You’re Trans and Dating, Coming Out Never Ends
🌎 In February, Drag Queen and Environmentalist Pattie Gonia became the first person to deliver a TED Talk in Drag: Why Joy Is a Serious Way to Take Action
🌈 From The NY Times 8 Comics to Read this Pride and (from 2023): What It’s Like to Be a Queer Teenager in America Today
💜 Here is GLAAD’s list of resources for people in the LGBTQ+ community
🐧 From Penguin Random House: The Ultimate LGBTQ+ Pride Book List
🔥 Paris is Burning is currently streaming on MAX, which is an important documentary chronicling the Harlem Drag Balls of the 1980s
✊ And if you don’t already follow THEM - I highly recommend you start. Labeled as “The award-winning authority on what it means to be LGBTQ+,” they have fantastic articles, awareness, interviews, activism initiatives, and more.
Some recent pieces by THEM:
What are you most excited for this month?!