The coolest things this summer

It is the hottest that I remember it ever being in a long time.  I’m talking week long temperatures of over 105 degrees.  It’s all anyone can talk about.  Even the dog will run outside for a scant five minutes at a time before he’s begging to be let back into the AC.  To take my mind (and everyone else’s) off of the unbearable heat, here are some of the coolest things about this summer:

Binchotan charcoal face scrub towel

Remember how much crap I gave Bryan’s parents about washing their faces with washcloths?  I’m eating my words now because I found a Japanese face towel that’s been doing wonders for my face this summer.  I’ve always been so lazy about exfoliating, maybe doing it once per calendar quarter.  That is, until I bought this charcoal face towel.  The two sides have different levels of coarseness (usually I’ll use the softer side), and since I’ve been using it, my face has been incredibly clean and clear.  It is much needed with all the sweating that I do during the summer.

Homemade Biscoff ice cream

This is by far the easiest homemade ice cream recipe I’ve ever made.  You don’t need an ice cream maker.  You don’t need eggs (or to separate them).  You do need a mixer (stand or hand, either will do).  The best thing of all is you get to control the cookie to ice cream ratio, which I prefer TONS of cookies in my ice cream.  I’ve only made this ice cream once this summer, which I think exemplifies my extreme level of self control, but I think I’m going to be making another batch this weekend.  The recipe I used is from this link: https://mommyshomecooking.com/how-to-make-eggless-ice-cream/.  Feel free to substitute any kind of cookie that you like.

Shakespeare in the Park

One of the benefits of moving back to a place where you grew up is you can pick up traditions that you had when you were a child.  One of my favourite summertime traditions is Shakespeare in the Park, which is literally a Shakespeare play performed in an outdoor auditorium.  The stage and lights are permanent structures and the audience sits out on the lawn to watch.  I took Bryan for the first time on Bark at the Park night, one of the two nights of the summer when you can bring your dog.  The play that they had put on was The Comedy of Errors, which I wasn’t familiar with but was funny, especially as the production was set in 1970s television land.  We didn’t take Bowie with us but we took a whole bunch of snacks to last us through the play.  However by the end of the night, there were fire ants swarming the beach towel we had brought to sit on.  Since I have an eagle eye for biting insects, we had preemptively rented lawn chairs and sat above the ant melee, saving me a trip to the emergency room, no doubt.  Moral of the story: don't even bother with picnic blankets, just bring chairs.

Drive-In Movie

If you can believe it, this was my first time to a drive-in movie.  We went and saw a double feature of Hotel Transylvania 3 and The Incredibles 2 with what felt / sounded like all of the kids in North Texas.  I’m guessing drive-in movies now are much more advanced than drive-in movies used to be because the concession stand was a full restaurant and bar, with a separate window for sno-cones and cotton candy.  There was a playground, picnic tables, lawn games, and you could even rent a radio and sit outside of your car and watch from the projection house if you wanted.  The movies began at 9 pm, when it got dark, and ended after 1 am.  Since we were watching the kids’ movies, one-third of the cars left after the first movie.  I was pretty much sweating through my clothes at the end of the first feature but we opened the car doors and let the cross breeze cool us down, which is the only way I made it through the second movie.  Bowie fell asleep in the back seat 10 minutes into the first movie, which I’m guessing is how long most of the kids lasted through the movie as well.  I’d really like to go again, maybe when it’s a little cooler and when the sun sets a little earlier.  Have you gone to a drive-in movie before and are there any around where you live?

Selfie Stick

First selfie and the wet spots on my shirt are sweat and dog slobber

When visiting my parents a few weekends ago, my dad surprised me with a selfie stick he ordered off Amazon.  He found it “very useful at the Eagles concert that he and my mom went to” since “his arms are too short to take good selfies.”  Who knew my dad would be the one bringing me up to date on trends, ten years too late?  I’ve used it a few times (inside the house) since then and honestly, I think it works great.  Unless your subject matter keeps wiggling around.  Thanks Dad, I think we'll be taking this one on the road trip with us next month.