Has The Summer Ended Already? – July 2023 Overview

I’ve been a little pessimistic with the title of this monthly roundup as we have had a few good days. But overall it seems like July 2023 has been the end of summer. We’ve had so much rain over the past few weeks and my garden is the only thing happy about this.

The thing I’m still loving is the daylight. It’s so refreshing to be up at 6 am and have some light. It makes getting up in the morning so much nicer.

Much like every month this year July 2023 disappeared way too quickly, but here’s what I got up to.

Our annual retreat to 2000 trees

This is now our fourth year going to 2000 trees festival and it was another great year.

We invested in a new tent that’s both inflatable making it super quick to put up and blackout keeping the tent cooler and darker. Overall I slept pretty well, but this time it was freezing at night and I didn’t pack enough snuggly clothing.

The weather was generally okay, with some rain on the festival’s final day, but we left before it got too bad. I saw some great bands, my highlights being De Staat, Bob Vylan, As Everything Unfolds and Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties. What I love about trees is I end up seeing a lot of new music.

Entertainment in July 2023

At the start of the month, we headed to see Astroid City, and I’m still unsure what I witnessed. It was a fun watch, but a bit of an odd movie, although to be expected from Wes Anderson. Then over the opening weekend, I headed with some friends to see Barbie and it lived up to all the hype. It was surprisingly emotional and deep, and I loved it.

For once we had a gig during July 2023 that was very much booked because Luke loves them and we saw Calva Louise at the Camden Assembly Room. Despite me not knowing much stuff I had a great time. It was nice being back in a small venue again, and their stuff was far heavier than I remembered.

Cats & books

In the middle of the month, our furry babies turned two years old which is 25 in human years. I have no idea where the time has gone, and having them in our lives is the best decision we’ve made (other than saying I do!) They’ve been enjoying the sunnier days and are spending a lot of time just sleeping on the windowsills and anywhere the light hits.

I had a really good reading month in July finishing 11 books in total. The best thing I read was Lessons in Chemistry. I’m still annoyed at myself for putting it off for so long. There were a lot of points where I felt angry about how Elizabeth was treated, but the overall message that women can do anything they want was so powerful. This was my book clubs buddy read for the month and I’m so happy it forced me to read it when I did.

My other favourite book of the month – The Dead Romantics – was our main book club read. I haven’t read a lot of romance lately so it was nice to get back into it, especially as it wasn’t a typical romance.

A bit of self-care in July 2023

I’ve been growing my hair for absolute ages and didn’t want to get it cut before the wedding, but I finally had a big chop this month. It’s still long and I’ve got a decent ponytail but I think I ended up having 4-5 inches of length cut off. Everything feels lighter and it’s easier to put up when I exercise. Plus I’ve worn my hair down more in the past week than I had all year.

My other act of ‘self-care’ was getting a new tattoo done. For some, this might not feel like self-care but for me it is. I got a beautiful Doc Marten tattoo done by Poppy at Briar Rose and I am in love with it. It was the quickest tattoo session I’ve had in a while with the actual tattoo taking about an hour.

I have three more tattoos booked (over two sessions) for the rest of the year and then I need to chill out for a bit, partially as I’m filling space quickly but also financially. The session I have booked in October will be my very first (and well overdue) Bring Me The Horizon tattoo. And then my session at the very end of December is with an artist up in Newcastle who I have been following for ages and I am so excited to be booked in with her.

A fun final weekend

The last weekend in July 2023 was a pretty great one. On Saturday we headed to Boxpark in Wembley to do a VR escape room experience which was loads of fun. And we got to indulge in some yummy food from the street food stalls. Including some indulgent ice cream, yum yum.

Then after a pretty wet day on Sunday me and Luke headed to St Albans for a comedy night. It was an outdoor event so we were sat there with rain jackets on throughout, and hoods up for parts. But despite the rain it was a really fun evening, a personal highlight being Brett Goldstein aka Roy Kent from Ted Lasso. He was very funny, definitely someone I’d like to see again.

Everything else during July 2023

At the start of the month, Luke drove us to Borough Market for a foodie morning. We picked up loads of yummy food for dinner that day and plenty of baked goods. I had the best sandwich I’ve had in forever at Black Pig, just thinking about it makes me hungry. I’m a massive fan of food markets and want to visit more of them over the rest of the year.

We had quite a few family days this month. My parents came around a few times as my dad is helping us finish our front garden. And my nan and auntie came round for lunch and to see the cats.

What did you get up to in July 2023?