I hope you enjoy this collaborative post. My summer has started with a short break in Southwold. The sun is shining and I can’t wait to spend a day at the beach tomorrow. Leave a comment below and tell me what’s on your bucket list for summer 2017.
Summer’s here and the time is right for ticking off essentials on our summer bucket list. Days at the beach, time with friends and summer dresses are all the makings of a cocktail of summer fun. That, and actual cocktails – as many of those as we can get. So here you have it – my ultimate summer bucket list for this sunny season.
Throw a garden party
Summertime is all about getting outside and enjoying the sun, and you don’t have to go on holiday to do it. You can bring the holiday to your back garden in minutes – all you need are friends, some music and a small spread. We love a good garden party because they can be as elaborate or laid-back as you like. Friends can contribute a dish or you can whip up your own four-course meal. Beyond that, all you’ll need to do it plug in your speakers, bring out the lawn chairs and let the good times roll.
Assemble a new summer wardrobe
Bold prints? Yes please. The best summer wardrobes take risks, and you don’t need to spend a fortune to hit retail nirvana. The bolder the better – the dress styles from Tu are packed with colour and a whole range of prints, plus they look just as cute off the beach as they do on.
Head out for a hike
The beauty of summer in England is that it’s warm, but not oppressively so. You can get away with an afternoon hike at the height of July in ways you can’t in, say, Morocco. The UK is choc-a-bloc with hiking trails, along the coast, through green fields and scenic countryside. The trails might be a little more crowded in summer than at the rest of the year, but the warm weather will be well worth it.
Spend a day at the beach
Beaches in the UK are seriously underrated, but maybe that’s a good thing – more room for us. At any rate, summer isn’t summer without a trip to the beach, and lucky for us the UK is home to a beautiful array. You might not be able to lay out your towel, but you’ll still see rows of pastel-coloured beach huts, craggy cliffs and the odd castle. If you’re particularly ambitious, you might even give surfing a go.
Make the perfect cocktail
To round out our summer bucket list, we had to include the mixing of what is perhaps summer’s best sidekick – cool cocktails. We’re not talking whiskey neat, but sips that pop with colour, whose ingredients include curly straws and hunks of sweet fruit. There’s nothing quite as thirst-quenching as a frozen cocktail in the middle of summer.
We’re in love with these summer cocktail recipes from Jamie Oliver, the likes of which are eye popping and packed with fruit. If you can mix them up in gorgeous cocktail glasses, you’re in even better shape.
If we could, we’d extend summer all year round. But in the meantime, we’ll just have to enjoy the sun as long as we can.