We’re Cool for the Summer (and, apparently, also *Fashionably* Late): Lists, Plans, and Goals

*plays Cool for the Summer*

Oh my god???!?!?!?! Two posts from Ahaana within a month?!?!?!?!?! After a year?!?!?!?!?! That’s new.

Every summer, our family goes to London, stays there for a month with my mum’s brother, his wife, and two kids. Sometimes our shared grandparents join us there, and after the month’s over we travel to another country for the 2nd month of summer vacation.

This time, because our cousins bought an estate, and shifted to the British Countryside and out of their house in Central London, we decided we would stay in England for almost two months and explore what the Countryside has to offer.

We’re going to Montreux, and (maybe?) Milan, as well as, of course, day trips to other places in England, (and of course London very very very often for the shopping because I love shopping) but we’re all staying in the Countryside for a large majority of our trip.

books

At the moment, because I’ve been slumping SO much, I’m going to choose to absolutely neglect my TBR and focus on that when I’m up for it <33 Because reading’s something I love doing, and not a chore, I’m just going to read what I want, when I want to and MAJORLY mood-read. I’ve binged a few contemporaries in the past few weeks though and those are always fun!

Right now, I’m in the middle of reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, and Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck: I’ve been reading East of Eden literally forever and I wasn’t getting anywhere, so I decided to re-start the book, and now I’m about 34 pages in and genuinely haven’t ~connected~ with the book yet, but then again, I haven’t really tried. Hopefully I end up loving it once I’m done because it sounds SO interesting and I’ve heard the best things about it.

Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe: Again, I started this a very long while ago, and I keep picking up new things instead of actually focusing on it, but it sounds super interesting, and I’m hoping to finish it soon.

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave: I love this so far — I’m about 87% done and it’s such an amazing story. I love the whole idea and the way the relationships are explored, so hopefully I’ll be done with this soon too.

*potential* tbr

• The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim: Goodreads | The Storygraph (ARC)
• Marlowe Banks, Redesigned by Jacqueline Firkins: Goodreads | The Storygraph (ARC)
• The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe: Goodreads | The Storygraph (ARC)
• The Unbroken by C.L. Clark: Goodreads | The Storygraph (ARC)
• The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu: Goodreads | The Storygraph
• The Knockout by Sajni Patel: Goodreads | The Storygraph
• I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston: Goodreads | The Storygraph
• TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo: Goodreads | The Storygraph
• Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett: Goodreads | The Storygraph
• Once Upon a K-Prom by Kat Cho: Goodreads | The Storygraph
• My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding by Sajni Patel: Goodreads | The Storygraph

holiday plans

Our last day of school was the 2nd of June, and school’s going to start again on the 2nd of August, so we have a clear two months of vacation!! Time is genuinely a construct though, and it’s flown by, so we have less than a month left now.

We came to the UK on the 16th of June (I spent a week in Jaipur at my paternal grandparents house before that), and since then every single day’s been so full of excitement.

Our cousins have a dog, who JUST turned two years old (on the 6th of July!) – her name’s Tilly, and she’s the cutest, sweetest, calmest, most gorgeous foxred labrador!! She’s the gentlest creature ever and LOVES to play (she also loves soft things)!! She’s the kind of dog that greets thieves at the gate – showing them the unlocked doors, and asking them to play with her 😭 We literally didn’t hear her bark until a week of being with her, she’s the most considerate doggie ever.

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They also JUST got a little tiny puppy, called Pluto – and he’s almost 9 weeks old. He’s a golden labrador and he’s SO friendly, and loves playing too 😭 Because he’s in his teething phase, his favourite things include humping poor Tilly, stealing Tilly’s toys, making Tilly feel bad about herself, and chewing everything he can find, as well as looking cute (and sleeping cute) so we can never be mad at him. The worst part is even though he troubles poor, gorgeous Tilly so much, Tilly’s always so nice and she’s scared of hurting him 🥺💗

We’re also dog-sitting ANOTHER puppy called Silvie for two weeks – but she’s not really ours 😭😭 She’s the cutest puppy though – I think she’s around two months old, and she’s a true escape artist. Puppies have to stay in their pens so that they don’t get lost or hurt so Silvie has a pen, but sometimes she just wants to play – so she either a) jumps out or b) claws and bites at the lock until finally it opens and she can push open the gate it’s HILARIOUS 🥰

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måneskin!!!! <3333

On the 25th of June, I went for a Billie Eilish concert at the O2 and it was horribly fun. Arlo Parks opened, and we got really good seats so it was such an amazing experience!! We’re going to Montreux for a week in like basically a day for the Montreux Jazz Fest and I’m genuinely so excited for that too!!! I’ve been to Switzerland before but never Montreux and I’m so excited for the festival too because of all the amazing acts. We’ve got VIP tickets for the 14th, 15th and 16th, and I’m seeing Måneskin on the 12th so I’m literally SCREAMING inside I love Måneskin omg!!!!!!!

We *might* go to Milan too after Montreux too – so that’s also very exciting!! I love shopping so much too, so Milan’s going to be fun – but it’s not confirmed so we might not go :// Even if we don’t, and come back to the UK, we’ll probably go to a beach house in Brighton or Devon to spend a few days, or just meet friends and family around Britain before we head back to Bombay in the first week of August for school (how depressing but it’s ok I don’t mind going to school 🤝🤠)

goals

• Read at LEAST six books off my TBR for the summer, or just generally (and *hopefully* inch out of my slump)
• Be productive & not lazy (don’t procrastinate)!!!!!
• Study and revise the curriculum before school starts
• Work on my WIP (because I keep having these ideas, but also keep forgetting to write them down skjfns)
• Publish at least 2 blog posts per month and be consistent!! +blog-hop <333
• Finish all school work before school starts

My goals are pretty basic, but that’s really all that I can think of at the moment. I know when school starts I’m going to have less and less time to read and blog (etc.) So I really want to get in the flow (& out of my slump), so that I feel more and more motivated to do these things instead of just being lazy and wasting time rip.

When are your summer vacations? Do you have any plans? What books are you planning to read soon? How has your summer been so far?