June 2015 Favorites | YouTube Video and Details

Have I ever told you I used to hate the month of June? When you're a kid with a June birthday, you always feel slighted. No one is in school to celebrate with you (or if you are, it's exams). Or if you're an adult (Who let me adult?), June is not quite enough into summer where you can actually relax. It's more like the busy season where everything that you've put off since January lands. So yeah...I used to hate June. 

Until I think this year.

Let June 2015 mark the time that Carlene began to appreciate June. This June I had a great month for business in terms of appreciation. I was in Washingtonian Bride and Groom, I was on CNN for my first ever TV appearance and was named Washingtonian's 'best healthy eating Instagram account' for DC in their 'best of' issue magazine. The weather was beautiful. I took time to actually relax and eat outside. There was lots to love about June, but also some sadness.  Our 16 year old dog (the husband's childhood dog actually) passed away this weekend. He lived a really long time, caused us large amounts of head scratching (Houndini escaped some pretty well enforced gates/latches etc during our time together for an old guy), and always caused people in public to stop us to ask us what the heck kind of dog he was. (Answer, he was a 'whatever': basset hound legs and length, regular golden retriever slash German Shepard body and head). The house feels really quiet and still a little sad... but he didn't really like July or August that much anyway. He always did have impeccable timing. 

Here are my favorites for June. You can watch the video or scroll down to get details on what I mention below!  

June Favorites

• Nail Polish Clear Coat: Seche Vite:  I am the queen of impatience when it comes to letting my nails dry. Nothing is harder for me than sitting still, doing nothing, waiting. Nine times out of ten, I ruin my nails because I don't wait long enough for them to dry. And then I bought Seche Vite and I was like "YES. Something to encourage my impatience!". This stuff, no joke, dries two layers of polish in about ten seconds. 
• The PRINT Personality Test: I love personality tests. I love tests that tell me if I was a food I would be pizza or if I was a state I would be Arkansas (totally kidding, no one would be Arkansas). By far, the most useful test I've taken is the PRINT test. While I love the Myers Briggs test, it isn't as useful to me as the PRINT test was. PRINT, by comparison identifies your internal motivations (what you want but also what you want to avoid) and gives you your habits when you are your 'best self' with an accompanying list of you as your 'worst self'. If you want to take the test, book it through my friend and mentor Chere. 
• New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: Yeah buddy, wine is on the list this month! In the video I list some of the kinds I have tried and liked before. Even though rose wine is weirdly having a moment as a trendy food, my preference is a NZ SB. Buy this if you are eating outside or having a party.
• Radio Cherry Bombe Podcast: I'm excited that podcasts are having a moment within pop culture thanks to Serial. If you're looking to fill that void until season 2, and you're reading this blog, I highly recommend tuning into Radio Cherry Bombe. It's all about women in the food world and right now, they're playing the talks from Jubilee, their annual conference.
• Soundcloud: I like a lot of weird music. I'm not someone who is like "Oh no, I don't like rap." or "I hate classical music". No way. In the video I explain why I have such a broad music palate (although I don't mention the time my Dad took me to Vegas after graduating high school and we went to a Pink Floyd Concert he really wanted to see where everyone was smoking pot). Learn to appreciate all kinds of music by listening to these mashups! 
• ONA Camera Bags: Listen. If you have a DSLR camera and you don't have a proper camera bag, it's time to bite the bullet and invest. ONA is where it's at. 
• Siggi's Lingonberry Yogurt: Hi, my name is Carlene and I have an Icelandic yogurt obsession. When Siggis sent me their newest products in June I was addicted to their summer flavor of lingonberry strawberry. If you can find it, you need to buy it.
• Daredevil on Netflix: We don't have cable in our house. Or basic TV actually. We are viewers of the web. While we don't maintain a year round subscription to Netflix (we don't watch enough to make it worth it), we DO renew it to watch two things: House of Cards (duh), Orange is the New Black...but now...Daredevil. 

What did you love in June?