Reading: I’ve been picking up good things from the book swap pile at work. I just finished Kindred by Octavia Butler and now I’m reading Kensington Gardens by Rodrigo Fresan.

Video: Stranger Things and Better Call Saul. I tried watching House of Gucci but just couldn’t get more than halfway through. What a mess.

Art: I need to get over to MoMA to see the Matisse Red Studio installation. And to FIT to see the Dior and Balenciaga show.

Audio: Peter Murphy (he had a birthday recently — 80!). New Order. Sometimes I turn back into my teen self, musically speaking, in the summer.

Tr(eats): All I want to eat right now is peach and tomato salad with mint or basil leaves, courtesy of the farmers market and our own potted herb plants.

Drinks: I had a complimentary Poppi beverage at a pop-up location and now I want them all the time. (The first taste is always free.) Raspberry Rose is my favorite flavor. Oh, and I had a “coffee tonic” at a Brooklyn cafe on a hot day and enjoyed that too.

Beauty Products: Various facial sunscreen/sunblock samples, including Josie Maran Get Even Sun Milk, but I’ll probably end up going back to my CeraVe A.M. Face Moisturizer. And I finished a pot of Velvet & Sweet Pea Kashmir Rose face cream and I was sad…until I remembered that I had a new pot of V&SP Gardenia cream waiting in the refrigerator.

Garb: The same few lightweight, machine-washable midi dresses over and over, until the heat breaks in NYC. My Anna Sui sunglasses (found on Etsy). A new-ish floral bag (bigger than a purse, smaller than a tote) from Protean London.

Pleasures:  Meals out with friends, usually outdoors, always enjoyable. A new opportunity or two to give an interview on a perfume topic. (Updates to come.) Air-conditioning.

Plans: A long weekend in Providence, RI. Just trying to get through a work-heavy August, otherwise. And anticipating the break of this heat wave…

Image: Irene Fawkes, July, 1928. The Victoria and Albert Museum, E.1274-1976.