Peter Pan

If he was a woman in the last week of being 25.

My summer is off to a pretty good start.

As I write this, it’s 7 PM on the longest day of the year, Sunday, June 21st 2026. I went to bed at 1:30 and woke up at 7, tried and failed many times to go back to sleep, and then accepted defeat ahead of my Father’s Day lunch at Soothr. Since it’s the longest day of the year, it feels like 3 PM instead of 7. I will probably go to sleep while it’s still light out.

I went to bed so late because I was having an incredible weekend with my best friends from college. Elizabeth who lives in Nashville surprised Nicholson for his birthday, to which we began celebrating on Thursday night at my favorite restaurant, Raf’s. For his birthday, I gave Nicholson a FlameShot lighter shaped as a gun in pink, and it was a gift I’ve never been so excited to give in my life.

I had been dealing with some intense and mysterious stomach and chest pain this week that was hindering my ability to work, and quite frankly live, not to be dramatic. After multiple trips to City MD in multiple different boroughs, multiple different tests, they determined that my intestines were probably spasming. There was a point where I thought I had appendicitis, thought I was losing an ovary, thought it was just heartburn. It was a wild 48 hours, but I recovered in time to celebrate one of my favorite people.

Friday I was on the mend. I ran thousands of errands including voting, doing returns, getting my nails done, doing my laundry, etc., before meeting up with Eliza, Elizabeth, and Mandy on the way to Nicholson’s party at Sugar Hill Restaurant and Supper Club. I had never been to Sugar Hill but it was quite literally perfect. For once, people kept me away from the karaoke mic.

I had been looking forward to my outfit for a week. I’ve forgotten too many things to not utilize my Notes App to its fullest potential, and when inspiration strikes…

As you can read above, I wore a long sleeve ballerina-esque bralette from Los Angeles Apparel, a skirt I got from Gimaguas in Barcelona, and my beloved Maryam Nassir Zadeh Olympia Wedges.

Spending time with my college friends makes me especially nostalgic this time of year, as I get older and further away from when we first met. I feel incredibly lucky to still be close, if not more close with them now, but I can’t help but reminisce on what our time at SCAD was like. This is my fourth year in New York which is making me feel strange. So is turning 26 on Sunday, as you all know by now. I joked with Elizabeth that if we were in a long distance relationship it would be a healthy one with how much I see her for her living in Nashville.

On Saturday I woke up at noon, stumbled to La Colombe for a s’mores draft latte, and got myself together to have a good old fashioned girls day. I met Elizabeth, Eliza, and Mandy for a 2 PM breakfast at La Bonbonniere, one of my new favorite places, before going for a long walk and shopping around with Eliza’s roommate Caroline.

In an effort to reclaim youth, I bought this surprise Hello Kitty ramen trinket and was very happy with my results. I blame Mandy and her toy influence.

Unfortunately I was beginning to deteriorate due to my actions the night before, and after finding a random chair in Los Angeles Apparel and camping out for ten minutes, I decided I had to go home and regroup with the squad later.

We met for a late dinner at Dimes with the addition of our birthday boy, Nicholson. I love Dimes for the same reasons a bunch of people love Dimes—it’s laid-back vibe, robust menu, Wheatgrass Margarita, etc. I wore this top from Favorite Daughter, low rise baggy jeans from Redone, the same MNZ Olympia Wedges from Friday night, a sparkly Staud bag, and a necklace from Etsy.

I got a tuna tostada and some roasted carrots because I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I had a vegetable, forced my friends to take some more pictures because we don’t have enough together, and polished off my third Wheatgrass Margarita before we walked over to Time Again.

Time Again is always a vibe in the summer, especially if you’re vigilant enough to get a table. I had Father’s Day lunch the next day and didn’t want to be dry heaving in the bathroom during it, so I had a nightcap before walking to the $1.50 pizza place near my apartment and getting a good night’s rest (or so I thought).

Soothr has become a Hawkins family tradition. How lucky am I. We literally sat down, ate, and paid within 30 minutes, which was fine for us considering we don’t need to linger long together. I’ll be home in Connecticut for my birthday this weekend and the Fourth of July thereafter, so we’ll get some quality family time in as the summer progresses.

Writing this has not distracted me from the fact that I still have an hour until Love Island comes out. By the time you read this we will have entered Casa Amore. You know where to find me…