Favourites: June 2026
1. Lily Of The Valley Candle (from Bloom & Co.)
I love a candle, but I’m not generally a fan of floral scents (I’m more of a vanilla/sandalwood/skin scents type of girl), which is why this candle surprised me.
When I was in Bloom & Co. picking up flowers for my niece’s dance recital, I (of course) took the time to smell all of their current candles. When I picked up this one, I knew I had to buy it. The floral scent is light, bright, and sweet - not heavy or musty at all.
My two favourite spring flowers are lily of the valley, and lilacs - and this candle somehow reminds me of both. I already know I’ll be sad when this one is gone.
2. Superman & Lois (TV Show)
The past couple summers I have tried to institute what I call “Retro Summer”. Basically a few years back I started thinking about how long and luscious summer felt when I was a kid, but as an adult it seemed to breeze by in the blink of an eye. I decided that part of the problem is the amount of mindless scrolling I do on social media, and thus Retro Summer was born - each June I delete the social media apps from my phone, and allow myself to login on my laptop to check messages and see family and close friend’s posts, but I don’t allow myself to scroll my for you page or endlessly scroll, which honestly isn’t too hard since social media apps are way less “fun” to use not on your phone.
This year I also set a new goal for myself: no streaming platforms. So the first week of June I let all of my subscriptions cancel and instead started taking DVDs out from the library again, which is so nostalgic of the time right after I moved to Niagara Falls. At the time I wasn’t making enough money to pay for home internet, so I spent a lot of time at the library, and of course had no streaming services, so I would take out DVDs and watch them on my laptop in my mostly empty living room.
I was happy to find that my local library had the full four seasons of Superman & Lois - a series that I have been wanting to watch since it was first announced. In this series Tyler Hoechlin plays Superman, and the story starts with Clark Kent married to Lois Lane. They have two teenage boys, and the story follows their return to Smallville, the discovery that one of their boys also has some of Superman’s powers, and of course how they deal with family life on top of the existential threats we’re used to seeing Superman tackle.
I'm on the third season now, and I’ve honestly been loving them. Of course I love Tyler Hoechlin, so I was already biased towards liking it, but I also genuinely think they’ve crafted some great stories - good villians, relateable relational struggles, and the hopeful vibes I love to see.
3. Everything We Thought About Titanic Was Wrong by Today I learned Science
I, like everyone else, became interested in the Titanic after falling in love with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the 1997 film. The YouTube channel Today I Learned Science did a break down of some recent Titanic findings and how this might/does explain what happened that night and why the unsinkable ship was destroyed by an iceberg that we’ve long struggled to explain why it was seen too late.
I honestly found her video so well done, and so interesting! I know she has additional parts in her Titanic series, but I haven’t had the opportunity to watch them yet.
Christopher & Rebecca | Sneak Peek
It’s been a couple years since the last time I had the privilege of photographing a wedding. But a few months ago my friend Rebecca reached out to ask if I would photograph her, and her (now) husband’s wedding. Of course I said yes!
Rebecca and her family have been good friends with my family since we were kids, with Rebecca growing up close with one of my younger sisters, one of her brothers with my brother, and her mom is one of my mom’s best friends. Our lives are like two vines growing side by side, constantly touching and crossing over. And I’m always so happy to see Rebecca, her mom & dad, or one of her brothers, whenever we meet up at an event or hometown visit. I’m so grateful to call Rebecca and the rest of the Catrambone family good family friends, and it was so special that my sister Allysin and I got to be there taking photos on Christopher & Rebecca’s wedding day.
I’m still neck deep culling and editing the thousands of photos I took yesterday, but I’m just too excited - I wanted to share a few of the photographs that I sent to Rebecca as her sneak peek while she’s away on her honeymoon.
