A Realistic Summer Bucket List For Busy Lives

I'm on vacation this week, so I hope you enjoy this replay of one of my favorite episodes!

Summer is the perfect time to pause, check in with yourself, and make a few small changes that can make a big difference. In this episode, we're talking about creating a summer you actually enjoy—not one that feels like another to-do list.

In this episode, we cover:

• A personal update on my health, energy, and family visiting.
• What June feels like in Chicago—from beautiful weather to those not-so-beautiful bugs.
• Celebrating another anniversary of calling Chicago home and what that journey has meant.
• Two simple questions that can change your summer: What do I want less of? and What do I want more of?
• How to create a realistic summer bucket list you'll actually complete.
• Fun local adventures, trying new restaurants, and breaking out of your everyday routine.
• Easy summer rituals like morning walks, screen-free afternoons, and spending more time outdoors.
• Tackling one small decluttering project and remembering to check your sunscreen expiration date.
• Creating a weekly joy list with three things to look forward to.
• Writing down your summer intentions—and why sharing them with someone else helps make them happen.

I'd love to hear what's on your summer list! Send me your ideas, your traditions, or topics you'd like me to cover in future episodes.

You can email me at InsideMarcysMind@gmail.com, or send me a DM on Instagram.

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd be so grateful if you'd leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. And don't forget to share it with a friend who could use a little sunshine...with a healthy side of sarcasm. You know that's what you'll always get from me.

Enjoy the episode, and I'll be back soon with brand-new conversations!

Transcript

Vacation Note And Replay Pick

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey everyone, just a quick heads up before we get started with today's episode. I'm taking a couple of weeks off for little vacations, but I don't want you to worry I didn't disappear. I just decided laundry and sunscreen deserved a break for me. While I am away, I picked a few episodes that I really love and thought were worth another listen. If you missed this one the first time around, you're in for a treat. And if you've heard it before, you might catch something you missed. I'll be back in a couple weeks with brand new episodes, new adventures, and knowing me, probably a few opinions nobody asked for. Thanks for hanging out with me. Now let's dive into today's episode.

Where To Find The Podcasts

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Type podcast, whatever's inside my mind, which is who knows what. But I'm excited to say so on where all podcasts are found, Spotify, you name it, Google, Apple Podcasts, you will be able to find both InsideMarcy's Mind and AgingAim for Sissies. You'll also be able to find back episodes on each one of those. So if you've missed an episode or you want to catch up on an episode, you can always find them there. You can also find InsideMarcy's Mind at Insidemarcy's Mind dot com. AgingAimforSissies is going to also have a new website. And I will get that information to you at our next podcast.

Health Check-In And Family Visit

SPEAKER_00 1:27

But today is check-in doing great, doing radiation every day, two o'clock, doing good. Copacetic, everything's just moving quite fine there. So I'm very excited. On Wednesday, my son and his girlfriend are coming for a week. We've got all kinds of things planned. So fingers crossed, my energy continues to stay up. We are in June. The days are longer, the bugs are bolder, and the fridge is basically 90% watermelon. Emotionally, I'm somewhere between let's go on a spontaneous road trip and I'll be indoors until September. Thank you. So I don't know about you, but it's June. I'm excited about June. In Chicago, we get about 100 days of summer and they're lagging a little bit. I think today our high is in the 60s. So hopefully we'll crank them up. I'm sick, like I said, I'm sick of complaining about being cold. I'd like to start complaining about being hot. But yeah, the bugs are coming. I've even noticed them inside my condo on the 36th floor. There are these little, I think they're like no CMs. They're on the window out there, and occasionally they squeeze through the screen. So although you don't get very many bugs on the 36th floor, um, you can occasionally, I've never seen a spider here. I can say that. Now, living in the suburbs in California, I saw spiders all the time. I have not seen a spider in our condo. Now, watch, I'll see one today, but I have not

June In Chicago And Bug Talk

SPEAKER_00 2:54

seen one. I also have a very big anniversary on June 5th, I want to say, was my anniversary of driving into the city of Chicago to start our new adventure here. Craig had already been here since March. I came in and two a day later or two days later, the moving truck came and so it began. I have moved so many times with Craig. I have total moving PTSD. And I don't know if this is the end of the road for us here in Chicago where we'll land or if something else. But I'll tell you what would keep me from moving somewhere else. It's just the thought of moving. Even though we have so very little now compared to what we had, we still have a lot of crap. But we have a storage unit and we have our one bedroom condo. Not so much stuff. I did a great job getting rid of all of that when we moved out of the big house and to here. So that is my anniversary. I'm very excited about it. I love my life here in Chicago. I have wonderful friends. Shout out

Moving Anniversary And Chicago Life

SPEAKER_00 3:54

to the pool pals, my ladies in the pool. And we are not just friends in the pool, we are friends out of the pool. I um Craig and I have a wonderful church family and are very active in our church. Craig actually works for the church now as a project manager in the redesigning of some of the spaces inside the cathedral. So that's quite exciting. My kids are doing well. Life is good. So how are you feeling heading into this season? Today we're going to talk about summer season and what it means. So hang in there. We're going to start that segment in just a moment. Oh. So, how are

What You Want Less And More

SPEAKER_00 4:42

you feeling heading into this season? It's June. What does June mean to you? I think it means something different if you still have kids at home. It means the kids are out of school and now you are in charge of entertaining them. I stayed home with my kids. I know a lot of people work, so it takes on a lot of different looks, June and the summer. Not everybody's summer is the same, but now I'm retired. Don't have any kids to keep track of. Just trying to keep Craig out of my hair. So how are you feeling? What is one thing you want less of? For me, mosquitoes. I don't want mosquitoes this summer and no humidity. Those are the two things I and you know, since I've moved here to Chicago, I haven't had a lot of humidity. So I just don't want any. I don't like it. So those are a couple of things I want less of. Think about it. What do you want less of in this summer season? If you have kids at home, you may want less whining, less complaining. What is something you want more of? Peace and quiet, frozen margaritas that don't taste like sadness. I don't know. What is it that you want? I want more Diet Coke. I want to try to relax in my cancer treatment. I want to. When I'm done with radiation, I have to do 12 more weeks of chemotherapy. I don't want to do it. I already did 12 weeks. So I want to have my mindset change. What is one thing you want more of? Think about it. What do you want less of? What do you want more of?

A Realistic Summer Bucket List

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Let's talk about a summer bucket list. So a summer bucket list is different. It's not a lifetime achievement award, so to speak, but a summer bucket list. Sorry, there was a motorcycle out there, scared me. Summer bucket list. A realistic edition, not like a pie in the sky. We all have pie in the sky things, but a good summer bucket list. Until we look at it in August and realize we did exactly none of it. So let's keep it real. Here's a realistic summer. Here, here's here's an idea of a realistic summer bucket list. And I want you to adjust it to you. But I do want you to come up with a summer bucket list. I'm going to, I hope you can too. Our um one local adventure. Even it's just discovering a new coffee shop or walking in a park that doesn't make you question your life choices. So think about it. One of the things that uh Craig and I are doing differently, um we live in Chicago, the land of a million restaurants and good restaurants. I found that we had gotten into kind of a rut. We were kind of just tapping into our usual spots. So I pushed us out. Last weekend we ate at a new restaurant. Saturday I came home from the gym and I was craving a Greek salad. So we are very blessed to have a Greek town. Let's drive over to Greek town. So we went over to Greek town to Greek Isle, one of the most famous and long-lasting Greek restaurants in Chicago, and had lunch. We could have walked to McDonald's or Chick-fil-A right next door, but no, I wanted to push us out. So think of one local adventure you can do and do that. A screen-free afternoon. Think about a screen-free afternoon. Put your phone away for an afternoon. Now, one of the things here in Chicago, I've learned in the three years that I've lived here, is enjoy the outdoors while you can. Coming from California, you can have 80 degrees days any month of the year. Let me tell you something, honey. In Chicago after August, if you're lucky if you see something like that again. September can be iffy, it can be enjoyable. Come October, forget it. And you're not going to see another 80-degree day till July or June. I mean, we'll be lucky. Well, I think we've had one in June already. So until June. That's a long time to go between eating outdoors and being outdoors a lot, besides just walking to and fro where you need to be. So for me, it's spending as much time outside as I can. Try a new summer recipe. Something like grilled peaches or a pasta salad that everybody lies about liking at the barbecue. Just kidding. A good new pasta salad. Now I've made a pasta salad my entire marriage to Craig that everybody loves. My kids love it. Alec makes it when they go camping because he says it's a great source of protein and energy. But I've seen a lot of new pasta salads that I want to try. I'm going to have a bar, uh, a okay, my house is not big enough to entertain people, not like it used to be. And if you are old friends of Craig and I's, you know we were big entertainers. But during the summer, my building has an astronomically huge deck with tons of seating, 10 built-in barbecues, plantings, galore, couches. It's huge, it's beautiful, it's rooftop, it's amazing. And um, I'm gonna have a luncheon. I haven't been able to entertain any of my lady friends. So if you're listening to this, expect an invitation for a July afternoon luncheon outdoors. Now it can be iffy in Chicago because you can get a rainstorm or wind, but I'm going to plan an outdoor luncheon for my girlfriends. I've already planned the menu. I've already bought settings and all that kind of stuff because that's the other thing. Our deck can have no glass. So when I moved from California, I got rid of all my plastic wear and everything. And uh I saved all these great things for Craig and I to entertain with when we had a barbecue, but I can't use glass out there. And my trays, my this, my that are all glass. So I've been procuring again, which kills me because when you get rid of things, although the the plastic plates I had were more Mediterranean and that's not my style anymore. So I'm gonna look at it that way. So that's that's my bucket list. If it brings you joy or an excuse to wear flip-flops, flip-flops, flip-flops, I can't even say that word, unironically, it counts. Just pick a few things this summer you want to do and do them. Write them down. I'm gonna tell you to write them down because if you don't, they don't exist. They're just out in the world. When you write something down, it becomes concrete. Summer's a vibe and a chance to reset. Kind of like your Wi-Fi router, but with better lighting. I love summer lighting. Oh, summer afternoons, that summer sunsets that we get here.

Mini Rituals For Summer Reset

SPEAKER_00 11:56

So let's talk about some mini rituals that you might, you might procure or or or put together for your summer time. How about a morning light walk? Just get out and do a light walk. Don't don't think about exercise, don't think about anything. But I just want to get out and breathe the air, feel the feel of summer. I love it because I do walk to the gym. Now, I don't love it so much in the winter. If it's raining and it's super cold, I will drive the couple blocks. And I use the excuse that I need to charge my car and they have chargers there. I don't have chargers in my building. But nonetheless, I'll drive. But most of the time I do walk. The summer is the best time to walk. Funny enough, um, when you walk in the suburbs, you don't have to think about walking traffic. But when you walk in the city, I was just talking to my friend Lynn this morning. The tourists are here. Yeah, they're here. And they walk slow and they look around, and that's all fine, but I need to be somewhere. So we take side streets when the tourists are here. We stay off the main drag. What's kind of funny to me. Get outside early, like I said, even if it's just a wave at your neighbor who's been mowing the lawn since 6 a.m. or using their wheat. You know what I don't miss here? Living in the suburbs in California, all you hear are leaf blowers because everybody's gardener comes a different day. So there's always a leaf blower going. Plus, we lived on a golf course. But nonetheless, I do not miss that here. I have a lot of other obnoxious noises, but it's not leaf blowers. Declutter one space, just one space. Don't make it a huge thing, don't make it a big to-do. Maybe it's where you keep all your summer goodies. I've already pulled out my summer beach bag. I've washed all my towels. I have new sunscreens because sunscreens do not last forever. So check your sunscreens. I decluttered my summer bag. Maybe that's what you do. It could be a closet, it could be your inbox, it could be a mental junk drawer that just tells you you're behind. Guess what? You're not. We're never behind. We're always right where we're supposed to be. Create a joy list. Every week, write down three little things you're looking forward to. Yes, ice cream can be on it every week. So look at your week ahead and think about three things that you're looking forward to. And if you don't have three things, my suggestion is you add something in there. This is summer. This is the time of fun. I ask you, what does summer mean to you? Is it when your freckles come back and you pretend it's intentional? Is it the season of flip-flop sunburns and pretending lemonade counts as hydration? Kind of that for me. Three words pool, popsicles, and not parenting after 7 p.m. I remember those days. I pool and popsicles. I love popsicles. Strawberry popsicles from Whole Foods is my favorite. I've been having those every night for my little sweet treat. They're low in calories, they're good for you. I don't know. Good stuff. Summer is here. I want you to go out and enjoy it. Today's episode is not very long, but I think it's very meaningful.

Summer Meaning Intentions And Listener Ideas

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Summer is uh 100 days. You may live in a place that summer lasts a lot longer, but the feeling and the intention of summer really is just those hundred days of summer: June, July, and August. I know in California, September was one of the prettiest months, especially at the beach. But look at your your summer and think about it. We have a great Fourth of July weekend planned. As always, we're going to California and our friends have that beautiful beach house right on the sand in Newport. Thank you, Bob and Lucy, for always including us. And I'm looking forward to some beach time. Hopefully, I'll be able to fly with a stupid blood clot in my leg. But I'm intending on it. Intentions are important. So set your intentions for the summer. Figure out what you'd like your summer to be. What if you have ideas that you want me to feature on this podcast? Please let me know. You can email me at inside Marcy'sMind at gmail.com. You can DM me on Instagram, Marcy Backis. Send me what you'd like me to talk about. Remember, you can get this podcast where all podcasts are found. And what is happening? What is happening? I am revamping my old podcast. Aging ain't horses. And I look forward to you listening to that as well. So as we cruise into the SPF and grilling everything season, I'll leave you with this. What's your summer intention? Mine? Laugh more, stress less, and only commit to plans if they involve snacks and shade. Write yours down. Say it out loud. Heck, text it to a group chat. Make it a vibe. Find out what your friends' intentions are. Again, you know where you can find my podcasts. That's it for today's episode.

Reviews Share And Closing Sendoff

SPEAKER_00 17:14

If you had a good time, leave me a review on Apple Podcasts or Google or wherever you're getting my podcasts. Please tell a friend who needs a dose of sunshine with a side of sarcasm because you know that's what you'll always get with me. Until next time, stay cool, stay kind, and remember some be bots summer bodies are made in the kitchen, mostly standing in front of the fridge. Go out there and do something positive.