⛱️ August: Salt air, and the rust on your door...

Celebrating "august", AND Exciting Things To Come! 🛫

Aug 03, 2024

Dear Reader,

“…I never needed anything more”

Hello august! It’s that time of year when the air gets salty - though hopefully your door doesn’t actually get rusty - and we’re all streaming “august” on loop. With so much to look forward, I hope this newsletter gets you in the “august” spirit for the month ahead.

This newsletter celebrates the month of August with: a packed calendar of Swiftie happenings; a playlist to take you through the month; my favorite “august” mashup to date; and an “august” themed recipe - cause there’s never too much of a good thing, right? (That good thing, of course, being Taylor’s song “august” 😋). Plus, I share some super exciting news about upcoming content for you to look out for this month. So please enjoy this edition of Dear Reader, and Happy August!

In this newsletter you’ll find:

🗓️ Swiftie August Dates - important dates to keep track of this month
🎧 My August Swiftie Playlist - including links, plus a quick overview of the main themes that run throughout this playlist
🎶 An “august” Mashup - its one of my faves
🥣 Featured Recipe - “august” Smoothie Bowl
🛫 Coming Up - exciting things to look forward to!
- Upcoming Dear Reader Newsletters

Swiftie August Dates

Much like the last few months, August is full of so many exciting events! August marks the end of the European leg of The Eras Tour, and Taylor is ending it strong. We’re in the midst of three shows currently happening in Warsaw. Then Taylor’s heading to Vienna for three more shows, and finally Taylor will go back to London for the final 5 shows in London!

This month features the anniversary of Lover on August 23rd, plus the release of so many singles - “Mine” from Speak Now, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” from Red, “Lover” from Lover, “Shake It Off” from 1989, “Look What You Made Me Do” from Reputation, “Fifteen” from Fearless and “Wildest Dreams” from 1989. Which one is your favorite?

I still remember listening to the Lover album for the very first time - how about you? I was living in London at the time (I know, so appropriate! AND more about that at the end of the this newsletter). So every time I listen to that album I flashback to walking through the streets of London with the sounds of “Cruel Summer” and “Death By A Thousand Cuts” in my ears 🩷

Finally, I also included in this calendar the upcoming movie release of It Ends With Us, starring one of Taylor’s best friends, Blake Lively. If you haven’t seen the movie trailer, it might just have you sobbing over its use of “My Tears Ricochet” 😭

What are you most excited about happening this month? Are you clowning for a Reputation TV announcement? Or anything else? Let me know in the comments!

August Swiftie Playlist

“Get in the car it’s august”! And while you’re there, why not put on my August Swiftie Playlist? I curated this playlist to take you through summer in August - from “salt air” to "rolling thunder" ⚡️, beating the heat to burning hearts 🔥, and ending with dreaming of some epiphany ✨

This playlist has strong themes of escapism, and summer imagery of beaches, coastlines and thunder storms. Heat plays a starring role, evoking the summer heat of August (at least in my part of the world - it’s so so humid here 🥵). There’s quite a lot of passion and fire in this playlist, but I tried to balance it out with a few softer songs as well. I chose to end the playlist with “epiphany” because Taylor was partially inspired in writing it by her grandfather, who fought in World War II and the Battle of Guadalcanal, which began in the August of 1942.

You can listen to my August Swiftie Playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube. I also created clean versions on Spotify and Apple Music!

Click here for links to all of my playlists!

August Mashup

To celebrate the new month, I just had to re-share this mashup that I put together last year - I spruced it up a bit and re-posted it on my Instagram here. I love how these two songs work together, there’s such strong imagery of summer! I remember when I was working on it last year that it gave me such strong “The Summer I Turned Pretty” vibes (for any other fans of the show out there!). What do you think, could “Hits Different” feature on Season 3 of TSITP? I guess we’ll find out in Summer 2025. But for now, I hope you enjoy this mashup and let me know if you have requests for more summer and/or “august” mashups.

August Smoothie Bowl

Can you tell I love making Taylor Swift themed smoothie bowls? It’s so fun to personalize each bowl to a Taylor Swift song and/or era, and this one is such a refreshing way to ring in August!

To make this “august” smoothie bowl, I just popped into a blender: frozen banana, frozen cauliflower, fresh spinach, and plant-based protein. Then I topped it with lots of summer fruit, including fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, banana flowers, granola, and cantaloupe “august” letters.

Coming Up

In a very exciting and crazy twist of events, I’m going to London next month! I haven’t said anything about it over on my Instagram yet, and decided to share it with all of you, my Dear Reader subscribers, first 🫶 I can’t wait to be back in a city I love so much (I lived in London for 7 years while studying for both my masters and doctoral degrees!).

I’ll be in London for three weeks, including when Taylor will be in town. I don’t currently have tickets to any of The Eras Tour shows, but I’m desperately on the lookout for anything affordable and am hoping for the best (if you know of/hear of any ticket leads, please let me know! 🙏). In the meantime, I’ll be going around the city and capturing as much of the Taylor Swift fun as I can - and sharing it with you!

So definitely be on the lookout for fun Taylor Swift London content to come. Here’s when to expect August’s Dear Reader Newsletters. As always I’d love to hear what you’re most interested in seeing - let me know in the comments if you have any ideas and/or requests!

Upcoming Dear Reader Newsletters

💌 August 13th - free for all Dear Reader subscribers, and this one will be London themed! Whether you’re heading to the UK and want a guide to Taylor Swift events going on in the city, and/or want to be taken along for the ride, this newsletter will cover all of the Taylor Swift fun I can find in London. There’s so much to do, and I can’t wait to share it with you 🫶
💌 Eras Tour Roundup newsletters - for paid subscribers
- After each city’s Eras Tour shows, I send out an email rounding up all the highlights - in case you missed anything! This month’s roundups will include the shows in Warsaw, Vienna and London. Here’s an example of my roundup email for London’ shows - including my fav show highlights 🥹 If you’re interested in receiving these extra emails and supporting this newsletter, you can upgrade your subscription for $5/month or $50/year.

That’s a wrap on this August newsletter! Until next time…

August slipped away into a moment in time,

Bekah

🎶 Can I Ask You a Question? 🎶

🥳 What are you most excited about happening in August?!
🎶 What’s your favorite August single?
🤡 Do you think a Reputation (Taylor’s Version) announcement could happen this month? If so, when?!

Dear Reader