The first official day of summer may be Sunday, June 21st, but who are we kidding? With the exception of maybe a few subpar days this month, the nice weather's already here. (Memorial Day's almost here too!) With that in mind, I have 5 ways to jumpstart the season, one of the best ones to be living in the Ocean State btw:

1. Why Not...Have A Cold Beverage?

Today happens to be Iced Coffee Day at Dunkin Donuts in RI, Bristol County and MA. A $1 from every one sold will be donated to Hasbro Childen's Hospital. So, you DD fans can give yourselves a little pat on the back today when you grab that cold coffee (which has slowly become the unofficial official drink of RI over the last decade #Wink)...Frozen lemonade more your thing this time of year? No disrespect to Del's, but I found a super easy recipe for making your own at home. Click here to get the whole scoop.

2. Why Not...Get Yourself A Custom Summer Scent?

If, like me, you haven't been able to wear any of your old favorite perfumes or colognes because they now give you a banging headache, this summer try something from The Blend, a new-ish line of pure fragrance oil blends from (iconic California chi-chi retailer) Fred Segal. It's almost like having Fred Segal make you your own custom fragrance. There are a dozen diff options, but I picked No. 3, an amber vanilla blend, because it's sweet yet still pretty clean and subtle. (When I bought mine, the patchouli blend was completely sold out. Who knew?) You can pick your own and even mix them.

3. Why Not...Stop Stressing Over Wearing A Bathing Suit?

And get a Raindrop Aromatherapy Treatment at All That Matters in Wakefield instead. You'll feel so calm and mellow afterwards, you won't care who sees your cellulite. (Yeah, we're all got it! Except for maybe my niece Brianna. But the rest of us all have some somewhere on our bods.)

4. Why Not...Play Hooky And Enjoy A Relaxing Breakfast? 

Want the ultimate non-touristy breakfast (or lunch) experience in one of the loveliest places? Go straight to The Cooked Goose on Watch Hill Rd in Westerly. They have an impressive selection of morning papers (Call me old time-y, but I still love leafing thru a newspaper over an app any day.), delicious coffee and a fantastic menu of classic morning foods. (The takeout is wonderful too. I lived on their lemon angel hair pasta a few years ago when I was recuperating from surgery in Watch Hill during the month of August.)

Want more about Watch Hill? Click here for the #PattyJDotCom insider's guide to Watch Hill - because they're more to it than just T. Swift. Seriously. 

5. Why Not...Chase A Trend And Get Comfy?

You can do both...when you buy on to the Birkenstock trend - that's so big again this year - for only $30 a pop. Try a pair of these lightweight Madrids, available in three colors (white, khaki green and navy) from J.Crew. (My guess is the white will sell out completely by the 2nd week of June.) It's essentially plastic which makes it lightweight and the perfect beach shoe that gives you way more support than a regular ole flip-flop. It also looks substantial (read NOT plastic) enough that you might be able to sneak it back to the the city to wear with your jeans and t-shirts if you're not feeling the wedges or heels. (I'll be wearing mine out to lunch in PVD today. Just. Sayin.)

Ciao for Now,

PattyJ

PS - I may have co-opted this whole 'Why Not' theme from the legendary Diana Vreeland who is famous for her 'Why Don't You...' column for Harper's Bazaar during the 1930's. Just picked up the collection of her  Memos: The Vogue Years on sale at Anthropologie. For only $39.99. #Yay

Photo Credits: Photo of The Cooked Goose courtesy of TripAdvisor; Photo of the Madrid from Birkenstock courtesy of J.Crew