This one hurts – it’s time to share all my August things with you. That means the next one is Fall themed, everybody. Where did the time go?
As always, I hope my list of August things gives you some inspiration, a tip or two, or some insight into my life. Without further ado….
August Things 2025
Food & beverage
Yes, we always start out my monthly wrap-up posts with food. They were my favorite August things and they will probably be your favorite too.
Old Standby – Zucchini lasagna rolls
I have shared my love for regular lasagna rolls on the blog many times. You can find our devotion to this particular dinner multiple places on the blog, including my master list of kid-friendly dinners. Although our love of regular lasagna rolls never wanes, I like to add a little of summer’s bounty to the mix this time of the year. I mean, my garden is producing zucchini like mad in July and August, so I might as well use it. Enter zucchini lasagna rolls. Don’t worry, the kids won’t even notice a difference!
Favorite New Recipe – Mediterranean beef bowls
My favorite meals to make in the summer are bowls or salads piled high with tons of mix-ins – protein, cheese, sauce, and all the veggies. Because I love to eat these meals in the summer, I like to try as many flavors and combinations as possible. In August, my favorite variation was a Mediterranean beef bowl. It used rice and chickpeas as the base, to which seasoned ground beef, hummus, feta, and fresh vegetables were added. It was terrific! If you like bowls, please give this one a try.
Biggest Food Fail – Caprese puff pastry
My biggest food fail in August was baffling. I made a caprese puff pastry pizza which sounded like everyone would gobble it up. I mean it was puff pastry as the crust, pesto as the sauce, and tons of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and balsamic glaze on top. Drool-worthy, right? Unfortunately, this dinner wasn’t the win I was expecting. I ate it happily, but the kids had to be coaxed into eating it. Maybe it was a texture thing? If you give it a try and love it, tell me your secret please!
Dessert – Flourless chocolate cake
If you’ve been around for any length of time, you are aware that I often need to make gluten-free recipes when I’m feeding my sister-in-law. Well, in August, I also learned that I have to remove sesame and tree nuts from food I’m feeding that particular family because my nephew was diagnosed with sesame and tree nut allergies. Do you know how hard it is to find appealing dessert recipes that are both gluten- and nut-free?
Luckily, my good friend had a great recommendation for a fantastic gluten- and nut-free dessert: flourless chocolate cake. This stuff was divine! Just don’t cut yourself a piece that’s too big. It’s insanely rich, so a little goes a long way!
Beverage – Field Study IPA
It’s not often that my highlight beverage of the month is alcoholic, but that’s where we are this month. And don’t get me wrong, I didn’t turn into a lush in August. I barely drank alcoholic beverages at all this month. But when I did, I opted for a Field Study IPA by Troegs Independent Brewing. We discovered this delicious beer on our family trip to Hershey earlier this summer, and it really hits the spot when I want a beer but it’s super hot outside. If you’re an IPA fan, but don’t like them really heavy, give Field Study IPA a try.
Books
Books were some of my favorite August things. I didn’t have any stinkers this month!
Best Book of August – The Party Crasher
I do not stick to one type of book. I like to flit from genre to genre so I don’t get bored. It’s not unusual for me to go from historical fiction to thriller to classic literature. When I go to the beach, though, it’s got to be a rom com. The rom com I chose for this year’s vacation was Sophie Kinsella’s The Party Crasher. If you’re a woman who is anywhere close to my age, you were introduced to Sophie Kinsella through her Shopaholic series. Since those books, she has continued to write fun, laugh-out-loud rom coms that are just pleasant to read. The Party Crasher was no exception. The adult child of recently divorced parents is left out of a party at her childhood home before it’s sold. When she shows up to sneak in, hilarity ensues. This book won’t win any prizes, but it’s the perfect book to take on vacation.
Best Audiobook – All the Beauty in the World
I borrowed the audiobook version of All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley on a bit of a whim. The book is a memoir written by a former guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I am not an art lover, nor have I ever been to the Met, so I’m not really sure why I even chose it. But I’m sure glad I did. Yes, the book gives a bit of behind the scenes information about the Met, but it is more than that. It also is a beautiful story of grief and growth. It’s worth a listen.
Media
My August things in the media category include one TV show (that I haven’t quite finished) and one movie. I wholeheartedly endorse one of them, can you guess which?
TV – Daisy Jones & The Six
Daisy Jones & The Six has been one of my favorite books I’ve read in recent years. My hopes were high when I started watching the TV adaptation on Prime Video. Almost immediately, however, my hopes were dashed. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but the TV version gives me the ick. Stick to reading the book. Skip the show.
Movie – Happy Gilmore 2
Who of my generation didn’t love the movie Happy Gilmore? I watched it over and over as a kid. When I heard that Adam Sandler was making a Happy Gilmore 2, I knew I had to watch it. It did not disappoint. It was funny, heartwarming, and the celebrity cameos just kept coming. Although it’s not a good movie, it’s the kind of movie we need these days. Bring back comedies!
Clothing
I have to be honest with you – it was difficult coming up with clothing-related August things. When I find hero summer clothes, I just stick to them. There were a few things that I haven’t shared before that I found myself really happy I have in my wardrobe, though.
Cover-up
We went on a family vacation to the beach at the end of July/beginning of August, so I was in a bathing suit cover-up an awful lot. The cover-up wear didn’t end then either. We are trying to soak up as many pool days as we can before our outdoor pool closes for the season. All this to say, I was in a cover-up a lot in August. I’ve tried many cover-ups over the years, but I’ve been really pleased with my most recent addition, a short woven cover-up with slits up the sides. It washes well, it’s cool, and it looks nice. I can’t complain!
Bathing suit
Underneath the cover-up, I’ve been wearing some of my favorite one-piece swimsuits. Although I cycle through them pretty regularly, the swimsuit I found myself most drawn to in August was the Hilor Tummy Control Front Twist One-Piece. I have it in the teal color, and the beautiful color just calls to me. It’s also very comfortable and flattering, so it’s an easy yes when I need to throw on a swimsuit.
Sweatshirt
It’s a little strange to include a sweatshirt on a list of August things, I know. And although it has largely been very hot this month, there have also been a few times I’ve needed a sweatshirt. When these occasions arose, I always reached for my Eddie Bauer quilted mock neck sweatshirt. It’s so cozy, and the cut is almost flattering, which is high praise for a sweatshirt. I purchased mine last year, so it’s no longer available, but Eddie Bauer does have an updated version of it on their website. It looks like the only difference is that the neck buttons up rather than snaps up.
Products
I might have had the most fun picking products to include on my August things list this month. These are a random assortment so brace for possible whiplash!
Curlsmith In-Shower Style Fixer
Like many women, I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. It’s curly, so it never looks the same two days or two hair washes in a row. It also needs a lot of product to make it look even close to presentable. My strategy for hair products is to just stick with what I know works. I very rarely try something new for fear that it will go badly. Last month, though, something came over me and I bought a new hair product, Curlsmith In-Shower Style Fixer. Guys, it’s good. It’s a one-product wonder, which is very rare for me. I usually need at least two products to make my hair behave itself. If you have curly hair and you want to reduce your array of products in the shower, give this a try.
Cortizone-10
If you thought we would get through this whole August things post without discussing my eczema, you were, unfortunately, mistaken. The eczema is still eczema-ing, friends. Thankfully, Cortizone-10 has kept me from ripping all the skin off my body. It’s an actual miracle. If you or a family member gets itchy skin, you must have a tube of this stuff handy.
Planner
I am a slave to my planner, but that’s been especially true as I’ve sent my oldest off to Kindergarten this year. There is so much to keep track of now! I find that the Happy Planner dashboard planner is the best solution for me. It has a section for every day to keep track of schedule issues and a whole page that is dedicated to lists so I can keep the rest of my life running. I definitely want to stick with this planner configuration, but the question now is whether I switch to a school year planner that starts in August. Do any of you have strong feelings about this?
Experiences
It’s not a complete list of August things without talking about my favorite experiences from the past month. It was a good month!
Beach vacation
Like I mentioned above, we took a beach vacation with my husband’s extended family at the end of July/beginning of August. His family always goes to Bethany Beach, Delaware every year, and we go with them about every three years or so. We hit the beach, the pool, and even did some fun non-beach activities too! Fun was had!
Kindergarten
The defining experience of August in my family was definitely sending my oldest to Kindergarten. He was so excited to start Kindergarten, and he has done great his first week! It’s still a little weird for mom to put him on the bus every morning and collect him from the bus every afternoon, but we’re adjusting. Now we are working on checking things off our Kindergarten bucket list!
Week with my son
Before my son started Kindergarten (on a Friday), he had a week home with mom first. It was a little chaotic to juggle work while he was home with me, but I really enjoyed getting to spend so much one-on-one time with him that week. It’s so rare that I get to spend dedicated time with only one kid, so I lapped it up! We went to the zoo, we went to the grocery store and picked out lunch for the first day of school, we hit up both the library and the bookstore, we went to the playground, we went to the pool, and we baked. It was a great week!
Kid stuff
If you have kids, there are some real kid gems this month!
Sticker Wow
My 3-year-old daughter is obsessed with Minnie Mouse and stickers, so the Melissa and Doug Minnie Mouse sticker wow is just about her favorite thing on the planet right now. It holds her attention for a good long time so it lets me do things like go to the bathroom by myself or cook dinner. Just one word to the wise, though. The sticker contraption is reloadable (great!), but that makes it easy for the stickers to go everywhere. Still worth it, though.
Owala FreeSip
If you’ve read my blog over the last year, you’ll know that I recently switched to an Owala FreeSip and was very happy I did. When it was time to get my son a new water bottle for Kindergarten, he asked if he could have one just like mine. I couldn’t say no. He went on and picked out a kid-sized one in his favorite color (orange) and he loves it. I love that it’s easy to clean and basically indestructible, so we are both happy.
Encanto Live at the Hollywood Bowl
My last kid-related August thing isn’t a product, but a show. It’s rare that my kids get into a show (they’d rather play outside than watch TV), so this might be a first on Sara in Season.
The show that both my kids are completely obsessed with is a live production of the songs from Encanto that was performed at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s just the voice actors singing the songs on a set made to look like Casita, not a full-blown stage production of the movie. That means it’s short enough to hold their attention. And boy, does it. I think we have watched it a dozen times. That’s fine with me because I love the music of Encanto and I’m smitten with the sassy donkeys that dance onstage during Luisa’s song.
Blog posts
Did you miss any blog posts in August? Here were the most popular posts on Sara in Season in August, just in case you did.
What were your favorite (or not-so-favorite) August things? Share below or over on Instagram @sarainseason!