Play Hook-y and make your everyday more epic with the power of pretend (for anyone who forgot to never grow up)
Week#3 is a bangarang-er! We are playing with our food, plundering playgrounds, painting with veggies, hanging out with Lisa Frank, and mastering the art of flying (a kite)
Welcome to Week 3 of Camp AweGust!
🪧Wayfinding: Use this portal to time travel to previous weeks. Not sure what Camp AweGust is? Zip over here for an introduction. To opt out of Camp AweGust emails this month, turn your toggle off here. To opt in and have Camp AweGust delivered straight to your inbox, bop the button below.
Memo from Chief Camp Counselor Tami
Like most grown ups, I still daydream about a real life version of success that looks like a massive room filled with gold coins I can swim in like Scrooge McDuck. But, if there was one fictional scene I could actually live in, I would probably choose the food fight scene from Hook. That epic steaming feast that materialized with their unlimited belief. The colorful whipped fluff they threw at each other’s faces (and then happily ate). The never (never) having to clean up.
This week we’re taking our cues from those Lost Boys. We’re holstering our cell phones (or throwing them out the window, if you prefer) and unleashing our imaginations onto our everyday life and remembering the joyful simplicity and limitless possibilities we forgot when we accidentally grew up.
Hold on to your happy thoughts, your whole week is about to fly!
When we’re kids, we animate our hamburger buns into singing sandwiches, we mix our side dishes like mad scientists and transform our spoons into bulldozers dumping loads of peas into our piles of mashed potatoes. However, despite the characterization of our pancakes into Mickey Mouse and other shapes resembling our favorite toys, we are often told not to play with our food.It’s really no wonder that by the time we’ve grown up, feeding ourselves is no fun at all.
Probably this has more to do with the expensive, time-consuming, multi-step process of grocery shopping, meal planning, meal prepping, cooking, and dishwashing that we are now also responsible for. Plus the balanced plates we’re trying to create, the myriad of health issues we’re trying to avoid, the protein and fiber goals we’re trying to hit, and the new recipes we’re trying out in order to keep things interesting.
It’s all so complicated. It’s all so much work.
I’m not advocating for giving it all up and returning to the entirely orange, primarily carb centered diets of children (at least not in the long term), but, for anyone who does not enjoy the dinner-making process, I do think that inherent simplicity is something we could channel a little more often.
So, this week, my proposal is this: let’s make food fun again!
Pretending to dine on an epic feast won’t fill you up, but there’s a lot to be gained by adding a little imagination to your dinner. Try these 3 simple ways to make mealtime feel more like playtime.
Eat your way down memory lane What was one of your favorite meals as a kid? Something you used to eat all the time, but haven’t had in years. Mac and cheese and hot dogs? Some kind of cozy casserole? A super saucy pasta dish? Did it come in a can? Whatever it was, make that! If you need to adjust for your grown up body’s dietary restrictions, so be it. Just try to keep the essence and serve it as simply as possible.
Make an elaborate cereal concoction This is the crunchy, breakfast-adjacent cousin of our famous ‘Invent Your Own Ice Cream Flavor’ Camp tradition (which is coming up soon, so this could be considered a practice run), but this one can more easily substitute for a breakfast, dinner, or late night snack in your weekly meal plan. Choose a few types of cereal, your favorite kind of milk (Don’t stop at dairy vs. non dairy here. Think about flavors– chocolate, strawberry, sprinkle in some cinnamon, add a splash of flavored coffee creamer) and, the best part, fun toppings. Don’t worry about aesthetics, but please send pics.
Eat breakfast for dinner There is nothing like a pile of pancakes at 7pm to make me feel the ‘do-what-I-want’ freedom of being an adult with the slightly naughty thrill of a childlike freedom from healthy decision expectations. For pancake inspiration and a little secret on making pancake shapes, watch this video, which is worth watching for the authentic 90s kid's show vibes alone.
I remember carving out crude, vaguely star-like shapes into lumpy potatoes in elementary school, but it turns out there are a lot of vegetables you only need to slice open to access intricate designs and patterns that no one would ever know you found in the produce aisle. Grab some paint, some blank stationary (we’ll use this later) and check out this inspiration for your masterpieces.
Playing outside is central to summer and we’re going to reclaim our backyards and nearby parks or open fields for your favorite and forgotten flights of fancy. If you’re a group sports kind of person, head over to the courts and join in on a pick up game. Want to be a trapeze artist, the monkey bars await. Prefer to swim through an imaginary world all on your own, grab a book (maybe your current reread) and find a shady tree in the far reaches of your nearby wilderness. I have a few suggestions, but in the spirit of Never-never Land, make it whatever you want it to be.
There is something pretty magical about harnessing the invisible force of wind to send a kite into the sky. Almost feels like part of you is flying. It’s been a long time since I’ve done this, but I just bought this beauty and I can’t wait to see it soar. Just remember to hold on tight to your kite winder….and your happy thought.
Eating an epic feast outside over a long table of friends is also central to summer, but in the world of grown ups, these feasts have gotten pretty fancy. So elaborate and aesthetic that, for all the insinuations of simplicity and effortlessness, the dinner party prep alone probably took all day. Much like our mealtime playtime, this is an invitation to pack a lunch so simple it does the brown bag justice.
I think Picnic Date’s Essential Picnic Guide is perfect. A simple sandwich and chocolate drizzled fruit kabobs that are elevated enough for your adult palette and simple enough to be enjoyed by any age. Just add a soda and a bag of chips and you’re set!
They say you should never meet your heroes. And to that I say- fine, we’ll write to them instead. I actually think a lot of good comes from telling people that we admire them and that they’ve made an impact. It reminds us of the possibility they introduced us to and it has the power to remind them of who they are. I am halfway through The Correspondent and I’ve never been more convinced that we need to write more letters.
So grab your newly printed stationary and your favorite pen, because we’ve got fan letters to write. Oh yes. We are going to express our gratitude and admiration with generosity and specificity. We are going to say what we love and admire about these people– their choices, their character, their work, their values– and why. Maybe we’ll share how their life has changed our own. Maybe we’ll share a fond memory or experience of them or something they created and why it’s important to us.
We will get starry-eyed and swoony. We will abandon the need to play it cool. We will reject the fear of saying too much. We will not hold back.
Here are your three assignments. Two you get to choose. The third, I am pleased to say, is non-negotiable. I recommend writing these by hand and mailing a physical letter, but if you’d rather (or if you can’t find a mailing address), email is an option and, in a pinch, direct messages will work.
Choose someone famous who you admire. Honestly, the more famous the better. Maybe it’s someone you loved as a kid– you grew up watching their movies or wearing their jerseys or reading their books. Maybe it’s someone who does the work you want to do. Maybe something they’ve done has shown you what is possible. Maybe you have their quote on your wall. Maybe they’re the one who inspired you to do what you’re doing in the first place.
Choose a small, local business you love and write them a rave review. This one is actually most impactful if you post it on Yelp or Google Reviews. As a former small business owner, I can’t tell you how much these good reviews matter.
Now you’re warmed up and you have the hang of this. You know how to be generous with your compliments, you know how to be specific with your praise and admiration. It’s time to write a fan letter to yourself. Yes you. Take a minute to tell yourself you’re doing a good job. Because you are. Remark on how far you’ve come. Because you have. You are impressive. You are a force. You are (first name)-flippin’-(last name)! Your instinct may be to hold back here, but do not skip this step.
Wonder Walks are part Noticing Walk, part Photo Treasure Hunt designed to get us outside, discovering, and delighting by paying attention. Each week, you’ll head into the great outdoors, equipped with a camera and a unique prompt or object to look for.
This week we have a very special guest! Caroline Cala Donofrio is joining Camp to share her creative walking practice and invite us to step into the shoes of our favorite artists so we can see our everyday world through their eyes. Hold on to your trapper keepers, folks, because you are going to love this one!
Meet our Special Guest Counselor: Caroline Cala Donofrio is a writer, editor, and tarot reader based in New York City. She writes the newsletter The Magic Hour, dedicated to finding magic and meaning in the everyday.
They say all art is derivative, that every work builds upon what came before it. I’d take it even further: not only does art build on what came before it, but everything builds on art. After all, stories — whether told through music, poems, paintings, books... — are what make us human. Art stretches our understanding of meaning and wonder and helps shape our worldview.
When I’m in need of inspiration, I’ll sometimes take an “artist walk,” where I observe the world through an art-inspired lens. To get out of my own head or shake up my point-of-view, I’ll pretend I’m a fictional character or favorite artist, and try to see the landscape as they might.
Since Tami devised Camp AweGust as a fun and nostalgic space, I chose a fun and nostalgic artist as the inspiration for my Wonder Walk: Lisa Frank! In homage to Lisa, I went in search of vivid, neon, joyful explosions of color. While I sadly didn’t encounter any technicolor dolphins, cheetahs, or unicorns (one can dream), I did notice wonders I typically zip right past. The best part? Priming my eyes to seek brightness lightened my mood and boosted my creative spirit.
HERE IS YOUR PROMPT:
Choose an artist — any artist! — that inspires you. This can be any figure, across time, across genres...an Elvis Walk dedicated to the extravagant and tacky, a Mary Oliver Walk where you search for wild geese, a Lisa Frank walk inspired by Trapper Keepers of yore.
As you go, be on the lookout for anything that evokes the feeling of their art — is it jubilant? Chaotic? Romantic? Emo? Last but not least, let your discoveries delight and inspire you.
See the rest of Caroline’s Lisa Frank finds and share your own neon discoveries to our Wonder Wall 👉🏻 right here
Here at Camp AweGust we use the comments section as the campfire of this digital place, a cozy gathering stop where we can casually connect across time and space and experience. So, before you head off, grab some popcorn and head down to the comments to say hello.
In the spirit of keeping it easy and eliminating the always awkward “I don’t know what to say” part of talking on the internet, feel free to copy/ paste this mad libs style prompt:
My go-to meal is ______________. If I could only eat one food, it would be ____________. If a happy thought could make me fly, I would probably think about ______________________.
It’s happening! It’s really happening! I have rounded up some of the best, most nostalgic camp-like activities I could find around town for the very first live, in person Camp AweGust event series!
If you live in LA, grab your friends or come make some new ones. For full addresses, meet up details, and to rsvp, use the links below…
RSVP for the Stargazing Party HERE (free)
RSVP for the Aquatic Soundbath HERE ($30)
RSVP for Beginners Archery HERE (free)
Just visiting? Use the ❤️ to wave as you pass through.
REVIST WEEK 1
REVISIT WEEK 2
My go-to meal is usually some kind of bowl or a taco. Low prep. Lots of leftovers. We do a looooot of crockpot chicken in our house. If I could only eat one food, it would be ice cream. If a happy thought could make me fly, I would probably think about Buckwheat's little wiggly tail (we call it his happiness barometer) and how he hops back into bed with me after Chase takes him for a morning walk and sleeps on pillows like a little person. But, honestly, animals in general make my little heart soar.