Summertime and the living is easy – and it should be fun, functional and beautiful as well! It’s been awhile since I shared some of my summertime favorites, but I just couldn’t resist as I dive right into the season. These are just some ideas about personal favorites – no one has asked me to promote any products.

If you are grilling this summer, make everything extra special with these amazing single origin spices from Burlap & Barrel. I am a huge fan of these unique and incredibly flavorful spices and they will up your game easily. And don’t just grab any old sauce from the store, go with the experts and order a selection of original Memphis sauces from Central Barbecue. And ketchup is fine, but blow your burger away with Memphis made Jacko’s Pepper Jelly Sundried Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper version.

And everyone needs to keep cool this summer, right? Keep you cocktail cold in this insulated canteen with a creative monogram from Emily McCarthy. The pour out your libation into Limelight Paper’s double wall insulated cups with your own special design. And make those cocktails really special with personalized stir sticks from Two Funny Girls. Carry it all in the fun for summer watermelon insulated tote from MarleyLilly.  When it’s really hot out, make your own frozen drinks on the go with this handheld portable frozen drink maker. You will also want to keep cool with ice cream.  Serve it up in personalized cartons, and make it extra fancy with Fancy Spinkles Ice Cream Social toppers and unbelievably decadent with Backhouse Food’s Hot Fudge Sauce.

My favorite part of summer is the abundance of the farmers markets. I’ve been carrying my haul home in a bag similar to this snazzy oil cloth carrier from Beth’s Bags for years. It’s roomy and wipes clean. And I fill it with these reusable produce bags to cut down on plastic waste and leave the baskets for the vendors to use again. My market sells wooden tokens to use with vendors, so I like to keep them in my bag in a pouch like this fun beaded watermelon coin purse. When I get home, I like to pull out these small colandersto store my produce.

And as we all enjoy summer with our family and friends, don’t forget our neighbors in need. Many children rely on school lunches and food pantry programs and struggle providing proper nutrition during the summer months. Find your local food bank and donate food or funds through Feeding America.