What to Celebrate June 10 to 16, 2019
Celebration Ideas for June 10 – 16, 2019
June is in full swing! And if your kids are out of school, so is summer!
We’re sure you’ve got plans to take full advantage, but if you need more inspiration there’s plenty coming your way.
We’ve uncovered reasons to get outdoors, stop & smell the roses (red roses, specifically), and banish those weeds from your garden. And even take pictures of it all.
Of course there’s plenty of food & drink to enjoy. Some quite summery (iced tea & corn on the cob), others just delicious (peanut butter cookies!).
Then there’s taking care of your health, remembering past pets, and more.
So jump right in to take a peek and plan your week. But most of all …
Enjoy!
Celebrate All June Long
Get outdoors during June! Hopefully you’re already motivated to do that, but these celebrations just beg you to enjoy the great outdoors. Especially the one literally calling this month Great Outdoors Month! From creating your own little patch of wildlife paradise to spending one or more nights under the stars, the outdoor adventure possibilities are nearly unlimited.
Great Outdoors Month: Yep, everything else builds off this month. It just asks you to get outside and enjoy yourself. Fishing, hiking, swimming, and more. Whatever you love to do outdoors, do it!
National Pollinator Month: Celebrate the pollinators this month! It’s not just bees, either (although they are critical to many plants!). Bats, birds, butterflies, beetles, and thousands more critters of all shapes & sizes also pollinate plants. Celebrate this month by making your garden & yard pollinator-friendly. Steps you can take include avoiding pesticides, planting native flowering plants, and making sure the pollinators have a water source. Get more tips here (PDF).
National Camping Month: Go to a campsite with all the amenities (including showers!), or go more remote & have fun roughing it. The National Park Service offers tips & ideas for camping in any season and in any place. Even your own back yard!
Weekly Celebrations for June’s 2nd Week
We found an eclectic mix of weekly celebrations for you to consider next week. There’s Duck Tape & the US flag, plus men’s health & mental health (indirectly, anyway … at least for those of us who consider being a hermit essential for mental health!).
Men’s Health Week (June 10 – 16, 2019): The week before Father’s Day we remind the men in our lives to take care of their health. That includes getting recommended screenings, treating small problems before they become bigger problems, and taking steps to prevent disease whenever possible.
National Flag Week (June 9 – 15, 2019): Fly the flag all week, not just on Flag Day (the 14th). Need a refresher on how to fly the flag the right way? See the United States Flag Code at the American Legion site.
Duck Tape Days (June 13 – 15, 2019): Not technically a week, this 3-day festival celebrates yes, Duck Tape. There’s a carnival, parade, music, car show, and more. It’s at Veterans Memorial Park in Avon, Ohio. Can’t make it to the festival? Why not get creative with Duck Tape (duct tape).
And toward the end of the week comes National Hermit Week (June 13 – 20, 2019), 8 days of potential solitude. So during this week, spend some alone-time. Maybe even go off the grid for a few days (or even just a few hours!). Solitude can help you recharge. And you’ll be much more ready to tackle life again when you resurface.
Celebration Days coming up for June 10 thru June 16
Sunday the 16th is Father’s Day, of course. But that’s not all there is to that day! And if you celebrate fudge, turkey, and/or James Joyce’s Ulysses with your father, it could be one of the best Father’s Day ever! Or at least different from usual.
Of course the rest of the week includes plenty of deliciousness (egg rolls, bourbon, & German chocolate cake!), seriousness (call your doctor & learn about albinism), and just plain fun (are you a kitchen klutz?). Plus so much more!
It’s definitely shaping up to be another fun-tastic week!
June 10:
Iced Tea Day: Summer is the time for iced tea (although true iced tea lovers will drink it year ‘round!). So make yourself a tall, icy glass and enjoy. If you prefer your iced tea with mint, lemon, or other fruit flavors, by all means dress it up to your liking! Maybe even experiment with different flavors. You might find a new favorite!
National Ballpoint Pen Day: Push away the keyboard and write something with a ballpoint pen to celebrate this day ‘write!’ If you’re a student, take notes by hand … which you should be doing every day to learn better, according to research from 2016.
National Black Cow Day: On this day enjoy a refreshing childhood summer favorite. Depending on where you live, a black cow could refer to vanilla ice cream in root beer, chocolate ice cream in root beer, or even ice cream in cola. Well, that’s confusing! Even more confusing is that this day is different from National Root Beer Float Day in August (which obviously also celebrates ice cream in root beer)!
National Egg Roll Day: Celebrate the very first National Egg Roll Day with your favorite egg rolls! Even better, enjoy egg rolls from the founders of the day, Van’s Kitchen. You can find them in supermarkets & convenience stores across the country. We’re not sure if egg rolls really go with black cows, but we’re willing to find out!
June 11:
World Pet Memorial Day: Remember the pets you have loved on this day. Pets enrich our lives in so many ways, it’s impossible to ever forget them. And there’s no reason you should. So think about your favorite moments with yours and smile at the memories. And if you have pets now, spend some extra time with them, creating more memories you will be able to hold on to forever.
Corn on the Cob Day: Has summer sweet corn arrived at your farmer’s markets or stores yet? We sure hope so, because this is the day to eat some!
National Making Life Beautiful Day: How can you make life beautiful, for yourself and/or for others? Do that for this day! The day was created by a beauty & wellness company, but since beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, celebrate beauty as you see it.
National German Chocolate Cake Day: Mmmm … talk about beautiful! And delicious. Sweet, rich, moist chocolate cake topped (& stuffed) with coconutty filling. Enjoy a slice or 2 with friends and/or family. If you’d like to make it yourself, consider this recipe.
Call Your Doctor Day: This day reminds women (young women especially) to make an appointment for a well-woman exam. Women tend to put off their own care in favor of taking care of others. If that describes you, know that you can take better care of others if you also take care of yourself! So if you haven’t had your well-woman exam yet this year, make that call.
June 12:
Loving Day: Celebrate the day the US Supreme Court ruled on Loving v. Virginia, striking down anti-miscegenation laws. Finally mixed-race couples were free to marry (and even just exist). Of course the ruling couldn’t change attitudes, but these couples wouldn’t face jail time just because of who they loved.
National Peanut Butter Cookies Day: Peanut butter has existed for hundreds of years. But nobody added it to cookies until the early 1900s. And it took a few years after that before someone added those crisscrosses on top. So make & devour peanut butter cookies for this day! Use your favorite recipe or try this soft peanut butter cookies recipe (or one of the others listed on the page). Whatever kind of peanut butter cookies you prefer, you can’t go wrong!
National Red Rose Day: Celebrate the symbol of love and romance on this day. How? If your garden includes red roses, head out to enjoy their beauty and scent. Or buy a bunch of red roses, either for yourself or for someone else special (you’re someone special, so there’s nothing wrong with buying them for yourself!).
Crowded Nest Awareness Day: This day recognizes the “syndrome” where you find that even after your children are grown & have their own lives your home is still somehow full of people. Either your children have moved back home (maybe even with spouse and/or children) or your elderly parents have moved in. Or both! It’s basically the opposite of empty nest syndrome. And of course you’re willing to help, but it can feel overwhelming! Celebrate this day by reading one woman’s humorous take on this crazy situation in The Crowded Nest Syndrome: Surviving the Return of Adult Children.
June 13:
Random Acts of Light Day: You may be more familiar with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night campaign, in which walkers celebrate & remember those touched by cancer. And often raise money to support the fight against cancer. Random Acts of Light is a bit different: It aims to bring light to the lives of people dealing with a blood cancer diagnosis. The official events often include celebrities & camera crews. But you can perform your own acts of kindness to bring light to someone dealing with the darkness of cancer.
National Weed Your Garden Day: If you’ve had your garden planted for at least a few weeks, you’re no doubt noticing little bits of growth popping up where they don’t belong. Get out there & yank them out before they get too big & strong! And then make a plan to do that regularly so the weeds never have a chance to take over … which they’ll do in a flash if you let them.
National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day: Are you a walking, talking disaster in the kitchen? Then this day celebrates you! Stay out of the kitchen & let someone else do all the chopping, sautéing, and other kitchen-y stuff. And for at least this one day, don’t worry about having the fire extinguisher and first aid kit handy at meal times. (You’d probably prefer to be out in your garden, anyway. Right?!).
International Albinism Awareness Day: Albinism is still a misunderstood condition. And people with it often face discrimination and worse. This day, created in 2014 and 1st celebrated in 2015, wants to change that. Because people with albinism deserve the same human rights as everyone else.
June 14:
Pause for the Pledge Day: On this day we all stop what we’re doing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at 7 pm Eastern. So the entire country is saying the Pledge at the same time!
International Bath Day: On this day we all take baths! And hopefully we also make momentous discoveries while in the bath. Because this day isn’t really about the bath. It’s about Archimedes and his realization, while taking a bath, that submerging an object in water displaces (moves) an amount of water directly proportional to its weight. Don’t worry if you don’t understand that. Just make a discovery about something you do understand! We celebrate bathtub discoveries on June 14 because that is (most likely) the date on which he made his discovery and jumped from the tub shouting “Eureka!”
National Bourbon Day: Wind down after a long week with a glass of bourbon, the whiskey that’s as American as apple pie. Probably more so, since there’s an official Act of Congress naming whiskey “The Official Spirit of America.” The name of this whiskey came from Bourbon County, Kentucky, where they were making whiskey long before the county ever existed.
National Strawberry Shortcake Day: Make yourself (and your family if you must) strawberry shortcake to enjoy with your bourbon. Even better, top your strawberry shortcake with bourbon whipped cream, like in this recipe. If you have kids, you’ll most likely want to have some regular whipped cream for them … but you probably knew that?!
National Flip Flop Day: If you wear flip-flops to a Tropical Smoothie Cafe on this day (during certain hours), you get a free Sunshine Smoothie! The idea is to raise money for Camp Sunshine, where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families can find hope & support at all stages of their illness. There are 798 Tropical Smoothie Cafes across the country, so hopefully there’s a participating one near you.
June 15:
Nature Photography Day: Head out to take pictures of nature for this day! Any nature will do … your yard, a local park, a national park. Even a dandelion growing in a crack in a parking lot is nature! You might even like to enter the NANPA photo contest.
National Smile Power Day: Smiles are infectious, and one smile can spread from the smiler to everyone around him or her and then, as the smiler’s “victims” also smile, to everyone they come in contact with. And on and on. And it’s hard to be angry or upset when you’re smiling, so smiles can also improve everyone’s mood. That’s the power of a smile. So use that power today. And every day.
National Prune Day: Since 1988 we’ve eaten prunes on this day! Or something like that. At any rate, prunes are both tasty and good for you. So eat some in celebration of the day, or cook/bake with them. This Chocolate-Prune Cake looks amazing!
Native American Citizenship Day: On this date in 1924 the people who were living on the land that would become the United States long before the country’s founders arrived finally became citizens.
June 16:
National Fudge Day: Make and devour fudge with dad for this day. If dad’s not much of a cook/baker you may have to make the fudge for him. But if he’s the great kitchen master, let him enjoy making it & then you can praise his creation between luscious mouthfuls.
National Turkey Lover’s Day: It’s not just for Thanksgiving any more (was it ever, really?)! Whether you prefer drumsticks or breast, or maybe turkey burgers, turkey bacon, or turkey sausage, there’s no wrong way to eat it. So for this year’s Father’s Day feast, think turkey! (And since June is Turkey Lover’s Month, think turkey for more meals all month, too).
Bloomsday: This day celebrates James Joyce’s Ulysses. This book follows Leopold Bloom (thus Bloomsday) as he goes about his life in Dublin on June 16, 1904. Yes, the entire book is about one day! If you happen to be in Dublin, join others to reenact all the events of the book (as much as modern-day Dublin will allow, anyway). Or just read the book (or start it), especially if you never have.
