— Steve Limones Photography

Summertime and the livin' is easy

- Ira Gershwin

Summer is my all-time favorite season of the year. Don’t get me wrong there’s beauty in every season, but here in SoCal, Fall has allergies, Winter has allergies, and Spring.. well, it has allergies.. haha! But, SUMMER… Summer has heat, long days, short shorts, swimming pools, tank tops, fireflies, picnics, crickets singing, fireworks, beach bonfires and endless nights.

A few summers ago, I spent a couple weeks in the Mediterranean where I IMMEDIATELY understood why Italians exist in the endless indulgence of long summer days: perfect golden sun, limoncello aperitifs, mouth-watering pizza, and refreshing Sangria to wash it all down with. Finally, an ice-cold gelato for dessert as you walk along the canals in Venice on those warm Italian summer nights. I became even more infatuated with Summer - as if it were at all possible.

Along with Summer, I have always had a curious fascination with perfume and cologne ads. Perhaps it’s the gorgeous models, or the marketing that makes me believe if I wear that scent I will in fact be that gorgeous. One spritz and bam, I’ll have a glamorous lifestyle and some beautiful arm candy to share it with. Those campaigns are right up my alley, and the ones I particularly love are the ads with the stunning couple wearing the most classic, chic swimsuits, lounging on a yacht off the Isle of Capri. Yes, I want to be them - and the swimwear, and the yacht, and the crystal blue water of the Mediterranean, and Capri - all at once, together. All me, yes please.

That’s where this shoot came in. I chose to use classic Dolce & Gabbana perfume ads as inspiration for my own picture-perfect gorgeous Summer Lifestyle. Here we have our goddess, lounging alongside crystal blue water, golden skin soaking in the sun’s rays. She is ‘la dolce vita’ personified, living “the sweet life”, excessively, in all that is summer; decadently expensive. Every now and then she dips into the water. Refreshed, she quenches her thirst with fresh lemon water, sparkling and iced for her basking in the sun. It’s heavenly. And she is my muse living all my summer fantasies.

Like my muse, I challenge all of us, myself included, to find some extra time for ourselves this summer. Even if it means stepping away from the computer a few minutes early to meet up with friends for happy hour; or leaving the office at 4pm instead of 5pm to surprise your family with dinner and a movie under the stars; or sleeping in a little bit, and taking your work to the pool (because we have iPads and iPhones and AirDrop and Email, you’ll be fine.. haha). Go, grab your sunscreen, put on some shorts, drink some lemonade, cannonball into a pool, chase fireflies, and play to your hearts desire. Let it all in, let it all out. Be wild and free! September, and all the lovely it brings, will be here soon enough.

In the meantime, however, open up your Spotify or YouTube, find ‘Parlami d’amore Mariu’ (sung by Achille Togliani), and listen to it as you dive into the fresh water of