In case you didn’t know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Anddddd not to get too earnest, but I do think everyone should hear this occasionally: you are not weak for needing help.

Mental health stuff can feel isolating as hell, especially when everybody online is pretending they’ve achieved perfect work-life balance while training for a marathon and meal prepping salmon bowls or whatever. Meanwhile, most of us are just trying to remember passwords, drink enough water, and stay afloat.

Please check on your people this month. And let your people check on you too.

It’s time for a mental reset: we’re giving away VIP tickets to RENEW at FIT Social on 8/2 – a wellness-meets-music beach day host by Almost Nakey and Same Same But Different featuring movement classes, saunas, cold plunges, recovery experiences, massages, wellness programming, games, and a sunset set from Big Gigantic.

Sounds like exactly what my nervous system ordered. Enter to win!

JUST ANNOUNCED

• Hayden James makes the kind of music that makes you want to move to Australia. The man gave us “Something About You” almost TEN years ago, and it still hits like a rooftop cocktail in the summer. Catch him at FIT Social on 8/9.

• There’s truly nobody doing breezy psychedelic rock like Babe Rainbow right now. Their first album was heavy in my high school playlist rotation, and frankly, it never left. Their show on 7/15 at Belly Up is for the flower children!

• Sevendust has stayed heavy, relevant, AND insanely tight live for almost 30 years now. Add Theory of a Deadman and you’ve got a night built for yelling lyrics with your whole chest. Tickets for 9/19 go live tomorrow.

• The Menzingers really said, “What if punk music made you emotional about time passing?” Their 10/4 Observatory show is gonna hurt in a fun way.

• WAIT! Take a look at all the other just-announced shows that were dropped this month!

CELEBRATE AAPI HERITAGE MONTH IN SAN DIEGO

You know what else this month is? AAPI Heritage Month!

San Diego would be a way less interesting city without the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Some of the best food, art, culture, small businesses, and neighborhood staples around here exist because of it.

I put together a guide with events happening this month, plus a few ways AAPI culture continues shaping San Diego year-round. Go support something local and expand your knowledge.

THIS WEEKEND

LOCALS ONLY

• Just in time for Mother’s Day, FACE FOUNDRIÉ is opening a new La Jolla location and celebrating with a free community event on Saturday. The first 50 people in line get a free facial certificate + goodie bag!

• Nobody puts Baby in a corner… especially not on the beach at Hotel del Coronado. CIFF just announced this year’s Movie on the Beach pick: Dirty Dancing. Catch the sand, sunset, and Swayze on 6/26.

WIN STUFF

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