"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop."
- Ovid
In 18 BC the emperor Augustus gave the Roman world the Feriae Augusti, the rest days of August, a pause decreed for a countryside worn out from the harvest. Two thousand years later, the pause still holds. Every August, Italy folds up its working life. Shops hang handwritten signs that read chiuso per ferie, closed for rest. The cities go soft. The coast fills. By Ferragosto, the fifteenth of the month, the whole country has agreed on one thing: enough, for now.
What looks like a vacation is closer to a discipline. The long lunch under the fig tree that nobody hurries. The swim before the nap, the nap before the evening passeggiata. The espresso drunk standing, with nothing scheduled after it. Italians do not call this self-care. They do not call it anything at all. It is simply what August is for: the season's annual proof that rest is not the absence of a life but one of its ingredients.
RE/SET is that philosophy: not something else to do, a shift in how to be. Release what no longer nourishes. Engage your senses fully. Savor meals, moments, conversations. Empty the calendar where you can. Tend the rituals you want to carry forward. Read them slowly. None of them costs a thing, and each one gives a piece of the month back to you.
You don't need an Italian seaside vacation to live Ferragosto; you can keep the ritual wherever you are. Though if the sea is calling, we kept notes from our own travels: Postcards from Puglia, our new Italy travel guide. We have gathered this month's Objects of Affection with staples for the pantry, words for the mind, and rituals for the spirit. If you are in Atlanta or close by, come find us at 288 Buckhead Avenue. Come in. Slow down. Stay a while.
R E / S E T
August Objects of Affection
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FOR THE PANTRY
Begin where every good meal begins.
Eating well does not have to be complicated. A RE/SET starts on the shelf: release what is tired, restock what is true, and let a few beautiful staples do the rest.
Organic California Extra Virgin Olive Oil: the everyday bottle, cold-pressed and generous. The one ingredient that improves everything it touches.
Aromatic Savory Salts: Wild Oregano & Sage, Citrus & Fennel, Rosemary & Lavender and more. One good pinch is a whole new dish; the full sampler is a whole new pantry.
Organic Italian Honeys: Thousand Flower, Acacia, Chestnut. Raw, single-origin sweetness for the morning toast and the evening cheese board.
Shop the Pantry RE/SET Collection →
FOR THE MIND
One line can reset a day.
101 Quotes That Will Change The Way You Think: a beautifully crafted hardcover gathering the most loved quotes, passages, and poems from Brianna Wiest. Coffee-table inspiration, one page at a time.
enCOURAGEment Cards: tarot for the soul. Fifty-two hand-numbered cards of inspiration in a stitched-sewn envelope. Draw one each morning and let it set the intention.
ensO Contemplation Cards: hands clasped, heart open, head bowed. Calm for the chaos, stillness for the chattering mind.
Be Brave Journal: an oversize newsprint journal for writing it all down, the soulful companion to the card decks.
FOR THE SPIRIT
Create a space that feels sacred.
A sacred space is not about perfection, it is about intention: a corner to breathe deeply, reflect, and reconnect with what truly matters.
Sustainably Sourced Palo Santo: the finest aromatic wood, gathered naturally from fallen branches in the forests of Ecuador and Peru. Breathe in, let go, welcome tranquility.
Mad et Len Candle: hand-forged in France, a black iron vessel poured with pure vegetal wax for a clean burn of 65 hours. The soft glow that closes the day.
WA:IT Italian Ritual Incense: two sacred Italian moments in stick form. Alba for the morning, Tramonto for letting go of the day.
Ojai Palo Santo Bath Soak: sea salt and pure palo santo essential oil. The deep breath, drawn as a bath.
JAPANESE INK ensO ART
A special series by our founder, Alisa Barry.
Original ink paintings in the ensO tradition: one circle, one breath, one unrepeatable gesture. Each piece is one of a kind, painted by hand and framed, made to hold a wall the way a deep breath holds a room.
This Month In The Studio
Muracha Matcha Pop-Up | Saturday, August 22
11 AM - 3 PM | 288 Buckhead Avenue, Buckhead Village
A daytime reset built around matcha, Japanese ink art, and intention. Sip a chilled Muracha from the bar, shop the new Yame No. 89 tins and tools, and explore the ensO ink art and contemplation cards created by Alisa Barry. Tickets are $39 and include the new Yame No. 89 tea tin plus an original ensO ink on handmade paper by Alisa. Prefer to wander in? The doors are open all afternoon, no ticket required.
Make Your Own Fresh Pasta Class | Saturday, August 29
12 - 2 PM | 288 Buckhead Avenue, Buckhead Village
Our most popular class returns to close the month. Learn to make fresh pasta from scratch, taste it with a sampling of Bella Cucina sauces, and take home a selection of the pastas you make. Light bites and libations provided.
Submit yourself to a daily practice.
FERRAGOSTO: AN AUGUST RITUAL
First, subtract.
Choose one August afternoon and empty it on purpose. Silence the phone. Make lunch the long way and eat it in the shade. Draw a card, light the palo santo, write one line in the journal about what you are releasing and one about what you are keeping. That is all RE/SET asks: release, engage, savor, empty, tend. The Italians have kept this holiday for two thousand years. It takes one afternoon to remember why.
Then come visit us. We will hold the stillness for you.
Buon Ferragosto!
x Team Bella
Find Bella Cucina Store X Studio at 288 Buckhead Avenue, Buckhead Village, Atlanta. Open Monday to Sunday. Come as you are.
Stay a while.....
→ Explore this month's RE/SET Objects of Affection Collection
→ Wander Postcards from Puglia, our Italy travel guide