Today really felt like one of the first days of summer. I
know the “real” start of summer is still a month away, but so much of DC
summers are spent inside blasting the AC because the swampish humidity is just
too much to bear. But today was just humid enough that it felt like a beach
day, but cooled off delightfully in the evening…enough to make me feel like
sitting outside after dark to write this post about my summer to do list.
If you’ve seen my desk at work or my Erin Condren Life Planner,
you know that I am a list maker. I have notebooks for lists. I have post-its
for lists. I have lists of lists I need to make. I list chores and groceries
and errands. I list notes I want to write, books I want to read, songs I want
to download and movies I want to watch. So it might be somewhat surprising to
know that I’ve never made a summer to do list before. Historically, summer has
seemed to be one of those “in between” seasons to me. It’s after the joyousness of
springtime when you want to stop and take in every beautiful moment because the
winter made you believe that we would never comfortably sit outside again. And the
fall is frenzied with back to school and back to work and fall festivals and
Halloween and Thanksgiving and apple picking. Fall has a lot of distractions.
But somehow summer just sneaks in between these two busy seasons and somehow
quickly passes me by without thoughtfully considering how to make the most of
the soggy, sweaty months. So this year I’m strategizing and planning so I can make
the most of June, July and August (and let’s be real, September feels like
summer in DC).
So here it is, my 2012 summer to do list:
- Sit on the balcony. Even if it’s really hot. My balcony spends enough months alone in the winter, and I spent good money on patio furniture. There’s nothing like fresh air on a summer night. Possibly while eating ice cream.
- Go to the pool in my building. Would you believe that I didn’t go once last year?
- Sangria. Lots of sangria.
- Visit the Eastern Shore. So many beautiful areas along the Chesapeake, and I live far too close to have any excuse not to enjoy.
- Guilty reads. I’m filling my Kindle with Elin Hilderbrand and Jennifer Weiner and Emily Giffin. And I’m not feeling guilty about abandoning contemporary fiction for these few months.
- Cape Cod. I absolutely cannot wait.
- Eat a snow cone. I haven’t had a snow cone in years. Probably since I’ve visited farmers markets with my mom. I think down here they might call them ice balls or something like that, but regardless, I need to find one.
- Grow herbs. I’ve been meaning to do this for months, but summer seems like a logical time to start. I’ll make a windowbox of herbs to hang over my balcony. Plenty of sunlight, but also easy transportation.
- Visit rooftop bars. I don’t drink a lot, so when I do, I want to make sure it’s outside. Being back at Penn State reminded me that there’s nothing quite like outdoor margaritas and a big bowl of salty chips and guac.
- Cook with summer ingredients. Corn is my absolute favorite vegetable, and nothing beats the real thing right off the cob.
- Speaking of cooking, there’s nothing like good old fashioned summer barbeque. I’ll be making turkey burgers and pasta salad and fruit salad and cole slaw. Kettle cooked chips and oatmeal raisin cookies and seven-layer taco dip. Yummm.
- Run outside. Usually, I run as infrequently as possible and always on the treadmill in the gym with the AC blasting. But running outside in the summer reminds me of two really happy times in my life: the summer after I graduated college and the summer I interned in Baltimore. I didn't belong to a gym either year and sweaty runs outside just remind of me how content those summers were.
- Eat lunch on the roof. We have a beautiful rooftop deck at work with tables set up for eating lunch. So many days I eat at my desk and forget to take advantage of the Vitamin D only nine floors up. So this summer, I'm making a better effort.
So that’s it folks, my wish list for summer 2012. What are
ya’ll doing?
To hot days and humid nights,
Lia
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