Summertime

While summer technically doesn't start for another month Memorial Day Weekend has become the unofficial start of summer. The weatherman (or woman) apparently go the memo and turned up the temperature for the weekend.

Summer brings all kinds of fun adventures and this year will be no different. Friday night my husband and I met my sister-in-law and niece at the food trucks near our house.  Technically this goes on year round but it is much more fun when the weather is warm and you can sit around enjoying the pleasant evenings. I am sure this is the first of many times we will go this summer.

Summer also makes me think of fun drinks and good food.  My husband and I both like sangria so we decided to try to make it ourselves.  It actually turned out pretty well.

When it gets too hot to cook most people barbecue. Our condo complex doesn't allow barbecues so we have to get creative with our food to avoid heating up the house.  I made skewers of strawberry, mozzarella and basil with some balsamic glaze drizzled over it and they were delicious.  I served that alongside some spinach dip and bread and called it a meal.

Another benefit of the weather warming up is that I can take my book and my sangria and lounge out on our patio in the evening. I am super behind on my goal of reading one book a month but I think this weather will help.  It will also help that I am taking a 5 hour flight next month!

Another delicious drink I love during the summer (ok really anytime of the year) is the Absolute Lemonade from Red Robin.  I used to make these with my friends in college with lemonade we took from our school dining hall.

This summer brings a trip to Hawaii for our wedding but I have no doubt there will be some beach time built into this trip. We are staying right near a resort with a gorgeous beach and I plan to take full advantage of it.

There will also be no shortage of time spend splashing around in the hotel pool either!

Last summer I went to a whole series of country concerts with one or both of my sisters.  This year I am not able to go to quite as many (and didn't buy season tickets) but I am still going to three concerts with my youngest sister before she heads to the east coast for law school. I am looking forward to singing along and eating good food on the lawn at our concerts.  All three concerts are on weeknights so I am not looking forward to waking up early to go to work the next day but I will survive.

Another perk of summer (in my opinion) is the excuse to wear fun sparkly sandals on a regular basis.  They go with pretty much every outfit!

Once we get back from our wedding we don't have a lot of other plans for our summer (a wedding was enough plans) so I am looking forward to just staying local, trying to stay cool and enjoying the summer!