I'm one of those people who dreads the coming of summer. My body and spirit despise Chicago's heat and humidity, the sunshine hurts my eyes (I know, I'm such a grump), and everything feels just plain sticky. It's hard to enjoy all the season's many offerings when you're spending most of your time figuring out how you can maximize your time spent in air-conditioned spaces. My body temperature matters SO MUCH to me, people. I wish I were kidding.
Somehow, though, I ended up falling in love with this particular summer. Not surprisingly, it was one of the mildest and most pleasant summers in my memory-- other than last year spent in Ireland, but NOTHING can top that. Overall, I think we did a good job of taking advantage of everything it had to offer. Since I wasn't blogging over the summer, lots of these little moments went mostly unrecorded and unshared (except on Instagram). As we head into fall, I wanted to take a moment to remember some of my favorite parts of the past season.
Going to a performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Lots of picnics.
Napping under the trees.
A trip to my family's lake house in Wisconsin over the 4th of July holiday.
Bonfires, s'mores, and boat rides.
Watching fireworks across the lake.
Filming and editing my first video, a (unfortunately shaky) montage of our weekend at the lake house.
Sitting and daydreaming on the shore of Lake Michigan.
A serene and secluded hike at Illinois Beach State Park.
Countless trips to the farmer's market for fresh eggs and (most importantly) fresh donuts.
Starting up our CSA again with a late-season share.
Falling obsessively in love with cheddar bacon chive scones from Prairie Bread Kitchen.
A dinner party with friends that left us laughing late into the night.
A picnic and disc golf date with our friends and their baby boy.
Reading some good books (Wild, Tell the Wolves I'm Home, Every Day, and A Homemade Life).
Celebrating 30th birthdays.
A loud but fun family dinner in Greektown.
Getting to meet a blog friend who was visiting Chicago for the first time and show her my town.
A patio brunch with my husband's best friend and his girlfriend + kids at my favorite restaurant.
Weekly homemade pizzas (our favorites: roasted poblano/corn/goat cheese and fig/prosciutto/brie).
Finally finishing decorating the living room.
Enjoying several quiet days on my own while my husband traveled to New York twice for work.
A solo trip to Portland, Oregon, and the Oregon coast for the Story Excavation Retreat.
Making new creative friends at the retreat and dreaming up plans to get together for an art date.
Thanks for the memories, Summer 2013.
Caiti, these photos are dreamy! I love the sentiment, too - as you well know, I typically feel just the same about summer, but also enjoyed it more this year than in the past. I can't say I'm sad fall is arriving, but this summer was a season that I cherished. :)
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