Who’s Excited for Summer?!!

People, this is big: This is my first free summer in several  years.

No more wedding planning. No grad school classes to take.

Free time.

Free. Mother-fucking. Time.

Words cannot express my extreme anticipation for all the awesome time this summer is sure to bring, now that I am more available than ever to participate in said awesomeness. There are so many things I want to do, but I know it's not practical to do all of them, but here are things I'd love to do this summer:

Pig Roast: This is actually already scheduled. My best friend Scott and his various college friends/former roommates and co. throw a pig roast each summer. If you have never been to a pig roast, you are missing out. It's like an awesome cookout, with lots of drinking, music, playing games, and a roasting pig producing the most wonderful scents. I went to one in high school out on a farm where 2 pigs were roasted--it was almost a religious experience. Now, some people have told me they find the notion disturbing, but I find it reassuring. I am picky about eating meat (I have seen too much evidence of terrible practices in producing, packaging, and distributing meat in the US), so for me, it's nice to know where the meat is coming from. It's from that pig. Right there. Mmmm, pig. Plus, for a fan of all things pork like me, there are few things better than being able to go up to the actual pig and choose the meat that looks most delectable.

Go to a wedding: Ok, this one is also already planned. Our wedding was the first of 3 this year from our group of college friends. The second one is this July, at a nice park with the promise of barbecue. I love living in the South. It will be the first wedding we attend as a married couple, too, which is pretty cool.

Expand my culinary skills: I love cooking and baking, but I want to learn to make a wider variety of dishes. I want to build up a solid repertoire of healthy foods I am so comfortable making that I don't need to refer to the recipe, and that are convenient enough to make on work nights. I want to cook things I've never made before, that I've been too intimidated to try making, or too busy to devote a day to. I want to master a tres leches. I also want to try to replicate some of the insanely good food we had in Puerto Rico on our honeymoon, such as pastelon de dalva, the best gazpacho ever, the avocado pizza, and maybe even the ossobucco in guava broth I had on our last night there. Luckily, we got a few new kitchen wares for our wedding. I have already started my culinary adventures this week, so I'll be posting on that along the way.

Gain bar tending abilities: I love booze. I know what goes into a variety of drinks, but mostly basic, classic cocktails. And I am not really comfortable making a lot of drinks, especially when they start to involve more then 3 ingredients (including the garnish). I want to learn how to make more cocktails (again, well enough that I can do them from memory). Also, as with food, there are certain cocktails I want to recreate from our honeymoon, such as tamarind rum punch and an elderflower cosmo.

Travel: I am addicted to traveling. I crave it. I get strong urges to go places. Travel makes me feel renewed and refreshed. I get a vicarious travel high looking at pictures other people have taken on their trips, or watching the Travel Channel. Even watching movies. I don't need to go far away--I love exploring new places in the DC area. I just want to see and experience new places and things. I also want to go to Gettysburg, just because it's one of my favorite places to visit and I haven't been this year. And, I really, really, really want to go to the beach. I already got a week of beach time during our honeymoon, but I'd really like to go somewhere like Rehoboth for a few days, especially since last year when we went we spent most of our time indoors due to a combination of bad weather and marathon sessions at the Dogfish brew pub. (Lesson learned: Beach first, then brew pub--otherwise we'll never leave to go back to the beach)

Go to museums: I haven't been to any museums since I went to New York earlier this year, and it's making me itchy for an exhibit. I get antsy when I haven't been to a museum for a while. I don't have anything specific in mind, but maybe a day trip to Richmond, Baltimore, or Philly. There are also some DC museums I haven't been to in ages.

Go to an Orioles game: I don't like the Orioles (I'm a Rangers fan), but I do love their stadium so very much. If you have never been to Camden Yards, you should make it a point to go. Even if you don't like baseball all that much. Go for the experience. The atmosphere of the stadium absolutely transports you --the stadium just feels like it's from a different time. Also, the food is fantastic. Plus, if you go to a night game, you can make a day of it by going to the Baltimore Aquarium in the afternoon, and who doesn't love getting a little quality shark time?

See movies in the theatre: There's just something I love about a cool theatre on a hot day and watching a movie, especially while drinking an icee. I have been informed that there is some movie about a mutant half man half flying beast called "Batman" that arrives in theatres this summer, and that I am obligated to see it. So be it.

Be outdoors: I want to go to the mountains, and since I am lucky enough to live so close to the Blue Ridge mountains this shouldn't be a problem. I want to camp, go tubing, canoeing or kayaking, and I want to go horseback riding, which I used to do all the time when I was younger and haven't done in years. I just want to be in the sun.

Spend lots of time at and in the pool at our apartment: I love the smell of chlorine in the summer. When I was younger, most of my summer days were spent in Dallas in my grandparents' backyard swimming pool. We have a small, but decent, pool at our apartment, which also has plenty of chairs for poolside reading. There are few things finer than drinking a bottle of booze poolside while enjoying a good book. We are probably going to buy a house next year, which will mean no more pool time fun for this girl, so I need to get my kicks while I can.

Musicals! I want to see The Book of Mormon while it is in town. Tickets haven't gone on sale yet, and I am pretty sure they're going to sell out immediately, so I'll need to be very on top of this to make it happen. (As is turns out, it's not coming until next summer. Damn. I still want to see it.) 


Anyway, I want to see Newsies! (Which requires a New York trip-woohoo!) My dear cousin and I used to watch Newsies on VHS when it first came out, and both fell in love with Christian Bale's mediocre accent and singing ability. ("So that's what they call a fam-lee, muddah, fadduh, dawtuh, son.") After a lifetime of singing songs about the plight of paper boys who just want to seize the day (and also form a union) I am thrilled that this is now a Broadway musical extravaganza that I can enjoy in person. And luckily, I know other people who want to go, too, since here's no way my husband would ever agree to see it. (I tried to force him to watch the film once, and learned two things: Bill Pullman is not a draw for anyone, and native New Yorkers like my husband do NOT enjoy little kids butchering New York accents. Also, he did not accept that there was a character on crutches named Crutchy.) And, I still want to see Anything Goes, also in NYC, but that one is also going on tour and stopping in DC next year, so no rush there.

Write: I have things in my head I need to get out. Lots of stories and poems that are only half-formed and won't be complete until I start actually writing them out. I love writing, and once I start I have a hard time stopping, often leading to marathon sessions where my hands can't keep up with my brain in trying to get words on paper or screen. This sometimes prevents me from starting to write, as I know I won't be able to finish other important things if I get caught up in my writing and don't want to stop, but now, it won't be such a big deal if I do.

Read: I’ve got some books I’m excited to read. I’m also contemplating reading A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings now that the second season has ended. I have decided I don’t want to read ahead, so that I’ll still be surprised when I watch the show, but I think I’ll have a richer understanding of some of the minor characters and oblique references if I read the books the first two seasons were based on.

Art! I have a some paintings in mind. Some acrylics and gauche. I also want to set up an etsy account and try to sell off the massive amount of work I have that currently resides in a serious of large portfolios under my bed. I mean, it's not like anyone is seeing it now anyway, and I don't have room to hang even a portion of it, so I might as well make money off it, yes? Yes. 


So yes, as I said, I may not be able to make all of these things happen, but in any case, I'm sure this summer is going to be fantastic anyway. Because it's summer.