Summer of Yes

The beginning of summer always brings excited anticipation. Hopes of beach days, plans for road trips, dreams of outdoor BBQ's...but for some reason, this year I'm more excited than I usually am when looking down the barrel of a season full of smelly subway trains and un-airconditioned evenings. Maybe it's because I and most of my friends are staying in the city this summer (it's usually a headache-inducing battle of the schedules just to find a day when half of us are not out performing in some summer stock or another), maybe it's because I've actually taken the time to read the last few issues of Time Out and put some of the more awesome events into my calendar, or maybe it's just because I'm 29 and I'm determined to hold on to every last shred of my wild youth.

My friends and I have declared this the Summer of Yes. It's a a loose derivative of another friend's Week of Yes, in which she did not allow herself to turn down any social request for seven days (in hopes she'd land the man of her dreams, or something to that effect). Our Summer of Yes is much less restrictive. In fact, we haven't ventured too far beyond screaming it's name and raising our arms à la Steve Holt! every time we do something delightfully fun - but just putting a name to our experiences leaves us feeling hopeful, connected, and excited for the months to come.

This sumer, I eagerly await the chance to...

*Finally visit the Botanical Gardens
*See some friends shake their thang at Broadway Bares
*Don a swanky hat for the Jazz Age Lawn Party
*Barter for indie goods at the Brooklyn Flea
*Embrace the challenge of combining two apartments into (a) one (bedroom) with John
*Get back to baking
*And make some delicious summer pasta salads
*Watch this blog continue to grown and change into what I need it to be
*Relax at a lake house below the Mason-Dixon line
*Dip my feet into the ocean (and stimulate that economy!) at the Jersey Shore
*Save my pennies
*But window shop with complete abandon both on Amazon and on 5th Ave.
*Maybe actually buy something fun
*Or maybe not
*Work my way through my summer reading list (new Dan Brown, anyone??)
*Eat bagels. And more bagels.
*Sleep in when I can
*And embrace the quiet time I get when I wake up early
*Put on lipstick, in the middle of the day, for no good reason at all, just because I can.

                  #summerofyes