Remember the “What I did this summer” report you had to write the first week of school? Here it is!
We just finished our first proper Fall-like meal and I feel compelled to look back on summer and all it’s goodness. We traveled to many places, with many people opening up their homes to us. During those rain-soaked days of June (24 days of rain… June only has 30 days!) all we saw was work and rain and work and rain. Luckily July and August (and friends) had other plans.
CHESAPEAKE BAY BEERS (TOP), OTTO AND BEBA AT REHOBOTH (BOTTOM).
Our summer began with family in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (i.e. "The Nation's Summer Capital"). Melissa and Gary headed out from Los Angeles and Marlene and Eric headed across
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge so we could all meet up in this little beach town. Lots of cooking at the beach with Gary strutting his barbecue ribs and John showing us that if everything falls apart we can happily open up a fry shack and become rich. This man can fry, especially
a soft shell crab. STRENGTH TEST GAME (LEFT), SKEE BALL WIZARD (RIGHT).
Haunted houses and arcades made up our evenings while lazing on the beach reading trashy novels (Twilight, anyone?) made up our days.
HORSE RACE (TOP), LIFEGUARD CHAIR & HALF MOON (BOTTOM)
It was perfect and beachy and a great introduction
to the rest of our summer.
SAGAPONACK UMBRELLA DISASTER (LESS BANKERS, MORE WIND).
Then it was on to Long Island where we spent a lovely couple days in Sagaponack with Corinna and Rory in a charming little cabin with a big yard; cooking non-stop and talking about cooking when we weren’t cooking. This is where we learned that little Beba is quite possibly the fastest chihuahua to grace the planet. Definite entrance in the
chihuahua races next year!
EARLY MORNING SAGAPONACK BACKYARD
Next up during these months was the birth of Jesse Robin Sanoff! My best friend, Jenny, gave birth on July 22nd and welcomed another lovely baby into their family. I love his brother Alexei so very much and I can’t wait to get to know him as well. Welcome little Jesse!
Next we made our way out to Oregon to visit the family (West Coast!). This is an annual trip, but we had delayed it for a year and a half this time. There was lots to catch up on and even more to do. Spending time with niece and nephew Lili and Noah is quite possibly one of my favorite things and luckily we did a lot of it while we were there.
COUNTDOWN TO OUR ARRIVAL (LEFT), TRAMPOLINES ARE FUN (RIGHT).
We also spent a great amount of time with my Mom, Dad, Aunt Maggie (my style icon!), Kelly, Richard, Tommy and Jean-Marie.
Don't forget horses. When you have a chance to see horses you have to grab it (Thanks Katy).
HORSES!!!
It was a wonderful trip that took us from Portland: land of barbecues, over to Bend: land of sage and juniper. We stopped by a magical land of rocks, dreams and peacocks too.
PEACOCK (TOP), THE MAGIC OF RELAXATION (BOTTOM).
Continuing with the bird theme we landed in Frontier Country--a restaurant seemingly for old people with a bird aviary. Weird. David Lynch should really check it out. It’s right up his alley. Back to Portland where we had the best Vietnamese chicken wings you could imagine (Thank you
Pok Pok!) and then started the next morning with glorious cups of
Stumptown Coffee and donuts to get us ready for the trip back home!
FLAME BROILED CHICKEN (LEFT), CANOES IN A RAIN STORM (RIGHT).
Luckily, a couple weeks later we went to visit two (and now three) of our favorite people: Jeb, Sarah and little Miss Franny. They’re smart and moved to LA. We don’t see them as often now but they were at Windover (So far it's past Lake George! But near Sodom's Cross Road!) for the month and we made it up there. We’ve been many times before and it’s always magical, but this time was particularly special because of Franny.
CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE.
She’s amazing, and Beba thinks she’s amazing too. (Franny likes Beba too... She woke up last week and said “Beba!”) Windover is one of those places made up of all the activities that you think summer should be...
THE PHOTOGRAPHER IS VERY FUNNY... LOOKING. (ALL PHOTOS © JOHN VON PAMER)
Swimming through the lake in a rain storm, canoeing to the little island to eat hot dogs and, grilling every night (even if it does have the worst mosquitoes on the planet…
Bat population please come back!). Thanksgivings are so good there but this place really shines during summer. I look forward to many more weekends like this. Ones I will always remember. The little ones really make you realize how precious everything is, and how important it is to take the time to make the memories.
My association with summer is not the same as
the general public (II). I don’t welcome summer with open arms, I don’t long for it in the depths of winter, I don’t lament it on the last Monday of Labor Day weekend. In fact I welcome that Tuesday. I am a Fall person! I was born in September. My anniversary is in September. The store opened in October. My biggest memories are from this time of year. I would even name our daughter September. That’s how much I love it. But (here’s the kicker), I feel nostalgic about this past summer in a way that doesn’t typically happen. I think it’s because we were able to spend so much time with family and friends. I think it’s because I’m getting older and realizing that there are only so many summers in a lifetime. I think it’s because it’s good to enjoy all the seasons and not pick favorites. And I think it’s good to not always be waiting for something else, whatever it is. I’m saying goodbye to this summer with fond, lovely memories and thanking you all for making it that way. You know who you are. Thank you.
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