enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

30 things I want to do in june.

Hooray, hooray! We made it. If you've read this blog for more than a year, you know summer is my season. It's my reason. It's my jam. And June always feels like the beginning of the party. Or the pre-party. Which sometimes, depending on who's there, is more fun than the actual party. When we found out baby girl would be coming in June I was thrilled. It made sense why we hadn't gotten pregnant yet; a summer baby is just right with me.

And now it's here. My favorite season, my baby's birth month and all the excitement that comes with. She is "due" right in the middle of the month and I have a list of 30 things (one for each day) I want to do before and after she's here. Every single one of them I am looking forward to. My "have-tos" are completed and my "want-tos" (in no particular order) start now. I'm printing it out and sticking it on my fridge. (Obviously, this is all just for fun - my only real priorities are family bonding time & donuts.)

In June I would absolutely love to :

1. kiss my husband
2. birth my baby
3. take a perfect family photo
4. nap
5. drink a really great beer
6. and a glass of phenomenal red wine
7. go for long lazy walks
8. snuggle my baby (this could really satisfy numbers 3-30)
9. get a massage
10. sit outside after it's dark
11. make nachos
12. eat backyard tomatoes
13. watch the new season of Arrested Development
14. record short movies
15. eat all the watermelon to be found
16. nurse my baby
17. go out for breakfast
18. lay in the shade
19. eat waffles
20. take photos
21. dream about enhancing the backyard with Paul
22. write a letter to the baby girl
23. just write
24. get a pedicure
25. sip good coffee
26. eat a donut with pink sprinkles
27. commit that moment to memory
28. laugh through it
29. breathe through it
30. surrender to it

summer 2012 / i want to remember...

This weekend, we officially launch ourselves into fall.

I'm totally excited for it. Summer is absolutely my favorite season, but part of what's awesome about it is that around mid-September, I am always ready to embrace what comes next.

I am looking forward to the return of flannel shirts and big wrap scarves. To waking up to a chilly house and drinking coffee & tea because it's warm, not just because it tastes good. I am looking forward to pumpkins, a shift in farmer's market produce, decorating our house for the holidays and hosting Thanksgiving again for our families.

As I wait for all that, I want to take a look back at summer twenty twelve. This is the best summer I have ever had. And nope, I don't say that every year. (Or if I do, I am lying.) Much of what has made this summer great is the simple but monumental difference that Paul is home. It's fascinating to compare these past few months with the exact same months last year. I took a quick look through the archives and yep, last year, right around this time, was when the bottom dropped out and I realized just how long that deployment was going to be.

But this summer, and what almost feels like an excess of time together, has made up for it.

And so, from summer 2012...

I want to remember that we perfected how to barbecue chicken.

I want to remember the smell of BBQ flooding the upstairs through an open window.

I want to remember that coral nail polish was all I wanted to wear.

I want to remember going in the ocean for the first time in years and getting tossed by waves.

I want to remember how I cut each backyard tomato in half so we could both taste each one.

I want to remember those crazy basil harvests.

I want to remember how great the light was in this townhouse each evening.

I want to remember making pizzas every five days.

I want to remember the sense of accomplishment that came from having a garden.

I want to remember that we squeezed in four weddings.

I want to remember some of the best corn on the cob I've ever had.

I want to remember (the few!) lazy weekends.

I want to remember being thrilled every time Fun.'s Some Nights came on the radio...even if we had just heard it on another station.

I want to remember the lens popping out of my sunglasses almost daily.

I want to remember spending less money on things and more money on experiences.

I want to remember how we managed to avoid Olympics' spoilers.

I want to remember just how much we loved watching the Olympics together.

I want to remember how creative and productive I felt.

I want to remember the peace that came with deciding to not try for a baby this summer.

I want to remember breaking in new rainbows.

I want to remember racing through Battlestar Gallactica and so many books.

I want to remember sitting in the parking lot with the car windows down waiting for Paul to finish up work.

I want to remember celebrating cocktail hour.

I want to remember my total addiction to instagram.

I want to remember the sunsets we walked out to the beach to watch.

I want to remember this summer as truly one of the best.

*this post was inspired by a great one from Ali a few weeks ago.

summer love.

This past weekend was probably the nicest, warmest, sunniest couple days we're going to get this month. I figured it was now or never if we were going to cross "swim in the ocean" off our summer manifesto, so before lunch on Sunday we headed down to the beach. I think Paul (and all the other sunbathers - there was no one in the water) were more than a little surprised when I dove in right away.

And promptly got tossed by the waves. (But my sunglasses stayed on!)

Per usual, all I could think was,

"We have got to do this more often."

Summer, you're my favorite.

iPhone photos are all over-processed (it's a sickness) with the VSCO cam app.

our jalapeno cocktail.

While Paul and I were in San Francisco last month, we had dinner and drinks at a great restaurant called Chambers. The coolest thing in there was the BE AMAZING bar sign. The second coolest thing was a cocktail. There were about ten drinks on the menu and the last one was "bartenders choice." I asked for that and it was perfection. Jalapeño vodka (she used Jalapeño Stoli), lime juice, cucumber and ice. Stirred. That's it.

We played around with it and created our own version at home. We're calling this our summer cocktail.

To make : Obtain jalapeño vodka (or make your own*). Add the juice of half a lime and 1 oz of the infused vodka into a large glass. Stir (or shake) with ice. Pour liquid and ice into your cocktail glass. Squeeze cucumber juice (this is sort of tricky and works with larger cucumbers) into the glass and drop in the pieces. Add a splash of soda water. Taste it! You might want to add a half teaspoon of simple syrup or agave nectar OR, you may think it's just perfect.

Enjoy!

Happy, happy weekend.

*there are 100s of ways to infuse your own, but this is what we did: cut three jalapeños in half lengthwise. Carefully remove all the seeds! Drop them in a glass jar. Pour a bottle of vodka into the jar. Secure the lid and let sit in a dark cupboard for 72 hours. After three days, check on your jar. Taste test! Spicy enough? Great! Remove the jalapeños and carefully pour the liquid back into your vodka bottle. You're good to go.

here we go.

Summer is absolutely my favorite. I love the fresh fruit. The colors. The heat. The bonus daylight.

I don't know that I feel more inspired in summer, but I absolutely feel like more is possible. I'm thrilled that this season, I'll have Paul home - with no training or deployments on the agenda. We have a decently busy summer ahead of us, but lots of downtime and weekends to enjoy too.

Just perfect for a summer manifesto and I was so excited when Ali issued the challenge to create one. On our way home from Palm Springs, Paul and I jotted one down.

Ready, set, go, Summer. We're excited for you.

font used in the graphic above is bebas. I added the circles and arrow with my wacom tablet.