First Day of Summer

I will be back here with pictures from our trip, but for now,

our first day of summer.

On the road trip back from NC, as the hours and miles closed in on Chicago, conversation started to move toward life after vacation.

It was a hard concept at the time, but we managed it.

Summer to me has come to mean not just Vespa rides and trips, but a time to pause and re-consider my life.

What's working?  What's not?  What do I want to stretch toward and learn?

What do I believe and why?

How can my life more reflect what's truly important?

How can I have a little more fun?
How many books can I read?

And such.

Amidst some of the old favorites like Vespa rides and Lincoln Park,

cooking new recipes together

made the list this summer.

There was nothing more fitting to do on our first day back then, than to make asparagus and ricotta pizzas from Real Simple's May issue,

after unpacking and a grocery run for our empty fridge.

As the recipe would have it, our first foray into cooking for the summer was a yes.

Oh, and we did take that Vespa ride to Lincoln Park after the pizzas. 

 Of course.
Who did you think was writing this blog, anyway?