Summer 2016 by the Numbers

Thursday is the calendar beginning of fall. Thanks to Jana for this post idea, in which I attempt to enumerate summer from Memorial Day - September 20.

Weekends at home - 3.5
Weekends at the shore - 11.5
Weekends at lakes - 2

Concerts attended - 4. Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel & Sting, Counting Crows, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Missed Dolly Parton but had tickets.

Minutes Bruce Springsteen played - 244. North American record, bitches.

Books read - 51.

Blog posts written - 75. This one is number 75.

Beach sunrises I was present for - 14. 

TV shows watched in their entirety - 2. Stranger Things, Political Animals.

Number of rooms painted - 1. Powder room in the efficiency at the shore.

Cans of paint that went AWOL - 1.

New recipes I tried - 5. (baked pesto chicken, one-ish pan chicken, cilantro lime riced cauliflower, golden turmeric paste, personal portobello pesto pizzas)

Movies seen in a theater - 0. 

Additions to aunt army - 1. Elizabeth J! Michael B. narrowly missed the summer season.

New restaurants I tried at home - 3. (Green Eggs Cafe, Villa di Roma, O Wow Cow ice cream)

New restaurants I tried at the shore - 10. (OC Surf Cafe, Ike's, Cousin's, Ready's, The Crab Trap, Angelo's, Yianni's, Varsity Inn, Frankie's on the Bay, Arlene's on Asbury, Katrina's)

Most blocks biked in one day - 56. 

New appliances - 2. A dryer at home and a dishwasher at the shore

Zumba classes skipped - all. 

Tomato sandwiches eaten - 479. Give or take.

Times I cared if people stared at me while I was pushing a dog stroller - 0. Zero times, zero fucks given.

New loves - 7. (Amazon Fresh delivery, Ellie's Best nutmilk bag for iced coffee making, Yogi Honey Lavender Stress Relief Tea, Kindle Paperwhite, crazy comfortable poplin pants by Lou & Grey (no longer available), crazy comfortable simple pants by the Gap, Sanuk Overboard Loafers)

What does your summer look like by the numbers?

TWTW - the one with the framily

Friday afternoon traffic sucked the balls again so I took back roads to the shore, sunroof open and Bruce Springsteen wailing away for company. MFD and I gorged on  all you can eat crab legs at Frankie's on the Bay (and their iced tea/lemonade/strawberry fucking amazing drink), then rode up to the beach to see the spectacular harvest moon before retiring to the porch with the dogs.

I finished a book around 1 am which made a 5:50 alarm tough, but Mr. National Geographic insisted that we had to haul ass over to Sea Isle Saturday morning to see a beached humpback whale. It's sad to see a magnificent creature die. The sunrise...not sad. Balloons released into the wild...super sad. They end up in the oceans, river, streams, etc., and they kill the things that live there. Gus sniffed these out and I took them home to the trash. 

I did some chores then met MFD for breakfast outside at Arlene's on Asbury, followed by coffee at Drip N' Scoop, a stop at the bike store for more reflectors, and some porch time with the dogs. Saturday's weather was tremendous.

Cut to a long afternoon at the beach. Jill & Frank & Tebow, Frank & Amanda, & Joe trickled in throughout the day. We missed Lauren & Kenny and the boys and the Diva, but we'll be doing it again many times in the future. I'm on a Manco & Manco strike in their stores but still enjoy it via delivery, which is what we did for dinner. At night there was some boardwalking, leftover cake eating, fishing, and lounging and gabbing. I fell out around 11:30 and slept the sleep of the dead. 

Easy like Sunday morning with coffee on the porch and brunch at Sunrise Cafe (the chip beef is great) in which we had girls and guys tables and handed our check right over to them.  

Joe headed home and the rest of us took in the salt air cure. It was a lovely afternoon on the beach talking, laughing, reading, and eating pumpkin spice froyo to really blend the seasons. 

The backdrop was a corvette show on the boards. Corvettes as far as the eye could see. 

And then there were two. We closed it out at the beach, did some cleaning up at home, then had dinner at Katrina's and rode home along the boards. Out of season = bikes on the boardwalk whenever you want. 

I was supposed to stay over and go to work from there Monday, but heavy rains were predicted and I did not want the agony of that commute so I arrived home at 10:30, put some laundry in and trash out, and called it a day. I'm glad I did because this morning was a shitshow just getting to the train station.

Weekly food prep did not happen. I took some chicken thighs out of the freezer this morning, and I am placing an Amazon Fresh order ASAP. The fridge is bare. So I'm sort of winging it but thinking chicken and veggies for lunches, egg muffins for breakfasts, and tacos and baked chicken with sweet potatoes for dinners. Still exploring restaurants in Ocean City on the weekends, which has me off my not eating out much cooking game.

What a weekend. I love relaxing with my people in a place I love. 

How was yours?

Today is my youngest brother's birthday. Love you Swan! Happy Happy! 

Happy happy to our nephew Drew today as well, and my longest life friend Jen yesterday. 

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending

Summer Goal Report

How did I do?

1. Adapt to doing food prep on Monday nights and shift house maintenance schedule to accommodate shore weekends. This took me until mid-July, but I got the hang of not doing all of my food prep on Sundays. 

2. Finalize Europe bookings. Hell yes I did. We are now going to Scotland at the end of our Ireland trip instead of Paris and we're all set for hotels and flights throughout the trip. My dad booked the car in Ireland as well and to/from airport transport here in the US. Dunzo. Meeting of the minds on packing happened earlier in September as well.

3. Finish basement reorganization project for the love of God. Fail. I have this on my calendar two dates in October to see if I can get it done. 

4. Purge summer clothes. Done. Vietnam Vets picked up at the beginning of June and I'm working on another pile in the spare room now. 

5. Sugar scrub twice a week. Yes. With my favorite sugar scrub from Blue Eden in OCNJ.

6. Attend zumba class at new studio. Fail. Hell I failed attending my regular zumba classes. 

7. Try Thursday night yoga class. Fail. I did sign up to attend both six and seven in October, does that count? 

8. Try two new restaurants and two new recipes (one on the grill). I tried La Calaca Feliz in Philly and Ike's Seafood and a host of other new restaurants at the shore. I tried cilantro lime cauliflower and personal portobello pesto pizzas. 

9. Walk or ride my bike the entire length of the boardwalk in Ocean City. Done! 

10. Visit Philadelphia Museum of Art Sculpture Garden. Done. 

Fall goals 2016

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Here we are, back in the land of changing leaves, scarves, the best scented candles, and dreams of a full Thanksgiving table. Fall is back. Just kidding it's still around 80 and sunny but the mornings and evenings are cool and I dig it.

I'll be sharing how I did on my summer goals in the coming days, but here are my fall goals:

1. Whale watching.

2. Pick a pre-cruise hotel.

3. Dinner at Abe Fisher.

4. Mutter Museum.

5. Take a cooking class.

6. Bake french bread.

7. College football game.

8. Donate to Covenant House and PanCan Network since we'll miss the walk in honor of my grandmom when we're on our trip.

9. Purge and reorganize entire house, little by little. Carry through fall and over winter.

10. Try six new recipes: breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizer, dessert, freezable meal.

What are your fall goals?

Thursday Thoughts: any way the wind blows

1. I'm feeling in between this week...in between summer and fall, in between working and living, in between home and shore home, in between wanting to do and wanting to be lazy, in between this book and that book. In between isn't bad, it's just weird.

2. I'm not feeling in between on commuting. I'm feeling straight up worn out. It has been prolonged hell with the trains still out of service and the 20 SEPTA put back on last week already pulled off for further repair. Every morning and evening commute is at least 20-30 minutes longer than it normally is. It's grinding me down.

3. The Samsung Dishwasher Debacle of Summer 2016 has finally come to an end. After 15 phone calls, over 30 emails, and a lot of insanity, they have deposited the $404 they've owed me since July 18 into my account. VICTORY IS MINE.

via

4. Many Trump supporters are calling Hillary old...do they know he's older than she is? Continually LOLing and WTFing over this entire election.

5. I'm really doing it, you guys. I'm attempting to pack for Ireland in a carry on. Debbie showed us her ways at the shore last weekend. I'm giving it a go. It helps that I'm planning to do a load of laundry mid-way between the trip. I bought a new suitcase for the task at Marshalls and am waiting on a compression bag. I also want new leggings. So basically any recent shopping is for our upcoming trip.

6. And I've also been shopping for Libby, the newest member of my aunt army. Kim and Steve ushered this lovely little lady into the world last week in Boston. I cannot wait to meet her but photos will suffice until then.

7. Geege is this week's million dollar dog. He's having pricey as fuck dental surgery today. It worries me to have a 12 year old dog put under. Keep a good thought for him if you could!

8. Tomorrow! Are you ready?

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9. Reminder. Thanks to Rebecca at Knit By God's Hand for sharing on Friday.

10.  E-card of the week...