at summer’s end

so, it’s time to face the cold hard facts that my whirlwind summer of wonder has come to a close. and oddly, i’m pretty okay with it. it has been the hottest and longest feeling summer of my life, and earliest as i technically count it starting when we flew to the united states in late may, for upon our arrival, it was the warmest, most delicious purple evening on fidalgo island and the marine breezes blew in and i was all, “ahhhhhhh, i’m home”. 

of course, after months of heatwave and knowing all too well what it feels like for sweat to drip down your back (yuk), i am ready to embrace autumn and going “back to school”.
so this post is all about the summer that was. and i’m taking a cue from joanna and her questionnaire to tell you all what went down. like a chat over coffee. let’s do it!

what did you do this summer?

i got married! to my love and my travel partner in mid-june.  i went back home for the first time in almost three years, and somewhat surprisingly, my friends didn’t forget about me. (so thankful!) we spent lots of quality time in the northwest (splitting time between fidalgo island and seattle with some portland thrown in), and also eastern michigan, visiting family and friends. then we went on our honeymoon to greece, came back to czechland, and taught at a summer camp. the most eventful of my life, probably.

what was the one thing you were looking forward to this summer?
probably the wedding, a weekend-long island party with our closest friends and family almost a year and a half in the making!

what did you miss the most this summer?
i am so thankful to have crossed so much off of my summer “to do” list and saw all my favorite people, so i will say berlin. i didn’t manage to make it back to die hauptstadt this summer and that feels weird. or going to an open-air cinema screening. (new summer tradition)

best breakfast of the summer?
can i describe it in full detail? fresh-squeezed tangerine juice, greek yogurt with honey and walnuts, french toast, lox, and a cup of black tea with milk. heavenly. (of course this was at absolute bliss, santorini!)

song of the summer?
we couldn’t go anywhere this summer without hearing sia’s chandelier… and i didn’t hate it!

any festivals/plays/art exhibitions?
i experienced the full-scale of the insanity of what the fremont solstice festival in seattle has become. way crazier than the last time i went– hooboy. (for those that don’t know, it’s a festival held in the fremont district celebrating the solstice with a parade of floats and naked, painted bike-riders)

we also caught the frida kahlo and diego rivera exhibition at the detroit institute of the arts, which was pretty dang unforgettable. i am so inspired by frida’s art, and it was made even more meaninful by watching the film frida right before we went. (good idea, diane!)

best dinner?
this is painfully difficult. i’m going to have to say our first night in santorini dinner at avocado, in imerovigli. yellow donkey beers, followed by a shot of tsipouro, delicious tapanade with bread, and a seafood risotto for me as the sun set.

best drink?
ouzo! i fell in love with ouzo in athens (post coming soon). i had no idea it would be so delicious and refreshing!

funniest memory of the summer?
hands down, when i finished singing the offspring’s “self esteem” at karaoke and a guy approached me and ceremoniously offered me his dicks deluxe hamburger (basically, seattle’s in-and-out burger) for singing his favorite song. i profusely thanked him for bestowing such an honor upon me, and he said, “no… thank you.” wrapped in golden foil, it looked like such a trophy.

runner up memory is on my bachelorette party karaoke night (seeing a pattern here?), when the bar was over-run with people dressed as characters from wes anderson films. after i finished singing a song, i climbed down the stage, and a guy dressed as captain zissou complimented me on my performance… to which i replied, “that means so much coming from you!”
obviously, i need more karaoke nights on my life on the regular.

favorite garment?
you know i’m going to say my wedding dress! that once in a lifetime, boho-renaissance white gown with bell sleeves and lace. runner-up that i actually wore all the time: my thrifted tie-dye shirt. i really feel like myself in it, but i leave it back home on the island because it just belongs there. it wouldn’t work taken out of its element.

best swimming?
red beach on santorini! how could i not say the sparkling blue aegean, right? but i did love our first of july day at the lake with my friend, rachel. no summer in the northwest is complete without a whistle lake swim.

what do you wish for next summer?
maybe it was the major heatwave that gave me this idea, but after summer camps, we’re dreaming of spending an entire month work-staying a bit, likely in a northern european country. we both have missed getting on the road with our backpacks and work-staying so very much.

…

are you ready for fall?