I cried a good chunk of my drive home from Kentucky on Friday, but now I am settling back into what promises to be a wonderful DC summer. A lot of this summer will find me outside of the District and I am trying to soak up all of the things I love about DC summers before the next trip away. Picnics. Cookouts. Bike rides around the city. Long dinners with friends. These are the simple joys of summer.

I took a little trip to the Chesapeake over the weekend with some family and friends, including my brother’s girlfriend, who is also my roomie for the summer and it is basically like a long slumber party around here.  Picnicking at the beach with your favorite people is the perfect way to spend a summer Saturday. Even if that beach isn’t technically the ocean and is in fact more like 20 feet of debris-strewn sand. Laying on my back and listening to the water swish, it sounded like summer.

I’m hoping for more beach outings this summer, as well as all the things that DC has to offer during these months where it feels like we are living in a dishwasher. What are you most looking forward to this summer?