iowa city is at its best during this season. it might because all those crazy college students have left and you can actually find a place to park - but it is also because the community is so strong in the summer. any friday night, you can go downtown to hear live music - for free - and watch kiddos dancing and playing in a fountain. every month, there is a festival that pretty much everyone in town goes to. last weekend, it was art's fest filled with local artists and los lobos (la bamba!). and excellent street food. yum!
there is no better evening than wednesdays, when mom & i make the trip to the farmer's market for fresh tomatoes, leaf lettuce, snap peas and strawberries. and egg rolls. you can't go to farmer's market and not get an egg roll!
summer for me, as a kid, meant the summer reading program at the public library, every day at the pool from open-close and getting a dark tan. oh! and sno cones!
(ok, everything i'm talking about has something to do with food. i'm surprised i don't weigh 300 pounds.)
lately, i have been feeling a little - funky. i'm not sad - but i'm not 100% content with life either. at times like these, it's hard for me to focus on what is positive. it's easier to focus on being in a job that i don't love, being the last of my friends to get married (hello, wedding season!), and that my house is a mess. why can't i realize that i'm lucky to have a job, have friends that have fallen in love and that i own a house at the ripe-old-age of 25? like i have anything to complain about...
so, with a fresh season (yum!) upon us, this is my goal: to focus on the positive, everyday. instead of feeling sorry for myself that i'm going without a plus 1 to weddings and dinner parties, i need to be grateful that i have such wonderful friends that want me there to celebrate their lives. you get the idea.
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| my deck tonight - my favorite place |
(p.s. sorry for being away from this space for so long!)
