summer goals

It's summer! Yay! While technically it won't actually be summer until June 21, Memorial Day has always felt like the unofficial start of summer. Unlike last year where it rained daily from April - August it's started to get warm and sunny and feel like those lazy vacation days I remember from when I was a kid.

I am really looking forward to this summer - it's my last summer of relative "freedom" before I start school in September. I always feel like summer passes too quickly. Suddenly it's September and I feel like I haven't done anything or been anywhere. I'll be really disappointed in myself if the entire summer consists of me commuting back and forth to work with no fun in sight. I don't have a lot of free cash or frankly, a lot of friends, but I am determined to make the best of both and am setting the following 10 summer goals for myself:

1. Go away for a weekend, other than to Maine for Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. I love Maine but I crave adventure. There must be some cheap, not too far places that I can go and feel like I've had a vacation? Surely I can find somewhere cheap in NYC for a quick long weekend . . .

2. Re-join match.com. I hesitate to put this one out there publicly, mainly due to my own humiliation. Online dating hasn't been kind to me lately and when you're only joining free sites - well, you get what you pay for. I need to put an end to a linger-er. If you spend an entire night tossing and turning, thinking about how wrong someone is for you, and fighting the mis-trust demons left over from an ex, it's safe to say it's not a match in heaven.

3. Run a 5k or 10k along the Charles River. Better yet, run the race with no though to time - simply enjoy the run. (**This goal might not be a reality as I messed up my right calf over a week ago while barefoot running. I'm leaving it on here, just in case.)

4. Play hookey from work one day and go to Plum Island. I hate my job, I have a ton of sick time, I've always wanted to go to Newburyport/Plum Island. 'Nuff said.

5. Find decent Korean food somewhere in the state of Massachusetts! There's got to be a good restaurant or two. I haven't had good Korean food since I lived in central California and I would commit hari kari for some quality Bi Bim Bap. Or maybe I should learn to make my own?

6. Go out more socially. Since buying the condo I've been in a poverty funk. My "going out socially time" has decreased to an embarrassing amount. I was craving solitude for a long while but now I crave human interaction. I belong to a couple of meet-up groups, all of which offer either no-cost or low-cost events that I need to take advantage of.

7. Over Memorial Day weekend I bought a ton of gluten-free flours at Remy's. I've been reading gluten-free/dairy-free baking books like they're going out of style. It's time to put the two together and stop being so damn intimidated by all the flours and substitutes! The next time I'm invited to a social event I'd love to be able to bake something delicious that I can eat too.

8. I've been at my place since January and I've yet to have anyone over for more than a few minutes (other than two dates I've actually cooked for - yup, I cooked for a guy. Shocking, I know.). I've always wanted to entertain and throw parties but I've always worried that no one would come or the party would be a disaster. I've surreptitiously "interned" under a friend of mine and I really can't wait to throw my first brunch, first lunch or first dessert party. My goal for this summer is host get togethers for three specific groups of people. I'd consider a fourth group but I seem to be no longer welcome in that group.

9. My cooking skills have improved 100% since last summer when the whole gluten-free drama started. As I told my mom over the weekend I can no longer get home from work and have cheese and crackers and a piece of fruit for dinner. I've got a few dishes under my belt but I'd like to learn more and experiment more. Last summer was the summer of the eggplant. This summer I'd like to try a new dish at least every other week.

10. Make a quilt. I've always always wanted to make a quilt. I have a sewing machine and I get some of the fundamentals but I am still pretty intimidated by the process. Over the weekend I bought some fabrics and got a pattern and then learned that I can make a quilt for charity if I complete it by September 18 (my own deadline is September 1). This is the perfect project to help me get to know my sewing machine better and learn the language of fabrics.

I'll check in at the end of August to see how I've done. I hope by putting these goals out in the ethosphere I'll be holding myself to them and creating a summer of good, happy activities.