Picnics

This summer I made a wish list...a list of all the things that feel "summery" to me and that I hoped I would get a chance to do. My list is kind of long but full of fun stuff - mostly free too. Anyway, one of the things on my list is to have a lot of picnics...the kind where I can use all the table cloths I seem to have inherited from various relatives. Table cloths are so pretty but they get stained and have to be dry cleaned. I have a whole drawer full of crisp, white linen, monogrammed table cloths from my maternal grandmother. I haven't touched them because I hate to be the one that stains the snowy white cloth. So I just gaze at them and lightly touch the thin protective plastic.

I have a beautiful linen table cloth that was hand embroidered by my grandmother that I have used now for 3 different picnics. At every event, there has been some food spilled on it, and each time I have taken it upstairs, soaked it in oxyclean, and cold water washed it. It looks great. It looks a little used, but I'm glad I get to enjoy it. What am I waiting for? Carpe Diem right?

I've had a dream to have a garden party for several summers now. Each summer has seemed to be more hectic than the next. Blended family stuff, kid stuff, foreign exchange student stuff, stifling Boulder heat, projects, breakdowns, melt downs, expectations, etc. have all gotten "in the way" of me having a great garden party (and the great summer I am always determined to have, yet feel has eluded me.)

Well, I am more than halfway through this summer (actually 51 days into summer - it started very early here in Boulder - only 30 more to go) and I have been doing TONS of stuff on my list. I love having a list! And I had a garden party this past week for a few of my dear women friends (one visiting from Santa Barbara) and it was so nice. Very laid back. Very visually pleasing. And the food was delicious. It was a potluck salad lunch...and unbelievably tasty. (I made a red rice salad from August's Yoga Journal - faboo!) So please check out some of these pics and note the table cloths!

xoxo

ps - I fear that this post was shallow and blah blah blah but I was trying to to put it into words and having a tough time! sorry if it made the eyelids heavy!

pps - I am having the BEST summer ever too...just had to say that. I have a lot of gratitude for the way this summer has flowed - beautiful.