All of a sudden we had a flash of heatwave out east, and summer is officially here. This weekend was my college reunion, and I made my way out to Wellesley to participate in the best way I know possible: as Class Dinner Chair. Instead of formal catering, Saturday’s dinner was Redbones barbecue  – plates of brisket, ribs, grilled vegetables and their creamy mac and cheese – and Sunday we had some very good sandwiches from the Linden Store. My dear friend Caroline flew out from Houston, and we had a grand time having ladies lunch, touring the arboretum, the greenhouses, and taking kayaks on lake Waban. I managed to escape Wellesley Books with only three new purchases in tow: ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry‘, by Rachel Joyce, ‘Beautiful Ruins‘ by Jess Walter – both good summer reading. And for good measure, ‘Wreck this Journal‘ – a journal with some aggressive prompts. I have a Kindle which I use almost daily, but nothing beats a good paperback in the summertime.

A few weeks ago I signed up for Pathfinder, a five week journaling course led by Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks, a vibrant and delightful human being. I was having trouble writing – expressing myself freely and creatively, and this seemed like a good moment to seize the opportunity to learn something new. Last month, after a year of dreaming, I finally got a new lens for my camera, so I no longer am limited to macro food shots. Another great thing about this course is that it’s inspiring me to actually shoot. (Including all the photos in this post.)

I’ve been spending a lot of time outside lately. I have a half hour meandering walk to work in the morning, and back in the evening. I’ve taken to walking on the waterfront, which is always a little bit longer, but always cheers me up. Maybe it has to do with growing up on the ocean, but whenever I’m tired, anxious, or sad, walking next to all the blue and the boats will always put me in a good place. In addition to my walks, I’ve been running. I started with the Runner’s World Summer Running Streak – a mile every day from Memorial Day to July 4th – fully expecting to have given up by now, but I’m still going strong.

There has also been food! This week we also took out the grill for the season, and I ceremoniously cooked up some hot dogs, and Copper River Sockeye salmon for the occasion. We typically have our date night on Friday night at the Cottage in Wellesley. it first became a thing with the brownie sundae and the lamb burger with paprika aioli (seriously, it’s all about the paprika aioli), and then remained a thing as they are one of the most accommodating restaurants for both Gluten-free and food allergy folks in the area when I was super strict for my gym challenge. Nobody looked at me twice when I’d order the Chicken Cobb minus the blue cheese, and sub lamb burger for chicken. It was a miracle I tell you.

Last week we ventured further out to Somerville to try our luck at Posto. A change of venue! I ordered a cocktail, which, since I’ve become an accidental tee-totaler over the past few years, might be surprising (I can count the number of adult beverages I’ve had this year on my two hands) – I needed  to make an exception for this glorious beverage: the Italia 75 (with Campari, Prosecco, and fresh grapefruit juice). It was well worth it.

For our meal, we shared a Caesar salad with white anchovies, which was perfectly dressed. Also, anyone who serves me white anchovies immediately wins a prize. The marinated little fish are vastly superior to their salty shriveled cousins most often topping a Caesar. And then we made a point to get the rosemary sea salt bread, which they bake to order in their large pizza oven.

For our meal, Devon got the rigatoni bolognese, and I got the mussels with fennel, pernod, and butter. The last time I actually ordered mussels in a restaurant was in Napa at The Girl and the Fig three years ago. Three years ago! I remember this well because they were delicious then, and I spent half the meal berating myself for not ordering (or cooking) mussels more often. And yes, I ended up doing that again during this meal. Not only were they absurdly good – a little smoky from the fire, plump and juicy and reminiscent of the sea – but I would bathe myself in the sauce if I was any less proper a lady. Lesson learned, I’ll have to get them again soon.

Over the next couple of days, I’ll be writing up my summer to do list. It’ll involve a good deal of books, barbecue, frolicking in the sunshine, and time at the sea. I’ll be in my kitchen – I’m meaning to try the Banana Ketchup from the new Adobo Road Cookbook. I’ve been curled up lately with Dinner, A Love Story and Canal House Cooks Everyday, Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries II, and Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem, to name a few. I hope to travel to a few good restaurants – Farmstead in Providence is at the top of my list right now. I have some home improvements (a.k.a. more bookshelves) in mind, which will require a trip or two to IKEA. And strawberries. I’ll be eating plenty of those.