Summertime!

Any summer I've ever known has been filled with beaching and biking and grilling and roommating... the feeling of relief when shorts are pulled out of storage, the smell of freshly cut grass envelops the air, the restaurant patios and rooftops are a daily routine, and sounds of crickets bring comfort to sleep each night. Summer in Chicago is marked with a feeling of anticipation and liberation when the long-awaited sun appears and you suddenly remember why you live there.

But this summer is different... My first summer away from what I've known for summer's past. While the nature of summer freedom and sleeping-in remain the same (and the beach of course! ;))... in other ways I have to remind myself that it's the summer season... that it's June... and that the Fourth of July is around the corner. Here, summer doesn't present itself with the same kind of drastic change in lifestyle- gatherings with friends take place in the same way, the only difference being that I can stay past 9pm ;)

There's a certain ease to life here - sunny days are not pressured or forcing people out - summer feels relaxed and peaceful and slow. My days melt into each other, each one with more memories and jokes and time spent with Benjamin. And perhaps that's what makes this season feel the most unlike others... life with him is a daily eagerness towards 5pm when he gets off work, an expectation of time together each night - even when it's simply a bike ride and making dinner and Chef's Table, it feels like the best night ever. It seems I can never spend enough time with him -- knowing his heart, laughing about the little things, and dreaming about life to come. I am still in awe that he is in my life, and I would take 10,000 more summers that carry the same feeling of this one. I am the luckiest girl alive to live this summer season with him.

For our five month anniversary we headed into wine country in Mexico - the dreamy Guadalupe Valley... a place I've always wanted to go! Ben surprised me (until I guessed it...) and we spent the day wine tasting, taking in the views, and remembering our top 5 memories together. The trip carried a new kind of exhilaration with how drivable and accessible Mexico is after just receiving my Sentri/Global Entry card... until we got detained at the border for over an hour because who knew you had to actually activate those things before you can use them?! Learned that lesson the hard way. But Benjamin is my favorite adventure buddy and I will gladly be detained with him at the Mexican border any day! ;) Here's to many many more!