Summertime

For most of graduate school, summertime meant teaching in intensive Chinese language summer programs. One summer it meant living with 22 high school students in a dorm while teaching them 8 hours a day and accompanying them everywhere. Another summer it meant coming home from work so utterly exhausted that I found myself making cocktails on Monday nights (never a good sign when you can't hold out until Friday), and going to bed as soon as The Bachelorette was over. But there have always been wonderful things scattered in between those long work hours.  One-week vacations to places like Boston and St. John, trips with Mike to the East Coast and Michigan, celebrating weddings with friends, and dinners on patios followed by ice cream.

This summer has been a little different as we've been planning our own wedding and preparing to move while I finish up my degree. We're still taking trips and spending time with our family and friends, but it somehow seems like the end of an era. It's been busy, but it's been filled with wonderful special occasions like engagement photos, wedding dress shopping, cake tasting, our general dinner tasting (which we did with wonderful friends), and the most amazing bridal showersI could have ever asked for. These events have meant more time with people whom I love, people whom I wish I could have visited with more often over the past years. I wouldn't trade any of my experiences for the world, but having always gone to school out of state or living abroad in the time after college, I missed the family dinners with friends that I had grown accustomed to.

I think it's finally hit me that we're all grown up now. Sure, we rely on our families for certain things, but for the most part, Mike and I have started creating our own unit, our own family. Friends in the area have husbands, babies, and jobs that are year-round. Everyone's schedule is a little more full and get-togethers take a lot more planning. Maybe things would have changed a little less if I'd stayed in the area, but chances are, I would still be left longing for those regular dinners with my best friends and their families. That was childhood. That was what I remember most about growing up in Rockville and what I did on the weekends in high school.

I woke up on Saturday with an urge to paint. On a whim, I asked my aunt if she would go to The Mud Hut with me. Meredith and I spent many an afternoon in The Mud Hut, painting plates and bowls. In fact, Mer made a whole set of serving dishes that she used at my bridal shower. I once made a plate that depicted a beach scene. I was so proud of it. The palm tree, the sand, the sky -- it was all perfect. I even drew a little crab as an homage to Maryland (at least, I'd like to think that I put the crab in there as a clever reminder of my home state). I came home one day to find it broken into a number of pieces....My grandma blamed the cat. The rest of us knew better, but I've gotten off topic. Anyway, what I really mean to say is, seeing the set so beautifully displayed at my Maryland bridal shower reminded me of all of those afternoons spent together and how meaningful it is to have such practical pieces serve as a reminder of those memories. I wish I had had Meredith's foresight and used all of our time at The Mud Hut to paint a collection. So my aunt and I headed up to The Mud Hut and I made my selection very carefully. I chose a simple oblong platter. I painted it in a pretty creamy taupe and used silkscreen to apply two flowers in varying shades of coral. In some ways it was an homage to that beautiful flower-themed bridal shower that Meredith threw in my honor. The colors reminded me of some of the highlighting colors that appear in a set of fun, whimsical plates on our wedding registry from Anthropologie. And when Mike and I have dinner parties and display the platter that I painted, I'll have a whole number of stories to tell. I might tell everyone about the plates that Meredith and I painted for one another featuring our nicknames, or the mugs with Danish and German quotes that Mike and I painted for our first home together.

As I was sitting at the table painting my piece, I couldn't help but eavesdrop. The girls working in the shop that afternoon were all in high school. They were talking about college applications and the daily summer camp activities they were working on with the kids. It was like catching a glimpse of what life used to be like before we grew up and went off to college and then grew up some more. There was a sense of nostalgia, but something greater than that as well. I realized that despite having grown up, I still have those wonderful people around me who I remember from my childhood. I may not get to see them so often, but time is always made. And isn't it amazing that what's bringing us together now are some of life's biggest celebrations, new beginnings and new life to be welcomed? Sometimes it's a little bit of heartache too, the passing of a grandparent or a beloved family member, but what a blessing to have people who have known you your whole life there to comfort you.

Last night I went to Nicole's parents' home to help with wedding decor. Nicole's wedding is just 5 days away. The bridesmaids are standing by her side according to the length of time we've known the bride. That puts me in between her two sisters! I came home late, so Aunt Jenny and I hurried to whip up dinner. After dinner, my brother even emerged from his room to help make the chocolate zuchinni bread I'd promised him. Today I have another wedding appointment, my hair and makeup trial. Aunt Jenny is coming along and then we're doing a wine tasting. There are things to be done and thesis revisions to make, but mostly, at least for today, I just want to savor family and friendship.