Painting My Spirit Gold

Summer without a doubt, is my favorite time of year.  It’s the time of year when everything is green, I can wear dresses and sandals, I’m some version of tan, and the city of Chicago comes alive.  People are out and about running on the lakeshore path, drinking on patios, swimming in lake Michigan (cautiously I might add).  It truly becomes a different place around here when the weather is warm.  I, like Chicago, also become the best version of myself when the weather is nice and warm.

It was no secret that Dan and I planned our trip last year around skipping winter.  We left in October right before the frigid temperatures set in and came back at the beginning of June just in time for the nicest part of the summer.  I did not miss winter.  Not one bit.

Our surprise welcome committee upon arrival back to the USA. 

Today is officially the last day of summer. Oddly enough I was recently listening to the Florence and Machine song “Dog Days are Over” when I thought, “What are Dog Days?!” I’ve heard the phrase before, seen it in hashtags and acted like I knew what people were talking about.  So, I decided to Google it.  According to Wikipedia, Dog days refer to the hot, sultry days of summer that coincides with Sirius the dog star constellation and some other historical origins.  Dog days technically run from the 3rd of July until the 11th of August.

The Dog days aka my favorite part of the year flies by way too fast here in Chicago and I’m left with the feelings of did I enjoy it enough?  Was I outside enough?  Did I drink as many drinks on a patio as my heart would desire?  Did I even make it to the beach?

This is not a post to complain about how winter is coming and how much myself and the rest of us in this city are dreading it.  It’s more of a reminder to myself that even though the Dog days are over, I enjoyed the hell out of my summer.  Here’s what I did:

Had an awesome welcome home party with my bestest buds. 

Spent a fabulous week at my parent’s house in Wisconsin (who treated Dan and I to a Brewer’s baseball game and many boat rides).

Took a road trip out to Denver to scope it out and it sucked obviously (not).

Celebrated birthdays.  Some more major milestones than others. 

Got my fill of patio drinks. 

Trollied it up on Framily Day of Fun 2. 

Made it out to the lakefront AND the beach more than once. 

Celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary at Chicago Diner and topped it off with a vegan milkshake. 

Meandered around beautiful Lincoln Park. 

After years of talking about it, finally went to the Summer Concert series in Millennium Park. 

Ate my face off at our friend Adam and Mo’s annual shrimp boil. 

Had a full weekend of lake time with Dan’s parents and friends. 

Went to Minnesota for a long weekend of family time to celebrate this Cowboy’s 90th birthday. 

And enjoyed multiple dinner club nights with friends. 

This summer was one of the best I’ve had yet and I’m sad to see it go.  But now I won’t have to wonder if I took advantage of the warm weather because clearly, I did! Although the Dog Days are now officially over and I promised myself I’d never put myself through another Chicago winter, I’m hoping the pulse and vibes from a great 3 months will help get me through my final winter in Chicago.