Nicole: The Essence of Summer

1. gobble up a shaved ice. preferably outside. in the heat. purchased from a tiny snow cone stand. sit at sticky tables. and people watch.

snow cones were part of my summers as far as i can remember. we would get huge ones on the boardwalks with a thousand different colors (which would all melt and mix into an ink color slush). and tyler and i walked to a snow cone stand once a week through a summer during our first year. i always get vanilla, and lite on the syrup.

2. host a summer bbq. the menu: burgers with all the fixins (and i mean everything!), corn on the cob, HUGE slices of watermelon (get messy!), chips and homemade lemonade. if possible, have a watermelon seed spitting competition.

3. go see a drive-in movie.

4. splurge on a new scent. and commit to it for the summer. wear it every day- everywhere. and when the summer is through, that scent will always bring you back.

5. Spend the day at a state fair. we ALWAYS went to the delaware state fair, as a family, on dates, as friends. we would buy funnel cake, corn on the cob, corn dogs and lemonade...and watch the people. county fairs are not quite the same, but they will do if you can't get to the state fair.

6. have a water balloon war. fill...i don't know...a million water balloons, pick teams and conquer. later, run through the sprinklers (remember the yellow one that had 3 spouts that would spin??? love that thing!) then lay out towels all over the grass. dry up, warm up...and get some sun.
7. pick fruit. every june my mom and i would go to a blueberry farm and pick buckets and buckets of blueberries. and we would eat them till we were sick and freeze the rest to enjoy through the year. and peaches- juicy messy sticky peaches. pick fruit. eat some right away and make dessert with the rest.

8. have a date on the beach. (salena, you will have to find yourself a sandbox or something, get creative!) but not just any date, a 5$ date. so, each person takes a 5$ bill into the store, and is given the mission to buy their date an appetizer, drink, main course, and dessert... all with 5$. take the sack of goodies to the beach, and show your date what you found for their meal. who ever spends the least, wins. dig your toes in the sand and enjoy dinner on the beach.
9. lay lazily in a hammock. fall asleep if you can.

10. LAY OUT! just dig down deep ladies! get your ipod, some banana boat suntan lotion and a bottle of cold water. and then just lay out. soak up the sun.

this is my-must-watch-summer movie list:

mama mia (deal with it!), 50 first dates & Bridges of Madison County.
i want reviews.

happy summer my sweet friends!