Life in the Big City - Summer Style

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of Life in the Big City a couple of weeks ago.  No sooner do I start bringing you along with me through my days in New York City though, when summer hits and it's time to head out of the city.  OK, so technically it's not summer yet, but Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer for big city folks.  For us, long summer weekends mean getting out of the hot city and heading to the south shore of Long Island.  Out there we're a couple of minutes drive from beaches and marinas but, best of all, is the nearly two acres of grass and woods right outside our door.

The irony here is that the holiday weekend was anything but summer-like.  Cold and rainy on Friday and Saturday, cold and windy on Sunday.  Monday, at least, was the best of the days and it was sunny and warm enough to have our BBQ get-together in the garden.  Even so, I was walking around with a sweater and we slept under an electric blanket the entire time we were out there.  Oh, well.  It'll be hot soon enough.  Memorial Day weekend also means stocking up at Costco, mowing and trimming the grass and cleaning and dragging out the patio furniture.

We don't normally eat a lot of steaks but we can't resist them on the grill.  With frozen cocktails, fresh asparagus and sweet Long Island corn, it's a pretty perfect meal.  Oh, and Brian cooks all of it! ;)

I did feel pretty sorry for him, though, because he woke up on Saturday morning with a cold and was definitely not feeling well the whole weekend.  So far I haven't caught it, which I consider amazing.  Fingers crossed.

Hanging out, watching Brian mow the grass.

Hadley is in absolute heaven when we're out there.  After all, city dogs rarely get a chance to run free.  We go for walks every day but it's not the same as chasing a ball, untethered, over an acre of grass.  Poor thing was so exhausted by the time we got back to the city that she slept for two days!  She loves it, though, and she's a great traveler.  We acclimated her to car travel when she was a baby and now she just naps peacefully in the back seat even on the longest road trips.

Just because we were away for a while doesn't mean I haven't been pinning up a storm.  Most of my pins these days are for berry desserts since I'm going through a slight strawberry obsession.

Speaking of obsessions, did you all see my recipe for cauliflower "fried rice?"  I still can't get over how good this is and not a carb in sight.  I've made a bowl of this for lunch almost every day this week.

Next week is our 6th anniversary so I'm trying to decide how we'll celebrate.  Brian, for all his amazing qualities, is not ever going to be the one planning a celebration for anything...  I know that's going to be the case for my birthday next month, too.  Can't have everything.

And speaking of Mr. Hungry Couple, he and the furry sous are...relaxing in the garden.  So long till next time!