Today is my last Friday of Summer 2013. Today is the last weekday I got to sleep in without an alarm blaring me awake. Sunday is the first offical day of Autumn, and this summer girl is bummed to say the least. Yes, not returning to teaching this year did give me an extra couple of weeks of Summer - for that I will be forever grateful - but the transition into Fall nevertheless gets me down.
To combat the 'Fall is coming' blues, I've put together this summer collage post, listing the things I want to remember. It anchors me in my favorite season. It reminds me what's been and gives me hope of what's to come.
I did a post of this sort last year, and it made me happy all year long 'til Summer 2013 arrived and the focus was on creating new summer memories.
For me, Summer 2013 began that weekend to Atlantic City in June for Danielle's 29th Birthday.
I want to remember how the night before leaving, I watched the Sex and the City episode where the girls go to Atlantic City.
I want to remember looking out of our hotel window and seeing Atlantic City laid out in front of us.
I want to remember that it was my first (of two) trips to the beach of the season.
I want to remember Jamina and I flashing all of Atlantic City.
I want to remember almost getting arrested. What? Yeah.
I want to remember changing clothes at least three times in a 4 hour window.
I want to remember our dinner at Cuba Libre.
I want to remember that guy trying to have a threesome with Jamina and I...I don't think so, buddy.
I want to remember "funeral in the front and party in the back."
I want to remember our late night chat with a Bachelor Party at the fountain & my 'dirty hands'.
I want to remember being one of the last four standing when the sun came up, and that instead of climbing into bed to sleep for a couple hours, we headed down to the beach and passed out with tractors driving ten feet from our sleeping heads.
I want to remember the day after the last day of school, and what I wore, and it hitting me that Summer really had begun.
I want to remember my lunch out with Elisa and Natalie, and Elisa's epic dancing back at Natalie's house.
I want to remember how much I hung out with dad this summer -- shopping, seeing World War Z on his birthday, going out to dinners...
I want to remember how much I missed Tomas now that summer started and there was no more distraction from it.
I want to remember Aunt Sis coming over, and mom and Ness making her over.
I want to remember Dapper Dan (a.k.a. 'Diver Dave', mom!) and how cute he was cleaning our pool.
I want to remember 'No Joke July' and my meals and exercise ritual.
I want to remember how cute our 4th of July was this year, with Ryan and Claudia stopping by.
I want to remember how I spent the whole first half of 4th of July:
OHHHHH yeah...
I want to remember my solo drive to Nautical Mile to meet up with my teacher-friends at Kristen's bar and Michele's brother hitting on me. Too funny. Sadly, that's the only time I saw of Michele all summer. :(
I want to remember that bike ride passed the 'You're Perfect' graffiti.
I want to remember that awesome orange bathing suit find from Old Navy.
I want to remember Aunt Laura's 62nd Birthday BBQ at our house and the Spiked Pink Lemonade drinks I made for everybody.
I want to remember all us cousins singing karaoke, and what the house looked like.
I want to remember how fixed on making those lanyard bracelets I was for about a week in July.
I want to remember trying PRESS on Bell Blvd. with Ness for the first time (hers&hers sangria shot).
I want to remember my impromptu day trip to the city with Josh and Elisa for Bastille Day.
I want to remember that I tried a macaron for the first time.
I want to remember spending days cleaning out and organizing my teacher stuff and the craftroom.
I want to remember how good it looked when it was done.
I want to remember those fake nails I had on for a week.
I want to remember that Jay-Z and JT concert for as long as I live.
I want to remember my first experience wearing peplum.
I want to remember Tomas texting me to talk, and meeting with him later that rainy July 22nd Monday at Cunningham Park.
I want to remember his tears and my tears, and how it truly felt good holding his hand again.
I want to remember the next day with Elisa and sweet baby Julia -- two of the best ladies I could have hung out with.
I want to remember two birds on a wire, and how confused I felt about Tomas and I.
I want to remember how I read Elizabeth Gilbert's book Committed to try and help me with my commitment fears.
I want to remember that afternoon I saw two eagles in the sky (possibly trying to snatch the boops).
I want to remember my collaboration with Eleanors' NYC Stylish Bike Accessories.
I want to remember my first real, relaxed date with Tomas to AGORA on Austin Street, and his family's lunch for him at Besito the next day. Both meals felt sooooo good, and I decided then that I would spend the next two weeks with him in New York, living in the moment, and letting go of preconceived bullshit. So glad I did.
I want to remember that Mexican Worry Doll.
I want to remember how the next two weeks that followed were the brightest of my summer.
I want to remember that visit to Michelle and George's place.
I want to remember playing cards with Tito, and line dancing with Anna and Clarisse.
I want to remember trying to remember the salsa patterns with Tomas in front of Auntie Gina and Uncle Ricky.
I want to remember Stephanie's house party the next day, and getting so drunk off Stoli Raspberry that I dropped my iPhone in the deep end of her pool.
I want to remember that seeing everyone's families and kids made me feel like Tomas and I could do that too. Or maybe it was my buzz.
I want to remember our girls trip to the beach (my second and last time to the beach this summer).
I want to remember paying $300 for a new iPhone and wanting to kick myself in the ass.
I want to remember how totally awesome our Sister's Day was this year. It started on Thursday night with a dinner for Bitt and I at PRESS.
I want to remember how Bitt had off the next day, I woke up and got us Starbucks, and we went to Butterfly Garden Spa and got massages and facials.
I want to remember Lily popping a zit and saying, "Oh yeah."
I want to remember that August 3rd Saturday - a day that would have been Tomas and my 7th Anniversary of our first date.
I want to remember the bouquet he had Jason deliver.
I want to remember that H&M zipper dress feeling so light and right for the night, and how I accompanied it with those grey Target booties because they were the closest thing I had to cowboy boots.
I want to remember the following day, August 4th, and how I wore my Nana's high-waisted purple pants that I found while rummaging through her things with Aunt Rose.
I want to remember how I somehow got my hair into the perfect curly half-ponytail.
I want to remember eating with him and his whole immediate family in Flushing, because who knows when that will happen again. Some of my most happy memeories have been sitting around a table with those people for dinner. True love.
I want to remember what a good brother he was to Anna later that day, explaining how to put the bike rack on the car.
I want to remember that new world map art in his old lobby.
I want to remember how we played Heads Up! in his living room.
I want to remember how I biked to him the next day.
I want to rember finding a handful of his baby pictures that I fell in love with. I then went home and compared 'em to mine.
I want to remember how I felt going with him to Kinkos to ship boxes to Texas, and the tears that happened across the table from him at that Filipino spot with him mom.
I want to remember the shirt he was wearing that last morning before he left:
I want to remember that we had a huge triple crown breakfast, talked a bit about the future, and then he drove me home and...left.
I want to remember the crazy Michael's haul that happened a few hours after he left, and the focused 'Week in the Life' album prep that occurred.
I want to remember how eveyrthing became slower and quieter after Tomas left.
I want to remember that August lull.
I want to remember seeing Aunt Dawn at her mother's memorial service, when I drove with mom to Farmingdale to pay respects and have lunch with her and her family.
I want to remember how I had to go to 5 doctors in four days.
I want to remember how this was the summer Alejandro and I developed an understanding of and signal for him to getting on the banister.
I want to remember hunting for the mugswap, and finding that MUG SWAP-topus.
I want to remember spending that whole day developing and designing my 30 Days of Lists blurb book.
I want to remember the alone time August brought with it.
I want to remember the awesome, just at the right time Saturday evening BBQ Jamina invited me to.
I want to remember having breakfast with dad at Demi's and then our walk along Long Beach.
I want to remember the role hot Grapenuts and banana smoothies played in my life this summer.
I want to remember seriously thinking about those heart stencil tattoos, and this time on my foot!
I want to remember that this was the summer of the smock dress.
I want to remember how I NEVER should have bought that addicting box of Reese's cereal.
I want to remember how lucky I felt to have won a Silhouette Cameo. Still shocked.
I want to remember that my favorite Summertime (well, anytime) treat is a Mint Chocolate Chip cone from Baskin Robbins.
I want to remember becoming obsessed with maps, geography, facts about the Lone Star state, and the distance between NY & TX.
I want to remember taking mom to Flushing for a haircut.
I want to remember that happy hour on Bell Blvd, and wearing my Nana's red pants.
I want to remember that we met a Pauly D look alike.
I want to remember the splitting headache of hell I had the next day, and how wrecked I was.
I want to remember magically feeling better by midday.
I want to remember going to James and Leslie's Housewarming Party, and dancing with Claudia in her empty living room.
I want to remember that Brooklyn street fair with Danielle, Rita, and Tina, and Tina's weird proclaimation of "UNITY".
I want to remember how sad I felt the day I had to drop Carmen off at the vet for her teeth-extraction surgery, and my beloved Honda Accord to the dealer because its lease was up.
I want to remember BurgerFi with dad.
I want to remember how getting Carmen back home was the best.
I want to remember how worried I was for her, and although she and her brother are just cats, I carry a mother's burden in caring for and loving them. They are my children.
I want to remember that Wednesday night I painted.
I want to remember noticing my toothbrush had a faux hawk.
I want to remember that 20 minute errand that became a 5-hour rescue mission with my dad because the alternator in my replacement car was shot to shit.
I want to remember the good, quality time I spent with dad that day.
I want to remember the texts from Jamina about Max getting stitches and needing to be rushed to the hosptial. My poor friend.
I want to remember that morning I felt the intense need to outfit sketch outfits for design school.
I want to remember Good Humor's Strawberry Shortcake bar and the mani to match.
I want to remember Marisa's engagement party, and how I didn't want to go, but was so glad I did.
I want to remember that last day of August BBQ in Danielle's backyard.
I want to remember hearing the ice cream truck followed by Rita's declaration that the end of summer is here and that it was probably our last change to get Mister Softee.
I want to remember racing to the front of Danielle's house (like 3rd graders) and running down the block, trying to get the ice cream man. Rita did it with no shirt or shoes on!
I want to remember those pink Labor Day flowers.
I want to remember how weird it felt knowing I wasn't starting work with everyone the day after Labor Day.
I want to remember that this summer, Summer leaked into September, and how it might be the last Summer for me for decades that it will do so.
I want to remember that dinner with Helene next door that turned into a drunken karaoke night, with her tippsily singing Hava Naglia. HYSTERICAL!
I want to remember mom's girls night cocktail party, and what a success it was. My mom loves her friends, and I thank God for them.
I want to remember looking at my three and a half year-old baby boy, Alejandro, and thinking, he's a big boy, isn't he...always my baby, but no longer my kitten.
I want to remember all my lists for September 2013's 30 Days of Lists.
I want to remember that mall trip with my sister and buying that book after making such a major connection with the first three pages.
I want to remember Week in the Life starting.
I want to remember testing out the Express QM5 and QM6 buses on the first day back to school for the kids to get my mind off the upcoming school year without me in it.
I want to remember my lunch date with Vita and her little man, Santino.
I want to remember receiving Danielle and my wigs in the mail, and getting hella excited about the end of the month Electric Run.
I want to remember the evening before leaving to Texas, and how I went for walk/jog with my sister, bought strawberries to cover in chocolate, and welcomed sleep and the next day, although at this point, I wasn't sure if going to Texas was the right thing to do.
The last five days of summer were spent going to and being in Texas.
I want to remember how I felt sitting in that airport, waiting to board the plane to Texas.
I want to remember how I was equal parts sure and unsure about this journey, but excited overall.
I want to remember how uncomfortable the plan ride was.
I want to remember how Tomas picked me up in a white Chevy Malibu, and told me he traded in his Infinity for this car. "But you loved your Infinity!" I said.
I want to remember how I believed him, only to find out later it was the car he rented me for the weekend.
I want to remember the first place we ate in Texas together: Mo'Fish and how even though the food was mediocre, it was a great meal being there with him.
I want to remember that Thursday in Texas and how it started alone in his room with my computer.
I want to remember how slowwwww the WiFi was in his apartment.
I want to remember going through his kitchen, cleaning up, and making a list of stuff I'd need later at the supermarket.
I want to remember the piece of paper Tomas gave me with his planned itinerary for my day.
I want to remember making a wrong left, and getting lost and stuck in traffic for two hours.
I want to remember how good it felt to finally get to where I needed to be.
I want to remember hunting fot the oregano.
I want to remember chopping the garlic before my massage with Brad.
I want to remember coming home, feeling relaxed and strecthed, and slicing the tomatoes.
I want to remember how that night, we had linguine and clam sauce.
I want to remember how that Friday in Texas felt like my birthday.
I want to remember the walk I woke I took around Avana in the early morning before sunrise.
I want to remember how I came back 'home' and fell back to sleep.
I want to remember making him and I breakfast burritos in his apartment in Texas, and feeling the potential for adventure and fun in the day.
I want to remember our adventure through the Toll Bros. homes.
I want to remember sitting in that luxury jacuzzi in that intense master suite.
I want to remember our meal at Hard Eight BBQ, and eating the best ribs I've ever eaten in my life.
I want to remember driving up on the Grapevine Fest, and walking the streets of it hand in hand.
I want to remember Capella's, and the ugly fish hallway, and the stuffed animal exhibits.
I want to remember heading to the Stockyards with Tomas and Mike, and experiencing my first rodeo.
I want to remember feeling bad for the bull.
I want to remember petting the horses afterward.
I want to remember catching Tomas looking at a cowgirl, and feeling pangs of jealousy.
I want to remember all melting away as we headed in Billy Bob's, drank two bottle of Shiner Bock, and watched the line dancing underneath a glittery saddle disco ball.
I want to remember our Waffle House breakfast the next morning, before heading to Austin.
I want to remember stopping on our 3-hour road trip to pee.
I want to remember getting a strawberry ice pop.
I want to remember finding 'my Austin wall'.
I want to remember the salsa tunes of the Jonas Alvarez band, and our strawb/rasp frozen margaritas.
I want to remember some of the bachelorette party sitting next to us getting up to play with the band (so funny).
I want to remember stumbling across the Jo's Coffee Shop wall and thinking YESSSS!
I want to remember how in love I fell with Austin.
I want to remember how I drove home for 3 three hours, singing to any and every song I knew on the radio.
I want to remember how we woke up the next day a little deflated that it was my last day in Texas -- last day of Summer, honestly.
I want to remember how he made breakfast for us, and how god that chorizo sausage was.
I want to remember our bike ride around Fort Worth and coming across the water gardens.
I want to remember how shaky I was descending down the steps of the rushing waters.
I want to remember our last meal in Texas - steak at Keg's Steakhouse.
The next morning, after a crappy tossing, turning night's sleep, we both awoke silent, groggy, and business-minded...me: on packing and preparing for my flight; him: on getting himself ready for work.
I felt it in the air that summer's magic was over, but it wasn't until I was at the airport - alone now, dropped off by him already - that I really felt it. I looked out the window and saw the above image: the sun rising over the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, ready to warm the state up to the mid-90s. I saw this, and I knew...I was getting on a plane to Autumn. Here in Texas, with my guy and the heat and the adventure, was where I'd be leaving Summer 2013.
I love you intensely, Summer 2013, and just like all of my summer's past, you were one for the books.
I want to remember - for always - how much you moved me.
Forever yours,
