Summer is here! It has been so nice out and everyone is gearing up for that ever-popular ‘Summer Vacation’. Everyone goes about this differently of course, and this year I think it will be even more different for many of us. This year the buzzword is ‘staycation’. I take it to mean that you have some down time, be it a day or a month, and you choose to stay within your home region and do some really fun things. With the cost of everything on the rise and especially gas, it is being supposed that many people will be ‘travelling’ closer to home this year. We are SO lucky to live in this fabulous place that has so much to offer every one of us.
I had a mini ‘staycation’ on Saturday. I had been working harder than usual and I was able to take most of that day off. I chose to spend much of it with myself and I had a marvelous time! I got up at 6 (Whoa! Sleeping in!) and worked for a couple of hours. I played on the computer for another hour or so (I have wanted to buy a Honda Del Sol for 3 years now and I am once again in the hunt mode.) and then headed out to the Gig Harbor Farmer’s Market. This was my first visit of the year since I have not had a Saturday free to get out there yet. It is in a different place than usual and that did not seem to be keeping anyone away. There is still not much produce out, but I bought myself a bouquet of sweet peas. (I LOVE them!) I wandered past one of the nursery stands and decided to replace my dead lavender plant with a beautiful Ceanothus, or California Lilac. It is not a true lilac; it is evergreen and has beautiful blue flowers and the bees are completely infatuated with it. It sits right outside my home office window and I have been listening to their happy buzzing all day today.
Next I took myself to a long and leisurely lunch at the new Pizzeria Fondi. They make their own dough, sauce, ricotta and mozzarella, among other things. I sat their for an hour and half reading my book, eating the 2nd best pizza I have had in this state, (My favorite here being Tutta Bella in the Columbia District of Seattle. The best was in New York.) and drinking 2 glasses of wine! Such luxury! I ambled around the big box bookstore (no plugs for the big boxes) and then made my way towards Port Orchard.
I got to the Bodiwerks Day Spa & Massage about 20 minutes early so I sat in the car and read some more. (Can you tell I don’t get much reading time?) I went in to the unassuming building on the busy street and was very pleasantly surprised. It is bigger than it seems and they have used the space well. I got a 20-minute whirlpool tub (yep, I took my book!), a salt scrub and a massage. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon!
I even got to read some more later in the evening and I managed to get through 1 1/2 books over the course of the weekend. Who knows when I will be able to finish the current book (I am going to try to steal an hour tonight) but it doesn’t matter because I had that day and there will be others. Even if it is just a few hours to myself, I love that quiet space where I am in my self but my brains are not buzzing too loudly for me to relax.
I got an invitation to the Rhone Rangers wine tasting in Seattle on July 8th. More than 35 Vintners from WA, OR, ID and CA…so much wine and so little time! I don’t know yet who my second will be. Whoever it is will be very happy about it! I will write more about that after it happens.
Have you had any great wine lately? Food? Service? Experiences around here? Tell us about it!
