Our weekend began with a picnic at the Yards with friends on Friday night.

On Saturday, we drove up to Delaware for the day. We stopped for ice cream cones at a dairy (I had raspberry rumble and peanut butter swirl, which made for a PB&J-like cone) as a respite from the heat and traffic before carrying on to the beach. We ate fish sandwiches and swam in the calm ocean and baked in the sun and enjoyed pleasant temperatures and played in the surf and watched dolphins. We walked along the beach admiring sand castles and mourning horseshoe crabs. I found a new pair of sunglasses. We detoured to Salisbury, Maryland, at John’s suggestion for dinner at a brewery and then came home, exhausted but happy.

On Sunday, we slept in a bit, then got up to watch some bike racing and the end of CBS Sunday Morning before heading out to the farmers market. We filled our basket with end-of-season cherries and start-of-season sugar plums and a gigantic bag of basil due to become pesto, among other things. Laura wanted to go to the Spy Museum, so I accompanied her there. I don’t know if it was tiredness that made me feel disconnected from the experience or if the museum was just trying too hard for my taste, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. There was a quick dip in the pool before it closed and a watering of the garden (where I harvested tomatoes and lettuce and spinach). And then Rudi and I sat outside at a cafe for the last of the weekend sun.

(Weekending along with Karen)

This weekend began with a headache and a strong desire to go home and climb into bed. (To be fair, if they hadn’t been paving outside my window, I probably would have stayed in bed in the dark all day.)

However, it was really good that I acquiesced when Rudi told me that (since our normal Friday concert had been rained out) our friends Michael and Julia had offered up their back deck to the group of us, because Rudi had, unbeknownst to me, decided I needed a do-over birthday party from when he was in the hospital and everyone else was out of town. There were cupcakes and fancy drinks and presents (including purple alpaca yarn from Australia and homemade chocolate-covered strawberries) and accordion music courtesy of Michael. We talked literature and politics and race and gender relations and it was the closest evening I’ve had to college life in a while.

Saturday, we slept in (just like we would have in college), then went out for an evening road trip with John and Nicole. We played a round of mini golf (I got a hole-in-one (luck, not skill) and we all had some hysterically funny, horrible shots) and it was just generally 19 (yes, 19) holes of fun. Then we headed a bit further up the highway for a concert by Kacey Musgraves, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and Willie Nelson.

On Sunday, we hit the farmers market, where we came away with the first sweet cherries of the season (among other things). Sarah and I kept the berry theme going by heading out to Poolesville for an afternoon of strawberry and sour cherry picking. The recent rains have made for some gigantic berries, but I felt awful for the farmers because it has also caused many of them to rot on the vine. This was the first week for cherries and the berries were prolific. Sarah and I were appreciative of the shade the trees provided as the sun beat down hotter than either of us had expected.

Last night, I talked with my family, getting to wish my dad a happy Father’s Day (as my friends and I get older, I am more and more grateful to be able to have those conversations with him, rather than about him). Then Rudi and I hit the tail end of the local bookstore member sale before finishing up the weekend with a pizza dinner.

It was a full, but wonderful, weekend.

Weekending along with Karen.

Today was a bit of a rush, with work deadlines and friends visiting (and the frantic apartment cleaning that accompanies visitors) and an intense discussion of the #YesAllWomen thread on Twitter, so I am only just now sitting down to write two blog posts and finish up some work writing.

Karen has her usual invitation (now that Amanda has passed on the baton) to share weekend activities and Carole made that the Ten on Tuesday topic today as well, so here is my weekend in a nutshell:

1. Nicole, Julia, Michael, and I picnicked along the river as usual for a Friday evening, but it was a little quieter than usual, since The Yards opted not to schedule a concert over the long weekend, unbeknownst to us and about 100 other people. But Orangina and strawberries and cheese and hummus and chocolate (NOT all at once) with friends are a fine way to start a three-day weekend, with or without music.
2. Strolled to Blind Dog Cafe for chocolate chip cookies and homemade soda (lemon for Rudi; vanilla for me).
3. In honor of Geek Pride Weekend, we watched Star Wars.
4. Sprawled on a blanket at Mitchell Park.
5. Finished two books.
6. Completed the two-color section of the Color Affection I’m knitting.
7. Had a pleasant dinner with friends and their kids.
8. Took an unintended 5-mile hike in Rock Creek Park after the heat returned the lion cubs to their den early and the crowds at the zoo sent us out the back gate.
9. Swam at the pool during its inaugural weekend of the season.
10. Planted my potatoes in the garden (finally!) and harvested my first strawberries.

All in all a nice weekend at home with my sweetie.

How was your weekend?

This is one of those lists where you read it and shake your head and think, “Sprite, there’s no way you’re going to get all that done.” I think so, too, but there’s no way to find out except to plow forward full-steam and not look up until Sunday night to count the casualties.

This weekend I hope to:

• Finish my Sock Madness Round 3 socks. (This will be particularly challenging when you see the rest of the list.)
• Put the rest of the early veggies (like peas) and potatoes in the ground at the garden.
• Get to the library to drop off a few books and to pick up one that’s on hold.
• Go to a couple embassies (which ones are still to be decided).
• Attend part of the Funk Parade/Festival on U Street.
• Stop in at the Meet Market.
• Get to the farmers market when they first open. (I’ve seen rumors of strawberries, but I know they won’t be plentiful if there are any.)
• Head up to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.
• Send off rent and a couple belated birthday cards.
• Do a couple loads of laundry.
• Get the rug in the living room to dry (post-flood).
• Deal with at least one bag and one box in the living room (in advance of out-of-town friends visiting next week).
• Sleep.

How about you? What do you hope to do this weekend?

This weekend was just too short, and tomorrow starts way too soon.

Easter weekend included:

• The soft open of the latest location of a local taqueria, owned by a cycley friend of Rudi’s
• Sleeping in
• Lunch outside
• Painting my nails in jellybean colors
• A potluck pre-Easter dinner with friends
• Hours of knitting, but not enough (many one step forward, two steps back moments
• A trip to the farmers market (which netted us peach blossoms, ramps, the first (greenhouse) tomato of the year
• Hours of digging — and some planting — in the garden
• Postponing Easter egg dyeing until tomorrow
• Eating Easter candy

How was your weekend?

This weekend was filled with:

• Bringing my bike home from the office after three months.
• Sleeping in.
• Introducing Rudi to Blind Dog Café and their homemade sodas.

• Weather warm enough for flip flops and rolled up jeans.
• Exploring District Flea and discovering a new, local, microbrewed root beer.
• Buying seeds, soil, and plants from Frager’s.
• Getting up early to sit in traffic to see the cherry blossoms.

• Stopping for hot beverages and a cherry blossom cupcake at Baked and Wired.
• Hitting the farmers market and finding the first nettles of the season.
• Napping.
• The first major gardening session of the year — kale, sorrel, and mache survived, although it looks like the rosemary did not. Also, the first violets of the year came home.

• Knitting on stripey socks and a long languishing spring sweater while waiting for the next round of Sock Madness to begin.

• Not doing my taxes or housework.