Summer is the time for doing things.
It’s not the time for staying inside and being bored.
Last year, I was inspired to create a summer to-do list, and while I didn’t accomplish everything on the list, it was helpful for setting goals and making plans (however loose) for how I wanted to spend my time.
This year I have even more free time on my hands, and I don’t want to waste any of it.
So that’s right, I’ve come up with a second Summer To-Do List. And since Memorial Day Weekend is here (hooray!), that means it’s time to share it.
Here’s what’s on my list:
1. Get a job. Obviously, this is at the top of the list.
2. Try three new restaurants. Specifically, 5 Napkin Burger, Max Brenner, and The Proper Slice.
3. Read a book. Will it be Meredith Goldstein’s The Singles? Justin Halpern’s I Suck at Girls? Joel Stein’s Man Made? Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi’s Managing Content Marketing? Or maybe I’ll reread The Great Gatsby in anticipation of the new movie’s release this fall. Stay tuned.
4. Take a road trip. Anywhere in Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, or New Hampshire would be fine. Maybe this will be the summer I visit my old summer camp.
5. Walk and/or run the Chestnut Hill Reservoir at least twice a week.
6. Eat a Fenway Frank during a game at Fenway. Tickets should be easier to come by this summer, right?
7. Have a very good birthday. Again. Just a couple weeks from now, we’ll see if this year’s celebration will come close to last year’s fun.
8. Enjoy seeing Bruce Springsteen at Fenway. Once for sure. Maybe even twice.
9. Take a day and totally disconnect. Better yet, maybe I’ll get a one-day pass and spend it relaxing by the pool at the Hotel Indigo.
10. Spend time on the Cape. How is it possible that I’ve lived in Boston for 15 years (19 if you include college) and I’ve never gone any farther down the Cape than the airport?
11. Take a Codzilla ride around Boston Harbor. Woo hoo!
12. Get my apartment professionally cleaned. I bought a Groupon, and I need to use it. Speaking of which …
13. Use all my remaining Groupons/LivingSocial/Gilt Group deals. Yes, all of them.
14. Tan. Not burn. (You hear that, sun?)
15. Enjoy. It’s just that simple. Summer will be over before we know it, so I want to make the most of it while I can. Especially if the first item on this list happens sooner rather than later. (Fingers crossed.)
There’s other stuff I want to do, but this list is a good start. If I accomplish all of it, I think it’s safe to say this will be a good summer.
What’s on YOUR summer 2012 to-do list? Let me know by leaving a comment in the space below.
Martin's Musings 
I have a summer foods to-eat list, which includes:
1) Lobster. Any-which-way-I-feel.
2) Steamers
3) Del’s Lemonade
4) Corn on the cob
5) Sangria & Paella (Together is better! At Spain’s in Narragansett and I’m in heaven.)
6) Strawberry spinach salad with almonds
7) Stuffies (home made)
8) Ice cream from Brickley’s in ‘gansett
9) Iggy’s Doughboys and Chowder
10) Crabcakes (The Mooring, Newport)
I like the way you think. Let’s meet up soon and eat/drink some of these things.
stuffies?
Yeah, I didn’t know what that was either. Deb?
“Stuffies” are Baked Stuffed Clams or Quahogs. Recipes vary depending on region, but it’s basically chopped clam meat mixed with some type of breading, and then baked in a clam shell.
Some recipe ideas:
http://www.quahog.org/factsfolklore/index.php?id=181
I prefer something close to the “Winning Stuffed Quahogs” – a Portuguese take on Stuffies.
Hi, may I use your summer beach image?
I didn’t take it, so I’m not sure I can officially give permission. But I won’t stop you. 🙂