1. Making pottery with my dad with cutoffs on, music playing, and the garage door open.

2. Heirlooms, lavender, and peonies growing in my backyard.

3. Lemonade-mint-vodka slushies.

4. Bea home for the summer.

5. Lounging in a raft in my parents’ pool.

6. Splashing in my neighborhood kiddie pool with Austin and my nieces.

7. Hot dogs on the grill and confetti cake with homemade ice cream.

8. Bright pink toenails and coppery skin.

9. Waffles on the porch with an iced mocha and the New York Times.

10. Summer evenings on the front porch toasting the General and Kitty with salty dogs.

11. Reread To Kill a Mockingbird.

12. Late night strolls to Foo’s for Sticky Hickys.

13. Wiffleball games at Loose Park.

14. Trip to Madison to visit Bea and Josh A.

I hope it all comes true.

This past Saturday, Bea informed me that she and Josh A. will be moving from KC regardless of whether or not she gets into grad school.  My little Bea has never lived more than two hours from me.  And then she went and got married, and now all of sudden, she’s brave or something and seems to think she can navigate this cruel world without me.  And honestly, I’m really happy for her and Josh A.  I admire their ability to just up and move and find new jobs and a new home.  I really don’t want her crawling back, begging me to let her back into KC.

The point of this post is that we made a list of all the things we want to accomplish before she leaves me.  Here they are.

1.  Movie night at Bea’s to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s, eat whoopie pies, and drink wine.

2.  Picnic at the Nelson Atkins Museum.  Isn’t shuttlecock the best word ever?

3.  Participate in the April or May First Friday ArtWalk. 

4.  Farmer’s Market Party.  After going to the Farmer’s Market, she will make dinner and I will make a homemade fruit pie.

5.  Sled down Suicide Hill in Brookside.  Hopefully we haven’t missed the boat on this one.  Look for us.  We will be the only twenty-somethings on the hill dodging toddlers and bailing out before we sled into traffic on Brookside Boulevard.   

6.  Foo’s night.  This usually involves eating Sticky Hickys on the sidewalk.  Side Note:  One of the Foo’s employees hates Josh A. for unknown reasons.

7.  Evening walks at Loose Park.

8.  Shakespeare in the Park.  I don’t like Shakespeare, but I like the idea of Shakespeare. 

9.  Eat sno-cones from the Sno-Cone Lady at 17^th and Summit.  These are not your typical Dickerson Park Zoo sno-cones.  I hear you can get flavors like lemon/tiger lily and blackberry/chili pepper.  Or something like that.

10. Pool parties at my parents’ house.  Crank up the tunes and take down some brewskies (flavored sodas).

11. Walk to the Dairy B from my parents’ house to get dip cones.  The town my parents live in is often referred to as The Town that Time Forgot, so hopefully the cones are only a nickel. 

12. Day trip to Lawrence, cultural hub of Kansas, to visit all of my favorite haunts from grad school.

Needless to say, I’m excited about Summer 2011.

This weekend Daniel and I went to St. Louis with our friends Sam and Kristen to attend BrewFest at Forest Park.  The evening started out on a low note when I realized I had forgotten my i.d.  Kristen and I hopped in a taxi to get the forgotten i.d., and then Sam called to say he knew a guy who could sneak me in.  So one loop around the park and ten dollars later, I was in the tent trying the Morgan Street Bohemian Ale.  Other tasty beers were the Morgan Street California Common, an O’Fallon that tasted like peach cobbler, and a homebrew that I swore tasted like root beer (nobody else agreed).  There were many other good beers but by my 7th or 8th tasting, my eyes were googley and their names were lost to me. 

When we first arrived, the grass was very wet.  Just dirty rainwater, no big deal.

Four hours later, the place was a pig pen. 

Idiots splashed mud on my dress, and one couple writhed around in the mud, slipping and sliding, doing stuff that would embarrass your mother.   

Kansas City is having the coldest, longest winter since approximately 1989 with no end in sight.  So in addition to painting my nails hot pink and buying sandals I can’t wear until May, I have decided to write some goals for Summer 2010 to give me something to look forward to.

1.  Lay by my parents’ pool while drinking Boulevard Wheats/artifically-flavored, fruity sodas and listening to 1960s/70s hits that my mom would listen to while sunbathing with Chick at the Quad.

2.  Borrow a dog and take it for a walk at Loose Park.

3.  Buy snowcones on Saturday evenings from the lady who sells them out of a converted camper at 17th and Summit.

4.  Eat Sticky Hicky’s from Foos with Daniel, Bea, and Josh A and discuss the state of the world.

5.  Pack a bikini top and cutoffs and head to NW Arkansas to skipper a canoe down the Buffalo River.

6.  Run and run some more to prepare for the Chicago Marathon in October.  Feel free to tag-a-long and see for yourself how a party dress pairs with a participation medal that Sunday night.

7.  Work on business plan and sucker family members into sitting through mock presentations of my product and marketing ideas for The Bee and the Bud.