Berry bliss.

Hello again, friends -- goodbye again, Summer! So much has happened in the blink of an eye. The last few months have been an exercise in spinning plates, developing patience and snagging sweet moments of peace between the madness. Plenty to be grateful for and happy about, but the pace has been more than I can remember in a while. As summer evenings cool into fall, I'm taking advantage of a sliver of downtime produced by some chicken and peppers on the grill to sip a glass of wine and fulfill a secret wish I've been thinking about all summer.

Starting in late spring, our grocery store stocks strawberries from Pell Farms, a New England gem which, hands down, has the best, sweetest, most consistent strawberries I've ever had. At a whopping $7/lb, they are tiny, deep red (all the way through to the center, which you could observe if you were to exercise self control and bite into one instead of shoving it whole into your mouth) and a perfect concentration of summer sun. Most days I ration them fiercely, slicing a scant few onto yogurt for breakfast or to brighten up a salad. It's funny, the things which seem outrageously expensive for what they are (even if under $10) and the other things we will splurge on (a great pair of shoes or a night out with friends).

Today for a little "me time," I washed and hulled a box of these beauties and sat down to blog and binge on as many as I wanted. It may sound ridiculous, but taking a moment to enjoy our string lights (in that magic hour before the mosquitoes come out), sip wine and eat berries seemed like an indulgence worth writing home about.