I discovered my roof this summer in a way that I never have in all the years I’ve lived in my apartment.

Sure, I’ve gone up there before, but I never thought it was anything worth talking about … until the sound of fireworks lured me up there at one point early this summer. I thought I might be able to get a glimpse of what was happening and BOOM! I noticed that I have a view of the NYC skyline???!!

Not too shabby! When our un-airconditioned apartment became too much to bear after approximately seventy-six 90-degree plus days in a row, Erik and I headed up to the roof with a yoga mat to enjoy our snack/dinner to catch the teeny breeze.

We went to town on this Trader Joe’s concoction of sundried tomato, pesto, and cream cheese with gorgonzola cracker:

And a homemade smoothie (I think?)!

Yay for snacks! On the roof!

   

Also this summer, I found myself on a DC country club balcony one gorgeous late August evening at a pre-wedding cocktail party …

Could the view get ANY greener?

Mint juleps were the specialty of the night, so I dove in and ordered one, putting aside my ulcer concerns:

It was too alcohol-y for me, though, so I gave it away and got some Malbec (my new favorite wine!) instead.

Here’s a smattering of the scrumptious cocktail fare:

  

100% Maryland crab crab cake!!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm …

Make-your-own shrimp-and-grits station:

Mmm, again!

Stunning sunset:

What made the night even better was that I got to hang out with my sister Emily:

And my dad and stepmom and more family that that rarely see!

I was so inspired by those baby crab cakes that I ordered a crab cake burger at lunch the next day.

Once again, it was 100% crab and sooooooooooooooooo amazing.

Fast-forwarding through the wedding …

… here were the post-wedding dessert selections!

My brother came over for a chat, but I was clearly too invested in my creme brulee to notice:

  

Post-wedding dessert was followed by post-wedding drinks (and unpictured post-wedding artichoke dip!):

To cap off this lovely summer of outdoor fun, Erik and I went out to Staten Island to visit with his aunt, uncle, and cousins on Labor Day. We worked up an appetite strolling the Staten Island beach that I had NO idea existed:

Linner involved garden gazpacho, homemade by Erik’s aunt Lois:

Garden salad with steak strips and roasted veggies:

And (sadly unpictured) grilled pineapple with coconut sauce! Ahhh, I am getting so hungry writing this post, that I must go raid the fridge this instant.

Later!