Back to life, back to reality.

I take comfort—just a miniscule amount, though, I swear—that some of you may now have the song that this post’s title references in your heads now, too.

Anyway, happy Wednesday, friends—how are your weeks going? As of this past Monday, I am back to my usual routine after nine whopping days off—nine days in which I went to St. Augustine, spent time at my parents’ house, ate a whole lot of cookout-friendly food and also an $8 ice cream cone—yes, seriously, $8; I’m making my own from now on! What is the world coming to? (Also, hello, I have apparently turned 90)—and slept past 10 a.m. on several occasions. It was glorious.

But the return to work and the daily grind is always kind of a bummer, no matter how much you love your job, and for the past couple of days I’ve found myself thinking about what else I want to do from now until Labor Day—what weekend adventures I’d like to go on, what experiences I’d like to have, what things I’d like to make (that gold brick DIY from a few weeks ago has me itching to spray paint everything gold. Not the cats, though, don't worry). And I love making lists, so I thought, Hey, why not make a list? And then I thought, Hey, why not share it with the Internet?

So there you have it, Internet: herewith my rest-of-the-summer bucket list.

1. Take a road trip with my mom. Last year we went to Savannah; this year we’re thinking Charleston.
2. Make ice cream. The $8 cone experience reminded me that I do, in fact, own an ice cream maker—I won one from Shelley in a giveaway last year. Homemade mint chocolate chip, here I come. Oh, and key lime and graham cracker gelato, too (be still my citrus-loving heart). Also, how hard is it to make waffle cones, you think?
3. Swim as much as possible. Preferably in the ocean.
4. Cut my hair (more on this to come).
5. Paint one wall in my house with chalkboard paint. (I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit recently; at first I wanted to do a whole wall in my living room, but now I’m thinking the kitchen is my best bet, mostly because I constantly want a place to write weekly menus and scribble to-do lists that’s, well, not a small pad of paper. Also: I am kind of obsessed with chalk.)
6. String up café lights on my “porch.” I use quotation marks because my porch is not so much a porch as it is a tiny strip of wood that’s screened in, but a Very Awesome Person bought me said lights—which I’d been talking about incessantly and, let’s be honest, probably annoyingly, for a year—and I’m excited to get them up.
7. Go to Adventure Island with friends. (I love water and water rides but am terrified of roller coasters and have a tendency to get slightly motion sick, so this should be interesting and may require alcohol.)
8. Do a huge closet clean-out—opening the door and looking inside is starting to make me anxious.
9. Take a cooking class here.
10. Watch a lot of sunsets on the beach.

How about you—what’s on your summer checklist? Please tell me; I would love to know.

Photo: Scout and Catalogue