It's done. The first trip to the beach of the season. After days and days of drizzly mist (mizzle) and gray skies, the sun came out and the air warmed up. Oh glorious sun. How we missed you. As soon as the temperatures soared above seventy degrees, we started talking about the beach. And on Friday night, after long weeks for everyone, we headed out.

Super relaxed and easy, we threw it all together. I had to laugh on Friday morning as I was getting ready to leave the house. In a few short (sunny) weeks, we'll have this down to a science and an art. This act of sliding to the beach at the end of the week. It involves chairs in the back of the car and beach bags packed. Everything at the ready. I'm not there yet. Winter interrupted and there are no systems in place. It's like I have to relearn this process every year. I threw two spreaders into my purse and headed to work, knowing that the rest would fall into place.

And we didn't need anything fancy. Throwing things together worked just fine.

The steamed shrimp was perfect, as was the chicken salad and the artichoke dip. Beer and wine were plentiful, as they should be.

The water temperature in the bay is still only 53 degrees or so, but the kids went swimming anyway. The grown-ups sat and watched the sun go down in glorious solitude. The only other people on the beach seemed miles away.

I could seriously do this every Friday night for the rest of my life. Summer can come anytime now. I'm ready.