Meredith and I took last week off from Map & Menu in an attempt to try to pay attention to the beautiful days of summer while we still have them. Instead of evenings prepping photos and writing posts, we opted for home-cooked dinners on the patio and books in the hammock until the sun went down. We worked in the yard. We went for beach walks with Orvis. We did just about anything to minimize the non-requisite time spent in front of a screen… and it was delightful.

On Friday, we headed to the first Flea Bites of the season at the Portland Flea-for-All, where a number of the growing family of Portland food trucks were gathered together. We used the opportunity to sample the Good Shepherd Food Bank’s truck – one that’s on our radar since just after we wrote our last Portland food truck post. With a special guest chef like Damian Sansonetti of Piccolo, it’s hard imagine a better choice for dinner that evening, and we can’t wait to see more of the Good Shepherd truck around town in the future!

To cap an excellent week, Meredith and I threw what’s becoming an annual get together in our backyard to celebrate one of our favorite warm weather libations – rosé (or summer water as it’s quickly becoming known around these parts). A number of old friends and new gathered at our place to enjoy some laughs, some music, some World Cup soccer, some small bites, and plenty of that sweet summer water. Sadly, we didn’t take nearly enough photos of the party, but given the way the week started – somewhat free of Map & Menu – we could help but set the camera down and just enjoy ourselves.

Now we’re back, and ready to share some more trips, meals, and stories as we watch the rest of summer unfold. We hope you’ll follow along and share some of your own summer stories too!