Summertime.

Summer, summer, dear summer. I love you. I have always loved you. Although I don’t think I ever loved you more than I did when I lived in Chicago.

Seasons are fickle in Chicago. Actually, not all seasons. Winter is consistently cold, windy, snowy, and…did I mention cold? Really, really cold. Fall can be sweltering hot, freezing cold, or any temperature in between. Usually, if it is above 45 degrees after mid-November, restaurants put tables outside for al fresco dining. Spring? It snowed the first day of spring every year I lived in Chicago. But there is progress. Usually. Slowly. And then – boom – suddenly it is spring. For two weeks. Then summer. Summer. Summer! Summer in Chicago has the unbelievable, magical, supernatural ability to make Chicagoans forget that that it is impossible to leave the house without an ankle-length, down-filled, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man-looking coat for five months of the year. It is glorious.

Honestly, after finishing college, then grad school, summer began meaning less and less to me. The excitement of summer break waned. I worked all summer - and in places without “summer hours” (the nerve). But summer in Chicago was such a blissful time that it made me feel like a kid again. I had to spend every possible hour outside, go for a walk at lunch, a run after work, meet friends for an outdoor happy hour, take a walk to the local ice cream parlor.

This year, even though I no longer live in Chicago, even though our first 70+ degree day was in mid-February, I intend to treat this summer like it deserves. Like a special, fleeting time. This is how I plan to do just that:

1. Read some of my favorite summer stories. My most-read and all-time favorite is Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine (above).

2. Take my movie-watching outside.

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DC abounds with outdoor movie screenings. Screen on the Green on the Mall (must see: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on August 8). NoMa Summer Screen just north on Union Station (must see: Planes, Trains and Automobiles on June 29). Front Row Films at the Capitol Riverfront (must see: West Side Story on July 28). Stars on the Avenue in Bethesda (must see: The Social Network on July 30).

3. Eat like it's summer.

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Freeze pops, Fudge pops. Ice cream cones. It's summer and it's time to run down the ice cream truck. Summer also means eating salads with fresh, local produce and snacking on berries berries and more berries. I also intend to take in a few baseball games and it is not a day at the ballpark without a beer and a hot dog. And soft pretzel. And nachos. And cotton candy....

4. Turn up the summer jams.

I. Love. Pop. Music. There, I said it. And I feel like I can get away with listening to it - loud, and with my windows down - in the summertime. This year my summer jam is the Scissor Sisters' Take Your Mama Out. I also can't get enough of this particular performance. Some of my other summer jams from the past few years? Rihanna's Disturbia (2008). Michael Franti & Spearhead's Say Hey (I Love You) (2009). Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros' Home (2010).

5. Say yes. 

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I want to live this summer fully and not get caught up in being tired or lazy. I want to look back and know that this summer I did things that adventurous, fun and fearless, but mostly that I did things. It may mean taking a spontaneous road trip, trying a new restaurant, going for a hike, to the climbing gym or for a last-minute bike ride into the District. And, sure, it may mean jumping off a cliff into cold, refreshing water. I think this series of images by photographer Max Wanger really captures the essence of summer. Summer is for jumping off a cliff, literally or metaphorically.