This has been a whirlwind weekend, and now it’s just a few minutes before midnight on Sunday and I’m wishing for another day (however, I’d settle for another hour or two). My friend Cindy was in town, visiting from DC. Friday night, a collection of us drove to Wiggins Park in Camden for the second night of the XPN festival. I was there primarily to see Dar Williams (I am something of a fan), while Cindy and Shay were more excited about Beth Orton. While the sun was still high in the sky, it was fairly hot, but as soon as it dipped down a bit, the evening turned pleasant, with occasional breezes blowing off the Delaware River.

Saturday afternoon, I did my first solo cooking demonstration over at Foster’s Homewares (where we typically do Fork You Live). About a month ago, I was approached by a woman from The Food Trust, asking if Scott and I wouldn’t be interested in doing something with them in conjunction with Buy Fresh, Buy Local week (which started today). I said sure and we started the planning. Originally, Scott was going to be involved, but then realized that he had promised to visit his mom for her birthday (which is today) this weekend and so he left me on my own. I was a little nervous, because I’d never done a live cooking demonstration without someone up there with me, lending me energy and sharing the burden of talking. However, it turned out really well, I showed myself (and the 35 people who came to watch) that I can actually cook four dishes and talk at the same time. Adding to the challenge was the fact that I didn’t know what I was going to be cooking until I showed up at 12:30 and saw what was in the box from the market. But instead of being a burden, that kept things fresh and fun.

I think today was the best day out of the whole weekend. Cindy and I went to brunch at Day by Day and had arguably some of the best lox and bagel platters in Philly (they give you an abundance of toppings and they use amazing ingredients like ripe, local yellow tomatoes). She left to catch her train and I headed home to grab a market bag. I picked up Shay and we went down to Headhouse Square. I spent far more money on vegetables than I probably should have (we’ll be eating well all week long), took over 100 pictures of eggplants, peaches and heads of lettuce and sat on a curb with Shay, chatting and nursing an iced coffee for more than an hour in the breezy shade.

Sitting here, grabbing these few minutes to catch up, I have that tired feeling that comes from sun and pleasure (much like the one you get after a day at the beach). I’m ready to crawl into bed but I hate to let the day end because it’s been so delightful and full of mundane joys. Here’s to pulling that feeling of satisfaction into the rest of the week with me.