Earlier this spring, my family had the pleasure of (finally) visiting some dear friends of ours who live on the truly picturesque island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Now, everyone says to visit the island in the summer… During the offseason the island almost shuts down and only the 20,000 or so locals remain, but for a city girl like me, it was a wonderful change of pace. It took a little getting used to, but it was wonderful.

The weather was chilly, often foggy, and while we explored picture perfect spots like the ocean, shops, lighthouses and aimless driving admiring the architecture (and simply ignored how cold it actually was)…

Some of my favorite moments were just sitting at our friends’ home with our collective brood of 5.5 kiddos running around, and making meals together. We’d pull out a cookbook, pick out a recipe, head to the local shop to pick up our fresh ingredients, and then collectively make a meal together. This experience of creating a home-cooked meal with friends, with life of children buzzing all around us (and underfoot), with great conversation… well no restaurant could ever beat that (and I love restaurants). Let’s just say I was plotting how I could get our family to move to the island just so we could do this more often. And by the way, the potato leek soup we made one night was DELICIOUS (see photo below).