It’s been a few years since I last saw Dan and Mika. Mostly because they live on the island of Oahu, and I live on the island of Manhattan. They came to town this week for business meetings and brought along adorable 3-month-old Kai. We had dinner at Socarrat Nolita, a great Spanish restaurant that specializes in paella. Kai was quite a charmer, and I can’t wait to see him again. Yet another excuse to get myself to Hawaii!

Mika and I in orange dresses, with my new boyfriend, Kai.

Proud papa Dan with baby Kai, in a onesie with a tail!

Corin and I were long overdue for a chat, so we got online on Saturday. I told him all about my job promotion and new duties, the latest happenings in NYC, and what I had been up to in the Hamptons all week. He showed me his belly, made a tower with his building blocks, knocked it over, danced to the cat piano, and sang to me about tunnels. He also told me he was going to the farmers market that day - he sure knows how to win me over!

We had such a great time last summer at our beloved Camp Fern, we couldn’t wait to do it again. Life events have brought a couple of changes in the Ferner line-up - Paige took some time off to travel around SE Asia and is now spending the summer with her family in Nebraska, and Nicki fell in love and got engaged. She and her fiance, Jeff, are hanging out nearby in East Hampton, so we still get to spend the summer with them. Our new Ferners are Angela and Jessica, perfect additions to the Camp Fern family. Our first week back at our sweet little house brought lovely weather, good eats (of course!) and some very accurate predictions by the Magic 8 Ball.

Angela and I spent the entire first week together at Camp Fern. We relaxed, read books, had lots of girl talk, and watched more than our share of crime drama on TV. Turns out we are excellent roommates. On Monday, I made grilled tilapia with mango avocado salsa, and a quinoa salad chock full of fresh veggies from the farm stand.

What’s vacation without happy hour! This was our first cheeseboard - aged gouda, extra sharp cheddar,  blue cheese, crackers, apricots, and grapes. And of course there was wine.

On Wednesday, we had fish tacos, with grilled halibut, spicy red cabbage slaw and avocado. Yummy!

On Thursday we took a field trip to Sag Harbor. The day started off cool and overcast, but turned out to be quite a lovely day to wander around this quaint little town.

More cheese!

Breakfast tacos

We found this awesome CD in the cabinet - perfect for when the rest of the Ferners arrive!

Friday night brought all the Ferners together for family dinner. We did turkey burgers, hot dogs, chicken sausage, seafood sausage, and corn, all on the grill.

I also made a farro salad with spinach, tomatoes and feta. This was also good for lunching by the pool the next day.

My plate

Breakfast - yogurt with peaches, blueberries and granola

Saturday was girls night out! We started off at Cyril’s in Montauk, then had a lovely dinner at the Grill on Pantigo in Amagansett. We ended the night laughing at crazy antics, making new friends, and dancing at the Talkhouse. What a fantastic first week at Camp Fern!