summer date in the Berkshires

Gillian eating ice cream at Ben & Jerry's
(Shannon's hand holds Marshmallow Sky)

S: Gillian and I celebrated our one-year anniversary on April 8th, 2023 (best year of my life). I was trying to plan a gift for them that 1.) wouldn't cost too much money, since we both treated one another to an anniversary trip to Vermont and decided not to splurge on gifts and 2.) would be something special that the two of us could enjoy together. 

The idea that I came up with was to plan four seasonal "Choose Your Own Adventure" dates for our second year together. It worked extra well since each season, Gillian and I spend a date-night in writing out a seasonal bucket list of notable things we would like to do over three months, big and small. This summer, we got to add "Date Card #1" to our bucket list. 

My first two summers in Berkshire County, I worked for an organization whose busy season was the summer, so I'd grown accustomed to the summer spelling long hours and physical labor. This summer, however, my schedule is a lot more flexible, and it has been special and heartwarming to spend some extra time doing fun activities with Gillian. 

G: Shannon is the sweetest! I had held onto these date cards (the name makes me laugh because I am a longtime fan of The Bachelor, where they use date cards in every episode) since April, and I just opened the summer card at the beginning of June. It was such a thoughtful gift!

summer date card

S: I started each date card with "Please check next to what sounds good + fill in the blanks as you'd like." Then, Gillian got to pick the activities that sounded most appealing that specific day. Gillian picked:

1. Hike
2. Ice Cream
3. Window Shopping
4. Drinks

Then, they got to make any requests they wanted. Naturally, their choice was "Trader Joe's."

G: Ok, so the card had SO many options, and I wanted to do them all! I chose to hike because it was on our bucket list for the summer, so I wanted to kill two birds with one stone, as they say. We live in such a rural area that Trader Joe's is a whole excursion, so I used the date as an excuse to make Shannon drive me to Albany (closest mall too, so the window shopping came into play there). And there's really no date in our household that ends without ice cream!

hike

S: We'd wanted to hike Monument Mountain for quite some time so it worked perfectly to head over there for our first activity of the day. Since we weren't members of the Trustees of Reservations, we had to pay $6 to park at the trailhead. But, once we got going, the hike was so lovely! We went in mid-June, the perfect season to see the blooming Mountain-laurel on the mountain peak. The view of the rocky cliff face at the "Devil's Pulpit" was breathtaking. We made a loop that was about 3 miles total and it was the perfect way to start our weekend morning. 

G: Having grown up in Colorado, I always get skeeved out by hiking language! This trail was marked as moderately strenuous, which made me feel a bit panicky (I'm not an avid hiker), but it was a lovely mix of flat, wide sections and steeper sections of incline with rocky stairs. The trail was well-marked and easy to follow. I always love hiking with Shannon because she's even more beautiful in the fresh air. The backdrop of flowers and rocky cliffs made for a lovely morning.

window shopping + Trader Joe's

S: After hiking, we ran home, took a quick shower, ate some lunch, and then headed back out to Albany, NY, for some shopping and a Trader Joe's run. The idyllic natural beauty of the Berkshires is thwarted only by its lack of proximity to at times necessary chain stores. We had fun window shopping (and then were swayed into actually shopping) at the mall and then got some great finds at Trader Joe's, our favorite grocery store. Yummy items included their Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean Mini Sheet Cake, Chicken-less Mandarin Orange Morsels, and their Mediterranean Style Salad Kit.

G: Words cannot express how much I love Trader Joe's. I complain at least once a week about not having one closer! I'm a vegetarian, so I love their easy and tasty veggie options, as well as their snacks and good prices. 

I am also determined to secretly overhaul Shannon's wardrobe (not because it's bad, but because I want her to love all her clothes), so shopping was a fun excuse to have her pick a few new things out (think: sweater vests and a sweet baby blue button up shirt). Plus, sometimes I get this urge to be in a department store. Maybe it's because I am a 90s kid or because I spent middle school weekends in the mall with my childhood best friend, but there's something weirdly soothing about chain stores, a pretzel stop, frozen yogurt, and bad mall Starbucks. 

ice cream

S: One sleepy car ride home later, we unloaded our car, ate some yummy leftovers for dinner, and then headed down to SoCo Creamery for some ice cream. Gillian and I are VERY passionate about ice cream so this was, of course, a VERY serious endeavor. SoCo has a wide array of yummy and unique flavors. I am a sucker for blue ice cream so I always get "Cookie Monster" which has a blue base and cookie dough and Oreos mixed in. Gillian usually gets "Almond Joy" but was feeling adventurous and got a seasonal flavor, "Midnight Cookies," a chai ice cream with cookie chunks inside. 

G: One of our current bucket list items is to hit up all the ice cream joints in town (Shannon phrased it like this), so we are using every chance we get to grab a cone! 

drinks

S: To top off the evening, we both had a fun take on a Moscow Mule, our favorite mixed drink, which used watermelon juice, lemon vodka, and ginger beer. 

G: We unfortunately were running out of all the necessary supplies to make any sort of respectable mixed drink. Therefore, we were forced to improvise, which turned out to be fun anyway. I blended some fresh watermelon to add to this drink which was tasty (albeit a bit slushy). 

S: It was a totally lovely day and a super special treat in the midst of life's usual craziness. What a treasure to take some time and make memories with the love of my life! Stay tuned for the Fall date card shenanigans. Until next time. 

xo 

the roommates