Memorial Day weekend has always been my official start of summer. My friends, most of whom get “summer hours,” and I made Friday happy hours in the park a regular thing last year. It was one of my favorite parts of the summer (second only to my wedding and honeymoon, haha). Well, today marked the first Central Park picnic. We each bring our own snacks and stuff. I thought I’d review our spread this week instead of the usual restaurant.

It’s nice that there’s a Whole Foods right at the park. I biked down and stopped at WF to grab some snacks. My go-to strategy for these BYO picnics is:

• bring as many fruit/veggie-laden foods. You never know what else will be there
• bring a nice big bottle of… water. Haha, Pellegrino is my pick. It’s a little more special than tap
• a deck of cards lends itself to endless possibilities
• sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen

This was an excellent kick-off. Enjoy some of my pics below. Happy summer!