Last night I enjoyed an al fresco evening with my husband Andrew and ended the evening feeling so much more inspired and cleansed of petty stressors that occur when you simply spend too much time "plugged in."

Favorite components of a relaxing picnic that I look forward to recreating many times this summer:

1. Get Outside

Obviously a picnic is outside. But just the act of sitting on a picnic blanket, with a couple pizzas and a bottle of wine was so much more relaxing than being in our apartment or in a restaurant with all the distractions of work/home life or other people. Once in a while it feels so good to step away into your own world outlined by the edges of your blanket.

2. Bring Books and Magazines

Broaden your horizons and and ignite a fire of inspiration. Just from one story that takes you to a far off land or an article that exposes you to something you thought you would never find interesting, you can dream up ideas, trips, experiences of your own that you can look forward to someday in the future - either distant or very near.

I read aloud to Andrew about a writer's experience understanding jazz. Music that demands presence, living in the moment, but that can quickly become dull when performed "too right." It left us with imagery and a topic to talk about - because let's be honest we usually just talk about our dog Truman and the kind of house we want "when we grow up"

My favorite publications: Darling Magazine | The Art of Being a Woman, Kinfolk, and Food & Wine

3. Listen to Music

We all know why we need music. It heals and inspires. It offers a soundtrack to our lives and is our best friend. Andrew and I bring our Jambox EVERYWHERE...

4. Keep it Simple

Local pizza and a fresh salad - we just brought a couple bowls and snagged paper plates, plastic forks, and paper napkins. If anyone is in Dallas looking for the best pizza around - Cibo Divino is our favorite spot. I love Neapolitan pizza already, but BONUS it's ready so fast because it hardly takes any time to cook. So we just picked it up and were on our merry way. It really did make us feel like we were somewhere other than Dallas, with the authentic char of the pizza bringing us the taste of Italy, and the fresh Buratta salad melting in our mouth with sweet bursts of cherry and tangy arugula... obviously I was very pleased with not cooking and simply enjoying the food we bought.

5. Drink the Wine

Just drink the wine. Breathe in the fresh air. Read out loud. Laugh. Think. Listen. Eat an extra piece of pizza. Drink the wine. Taste the wine. Enjoy the present. Think about the future. Reminisce about the past. Unplug, unwind, relax.