Ferragosto is the major Italian summer holiday during which cities empty out for weeks at a time and Italians make their way to the beaches and the mountains a for nice, long break. Our August didn’t turn out to be quite so relaxing, but it was a lot of fun. Usually, it’s the month of a family beach vacation, multiple birthdays and anniversaries, and back-to-school. This year, the family forewent a gulf beach trip. Brian and I stayed in DC, soaking up the last few weeks of summer here and celebrating special occasions both locally and from a distance. I took advantage of the gorgeous (if hot and a bit humid) weather to walk around the city instead of taking the metro. We had leisurely breakfasts and enjoyed the bounty of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania farms.
We joined the recreational DC Bocce League, and played a weekly game with friends old and new. I took on a few special projects, which kept me in the kitchen even more than usual:
I made cookies for a bachelorette party. (This was actually the last week of July.)
We baked bread and ate like Italians. 
I baked and decorated 100 V-shaped cookies for a Villanova new student reception.
During our anniversary weekend, we took a boat out to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, where we wandered through his fabulous gardens and orchards and had lunch at the Mount Vernon Inn – with vegetables from the estate gardens!
The following week, I made cookies to send to my sister for her first day of college…twice. 
In celebration of my birthday, we hosted a party and drank like Venetians. 
We happy-hour-hopped, discovered Vinoteca’s back bar with bocce court, and listened to jazz at Bohemian Caverns. 
I used leftover cupcake batter to make a little (6” and 4”) two-tiered cake to have on the actual day…
…and made my very first buttercream rose.
…which brings us up to the last week of the month….in which I did little more than eat leftover birthday cake and catch up on blogging…
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