Spring Thinking

I'm incredibly antsy for spring this year, even though I know we have lots of time left to go and I'm only torturing myself. (As everyone in Boston loves to remind you, it can still snow here in May.) The trees around our house have fat buds on their branches all ready to go, but they are just teasing us. April may be the cruelest month, but there's nothing like drab, icy, depressing February in New England. I remember in college a couple of my roommates, Californians quickly fading in the New England winter, collaborated on a mix tape entitled "February," which consisted of all the saddest songs they could think of.

It's of course still way too cold for anything but winter wear, but I've been trying to sneak some spring color into my wardrobe as a little pick-me-up, shades like deep pink and that weird acid-yellow "citron" that J. Crew is peddling right now, that reminds me of the color of the earliest spring leaves.

The picture above is a watercolor my dad did after I gave him a set of paints for his birthday. Every year when the weather got nice in Chicago, he and my mom would go down to the local flower shop and buy potted primroses to put in this particular twig basket, which would then go on the dining room table. My dad, especially, took a lot of pleasure in this ritual, and for me it meant that spring had officially arrived. (That, and going to Michigan to celebrate an egg-dyeing, basket-hunting, chocolate-bunny-gnawing Easter extravaganza with my cousins.)

Beyond shopping for spring clothes (not the most meaningful of traditions), when the weather finally starts to brighten each year, I like to make spring soups, as inspired by this SF Gate article a friend sent me awhile back. The asparagus soup is especially savory and delicious.

What do you like to do to get ready for spring?