A few weeks ago I stayed with some friends in Virginia, and we all found ourselves hanging out on this patio by their back door non-stop. It seems so simple – a box garden for tomatoes, a table and umbrella with some folding chairs, tin stands topped with geraniums, a few herbs in pots tucked here and there, and four, count ‘em, four cutie Jack Russell Terriers joining in the fun. Add old friends and a cooler full of beer and it’s summer heaven!

This week an exciting show will be opening at The Provincetown Art Association and Museum. If you’re in town to, oh, I don’t know, go see Varla Jean Merman (sooooo funny), get there a little early so you can stop by and admire the show about the unique modern architecture on the Cape titled “Cape/Modern: The Architecture of Survival and Celebration .” The show is curated by Mark Hammer, an architect and expert on this regional style, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing awhile back.

New at DesignPublic.com this week: Miss Natalie, Blu Dot and Carl Mertens.  Enjoy!

Oh dear. It’s 5:05 and in my heat exhaustion I forgot to post my Flickr fave today. Seriously, to the many of you trapped under the heat dome, I’m sorry. If you don’t have A/C, go to the grocery store, open a frozen food section’s door and stand there for a minute. Pour a glass of iced lemonade. Wear very little and later on, go pretend you live in that complex with the pool and take a dip. Be quick about it before The Pool Nazi can ask you which unit you live in. Yes, there is one in every complex, and male or female, it’s always a huge loser with other issues that go much deeper. But I digress.

Anyway, thanks to Flickr member citrusandorange for posting this lovely bouquet. It calms me. It virtually cools me. And it’s just reminded me that on my exhausting errands, I picked up a gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream, which I feel compelled to go eat now. Keep cool y’all!

Well, not really a video, it’s a time lapse short film by Darren Bates Photo. Weren’t you impressed with how everyone in L.A. more or less gave up driving for the 53 hour closure of the 405? Don’t you wish we could all take some lessons from this to help lessen traffic everywhere all the time?

Thanks to our pal, Vanessa De Vargas, for posting this on Facebook.