Everyone has a short list of menu items that their brain scans for. For Tad, it’s the words bolognese and beets. For my friend Merrill, it’s ricotta and rosé. For me, it’s anchovy, tonnato, and zucchini when it’s in season. So local Ojai favorite Rory’s Place had me defenseless with its “Romanesco zucchini tonnato, anchovy bread crumb, pickled mustard seed.” I will be working on a recipe for it to share this summer.

In other summer prep news, my friend Anna told me about this amazing bug catcher (and releaser). There are a lot of bugs everywhere in summer, so stock up on this humane and well-designed tool, which is Tad-approved. Ojai is full of spiders, and he’s the spider-catcher in the family. I’m the shrieking spider-spotter. The catcher tool even has a built-in magnifying glass should you want a close look at a spider’s pedipalps.

More scintillating inspo in this week’s Homeward:

• Our return to NYC

• A guide to outdoor furniture: what we did for outdoor “rooms” and seating areas in Ojai; which products we chose; and why outdoor furniture feels so disconnected from the rest of the design industry. (There wasn’t enough room here to include my 50+ picks, so head over to Rec League to see them all. A reminder that free subscribers get 15% off with this code. Paid subscribers, scroll down for a special discount.)

• Some questions for you all just below!

• If you haven’t yet picked up a gift for Mother’s Day, here is my list from a few weeks ago (also, Ode à la Rose roses or Farm Girl Flowers peonies are a great back-pocket save).

Homewardians! I would love to hear your thoughts on these two quick points:

Start Survey

Ok, let’s get to it.

We returned to New York for the summer. To pigeons nesting on our bedroom air conditioner, loudly cooing every morning. To fireworks awakening us at midnight (a special feature of living in Brooklyn Heights). To a bathroom that needs major wall and cabinetry repair due to a leak while we were away. And to a kitchen drawer that refuses to stay closed and sneaks out to stick at 7 inches open (I measured).

That said, we’ve also been reminded of New York’s unparalleled energy. On our first day back, I went to an opening for SIN, a ceramics brand created by Virginia Sin, whose porcelain paper plates I bought back when her business was her side gig. The Greenpoint location is Virginia’s first brick and mortar store, and it’s like a shoebox filled with treasures. We have her square, woven flushmount sconce in our Ojai house.

I joined thousands of walkers for the Great Saunter, a 32-mile (34 with the odd detour) loop around the shoreline of Manhattan, then spent the next 24 hours horizontal. I ate a cardamom bun from Ferrane and a cruller from Daily Provisions. I walked a packaging trade show at the Javits Center, and learned that New England still boasts a number of paper printing companies that were started in the 19th century—which grew out of its textile printing industry.

My neighbor in Ojai texted me a photo of the “moon water” she’d made (moon water is like sun tea but made with water, crystals, and moonlight instead of water, teabags, and sunlight), and I felt very far away from Ojai.

Our Backyard Design

As it’s getting “warm” in New York and many of you are probably starting to think about opening your windows and dusting off your grills, it seems like a good time to show you what we did for outdoor furniture in Ojai. We worked with Terremoto to create a landscape with lots of separate areas and modes. Then we collaborated with Reath Design on clusters of seating areas. Here’s a zone-by-zone lay of the land: ...