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" Summer is a major tease. We had a couple of really nice 70-degree days here in Seattle, and then it went back to miserable, cold gray again. No fair! I keep thinking that I need to escape, to get on a plane and fly somewhere tropical. Right now. You too? Here are a few creative ways to deal...**** Hawaii, Tahiti (where I went on my honeymoon!), the Caribbean--they all sound nice about this time of the year, don&amp;#x27;t they? You may not be able to recreate sand and sun in your backyard or on your balcony, but you can do these little things to perk up: *Window shop for airline tickets: I do this all the time, and it&amp;#x27;s fun to play what-if sometimes, you know? Like the other day: I found this amazing vacation package to the Cayman Islands. Nope, didn&amp;#x27;t pull the trigger. *Make something with coconut in it. My mom used to make coconut rice, and I loved it. Just cook the rice in a little coconut milk (opt for the light variety). Add it to a meal of grilled, skewered chicken and pineapple. Yum. *Pull out the Bob Marley CD. Bob Marley (and any other island-esq) music--Jamaican or otherwise--takes me right to the islands (in my mind). Don&amp;#x27;t you just looooove the sound of steel drums? Makes me think of cruising in the Caribbean with umbrella cocktails. *Slather on some self tanner. We&amp;#x27;ve talked about whether having a tan makes you feel like you look healthier. But I definitely think that adding a little glow to your skin can not only get you in summer mode, but also make you more confident, maybe, about showing some skin after all those months covered up. *Do something active outside: Even if it&amp;#x27;s cold, go outside and weed the garden, throw a ball to your dog--play! It&amp;#x27;s amazing how you go from thinking you&amp;#x27;re freezing to feeling pretty great. And you&amp;#x27;ll be getting some vitamin D in the process. Are you so ready for summer that you can hardly stand it?! I am. Any warm-weather trips planned? Photo: iStock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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