Way back in the beginning of the year, I was looking at my schedule for the late winter and early spring, and decided that I would probably need a break around the middle of April. So I requested a full week off, randomly, without any plans, just because I had a feeling I would need it. That week was last week, and I am still awfully proud of my foresight. Because I REALLY needed a week off.

So I packed my week off to the gills with super fun stuff, and while I’m a little sleepy on Monday morning, a few hours before I go back to work, it’s the best kind of sleepy.

I started out by spending a day with Dan and his friends Jon and Teresa, and their one year old son. We ate amazing Mexican food (even though the in-house smokers left us smelling like a campfire for days) and watched bits of documentaries and mostly just relaxed. And ate cupcakes. As we were driving home, Dan and I couldn’t quite figure out why we don’t see them more often, and resolved to make it happen WAY more often.

Monday was a day spent with my sister, doing sister bonding things like getting manicures and pedicures, wandering around Urban Outfitters, sharing a cupcake, and then drinking beers before we met up with her boyfriend and our brother for dinner. And again, why don’t we do this more often?

On Tuesday, I got a few things done around my apartment before getting out the rainboots for a potentially rainy afternoon wandering around Princeton with Kasia. The rain seemed to understand our goals for the day – it rained long enough for lengthy trips to Paper Source (where I bought way too many things, but most notably a stamp that looks like a camera) and a totally adorable toy store full of both nostalgic old timey toys and super impressive science kits and remote-controlled bugs and such. Then the rain abated so that we could walk around campus a bit before an extremely tasty and beer-filled dinner at Triumph (where I had a beer sampler to work toward that last item on my 30 Before 30 list)! I could have sat for hours there, but the cupcakes were calling all the way from Bent Spoon, and they never, ever disappoint. Other than Sugar Sweet Sunshine in the city, Bent Spoon cupcakes might be my favorite cupcakes ever. They’re deceptively simple, but always, always delicious.

I did some laundry and had lunch with my mom on Wednesday morning, and then she dropped me off at the train station so I could go into New York City, first to wander around and finally see the New York Public Library’s main branch, a Mets clubhouse store, and Grand Central Station before meeting up with Jodi. She wanted to take me to her favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Co Ba, and had been raving about this one dish for days.. and she was not wrong, because I am still dreaming about that bowl of noodles. Seriously. We spent far too long in Anthropologie (where I bought a bowl with holes in it, a new e, and another notebook), found cupcakes at Billy’s Bakery, and then had a drink at an on-purpose trashy bar that I can’t remember the name of. But it was so, so fun. I still find it interesting that I can talk for hours with people who, let’s face it, started out as “internet friends” but who have swiftly transitioned to real, true friends.

Thursday was my one unscheduled day, which meant that I kept way, way too busy for any relaxing to take place. I cleaned my apartment, went to Target, got my bangs trimmed, took care of a few crafty details around the apartment, and a whole bunch of other things that I can’t even remember now. I also ate the extra Bent Spoon cupcake that I had been saving. But then my sister came over and we got pizza, garlic knots, and ice cream and sat and talked while watching a silly girly movie. And while perhaps my belly was starting to object to all of the eating I’d been doing all week, it didn’t stop me, either.

Friday was another adventure – I drove up to Connecticut to hang out with Cynthia (and Joel and baby J) for the day. Somehow, I expected the trip to take much, much longer than it did, and knowing that it’s closer than I thought is a great revelation. Cynthia was worried about having a plan, but I was pretty sure we could just sit on the couch drinking tea (and eating more cupcakes and brownies and cookies) and talking most of the day. We did wander around Target, and I got to eat some seriously good New Haven brick oven pizza (or, apizza? I am still confused by that part).

So my week off was awfully busy, but I feel re-energized by all of the good times with great people. And the cupcakes. I’m not sure I’ll resolve to eat cupcakes every day for six days straight again, but it was pretty exceptional while it lasted. I can’t remember the last time I talked so much or ate so much in a week. But it was SO worth it.