When I set my out of office message on my email last Wednesday afternoon, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had been looking forward to this upcoming time off after working many, many days in a row: a full work week, plus the entire Commencement weekend, plus a couple more days. So this was much needed time off.

Thursday, May 25

My official birthday! Josh and I slept in, which we were both looking forward to. And my mom called me to sing Happy Birthday.

After breakfast, I was too impatient to wait to open my gifts from Josh. Because I’m a child. He got me three things I asked for—a Red Sox hoodie, wine bottle stoppers and those foil cutters, and Happy Place by Emily Henry—and one thing I didn’t—an electric grill that will replace my broken panini maker, and of course, we can use it for other stuff, too.

We quickly stopped at the package store so Josh could buy me wine for my birthday (it was the last thing he needed to get me), and then we stopped at Dunkin’ to get iced coffees. We made lunch at home and figured out what time we needed to leave for our afternoon adventures.

At 2:30 p.m., we left for our first stop: Elizabeth Park in Hartford. We went back in November 2021, and mostly everything was dead, so we wanted to go back when the flowers would be in bloom.

We walked around the different gardens and even saw a few families of geese! The weather was perfect, and a lot of other people were taking advantage of the day.

Our next stop was River Bend Bookshop in West Hartford. We went to the Glastonbury location in February 2022 and I wanted to go to their new location in West Hartford. It was a five minute drive from Elizabeth Park, so it was an easy next stop for us.

I already had a book in mind that I wanted to buy, but of course, I wanted to buy all of the books that were there. It was super cute inside, and we wandered around until I picked out the book I wanted.

Our last stop was Connecticut Valley Brewing in East Windsor. I had been there a few times before, and Josh had been, too, but we hadn’t gone together yet. I picked to go there because they have flights and food.

We both got flights and originally sat inside, but since it was still nice out, we moved out to the patio after we ordered our food. We got the giant pretzel to share; Josh got the Cuban sandwich and I got the grilled chicken sandwich. The beer cheese that came with the pretzel was the absolute best beer cheese I’ve ever had. Our sandwiches were really good, too.

After we finished our flights and food, we went inside to get another beer and sit on the couches. We were people watching and watching what we assumed was a first date between a guy and a girl. I hope it went well for them.

We got home before 8:00 p.m., and I took a quick shower before we set up the mattress out in the living room. Since it was my birthday, I got to pick what we watched, and I chose John Mulaney’s newest comedy special Baby J on Netflix. I’m not really into comedians but I’ve always enjoyed John Mulaney’s specials.

Friday, May 26

We slept in a bit before getting up to make breakfast. Josh had a haircut appointment, so while he was gone, I cleaned up around the condo, putting away my laundry and picking up the random assortment of items that were stacking up on my office desk. We ate lunch together before spending the afternoon doing our own things: me reading and Josh playing a game on his computer.

Our only event for the day was his sister’s Jack and Jill that night. We got there for 5:00 p.m.-ish and stayed until 9:00. I had met some of his family at a holiday party back in December, so I saw some of those folks again, and I met new-to-me family and family friends—all people I’ll have to remember for the wedding in September. There was a ton of food, and it was a lot of fun.

Saturday, May 27

I haven’t been able to run, or even go for walks, this month because of my allergies. I think I’m finally okay now to be outside—the tree pollen was killing me—and I decided to change it up and run on the track instead of in my neighborhood. I was the only one on the track, and I was slow and took my time but I did 3.1 miles. I have a 5K race next weekend so figured I should cobble together that distance to make sure I’ll survive.

*My high school closed down in 2016 but the building is used as a multi-purpose building—adult education, summer camps, the town rec department, etc.—and the athletic fields are used for travel teams. I’m glad it’s still being used and didn’t become another empty building in town.

After lunch and after Josh got home from work, we went grocery shopping. Then I set up outside on my balcony to read while Josh gamed on his computer. I ended up finishing two books I had already started: Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why and The Sweet Spot. We made dinner around 6:00 p.m., and then started watching American Horror Story: NYC together.

Sunday, May 28

I woke up a bit later and took care of a few chores, including cleaning the bathrooms—the unglamorous side of owning a home. Josh got home from work and napped for a bit while I read on the couch. We got ready for our departure at 3:30 p.m. for our afternoon activities.

We were heading to my parents’ house for a Memorial Day/birthday celebration. Since I wasn’t going to see my parents on my actual birthday—it’s also my mom’s, too!—we decided to do a joint celebration on Sunday.

I guess, when made properly, you were supposed to use 3 oz of the mix with seltzer but it just didn’t seem like enough. So with our doctored mix, we filled about half of a plastic cup with the mix and topped it with seltzer, and it was pretty good. Plus you could eat the fruit that was soaked in vodka.

Josh and I spent some time outside playing with the pups. Lucy loves to play ball, while Maggie kind of hung out or laid in the shade next to the garage.

My parents made a ton of food, but that was planned so Josh and I could bring home leftovers. The food included hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, sausages, baked beans, potato salad, spinach artichoke dip, and deviled eggs. For dessert, we had gotten cannolis but we were all full so we just brought them home, too.

My mom and I exchanged birthday presents and hung out outside until 7:30 p.m. We packed up all of our leftovers and headed home so Josh could go to bed; he had to work an earlier shift Monday.

Monday, May 29

My last day of vacation! I slept in a bit and went for a run. It was a bit of a sad run, but I guess it still counts. Josh was at work for most of the day, so I was by myself and could get some laundry and other chores done.

I really love my little balcony off my living room. It faces some trees with another condo building on the other side. But it’s usually pretty quiet, and now that the leaves have grown in, there’s a good amount of shade.

Josh and I had some of our leftovers for dinner and just hung out, watching TV. I have a pretty easy work week coming up: in the office Tuesday and Thursday, work from home Wednesday, and then our summer Fridays start this week. And then our DC trip is next week!!!! Ah. But I’m happy with how I spent the last few days off, and I definitely feel relaxed.