Going home in the middle of school is not always the best idea (for me, at least). My break time feels like it goes a little too fast, I don’t do everything I planned on doing, and I return to school feeling more overwhelmed than when I left to take a breather.
But I might be getting the hang of it, because ohmygoodness, I kind of needed this weekend. Sure, there are more things I’d like to have done and all that, but I’ll be back in a little over a month with more time and less stress. Really, though, this past weekend was lovely.
As I said, I spent time with a group of friends on Thursday night when I got home.
{They make me feel so loved}
After kind of a late night, I crashed in (my own!) bed. On Friday morning, I slept in a little (is 6:30 sleeping in?) and walked my dog before deciding to go for a run. I don’t usually run outside at school because it doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do at 5:30 am, so I stick to the treadmill. Treadmills make running feel a lot harder to me, though, so I ran both farther and faster than I’m used to. Simply, I ended up loving it and running all three days I was home. Despite a lot of foam rolling, um, my hips and hamstrings are still feeling it a little.
My mom and I headed out for lunch after I showered and stretched a bit.
Panera has the Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad back for summer, so I had that with a roll. I absolutely adore this salad and could easily eat it every single day. So. Good.
And then it was time for shopping. We went to the mall, bought some clothes, looked around a lot, and then headed to Target to stock me up on food. 🙂 It was such a fun, relaxing day.
By dinner time, I was a little hungry hangry and indecisive. But we ended up going to Mezzo and it was absolutely wonderful.
Honestly, the portion was a bit small, but the food was divine. I ordered scallops with roasted cauliflower, asparagus, and champagne vinaigrette, and devoured it all along with some of my mom’s Parmesan truffle fries. Yum.
We all went home and chatted and relaxed while watching TV before calling it a late night.
Saturday morning was pretty lazy, and I took Pippa for a walk before heading out to run with my dad. After showering and grabbing breakfast, my mom and I went to Trader Joe’s to finish my grocery-ing, before coming home and taking it pretty easy for the rest of the day.
My dad made (perfect) egg sandwiches and bacon for dinner, which we had with berries. I totally can’t wait for summer fruit.
I took a post-dinner walk with my mom and adorable dog.
And then made sure to pack up all my things so I’d be ready to leave Sunday morning.
Sunday, I presented my mom with her Mother’s Day cards (one from me, one from Pippa), and she showed me what she had bought herself from me. (It was a Life Planner with the covers customized with her own photography.)
I also did the very typical thing and posted a love-y picture on social media.
A photo posted by Ellen (@ellen_slater) on
I then got on a plane and left her. 😉 But it’s okay! I’ll be back in a few short weeks, and at least I got to be home for a bit on Mother’s Day.
You’ll notice there’s no schoolwork anywhere in that weekend. (Okay, I did take a quiz online on Saturday night. It took 2 minutes.) I so needed the break, though – and I made sure I could afford to take it. When I came back to school on Sunday afternoon, I started right into my econ problem set with my study group, and I’ve been able to just pick up where I left off.
So this was a really long recap of a weekend in which I mostly ate and relaxed. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope it wasn’t too boring. Also, there is a point. Actually, I think there are two.
First, sometimes you really just need a break – and that’s more than okay. Whether it’s an hour all to yourself where you zone out and watch TV or browse Pinterest or play video games, a weekend away from work, or a week away from home, relaxing is necessary.
Second, make sure stepping away for a bit won’t stress you out even more. If I had a ton of homework and studying to do for this week, going home would probably have been a really bad idea. But I knew I was in good shape and could completely unwind. Read: relax responsibly.
How was your weekend?
Do you prefer treadmills or running/walking outside?
Bacon or sausage?
What’s your favorite way to unwind?
I’d rather walk outside if weather is decent. On the t readmill there is no air flowing past. I like both bacon and sausage. We do egg sandwiches with a thin deli ham and a little American cheese on the bottom egg. Now you know it’s a big sandwich. Usually wheat toast. I must try a little runny like your dad’s.
We had a nice weekend. Planted some garden. Saw son,daughter, daughter-in-law, and one granddaughter. Also granddog. You know that story.
I’m glad you had a nice visit with favorite people.
Your egg sandwiches sound pretty great, too 🙂
I completely understand the feeling of wanting to get away but needing to stay and get things done! My mom would always try to convince me to come home to study during exams, but I’m 100x more productive at school haha so that was definitely a no-go. I’m glad that you could work it out to be able to take most of the weekend off and get all of your stuff done!
Thanks! It was lovely 🙂
This weekend sounds so nice and rejuvenating! I remember loving weekends like this at home when I was in college. It’s so nice to put the books down and go hang with family and eat good food. My favorite way to unwind now is taking a bath with candles lit and reading a book 🙂
That sounds so nice! Gotta love zoning out with a good book 🙂
Your egg sandwich looks SO YUMMY! 🙂 And I think that Panera salad is one my favorites. My favorite way to unwind is sitting on the couch writing in my journal, watching/listening to the Amazing Race, reading my Bible, talking to my sisters, or reading a book. 🙂
Those are some of my favorite ways to relax, as well!
Oh, Ellen, I *love* what you had to say about relaxing being necessary and to “relax responsibly”!!! I am so bad about letting myself relax, mostly because my mind is going a mile a minute, thinking of all the things I need to do…even after I’ve done everything I thought I should do before relaxing responsibly. I just keep thinking there’s too much to do, and so it basically makes it hard for me to ever truly relax. Obviously, this is something I have to work on. 😛
I was not bored by your post at all <- not ev-er!!! My weekend was a weird mix of chilling and craziness. I got several things done that I was hoping to, though, so score! 🙂
Bacon every time! And I dislike treadmills, though weather had driven me to the treadmill before. I do like walking in nice weather, and as long as it's not my main form of exercise and I can do it just whenever I want, I love to run!!
I have so many favorite ways to unwind!! Commenting on your blog is one of them. 😉 Also, I love settling in with a good book, rereading an old journal or browsing blogs.
I think you know I have a hard time relaxing, too. But I’m working on it. Or trying to.
Bacon <3
Aw, I'm honored that I get to be part of your unwind time 🙂 I definitely journal and blog (and read blogs) to relax, too.