Staycation + Guest Bedroom Update

I took last week off because between the paid holiday, a previously scheduled day off and some extra vacation time itching to be used it just seemed like a good idea. 9 days of life uninterrupted by work was ridiculously awesome. I wish I could tell you I went some place exotic and did some amazing things, but I actually just went about my life without having to work in 9 hours of productivity based on someone else’s goals each day.

When I put it that way, it was bliss, actually.

I still woke up early but got to drink my coffee with a good book while I waited for my freshly baked muffins.

I still hit the gym, but did it in the morning instead of having to rally to get over there after a full day of work.

I still saw friends, but I didn’t have to worry about staying out too late, or whether I was drinking a little too much wine, or what time I would have to get up the next morning.

It was the rejuvenation equivalent of a fantastic voyage without the vacation hangover or the suitcase to unpack. And since I hate unpacking suitcases, it was kind of ideal.

The only downside was I didn’t plan meals because I thought, “Oh I’ll have all the time in the world to cook.” What this ended up looking like in real life was 3 nights of Happy Hour appetizers for dinner, a (very non-Paleo) evening at our favorite Mexican Restaurant and one evening I even had Nutella Cream Cheese Blondies for dinner. As you can imagine, my body is begging to get back to reality.

My mind, on the other hand, not so much.

The only productive Project-Like-Things I accomplished were pulling up what wasn’t producing in my garden, a closet/attic purge that required car loads (CAR LOADS!) to Goodwill and then a little bit of furniture rearranging to create a little bit of crafty space in our guest room. Oh and some boring deep cleaning! No there are no pictures of that, but HOT Damn, if I don’t love a sparkling clean house!

I’ve long wanted to separate my office stuff from my crafty stuff and felt like the guest room was the perfect place to do that. It is sort of awkwardly shaped and large so it was my mission to squeeze as much furniture and storage in there as possible.

Here’s what it looked like before:

And here are a few poorly lit and blurry pictures of what it looks like now:

Attention AndreAnna and Liz, these beds have your names on them.

Hey, that sounds creepy! 😉

And yes, the purging did involve QUITE A FEW books. Though mostly just moving them around.

I’ve learned a lot in the last year about balance and managing stress in my life and what truly makes me happy. While I love travel and new experiences, it turns out taking 10 days off and squeezing in 900 different things DOESN’T make me feel better. I feel so grateful to have had this time off to decompress, rejuvenate, spend time with Garrett and get some things done around that house that had been on my To-Do List, all without adding extra stress to my life.

I’ve tried hard this year to create a life that I don’t want to escape from, which is a concept that I wasn’t always sure was possible, but so far I am enjoying getting there. It’s back to reality this week but I’m going to try and let the calm of last week inform the hustle and bustle of this week. Life is all about choices, and today I am feeling pretty happy with mine.