As I’ve mentioned a number of times, this holiday season I promised myself that I would slow down, try to stress less and learn how to say “no”. So far, I’ve actually been much better at it than I thought I would be. As I was looking through my calendar earlier this season, I realized that this past weekend was seemingly clear. I had already decided not to run the Somerville Jingle Bell 5K I always run, and no other parties had been planned yet. As I was chatting with Athena, she suggested I mark the weekend as a “no plans weekend”. Sadly, as soon as I did that, two parties came up (sorry Mary and Steph!!)… obviously this would happen!

I have to say, I fully enjoyed this past weekend where I had no real plans. Sure, we had lots of things we ended up doing or wanted to do, but the beauty of it was we were able to do it on our own schedule and if we decided to change plans or stay in or do dinner, it was our choice. I highly suggest taking weekends like this if you’re feeling overwhelmed or just that you don’t have enough time for yourself. I went into this week feeling so refreshed and ready for a much busier week.

Here are some highlights from the weekend- enjoy!

• Meeting up with RM and his coworkers for drinks at Bostonia Public House
• Spur of the moment dinner at Sakurabana

• Treating myself to a Chai Tea Latte at Starbucks thanks to a gift card that a sweet member gave me

• A pleasant car shopping experience at Acura. My lease is up in February so I’m in the market for something new!
• A late lunch at Legal C Bar in Lynnfield

• Shopping around the M Street shops, getting some gifts and food shopping at Whole Foods.
• A quiet night in, consisting of Christmas movies, wine & this delicious baked stuffed acorn squash.

• A lazy Sunday morning- breakfast, blogging & cleaning
• More car shopping, another pleasant experience!
• Sunday dinner at RM’s mother’s house. I was totally craving an authentic Italian meal (aka, I really wanted meatballs), so it worked out perfectly! I’m so lucky that I love his family and enjoy spending time with them.
• Sunday night at my place. It was nice to meal prep and watch tv and be surrounded by my Christmas decorations!

Questions for you: When’s the last time you said “no” in favor of relaxing and doing nothing? Do you often over-book yourself? What was the best part of your weekend?