New Hampshire Lovin'

After a long, emotional week, Friday was a welcome break. Since my family ultimately decided to wait on holding any services for my grandmother until our family from out of town can join us, my weekend was free and my original plans of escaping to NH held up.

It was a wonderful weekend with friends and a much-needed break to relax and get away from it all. We arrived late Friday night and relaxed in yoga pants with wine and yummy homemade brownies. As I'm sure some of you may have seen via my Twitter account, I adopted a new friend on Friday afternoon. Meet Stuart the minion. While I may be almost 25, this thoughtful little gift has made us laugh all weekend long!

Stuart enjoys wine almost as much as I do... almost.

Saturday we slept in a bit and lounged around before heading down to the lake for the afternoon. I had them drop me at the bottom of the hill (really, it's a mountain) and I ran the rest of the way to the beach. I'm loving being back to a point where I can run miles consecutively again but at the moment am reminded each time how out of shape I feel. I haven't lost all of my endurance, which I'm thankful for, but I'm definitely not where I was four months ago. Baby steps I guess.

We lounged on the beach, swam in the lake, and eventually took the boat out for a nice little sunset cruise. I started reading Born to Run this weekend and am liking it so far. I've heard good things so I decided to take the plunge, hoping for some motivation as I start back up again!

View from the boat as we cruised around Saturday evening. Gorgeous!

Each time we escape up north I'm amazed at how beautiful it is. The lake, the view of the mountains from the deck, and pretty much wherever you look. I woke up at 5am both mornings and just stared at the sunrise until eventually falling back asleep, which was pretty easy considering how tired I was.

View from the deck as the sun was setting. Please don't make me go home... ever.

Saturday night consisted of relaxing, snacking on fresh guacamole and crackers and cheese and watching some fabulous ladies cook me dinner. I stirred the risotto a couple of times but ultimately sat back and ate almost an entire wheel of brie by myself. Oops.

Chef Allie starting the risotto and popping some pineapple champagne - YUM.

Sunday we ventured into some local shops but ultimately ended up back at the beach before taking our time heading back down toward Boston.

We're completely ridiculous most of the time, but that's the way I like it.

Overall it was a great weekend and just what I wanted and needed after a long and exhausting week. It stinks that it often takes not-so-fun situations to remind you to be appreciative, but I'm so thankful to have the most amazing friends and family, and the best support system around.

Reading any good books right now?

Favorite place to get away?
My best's family's NH house is definitely up at the top of that list, but sometimes it's as simple as going home to western MA for a weekend - though those weekends aren't quite so relaxing most of the time!