Hello, all. Last week I went away for a few days to my sister in Toms River. The idea was that I would use her pool every day but of course I didn’t use it once (lol).
I went to my sister for vacation because I didn’t really know what to do with myself this summer but I knew I needed to get away. This ended up being such a nice vacation and I’m so glad it’s where I went. Here is a breakdown of what I did, it’s extremely low-key but just goes to show how sometimes just a change of the ordinary pace of things is all that’s needed!
I got to my sister’s house on Wednesday morning. I went out with my mother and baby niece for lunch (pizza, nothing fancy – and my mother left a few hours later) and then met up with a friend. We spent about an hour and a half together just meandering and spending time. We looked in a few stores and ended in Evergreen where I bought challah ingredients. I met my cousin in Evergreen and my friend said that in four years in Lakewood she has never run into anyone she knows shopping. Vacation magic! Then I went back to my sister’s house and met a different friend who came by for about an hour. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and just talked.
That evening my cousins picked me up and we went to Avery & Jay’s. After analyzing the extensive menu, I got a scoop of ice cream, haha. I highly recommend the premium flavors as they have this amazing slow-melt texture.
The next day, Thursday, I spent most of my day with a different friend. In the afternoon, I made challah dough with her son and his friend. (My challah ingredients were at my sister so I used my friend’s — this will be important later). I went to my aunt for supper and spent time with more cousins.
I put my challah dough in the fridge to rise overnight as I often do, and in the morning…the dough was flat as a pancake. That never happened to me before! Unclear what went wrong, maybe the yeast had gone bad? Anyway, I still had a bag of ingredients from Evergreen so I…started again. All’s well that ends well.
My sister came for Shabbos, and on Sunday we went out for lunch at Kava and later went to Point Pleasant. We walked up and down the boardwalk in the late afternoon breeze. And then, alas, we had to pack up and go home.
Here is the best vacation tip: when you take time off of work for vacation, take one extra day following your actual trip so you get in a lazy day to unpack and get things together. I took off Monday, and Monday evening we had one of those class get-togethers — the perfect end to a very low-key vacation.
P.S. I fell asleep listening to The Fellowship of the Ring, what’s a girl to do?
