For basically forever, my party line has been that I cannot truly enjoy vacation time unless I leave my home. Why? Because I'm a do-er and home is also where I work (rather intensely) and where I feel the weight of endless household minutia. 

So a few weeks ago, when my dear friend/colleague Morra Aarons-Mele said on a team call, "Everyone be sure to take vacation this summer!" I was kind of like, "Welp, I like that idea but why bother?" Because in the face of the pandemic I have stayed put even as things have opened up (the footage I see out in the wild does not give me a ton of faith in humanity) so going anywhere seems hard. And even road-tripping would mean adhering to quarantine rules and not enjoying exploring local eateries and makers. 

But OMG, I have been tired. So very tired. So I decided to take vacation last week even though I knew most of it would be spent at home. And I quickly realized that among the many hands the pandemic has forced is a new way to vacation. I am by no means a Pollyanna; if anything my cynical side has gotten a ton of exercise over the last several months so I wasn't exactly looking for a silver lining last week...just hoping for the best amidst some other shit that was going down in my house. But I now know that vacation at home is possible and for someone like me, the ability to toss on my out-of-office email auto-response and not be wed to a dozen or so conference calls in a week offers me a ton of space. I was still working on some things but I was also resting. And loving. And reconnecting. Basically I had the opportunity to tend to many things that I have been struggling to keep up with as I have navigated work and home.

What did this look like? Some of you have shared with me that you love my nitty gritty lists (thank you for writing, I love hearing from you!). So here's what I did on vacation last week. It was freaking glorious. So glorious that I will rainbow color code the list.

1. Worked on a watercolor class with my daughters and painted a portrait of my puppy #crazydoglady
2. Redesigned my media kit. It looks amazing; who wants to inquire about hiring me for a project so I can send it out?!
3. Tended to my plant rooting project (I'm trying to fill a series of shelves Jon built me entirely with plants made from other plants)
4. Played tennis with Jon; one of my favorite things ever but our early morning tennis time has suffered with the introduction of our puppy
5. Took naps in the middle of the day and asked my kids to cuddle me to sleep (normally it's impossible for me to nap unless I am deathly ill; apparently all I need is a cuddle)
6. Watched movies + Queer Eye in the middle of the day with my kids
7. Tidied my office so it feels calm again
8. Prepped food per usual but in a relaxed, happy way; not in a frantic, trying to squeeze it in around meetings mode
9. Resumed pitching my book to agents (which was on hold because I finished my proposal literally the day before the world shut down #worstaccidentaltimingever)
10. Dug back in to editing my book (I wrote 75,000 words during the height of lock down)
11. Delighted in reading; with Violet, I finished reading Wonder + started reading Watership Down; on my own, I finished reading Maid + read Big Summer and What You Wish For + started reading Conviction
12. Began exploring outsourcing Brave New World Design's production
13. Spent a couple of days in Vermont, which was glorious even while adhering to their quarantine rules
14. Got my teeth cleaned, which I was dreading due to COVID anxiety, but it ended up being wonderful self-care
15. Loved on James the puppy even more than usual

Take vacation time if you can. Even if you have nowhere to go. You may discover some really great small things to enjoy at home. 

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