Hey everyone, I just wanted to apologize for my radio silence for the last few (okay, five) days!  I promise I wasn’t neglecting my adventures or my blogging (well, maybe just the blogging) – I’ve been the best kind of busy where I have spent time outside and with friends and have been doing things that really do make me feel lighter and happier than I have in awhile. I’ve also been off of work, which means I’ve been getting enough sleep, and at night for once! All of that being said, I’ll do better in the future to blog about these adventures in a more timely fashion – I’m going out of the country this coming weekend but already have a contingency plan in place for updating more regularly.

On Saturday (Day Ten), I went to a local folk music festival. I worked Friday and Saturday nights so I almost used that as my excuse to not go, but the experience and the time spent with friends were worth only getting 3 hours of sleep. The setup of the festival was such that there were several bigger stages and venues, but most of the performers just played along the sidewalks. It was really informal, but that’s what made it so great – there was no pretentiousness or sense of qualifying who could and couldn’t perform. I saw everything from p
rofessional groups to a middle school-aged boy playing his viola. I really admired the courage of these people to put themselves out there for the sake of a mutual love of music; let me just say that 8 years of clarinet-playing, and I never would have had the guts to play solo in front of strangers. There were a ton of people at this festival too, so people-watching was as intruiging as the music itself. The biggest takeaway for me though was how relaxed I was; 6 months ago, I avoided big crowds like that for the most part, and if I was in a group of people that large, I was extremely anxious, almost to the point of panic. It was so nice to have such a genuinely good time and to be in the moment rather than focusing on my anxiety.

Sunday (Day Eleven) was spent with friends, grilling and enjoying the sunshine. This wasn’t an adventure insomuch that it’s something uncomfortable for me but rather that it’s something I don’t prioritize often enough. As tends to be the case, being around people whose company I enjoy and who are a good support system was a positive feedback loop and encouragement to do it again. The grilling aspect was also something new for us, though, as usual, my role was more supervisory than hands-on grilling 😉 one day in the future I’ll have to actually do the grilling.

After a couple of days of being out and about and, admittedly, drinking, Monday (Day Twelve) was designated as a more leisurely day in. I decided to make one of my absolute favorite summer desserts, peach cobbler. Having grown up in the South, my earliest memories of cobblers involve local peaches and cast iron pots over the campfire; my dad usually is the cobbler chef at home, but I figured it was high time to give it a try myself. I used a pretty simple recipe with things I already had for the most part. I opted for canned peaches since that’s what I had, though with more preparation, I’d go for fresh white or yellow peaches. It was actually pretty simple to make, especially since I could just throw the cast iron pan in the oven. My oven is wonky and doesn’t cook super evenly so the top ended up a little darker than I intended, but overall, it was really good. 9/10 would recommend.

Last but certainly not least, Tuesday (Day Thirteen) was my birthday! I encouraged my partner in crime to play hooky from work and go kayaking with me (I’m definitely a Birthday Princess). The weather was absolutely perfect – sunny and warm with a nice breeze. I always love kayaking because of how close you are to the water – something about it makes me feel like I’m much more connected with the nature around me than if I’m on a boat. After kayaking, we went for some amazing veggie burgers at a nearby restaurant, where we sat and soaked up some more sun and made a new dog friend. All of that combined with all of the birthday love I got from random strangers and from family and friends all over the world made for arguably the best birthday I’ve had in years. Almost everything ties back to my experience with depression and anxiety at this point in my life, and I can honestly say that there was a time, last year especially, when I never thought I could be this happy again. It sounds cheesy, but the best birthday present of all has been the realization that I’ve gotten my life back.