In praise of taking a restcation
On taking time off, organizing bookshelves and baking loaf cakes.
Taking a restcation
Earlier this month, I took a week off from work. Every time someone asked where I was headed on vacation, I’d reply, “Nowhere!” My grand plans involved staying home. Technically, it wasn’t even a staycation, which implied going on a weekend trip of some sort. This was going to be more stay, less vacation. I was taking a restcation.
In the age of social media where our feeds are filled with people posting from picturesque places like Bali and the Amalfi Coast, there’s a certain kind of pressure to live up to #vacationgoals. To make the time you take off feel worth it and book a trip, somewhere, anywhere. Even I felt a bit of that pressure as someone who used to travel a lot, but I’ve come to realize that I’m in a different season of my life and that vacation doesn’t always equal travel.
And so this was the first time I booked a week off with no big plans and fully embraced it. I spent my time off resting and getting my life in order. I deep cleaned my home and organized my bookshelves. I cleaned out my closet, finally letting go of the clothes I kept telling myself I’d wear one day. I also treated myself to a Caudalie facial (a favourite!), went to the aquarium, and exchanged romance novels with my best friends.
I went for my little walks, but they were longer and slower. I listened to podcasts, catching up on all the ones I’d saved for later, and audiobooks, finishing them at a faster pace than usual. I read cookbooks, picking out the recipes wanted to make this fall, and went grocery shopping, browsing the aisles at a leisurely pace instead of acting like I was a contestant on Supermarket Stakeout.
As the week drew to a close, my head felt clearer, my shoulders relaxed, and my spirits lifted. The upside of feeling more rested also made me more creative and inspired. It’s what I’d hoped this restcation would give me—a brief respite and some renewable energy from burnout. Jay Dixit writes in Fast Company, “The brain also requires ‘downtime’—unstructured time with no goal in mind and no targeted focus of attention.” My hope is to be more intentional with downtime in my day-to-day, but also during the time I take off.
The joy of organizing my bookshelves
Part of the organizing I did during my week off was finally filling the custom bookshelves we had built with books. At first, I used a few of the shelves to display art and then quickly realized that I wanted the shelves brimming with books from end to end. I also realized that I didn’t want to organize my shelves by colour. Instead, I wanted them grouped by author or by theme. I have my food writing books lined up side by side, and my travel memoirs hang out as a pack. The Emily Henry titles stick together and the Talia Hibbert books like each other’s company. I might change my mind in the future, but for now, I’m very happy with this set-up.
Loaf cake weather
On days where you can almost smell fall in the air, I crave nothing more than a freshly baked loaf cake and a cup of tea. I love making cardamom cake and banana bread, and my store-bought fave is a carrot cake (my friend Carly introduced me to the one from Summerhill Market and I also love the one from Farm Boy, which I’ve written about before). Here are a few loaf cake recipes I’ve bookmarked to try and make as we head into sweater weather:
Ina Garten’s lemon yogurt cake
Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh’s lemon pound cake
Yossy Arefi's brown butter pound cake
The advice Anthony Bourdain gave Gabrielle Hamilton.
A tour of the season four Emily in Paris set with Architectural Digest.
Just looking at this Brooklyn brownstone kitchen banquette makes me happy.
This sounds wonderful! 💗🤗
organizing my bookshelves is definitely one of my fav pastimes, too