"If you are losing your leisure, look out, you may be losing your soul."

ah, the joy that is paid vacation. i get 2 weeks off this year and i've strategically requested one week off in June (before summer school begins) and another week off in August (the only week i have off before fall semester starts and summer school ends). i'm a planner, you see - and i had wanted to use my June break (which is just next week!) as leisure time for myself because i'll be doing a lot of traveling in August.

this is why for next week, i have scheduled a hair appointment, a facial/massage appointment, and a much needed mani/pedi appointment. i know, i can't believe how much i'm spoiling myself either. i'm also hoping to fit in a day of retail therapy somewhere between all the pampering. :) in addition, zac wanted to escape for a couple of days and suggested a quick trip to paso robles. we've been intrigued by pictures and have been meaning to go, so i figured why the hell not? i shot a facebook message to my friend Irene - whose boyfriend's parents live in paso robles - and asked if she could recommend any cool places to visit. in the meanwhile, zac and i researched a few places on our own, but found it difficult to find a reasonably priced hotel that would accommodate pets - as we have every intention of bringing Emi along.

just as we were giving up hope, i received a message from Irene with an invitation to stay at her boyfriend's parent's place since they were going to be out of town. zac immediately exited all the hotel websites and i picked up my phone and punched in Irene's number to make sure i wasn't imagining it! she confirmed the invite and best of all, she's also going to be in attendance since there are big events happening in paso robles that weekend. i haven't seen her in a long time so i'm excited to catch up on what's new and in essence, remind each other of how old we're getting. on a side note: this won't be the first time that Irene has saved us from having to pay hotel expenses - she also opened her home to us when she lived in San Francisco. she's a great person and i can't wait to see her. oh, and did i mention that they are welcoming Emi with open arms? it'll be interesting to see how she interacts with their dogs but she's a happy and friendly girl so i'm not too concerned. not to mention it will be our first family trip together :)

i probably won't have an opportunity to blog next week but you better believe that i will have fun and thrilling updates when i return! actually, i can't promise that, but hopefully i'll have lots to share. so 'til then, live strong and remember that "leisure for reverie, gay or somber, does much to enrich life."