My week of self-indulgent New York bliss is coming to a close and it’s probably about time. I’ve spent a lot of time and money being not very productive, but it’s been a good time. The party last night was a blast. I amassed nearly ideal quantities of booze, beer, mixers, and cake. There are a few half-full bottles left, but not as many as you might expect if you’d seen the spread. I ended up with three beautiful cakes: an 8″ chocolate layer cake from The Chocolate room, a 7″ spicy pumpkin cake from Sugar Sweet Sunshine, and a 6″ cheesecake from 2 Little Red Hens.

They were all amazing, but I think the spicy pumpkin was my favorite. The layers of moist cake became the slightest bit battery where they met the cream cheese frosting which created this wonderful sticky fluffy texture of pumpkin spicy goodness. Going back to the party, the crowd was almost as good as the cake. Brendan’s crew was there, plus Alex and Robyn and Erin and Claire and Seth and Amy…so many good people, which made for a sea of interesting conversations. Sara and her roommates invited their friends too, so it ended up a medium-to-large gathering. Still not enough to crowd their mammoth apartment, but a good number.

I’m back at Sara’s now after checking out of the hotel. She let me take a shower, which felt great. I didn’t have time to shower earlier because the hotel wouldn’t let me check out late, but this was even better because the apartment shower has intense water pressure and now I have the whole living room to myself and a bowl of cereal. I’m not looking forward to the next however-many hours of lugging suitcases and sucking recycled air and standing in lines, but it will be good to get back to work. This has been a really long break but it’s been good and refreshing. And while I already miss my family and friends a little I just have to remember that spring break is right around the corner and it’s their turn to visit me.