Chocolate Cake in a Mug

Do you ever get a hankering for some chocolate cake but don’t want a lot of muss or fuss? I just made myself some chocolate cake in a mug in 5 minutes. I’m sure there are other recipes online but here’s mine, courtesy of Vickie Hartog - a recipe she gave me at least 20 years ago:

4 Tbsp cake flour (non-rising)

4 Tbsp sugar 

1/8 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp baking cocoa 

1 egg 🥚 

3 Tbsp Milk 🥛 

3 Tbsp oil 

3 Tbsp chocolate chips (optional)

Small splash of vanilla essence

1 coffee mug

Put dry ingredients in mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Add the milk and oil and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix again.

Microwave for 2 1/2 minutes on high. The cake might rise over the top of the mug - no worries.

Allow to cool a bit and eat. Tip out onto a plate if desired.

Mine was yummy (urp!). I put whipped cream on top and ate it right out of the mug. 

A 17 Year UFO - Finally Finished!

I’ve been poking away at tidying and organizing my office/craft room. Today I found a knitting project I abandoned in 2009. I had bought the yarn in Muncie, Indiana in 2007. I vividly remember that day.**

I had one sock finished in January of 2009 and most of the second sock done. I got all that information from my Ravelry page. But I do remember Danner’s, where I bought the yarn. It was basically a book and gift store that sold yarn. I just tried to do an Internet search and it appears that it is no longer open.

What attracted me to the yarn was its colourway. Opal Rainforest in the Raupe (caterpillar in German) colourway. (I used to raise monarch butterflies)

The pattern is Leyburn by MintyFresh. 

I only had about an inch of the foot and the toe to finish. 

This afternoon I cut and sewed a couple more checkerboard things from charm packs. This is Honey Bees and Flowers Please by Riley Blake. For one of these you need 8 dark 5” charms and 8 light 5”charms which are cut into 2 1/2” quarters. Then laid out checkerboard style on light interfacing that has been gridded with 2 1/2” squares.

I sew the vertical columns first then press in one direction. When I sew the horizontal ones, I open out the seams to reduce bulk at the intersections. Using a seam ripper with the ball part inside the fold made this a much easier task than trying tu use scissors.

I had ironed the squares of this Morris Manor line onto the interfacing and sewed the seams today.

The next step will be to quilt diagonally through the light squares through batting. Maybe tomorrow.

** That time in Muncie was the first September of my retirement from teaching. We were having lunch at Subway. I took a look at my watch and noted it was 12:20. I almost wept with joy I was so happy - had I still been teaching I would have just finished lunch or hall duty. I was so happy I was retired I wept with joy. It was a very joyful moment.

Poking Away at Odd Jobs

I got the new fridge in place and the old one cleared out and moved to the front hall awaiting it being taken away.

The bottom freezer is significantly smaller than the former fridge so I have vowed to eat down much of the frozen food that is in there.

The other not so great thing about the new fridge was that there wasn't a way to store an open wine bottle or my Brita jug upright unless I removed a shelf.

I do, however like everything else about the fridge. It is only 4" less deep than the previous one. Only the doors extend beyond the cupboards now.

It makes a real difference in the amount of floorspace, or at least feels different. The cupboard on the right of the fridge is only 12" deep. 

The 1980s honey oak cabinets will be removed on June 6 and the install of the new cabinets will be June 9. A new microwave over will go over the stove. I'm sure I'll manage over that weekend without the full use of the kitchen. Why not just get the cupboards refaced, you say? The particle board cabinets were deteriorating and I could no longer clean the shelf paper the previous owner had MacTac'd down. At one point, I had to basically rebuild and re-install the cutlery drawer. The whole place just needs refreshing.

I've been working in my craft room/office, trying to create some order out of the chaos. I have a TV in there so am somewhat entertained while I sort, organize, and discard. I need to get ruthless about destashing yarn. I believe there is a local group of knitters that will take it to knit for charity.

Allergy-wise, I have new prescriptions for antihistamine pills and eye drops. I'm hoping with continued use, the itchiness will calm down. My lilacs are getting ready to bloom but I probably won't bring the blooms into the house. Big allergens for me. But they are truly lovely from afar.

The one bit of yard work I've been pretty dedicated to has been pulling dandelions. I do need to start preparing a couple of the garden beds for seeds. I bought a pack of seed mix so it will be interesting to see what all emerges. I also bought a bag of potting soil but still haven't done the indoor planting I had planned to do. I'll continue to poke away at these jobs.

I planted gigantic garlic last fall and it has come up. I have no idea when it should be picked but have learned that the scapes (long, tender flower stems) can be used in many recipes. One that really appealed to me was Garlic Scape Goat Cheese Dip. I must try it sometime.

With the deck all set up, I hope to spend more time out there now that the weather is fabulous. 

We are coming up to the one year anniversary of Skip's death. Thank goodness the sunny days have lightened my mood. I was getting worried for a while there when I was so fatigued and unmotivated to do anything. I miss the big lug terribly but life goes on. I am very fortunate to have so many good things going on and good people to spend it with.

Grinding to a Halt

The fridge and microwave were delivered this morning. This will stay in the front hall until I swap it out with the old one.

The delivery guys removed most of the packaging (styrofoam and cardboard) before wheeling it into the house. I haven't peeled off the plastic, organized the shelves, nor even plugged it in yet. 

Then I got a call from the cabinet person only to learn the cabinets will NOT be installed on Monday as originally scheduled. They haven't even been built yet. Apparently he was supposed to confirm with me the dimensions of the appliances I selected and that was never done so the manufacture of the cabinets was not started. 

So I have about half my cabinets emptied into my dining room and will need to put most things back in the intervening month or so until the actual installation will take place.

The bright side? 

• I don't have to clear the rest of the stuff out yet
• I have lots of time to dispose of the excess kitchen stuff
• I don't have to spend my weekend doing all this
• I can resume my normal slothful or creative activities

On a completely different tangent, I spent a bit of time online trying to find where I can buy sugar-free or light tonic water. Today would be a great day to crack open the gin I purchased on my way home from Iceland.

I must remember to get some limes while I'm at it.

Millbrook Needlers Quilt Show 2025

This morning, Jen1 and I headed up to Millbrook for the annual Needlers Quilt Show. On the way we stopped at DooDoo’s Bakery in Bailieboro. They are always on the Butter Tart Tour and have won many prizes at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair over the years in the butter tart category. Jen1 was hoping to buy gluten-free items to take to her mom for Mother’s Day but it turns out they have to be ordered ahead of time. I bought a couple of butter tarts to take home.

We then headed directly to the Cavan Monaghan Recreation Centre for the quilt show. Marilyn, Barb, and Jeanette arrived shortly after we did.

I love seeing all the quilts. Many are simply works of art with wool felt, beading, and embroidered embellishments. I’ll devote another post to some of my favourites.

I managed to restrain myself shopping-wise. I recently had a good look at my stash. It was very humbling. However I did fins this fabric

This charm square pack appealed to me as well.

It has a nice balance of dark and light fabrics - perfect for a checkerboard project.

One of the shops sells fabric from people’s stashes. They had some accessories. I have been interested in getting a 2 1/2” wide ruler and they had one! And the price was right.

Jen1 headed home early as she was heading to her parents’ place later on. Marilyn chauffeured Jeanette, Barb and I to her place. Then we piled into Barb’s car and dropped Jeanette off, then she dropped me off. 

Just as I arrived home, my lawn-cutting guy was finishing up - the first of the season. It looks great.

I emptied a couple more cupboards, played with my Bee kit, and made supper. I'm taking it easy tonight. the microwave oven and fridge will be delivered tomorrow. I’ll continue emptying the cupboards.

Bee Kit Has Finally Arrived

At the beginning of April  ago I saw an interesting ad for an embroidery kit on Facebook. I can’t even remember how much I paid for the kit it was so long ago. 

I was very intrigued because of all the specialty stitches that were involved. 

Every few days I would receive a tracking email. Finally today, the wee package arrived. 

This is what was inside:

I was so happy to see it was originally from Ukraine.

 

There is a 12” x 10” piece of fabric (not sure what count yet but it looks tighter than 40ct), 18 skeins of 6ply cotton floss - supposedly DMC, two Madeira silk metallic coloured threads, one Tela Artis thread, two vials of beads, a vial with two needles, the chart (which I will definitely need to enlarge on my printer),

and detailed instructions for the 15 specialty stitches.

All this was contained in a 6” x 6” x 1” box.

First thing I’m going to do is figure out what count the fabric is and decide if I’ll use it or something that might be a bit easier on the eyes. Then I’ll read through all the instructions (provided in English and Ukrainian) and determine how and where to start.

Update… I just measured the fabric and it is ‘uneven weave’ with 54ct across the grain and 44ct with the grain. I will definitely be checking my stash for some nice 32ct or 36ct linen. I’m not too bummed out about the faulty fabric that came with the kit. I’m guessing embroidery supplies are hard to get in Ukraine right now. 

Even more of an update… it occurred to me that the vendor may have been one of those unscrupulous pirates who steal others’ designs, package with inferior materials, and sell as their own. I was able to find my receipt and indeed it was someone in China. That really explains the inferior quality of the fabric. I even wonder if the floss is DMC. I suspect it is a polyester blend using DMC colours and numbers. I did contact the actual designer (her name was on the chart that came with the bogus kit) via her Etsy shop and I am not the first person who has alerted her to this situation. I felt bad for her so to support her (especially since she is Ukrainian), I purchased the .pdf download of this pattern from her Etsy shop - rizobarvna. The charts are MUCH easier to read - full page rather than 8.8cm x 7.6cm. 

A Good Start on Some Major Tasks

On Monday, my kitchen cupboards are being ripped out and replaced. This afternoon, I started clearing them out. Then I realized I still needed to order a couple of appliances. It’s possible all the demolition and installation would be completed on Monday so the microwave oven for over the stove needed to get ordered and delivered by then. I ordered the fridge at the same time but it can be installed at any time. One of my friends expressed an interest in taking the old fridge so if she doesn’t commit to that, it’ll be sitting in my front hall for a while until someone else comes and gets it. The appliance guys could take it away (for a fee) but it still works perfectly so I didn’t want it just to go to a dump.

The sales person was able to give me the delivery date of Saturday (two days from now) and kindly gave me ‘free delivery’ by knocking the value of the delivery fee off the price of the appliances. On the bill of sale, the delivery fee will still show so the deliverers will get paid and it will look like I got a deal on the microwave and fridge. I much appreciated this.

I’m taking it easy this evening but will continue emptying the cupboards on the weekend. Most stuff is going in the dining room - on the table with all the leaves inserted, and on the floor. I’m also taking the opportunity to get rid of stuff I haven’t used in ages, either to the recycling bin, donation box, or garbage. 

After the cupboards are installed, measurements will be made for the countertop. It’ll be a couple of weeks before it is manufactured and installed. In the meantime, I won’t have a sink or running water in the kitchen but can do dishes in the laundry tub. My laundry room is just steps away from the kitchen on the main floor. The fridge will be plugged in somewhere and I can prepare food with my current microwave or use the toaster oven. I think I’ve got things most of the logistics figured out. 

I watched the announcement of the new Pope with interest this afternoon. I am not a theist but it is a historical moment and very important to over a billion Catholics worldwide. The TV announcers didn’t figure out his papal name when it was announced in Latin but with my high school Latin, I thought what the cardinal said was ‘Leo XIV’. After a few minutes the TV announcers confirmed it. I hope Pope Leo XIV will continue to be as accepting as he predecessor.

On the craft front, I started another pair of two-at-a-time, scrappy, striped socks. Only a couple more inches to go on the cuffs.

Last night, I also gridded some very light fusible interfacing. I quartered some of the 5” squares into 2 1/2” squares, laid them out, checkerboard-style on the interfacing, and pressed them into place with a hot iron.

As I’ve done previously, the project bags I like to make are 7 squares wide and 6 squares tall. Finished size is about 13 1/2” x 11 1/2”. I add three more rows of squares for the front of the project bag. Two go above and below the zipper and the third goes below the vinyl ‘window’.

I’ll use the coordinating fabric I bought for the lining. Not sure when I’ll be able to do the sewing - the house is in chaos - but all I need to do now is cut the lining and batting, cut the vinyl, and pick a zipper.

One of the table gifts I received at the Hobby House retreat was a scissor fob. I’ve been using it as a zipper pull on one of my project bags and it broke the other day. A quick task will be to re-string the beads with sturdier wire. I’ll make a couple more zipper pulls while I’m at it. A couple of my stitcherly friends want to make some beaded zipper pulls/scissor fobs so we can discuss when I’ll give them a tutorial.

Tomorrow 5 of us are meeting in Millbrook to attend a quilt show and go for lunch. Again, I certainly don’t NEED any quilting supplies but it will be fun to have a nice day out and look at beautiful handiwork.

And finally, today is World Donkey Day! Francey texted me this morning to make me aware of it. I have no recollection of this but I did a blog post on last year’s World Donkey Day. You can read about it here.

A Wee Shopping Trip

I had lunch this afternoon with my friend, Paulette. We sat and gabbed for almost 3 hours. After leaving her place, I stopped into the Quilter’s Cupboard to see what all they had that might entice me. My existing stash is quite vast so I certainly didn’t NEED anything but I was quite drawn to this Moda line of fabrics by Barbara Brackman:

Quilter’s Cupboard sells 5” square packs with all the fabric in the line - 42 in a pack. It is much more economical for them to cut and collate the squares from yardage than order the 5” charm packs from their distributor.

My plan is to make more quilted, checkerboard projects. For that I like a balance of light and dark fabrics. This line - Morris Manor - didn’t have enough light fabrics so I bought some yardage of the companion light fabric.

I still have a bunch of lightweight fusible interfacing left over from making masks during COVID so will spend my evening gridding lengths of it into 2 1\2” squares. 

Lunch with a dear friend, fun shopping, and beautiful weather has made for a really enjoyable day.

I Actually Fully Finished Something! 😮

 I finished the last little bits on the Spring Floral Sampler yesterday. This afternoon I fully finished it.

I wrapped the piece around a piece of foam core. Then found some yellow fabric in my stash for the border and mounted it on some cardboard.

I covered the back with a piece of Bristol. A couple of buttons were hot glued onto the back, anchoring a piece of ribbon for the hanger.

I ran the gift right over to my neighbour, Susan’s,  house. I thought of her immediately when I saw the pattern at Hobby House last weekend. She is a talented photographer and recently a prolific artist and likes to come over and take photos of flowers in my garden. Skip was the gardener extraordinaire and the perennials he had planted over the years continue to beautify our landscape. Susan particularly likes our irises.

Getting (Some) Stuff Done

I’ve been enjoying knitting while watching TV. And I watch a LOT of TV. Last night I binge-watched the new Tina Fey/Alan Alda production of ‘The Four Seasons’ whilst knitting away on my TAAT, striped socks.

And I finished them!

I maintained the 6 rounds per colour pattern, even to the toes. Any variations are due to the variegation in the sock yarn I was using.

I tried to sew in the yarn ends as I went so snipped the lengths off at about a centimetre. I did my usual ‘eye of partridge’ heel and continued the pattern on the sole until all the end of the gusset decreases.The socks are warm and snuggly - perfect for cool nights or wearing next winter. It hardly made a dent in my sock yarn stash, though. I guess I’ll knit some more.

Yesterday at my guild’s stitch day I got a bit more done on Clovis..

This morning I finished the last little bits of the spring sampler.

I added a couple of leaves, too. So just a bit different from the original.

I’ve done the measurements for the finishing so will FFO it sometime soon.

I also started watching the Netflix series on the Vietnam war. So much ‘bad intelligence’ (cough - lies) contributed to the US getting involved and the conflict going on years after the US knew they could never win. So many young men’s and women’s lives were lost as a result. I believe that and the Watergate scandal were the beginnings of a widespread ‘crisis of confidence’ in the US government.

I was only a youngster when I became aware of the conflict which actually started in 1955. The war escalated into my teenage years and even impacted me tangentially as a young adult. My brother and sister attended university with many draft dodgers in Mexico City and I dated an American while I attended university who was concerned he’d get drafted. Fortunately he had a deferment because of still being in school and then in early 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed. Then the accords were broken and fighting continued until mid 1975 until the fall of Saigon. The North and South were reunified in 1976. Then China invaded Vietnam and border conflicts lasted until 1991.

I also remember Vietnamese ‘Boat People’ and a couple of them registering at the school at which I taught, sometime in the 80s. It is so interesting to see it all laid out in a coherent, chronological manner.

The documentary highlights the many complex issues involved with this conflict and gives insight as to how the cultural fibre of the US developed in its aftermath.

Some Modification

Jen1 was over for some stitching today. She works on Saturdays so we won’t be seeing her at our guild’s stitch day tomorrow. We had a very pleasant afternoon chatting about our respective retreats attended last weekend. 

At the Trillium Guild retreat, Jeanette organized a stash sale. Jen1 picked this up for me.

And the tin is part of the kit! Thanks, Jen!

While we chatted, I poked away at the Spring Floral Sampler. It’s going to be a gift for a non-stitcher so we discussed omitting the alphabet. I thought I’d chart ‘Welcome Spring’ and stitch that below instead.

I charted it with my really old Cross Stitch Design Studio program and stitched the words this evening.

Since the alphabet is gone, I’ll add a leaf onto the left  of the tulip and right of the daffodil. That will be my primary task tomorrow at our stitch day.

To finish it, I’ll mount it on some foamcore and mount that onto a slightly larger piece of cardboard covered in fabric. I’ll add cording as a hanger. I want to get it done and given to the recipient before spring is over. 

Another Pair of Scrappy Socks

 I like to knit when I’m watching TV. I don’t need need any more neck warmers now that it’s spring so I thought I’d knit another pair of two-at-a-time, striped, scrappy socks. I have tons of sock yarn remnants.

I cast on 70 sts with a long, 2.5mm circular needle. To do both on the one circular needle, I cast on 35 with one end of a yarn ball, then 35 more with the other end. Then 35 more on the second sock, dropping that yarn and taking up the first strand of yarn, cast on the last 35 sts of the first sock.

I then knit 3 x 2 ribbing for the legs of the socks - 8” - changing yarns every 6 rounds. When I got to the heels, I completed the heel flap by knitting back and forth on one sock, then picked up the sts on one side of the flap. Then knit the heel flap of the second sock and picked up the sts on the sides of its heel flap.

I could then knit around both socks again doing the gusset decreases.

I’m now working on the feet.

At stitching yesterday I continued work on Clovis. I mis-counted the stitches at the top of the apron and had an extra one. This threw off the symmetry of the head so I added an extra stitch between the eyes and will continue with an extra stitch all the way down that column. 

It shouldn’t be too hard to add that extra stitch to the apron - the floral design isn’t symmetrical.

I was relieved this morning to see the election results. The polls favoured a Liberal win but polls can be wrong so I waited until this morning for the final results. I heaved a sigh of relief as I believe Mark Carney has the cojones to deal with the president of the country to our south. 

All day I thought it was Wednesday so I got some yard work done so I could put out the yard waste for the Thursday pickup. Then I looked at my watch and discovered it was only Tuesday.  One more day to collect stuff around here to throw out. 

I cleaned out a cupboard in preparation for my upcoming kitchen renovation. When I have to clear them out for the demolition, I’ll just pile the stuff on my dining room table, set up the microwave oven on the dryer, and do my dishes in the laundry room wash tubs. One task this week will be to buy the new sink, faucet, and see if I can find the new refrigerator I need.

Jen1 is returning to work after what I’ve been calling her ‘sabbatical’ - time off from work for our travels and last weekend’s guild retreat. I’m having her and the other stitchers over on Friday afternoon for some stitcherly fun. Saturday is the guild’s stitch day so I’ll get to see most of the folks I missed seeing at the guild retreat while I was at the Hobby House retreat.

Hobby House Retreat

One of my favourite stitchery designers is Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers. When I heard last year that Hobby House was offering a weekend retreat featuring her and Beth Twist from Heartstring Samplery, I signed up right away. Unfortunately it was the same weekend as our Trillium Guild retreat so it was a tough decision.

Considering the authoritarian regime currently in the US and animosity towards their neighbour to the north, there was a bit of concern about what I would experience crossing the border. However, I figured an ‘elderly woman’ on the way to an embroidery retreat wouldn’t trigger any alarms with the border official. At the duty free shop, the salespeople outnumbered the shoppers. The decrease in Canadians traveling to the US was evident. I was able to drive right to a border official - no lineup at passport control. Then I made my way to the I-90 eastward to the Rochester area. 

Once I arrived in the area, I went directly to Hobby House to do some shopping. I bought a couple of fabrics that would be possible candidates for the Stacy Nash Animal Cracker chart, Clovis, that I wanted to start at the retreat. 

Just inside the door was an array of charts just released at Market 2025. I grabbed the Spring Floral Sampler by Sweet Wing Studio. 

I did some more looking around and spotted a couple of things some of my stitcherly peeps might like. Jen1 liked this chart.

Hobby House has been at their new location for about a year. It is spacious and houses needleworks, quilting, embroidery, and wool felt supplies.

Through the doorways on the right is the quilting area and through the doorway on the left is the fabric room - shelved by designer.

There was quite a lineup at the checkout counter.

A shuttle bus ran continuously from the stitching venue - Woodcliff Hotel and Spa - and the shop. On my way out, Lynn from Washington was the sole person waiting for the bus so I gave her a lift to the hotel.

There were almost 300 stitchers in attendance so we were located in the event centre - a big tent to the left of the hotel.

When we entered, we could see most of the tables were filled but there was still room at the back so we found seats there. It turned out to be a good choice because there was lots of natural light. 

There were 30 tables with 10 seats each. 

Brenda from ‘Brenda and the Serial Starter’ came by our table and chatted with Lynn who had previously met her at another retreat. I snuck a photo.

I got started on my Clovis project. I believe he is a cross-dressing badger (kinda like Dame Edna). He looks very dashing in his dotty dress and floral apron.

A woman at the next table gave each of us our choice of project bag. I loved the one with flip flops all over it.

It even had a little flip flop charm on the zipper tab.

Such cute fabric!

Someone else gave us these smaller zipper bags

which contained a hand-dyed Classic Colorworks floss and some Treasure Braid.

Someone else dropped off a scissor fob for each of us.

One of the ladies at our table gave us each a little treat bag.

We stitched throughout the afternoon. Dinner was buffet-style, offered several items, and was delicious. I tried a little of everything: penne in a tomato sauce, breaded chicken, Caesar salad, bean and sausage salad, and a sausage. Dessert was a strawberry shortcake.

I didn’t stay much into the evening to stitch. I hadn’t had much sleep the night before - I was just too excited - and tired from the drive and all the excitement. My room at the nearby Holiday Inn Express was very comfortable.

The next morning was the big reveal of the collaboration between Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery and Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers.

The patterns were based on love letters between Revolutionary War hero and founding father of the United States, Henry Knox, and his wife Lucy. They are three pillows oriented vertically,

which, when stitch vertically in sequence form a long bell pull.

We received the two charts, a 9” x 36” piece of custom, hand-dyed fabric, and Hobby House zipper bag which contained the required flosses.

Buffet lunch was also provided - hot dog, burger patty (I only took half of one), baked beans, roasted potatoes, macaroni and lettuce salads. Dessert was a selection of gourmet cookies. Another delicious catered meal.

After lunch I went back to Hobby House to do more shopping.

This velvet strawberry caught my eye. The ‘seeds’ were HotFix jewels. Poppy asked me to get her the Lady Dot Creates velvets for the project.

For myself, I picked this up.

And a kit 

To make this little wall hanging. It involves making lots of half-square triangles, quilting, wool felt appliqué, and buttons.

At the checkout, I admired the sampler on the wall. After watching Brenda and Laura’s video today I learned it is a Hobby House Press design, ‘Dasher and Dancer Quaker Sampler’. 

I’m not sure I want to stitch something that big, especially something seasonal but when I checked their website, I noted a smaller one, called ‘Merry Christmas’. It requires 3 skeins of floss stitched on 40ct with one strand. AND it’s available by .pdf.

When I got back to the event centre, we each had received an Anabella design of the Hobby House Landing building.

At dinner time, Lynn and I went to a nearby Mexican restaurant, Adelita’s, and I dropped her off at her hotel. I then headed to my hotel for a relaxing evening. 

This morning there was nothing formal planned at the retreat other than open stitching. The brilliant sunshine encouraged me to skip stitching and just start for home. I had a couple of interesting podcasts going and made good time. There were only 2 booths open at the border so it took about 15 minutes to cross. I noted most of the licence plates were from the US. 

All in all it was a fun weekend incorporating many of my favourite things: a road trip, stitching retreat, good food, stitcherly shopping, comfy lodgings, and a mental break from life.