Billboards got you down?

"Baby's just a little bit tired of the city,
Billboards and [edit] got her down,
Seems like you need a little hill country,
A little back roads driving, little bit of the old top down

Yeah, everybody gotta get away sometime,
Forget about yourself for awhile,
Seems to me that all you need is a ragtop car to ride with me...
Okay, all right, heaven only knows what's gonna happen tonight,
I'm okay, I'm all right, carry on"

Pat Green

I'll admit, I got spoiled by my company's stellar vacation policy in November and December. Due to a stacked combination of office closings and personal vacation days, last week was the first 5-day week I had worked since before Thanksgiving...which made that 5-day week seem like it lasted, oh, a millenium? Even though I'd only been back from New Years for less than two weeks, I was already well in need of a vacation.

Lucky for me, there's a lovely little holiday in mid-January called Martin Luther King, Jr day where we get a 3-day weekend. At first blush, the long weekend may seem too close to the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years holiday season to truly appreciate, but NO! It is, in fact, perfectly planned to give you a break as you try to ease in to the cold, wintery, major-holiday-less months.

To celebrate the weekend, Sarah, Lauren, Michelle and I planned a little outing to the Poconos. I don't really know much about the Poconos except that they are in Pennsylvania and that my roommate, a native Pennsylvanian, said they're kind of hokey. I'm thinking they're a Southerner's equivalent of the North Georgia mountains, like going to Helen or Brasstown Bald. However, regardless of the Poconos' cache, or lack thereof, we set out Saturday morning in our rental car, iPod blasting Beyonce and Justin Timberlake, for Bartonsville, PA for a trip out of the City.

I must say - it was a fabulous weekend, start to finish. I love New York City more than anywhere in the world, but sometimes it's just nice to get a way and relax. We drove (recall, Sarah drove. I would rather eat walk on hot coals or even broccoli than attempt to drive a car in Manhattan) our little Ford Focus station wagon an hour and a half out I-80 and promptly arrived for a rainy, gloomy weekend in the Poconos.

It was a perfect three days...full of talking, outlet mall shopping, playing cards and board games, reading, eating junk food, watching chick flicks and several hours of 24 (ps Life doesn't hand Jack Bauer lemons. Life asks him which fruit he wants), and sleeping in. We stayed in a cute little home on a foggy lake, and on Sunday, we didn't even leave the house for as much as a trip to the car. Monday, on our way out of town, we ventured to Target, a stop that would obviously make even a weekend in Siberia perfect. I don't think I've laughed as hard as I did this weekend in a long time...I would share the jokes, but I have a feeling they won't translate from the lazy girls' weekend to blog writing. Let it just be said that our local town directions began with "go right past the gun shop," we got a parking ticket, because, as we all know, if I am within 4 feet of a vehicle, a ticket will be somehow be involved, and we played a board game called Would You Rather? that prompted us to poll all of our guy friends on some very interesting topics. All in all, the weekend was just what I needed, and a sweet reminder of the wonderful friends I am blessed with. :)

Now, how long 'til Presidents' Day?