Happy Sunday lovelies,

I hope you’re all having a good day and had a good weekend. Today my day is lowkey so far, I slept in and then went to a locally crafted maker’s market – what a mouthful! – with my friend Mark, but since it was raining, it was a pretty quick loop around before we went inside Barnes and Nobles. Pretty much since then I’ve been sitting at home and ended up sleeping for quite a few hours in the afternoon. It seemed that yesterday, my busy day of the weekend, caught up with me.

So yesterday, I started off at the UMD Alumni breakfast for Maryland Day, which is always a great time – good food, good drinks, and good company! I really enjoy being back at Maryland – especially at these alumni events where I can meet and bond with other people who still feel a strong loyalty to UMD.

Then a few of my friends and I went to Longwood Gardens. And to put it lightly, Longwood Gardens is delightful! If you’re in the area, I highly recommend you go!

And since Longwood is so close to Philly (well, it’s supposed to be, but with traffic it took us over an hour to get there), we decided to get dinner in the city. I’ve had a strong connection with Philadelphia. It was where I took my first steps independently, it was where I finished the first year of law school, it’s where people who I love and care for very much live.

And being in Philly is always a good time.

But last night at 10pm I went on a walk on the Schuylkill River trail and it was wonderful. The whole world was quiet. I sat on a bench looking at the river and watching the cars go by. I had to go back to the car to drive home but I said, “1 more minute to soak in everything about this moment.” The weather was perfect – it was a crisp spring night, where you could wear a dress and a jacket on top and still be comfortable. The lights were dimmed and the atmosphere was perfect. There were a few other people walking around/biking but nothing too loud or distracting. I just spent a day with some of my favorite people, and it was the most peaceful I’ve felt in months. It was one of those moments that in hindsight, I wish I took my phone out and took a picture, but no phone camera could have captured that moment the way that I was remembering it.

I have said before that there are a lot of “non-moments” that happen in my life that I don’t find significant at the time, but when I remember an event, those are the ones I remember the most. Moments of driving with my friends and road-tripping to a garden, sitting in a bus to go from the parking lot to the entrance, walking down a peaceful street and feeling safe, calm, and happy, having a picnic on the Schuylkill River trail, and having a lowkey drive home.

Little moments that together, create these perfect days that you remember for a long time. Days that, otherwise, nothing of real note happened, other than that you were happy and calm.

I hope this week all of you take some time to pause and really soak in a moment – whatever it may be and however bland it may seem at the time. Take the time to be present in what you’re doing, and I hope you all have a great week ahead.

Until next time,

xo

Sandhya

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