This weekend, my boyfriend* and I got out of town to Atlanta for a night, where we saw The Lumineers, had a lovely dinner out, and generally treated ourselves well. It’s that time in the semester when a break, even just an overnighter, is so intensely appreciated.

*He really needs an alias for blogging purposes. I will have to think of one.

We ate at Two Urban Licks, which has an awkward name but some very good food. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t have a vegan/vegetarian entree on the menu, but they have enough things to combine into a good meal. My omnivorous date also really enjoyed his pork shoulder and greens. I’d definitely recommended this place, but maybe moreso for non-vegetarians. One odd element: they have three or four one-person bathrooms, none of which is labeled “men” or “women.” Customers can use any of them, but it’s a little confusing, especially since you have to try all four doors to check and see if any of them is free. Awkward design and planning, there.

The concert was fantastic. It was in an outdoor venue (part of The Masquerade), which I had been a little worried about, but the crisp fall evening air wasn’t too cold and the band sounded great.

I elbowed my way to the front for a quick photo op, but we spent most of the night about halfway back from the stage, smack in the middle of the sold-out crowd. There were loads of young whippersnappers there, which I take to mean that the band is in fact quite hip and trendy and not that, say, they are a teenybopper band (they are not, in my opinion). If they come to a venue near you, they’re definitely worth checking out.

Now it’s back home and back to business, though. I am currently facing a case of The Late-Semester Bartlebys, where, like the famous literary scrivener, I would prefer not to. Not to what, you ask? Anything, I’m afraid. Work is piling up around me — not in an unmanageable sense, but just in the same way it always does in October and November. When I come home, all I really want to do is lounge on the couch, eat candy, snorgle the dog, and so on. The lure of the late-afternoon nap and/or early-evening beer is hard to resist.

(Current favorite: Magic Hat Hex, a really nice fall seasonal. I like almost everything they make.)

In order to combat The Bartlebys, I am trying to refocus my energy a little more positively. I’m cleaning up my diet a bit and trying to do a better job at my hip-strengthening PT exercises (which should in turn allow me to run more, which should in turn make me happier and peppier). If I can come home and do 30 minutes of PT every day instead of napping, I will call that a success. If I then am inspired to do work-related writing or planning? Or even blogging? Awesome bonus. I plan to post a little more about my efforts in these areas soon. In the meanwhile, do any of you have any tips for overcoming that terrible energy lull at the end of the workday and not letting yourself slip into a couch/cupcake/Octoberfest coma? I try to reserve that sort of thing for the weekend, you know.