Every Sunday, my boyfriend and I work out for close to 3 hours.

We have a circuit: cordless jump ropes, then weighted ball throws, then weight work (which includes squats and curls). Each round varies, our time between each round getting faster as we’ve repeated this workout for months now.

We take Sundays as our prep day: the long workout spills into shorter (by about an hour… and that includes stretching/warming up), focused work throughout the week: lower vs. upper body, arms/shoulders, leg day, etc.(Our rest day from exercise is Saturday.)

And yes, we cook a lot a home. And yes, we enjoy so many treats.

My being out of town led to a usual dilemma: an uneven carton of eggs. We each eat 3 eggs whenever we make a “hot breakfast” (… oatmeal is a hot breakfast, but we don’t have eggs with it. Savory breakfast, then). So what do you do when you have eggs to use? Make a cake.

Two weeks ago, we went to the market and perused the cake mix aisle. And we saw Pillsbury’s “Moist Supreme” variety. Yes, we laughed, but also said “OK that’s the cake for us.” My beloved requested yellow cake, and today was the day I baked it. And paired it with some vegan ice cream. And felt like I was having my own little party. (It’s actually one of my best friend’s birthdays today—so happy birthday, Michael!)

And not for lack of treats: the oven was already set at the same temperature for some cookies.

While we love a Levain cookie, there are times when we don’t want to spend $6 on a cookie. So I’ve turned to Pillsbury ready-to-bake in times of need. And the need this week was for these Oreo studded baddies. They are honestly such a delight. We’re not huge chocolate people, but a chocolate chip cookie is acceptable. An Oreo pieces cookie is very acceptable.

But there was also Saturday, when, after a very late lunch of ground turkey and mozzarella sandwiches and a salad (shout out to Trader Joe’s spinach cranberry complete mix—seriously, the orange vinaigrette is lovely), we wanted a bit of something sweet. Carlos went to Grand Heritage Bakery, and acquired a few treats: a blueberry muffin I enjoyed for breakfast, followed by us splitting an almond croissant and apple crumb danish (which, again, I paired with some ice cream and a quick forkful of salted caramel sauce).

Honestly, this was such a slam dunk of a pairing. The almond croissant was packed with marzipan, and I love a studded almond top. The apple crumb danish was perfectly spiced, the apples warm, the salted caramel added that extra layer of savory sweetness thanks to the salt, the caramel flavor itself added another note of butter and sugar.

Is this me parading in balance? Perhaps. When I look at these pictures I think of the joy, present and future. Of planning. Of enjoying when the whim hits. Of sticking to routines. Of sweetness at the end.

And Now, We Further the Plot: Your Literary Rec

My brain has been lightning lately, in that I’ve been able to devour 300-400 pages over two weeks. (OK so yes, math it out to an average of 150 pages a week.) I split my time between poetry and prose, but the prose has been exquisite lately. I finished my last book on my flight home, and immediately began Lauren Groff’s newest short story collection, Brawler. It had been set out early by the bookstore Baum (aka birthday boy today) and I went to, and I knew it was meant to be. (I’m trying to work through my literal TBR shelf of prose… and another shelf with poetry, which means I should ideally not be buying more books before I get through my other books, but I digress! Again, the treats of the future—why deny myself?!).

Which is all to say: Lauren Groff is one of my favorite authors. Brawler is an incredible short story collection, full of characters that feel deeply realized in “short” spaces. There are ample questions around morality, of care, of balance between our better angels (and darker still). My favorite story changes mostly every day, but one that made feel a guttural, true longing is “Birdie,” where a group of girlfriends gather and discuss “the worst thing they’ve ever done.” The way I felt this story in my chest, the range of emotions and surprise at how everything unfurls… It was truly heartwarming (and reading that description, you would think it wouldn’t be!). It made me want to grab my best friend’s hand and have us sit together in silence, just being us, knowing and loving all the versions of ourselves that we’ve encountered and have yet to encounter still.