We’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. General Conference weekend is always a nice break to relax, eat good food, spend time with each other and friends, and of course receive lots of great counsel from inspired church leaders. The gorgeous weather we enjoyed all weekend was just icing on the cake.

Our weekend started on Friday night with a trip to a running store on 3rd Avenue for (much needed) new shoes and proper running clothes. They even filmed our feet running on the treadmill in different shoes, then analyzed our gait in slow motion. Pretty cool. We got dinner at Joy Burger Bar on the UES. Much thanks to Robby and Kelsey for introducing us to it last weekend. With custom-ordered, juicy burgers for a very reasonable price, it’s high in the running for our favorite NYC burger joint.

I like the feel of the restaurant, it’s fun. They give you a playing card after ordering, and when the food is ready they call out your card, “7 of clubs!”

Saturday morning we cleaned the church. Literally, Klane and I cleaned the church, by ourselves. Okay, one other sister from the ward showed up. It was awesome. We came home chill out and watch the first session of conference, which conveniently doesn’t start till noon here. Between sessions we went for a run (we’re up to 6 miles on the weekend now), and tested out our new shoes. Very minimal shin-splints for me, thankfully. My old shoes were definitely worn out and my shins could feel it! The run through the park was gorgeous, trees are just exploding with blossoms and it’s quite breathtaking. I decided I had to come back with the camera in the next few days. We got home in time to watch the second session – with chips, salsa and homemade guac.

We went for dinner at a little Italian place just up the street. I was open-minded about trying the clams, but after about five of them I couldn’t do anymore. Too squishy. Klane was more daring and loved them.

The pasta and bread was good though! Nothing life-changing, but it’s nice to know there’s a place to get Italian food in our neighborhood if we don’t want to trek downtown. Afterward Klane went to the priesthood session and I headed to Abbie’s for girl talk and treats with her and Ashley.

Sunday included lots of friends and food. We made the trip up to Washington Heights to join Abbie and friends for a pre-conference brunch. Lots of delicious food and good conversation. We listened to the last conference session on our phones while walking through Central Park admiring some blossoms.

Found the pretty little Shakespeare Garden by the Delacorte Theater.

And later we met with friends from our ward for a potluck Easter dinner. Oh, the amazing things that happen when Mormons combine their culinary powers. Lots of really yummy food (I brought funeral potatoes, there was ham, salads, cheesy veggies, rolls, fruit, dessert, etc). Great to have a nice big Easter dinner, because heaven knows I wouldn’t have prepared a meal that good on my own!

Conference was wonderful, of course. It was all over too fast. One of my favorite moments was when Elder Holland said “when temptation comes knocking at the door, you shouldn’t invite it in for tea and crumpets and tell it to stay a while!” then after a pause, “You shouldn’t be serving tea, anyway!” Well played, Elder Holland, well played. :) But seriously, the talks were so great, and I loved how so many of them seemed to be centered on the Savior. He really is the point of all this, isn’t he? Sometimes it’s easy to forget that, to become distracted by the little things. Especially on this Easter Sunday, as we celebrate His resurrection, it was great to listen to music and talks centered on Christ. I feel renewed and rejuvenated and ready to tackle life with increased faith!