April has been great.

I ran my first twenty-miler, headed to Long Island for Easter, celebrated my 24th birthday, ran a half marathon, got back into yoga (namaste), and am now, in real time, sitting with my mom by our hotel pool in Florida, enjoying wine and cheese after an afternoon of hard chilling with my Grandma. 

Yet, there’s more.

This past Thursday, Greatist celebrated its first birthday. I am nothing but impressed, humbled, and incredibly grateful to work with such an amazing group of people, and I was so proud of our team as we celebrated the big day — especially those who have been with Greatist since day one.

And celebrate we did. After a champagne toast (followed by quickly finishing off three bottles…#wearegreatists), we headed uptown to Rosa Mexicano for a delicious dinner of guacamole and sangria (with a side of individual entrees). After a wonderful meal and nothing but entertaining conversation, we parted ways. And as I traveled back to Brooklyn and (not soberly) hopped into bed, I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve: We were going hiking the next day.

It’s a little more than obvious that I love escaping the city and enjoying a good stint with nature. But to do it with six friends…even better! Our trail leader picked us up right at HQ, and we enjoyed a nice drive about 50 miles north, abandoning the city and the smells and the sounds and the rhythms, if only for a few hours.

We hiked around Canopus Lake in Fahnestock State Park while taking in the sights and fending off bears, mountain lions, and other wild beasts (Sorry, I’m in Hunger Games mode.) We did pass the occasional frog, dragonfly, and bird, which was more or less just as exciting. And less life-threatening.

But the fun don’t stop there. After the hike, we drove to the Millbrook Winery to sample some wine and make a human pyramid. (In that order, actually, which is maybe why we decided on the pyramid.) The tasting was super fun, too; one of their white wines surprised me (the half oak, half steel fermented one), and my favorite red ended up not being a cab, but something else…that I forget. But it was great.

Now back to the vino with the madre. Here’s to another nine wonderful days of April!