Stay in bed. Hunker down under the covers. Read Sheila Heti's How Should A Person Be? and highlight the passages that you feel specifically apply to your life. Eat too many cookies. Let your cat lick your face clean, but stop her when she tries to groom your eyebrows.

I'm sharing my cottage experience to make you feel better about the long weekend no matter your plans. Because if you're going to a cottage, you'll be making enduring memories of special time spent with family and friends. But if you're not, you'll be saving yourself an untold amount of aggravation, revulsion, and cash.

During a long weekend in Toronto, everything here seems to slow down, calm down, and allow for maximum staycation bliss. So, what's on my agenda? Breakfast. Well, breakfast bars to be exact, and these chewy tropical treats are just the thing to fuel me through a long to-do list. Plus, the recipe will leave plenty of leftovers to pack for the road, and snack on all week long!

By: Jackie Davis Good news, cottagers: 2011 was packed with research and technology breakthroughs that may, one day, help in the battle against...