High School Girlfriends...

 

We're not always lucky enough to be in town at the same time, so when I found out that Miss Carrie (Rosevear) Wooley was going to be in Utah the SAME TIME as me...well, that called for a girls night.  We gathered as many BHS girls as could come and headed to Brio for a fun night of chatting and laughing.  I miss these ladies so much, and look forward to living a little bit closer to them soon.

 

Shelly, Carrie and me must have been in the same mood - blue/green chevron.  We had to end the night with a quick picture, and 10 seconds of un-interrupted eye contact. Thanks ladies!

The Lindsay's Take Manhattan...

My friend, Lindsey Pizza, aka, "One of the Lindsay's" came to visit me!  Yay!  I love, love, love visitors, and she was quite the special treat.  Day one she came out to my home where we took her around our town and visited with her sister-in-law who also lives out on Long Island.  Friday, after sending Finnley off to school, I got a sitter and we headed into the city for the next two days.  It was a blast.  We went non-stop, talked non-stop, ate non-stop, and laughed non-stop.  It was a much needed "release" and I'm still feeling its benefits weeks later.

Our day started out at Central Park where we rented bikes and rode the loop, hitting all the must-see's along the way.  Then we detoured over to Levain Bakery so Lindsey could see what all the fuss was about.  She wasn't disappointed.  Who is? 

 

 

 

Next, we headed to Times Square where we picked up some tickets to Jersey Boys, and shopped around until it was time to head to our show.

 

 

After Jersey Boys, which was amazing, we headed to Shake Shack at 11pm.  Linds had never been, and although she's not a meat eater (what!!???) she enjoyed that burger and fries (and shake) as much as me.  We rolled into bed after 1am and of course, kept talking and talking like we were 16 and could survive long days and late nights like it was nobody's business. Wrong. 

Saturday we headed down to Chelsea Market and ate flatbread on the Highline.  We met the most amazing people throughout our weekend.  We would start talking to people, and then next thing you know, we're getting the sweetest email from them.  It happened several times, and literally made our weekend. 

 

We finished our day walking through Washington Square Park, SoHo, shopping Tori Burch knock-offs on Canal Street, eating more delicious food, and eventually training it back to Long Island. It was such a fun, quick, weekend, and I hope we do it again before I move.  If not, we'll just come back together!  Thanks for the visit Linds. 

Back to California...

At the beginning of March, I got to fly out to California with my kids for a whole week!  It had been almost a year since we'd been there and I was so darn excited to be back.  I met up with my mom in CDM for a few days before we headed down to San Diego for the AORN, an annual nurses convention where I'd be working with my sister for a few days.  We had a blast!  My parents watched my kids during the day while I "worked" and then we had fun walking down memory lane at night.  We grew up spending our summers in San Diego where my grandparents had a condo.  One night, my mom, Amy, Finnley and I drove around town hitting all of our very favorite spots.  I loved it.

After a few days in CDM, and a few days in San Diego, I got to go "home" to South Pasadena.  I still feel like that is my home - I did live there for three years, and gave birth to two children there, so it is very dear to my heart.  Plus, some of my very favorite girlfriends live there that I miss MUCHO!  We got together for Megan's birthday at the very yummy HOOK burger in Pasadena.  It lived up to the hype, and I wish I could go back.  After, we enjoyed our $15, hour-long, Chinese massages at Master Wong's.  This place is a hoot, and I always get the giggles when I go.  This time I got the giggles watching Sara's facial expressions as the Chinese man dug into her back leaving her with bruises.  Yowza!  After more food, more chatting, and more fun, it was time to pick up the kids who were playing with Uncle Damon for the night (thanks D!).  

Another highlight of the week was our pirate park playdate in South Pas.  My kids were beyond thrilled to be reunited with their buddies.  It didn't take long for them to pick up right where they left off.  It made me so happy and so sad at the same time.  There aren't many little kids nearby for them to play with here in New York, so seeing them run around with the kids they grew up with pulled at my heart-strings a bit.

There have been so many babies born since we moved and it was fun to finally meet them.  My friend Kate had cute baby Jade (above), and I wish we lived by each other so our babies could grow up best buds.  Isn't she adorable!?

Oh, Dieter and Ally - the cutest little boyfriend and girlfriend around.

My next fun adventure took be back down to San Diego.  I'm not sure how it worked out, but I was lucky enough to be in town the same weekend some of my girlfriends from the early dental school years got together for a girls weekend.  We came in from Oregon, New York, New Mexico, and California for the fun reunion.  We talked and talked and talked the WHOLE time.  We'd find ourselves parked on the couches of Nordstrom, standing in a circle in Forever 21, or sitting at a table in the food court for hours catching up and laughing - hard!  It was so much fun.  

After a yummy BBQ dinner at Phil's, we headed to our hotel where we talked until the wee hours of the morning.  I bunked up with Kate, Lindsey P. and her sweetest little baby Marcus.  Oh man, I didn't want to let his sweet chunkiness go.  He was an angel baby, and didn't make a peep the whole time....for real!

The next morning brought beautiful San Diego sunshine, and an 8 mile run along the boardwalk.  We grabbed breakfast at Einsteins and headed up to Torrey Pines for a 3 mile hike and lots and lots of pictures!

Kim, Alyssa, Kate, Lindsey, Lindsay, Allison (Hailey, pregnant with twins, was waiting up top)

I was sad to say goodbye to these fun and beautiful ladies, but we left with the promise to do it again soon.  I'm going to hold them to it!

Back in CDM, we had fun hitting up the beach, hanging out with Grandma Jan, and eating lots of yummy food.  My mom is one amazing lady and I had the best time with her and didn't want to leave.  Truthfully, if I didn't miss Mitch as much as I did, I would have figured out a way to stay.  I left feeling like California might need to be a higher option for us to live, but no matter what happens, we can always visit.

A big shout out to my mom who watched my kids a bunch that week and allowed me to have one of the best weeks I'd had in a long time.  I love her and miss her bad.  So, that was my week in California - go, go, go and fun, fun, fun!

South Pas comes to Utah...

I'm not gonna sit here and write that everything in New York is hunky-dory.  The truth is, I miss California every single day.  I miss the familiarity, my friends, my neighbors, the parks, the beach, the smells, my walks, the parks, pretty much everything except my teenie-tiny apartment.  So, when a few of my favorites were in Utah in June, I couldn't wait to meet up with them.  We headed to a splash park in Alpine and let the kids do their thing while we caught up.

We laughed at how different the parks are in Utah County v. LA County. I think we got approached three different times for Missionary Fundraising or Scouting Fundraisers....that doesn't happen in CA.  ;)  

Our kids picked up right where we left off, and it was a great day.  I miss my Sara and Megan.  Make sure you guys come visit me!

Keepin' Up with the Dinner Group...

I know I've mentioned our fun dinner group in past posts, but now that we're not-so-newly-wed and instead have 12 kids between us, we still get together when we're all around and enjoy watching our children become just as close as we are.

It was so sweet of Ryan and Hanna to host one in June so we could attend.  Our kids loved swimming (with the dads) and we loved catching up.  The Stringhams cooked up some yummy grub, as usual, and it was a perfect night.

One Last Beach Day...

We went back to California a couple weeks ago for Mitch's graduation.  Of course, I had to take the opportunity to get together with my lady friends and hit the beach one more time.  We had a great time spending the entire afternoon soaking up sun rays and building sandcastles with the kiddos.  I am going to miss these ladies....actually, I already do!

Kate and Beck with their sweet shades!

Kate making Remmy smile.  Her little tongue is always sticking out - so cute!

 Most of the kids.

After a long day on the beach, we cleaned up, ordered some pizza, and partied late into the night.  We just couldn't say goodbye, so we said "see ya later" and made plans to see each other again soon.  These girls made my experience in South Pasadena the absolute best it could be.  I truly value each of them!  See ya soon ladies!