Fall PA Visit

Last week I took a mini-vacation home (to York) to see my family. I like going home for a few days in the fall because, well, we don't get to experience much of a fall out here. This trip coincided with me being off school for Columbus Day on Monday and my friend from high school getting married on Sunday afternoon in Spring Grove.

I left school at lunchtime on Thursday and was so glad to get out of there. Last week was Homecoming Spirit Week and Thursday morning was the dreaded (for teachers) pep rally. I was more than glad to be getting the heck out of there pretty soon after that ended. I took a personal day on Friday so I flew out of Phoenix on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Baltimore late Thursday night.

Friday morning I got a short run in....amazing how it was supposed to be my "easy" day and considering there are no flat runs by my parents' house....it wasn't that easy for me. Jen and Blake arrived and then Jill came over. Jen, Jill, and I headed out to lunch and then a bridal shop for Jen and I to try on bridesmaid dresses. We found one we all liked (it is gorgeous) and then stopped by my grandparents house for a visit. We sampled some homemade apple cider, some homemade green tomato pie, and played a few hands of canasta with my Grandma, Pap, and Grandma's sister. Then Mom brought Blake up and we played with him for awhile, then went home to have dinner with Dad, Joy, and Andrew.

Saturday, I got a 12 mile run in on the rail trail while mom biked with me. After a shower and lunch, Mom, Jen, and I headed down to the outlets in Gettysburg to do some tax-free clothes shopping and grab dinner. On Sunday morning, we took Blake to the nursery at church because one of my oldest childhood friends was on nursery-duty and we wanted to see her and have Blake play with her son. We made it out to "real" church in time for communion. After lunch and a nap, Jen (who was my date for the wedding) and I got ready and then left for the wedding.

The wedding was at a church in the town where our old high school was. This is a town that is home to a large papermill. Which smells. Really badly. It was a gorgeous fall day and a nice wedding, but....the paper mill smelled especially bad on Sunday. Or maybe I'm not used to anymore (I can't believe it, but I actually once was). Anyway, it smelled. My friend looked beautiful and the ceremony was nice. After the ceremony we had 2 hours to kill before the reception so we headed back home and let Blake play with the bubbles (see picture above). Then we drove into York (Heritage Hills Resort) and went to the reception. Jen and I were at a table with 2 other girls I graduated with and their husbands. We also saw one of my old soccer coaches (from senior year in high school) and few other people I went to high school with. The reception was nice but I was definitely missing my usual wedding partner (no offense, Jen). There was no one forcing me on the dance floor with his usual "Oooh, The Twist! We HAVE to dance! I'm really good at doing The Twist"...


Monday morning came too soon, as the Tillinghammers packed up and left for their home, aka, The Meeting Place of the Bear, and Joy and Dad headed back to work. Mom and I decided to shop in Hunt Valley before lunch with my other Grandmother. I didn't buy anything, as my suitcase was already jammed with stuff I had bought on Saturday at the outlets. We had a nice visit with Grandmom and then Mom took me to the airport.

I was happy to get back to Keeper and Onyx but sad about leaving my family (as usual). Good fall trip and I can't wait to go back again at Christmas time :)

NYC Weekend

Last weekend, Keeper and I traveled to the Big Apple for his step-sister's wedding on Saturday night. We flew in to Newark late Friday night, took a car into the city, checked into our hotel, and met up with the last few stragglers who were still out drinking after the rehearsal dinner at a bar in the Village. We had a few drinks then stopped at a diner for a late-night tuna melt (we didn't get dinner on the plane). I love the city that never sleeps!

Saturday morning I got to meet up with my college girlfriends (sorority sisters). Four of them live in the city, one lives right outside the city, one came down from Boston for the weekend, and another one drove in from PA with Jen. We went out for brunch at a place not too far from Keeper and I's hotel. It was so great seeing the girls and catching up. We have some new Pi Phi legacies on the way in 2010!! Congratulations to Sarah and Emily on their pregnancies!!!

The wedding was held Saturday evening at Battery Gardens in Battery Park. The ceremony was outside (very chilly but being right on the water, across from the Statue of Liberty was priceless). The cocktail hour and reception were held inside the restaurant. It was a super-fun wedding. We had a great time dancing and seeing Keeper's family. We went to the after party and met up with some old friends of ours after the wedding. We decided to hang out in our hotel room and ended up staying up way too late. The lack of sleep + wedding shenanigans definitely caught up with me on Sunday and I was not feeling so hot. Luckily by the time our flight left, I was ok and we both slept the entire flight back to Phoenix.

It was a busy, whirlwind weekend but we were both so happy to reconnect with family and friends in New York. It was back to reality when we landed in Phoenix at 7:30pm and the temperature was 102. Yikes.