Girls Weekend

This past Friday (Veteran's Day weekend) we knew our friend Kellyn was coming to visit for the weekend.  She said she was going to be in Orlando for work and was going to drive over after her meetings for a long weekend.  I was thrilled -  since I never know how often we're going to see each other it's always exciting when we get a chance to catch up.  Apparently, unbeknownst to me this was actually part of a larger diabolical plan…  Kellyn, Michelle, and I met years ago when we all lived and worked together in Sarasota, but since have all gone different ways with Kellyn in Birmingham and Michelle in Atlanta.  Apparently it was all a ruse as Kellyn and Michelle had been conspiring to drive down and surprise me (I had no idea Michelle was coming too - or that they were coming just for me and the beach, not for a work trip).  Wade was in on it and I was really impressed that he kept the secret so well because I was utterly surprised and screamed like a girl when they both showed up at the front door. :)  Well done ladies, that is my kind of surprise!  After being in the car ALL day on Friday we had a Mexican feast waiting for them (courtesy of Chef Wade) so we all stuffed ourselves before turning in early.

To top it off, Michelle and I had been talking earlier that week about the baby stuff she was putting aside for us and she was able to keep up the ruse.  So the car they drove down had a back seat full of maternity clothes, baby clothes, and stuff that her adorable 2 year old Gus was done with!

Saturday we ate our way through the Farmer's Market, then headed out to Pass-a-Grille (a first for me) to check out the little shops, stroll the beach, and enjoy some music.  We had so much fun and getting some sun and exercise felt great.  Saturday night we got our TV antenna working (after much experimentation) and were able to get the big Alabama game for Kellyn so we had a night of college football, pizza, and snacks (Wade's favorite part of the weekend!).

Michelle, me, and Kellyn capturing our love of the beach at Pass-a-Grille. 

Nothing better than french fries with a view of the beach.

Sunday we enjoyed sleeping in before taking a lovely walk down the waterfront to our neighborhood park then came home and had lunch in the garden.  We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging with the chickens and reading in the garden soaking up some fresh air and sunshine.  All weekend Wade was amazing and kept us well fed so we left him to his own devices during the day to bum around as he pleased.
Monday morning we had breakfast, and went for another quick walk before the girls packed up and headed back north.  I was so sad to see them go, but so grateful to have such thoughtful and caring friends in my life.

That night the Girls Weekend continued with our monthly neighborhood "Girls Night Out" or GNO.  I usually do November and put out a s'mores bar for everyone to enjoy around the fire.  The plan was to hold it early enough in the month so that our friend Katie could still join before having her baby, but she went into labor and ended up having the baby right before we started the evening.  Lisa had the great idea of getting us all together before we wrapped up for the evening to send Katie a "cheers" picture welcoming her new baby boy, McGee.  It was a fun night and a few of my friends from outside the neighborhood also came too - it was a lot of fun and the perfect way to cap off an already incredible girls weekend!

Cheers to Katie for giving birth to her baby boy right before s'mores night started!

Philly

The last few days of October I was in Philadelphia for a work trip to conduct some interviews for a program evaluation I'm working on.  I stayed in the historic part of town and mostly walked to my meetings at the nearby National Park Service offices.  While I was in town I even discovered a gluten free bakery and enjoyed some fresh baked bread and cookies which was a real treat.  I was able to eat fairly well while I was there, so that was a relief - there was a local food restaurant, Farmacia, between my hotel and the park offices,  that became my go to place.  It also helped that I packed a lot of snacks and oatmeal packets for breakfast!

One of the days I drove out to Valley Forge National Historical Park for one interview and got to enjoy a little time in the park after my meeting.  I wandered the visitor center and did a quick loop around the park road to take in the fall air (chilly!).  Below is one of the landmarks in the park commemorating those who fought for America's independence.  

The National Memorial Arch was constructed in the early 1900s to commemorate George Washington and the Continental Army's stay in Valley Forge.

The building to the right was Washington's headquarters during the perilous winter of  1777-8 when the Continental Army was encamped at Valley Forge.

Since this was technically the little lady's first national park visit I stopped and got her a little t-shirt in the visitor center to commemorate the trip, as well as a book for Wade on how to camp with kids.  That reminded me her second national park unit will be the Virgin Islands National Park in December, so I'm hoping we can find her a little onsie or something there too!

It was a cold week in Philly, but I was happy to get back to work after waiting out the government shutdown and was thankful I could make it home just in time for Halloween.  I also realized that I'm going to need some maternity work pants because I barely fit into any of my old dress clothes for this trip!  I have to go back for a day to do a final presentation of my findings in January, so I'm going to have to figure out something to keep myself warm (hopefully a jacket will still fit!).