Soaking It All Up

"Christmas card" is a fun thing I like to
say while taking pics w/o
key members of the family.

My trip home for Mother's Day was great, but it was short, and my extended stay home during the holidays was focused on Christmas and my brother's wedding.

What I really needed was a week back home to soak it all in. Absorb the little things, like eating dinner with my parents, sharing stories. (Um did you know I like to tell stories? It runs in the family.) Being around for potluck dinners and catching up with the friends who know me better than almost anyone else.

I continued the trend on Friday and headed to Houston with my mom. We have a lot of history on that drive on I-10, each summer for as long as I can remember. We'd use that time to plan my birthday parties (duh, they all had themes), discuss the upcoming school year, and talk things to death. This was no exception, although most of my answers about my upcoming Germany Journey were "I have no idea" or "Wouldn't it be nice to know the answer to that question."

Ahhh sweet LITTLE Dolo.

My friend Cabs came over for dinner that night to meet the infamous Dolo. According to her, "he is a great conversationalist," but we already knew that, didn't we?

The next day I headed to my friend Lauren's bridal shower - seeing my little match.mom success story opening pots and pans really brought a tear to my eye. (I decided she'd get plenty of those, so instead I bypassed the registry and got her a taste of NYC...the very same underwear-handcuffing Bendel's bracelet I love.)

She is going to make a beautiful bride.

After a fun day at her fiance's pool (you know you've got a keeper when he's happily willing to spend the entire afternoon with you and your gal pals), I headed back to Dolo's for another home-cooked meal. (This sort of thing isn't normally in our "Grandmother visit wheel house" so it was a nice change of pace.)

There my cousin Alicia came over and told me THE GREATEST STORY EVER, which I'm trying to get her friend to type up for your reading pleasure. (Hint, hint!) And later on her sister Kristen joined us too. The two of them aren't just cousins, they're "sisters in the bond" and also my friends, which of course means they're fun AND funny (and pretty). SO happy I got to see you both!!

I left on Sunday afternoon with a slight tan (woo hoo!) and a week's worth of memories. It was a perfect trip.

...Okay, I realize that telling you about a really great story yet not actually telling you it is such a tease move so I'll leave you with another funny tale in the mean time:

This is what we call the "au naturale" look.

My cousin Kristen (pink mumu) just got back from six weeks studying abroad in Spain. Having not taken Spanish since mid-high school, needless to say she's not quite fluent. This was fairly apparent from the get-go but she was still giving it a shot.

One day she and her roommate were walking around town and went into a store with clothes hanging in the window, with prices attached to them.

The shopkeeper came up to them, and Kristen told her that they were just browsing. She started to go through the racks of clothes and was pretty disappointed by the selection. Not very much was cute, a lot of it matronly.

And plus there was the weird deal that the clothes were all individually wrapped in plastic.

The store owner came over again, you know, speaking in Spanish, and Kristen and her friend assured her they were fine.

Then it dawned on her.

They were at a dry cleaner. Rifling through people's clothes. 


HAHAHAHAHAH.

God I can't wait to live in a foreign country.

Thanks, KK, for letting me share. This is why I love you! Miss everyone already!