Blessed

There is just something about flying back home that is just so amazing...seeing places I haven't seen in a long time, being in California itself is just a feeling I can't explain and I don't think anyone can really understand unless you live out of state and then go back, and of course seeing people you haven't seen in months or almost a year! I had been looking forward to this trip back home SO much and had imagined how it would go in my head and I have to say besides my mom not being there of course, it was absolutely better than I even imagined it would be.

I took a 6am flight from Rochester to JFK, had about a 3 hour layover at JFK and took  a direct flight to SFO and arrived at around 2:30 in the afternoon. I especially love flying into San Francisco because I can see the city as I fly in and it makes me so happy and always just brings a smile to my face. My step dad Darren picked me up since my mom was in Michigan and we drove home...a long 2 hour drive home. There wasn't even that much traffic besides one construction spot in Pittsburg but it just took forever and felt like forever after being on a plane for 6 hours. We eventually made it though around 4:30pm and I pretty much just relaxed and watched tv that night and was falling asleep by 630 haha. I was able to see my step sisters Syndey and Kendra and the new addition little Lilah (A tiny little white Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix puppy) so it was nice to see them. I went to bed around 9 and was out by 930pm...pure exhaustion. Even though I am able to sleep a little bit on plane rides, I had only gotten around 3.5-4 hours of sleep that night before flying so I had little to no sleep. Thursday I had some errands I needed to run and also wanted to get a mani/pedi since it had been so long and I was going dress shopping so of course I wanted pretty nails! :) So, I took my time getting ready in the morning, made myself pancakes, and set off to 8 mile around 1030 to pick up a few last minute things for the diaper cake that I made Laura for her baby shower. I did all of the shopping first and then went and got a mani/pedi. I seriously need to start doing them more often it is such a simple pleasure that makes me feel so much better every time. So, by the time I was done with all of that it was around 1pm and I figured...hey I am in California I can't NOT get in and out so thats what I had for lunch and boy was it yummy! After I got home and finished eating it was time to conquer the diaper cake! It took me awhile to roll up and rubber band all of the diapers I needed to build the cake, but once I had those all rolled and figured out how to secure the bottom layer the rest was pretty easy. I am SO glad my mom had a hot glue gun because it would have been borderline impossible to assemble that thing without one it made it so much easier. The cake took me about 3.5-4 hours to complete because I had to figure out where to place everything and how to attach the onesies and stuff but once I figured out the best way to that it was just so much fun placing everything and seeing the finished product. I absolutely loved making it and can't wait till the next one I can make! I think it is such a fun and creative way to give little gifts and it made for a great centerpiece at the shower. I wasn't the only one who ended up making a diaper cake though (which was kind of a bummer in a way LOL ) her old cheer coach made a cake AND a bike so she totally outdid me but Laura loved mine too ;) We were joking about how that should be my side business in Rochester and even just in general it would be a good way to make money and it's something that is SO fun to do so I will definitely have to keep it in mind and spread the word to people who have friends having babies or baby showers or even bridal showers to attend. Who knows maybe I could actually make a living off of doing something like that and I could work from home hello DREAM job!

Anyway, Thursday night Darren took me to dinner at good ole Lucy's (where my mom works) and we shared a pineapple upside down cake drink (which was amazing btw) and he also talked me into getting ice cream...so yes I had in and out, sugary drinks, and ice cream all the day before I went wedding dress shopping haha! I don't want this post to be obscenely long so I will do separate posts for dress shopping and the baby shower days, however...during the whole time I was waiting in the airport in SF, the whole flight back to NYC and all of this time I have been sitting here at JFK I just keep reflecting back on my always too short trip back home and just honestly feel overwhelmed with joy and happiness. It literally brings tears to my eyes thinking of the AMAZING memories that were made in such a short amount of time. I just feel so truly blessed to have SUCH amazing friends, such amazing friends that we can go months and almost a year without seeing each other and we just pick up RIGHT where we left off like we  just had lunch together the day before. Friendships like that do not come around often and neither do the people you share them with. I love each and every one of them so much and I could not ask for better women to not only be by my side on my wedding day, but to be by my side for the rest of my life. It is such a blessing to know that although we all live so far away and all have our own lives and issues going on, we can still come together and have the BEST time with the very limited amount of time that we have together. And not only that, but the fact that the girls had never met each other (besides Laura and Laura but haven't seen each other in YEARS) and you would never know because they all were talking like they have been friends forever and to be able to sit back and watch that seriously made my heart melt and made me SO unbelievably happy to know that those are the women who are going to be with my on my wedding day and through out this whole wedding planning process, the same women who have been by my side for years already and for many many more years to come. They will all never know how much their friendship means to me....the WORLD! <3