Girls Weekend

I had the pleasure of joining Laura and Umy this weekend in Philadelphia! Umy and I live near or in Philadelphia and Laura hails from Chicago. We stayed in a comfy and clean hotel downtown and no one had to cook or clean. We just rested. And slept. And talked. And ate.

When we planned this, we were trying to figure out what we were going to "do". My expectations were this: I wanted a salad and I wanted a glass of white wine. Anything else was just icing on the cake!

Umy and Laura are friends of mine from the University of Pennsylvania. I met them my Junior year when I transferred from Muhlenberg College. We became close friends fast and all stood up in each others weddings. When our 10 year college reunion came up this May, we decided that it wasn't really going to be TOO fun eating hamburgers and hotdogs on campus with a whole bunch of people we didn't know. All for a $40.00 picnic. I started "operation alternative Penn reunion" and it was a blast!

We had not seen each other in over three years. I was pregnant with Seren, and Laura was pregnant with Joshua. Three years later, we added Wyeth and Laura is expecting her second. Umy already had her two older boys. Despite the fact it had been three years, we left off where we started. And that was laughing.

We got together and talked until midnight the first night. As three very sleep deprived people, we couldn't believe we were up that late. But I felt a great energy from being with them- so much that I couldn't go to sleep! The rest of the weekend was spent chatting, eating and walking.

I felt totally refreshed! Umy asked me some good pointed questions about my life dreams. Questions like, "So what is stopping you!?" Good friends ask those sorts of questions. Questions that get you thinking. And I fell back into my story telling days- stories that made both of my friends cry tears of laughter.

Leaving on Friday, I battled intense guilt. I cried all the way down to Philadelphia. And on Sunday, the guilt crept back in. I worried about pumping enough. I worried about missing them. I worried about poor Sam's energy! But Sam and the kids had a blast too!

Can I just say, there is NO way I would have been able to do what Sam did this weekend. He took them grocery shopping on Saturday- going to all three stores. Then he took them to a park in NJ. THEN he took them Strawberry Picking. After nap, he took them out to dinner! All by himself. HELLO!? Sam is my personal hero.

In short, the weekend was just what I needed!

Thanks you guys for being good friends! We all need time away from the routine and time to remember all that is great about life! (pics to be posted later when I get them!)