Reunited...and It Feels So Good!

I can't believe how far behind I've gotten in my blogging! My goal for today is to catch up (in a few installments). Going way, way back to Thursday, May 21st...that was the night of our monthly Third Thursdays party. This month we had a Bloody Mary bar so people could make their own drinks as spicy (or not) as they wanted. Ironically, Tomkin--who doesn't drink--usually ends up playing bartender. I try to fit the foods to the drink somehow--this time around, I tried to serve foods that were red or reddish. Guests spilled out onto the new patio, which was awesome. Our neighbor Lucas had come into some hats when a neighbor friend of theirs died, so she brought one over for Tomkin, which was very cool. Marcus and Helena both brought friends along--I always love when we get to meet fun new people! All-in-all, it was another wonderful night with friends.
On Friday, May 22nd, I picked up my friend Kristen (she stayed at a hotel in downtown St. Paul). Hard to believe that the last time I'd seen her was in June 1992 at her wedding. Since then, she's been living in Arizona, and she now has six kids! I was pretty amazed how easy it was to just hang out again--it was a little strange, after all those years, but really it was just wonderful to see her again. We went back to the house, and she got to meet Tomkin before he left for a wedding rehearsal. Then we went to Pizza Luce for lunch and started catching up. We went back to my place and looked at photos for a while, and then we headed over to Heidi's house for a girls' night out. Sarah was already there--it had also been 17 years since I'd seen her! (She lives in Colorado and has five kids.) We all gathered around the table to eat and catch up, then we relaxed in the living room, looked at photos, and talked. We eventually made our way to the Sage Wine Bar, where we spent a couple more hours eating, drinking, and chatting. It was really fun to hang out with these wonderful old friends again. We've all known each other since junior high!
On Saturday, everyone (including husbands) came over to our house, and we had a picnic of Mexican food out on the patio. Of course I had to drag out my old photo albums, scrapbooks, and yearbooks. Heidi's husband, Chris, and Sarah's husband, David, got a kick out of seeing photos of their ex-cheerleader wives! We all just talked, hung out, and relaxed for a few hours, which was wonderful. Then Sarah and David had to go (they were splitting their vacation time between friends and family). Tomkin and I took a nap, and then he headed to a wedding. After that, he spent the evening with his friend Pete. I picked up Kristen, and we got dinner at Mango Thai (delicious!). Then we headed to Cafe Latte for coffee and dessert. And, once again, we just sat and talked for hours. After 17 years, there's a lot to catch up on! After I dropped off Kristen, I headed home, and Tomkin and I hung out on the porch for a little while.

Sunday the 24th was another beautiful day. Kristen was hanging out with her brother, so I relaxed at home with Tomkin. We took Chloe for a walk and spent some time out on the front porch. We both signed up for Twitter. (Like I really need another time-suck on the computer!) I've gotten into it more than Tomkin has, following celebrities and getting lots of dish. That evening, Kristen, Heidi, and I met up for dinner at W.A. Frost. I thought it was funny that we all ended up wearing black-and-white! We started talking about when our next reunion should be. Kristen and her husband might renew their vows for their 20th anniversary in 2012, so we're thinking that maybe we'll go down for that, then spend a few days at Sedona. I definitely don't want another 17 years to go by before we all see each other again! We had a delicious meal--I ordered a hamburger, because that's what sounded good to me. Felt a little silly getting a burger at W.A. Frost, but WOW was that a good burger! We all got dessert, too. I definitely ate more than usual over the weekend--but it was totally worth it! I dropped Kristen off at her hotel, and then I went home and relaxed on the front porch with Tomkin and Chloe.
Monday morning I drove Kristen to the airport. Then Tomkin and I spent the rest of the day (which was Memorial Day) as our Sabbath. I was telling Tomkin how challenging it still is for me to drive around this city (it's not laid out in a grid pattern like Chicago, so I find it very confusing). He's so sweet--he ordered me a GPS device for the car. (Flash ahead a couple weeks--the GPS has arrived, and it is awesome!) It was another gorgeous day, so we took Chloe and headed to Lake Como for a walk. We saw a lot of amazing birds, including a blue heron, a bunch of ducklings, and a red-winged blackbird. We also saw a muskrat scurry by, which made Chloe very excited! We went home and read on the porch, took a nap, then exercised to "So You Think You Can Dance," which felt great. Then we watched some TV and read. What an amazing weekend!