#54/101

This is part of my list of 101 things in 1,001 days!

#54- Visit a friend in another state

Last month I went to visit my dear friend Alyssa in Minnesota! It all happened rather fast.
Emily and I were texting one day, and since I was on my commute home, and it takes me an entire episode of This American Life to get home, I figured I would call her instead
Calling people: it's a thing.

So we got to talking and catching up as old friends do, and it was rather nice! Later that night, Emily text me around 9:00 p.m. and said that Alyssa would be alone on her bday that weekend because her husband, a pilot, would be out of town flying. Emily said that she was going to take a road trip and head up to see Alyssa. Welllll, I didn't get that text until around 11:00 p.m. that night, and after some support from my husband in helping rearrange plans, I decided that I would go too! Emily and I have both been saying that we wanted to go see Alyssa and the house she just bought with her husband, and that visit was long overdue so it seemed perfect!

I slid out of bed, threw some stuff in a bag, and then went to bed. The next day was Friday, and I had to work, but shortly after dismissing the kiddos, I drove to Emily's new house to meet for our road trip :D

On a totally separate note, Emily and Joe are doing so much awesome work on their new house. When I stopped by to see it for a quick tour, they had just painted a beautiful gray, and were going to be getting the floor done that weekend! (I saw it in person and it's gorgeous!!)

Sooooooo I left my car in Emily's driveway, along with my wallet and ID....though I didn't know that until about half way through Wisconsin. smh.

It was a super pretty and easy ride! Mostly because of the company, but also because there was a ridic sunset as we were driving. It was so nice to chat about life, try new snacks, and have a throwback with my girl. And the best thing? That what was the whole weekend was like!!

When we got to Alyssa's house, it was pretty late at night, but we got a tour and stayed up and chatted, duh. We met her doggie, Maverick, and then got ready for bed.

The next morning Emily and Alyssa were already up (surprise, surprise) making coffee and setting out muffins. When I woke up, I got myself some coffee and we sat in all sat in the kitchen together. We chatted about the day's plans, and decided that we would go to Stillwater and walk around downtown because they have good antiquing, and good food! We got coffees at Caribou (miss that place!) and went for a beautiful drive to town.

{Mug that matches my soul}

You guys, Stillwater is adorable. It's right along the river and has all of these old mill looking buildings. Totally picturesque. We went into basically all of the antique shops they had to offer and found a ton of cool things! I wanted to buy it all. It all. After a few hours we got some lunch at a place that was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives called Smalley's and had their sweet potato fries, and chicken wings. They were soooooo good. The decor was fun too- totally pirate from floor to ceiling.

 

We moseyed on back to the car stopping here and there, and enjoying the weather. Then we headed back to pick up Alyssa's niece and go to dinner with her in-laws to a really good place called Doolittles. The food is amazing, and it was nice to sit outside as the sun set and visit with Kevin's family that is taking care of our girl out there! After dinner we went back to Alyssa's house and walked through the neighborhood and down the street to a cute little bar where they served me a drink off of a picture of my license that Joe took for me since I left my entire wallet in IL....heh. To the bartender I was like, "I'm 28 I promise. I have a picture of my passport that my husband sent me. Or here's a picture of my license that I left back in IL when I decided on a whim to drive 6 hours to come see this girl for her bday!" And the guy gave me a glass of wine, yyyyyyeeeeeeeaaaaaassssssss.

Then we strolled home to Alyssa's, chatted some more all snuggled on the couch together (duh- it's not a girls weekend without some kind of snuggling) and then poured into bed.

The next morning we drank coffee in the crisp weather on Alyssa's porch with the sun shining and the birds singing deciding where to go for brunch. The place we went to was all mason jar-y and cute and we ate outside and took a picture before Emily and I had to hit the road to be back at a decent time on a Sunday before a full work week. We hugged, and cried, and laughed, and then hugged and cried some more because it was such a nice weekend and no one wanted to leave. Alyssa suggested a different more scenic route home that was a wonderful choice, and Emily and I started the drive. (Emily is such a trooper btw. She drove that whole thing.)

{Morning coffee on Alyssa's porch- TAKE ME BACK!}

{The drive home}

When we got back, Tommy was there with Joe and they were working on some things for the house. Emily's parents were also there helping. We all checked out the new wood floors (OMG) and then got dinner at a place nearby that they liked. We ate it outside on their porch on a makeshift patio table and chatted with Emily's parents and about the trip. It was perfect. Tommy and I said goodbye around 8:00ish, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep on the ride home, lol.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I mean, though I had a lot to say about the weekend {See Above, ha} I really cannot put into words what it was really like. What's it's like to have such friends. What it's like to engage in some of the most meaningful conversation I ever have in life. What's it's like to truly have people in your life that you are yourself with. That's what this girl's weekend was. In a nutshell. A very big, very happy, loving and fervent nutshell.

Love your girls fiercely and always!