Between wrapping things up at work, spending time with my parents, and a day trip to NYC, last week flew by in a blink of an eye. I am definitely focusing on slowing down this week and savoring every minute here (especially since I don’t get to come home as often anymore!)
Regardless of all the craziness, being back in Poughkeepsie for the first time in over 7 months makes me appreciate all the little things I never use to. When it snowed on Wednesday, I was so excited and jumped at the opportunity to shovel the entire driveway myself, something I dreaded as a kid. 😛
Seeing Christmas lights on houses = happiness. One HUGE disappointment about living in SF is that there is virtually no holiday spirit!
The best part of my weekend was having Michelle come up from NYC to visit!! We do a great job at the whole long-distance thing (thank GOD for voice memos!), and so seeing her for the first time since moving felt like we could instantly revert back to our comfortable, silly selves since we were already caught up on each other’s life stuff 😉
First stop was dinner at our favorite sushi spot, where we would go before all of our proms ❤
It was snowing in Po-town which was the perfect excuse to cozy up, open a bottle of wine, and watch Legally Blonde 😉
Little sissy got home from my first semester at Cornell on Friday so she joined the fun 🙂
We slept in the next day which was much needed before our packed day ahead. But first, sustenance at our favorite breakfast establishment – IHOP! Fun fact: we’ve gone to IHOP after every one of our New Year sleepovers the past 5 years.
We then hit the mall for some major shopping. Michelle got several new items for work (she is starting a new job after the new year and I am so excited for her!) and I stocked up on some jackets/tops for SF weather – I still feel like my wardrobe is heavily skewed for east coast weather so it’s a work in progress.
After shopping, we drove over to Michelle’s alma mater, Vasser College for a relaxing, winter-y walk. Vasser is hands down one of my favorite spots in Poughkeepsie, and I make an effort to visit each time I’m home. It’s still the most beautiful college campus I’ve ever visited to this day – the colonial-style buildings, foliage on the trees, big lake and open space…just beautiful.
We had a little photoshoot by the lake 😛
Afterwards, we warmed ourselves up over coffee at Starbucks and pursued around the book store. Then we had some dinner at home before it was time to send off Michelle. The two days were filled with all of our favorite hometown activities and I wish she could have stayed longer!
The weekend ended with seeing Lindsay, my neighbor and best friend since 5th grade. We went to our favorite diner for desert on Sunday night where she dropped the news that she is moving with her parents to Florida next week…I was so happy for her but also pretty sad that she won’t be in Poughkeepsie anymore…I always look forward to seeing Lindsay whenever I’m home and it was a bit scary to not know when we will see each other next.
Despite some sadness, seeing Lindsay completely hit home for me. We talked about her reasons for moving and it truly seems like the best decision for her stage in life. A lot of it reminded me of how I felt before moving to SF. She is relentlessly on the hunt for complete happiness, and I felt inspired talking through our goals and dreams for the next year.
Between seeing my closest friends last weekend in NYC and as well as Michelle and Lindsay this past weekend, it’s been a bit difficult to constantly say “goodbye” – Lindsay was probably the hardest yet. BUT, I know that it’s not the end and I’ll definitely see those that matter again. In fact, I randomly ran into Lindsay at the mall today, so I’m sure life will bring us together often and soon ❤
Lastly, I ran 24 miles last week! My favorite route at home is 6 miles so that seems to be my happy spot right now. After CIM, I’m giving my body a break but also trying not lose too much fitness over the holidays.
Hope you have a WONDERFUL week! 🙂
I Run Like A Girl 