Girlfriends

How do women survive without amazing girlfriend's? I couldn't imagine. In October I took a trip back to Virginia to visit with the greatest friends ever. Remember what life was like before husband and kids??? That was my life for a whole week, except the fact that I do have a husband means all girl's no boys! Rachael flew in from Texas the same day I did and was my roomy all week. Angela also flew in from Texas for the last few days, I do love that my friends are migrating closer to Colorado, but not close enoughAngela, Me and Rachael

We spent the entire week hanging out with friends, eating, shopping, staying up 'til the wee hours in the morning, nonstop chattering, eating some more and shopping even more! You can see that all my pictures reflect these 3 things. It was hard saying goodbye to all the girls, but I know I'll be seeing them again soon.

Day #1... arrive in the evening, check into the hotel, head to Target to get some food and whatever else we might "need", then call Audrey at 10pm to tell her we'd like to come over to hangout. Get to Audrey's, who also has a friend staying there, and I think we managed to make his head spin by our ability to carry on at least 5 different topics in a conversation (including religion, politics, fashion, relationships, ect) and somehow still manage to finish each one at some point during the night. Her hubby Chris was so tired but was afraid he might miss something if he went to bed. I love that he's always up for hanging out with the ladies.

Day #2..... Head to church and get to see lots of friends. We somehow managed to make too much noise, shocking, and ended up in the halls the rest of church chatting away.
Since we were on vacation, we didn't mind breaking the sabbath and stopping off the side of the road to get some "yummy treats" before dinner. We did spend almost 4 1/2 hrs at church (we hit 2 wards).... well inside the church building that is. We then went to visit Rachael's in-laws in Maryland, I was promised it was going to be great entertainment. It was. We then headed back to the hotel and hangout in the spa with some of the girls. No pictures aloud of that get together, sorry!

Day #3...... Rachael wakes up early to hit the gym, I stay in bed! Chris and Greg took the day off to watch kiddos so Audrey and Christine could hangout with us. I hope the payback was good!

I love that Audrey is a huge sports fan and that as soon as she saw the paper in our hotel room, she fished out the sport's section

We treated each other to spa pedicures

Lunch and Shopping at Tyson's CornerAnd more friends and food that night

Day #4..... Rachael wakes up early to hit the gym, I stay in bed! Shop all day at the Outlets with Rachael and Remi were even showing support for Colorado by sporting these Vail shirts. See Rachael's day #5 outfit, she is my fashion diva!
A trip to the East Coast is not complete without a hamburger and fries from Five Guys. It's like an East Coast In-n-Out. There was no holding back on this trip. You could imagine my excitement when I learned that a Five Guys was opening up here in the Springs. I already made a visit the first week it opened!

That night I got to hangout with my friend Heather and meet her fiance! A March wedding is planned in which I hope to make it back for. I am so happy for them, Eric is a great guy. Heather did good and so did he.
Later on we met up at Audrey's and got to spend time with her sister-in-law Sam. I didn't know Sam as well when I lived there, but I feel like I totally know her after reading her awesome blog weekly. Her blog is very entertaining and she's a great writer!
Day #5.... Deja Vu......Rachael wakes up early to hit the gym, I stay in bed! I met up with some friends for breakfast and fell in love with Remi's daughter Sophia, she always was the cutest little girl!

Then head to Reston Town Center for some more shopping and Tracy filled me in with all the latest happenings in Ashburn!

Rachael and Rebeca are total fashion girls. They are a ton of fun to shop with. Anthropology was the most successful shopping for the day and offered a great background for a shopping spree picture!

I snapped this picture in JCrew right before we were told no pictures in the store..... ooops!

That night about 30 of us met up for a girl's night out at Wegman's. Once a month we would all meet up anytime after 8pm. We would often be kicked out at midnight and then continue the chit chat either in the parking lot or at some one's house, depending on the time of year.

Christine and I worked together with the young women in our church. These are 2 of the girls that are now in college. I always loved the "Bond Girl's"




Day #6.......Rachael wakes up early to hit the gym, I'm starting to feel guilty, especially after all the eating I'd been doing, but not guilty enough because I stay in bed.

And the guilt didn't stop me from heading to another favorite spot, Trader Joe's.
The dried pineapple is heavenly.I had lunch with the Kamman's. Two of my favorite people. Zora is a World War II vet, stormed the beaches of Normandy and was awarded 5 battle stars. He pinned on Steve's epaulets when he was promoted to Major in the Air Force. Valerie is the sweetest thing with lots of energy and smiles. It was great to visit with them.

After lunch I headed up to Pennsylvania. It was an unexpected trip. But when Danell couldn't make it back to Virginia, I couldn't come back to Colorado without seeing her, Don and the girls

Day #7...... slept like a baby, didn't wake up to workout and woke up to this view
Don and Danell were our next door neighbors in VA. They were our family. I loved the time I had with them and wish it could have been longer. Being at their mountain home was like a retreat. Just look at these pictures of their property!

Fall was my favorite season when we lived there

This tree is over 100 yrs old. Danell put a cute little face on it, that's Danell for you.

This was the car I rented. The guy working at the rental counter gave me a great deal,

I couldn't resist.

The only bad thing was that it COULD HAVE gotten me in a lot of trouble
I headed back to Virgina that afternoon for our last girl's night out
Our last night in the hotel

And even though the weather was on the cooler side, we of course had to enjoy our last night without the family minivan

One more night of great friend's,conversation and food

And another late night, but we didn't care. I knew I could come home and sleep but I couldn't come home and have these girlfriends.

Day #8.........I actually think Rachael didn't go to the gym that day!!! I spent the morning with Christine and her family and have decided that I have a 33% chance of marrying off one of my kids to hers!

Packed up, checked out of the hotel, returned rental cars, checked in for flights, flew out and landed in Denver where Steve and the kiddos picked me up! I was so excited to see them. I missed them a tons, but it certainly didn't stop me from having one of the best vacations ever!