A Vacation of Sorts

I've been vacationing lately- from my computer and from Connecticut.
Here is the lowdown:

After a few crazy weeks at work culminating in preparing the family to head to England for 10 days, I got to have a little break.
I spent the first three days working on Vacation Bible School and a huge HOPE fundraising mailing. Thanks so much to Bek and Heidi for helping paint the VBS banners and to Bill and my parents who helped with a lot of the cutting and folding for the HOPE letter.
I love painting with the gals- we laugh, chat and have moments of artistic genius.

Here are a few pics...

Heidi and her Amazing Trees!

Heidi- our only casualty along the way

Then- bright and early Monday morning (the 26th), I jetted off to West Palm Beach, Florida to visit Erica, my roommate from BBC. It was so good to be with her- calming and soothing. We enjoyed lazy days full of laughing and sharing. I finally saw Walk the Line- what a good movie!! I have a whole new appreciate for Phoenix and Witherspoon! We also saw The Lake House. It was better than I anticipated but the ending is bizarre and leaves you feeling incomplete. You'll understand when you see it. Erica was a huge help in preparing the HOPE mailing with me- we stuffed over 350 letters and took daily trips to the post office to mail them. We did a little shopping. A highlight was visiting Sephora to buy Bare Essentials (you have got to try it!!) and we saw the Jonathan product. A while back I got addicted to the show Blow Out- and watched a marathon one Saturday. Very Sad. We also visited J. Crew in tribute to some fun times in B-suite. Here we are...

It was great to be with Erica's family and especially her adorable nieces. I also met some of Erica's friends and visited her church and school. Now, I can picture them in my mind when Erica shares. It was an amazing week in Florida- I came home refreshed and relaxed!

I returned to NY on Friday and began to get the house ready for the family's return. This meant many loads of laundry- clothes, towels and sheets. I also stocked the fridge/cupboard and all the cleaning supplies. A few extras were thrown in such as getting a flat tire fixed.

Saturday afternoon, Alicia and Matt arrived from New Hampshire for a visit. We had lunch at a little French restaurant in Stamford. The food was delicious, the day beautiful and the company calming. Here are Matt and Alicia enjoying the chocolate covered strawberries we got for dessert...

After, we skipped over to Target to check out the cart escalators. Since it is a two-story Target, when you want to go upstairs, you put your cart on this escalator machine and it rides up alongside of you. It is pretty cool. We wrapped up the afternoon by taking a leisurely drive home and checking out all the awesome houses. After a swim, we grilled dinner and had an amazing time. With smooth jazz playing in the background, surrounded by a blazing fire and beautiful flowers- it was an ideal evening for couples. Sadly, I was the singleton. Sunday, Alicia spoiled us with Homemade French toast. We enjoyed a little walk checking out the plants and houses on our road. Another sensational lunch grilled and more good conversation- so good. A final swim and strawberry shortcake- and they were off. They weren't here for very long, but every moment was full to the brim! I love my visits with Alicia and Matt!

So- the family is back and it's back to the 'ole routine. I'm thankful for some time to get refreshed, both in body and spirit!