Some stars aligned this past weekend. Sam has been in Spain with his family since Tuesday, Nonna & Papa had to be at LAX on Saturday afternoon, Dad had plans for his annual boys golfing trip at Northstar, and Mom was off work (almost) for the summer. Time for a (partial) Family Roadtrip!
My paternal grandparents and mom came down to visit on Friday. Nonna & Papa hadn't been down to visit since Sam and I moved off-campus last June, so they were overdue to see our new living situation. I was really happy they arrived early in the afternoon on Friday, and lucky that I was able to take the afternoon off and spend time with them. We spent a lot of time relaxing and playing with Hunter, and just enjoying each other's company. On Saturday, they got to watch some of Hunter's obedience class before heading up to LAX to pick up my cousin Ali. She was moving into her new housing at UCSB where she is transfering in as a sophomore.
Mom bought some new hanging plants for our patio after we finished up at Petsmart, and then she treated us to pedicures at this relaxing little nail salon I found with Amy in the fall. She and I continued our time together meeting her good friend, Lori, for dinner. They hadn't seen eachother in at least 6 years and it was really fun hanging out.
Sunday we drove up to Manhattan Beach and met Margaux for lunch at The Strand House- OMG it was an AMAZING view and the food was excellent. (Note: I had, and really enjoyed, my first ever lobster roll.) After lunch, we met up with Carrie who was fresh of the plane from her adventures in Europe and it was so good to see her. Obviously with today's technology we'd been able to see eachother via video chatting, but we hadn't done it as often as either of us would have liked and I was love overdue for a hug. That evening we Skyped Dad and Max, and stayed up late talking about life lessons and being the person you set out to be when you're young over a bottle of lovely Wente wine.
Monday I took the day off of work and we shopped and lunched at Fashion Island. It felt a little like we were pretending that we were wealthy Newport Beach socialites, and there were plenty of them out and about! After lunch we ran a couple of errands and then headed home to do the last of the cleaning and packing. Sam and Justin were able to FaceTime us from Sam's new iPad and I'm very happy to report they are having a grand time in Mallorca. Then, the weekend was over. Hunter and I dropped Mom off at the airport, called Dad to let him know she was on her way, and then went home and didn't quite know what to do with ourselves. In no way am I projecting my emotions onto my dog, but Hunter was pretty subdued and bummed that our house guests were gone.
Thankfully, Ryan arrived last night for his weekly 2-night visit and he will be with us until Sam gets home Thursday night. I am really glad we've been able to see him so much these last couple of weeks, it is almost like being back at UCSB senior year... only now we head off to work instead of class, and our afternoons aren't filled with beachtime. I suppose we're officially grown-ups now. :-)
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