Bridesmaids

Sometimes there are friends you don't see for years on end but somehow stay close to.  Anne and I were both asked to be bridesmaids in Erin's wedding, which meant me flying home from Charleston (via Tulsa) and Anne flying in from Germany. We timed our flights to arrive at SeaTac  a few hours apart, with Erin coming in on the Bolt Bus a few hours later. Marcus chauffeured us back to Anacortes. We girls chattered nonstop the entire way home, through a stop at the church, and foosball at the pub - until those of us who were suffering jet lag collapsed.

I love these girls!

The next few days are a swirl of laying up carbon fiber, flowers, dinner with friends, shopping, coffee, rehearsals, catching up, hanging out... all things wonderful and home-y. Anne and I decided that we each need a house, one in Germany and one in Washington. Maybe we'll support it by opening a consulting company that does intercultural business training for German and American companies, or companies that do business in both places :)

Erin and John's wedding was on Saturday. Anne introduced me to Store Grocery muffins for breakfast, and then we were off at a breakneck pace to prep, preen, photo, and get in line. The bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome, and bridesmaids and groomsmen were looking sharp. The reception had good food and so many old friends... After the newlyweds escaped and the cleanup was finished, three of us wandered back home for a hot tub and Dad's Basque-style cider (yum!!) and a movie that we didn't make it half way through. Perfect exhaustion!

I think I had the handsomest date there :)

Anne and I both flew out the following Monday. We aren't totally sure when we'll see each other again, but plans are in the works for an escapade on her side of the pond next summer. After all, now it's my turn to visit!

Tulsa Stopover

I was priviledged to fly home in November for my good friend Erin's wedding, getting to have my friend Anne from Germany stay with me (and be a bridesmaid, too!), and have a stopover with my extended family in Tulsa. Does it get any better?

Luke picked me up in that same old beat up Ford Ranger we rolled in high school. From there, it was the same old routine - cook with C, play with Miss Magoo, shoot guns, plan for when everyone moves back to the beautiful Northwest, build a wood storage rack in the backyard out of stuff stacked in the backyard, walk with Cabree...

There's something beautiful about being with family. The feeling of hanging up your everyday mask at the door, slipping into your lazy day sweats and not brushing your hair, and being free to casually toss your dreams and ambitions against the steady sounding boards of people who truly know you.

Luke and Miss Magoo - I wish I would have waited a second and gotten C in the photo!

a Sunday Drive up the coast

Today I learned that there is a reason that we are always going south to Savannah or east to Georgia, rather than up the coast. I heard all about Myrtle Beach from people in NYC, but really wasn't sure why it was so special... the beaches in Charleston are pretty cool, right?

So, we started driving north. One stop in Georgetown for watery coffee, and on the road again.

Georgetown Waterfront

Turns out, Charleston beaches are missing one thing. Glam. Glitz. Bling. That sun-bleached, faded out, echo of last decade's flare. The entire town had that overwhelming feeling of being worn out by people who were there to use it for their week of excess and then discard it.

Not to say that we didn't enjoy it... not even overt consumerism can ruin that wonderful feeling of barefoot wanders on the strand.