The Whirlwind Tour

As expected, the holiday break was a blur of activity from the moment I touched down in Rochester. I didn’t get home until after 1am on Christmas day and immediately passed out until it was time to go spend the holiday with the family. Grandpa Stich had pneumonia so he was in the hospital (See? I told you someone is always in the hospital in Christmas!!) but he was released a few days later with a clean bill of health. In an attempt to save myself from lugging back a million things to France, I got a lot of experiences for Christmas this year, which is fine by me. I’d rather go somewhere and do something than have more things that I don’t know what to do with anyway. And peanut butter, because you just can't get that in France.

For my birthday, I went out shopping with my mom and Stefanie, my brother’s girlfriend. Hooray for girly times! Jason had promised to come up for my birthday on the 26^th in spite of the epic blizzard that was dumping a foot of snow or more all over the mid-Atlantic, and by God, when that man makes a promise, he's going to keep it. It took him 10 hours to make a trip that normal takes 5.5 (probably less with Jason's lead foot) but he made it. (The LeBaron almost didn't and was in the shop for the next three days but it got him there in one piece!) I couldn't think of a better birthday gift than to be reunited with the love of my life. I think we just held each other for the rest of the night and it was beautiful.

Since the weather ruined any plans I had for going out, we pushed the birthday celebration to Thursday and headed over to the Tap and Mallet in downtown Rochester. The more I hang out in that city, the more I enjoy it. I spent the longest time there that I've ever spent anywhere and yet I still don't feel like I know it at all. It's because I was never an adult there. If you asked me to tell you a good place to eat or go out or get a good book in the city of Rochester, I couldn't tell you and that makes me a little sad, actually. I don't know if I could live there forever, but I am ever more intrigued by it every time I'm home.

I told my mother the only thing I wanted to do over the break was spend time with family and eat good food, so she got some people together at my aunt and uncle's house and we got take out from Dinosaur BBQ. I ate until I couldn't eat any more and then still tried to pack in some more pulled pork. It's hard to find good BBQ in France so I was making up for lost time. We watched Christmas Vacation (the only Christmas tradition we have managed to keep for as long as I can remember) and drank some beers and it was exactly what I had hoped it would be.

And speaking of quality times with quality people, it was awesome seeing a bunch of friends from home and even a few from college who happened to be in the area. I felt truly fortunate to have such quality individuals in my life, even after all these years. The great thing about great friends is that you will always be thrilled to see them, even if you haven't spoken or seen each other in ages. Hearing about the wildly different but incredibly inspiring paths all of my friends have taken since we were young gives me hope that maybe our generation isn't totally lost. There are some amazing people doing amazing things out there and I am lucky enough to call some of them my friends.

We spent a really nice weekend in Waynesboro with Jason's family: guitar lessons with his dad, shopping with his mom, a beautiful dinner at this killer tapas restaurant in Frederick with his sister and her boyfriend... After hearing horror stories of in-laws from my married friends (and, you know, society in general) I was terrified I would have a similar experience but mine has been completely the opposite. They have welcomed with open arms and made me feel like I've been there all along. "Of course you belong here. You're part of the family." Once again, luckiest girl in the world.

The last leg of the trip in Baltimore was the icing on the cake. Quality one-on-one time (*WINK!*) with my man? Check. Lazy day on the couch doing nothing? Check. Fabulous New Year's Eve party, complete with classy outfits, champagne, fireworks display viewed from the roofdeck, and a dance party? Check. Catching up with the old crews at Xpose and school? Check. Mani-pedi from Living Social I forgot I had? Check. Epic Bon Voyage party with everyone I have ever known and loved in Baltimore? Check and check.

Holy shit, did I just spend a holiday break doing exactly what I wanted to do and no one got hurt in the process? Christmas miracles really DO come true! Best holiday break ever.

Must have been on the nice list this year.