Good Times in Asheville.

Many moons ago my parents dropped me off at the University of Tennessee. Only three hours away from my home town and high school, you would think that I would have known people there. But I didn't. After only being in my dorm a few hours that changed. Randomly, I met a girl in front of my dorm. We were from the same town and even knew a few of the same people. A few days later we made another friend, Mary.

Somehow, someway the three of us survived college together. We lived together for several years. We bickered. We laughed. We partied. We studied. All the usual things college girls do.

Fast forward to this weekend. It's been twelve years since we met. No. Thirteen years. Surely it is not fourteen... God help me. Where has the time gone?

Anyway, Jen lives in Atlanta now where she works, is happily married to her college boyfriend and has two adorable kids. Mary lives and works in Asheville, North Carolina where she just bought her first house, is dating a great guy and has a super cute pup.

We don't all get to see each other as often as any of us would like but we are all still tight and know how to have a good time. As evidenced by this past weekend. It's going to be a while until I'm fully recovered, I think.




Last week right after I returned from my summer in Maine, Jen and I headed to Asheville to visit Mary for a long overdue girls weekend.

We had no real plans. Other than to have a good time and hang out.

And eat.

And then eat some more and not worry about calories.

Everyone knows that calories don't count on vacation.

We went by Mary's boyfriend's glass studio to see where the magic happens. 

The man is good. I've got lots of his work in my house. You can check him out here.

We went to, what felt like, every bar in town. 

Of course, Mary knew everyone everywhere we went. The cafe owner. The bartender. The boutique owner. The record shop guys. The homeless dude in the middle of the road. 

She's like the mayor or something.

We also spent some time checking out her new house and hanging out with the BF and pup.

Seeing as they've been dating for like four years, I figured it was high time I meet the guy. 

I had a blast with my girls. It was just like it has always been. We chatted a little about old times but mostly we talked about mortgages and kids and boys and nothing in particular.

I'm thinking that we're going to need to make this an annual event.

Officially Back.

Yesterday morning camp officially came to an end. Eight summers down. How many more to go? Probably a lot, if I play my cards right.

TC and I packed the car and headed out. After a quick stop for breakfast he dropped me off at the airport. He needed to get on the road to head back to Canada and I was due to fly back to Atlanta yesterday evening. It was going to be a long day at the airport but I was armed with free wifi, my laptop, my iPad and my iPhone. I figured I could kill some major time simply by catching up on two months of blogs and Facebook.

My plane was overbooked so obviously I quickly volunteered to take a later flight. I'll do anything for a free hotel and a few hundred dollars in vouchers. It was looking good too. In fact, the Delta lady had just called the hotel to book my room when the maintanence guy gave us the bad news. My flight was delayed due to a problem with the tire. Just like that, half the plane was re-booked on different flights and I was stuck waiting another two hours. I watched my dreams of a glorious hotel room and free flight go right out the window.

I found myself sitting at the gate again. Eventually, the tire was fixed and I boarded the plane. I thanked my lucky stars that I had the forethought to bring along a fleece jacket to double as a pillow. I was out cold before we even taxied down the runway.

Thunderstorms plagued the sky all through New York and Virginia. I took a free glass of wine and dozed back off, letting the turbulence and wine rock me back to sleep. By the time I woke back up we were just outside of Atlanta.

So here I am. Back in real life. No more big red bell to tell me when I need to go to the next place. No more dining hall to feed me. No more lake to play in. No more kids to take care of.

Now I have full access to my phone, my car. I will sleep in air conditioning. I have to decide what to eat every day and then actually prepare the food. I have to choose my clothes. Bathing suits won't cut it any more.

I've got big plans for the next few weeks while I'm in Atlanta. Tomorrow my college roommates and I are heading out for a long overdue girls weekend. My sister is coming home next week. We might go to the beach. I might go to a Phish show. I don't know. It doesn't really matter.

What I do know, is that I'm going to love every second of it. I'm going to enjoy the south and sweet tea. I'm going to spend time with my parents. I'm going to have long talks over wine with my best friends. I'm going to exercise. I'm going to blog and tell you all about the summer. It was a good one. You'll like the stories, I promise.

Almost Back to Reality.

You know that camp is almost over when we have a lobster feast for dinner. 

It's all over tomorrow, folks. Lucky for you, my regular blogging will resume later this week. I'm sure you're excited.

There is a lot about camp that I'll miss, but there are definitely things I'll be happy to return to. Like a regular shower. And air conditioning. Ya know, the little things.

The next few days will be a whirlwind but soon enough I'll be down in Atlanta for a few week visit.

See you in a few days!