I couldn't wait for July to get here, and now the month is just days from ending. It seems as though the summer months operate in double time. I had eleven days off from work and the time flew by!
David, Mom and I drove up to Indiana and met Dad in Ramsey. Our trip started on the road. We spent 12 hours driving from Arcadia to Jackson to Memphis to Nashville to Louisville to Ramsey. Finally we made it. We spent the first evening in Ramsey and visited with Gramps, Granny and Dad.
On Friday we got up and made our way to Bloomington, Indiana. I am pretty sure this is the United States best kept secret of an amazing place!!!! Aly is living there while Matt (her hubby) is finishing his Masters at IU. Matt is currently out of the country. Aly met us for lunch at this place called Bloomigfoods. It is like a Trader Joes, Central Market, Whole Foods type place. The food was fresh and amazing! Please make a note, it was July 15 and we all sat outside on the patio to eat LUNCH and no one broke a sweat! How incredible is that?!?!
Aly works just a few blocks from Bloomingfoods, so after we finished lunch we walked back to her job and got to see where she works. Pretty cool. After she went back to work, Mom, Dad, David and I drove around the city. It is so green. Just envision a smaller, less hot version of Austin, Texas. Are you in love yet? I am!
Anyway, the next thing on our list was visiting the campus. I had an appointment with the IU School of Law. All I can say, is that I would give anything to go there! I am working hard to finish my Masters with a 4.0 gpa, so hopefully I will have a chance.
After we finished touring the school and walked around the campus, we walked down Kirkwood. We found a local IU college wear shop and purchased a couple of items. David and Dad had to go by the football field and walk on the basketball court while we were there too. :)
It soon was time to meet Aly for dinner. We picked up a couple of items for dinner and headed to her apartment. Her place is super cute and she has it looking great. Aly and Dad made homemade enchiladas that were to die for! She also made homemade guacamole. The entire day was perfect. I was truly in heaven.
Saturday morning, we all got up early and headed to the local bagel shop. From there, we walked over the to the Farmers Market. It was everything you would envision it to be. Before we headed out of town we stopped by Bloomingfoods to pick up a couple of things and snapped this quick photo of me and David.
We had family reunion that Saturday afternoon. It was a great time to see everyone. I wish we lived closer to see everyone on a more frequent basis. It was an overall wonderful time! Later that evening, after dinner we went over to one of our cousins house. Good times had by all.
David, Dad, and Mom all left early Monday morning. I stayed and Aly went back to work in Bloomington. It was an incredible week. I gardened, walked, went to the library, cooked and found this amazing picture of my Daddy!! He was just about 2 years old. Isn't that the most precious picture? I think my grandparents still have that bear too!
After spending the week with my grandparents, Aly picked me up on Friday afternoon. I don't remember the last girl's weekend we had, and I was totally pumped. The weekend started with right to our door delivery of Chinese food. We watched the Business of Being Born. If you have never watched this movie - you should. You should also, take it with a pound of salt. :) On Saturday morning went to the bagel shop and onto the Farmer's Market. I got two jars of peach jam and Aly bought this beautiful Locust Flower.
We did a little shopping at the Bloomington Mall, stopped by Bloomingfoods, and then found a nail salon to get a mani and pedi. Once we were beautified (and they had dried) we made our way to Chiplote and on to the (I swear) world's largest Target!!! It was the most incredible thing I have ever laid eyes on. I love Target and I definitely love the one in Bloomington! At this point, it was like 100 degrees outside so we decided to spend the afternoon in. We curled up and watched Pretty Women and Dirty Dancing. They are still my favorites. :) Aly had just received the Cooking Light magazine for the month of August, and I found this great homemade pizza. We decided to have that for dinner. We ran out to Target to get a few ingredients, and then back to the house. Start to pizza on the plate was like 10 mins!!! Oh, and the pizza was delicious! We bought the crust, and put on Trader Joe's spaghetti vodka sauce, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, spinach and tomatoes. Put it in the oven on 500 for like 5-8 minutes and it's done! For dessert we picked up piece of 3 layer cake from Feast (a local bakery in town) and split it. We watched Center Stage.
That night we were fixing to go to bed and both of us were looking at our phones, texting the hubby's, etc and I asked Aly if she and Matt cuddle. She said they hold hands. I don't know why I thought that was so funny, but I did. I couldn't stop laughing. She rolled over and looked at me and was like "I know you and David probably lay on top of each other to sleep!! So I am not going to ask you if you cuddle." I was like what?? you think we are super cuddly? And she was like "yes, Anna. You guys are serious PDA-ers." Again, I am just laughing. And she goes, "ya, David will kiss you these big sloppy wet kisses and then says 'mmm I love my kisses!'" HAHAHAHHA! It was the funniest thing I have ever heard. So now the joke is "mm I love my kisses". :)
It is amazing what you can learn spending a weekend together. I had an absolutely amazing time with my sister and look forward to the next time we get together. I am already looking forward to it!
