boston, ma: effortless

Although I just spent a week in Boston in May (click here), I was fortunate to head north and spend this past weekend in Boston again. I flew up Friday night, worked Saturday and Sunday in Portsmouth, NH and then flew home after work Sunday night.

The great thing about my job is that I have friends everywhere and get to see them more often than I otherwise would!

As I waited for my friend, Erin, to pick me up at my hotel, I grabbed a drink in our lobby bar with my co-workers. I was so excited to see Erin, as her and I used to work at a marketing agency together. I worked in our San Diego office, whereas Erin worked in our Boston office. We shared a client, worked extremely closely with each other and have had to fly to many events around the country together. My favorite one was a professional soccer conference in Baltimore where we met Brazilian soccer players. I had just met Bryan at the time, but we had fun with our new group of friends playing beer pong until the bar closed.

After hopping in Erin's rented zip car, we drove into the city, where she lives, and ate dinner at Joes American Bar & Grill, a local chain that has the most divine crab cakes, overlooks the harbor and a busy people-watching sidewalk, plus pretty pink drinks - my kind of place!

After dinner with Erin in the North End she wanted me to meet her boyfriend, so we walked over to West End Johnnies by the Garden. Oddly enough, our old office used to be on the very street that Johnnies is on, so between The Harp and the 7-Eleven, it was a major trip down memory lane. 

Next up, I walked past my old companies office down to the Garden, hopped in a cab and headed off to my hotel for a late night drink in my lobby bar with my friend Jessica, who was meeting me there at 10:30pm. Jess and I were on tour together this past April and May. Needless to say, it was awesome seeing her, laughing about relationships, talking work and nitpicking each others idiosyncrasies.

I'm so happy that I was able to fit in as much girl time as I did on this work trip. I feel so fulfilled and blessed with the friendships I've made over the years. Many of my best friendships began as us being simply co-workers. It's amazing how many great people work in my industry!

I was thinking about where I was in life when I first met Erin - I was 25 years old, single, living downtown in a big city... I met Bryan while I was friends with her... She heard me complain non-stop about how I didn't like him... Then he and I went out on the road together... Next thing you know I'm married to the guy, living in North Carolina... in suburbia in a home we built with our little sweetie pie, Cali. My, my how life changes. But the thing is, life may change. We may grow. Get older. But if you remain true to who you are, friendships can withstand these life changes. And from my perspective, it doesn't even always take effort, as some of my most cherished friendships I have are effortless.

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2 year anniversary :: May 22, 2012 :: Tree Top Vineyards

Switching gears -- This is going to sound totally wild, but Bryan and I haven't seen each other for 3 weeks. 3. whole. weeks! This is by far the longest we've gone without seeing each other, and I just thank my lucky stars that I've been so busy - In these 3 weeks I've been in AL, CA, NC and MA. Get this, Bryan's been in ME, NH, MA, CT, NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, MO, OK, TX, NM, AZ and NV... twice. Yes! He's been in all of these states twice in 3 weeks. Talk about busy!

He comes home to Cali and I this afternoon and I can not wait. I'm seriously on pins and needles. I'm picking him up from the airport in a few hours. In preparation, Cali went to the groomer today so she's lookin' fine. But what about me... What do I wear? How do I style my hair? Do I smother him with kisses or let Cali tackle him in baggage claim for the both of us? Feels like falling in love all over again...

I give so much credit to our servicemen overseas and the ladies they come home to -- You all are apart for months, years and might only get 2 weeks of time together in between -- Always keeping those home fires burning and sanity in check... effortlessly -- You are my hero!

Bry and I literally have no plans for tomorrow. The 4th of July is usually one of Bryan's favorite holidays, but this year we're just so excited to be together that we don't care to have plans -- being together is all that matters.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!