Happy Girl's Day!!!

I have been planning a "girl's get-away day" since February. I had been feeling a desire to "get away" and spend quality time with a good friend. My friend Christy happens to live only about 3 hours away from me, so I thought it would be fun to drive up to see her and spend a fun day doing girl things. She just had a birthday the middle of April, and mine is coming up this week-end, so it was a combined "birthday" celebration, sorta.

So the day came, bright and early! I left around 7 a.m. and after getting gas, and redeeming my coupon for a free chicken biscuit from Chik-fil-a for breakfast, I was on the road! I really enjoyed the drive, to be honest. It is such a pretty time of year right now...everything is so green, and there are blossoms on the trees, and flowers popping up here and there. It was very pretty.I was able to drive along with my radio turned up as loud as I wanted, and I could sing along as loud as I wanted too. It was great. And, funny thing, some of my very favorite songs came on, and that made me happy too.



I got to Christy's house around 10:30, and then we were off for our day of fun! We went downtown to a market area with shops and restaurants. The first stop was a Nebraska Gift Shop, where we wandered about and looked at all things corn. I saw a few things i thought Logan would like, and I finally settled on a popcorn on the cob thing. He LOVES popcorn, and I knew he would get a kick out of it. I was soooo right! He loved it! He carried that corn cob around with him all day Sunday, and even wanted to take it to church with him. I finally let him pop it Sunday evening before bed. It was fun to watch, but it ended up burning quite a bit, so we didn't get much out of it. Oh well.



One of the things I love about Christy is that she thinks I am funny, and laughs at me. I don't know why that makes me happy, but it does. When we were looking around the Nebraska store, I saw a book about tornados. I picked it up and started flipping through it and said "Oh, I should get this. I could put it on my coffee table" And then I said "but, I don't have a coffee table" and Christy started laughing so hard she snorted. It was great. Of course I was cracking up too by then, and she said "you made me snort and you haven't even been here an hour yet!" It was good times. A great start to a great day.

Our next stop was the licorice store. It was cool. They had all kinds of licorice from all over the world, and they would basically follow you along and ask if you wanted to try any samples. I am not usually a big black licorice fan, but I have had Finnish black licorice, and it was alright, so I was willing to try some. I even tried some salt licorice, which I didn't even know was such a thing! I bought some licorice to bring home for my family, and then we headed to our next stop.

We went in a really neat store called Ten Thousand Villages They had a lot of really pretty things, but the one item Christy and I both got really excited about was a super cute turquoise colored ring from India. We purchased them as a souvenir of our "Happy Girl's Day" and sported our bling proudly the rest of the day. I love it!



We finally had lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant...I am always up for Mexican food, and stuffed ourselves silly. It was so yummy!





After our adventures out and about, we headed back to Christy's for her Hershey Bliss Chocolate party/and Open house to raise money for Autism Speaks. Her son has autism, and Caleb's Walk for Autism Team is a way for them to generate awareness and funds for Autism Speaks. She was selling cards and other handmade items as well as simply accepting donations. Visit her blog if you would like to help her reach her goal.

I finally headed home a little after 6 p.m. I was very tired, and decided to get a "beverage" to help with the 3 hour drive. I stopped at Sonic, and got a chocolate coke. I actually liked it! I made it home with only a slight mishap. I missed my exit to get on the right freeway home, and got confused in the meantime, and had to call Tony to help me figure out how to get home from where I was. I didn't want to drive around the loop, or else it would take me almost another hour of driving! In the end, it only took me about 30 minutes longer. Arrghhh! Oh well. It was a fun, adventurous day, and really needed.

When I got home, I checked my email before heading to bed, only to be faced with yet another drama, which made me want to get back in my van,turn around, and head back to where I was. That's life, I guess.

The good thing is that I have another girl's week-end planned for June 6-8 in KC with Christy and anyone else who wants to join us! And then, two weeks later,I am having another girl's reunion with some very good friends I haven't seen in a while out in Utah. Those events, combined with seeing family, will be a very much needed break from the craziness going on around me right now. I can't wait!

Thanks Christy, for the very great "Happy Girl's Day!"