annual ladies week

Every year around this time I take a week off and go visit Alie in Portland.  I'm lucky and thankful that John makes this possible for me and even encourages me to do it when it feels too hard and there is too much kid stuff happening.  So I book my tickets and get really excited to go until about a week before the trip when I start to worry about all the schedules and the baby and the meals.  I think to myself that this is the worst idea in the world.  I shouldn't be going any where.  Everyone here needs me and without me the whole operation will crumble!  But then, every time I go I remember why it is that I do this.  To reconnect with myself and feel that euphoric freedom that comes with eating when I want to eat and sleeping when I want to sleep and not having any little peoples needs to think about.  It is so liberating and relaxing and so so much fun. This year was especially cool because our sister in law Jenn came with me and we all had the best time.

Although the night we arrived at Alie's house I felt a little nauseated and figured it was just motion sickness from our very turbulent flight but then I threw up all the good food we had eaten for dinner that night.  The next day I felt horrible.  Really tired and feverish and nauseous.  I ate like 2 bites of Alie's food at Little Big Burger and then I couldn't even stomach the thought of an ice cream at the Salt and Straw which is my favorite ice cream place on the planet.  

I felt horrible but it didn't stop us from shopping though!

And getting a mani.

The next day Jen introduced me to Alka-Selzter cold and flu tablets and it was a game changer.  It was cold and rainy all day but I felt like skipping down the streets.  My one week off wasn't going to be ruined by some stupid flu after all!

We went to a bunch of Goodwills like always and found some awesome treasures to squeeeeeze into my suitcase.  We ate everywhere.  Such AMAZING food.  We saw a couple movies and then would come home and get in our jams and watch more movies with take-out on the couch. At the end of our trip we spent the day in downtown Portland and even stopped by our old apartment.  That window on the bottom left was our bedroom.

These were our front steps where I spent hours talking to John on the phone while we were long distance dating.

We had such a fun walking all over downtown Portland.  Then that night John had found us a really cool little hipster hotel right by the waterfront.  We walked to the coolest restaurant called "The Picnic Basket" and each got an entree and then split them 3 ways.  Oh man, that meal..... Then we came home and painted our toenails in bed while we watched "Parenthood".

It was such a fun and special trip.  We loved having Jen with us and we wished all our sisters in law could have come.  I wish Alie lived closer but our yearly week of shopping and eating and laughing makes up for the distance.