I'm back!
I went to LA for the (self-imposed long) weekend. Needless to say, I had an enormous blast. For a while there, I actually remembered what it felt like to have a life outside of the house. I remembered how we used to go out all the time - with measly budgets to boot. And, by gollywow, I realized that I can still - more or less - dance!
LA is alive. It's buzzing with life in all shapes, sizes, colors, and languages. It was such a sudden change from all the Dutch blondes and blue eyes of Grand Rapids. We went to Target first thing after landing and I heard all sorts of languages whizzing by me.
And the sun! Ah, the sun! The SUN!!! I cannot tell you how much I loved the sun.
THE SUN!!! If only for that, I would've stayed forever.
But. I realized I'm too Country Mouse now for LA. Haha, but my brief foray into the world of glitz and glamor was fun.
More than anything else, though, I was most happy to see my girlfriends. I've been friends with the same set of gorgeous girls for 14 years now (gasp!). We've been through
everything together. You know those movies they make about women and friendship? We practically own, produce, and are the posters for that. And I'm not even bragging as much as I'm being truthful.
Here at home, I am daughter-slash-Ate-slash-wife-to-be. With my friends, I felt free for a while. Not that being daughter-slash-Ate-slash-wife-to-be is bad. I happen to love that role. But for a long while, I was a girl again, with friends who know me literally inside out and I felt like an attractive person again. Haha :-D.
Shopping, dancing, eating - but the best of all was during day 2 of my bachelorette bash. We were having a Slumber Party (cute
namin, diba?) and I started crying, just letting out all my frustrations and fears and basic happiness with everything going on in my life. I haven't been able to do that since coming here. We three were in bed huddled in blankets and they just hugged me and let me cry. These girls have seen me go through everything and I've done the same for them and it was so rich to be in that moment when it was about everything in the past, present, and future and we'd know we'd still be there for each other.
I feel so fantastically blessed. I have all these beautiful people loving me. And I love them. And we will all live happily ever after - and just in case we don't, we'll still be here.
Joepi, Joyce, LP, Joanne, Joy, Jean, Eedee, Jana, and my darling Sara, I love you all so much!
