St. Louis recap, friends, and family

Well, it’s been a week and I’m finally back to blogging. I needed the break from the computer and instead tweeted a lot from my iPhone. Now however, I need to blog and am ready and excited to be back

First off, Dan’s family invited us over on the 20th to have our Christmas day with them. As usual, it was a blast! Dan’s family is great and I’m so lucky to have them in my life. Much congrats goes out to his brother and sister-in-law who just bought their first house! Anyways, they completely spoiled me for Christmas. My FAVORITE gift was actually their “gag” gift for me: a leopard print snuggie which I FULLY intend on wearing for New Years Eve. It’s also awesome for long car rides. If you want to know everything I received just let me know and I’ll dedicate a post to it My parents also spoiled me this year too! Everything was completely unexpected and SO NICE

On Tuesday night, Dan and I piled up my little car with all our stuff and headed out. We stopped in Pittsburgh that night, slept a few hours, and then kept going to the midwest. We arrived around 2 pm on Wednesday. It was SO nice seeing my sisters, my brother-in-law, Liam, my mom, her husband, and my grandparents!

Wednesday night, after a wonderful home-cooked meal by my mom, I went to a bar called Sub Zero and met Heidi from Fabulous in STL and Jenn from Living Life.

These bloggers are as awesome in person as they are in real life! As soon as we met, we couldn’t stop chatting about everything under the sun. The bar was great too and the drinks tasted as good as they looked!

On Christmas Eve, I went out for a run around my grandparents cute little neighborhood which I’ve grown to love. It was freezing and raining all through my run and I came back completely soaked, but I did it. By that point, I hadn’t run for 5-days because of all the snow in DC holding me back. After my run, my mom and I went for a 30-minute speed walk around the same neighborhood. My mom is FAST. She used to be a runner herself (for about 25-years) and now she walks for medical reasons. It was a tough walk for me considering I just ran in the freezing cold! However, I wanted to go anyways because I cherish these walks with my mom. It’s our time for gossip and reflection all while getting a good workout. By the time we arrive back to the house, my legs were sore. That was the only exercise I got while I was in St. Louis but I still ate to be my best – regardless of my activity level.

My favorite part of my trip was hanging out with my little nephew. It’s hard to believe that he went from this:

Christmas, 2008

To this:

Tired after a long Christmas day!

Opening presents with his great grandma

Tickle time with his daddy!

…all in one-years time. Wow. He’s also incredibly smart! He learns names and objects so quickly! I’m always impressed by what comes out of his mouth. What’s hilarious is that every time he drops something, he says “Daw-nit.” My mom said, “I wonder where he learned ‘darnit’!” My sister and I both glare at my mom… SHE says it all the time! The kid’s a sponge I tell ya.

I LOVED hanging out and seeing my amazing sisters! They have truly become my best friends. Growing up, we fought all the time and now it’s rare.

Melanie, me, and Valerie

Having Dan there was the best ever

My beautiful mother.

For presents this year, my sisters, Nate (brother-in-law), Dan and I did an exchange. It was kinda goofy considering it would be easy to figure out who had one another but whatever. We didn’t care. I had Nate and bought him the new Super Mario Bros. Wii game:

He liked it just as much as he liked his Smurfs DVD last year

Hahahaha! He cracks me up with his photos. Gotta love him

**UPDATE: I just realized that Nate is wearing the same outfit in both pictures! Haha!**

Nate had my name for the drawing. When I opened my gift, at first I was perplexed. Then, I realized what it was: a new Cutco knife! It’s an all-around knife that I can use for many things! I can’t wait to cut vegetables and fruit with it for salads.

When all was said and done, Dan and I drove back to DC. It took us 14-hours total and was absolutely dreadful. Who likes to be in the car for that long? Definitely not me! No way.

I’m SO happy to be back in this part of the United States. As soon as I returned, I met up with my friend Cami who drove from Pittsburgh to visit. We went to Ben’s Chili Bowl for lunch! IT WAS DELICIOUS. I got the chili dog with a side of fries. I don’t even like chili that much and this place was AMAZING. I recommend going if you are in the DC area. Also, I was pleasantly surprised that they have 10 reserved parking spots for their guests plus the metro is right across the street!

me and Cami

Last night, my good friend Jess had me and a couple girls over for dinner. Dinner turned into a movie and the movie turned into drinks and lots of laughter. We all ended up crashing at her place for a spontaneous sleepover. It was so much fun and exactly what I needed! She’s also the best hostess!

This morning, I woke up with a ting of a hangover. After resting most of the day, I went out for a run which cured it (running cures hangovers!). I’m feeling great now! Tonight, Dan and I are finally watching the Blind Side. I can’t wait to finally see it after everyone said how good it is!

Have a good night everyone!

Julie