New York, New York

Last weekend, for the first time ever, I left the kids home overnight with J. I went to New York City by myself for the (nearly) annual Section F girls reunion. Almost every year, the women from my first year classes in business school meet up for a weekend of girl talk and some pampering. I haven't been to one of these weekends since S was born, and so this was a big treat for me. It was great to see awesome women, and renew friendships.

J and the kids had a busy weekend without me, eating out every night, going to a giant outdoor fair sponsored by our church (including bouncy houses and pony rides!) and eating ice cream cones for snacks (at least according to S.)

I intended to take lots of pictures in NY, but ended up with just these two. The first is all of us at a brunch hosted by one of the women. The second is the annual toast, given by someone standing on a chair (or kneeling in this case, as Sara was a bit taller than our traditional toast-giver.) The tradition of the toast began at our first girls dinner, which we had at the end of our first year of school to celebrate some upcoming weddings (mine included.) This year's toast was especially sweet to me, as it reminded me of the uniqueness of these friendships. We've known each other for 10 years now, and have each charted our own path after school, but the time together was a strong enough bond that we can pick up wherever we left off.

All in all, it was a fun, but short and tiring weekend. Thanks to all the NY girls for planning and hosting it. And special thanks to my NJ friend for letting me camp out at her house.