Because I am surrounded by boys everyday (I do live in a house full of them), I long for some time alone with girl friends. Luckily I have the best husband in the world who completely supported me taking a weekend to indulge in some girl time.
My best friends from high school and I decided to take a weekend trip to celebrate all of us turning 30 this year. We found a hotel with a rooftop pool in my old hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
Here are some interesting facts about one of my favorite cities:
1. It is the fifteenth largest city in the country.
2. Columbus was recently ranked 7th smartest city in the WORLD (now that's impressive).
3. The Columbus zoo ranks as one of the best in the country (however, I am partial to the Cincinnati zoo).
4. Wendy's originated in Columbus and so did Victoria's Secret.
5. Columbus is a test market for retail and food chains. Companies test all their crazy ideas in Columbus to see how the rest of the world would like it.
Okay enough bragging about my old place of residence and on to the weekend. I packed 4 suitcases to go to 3 different locations. Brad and Owen were going to Piqua to visit with his parents, Grayson was going to my mom's house for the weekend and I was obviously going to one of the smartest cities in the world.
How cute are their little suitcases?! Oh and just to add to the excitement of packing up and leaving Grayson started crawling that morning.
So we loaded our two cars with our four suitcases and said our goodbyes for the weekend. I met my mom in Cincinnati to drop off the babe and stopped to do a little outlet shopping on my way to Columbus. I pass right by the outlets on 71 North, it would just be weird if I didn't stop.
First I met the girls for pedicures at Easton...
Then we had a nice RELAXING (I mean no kids asking for things, no getting up to walk a fussy baby around, no whining, no fit throwing) dinner at Brio....
Notice the Peach Bellini's - SO DELICIOUS!!
After dinner we did a little shopping (all for the kids of course) and headed back to the hotel - yes we are that lame but I needed to pump and we were all excited to get in our pj's and go to sleep.
I slept so well but was still wide awake at my usual time of 5:30 AM. Seriously, why can't I sleep in??? We all must be on the same schedule because we were up and out the door for a walk by 6:45. We walked to one of my favorite breakfast places, North Market for coffee and the farmer's market...
We sat outside and enjoyed yet another peaceful and quiet meal..
Then we pretty much hung out by the pool the rest of the day...
During our 6 hours of pool time we were watching the party planners and hotel staff set up for a wedding on the rooftop right beside the pool. Along with the rest of the hotel guests we decided we had to stay and at least watch the bride go down the aisle...
Notice everyone staring in that direction..
How weird would that be - to have 50 strangers staring at you while you walk down the aisle. It was a beautiful wedding and probably the most beautiful bride and groom I have ever seen.
We went to dinner that night at Hyde Park in the Short North and enjoyed spending time together and having a nice long dinner. We hung out on the rooftop for drinks after dinner and chatted until bedtime.
We had so much fun spending a lot of uninterrupted time together. Usually when we see each other it is quick and we often have kids to chase after or get home to. So I am so happy we decided to take the time out of our busy day to day lives and make the trip. Ladies, where should our next trip be?
Before I could come home I stopped by my friend Monica's house to see their new place and their sweet baby Marshall, whom I hadn't met yet.
How cute is his nursery??
I LOVED catching up with Monica in person, I wish we lived closer and could raise our boys together, I know they will be BFF's.
After visiting Monica I went by my old house to pick up the keys for the new tenants. It is kind of special that we still own our first house together. We have been renting the house out to 3 law students since we moved 2 1/2 years ago. The new tenants have signed a two year lease as well so that takes away the headache of prepping it for new tenants each year.
Here is our old kitchen....
The house was in really great condition on the inside. This is Owen's old room and the closets and window seat that my dad and Brad built for him....
It made me want to find pictures of the house before we moved, so here is my sappy moment, Owen's first bedroom...
Our old bedroom...
The living room...
The summer I was pregnant with Owen...
The back of the house...
This is the only picture I could find of the front when we were having our water pipes replaced, oh how I miss having a front porch swing...
Refinishing our old hardwood floors...
Hanging out with my new baby on my front porch...
Although Owen only lived in this house for 3 months, it held a LOT of great memories for Brad and I. When we moved it was so sudden and quick that I don't think we really had time to be sad. We are so happy in our new town of Lexington and it was a dream come true that we were able to move back here, but so many wonderful things happened to us while we lived in Columbus and it will always hold a special place in our hearts.
