US Celebrations

We spent the last 10 days in the United States visiting family, friends, working (for Nick), and most importantly, celebrating weddings of two close friends!  It was a whirlwind of a trip, but so great to be able to see so many people, including friends we haven't had time to spend with in many years!

Nick and I got pretty used to a long-distance relationship the past month.  After his two week work trip to Angola, we saw each other in Paris for 24 hours before I left for the US.  My time in the US was spent in the Midwest, while his was a bit more chaotic: Paris--Houston--Cancun--Houston--Madison--Paris.  It just meant we got to see more friends and were glad when we were reunited for another 24 hours in Madison at the end of our trip! :)

The weather in the Midwest was perfect while I was there, so I spent a lot of time hanging out with my family and friends, enjoying the sun at the beach and the pool!  Of course, no trip to Wisconsin is complete without a little Sadie bonding time.  I know she loves it out at Nick's parents' house, but it's so nice to see her when we come back.  This visit, I felt like she might actually be losing her puppy craziness, so let's hope it's all gone by the time we return!

Since I flew into Chicago, I was also able to hang out with my grandparents for a few days in Rockford before heading up to Wisconsin.  We visited some pretty gardens, and of course, did some shopping.  And, two exciting pieces of news....Chick-fil-A has made it's way as far north as Rockford AND I found a close-to-the-real-thing baguette in little Marshfield, Wisconsin.  There's hope that my self-admitted bread-snobby-ness will be satisfied when we return to the US!

The weekend Nick was in Cancun for Wolfe's wedding {sadly, it didn't work out for me to go with the cost of tickets, etc.}, I headed up to St. Paul to spend time with my dear friend from college, Hannah.  We had a blast visiting the farmer's market {I'm so glad to know there's more and more of these in the US now...feels like Paris}, walking around Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, having some drinks, enjoying some delicious meals, and generally just hanging out!  Since college we have met up several times in Chicago and Houston for girl's weekends, but this is the first time I'd been to her area, and I loved it!  I'm more and more convinced that I need to find a place to live that has a walkable neighborhood, with at least a few bars, restaurants, shops, etc, and hers was one of them.

Nick had a great time in Cancun catching up with his best friends.  The weather looked nice, and he said Wolfe's wedding was a blast.  It looks like it from the pictures.  It's a small world because on the way home he ran into our friends from college, Mike & Shelley, in the Cancun airport!

After Cancun, while in Houston for work, Nick also got to catch up with several our friends living there {insert sad face for me}.  Thanks to Kristy and Konrad for housing him for a few nights--pretty sure his highlight was playing trains and games with Maddox!  He had dinner with our dear friends we met in Paris, Maygan and Kyle, in the Heights.  I'm so excited to see all of these people again soon!

It's been a while since I've celebrated a birthday back home, so it was nice to be able to do so again.  Since Kim's wedding was on the day of my birthday, I got to have lots of early celebrations.  And I mean lots--with grandparents, Nick's family, my family, and friends.  I also got to relive my childhood, as my mom pulled out a few sweet gestures on my actual birthday, like a candy bouquet and chalk message on the driveway when I went for my run.

Kim's wedding was a two part affair, starting in Marshfield on Friday.  The ceremony was perfect, and they were so happy the entire night.  I think it's the happiest I've ever seen Kim; she positively radiated the entire evening, and I'm so glad she's found someone to make her so happy!  We ate a delicious dinner at West 14th, where we chatted away.  I caught up with lots of close high school friends, including Brittany, who I haven't seen since my wedding 6 years ago!

As the dinner wrapped up around 9, my friend Katie joined us for some birthday celebrations.  We started at the brew pub and made our way over to Nutz Deep, which is pretty much the only reputable bar in town.  We ran into two friends from high school, and spent the night dancing and laughing away.  Of course, we stayed out way too late, but it was worth it!  And side note: in my little hometown of 19,000 where 99.9% of the population speaks English, a random guy at the bar spoke French, which of course led to a 30 minute conversation in French.  What are the odds?

Our trip ended in Madison, which continues to be one of my favorite cities ever!  We visited the farmer's market, got some fresh, squeaky cheese curds {if you don't know what this is, then you MUST visit Wisconsin}, hung out with some more friends, and spent time on the terrace.  Oh the terrace, probably my favorite place on Earth to relax.  As a student, you don't really realize how awesome you have it, grabbing a table and drinking a beer on the lake, at your student union.  There's just something about it, and now they have so many more options, including lots of craft beers!

Part two of Kim's wedding was that night at Cooper's Tavern on the Capitol Square.  Amazing views, great food, and great friends made for a great night!  Not to mention the fact that we were celebrating a wonderful couple's marriage!

Beautiful in any light!

The following day we both had (separate) flights back to Paris, but we made time to squeeze in a patio breakfast with Forrest and Sarah, and then I got to have a little reunion with a few of my cohort of education ladies from college.  These girls (and Scott) were like my family back in college, and even though distance and time separates us now, I'm still thankful for them all!

And for a great story to round out the trip, enter Amy being detained in German customs.  Oh, that's right--passport called in, baggage searched, intense questioning.  My flight connected in Munich, which meant I went though customs and immigration in Germany, rather than France.  If you've ever flown into France, you know, they pretty much could care less what's on your passport; you know like an expired visa, and don't bother to ask for any other proof that you are legally living here.  But Germany, apparently, is a whole other story.

Moral of the story:  don't travel with any empty ring case, even if it is because you had it fixed in the US and are now wearing it.  Thankfully, I had paperwork with me to show that the ring had been bought 7 years ago, and they eventually let me go after a 30 minute ordeal, including calling in my passport and French residence card to see if they were flagged.  Let go with the warning that next time my ring is fixed outside the EU I need to declare the cost of fixing it "in case you decide to sell it for a higher price in the EU."  Oh yeah, because I'm definitely going to be selling my wedding ring on the black market in the EU.  Thanks.

It was a pretty wonderful trip home, and it made me realize how lucky we are to have such a great family and great friends all over the US.  A bientot, family and friends!