Wow! What a time we all had! This was the most fun I have had in ages.
DETAILS
Cara arrived shortly before 6 with 3 children in tow.
The kids immediately were off with my 2 into the playroom (no transition period at all!). V and Liah were two peas in a pod the entire time. The kids were so desperate to go to bed, they all tried to skip dinner just to get into pj's and sleeping bags. What fun they had with each other!
Dylan and little A were the "step-children" of the group because the older two really just wanted to play only with each other. Poor little ones, they had to fight to get the fun chairs!
Baby Jay was the star of the night, laughing and basically being as sweet as could be.
Becca called from her cell phone about 4 times. :-) Apparently, she is unsure of directions, which surprised me - I don't know why, I just figured she could find her way around the perimeter, so I didn't give her detailed enough directions. She was here by about 6:20 though, with darling Rachael. As much as Rachie was overwhelmed at dinner Thursday night, she made up for it in spades last night. She was charming and flirtatious and so happy to just be able to toddle around everywhere.
Rachael and Jay were mesmerized by each other.
We thought a few times they might give each other kisses, however, Rachie is just a big tease!
Sandi arrived last after being stuck in traffic for over an hour (took her over 3 hours to get here!). We had already been snacking on some delicious stuff that I had "thrown" together: Pita points and sliced baguette, carrots and celery with Dip for the Stars with feta, cream cheese, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, etc. and hummus. I had made a greek salad, but strangely, we never got to that. Becca brought ingredients and made sausage balls too!
Once Sandi was here, I cracked open a bottle of wine, which I amazingly finished off (by myself!) over the course of the night. The others drank wine coolers, white zinfandel and White Russians, all from cute little bottles from the liquor store (thanks, Cara, for supplying those drinks!).
We all seemed to be pretty comfortable with each other right off the bat (I had previously met Becca - just the night before - and Cara - over 6 weeks ago; Cara and Sandi know each other from "real life"). It was like a group of old girlfriends getting together, even though we had never been together in person before. Very cool to feel instantly at ease and connected with everyone.
We put the kids to bed (though they stayed awake WAY past bedtime chatting and giggling in their own slumber party) and settled into my living room to talk and share funny and some not-so-funny stories with one another. I really felt like we had known each other for years and this was kind of an opportunity to learn some things about each other that truly old friends know about each other.
It was interesting to have "holes" filled in about what we know about one another - stories that don't get into blogs because they are not current events, etc. And, boy, was it fun to be just hanging out with some great women. Jay thought so too.
We learned about Sandi's family and I was especially flattered that she brought photos from her family's past to share with us. We cracked up laughing at this one:
Do you see the bass decorating the Christmas tree in the background? Wahahaa!!!
I brought out my scrapbooks and everyone oohed and ahhed over what great hair I had in high school. ;) I told one of my wild and crazy back-in-the-day stories. We learned some sad things about Cara's past and talked about some girls we once knew long ago... We learned of how Becca and her husband met and began dating, in spite of the fact she thought he was weird...
I have a feeling that what started last night will continue as we all grow to be closer friends. I am amazed and humbled that God has placed these women in my life. What a strange thing the internet is.... To be able to bring people together that how else could you possibly meet and become friends with?
I thank you, ladies, for a wonderful time. I am so blessed to have met you all and look forward to our next get-together. I am off to bed for a nap now (staying up til 2 am is just too tiring! In this case, I am not sorry one bit, I enjoyed every minute!)
Until next time, God Bless and Take Care. I love you!
