Happy 40th Angela

Imagine my surprise when I got a text in October from my friend from Germany, Angela who now lives in Texas, saying to pencil in dinner with her here in DC on December 6th... Ummm okay? Turns out that Angela would be turning 40 on Dec 5 and her husband wanted to send her away to be with her friends for the weekend! She has lots of friends stationed here right now, plus many local friends as they lived here 5 years ago.

Angela said she was trying to get a group of girls together for a birthday dinner and I asked if she had spoken to Sara and Diane, both of whom live in Connecticut now... She said she hadn't and doubted that they would be able to fly/drive down to DC from CT for the weekend. I suggested that she just mention it to them, juts in case.

Guess what? They said hell yes and bought tickets to fly down for the weekend!

So Saturday morning after I dropped Allyson off at BWI airport in Baltimore, MD, I drove to Regan National Airport in DC to pick up Sara & Diane. The timing was perfect and I was thrilled to see these two faces-

We grabbed some lunch while we waited for Angela's flight and then there were 4 of us-

Great backdrop, right? The airport Christmas tree did not disappoint!

The four of us went to Old Town Alexandria to get Angela all settled in to her hotel and then we had happy hour in the lobby. Angela and Sara both had friends join us there before we headed to dinner.

Funny story. Sara had not seen above mentioned friend for 12+ years! They were both in the Army together. Friend now lives here in DC and they reconnected on FB and thought having a drink would be fun since they were once again in the same city. Friend offers to drive us all to the restaurant, so we don't have to walk the several blocks in the cold. We are thrilled with the offer, even though she warns us of her messy minivan. We all have kids and think "how bad can it be?" 

Have you seen the show hoarders?!?!?! Holy moly!

Here we are in the 3rd row, I am sitting in a car seat-

IT WAS HILARIOUS!

Okay, on to the restaurant...

Angela & I, cheers!

The Germany crew- me, Diane, Angela, Sara and Sarah

The whole gang- 

We shut that place down! They were sweeping around us and stacking chairs. I know Angela felt the love...

Diane, Sara and I headed back to my house late that night to find Brian on the couch- sick. Apparently he had taken this picture of he and the kids during the day-

Sunday we all had a lazy morning, then we 3 ladies decided to escape with the kids (and give Brian a break) to Sara's favorite place- IKEA! It worked out great that she was able to shop, while the kids played in the play place. Then we fed them lunch before heading home.

At home, I quickly tucked everyone in for a nap and took Sara and Diane out to our local wine bar. It was a nice escape for just the 3 of us. That night Brian made us a wonderful dinner, even with his feeling like crap.

I invited Amy over, since she had not recently seen Diane and planned an craft night for the 4 of us to make some Christmas ornaments. It was a huge success!

Me, Amy, Diane and Sara with our treasures- 

 

Melted snowman ormament-

 

snowy christmas tree-

Felt christmas tree-

I love looking at the tree, seeing these hanging and thinking of the stories we shared and laughs we had together making them. 

Monday morning was a breeze- because I had two other "sister wives" to help me get the kids out the door and on the bus to school! We had a lazy morning and then sadly, it was time to bring them to the airport. Booooo.

I recently saw this mug and sent them both this picture-

After I left Diane and Sara, I headed over to meet Angela for some shopping and lunch. The quaint shops and beautiful streets of Old Town Alexandria made for the perfect place for us to spend the afternoon. It felt so good to get some extra time with just the two of us before she headed back to Texas the next day....