Glitter and Grace: Surprise!

This last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity of flying down to San Diego and surprising my brother and Lisa for an engagement party that was being thrown for them. There's no way this could have happened without Julie, Lisa's best friend and MOH, who came up with the idea and invited me, and my amazingly generous parents, who supplied me with the plane ticket. It was a whirlwind of a weekend and kind of a bummer that all day Saturday I wasn't with Rich and Lisa (the party wasn't until that night), but I was so thankful for any amount of time I was able to spend with them. And the look on their faces made the less-than-24-hrs together worth it.

Going back to California is always bittersweet for me. It reminds me that my world is in two places: one that I have built here over the last 3.5 years in a city that I love, with people I love even more; and one that is sunny and warm and familiar that holds members of my family and lifelong friends. I wish I could have the best of both worlds somehow, or at least the ability to travel whenever I want. Where's a teleporting app when you need one?? But for now I get by with being able to help on wedding planning, plan a bachelorette party, familiar faces coming to visit me, and hopefully getting some fun, sunny trips thrown in in between. Not to mention the amazing wedding itself in September :) Here are some of my favorite pics from the weekend, and the cute details of the party as well. Enjoy. And until next time friends and family: I love you xoxo

*Sidenote: This trip also made me much more aware of my strong desire for a "good" camera. I have wanted one for years now, but blogging is just so much better with a professional camera. It's on the very top of my wishlist at the moment.