a breath of fresh, NYC air

The excerpt below was from an email I received from Claire, one of my seven dear college roommates (if you want, you can read about them here and here). Last October, when Claire got married, we all decided that this spring or summer we would take a trip to New York City for our collective 30th birthday year. Amazingly, it actually happened and 7 of our 8 roommates were there! Because Claire lives in NYC, she acted as our host and planner extraordinaire...

What to bring:

YOU!

Comfy shoes to bum around the city in

Laughs

An outfit that you feel pretty in

A desire to try something new (yes…this is built into our plans;)!)

Play clothes for some walking/jogging/laying around the Park

Toothbrush (we’ll be in close quarters)

And, honestly, with 7 of us in my tiny tree house (you’ll know what I mean when you see it), packing light is probably a good idea unless you want to sit on your suitcase and five flights of stairs can be a doozy with a lot of luggage! 

Isn't she precious?

As an aside... all of our planning, however, could not have prepared me for the hellish experience I had in trying to get there. Long story short, I left Greensboro around 3:00pm, spent 2 hours getting to the airport in Raleigh, 5 hours inside the airport and/or in a plane (which never left), 2 hours being shuttled to and from two different hotels, 4 hours sleeping in a hotel in Raleigh, and then shuttling back to the airport for a 6am flight. Whoa. Seriously? The beautiful thing was that I felt the Lord meet me in such a tangible way, filling me with a peculiar sense of gratefulness (what if my children had been with me?!?) and giving me peace (regardless, I will get there and I will see my precious friends). The next day, around 10am, I finally arrived at Claire's apartment! Phew.

Vibrant Claire, leading us on our first adventure.

On top of the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) a gorgeous rooftop bar.

Lauren, slightly preggo (due in November) and cute as a button.

Amy, looking sexy even in two pairs of sunglasses.

Meredith, preggo (due in early August) and stunning.

Can I get a little photo credit here on this series of pics? I need to draw attention to my victories when I'm in the midst of such talent (Amy and Lauren)!

I have beautiful friends.

The view. Spectacular.

On the steps outside the Met.

Because how can you not?!?

After that first day, apparently there were very few pictures taken, which must be because we were just having that much fun. :)

We ate our weight in good food, navigated the subway, shopped a lot (oh, H&M, how I love thee), had a double baby shower, walked all over the city, went to the "You've Got Mail" coffee shop and other fun spots, and just lounged around together in Claire's one-bedroom apartment... laughing, remembering, talking about our hearts, God, husbands, sex, plans, fears, childbirth, struggles, children, joys. Basically, soaking in every moment together.

This is the one picture of us all together (minus Tiffany), after Julie and Kara arrived from DC. Lauren, who gets photo credit for nearly all of these pictures, wouldn't put this picture on facebook with the others because she said we looked too rough.

However, I love it (although she was right- we do look rough) because it is a memory. We had just spent hours picnicking on the grass of Central Park, reading aloud the letters that Claire had asked our husbands to write to each of us, crying, sharing, and belly-laughing. Can't you just see it on those rough-looking faces?

As always after I leave these sweet girls, I am astonished that- 8 years after college- we can still come together and feel nearly as "at home" as we did at 505-C North Greensboro Street in Carrboro, NC. I pray that will never change.