Day 2

Part I: Whew. The past few days have been not so much busy, but very tiring. So to update, let's jump back to last week.

Friday: My last day at work. Received a few kind words from coworkers and managers and grabbed a few beers with everyone afterward. I'm pretty sure Masa covered my whole tab, although he was only there a few minutes to say goodbye, so a public thank you to him :)

Saturday: Met up with Jorge for coffee. As a going away present, he gave me a Moleskine journal, personalized with some pretty amazing quotes inside. Continued to chat with him and take copious notes on anything/everything about Spain. He's such a wealth of information and it meant a lot that I got to catch up with him. That night, my awesome big brother Robbie threw a going away party. The snow tried to foil our plans, but my closest friends were still able to come <3 It was a great weekend :)
Sunday: Mom and Dad took me out to dinner to Carrabba's. Just like a million other nights, we sat at the bar and had an awesome time. As much as my dad and I like to make fun of Mom for being "typical, worrisome Mom," she was for the most part, cool and calm. I'm not a mom, so I don't know how it feels to watch your youngest child fly half way across the globe for the first time by herself.....but I can't imagine it being an easy ordeal. And as for my parents, it was never about allowing me to go to Spain--I think as soon as I told them, they KNEW I would. I'm wonderfully amazed at how gracefully they let me go, and I hold on to this very dearly.
Still not completely packed, Bianca and Courtney came over. We sat around the kitchen table over bowls of Cookies'n Cream ice cream chatting. Later, the three of us fell asleep each leaning on the other--I wish there was someone there to take a picture. What an ideal last night at home!

Monday: Ran last minute errands and raced to finish packing. Hymie and Giancarlo visited me for a few minutes before it was time to leave. My boys <3