I'll be on your side forever more....cause that's what friends are for

Presidents Day weekend for the last few years has meant Julia and Laci time. This year we didn't really have anything planned and thought perhaps the summer time might be a funner time to meet up. It isn't easy to get together two gals who live across the country from each other. I have been having a particularly difficult time lately with some personal things and because my BFF aka THE MOST AMAZING FRIEND EVER, decided she would fly out to see me and have some much needed BFF time. We had the BEST three day whirlwind weekend. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful gal pal.

When she arrived we had a lovely 60 degree day; we took full advantage and walked around downtown and visited the aquarium thanks to the FREE tickets my co-worker gave me. Berkeley was so happy to be out of hibernation; he ran around the entire place rejoicing his new found freedom. He would stop and say' "Oooo, what's that Mommy?" His new things is grabbing our fingers to touch things he wants to touch, not sure why.

The highlight for me was seeing a clam spit water at me, it gave me a pretty good scare.

We also enjoyed the 80 penguins at the Aquarium, I never seen a penguin poop before, but now I have. We had a great time looking at all the sea creatures, a 70 year old tortoise, sharks, jellyfish, starfish, huge crabs, otters, etc.
Afterward, we sent the boys home so we could have a grown up night out on the town. We relished our dinner at a fine dining establishment without entertaining a two year old which was simply marvelous! We had grown up talk, girly talk and giggled a whole lot. We left the restaurant to find wind and rain; winds so strong at times that we either could not move forward no matter how hard we tried or we had near "run-ins" with cars as the wind was making us run with its strong forces. We enjoyed a movie....in a movie theater. I was able to use a gift card that I got for the theater Valentines 2010; yep that is how often I go to movies. We saw The King's Speech and it was SUPERB!

There is a few things that Julia loves: Dr. Pepper, me, Jed, and Chick-Fil-A. They do not have Chick-Fil-A in Seattle; and the closest one to me is 30 minutes away. But don't you know that we drove there (even though I am morally opposed) to get that darn food, cause that is what you do for your friend who flew across the country to see you.

After lunch we embarked on a SHOPPING SPREE~! We went to a few stores at the Burlington Mall and then headed to the outlets, another hour drive, but that is just how we roll to find the most amazing deals ever. Let's just say we found some deals that were so good that it would have been criminal to leave them behind. My #1 steal of the day were the hot black leather boots, you know, the ones that are the rage these days, that were originally $109 and I got them for $27! Did I mention that I look like a total diva in them? I also found some cute sweaters for $7-10 and some other fabulous shirts nothing over $10. Julia found a pair of $80 pants for work for the lovely price of $12. Man I sure do love shopping, but more than that, I love finding amazing deals. No wait, I think what I love the most is shopping without a kid.
We really did SHOP till you DROP!

We ended the evening with take out Thai and the movie Date Night which was so funny.
During the visit we also managed to squeeze in a Sunday Brunch and mani-pedis.

Berkeley was a little shy around his God Mother but he enjoyed having her around. Julia instantly won his love by bringing him a Tickle Me Elmo and teaching him how to do "Wolverine Knuckles."

The visit was short but surely sweet. We had an amazing time together. I stayed up way too late and got up way too early, but it was totally worth it. I feel so lucky to have a friend that I can just let loose, talk about exactly how I feel and just be listened to and can always have fun with.

Love you Ju!