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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Trip Recap (or Why I Waffle About Moving Back to NY)

I am way too lazy and unmotivated to write a full post about my vacation, so I'm resorting to a bullet point recap. And I forgot my camera so I have no pictures to break up the bullets. Sorry!
  • Our first full day back we spent the afternoon following my dad while he played golf in the pro-am of the Dick's Open. It was nice to get outside and enjoy the sun, but walking four miles in flip flops really tired me out. I know my dad was happy we were able to watch him play, and I get to spend time with my mom and my grandparents, so it was a good way to start our vacation. Also of note, this was the first time AJ and I were out in the community of my hometown since being married, and a real small part of me missed the small town camaraderie and "who knows who" jabber that takes place between strangers. I also really enjoyed how cheap things were. This started my "we should move back to NY" thinking that took place most of the week.
  • On Thursday I played golf at the town country club with AJ, my brother, and my grandfather. It was hot as hell out, but we had a nice time and this again made me miss spending time with my family. After golf we had lunch in the club house and I spent most of the time looking out at the pool at all the moms with their kiddies. I think you know where this is going....
  • Later that night we had a barbecue at my aunt's house, and this kicked off the family reunion festivities. Not many people were in town yet, so it was mostly our immediate family and some of the sisters*. It was kind of lame, but I think that is mostly because my cousins invited all their friends from high school to come to the party too (why? I have no idea), and I felt 100 years old and like a chaperon. This made me not want to move back home....I don't get along with many people from high school.
  • Late Thursday night my BFF from high school (who also doubles as my college roommate and now my {younger} brother's hook up) met up with us and we had a couple drinks at a local bar. I love hanging out with my BFF, but it is kind of strange seeing her and my brother touching, holding hands, etc. This apparently first began at our wedding and has been on and off ever since. We shall see how his develops.
  • Friday morning my mom and I went to the spa while the boys golfed. It was nice to spend time with my mom and I love getting pampered, so this was definitely a highlight of our vacation. I got a traditional massage and an anti-wrinkle facial that included a chemical peel, and since a few of you showed interest when I mentioned the facial on twitter, I figured I would talk about it more in depth tomorrow. Stay tuned.
  • Friday night my parents had a clam bake at their house. AJ and I manned the cooker for the clams, which initially was not a great success. We put wayyy too many clams into the pot and had a hard time steaming them and fishing them out once they were done. Once we got it figured out though, we were clam cooking machines. We were cheating too and ate a few from each batch. Yum.
  • Saturday was the actual reunion, which was at a church hall in the middle of the afternoon. My dad hails from a ginormous Italian family. My grandmother has 7 sisters and the sisters have 857 kids resulting in 3290 grand kids. And now some grand kids are having kids, but I think there are only like 10 great grand kids. Okay, maybe some of those numbers are inflated, but there really are 7 sisters and there are so many cousins and second cousins that I have no idea how many there actually are. AJ and I have not been able to attend a reunion since being together as we used to live in NC and last summer we were getting married. We had some of the family at our wedding, but it was nice to see the people who didn't attend the wedding. AJ, my brother, mom, and cousins played Apples to Apples for like 3 hours. I am now obsessed with this game. I am heading to Target ASAP to buy this so we have it for all the parties we will have at our new house. And yes, our parties will involve board games, because we're old like that.
  • Saturday night we went to dinner with my parents and brother to one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Seriously, I cannot get enough Italian food when I am home. If there is one thing I hate about DC it is that there are very few authentic Italian restaurants.
  • Sunday we headed up to Ithaca to visit AJ's parents. AJ golfed with his dad while I hung out with his mom. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I was super uncomfortable the entire time. I hate to be the bitchy DIL, but we are just so different and we have nothing to talk about. I am also still desperate for approval, so I get nervous about being around her and that she is going to oust me from the family. AJ reassures me that it is just her personality and that she actually loves me, but when she constantly criticizes and makes me feel like a spoiled brat, I can't help but wonder. I was so glad when the guys were done golfing, and the rest of the night wasn't nearly as bad. AJ does a good job of appeasing any tension and is better equipped to deal with his parents. Not that they are crazy or anything ;)
So overall we had a great time in NY, but we were definitely busy. Throughout the vacation I waffled back and forth about whether I want to move back there, but I think in the end I like where we are in our lives now, and don't plan to move right after law school. After a few more years in DC we will have to reassess again and see where things will take us...

*The "sisters" refers to my grandmother and her 7 sisters. I feel like this makes them sound notorious, which now that I think about it, suits them.

13 comments:

  1. I went back and caught up a bit, seems like you've been pretty busy. Glad you had fun up here in NY...I hope you got some good weather. It's been so touch and go lately. I heard this morning that it's rained 21 out of the last 25 days...ridiculous. That might dissuade you from moving back!

    Glad to hear everything is going well.

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  2. Everytime I am home, I think about moving back, but of course, Steve wants to move to NH about as much as I want to move to Iowa :)

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  3. Sounds fantastic and I totally sympathize with the moving back dilema. We finally realized that going back is a vacation, and if we ever moved there, it wouldn't be as much fun as a vacation, if that makes sense. The real world would set in! Also, LOVE apples to apples - I just got it from my little brother for my birthday! More and more, I wish you and I lived closer!

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  4. How awkward, your friend and your brother lol, hopefully she won't share the details! :P

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  5. My older sisters husband was my very good friend in high school. It was very strange for me when they started dating (not b/c I liked him - b/c that was clearly NOT the case...it was just weird)...it's cool now!
    We looked at houses where I grew up...but I have NO desire to move back...there are plenty of people I went to school w/ that I don't care to run into. I stay in touch w/ one good friend...and that is it..and she lives near me on this side...so it's all good!
    Sorry about the MIL situation...is it the same w/ your FIL? I lucked out w/ my inlaws...they are great people.

    Hope you find a great Italian restaurant in DC..and also hope you have a great 4th weekend!

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  6. Oh I love my huge Italian family so much... this made me want to get them all together to hang out ASAP. I know how you feel about hanging out w/your MIL alone-- I don't feel comfortable and panic if I have to spend a ton of time with her sans my husband. Sounds like overall you had a great time!

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  7. I know what you mean about always seeking approval from you mother in law. L and I aren't married, but I'm always so nervous around his mom because I know that she initially didn't like me (for really dumb reasons).

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  8. OMG I think I held my breath the entire time I sped-read this post because I was SURE you were going to break my heart and say you were moving back to NYC...ps there is a super yummy Italian restaurant RIGHT by your new place...

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  9. If that's the abbreviated edition you were busy!

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  10. going home always makes it hard to wonder why you don't just move back... but it's such a tease. because if you were to live there it wouldn't be that great all the time! it's just exciting because you're always seeing people and doing stuff and everyone is so excited when you visit. if you lived there it wouldn't be like that all the time... but it's so tempting : )

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  11. It's really interesting, because while some people go back home and start to think about what it would be like to move back home- everytime I visit I love hanging out with my friends, but I realize how much more fun I have in Washington DC.

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  12. I for one hope you stay in DC for a long time to come!

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