weekend wrap-up.

this past weekend was amazing.  lately, i feel like i'm saying this every monday (tuesday in this case), so i guess i'm pretty lucky that my weekends are frequently awesome! this weekend however, was especially wonderful- guests were coming to stay!


earlier in the week i received an email from a childhood friend who was going to be in the area on sunday. this is a big deal!  first- no one from home- other than our immediate family has made the trek to see us (no hard feelings- i promise) and two- this was such a surprise (and boy do i love surprises).  we have known one another since kindergarten!
saturday started off pretty crazy since i was racing in a shamrock run.  luckily the race didn't start until 11am- so i was able to sleep in- but since i always get anxious before a race, sleeping in really wasn't an option.  it was a gray and rainy day in cny and almost all the snow had melted.  for the race, the rain let up (as did the wind) and we had some very comfortable weather.  it was a hilly route- and i'm happy to say, there was no walking on my end...not once for 4 whole miles! 

after the race, i had some friends over for lunch and to give our homemade beer a try.  talk about nerve racking!  beer-making is a process and it takes quite a bit of patience.  if this didn't work out, there was going to be hell to pay.  we popped the tops of the beer and gave it a go.  lo and behold- it was good!  really good.  happily we declared, our beer making a success!

later that night, my good friend & her boyfriend arrived & we stayed up until the wee hours chatting and catching up- followed by a lazy, snowy morning of more chatting and catching up!  i tried my hand at a breakfast cobbler that was a huge hit (and may i please say- i am now obsessed with slow cooker breakfast recipes) and we spent the afternoon exploring syracuse. 

it was a short visit- but it was perfect.  it's so easy to get wrapped up in the everyday- and every once in a while it's a nice reminder to take a step back, reminisce with old friends and remind yourself where you came from.