Monday, August 17, 2009

Best. Weekend. Inareallylongtime.

So, I said on Facebook that this past weekend was one of the best I've had in a really long time. And it was. Since we've moved to New York, Scott and I have less than a handful of friends here, and spend a lot of weekends wishing we knew where to go to have fun, but mostly sitting around at home or frequenting the mall. It gets old. But this past weekend, we rented a car and headed down to Media, Pa., for the wedding of friends from our church in Philadelphia.

After a rough start (we left later than we wanted to and missed half the wedding), we saw the last half of the ceremony, which is all the good parts: exchanging vows, rings, and kissing the bride. It was fun, but for me, the best part was that ALL our friends from Philly were there. Unfortunately, I was so busy socializing, I only got a handful of photos, and none of the bride and groom. BUT, thankfully, their photographer posted some on her blog, which are amazing.

At the reception, I got to talk to everybody. It was fantastic. Also got great news that church friends who were married last year and now live in D.C. are expecting! And Seth and Sarah, the first couple to take us in in Philly, are expecting a baby girl in early November. Also in attendance: a just-married friend who moved to St. Louis, my two favorite Ra(e)chels, and lots of friends from the two small groups I attended. It was really, REALLY good to see everyone, and to be surrounded by friends.

Not to be outdone by the people who drove 30 minutes from Philly to Media (or three hours from NY...ahem), my friend Patti, who spent some missions time in India with the groom, came all the way from Kansas for the wedding. That, I did get a picture of, because I don't think any photos of us existed before. Just ignore the fact that we are shiny and sweaty...the reception was outside on a hot and humid night. But fun nonetheless.



The only photo I got of me and Scott that night...


We wished we could've stayed in Philly for the weekend, but we came back home after the wedding Friday night. The good part about that was the we still had the car until about 3 p.m. the next day. So what do you do when you have a car? Go someplace you can't get around here, that's what.



(That's a Chick-fil-a cup to anyone who doesn't know. And if you don't, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??) It was totally worth the 40-minute drive there and back and the extra gas we had to put in the car. Mmm-mmm. After that, we had a quiet evening at home, watching the Mets game and relaxing. I went through a desk drawer full (and I mean so full the drawer above it wouldn't open anymore) of cards from holidays, birthdays and just because. I found lots of love and $50. And when I was done with that, I dumped our overflowing change tin and sorted and counted coins for a while. (Blog post coming on this.) Guess I was in the mood for a little monotonous work.

On Sunday (I'm counting this as a three-day weekend, even though we had to work as usual on Sunday), we met up again with Patti and her other half, Ira, who came up to New York for a few days after the wedding Friday night. We went to Shake Shack for lunch, which is an NYC burger hotspot in Madison Square Park and usually has an at-least-30-minute line snaking around the park walkways. If you don't believe me on the line, you can check out their Shack Cam, which shows how long the line is. Thankfully we didn't have to wait more than 15 minutes or so, cause it was really hot out. But it was nice to sit and talk with Patti and Ira for a while, since they were across the room for most of the wedding reception. After lunch, we poked around a flea market nearby, and then Scott and I had to go to work.

So yeah. It was great. Anyone got plans next weekend?

7 comments:

Jean said...

Not next weekend, but how about Labor Day weekend?

Senegal Daily said...

Sounds like fun! We look forward to any occasion getting together with old friends... like say, fall 2010 in NYC? ;)

Stephanie said...

Kari, you're already on my (theoretical) 2010 calendar!

Unknown said...

Where is the Chick-fil-A????????

I'm Kari's sister-in-law. I grew up in NJ so spent my first 22 years of life not knowing Chick-fil-A existed. Then...I lived in TN for 7 years and fell in love with it. Then...just moved back to NJ and having a bit of Chick-fil-A withdrawal. So....I would join you in driving far to get there. Please tell me where it is!!!!!

And, if you're looking for something to do on the weekends - we are now living in Rutherford which is an easy bus or train ride from the city...let me know :)

Stephanie said...

Hi Kate! Apparently there is a Chick-fil-A about 20 minutes north of you in Paramus. So not too far at all if you have a car to get there :) That one is actually closer to us too, but a lot of nasty construction in between, so we drove down to exit 11 on the turnpike to Woodbridge. There's a CFA in the mall there. And supposedly, there's one on NYU's campus in the city. You're supposed to be a student, but I've heard it's not hard to sneak in. Haven't tried that yet...

It'd be great if you guys wanna hang out one of these weekends! Do you go into the city much?

Kate Borders said...

Wow! I'm a little embarrassed about how excited I am about there being a Chick-fil-A in Paramus....I'm really excited! Thanks for letting me know!!!!

We've been here about a month and been to the city twice, I think. It's very easy for us to get in - we take a bus from Weehawken. It's cheap and doesn't take long. Chris starts school Monday and I don't know how much free time he'll have, but you and I could do something even if he can't come!

Thanks again - hope to see you soon!
Kate

Senegal Daily said...

Y'all are hysterical.

So will we be making a group trip to CFA in 2010? III would be thrilled.