when i was headed to dulles airport today, er, yesterday, for my flight back to italy, it was the first time that i really wasn't that excited to be leaving america. in the past when i've been leaving to head abroad, i've been sad to leave friends and family but ultimately the emotion that wins out is that of excitement for my upcoming adventures. this time, however, things were different. maybe it was because i wasn't going off somewhere new; i was going back to the (somewhat) familiar. maybe it was because i had had such an amazing break with friends and family that i didn't want it to end? i don't know, it was just different.
regardless, i had an amazing visit to the states. and now i'm going to tell you about it!
i arrived to dc around 230 on the 23rd and daddyjohn was waiting for me at the arrivals! i'm not sure i've ever been greeted like that at the airport so it was exciting! we had a good but relatively uneventful car ride to roanoke and when we arrived on somerset st. i was greeted by nancypants + becker1 and marymom! they were cooking up delicious smelling foods and i had a cold, crisp, hoppy beer waiting for me to consume. it was excellent.
after a delicious welcome back meal, we went out to paint the town, obviously. first stop, frankie rowlands for an essential pineapple martini (YUM), then various other downtown places before returning to the neighborhood and fork in the alley. fork in the alley was a blur for the 15 minutes i was there before finding A and immediately leaving to walk home. that was a cold decision.
christmas eve! woke up early (as i continued to do for the next 5 days, due to jetlag?) and proceeded to do your standard christmas eve things: wrapped presents, investigated presents that were labeled for me (failed to identify any of them), baked cookies, watched christmas movies, etc. later in the evening, we drove around looking at christmas lights and stumbled upon an incredible house that had their house and lawn COVERED in lights that blinked corresponding to music. (if i could figure out how to embed, here i would post a video)
it was incredible. among their song selection was a techno remix of amazing grace that was my personal favorite. after dinner we went home to continue with christmas-y activities and i fell asleep on the couch for 5 hours (sleeping through church, oops).
woke up in the morning to a white christmas! first one i can remember and it was excellent. roanoke was beautiful covered in snow. it continued to snow all day which made leaving our house difficult, but that's ok on christmas. it was a good day full of family time.
then, on the 27th, nancypants and i headed to cville (!!!!). after rendezvousing with my favorite l.i.z.s, we attempted to go to dinner at divide. but they were closed. i was devastated. but we ended up at mas, so i can't complain too terribly much. it was a delicious reunion!
28th: breakfast date with J at blue moon diner! we had so much to catch up on -- her brooklyn/nyu life was so good to hear about -- this was the beginning of me being persuaded to move to the big city..... then, i bought so many new nail polish colors. it was exhilarating. then had some delicious homemade pad thai by becker1 and saw black swan! omg black swan was mindblowingly amazing. check out the trailer here. now go see it. then we went to mas (yes, again) for a friend's birthday food, drinks and a little dave matthews sighting! my first one. so that was exciting.
the 29th was sister date day. the weather was incredible in cville (as it was the entire time i was home, warm, clear, sunny - amazing) so we headed out to the country for some brewery fun. we had beers at blue mountain brewery and devil's backbone. then, pizza from mellow! oh now my mouth is watering.
on the 30th, after a breakfast date with HM at bluegrass, a trip to urban outfitters and a belair sandwich, i headed to nova to reunite with more friends!
then came the epic NYE reunion. it began during the day with lots and lots of boy time. which was fun. we hung out in richmond for the day enjoying good food and drink and each other's company. so fun to catch up with some of my favorite people coming from all over the place. as a part of the greater NYE reunion we had so many people from so many places: italy (me, obviously), alaska, hawaii, nyc, el salvador, as well as all over virginia.
on new years day, we did some outdoor things.
hanging out with all the people who have been my friends since 1st year at UVA (and some for longer than that) was so amazing. for us to have grown together during college and now we're all in different places, growing and changing on our own, but to still be able to get together and have a great time is so comforting. it inspires me to continue to keep in touch with all those people that i care about while i'm off doing my own thing here in italy. i mean, those are my people! we're all off doing our own things but when we get together it's just like nothing has changed.
NYE resolutions: read more and try harder with italian language learning. ALSO did you know that 2011 is the year of the redhead? according to andy smith, it is. and i'm excited about it. (all of your resolutions should include coming to visit me.)
on new year's day, i left the friend reunion in richmond (and missed the plaid party) and headed to OIB to rendezvous with my family in their most favorite place ever. after going through a body scanner (and feeling incredibly violated) in the richmond airport, i made it. we had incredible weather and our normal beach activities ensued: booze cruises, delicious meals (cooked in and ordered out), walks on the beach and karaoke. on the last day we went to wilmington (where i had never been!) for the afternoon/evening for food and drink and that was fun.
returning to roanoke, i had more grandmother time, more last-minute visiting with friends and a delicious sushi dinner. then it was home to pack (expanding to 2 suitcases, ughhh) and prepare for departure the following morning.
fin.
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after having such a good time with everyone i saw in the states, and thinking through a response to the questions, "well how is it? are you going to stay forever? what are you going to do next year?" countless times, i had pretty much decided that i need to move to new york city to be close to everyone that i love and miss. nyc. the big apple. i've always wanted to live there, i could probably get a job there (right?), i already have lots of friends there. this was such an easy decision, i was so happy with myself that i had it figured out!
however, driving down from opicina on the way back from the airport, i looked out the window down to the bay of trieste and even though it was foggy and the view was less-beautiful than it has been, i felt an unexpected sense of nostalgia and comfort in the familiar view. it felt good to be home.
why?! is it because all my things are here? is it because i have friends here? because my current life is here? AHH.
so now i'm ALL confused.
it's like i'm out in the world, doing my own thing and i love it. but i miss my people. i miss my people a lot. and i can't decide how to prioritize.
i can't shake this feeling that to move to nyc will be giving up on this whole international thing that i'm doing and i'm also terrified that i won't ever want to leave nyc and i can't handle thinking about moving to a place that i might not want to leave for a long time. it seems so permanent. so grown up.
stay tuned. for now, happy new year! happy 2011! happy year of the redhead!
xo
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