The Rundown

I am sitting in the lobby of the Club Quarters hotel in Philadelphia for the shuttle to the airport.

For all intents and purposes, my vacation is over, even though I won't land in Portland until 10:30 PST tonight (it's 2:30 EST). I figured now would be a good time to post a brief rundown of the trip because I will most likely be too exhausted to do much tonight, and I have an endo appointment bright and early tomorrow morning.

The past 12 days have included:

sandwich delivery, dinner plates with painted vaginas, steamed dumplings with Bettercell in Chinatown, thai food and sushi in Soho with Julia and Olivia, the New York Public Library, hunting for Kate in Hearld Square, shopping in Soho, dinner on 42nd with Julia, Olivia, Kate, Scott and Art-Sweet, lots of laughing and ranting, Museum of Natural History with Julia, Olivia, Kate, Wendy, Val and Val's family, a metorite from Oregon, new Sketchers from Times Square, train ride through Connecticut, Kerri's engagement ring, Italian food in Westport, Yale, lunch in the Financial District, four hours at JDRF, walking thirty blocks down Broadway...and then walking back, coffee with the editorial ladies of Diabetes Self-Management, interviews, wardrobe changes, evil high heels of death, NYC subway, NJ transit and SEPTA trains, falling in love with my iPod all over again, late night television, expensive shoes and H & M, walking around tipsy in Manayunk, Rita's water ice and Saturday morning cartoons, challah and matzoh crackers and lox and bagels (my entire East Coast family is Jewish - it was inevitable), an Indian grocery store and a mango lassi, more Italian food, children's Passover books and prayers in Hebrew, Philadelphia row houses and Independence Hall, meandering around South Street, feeling loved and lonely all at the same time.

Wondering if next year, I will be here with my family for the seder instead of in an airplane 35,000 feet above Colorado.

Thank you to everyone who came to see me. You have no idea how much I appreciate the time, money and energy that you all put in to make this trip so incredibly memorable.

The past 12 days have been the best graduation present a girl could have.