Nostalgia

I spent the weekend visiting friends in my old town and it was so nice.

Usually when I go back I completely over schedule myself, trying to pack in visits with as many people as I can and stops at as many old favorite shops and restaurants as possible. It's always good, but also overwhelming.

This time I did things differently. I drove down yesterday morning and stopped off in my old neighborhood in the city before driving out to my friend's place in the suburbs. That ever present walking challenge meant I needed to get a good bit of steps in this weekend and I figure my (literal) old stomping grounds were a great place to do it.

As I walked around the historic district I was thinking a lot about my own history there. I walked by the house that belonged to a friend's college boyfriend to see yes, it's still painted with easter egg colored trim; by an apartment building where I went to a few fun post college parties; a house where I spent countless evenings of my early 20s babysitting for 2 adorable munchkins; I saw a friend's old apartment is available for rent again and my old building looks exactly the same now as it did when I moved in 9 years ago.

It was the perfect kind of nostalgia. A mix of good memories and the knowledge that I would be happy living there again but no strong pull that I need to be back or desire to relive those days. I thought about the fact that I'm so much more secure now - financially, professionally, personally, than I was in those days.

After the walk I headed to the 'burbs and spent the rest of the weekend with two of my best friends. We just hung out, ate yummy food, went for walks, played with adorable kiddos and did some fabulous shopping at a craft show, where, much to my surprise I ran into a high school friend selling her hand blown glass and I bought two beautiful pieces.

Not even a double-the-normal-amount-of-time-because-of-AWFUL-traffic drive home can put a damper on this weekend.