What We All Need

WOW!  Talk about a busybusybusybusy week!  From starting grad school to switching gyms to getting back into the swing of balancing homework, fitness, friends, family, social life, semblance of sanity, I have been EXHAUSTED!  I never realized how much more disciplined I am during the school year!  Thank God extreme Type A personality Erin came running back into my life!  *I give her summers off...haha yeah right I'm still crazy in the summer I just have less to organize.  Also I would like to take a moment to personally thank my Lilly Pulitzer planner for keeping me sane!*  Last week was rough and needless to say it got a little emotionally overwhelming because I'm ready to be done school, I'm ready to get a big girl job, some of my friends have big girl jobs, and I'm still stuck at school.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE grad school and am so blessed to be in my program, but sometimes people are ready for a change.  And by people I mean me!

Okay, I'm gonna do a whole grad school post after this week because I think I need to see what I'm getting myself into without the rosy glow of syllabus week.  Anyway, brief synopsis, I think I'm gonna be  fine but syllabus week is terrifying because you are presented with a 5-7 page document that explicitly lays out that you have 15 weeks to accomplish 546476936739 tasks....yeah about that ;)  Definitely enjoying the two week honeymoon period in school, i.e. syllabus week and the week after.

Anyway, after being overwhelmed at school, we all know what is necessary...GIRLS NIGHT NIGHTS!!!


Friday was one of my dear dear friends Jess' birthdays but we decided to celebrate Saturday.  Friday night I went for a nice lowkey poolside, carb & gossip fueled girls night!  Chips? Check!  Fashion? Check! Great wine? check! Catching up on each other's busy lives? Check!  Talking about traveling? Check! Planning future vacations? Check! All in all it was a fab nite!  I had to call it an early night because I had to get up early the next day to go to North Jersey (a whole different world!) for Jess' birthday adventure!

So Saturday finally rolled around and I couldn't have been more excited!  I picked up Jess and we drove up to meet our friend Sam for manicures!  I got a deep fall purple that I love love love!  At this salon the manicurist gives you a shoulder and back massage while your hands are drying (THANK YOU!) and she massaged me then said something in a foreign language to her boss and he came over to me and did an even stronger shoulder massage (I guess he could tell I'm an intense and overstressed person?!).  We then met up with Molly and went to Dough (a pizza place in Caldwell) for lunch!  OHEMMGEEE!!  We got a crab cake appetizer and a a Summer Pizza!  The pizza had summer squash, mozzarella, tomatoes, and just all in all deliciousness!  Food heaven!

After lunch, we went back to Molly's house to prep.  Girls' Nights are never fully dressed without a smile and a prep session!  Prep sessions involved hair, makeup, a cloud of hairspray, a little glitter, a touch of country music to pump us up, and unknowingly color coordinating?!  Yes yes yes, apparently all of our friends wear pink everyday and we usually end up looking like we are walking into a Sears Family Photo session.  We are all color coordinated but not exactly matching...get it?  I love getting ready almost more than going out.  Getting ready is Girl Talk Time.  We dish about boys, clothes, food, our week, air our grievances, harmless gossip, and send compliments flying like tables in Jersey!

After spending hours getting ready (not because we're divas but because we can't stop laughing and talking and actually getting out of the house because we need "one more picture") we head off to Hoboken.  I'd never been to Hoboken before (South Jersey to the core) so I was superduper psyched to play!  Hoboken is like a little mini NYC!  It's so cute!  Theres no skyscrapers but just pretty brownstones and cute restaurants.  Jess made the keen observation that in North Jersey there are no spaces between the buidlings.  That is fact!  South Jerz has lots more space.

Molly had done her research (such a good future teacher trait) and found this cute little restaurant called Trattoria Saporito on Washington St. in Hoboken.  OMG talk about a foodgasm!  I couldn't believe how amazing the food was!  The atmosphere was casual elegance.  I got bowties with salmon and caviar.  I died and went to food heaven.  Seriously food heaven!  Hold on...I'm still thinking about it...still thinking about it....okay I'm back!  I'm not really a pasta girl but this just hit the spot!  We had to toast Jess' 22nd with some pink Moscato (we're fancy...we know :)) We all ate our fair share of pasta and then had food babies.  Giant triplet food babies actually!

EVerything was going seamlessly...but this is Serindipity so something had to get a little hairy.  Molly and I had planned to have the waiters bring Jess cake and sing to her etc.  Well, after realizing we all were expecting food babies we decided to nix dessert.  So we decide to go walk around the city by the river.  Before we leave I run to the lav to touch up my makeup and the waiter asks me if we still want the cake.  I'm like uhhhhhhhh...So I zoom back to Molly and try to explain everything in the 20 seconds Jess isn't at the table.  We figure everything out and make awkward eyes at the waiter.  All of a sudden the lights go out and the music starts swelling and all of a sudden we see the light glow of candle light and the sweet aroma of strawberry shortcake.  Happy Birthday in Italian played over the loudspeaker and we all sang and cheered!  Jess loved it!  Mission Accomplished!

After our success of a dinner we went to walk around Hoboken.  We walked down by the water and looked at the city.  I like seeing the city from the NJ side because the city seems so quiet and peaceful from a mile away.


All in all it was exactly what we all needed:  girlfriends, manis, carbs, and good conversations.

Tanti Baci,

Er