runlikejoy

Displaced Stay At Home Californian in rural N. Carolina

The Many Faces of Joy

The Many Faces of Joy

Monday, September 10, 2012

Heidi

So yesterday I got to spend the day with my very favorite 15 year old niece in the whole wide world.  She is going to an Adventist boarding school in Healdsburg and so I drove up to my in-laws on Saturday night, spent the night and then headed up to the school on Sunday morning to pick her up bright and early.  My mother in law loaned me her very adorable and brand spanking new car to drive which is a super Fiat 500 and so when I pulled up she thought I had gotten a new car!  We had so much fun zipping around Santa Rosa in this tiny but speedy little toy.

After checking out her new room we got in the car and drove down to Santa Rosa and had brunch at this cute Bistro.  She had a full stack of pancakes with strawberries and I had Chilaquiles (my favorite Mexican breakfast, lunch and dinner), but the best part of this meal was talking to Heidi and seconded by the French Press coffee that I got hot at the table and sipped throughout breakfast. We must have sat there for over an hour just chatting and laughing.  We could have sat there all day!

Then we hit the mall.  And we got lost in the labyrinth of Forever 21.  I vaguely remember this store becoming popular when I was in my early 30's.  I always felt way too old to shop at this store but I certainly enjoyed helping my niece pick out some cute jeans and tops.  It was the opposite of what shopping is like with my kids.  And most of the clothes were super skanky but we got the 3 or 4 items that were not skanky because she has a strict dress code at school that doesn't include anything skank.

We did some other fun stuff like go to the movies and grocery shop for her little dorm room fridge and microwave and all the time talking and laughing and catching up!  And while I don't get boarding school and I'm pretty sure none of my kids will ever go to a boarding school, Heidi is pretty amazing in my book and so I imagine I will be making monthly trek's up to Healdsburg to see her and hang out.

Look out Healdsburg!


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