We left at 4am on Wednesday morning – Philadelphia bound to surprise a dear friend for his 30th birthday. We arrived Wednesday afternoon and little did Adam know, another couple from Texas would be flying in on Thursday and then finally, last night we surprised him with what we’ve been planning for months: a couple nights in Brooklyn!
As I write, the six of us are packed into a borrowed minivan en route to NYC with very very little breathing room!
On the way up, Andrew and I stopped in DC to stretch our legs and temper our bodies to the cold. It was 68 degrees when we left Columbia at 4am and as soon as we hit Virginia had dropped to the high 30s. We are loving a break from the warm winter in SC and getting snuggled up in thick socks, coats, gloves and hats.
Adam and Erin’s sweet University City street – complete with three Ethiopian restaurants, a bluegrass bar, and a coffee shop right across the street
Andrew and I took the bus into Center City to have an obligatory Philly cheesesteak and meet up with an old colleague from Columbia – we had a brown ale and an IPA from Nodding Head, a Philly brewery
We explored a little, I swooned over my good lookin husband as usual, and I left Andrew to check out a few more spots while I hopped the bus back to Erin’s and Adam’s to run a few birthday errands
Finally, last night we took the bus back downtown with everyone for some local festivities. Snuggled in late this morning and the birthday not made us French toast
Now we are Brooklyn-bound and ready for a weekend of exploring and spending some time with some of our dearest friends. I’m feeling so thankful for time away to rest and catch up with the Bedenbaughs and some precious time on the road with my husband! See you when we get back to Columbia!
trial & error 
I love it!