Catching Up on Travel Posts!

Wow - no posts since May? How did that happen?! Definitely need to do some catching up on all of the travel that's happened since then...

Carlsbad (work conference) - May 16-19
CPCA's annual Billing Managers/CFO Conference was down in SoCal this year, which gave me a great opportunity to meet up with A & J for dinner one evening. They live in Oceanside and came out to pick me up at the hotel, and we went to a local pizza place for food and beer. I'll get to see them again in October when I head to Long Beach for CPCA's 2016 Annual Conference. So great to be able to take advantage of work trips to catch up with friends!

New York City Trip #2 - May 20-22
Our second NYC visit within two weeks was for the wedding of my cousin P. A very quick but fabulous trip! We arrived late on Friday, enjoyed the lovely wedding ceremony and scrumptious reception (raw bar with oysters, free-flowing champagne and wine, full 5-course luncheon!) at The Metropolitan Club on Saturday, managed to brave the rainy conditions while waiting in line Saturday evening to visit The Guggenheim, and headed home to Sac on Sunday after taking a morning stroll that led us by the United Nations building.

Wine Country Weekend - June 17-19
Mr. E's parents came to stay with us for one night during their California visit, and then we all headed up to the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country in Santa Rosa on Friday to meet up with his sister and brother-in-law. On Saturday morning, Mr. E, his parents, and I went to the Charles M. Schulz Museum, where Mr. E's father was able to have a very meaningful experience while donating a signed comic strip to the Museum. We followed this up with an afternoon seating at our favorite wine country indulgence -- The Bubble Room at J Vineyards -- with the whole family. Very fitting to have everyone together to celebrate Father's Day!

Marshfield 4th of July Visit - June 28-July 4
We had a redeye flight to Boston on June 28th to begin our 4th of July visit to Mom. Both Mr. E and I worked remotely for a couple of days, and then we enjoyed the weekend festivities, including lobster dinner with Aunt M and Uncle J and the awesome beachside fireworks display (note: fireworks still remain illegal in Massachusetts...).

Denver Business + Family - July 18-21
I was lucky enough to combine my work trip to Denver for my annual PCA Learning Team Face-to-Face meeting with some family time with A, R, and F, who recently relocated to the Denver area from Louisville. We had dinner together on Tuesday evening, and then A and I met up again during my meeting lunch break on Thursday. So great to catch up with them and take a tour around the area to see their rental house and A's new school!

Chicago for BTN Race + Mr. E's 50th - August 5-7
Mr. E celebrated his 50th birthday on August 1st. Woo-hoo! Several of his close friends are reaching the same milestone, so he's been enjoying various activities throughout the year. One event was our recent weekend in Chicago, where we ran the Big Ten Network 5K race on Saturday morning and then gathered with a bunch of Mr. E's friends at his sister's home in Oak Park that evening for a lovely celebration for Mr. E. On Sunday, we took advantage of the beautiful and less-humid weather to walk around the Lakefront and go on a Shoreline architectural boat tour. I returned to Sac that evening, and Mr. E remained in Chicago until the following weekend, enjoying a "boys adventure" to Madison on Saturday with G, M, and R.

OK, I think that brings everything up to date. Next on the agenda? I get to combine a work trip to Boston with another visit to Mom in Marshfield over Labor Day weekend and the following week, and then Mr. E and I go to Bordeaux and Paris the last week of September. I'm sure there will be some good photos to share from that trip in particular! Stay tuned...