Home for the Holidays

Finally back on the same continent!

For the past three weeks, I've been home in Cherry Hill enjoying lots of quality time with family and friends. My family reminded me that this was my longest stretch of time at home since I began JVC! Needless to say, it's been a very relaxing break. It's funny to think that I'm technically on "summer vacation" since Centeno, and all schools in Costa Rica, are closed for the summer until February; celebrating Christmas, New Years, and waking up to snow makes that seem a little strange!

Mego!

My break started off with Thanksgiving, Part 2. Since neither Emily or I were home for Turkey Day this year, my mom recreated our favorite holiday for us on the Sunday after we both returned to the states. It was absolutely perfect! Later in the week, my BC roommate of three years, Mego, flew down for a little pre-Christmas visit. We had a blast catching up, baking, and going to Wegmans...all Mego's favorite things to do in NJ.  I also joined my family and all the other OBX crew families at the Dunleavy's house for a beautiful Christmas parties. Since I've missed the past couple OBX trips it was really nice to see everyone.

Costa Rica & Ireland Christmas Cookies :)

On Christmas Eve, I enjoyed a delicious, very Italian spread for dinner with the Zippilli's. We went to MomMom's church for a beautiful Lessons and Carols service. It was great to see Pastor Jones again, and to share Christmas Eve with her community! On Christmas Day, the Foran family gathered at Uncle Dan and Aunt Caythe's house for a delicious meal and afternoon filled with hilarious stories, lots of new hats, and a pretty wild photo shoot. I'm so glad I got to see all the cousins, though I missed Andrew and Daniela!  

Fun Foran Christmas

Over the course of the next week, I spent time with many of my Cherry Hill friends. I had lunch dates and coffee dates with girls from high school, spent an afternoon with Jackie (or should I say Dr. Feinberg?) and Jason, and went out for dinner and drinks with the Willowdale crew.  It was funny and a little strange to look around the table and see the faces of people I used to walk to school and ride the bus with from elementary school to high school; we're lucky to still be friends so many years later!

Quite literally friends for life!

 Last weekend, I hosted about 16 former JVs at my house for a little reunion. Most of us who were in LA last year are either from the East Coast originally or have recently relocated out here, so Cherry Hill was a (somewhat) neutral spot to gather. We had a BLAST. It was so great to see  the people who were such an integral part of my experience as a JV and hear about what they've been up to in the past few months. Naturally, it wasn't complete without everyone there and a couple rounds of "Colder Weather" being belted while everyone hugged and swayed in DK's dining room, but alas, it came close.

JVs in Cherry Hill!

The next day, a few of us headed up  to NYC for New Year's Eve. They were great sports and followed me to my BC friend's apartment for a party. They had met Erin this summer when she visited me in LA, but they were new to everyone else. I enjoyed seeing some friends from college and loved (selfishly) that I got to bring two of my worlds together for the evening!

BC meets JVs

This last week has been a lot quieter; getting ready to go back has led me to start thinking about what I'll be doing next year and where I want to be. I know I will miss all the people I got to see over break even more, but the next 7 months will go by quickly and will be filled with all sorts of new adventures! I head back to Costa Rica in the morning... hasta la vista, USA!