A Weekend of Hangouts

This weekend was quite eventful.

Thursday evening, I got an out-of-the-blue text from Mickeyla asking if I wanted to hang out sometime Friday or Saturday since she'd be in town for 36-ish hours. Since Friday was July 4th, and I figured we'd both want to spend that day with our families, I suggested Saturday brunch. It was agreed upon and another of our college friends, Victoria, was invited along as well.

You'll all be so proud of me. I've been doing more driving around town lately and even braved the freeway by myself last week coming home from a dentist appointment! Which means I was able to drive out to the brunch spot on my own {it was decently far away} like a real adult! Whoot! {For those of you who don't know, I truly dislike driving. Like, despise it. *shudder* It's just one of those things}.

^ Monterey Omelet with Hashbrowns ^

We tried out Amy's Grill and Cafe in Hayward, since everyone seemed to be raving about their food on Yelp. It wasn't bad. All-American breakfast food. It's one of those small restaurants in mini malls that you tend to easily overlook. I really wanted to like this place since Amy {the owner} herself does ALL the cooking and that's an impressive undertaking, but I can't say I'd return. The food is alright, but it's simply too far out of the way for me to make it worth the drive.

It was lovely seeing Mickeyla and Victoria again, though. And the waitstaff was super sweet about letting us chatter and checking in to make sure we had everything we needed. I had fun.

Sunday, I met up with two girls I've known since sixth grade {that's like twelve years out of the twenty-two I've been alive}, Janelly and Ruth. We survived the melodrama of middle school and high school together, and I think they're the best, but we don't often get a chance to catch up. When we do though, ohhohoho. Non-stop talking the entire time, never a lull in the conversation, a little too loud for our own good, and we don't bother to muffle our laughter even if it gets us strange looks.

^ Apparently R&J watch OUAT, too, because we were all like, "LOOK. A RED LEATHER JACKET. O.O" And since it came in my size... day. made. (: ^

Ruthie is engaged {whaaaat} and moving out to Missouri in September, so there was a lot of teasing about that. And Janelly has The Best Car Trunk Ever. She works with kids for speech therapy {I think? Something like that}, so her entire trunk is filled, FILLED, with bags of toys and games and awesomeness. Such cool kids.

^ Hee. Janelly matches ALL THE THINGS. ^

We met up at Janelly's house {which I still remembered how to get to, even though I haven't been there in aaages} and then drove out to the mall. None of us are big shoppers {I haven't been inside a Target since I came home last September. Impressive, no?}, but we're all down to wander and window-shop. Before we headed inside though, we stopped by The Cheesecake Factory for late lunch.

^ Tadaaa. Perfect aerial food shot. Yes! ^

Technically, Janelly and I had already eaten, so we just ordered dessert. She had the Kahlua Coffee Cheesecake and I went with the Ultimate Red Velvet. So. Much. Sugar. It was delicious. {And no, I didn't finish the entire slice. If you've seen a slice of Cheesecake Factory's Red Velvet, you know it's like the size of my head. I think I ate, like, a quarter of it, tops}. Ruthie had real lunch since she hadn't eaten yet and I ACTUALLY NAILED THAT AERIAL FOODIE SHOT YOU SEE EVERYWHERE ON INSTAGRAM. Whoot. It was an amazing moment. *laughs*

^ Us in a nutshell. ^

I love hanging out with these girls and I'm so glad we're all in the same area again. The people who know you the best tend to be the people who've known you the longest, and this isn't an exception. Love these girlies so very much. Here's to getting older and growing closer and being friendsies forever. (: