Summer and Friends

   Our summer has been great so far. When I was in Chicago before Chris joined me, I had to chance to see one of my good friend, Trina. She lives in Wicker Park in downtown Chicago with her couple of other roommates. Wicker park is such a fun little area with cute shops and cafes. We had lunch at a vegan cafe which is a first time for myself. I ordered a "Italian beef seitan" which is something I haven't really heard of. I asked the waitor and he simply explained it as a chewy chicken. He was totally right.

Trina and I had talked about our recent loses in our lives. She had lost a brother that she loves so dearly and I lost my father about two years after that. It's difficult talking about losing someone you really love, but it can be relieving if you can talk to someone about it who can relate. When my dad died, I avoided having that conversation with someone as much as I can. I am so glad Trina was there to listen. There was so many things I didn't know about my dad and I regret not making the effort to get answers. I see him in my dreams, but that was never enough.

We didn't just talk about the sad stuff, we also talked about planning trips in the near future. It's funny, every time we see each other, we have this sparkle in our eyes, whenever we talk about going on a trip to Hawaii or Japan. We plan so many things but never really tried to execute it. Oh well, at least it's fun to dream about it:)

A couple of days ago, I got in touch with an old friend, Marina. She came from Brazil with her adorable 7 month old baby, Davi (rhymes with "savvy").We drove to Carmel in Monterrey bay where she was staying and we had dinner. It's been years since we last saw her. She is also the reason how I met Chris and I am so thankful for that . It was surprising how good of a mom she has become. I remember her for being this tomboy-surfer chic that makes cool surfing videos and all over charismatic person. Now, she's a mommy and surprisingly, she very good at it.

I love how summer brings people together. Seeing our friends and family that we usually don't get to see makes us feel good and gives us a fresh start when fall begins. I just wish we get to do this every summer:)