I traveled to Charlottesville and back on Sunday to have brunch with two of my best friends, but I left my camera at home. I did manage to snap a shot or two with my phone while I was there, though. I love seeing Emma and Shawna. 

Saturday was the first boat ride of the season. It was warm and sunny and old Rocky, though a bit more hesitant and awkward than he usually is getting on and off the dock, found himself right at home in his favorite spot yet again.

  

Hope you had a relaxing weekend, too.

My parents and I decided to visit Sean at school on Saturday, so we packed a little picnic lunch, loaded Rocky into the car, and drove to Farmville to walk part of the High Bridge Trail together. Walking across the bridge is really awesome--it feels like you're on a boardwalk at the beach, but you're high above the treetops the entire time.

   

 Rocky got a little more than he bargained for and had to be carried at the very end, but he's still a sucker for a good walk.

  

After our walk and picnic, we stopped by The Bakery for some tea before heading back home. 

My roommates and I used to walk there from my college apartment all the time, so it's always nice to visit.

I've been to Farmville twice in two weekends! What a treat. 

It's hard to believe I'll be there once more next month for Sean's graduation.

When we got home we ordered Chinese food and my mom made us a martini.

A Saturday well-spent.

What did you do this weekend?

Today's cause of nostalgia is spring-like weather. If you've been reading for a while, you know it really is an almost-daily trigger that leaves me visited by an enormous nostalgia (one of my favorite phrases and pretty much the mantra of my life so far--see?).

When it rains and is warm and stays light out until well after 6:00 PM, I feel hopeful. I always say that I feel like myself at the beginning of autumn, but I guess that's not entirely true. It's the combination of the two. Fall promises that brighter times are coming, and then spring delivers.

It's the beginning of both of these seasons--fall and spring--where I truly feel like the person that I want to be. The productive person who reads and goes running every day, who doesn't feel anxiety, who laughs constantly and spends time with friends and tries to love everyone and eats brunch and drinks Bloody Marys outside on patios on a regular basis.

So when it rains and is warm and stays light out until well after 6:00 PM, I start to think about last year in Charlottesville, with walks around UVA and pistachio milk lattes on the patio of my favorite coffee shop and Sunday mornings at home with Rob.

I think about Farmville, and our undergrad adventures with roommates and friends who made everything fun. I think about Clarissa and Dirty Shirleys with Caroline at one of two of the only bars in town, and the 45-minute drive that Raquel and I used to make just to get dinner from Chipotle.

And next spring, I'll look back at this spring and think about taking my dog downtown for the St. Patrick's Day parade and stopping to let every kid we passed pet him, walking around until he was so tired and happy he could barely keep his eyes open on the drive home. I'll look back at the spring on the lake where so much of my life felt like it was in transition, and I'll feel the same way I do each year, but different.