Last week was a trip. Literally, figuratively. Noemi and I headed to the east coast sans Christopher—an adventure in and of itself. For anyone who’s thinking of taking a five hour plane flight with a two-year old on their own, I’d advise you wait until they can play Scrabble or Othello or something to kill the time so they aren’t trying to wiggle into the lap of the person occupying that third seat for five hours straight (and if you must travel, pray it’s a grandma sitting there). At least that’s my plan.

We made the trek east for three reasons: a visit with Grandma and Grandpa (Noemi’s first time to their house in Connecticut), meetings with a few publishing houses for the new cookbook and . . . my 20th high school reunion [Lucy and Kristin below].

I’d never been to a reunion before and, truth be told, I wasn’t really planning on attending this one. But my dear friend Amy [on the left below, Justin is on my right] was on the planning committee and somehow talked me in to going. I have to say, despite a nasty cold shared by both daughter and mother that stole my voice (oh so convenient for a large gathering), I really enjoyed reconnecting with friends I thought I’d lost touch with forever.

It was interesting to me how the crowd seemed to be roughly divided into two camps: those who reverted to high school behavior and looked backwards, and those who acted like adults and were more focused on the present. All of us, though, kept reiterating how utterly impossible it seemed that twenty years had gone by—that’s more years than we’d LIVED when we were in high school! It’s weird standing above the bleachers (it was Homecoming to boot) looking down on a mass of high schoolers knowing you don’t even register on their retinas because you’re too OLD. Argh.

It was a beautiful time of year to be back in the east, though, and an apt time to reconnect, given the nostalgic feeling of the season. And the house visits—both grandparents and publishers—were a joy. As wonderful as it was to step back into the past, I’m so looking forward to moving into the future . . .