Visitors

I have been trading emails this week with my friend, Julie, who is planning to visit us in March.  March will be jammed packed as we have my sister and her family coming early on, Julie, another friend, Jody, a potential visit from one of our good family friends and then my parents plan to come at the tail end of the month.  Exciting!

It reminds me a little of those first few years I lived in Florida.  Boy, friends and relatives come out of the woodwork when you live in a warm climate and you might be able to get some people into Disney for free.  In any case, the Orlando International Airport holds fond memories for me because I always loved heading to the gates to meet people as they arrived in Florida.  Who doesn’t love a day flying into The Sunshine State!?!?

We’ve had a few visitors so far this year.  Our first official stay-at-the-apartment guest was Tom’s brother, Rob, who came in early October.  We have great Littlest Pet Shop sheets that we so enjoyed putting on his bed for him!  Rob had not been to Paris before so we enjoyed showing him a few of our favorite things.  I joined him at the Musee D’Orsay one afternoon and he did lots of exploring on his own when we had some of our regular activities going on.

Our friends, the Ferdwalds, arrived on Tom’s birthday carrying two bottles of Spotted Cow (one is still in the refrigerator…I think Tom is saving it for the perfect moment) as well as other goodies like peanut butter and treats for Elizabeth and Julian’s upcoming birthdays.  The few days we had in Paris went quickly but they were able to squeeze in A LOT.  The weather was near perfect and we had one of our favorite meals thus far out with Barb & Lee.  At the end of the week we all traveled to London together and you’ll know, if you’ve read previous posts, that we had a great time in the U.K.

These visits have been fantastic and we can’t wait for future guests to arrive.  But you know what has been an unexpected surprise?  There have been a few people that have been traveling from home that we don’t spend a lot of time with that reached out to us, knowing we were here.  I have enjoyed those moments so much.  The Gibson’s, a family from the Middleton Hills neighborhood, was here in September.  Sarah and Maya are classmates so we met them for a bakery treat one day after school.  And just before the holiday, another Middleton couple, the Meyers, joined us for lunch.  It was so nice to have the time to connect; something we don’t really do much of at home.  Everyone is always so busy.  It’s no one’s fault.  It’s just life.  But how nice to have the time to really talk and it took coming to Paris to do it!

One of my favorite mornings was when Tom and I were scheduled to meet Anastasia and her husband at a cafe.  Now, I only know Anastasia because we have shopped in her store at home and I really knew her business partner more than her.  Honestly, I was a bit apprehensive about this get-together only because when you don’t really know someone (and had never met their spouse) you just don’t know what you’re in for.  Well, we immediately hit it off and the next two hours flew by.  They travel to Paris regularly for their business so we shared favorite experiences and tips and just enjoyed their company so much.  It was a great morning and I am so happy to have made a new Middleton friend in Paris.  Funny that we also saw them a few days later at a favorite pizza place they had recommended to us in their store before we even moved here!

Our next guests are my parents at the end of January.  I think I have time to clean before they arrive.  Until then, we will keep testing new recipes to share with them (pot roast: fail.  French onion soup: hit!)  and discover fun places for them to visit while they are here.  I enjoyed playing Tour Guide in Orlando and happy to put that hat on again while we are here.

Wish we would have had more time.

Lunch with the Meyers.

Touring around Paris with Rob.

Great friends bring great gifts.

Fun at the Regency Cafe in London. “Set Breakfast!”

The Engle and Gibson kids