a visit with a true friend

My wonderful friend Melissa came to visit this last week, and we had such a great time together! It is so good to have a friend who continues to be a friend even though many miles may separate us! We talk almost everyday even though we've moved (yea for mobile to mobile!) but it sure was nice to see each other in person and go do 'girly' things and just have fun being together. I was so happy for she & Ellie to get to meet too!

I want to remember this visit in detail so here goes.

Friday, Ellie & I picked her up from the airport. It was so good to see her and let her hold Ellie for the first time. She had borrowed a suitcase from her grandmother and to her disappointment we saw that it had been destroyed. The handle wouldn't work anymore, a wheel had come off, and there was a hole in the bottom of it where the wheel used to be! The customer service was good though and they replaced it with a brand new one. Too bad it was red and her grandmother has matching pieces for the blue one that had been messed up!

We drove towards home and stopped for lunch at one of my favorite places-Goode Company Barbeque! I love a good chopped beef brisket sandwich! YUM! After we ate, we headed home with a quick stop at Super Target (which is now about 5 minutes from home!) and she got to get the tour of our new house which was fun. We then went to pick up Gracie from school. We also went to get a pedicure before dinner. I had cooked dinner that night so we all ate together then Melissa & I snuck out for some 'girl time.' We went to a bakery I wanted to try called "Sweet & Salty-A Gourmet Bakery." It was a fun little place. We also browsed through "The Bookworm Shop" and walked around some. I then drove her around the area some showing her a little bit of our new town. The girls enjoyed being treated to a manicure/pedicure!

Saturday, we took it easy in the morning, eating breakfast all together and not leaving home until around 11:30. We left the girls home with Chris and headed out to explore Houston. We went to a fun store called Charming Charlie's, then to a neat children's clothing store called Chocolate Soup and a really nice store called The Accessory Place. At this point, we headed over to browse through Pottery Barn Kids, James Avery, and Brighton. We were getting hungry but were planning on eating a big dinner so we decided to just get something small at the food court in the Galleria. Once we finally got there, we ate something and shopped around a little bit. We also enjoyed people watching as there are many interesting people who hang out at the Galleria. I think some of them think they're walking a runway in New York City when in reality they're living in Houston, TEXAS! Too funny.

We then ate at The Cheesecake Factory! Yum-we had been looking forward to this for a long time! It was soooooooo good!

Sunday, we went to church and came home for lunch that I had put in the crockpot early that morning. That afternoon, we went to Katy Mills for a little bit. We headed to church that night and to Pei Wei aftewards for dinner. YUM again! I enjoyed being able to introduce Melissa to some of my new friends and all of us eating together.

Monday, we did some shopping around here and ate lunch at La Madeleine. I then drove her around some more and we went to another bakery we'd seen called "Ooh La La-A Dessert Boutique." It was really, really good and had such pretty things! They had these huge cupcakes and then other desserts as well-like mini cupcakes that are the perfect size for 4 year olds! I definitely want to go back again! We ate at home that night for dinner then went to a movie and picked up Starbucks and came home to eat one of the desserts we had brought home.

Today, we hung out here at home for most of the morning after walking Gracie to school then decided to eat out yet again at Saltgrass Steak House. I figured she needed to go off with a really good chicken fried steak! It was good, too! We then headed to the airport and said our good-byes. It was sad to see her go and I've been a bit 'blah' tonight since she left. However, we've already made tentative plans for a visit from her whole family, and I hope it really happens! I'm thankful that God has blessed me with such a true friend!