Monday, November 26, 2007

Flashback weekend!

We went to LA for the long Turkey weekend. Aside from enjoying all the food and gluttony that accompanies the usual Thanksgiving festivities, I took advantage of this long weekend to catch up with old friends.

Running with the Arvidsons - Lucas and I met up with my friend Sunday and her four beautiful daughters (three 5-year-olds, and one 2-year-old) at this picturesque park in San Marino.Lucas met the triplets a few times in his early years.

THEN (2003 in Manhattan Beach)

THEN (2004, roadtrip to LA)

How times have changed! Needless to say, Lucas loved getting outside and playing with kids his age. They all ran around, played in big piles of leaves, and had a great time!

NOW (last weekend in San Marino)

With everyone now being more self-sufficient, without needing so much parental supervision, Sunday and I had a chance to catch up in person. We've been close friends since we first met sophomore year in college. I tried to do the math, but take my word for it, it's been a long long time (note the massive shoulder pads in the photo below).
WAY BACK THEN (circa early 1990s, roadtrip to SF)

We were roommates, fellow partygoers and survived a lot of roadtrips and weekenders together. We hadn't seen each other since our girls' weekend to Palm Springs, about a year and a half ago. But we talk on the phone about once a week, so it was hard for me to believe it had been that long since our last meeting.

FAQ - When I tell people that Sunday has four kids, people are astonished and always ask me "How does she do it?" I admit, when Sunday told me she was going to have triplets, I was a little anxious for her. In college, she was notorious for losing things: keys, jackets, cameras, etc. But from spending time with them at the park, seeing them a few times over the years, and talking to her weekly, I'm constantly amazed and impressed at how awesome she is with her kids.

The Friskes - Sunday morning I went solo and drove into LA. My first stop was at the Friskes. Ali and I have been friends since we met freshman year in the dorms. We spring break-ed (broke?) together in Waikiki and had our share of college dorm antics.
WAY BACK THEN (1989, Hana Bay, Waikiki)

Instead of talking about dollar beer joints and fraternity parties, we talked potty training and private schools. Again, we tried to piece together a timeline of the last few times we had seen each other, but it's been a while: Ali's had two adorable kids since we last met.

Me and Jeanne - I left the Friskes and headed straight over to West LA to see Jeanne. Jeanne and I have been close friends since high school. Unfortunately, this is the earliest pic I could find of the two of us. Can you guess what decade this is? (Hint: the halfshirt and acid-washed jeans)
WAY BACK THEN (1988, USC/Stanford Weekender)

We strolled around Santa Monica: Main Street, the awesome farmer's market there, then down to 3rd Street Promenade. I walked away without buying a single thing. But it felt so indulgent to just window shop with a good friend and not be in any kind of rush.

Long lost relatives - Alex and Graham were two of the groomsmen in our wedding. The four of us hung out so much when we lived in LA: dinner parties, running charades, movie nights, dim sum outings, movie making - we used to do so much with them. Alex and I used to pretend that we were cousins, or was is siblings? I can't even remember anymore.

WAY BACK WHEN - 1988 in LA's Chinatown

We were trying to figure out the last time we had all seen each other and sadly surmised that it was at our wedding, or shortly thereafter -- NINE YEARS AGO! And we really haven't been good about keeping in touch, not even with email.

They came over Sunday night and we hung out so they could meet Lucas. Then we went out for dinner. The awesome thing was that once we started talking, it felt like no time had passed at all since our last meeting. That being said, we agreed on mutual visits in 2008.

(NOW - last weekend at Kevin's parents' house)

Kevin and I talked later about how much fun it was to spend time with Alex and Graham. I'm not sure what happened these last nine years and why we never picked up the phone on one of our visits down there, or sent more emails. But we aren't going to let that happen again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sunny & Kevin,
We love you both so much. And after meeting Lucas, we love him just as much. We've adored and admired everything about you both and nothing has changed. This past Thanksgiving holiday, after spending time with you both again really gave us that much more to be thankful for. Can't wait to the year ahead and the many more to follow as we attempt to become part of each others lives again.

Alex & Graham