If you are looking at that above picture and thinking, “Stop it. Just ding dang stop it right now,” then you know how I feel about my new adorable niece.

Before I get any further, let me start this post by stating that I have a fabulous husband. As a surprise birthday treat, he booked a little New York getaway just for me — sans children! — for this past Memorial Day weekend. I flew in on Friday and got to spend a glorious three and 1/2 days with Steph and Ro and Brian (and a whole cast of other amazing people, as well), before flying back (and landing at 3 a.m. – thank you hurricanes, tornados, thunderstorms and hail … oh my) on Tuesday.

Having those three full days was so nice because we really got to space out our activities and combine some chill time with some other fun things, as well. We got to visit my Grandmother on Saturday morning, and then Steph and I got drinks and appetizers at the most adorable little spot in New Hampton called Mason’s Marketplace. On Sunday we visited the Warwick Foot Spa & Tea Bar for a little relaxation and reflexology before heading over to the Gardiner Brewing Company, which is really and truly a fun little gem, and I’m not just saying that because Brian’s sister Meg was integral in setting it up and works there (even though, you know, seeing her cute face does help – hi Meg!). We met up with Brian’s parents there, as well, and a high school friend of mine, before heading over to my Aunt and Uncle’s place on Memorial Day Monday to hang with them and my cousins and my cousins daughter. Then my stepdad stopped by Steph’s place on Tuesday before I flew out.

Even though I got to pack in time with so many different people, because they were all spaced out it didn’t feel overwhelming like it sometimes can. Plus, with the girls not there, I got to actually focus on my conversations without any distractions.

Besides Rosalie, obviously. Her constant cuteness is always a distraction to me 😉

I did miss the girls, obviously, but honestly, sometimes it’s just so nice to have a little one-on-one time. You Moms get me.

I would be remiss if I ended this post without mentioning the amazing woman who sat in my aisle on my flight back. Apparently a hail storm in Denver two days earlier had grounded 29 Southwest planes with damage, so the airline has really been struggling to play catchup ever since. My flight was originally supposed to leave at 6:20 p.m NY time on Tuesday, and after being delayed two hours, being rerouted through Canada (which would have been an extra 1.5 hours of flying time) to avoid weather, then sitting on the tarmac for three hours, unloading back into the airport, then loading up again … we ended up finally leaving around 11 p.m. NY time. By the time I got my luggage, found the car (shout-out to Manny the Matrix for avoiding any hail damage in the airport parking lot!) and drove home, I wasn’t in bed until 3:30 a.m.

Tired doesn’t begin to cover it.

But anyway, about my seat-mate. She was about 75-years-old, has five grown children (one of whom is a pilot with Southwest), had lost her husband when her second child was just graduating high school, was a nurse, worked in Saudi Arabia and now spends her time traveling the globe. She was just coming back from Spain on Tuesday and was supposed to catch a connection in Denver to Phoenix, which obviously didn’t happen. When we departed at the airport at around 2:30 a.m, she was just waiting for her luggage so she could go find an open restaurant in the airport to eat something before heading to her next destination. With luggage in hand, she decided to skip Phoenix altogether and simply continue her adventure. She thought maybe Vegas sounded good.

I mean, she was basically my hero, wrapped in a tiny little 75-year-old woman’s body. Traveling the world by herself. Unfussed by the insanity that traveling can sometimes present. At one point when she was first explaining how she had just come from Spain and had been traveling all day I said, “Oh wow! I shouldn’t be complaining then!” to which she laughingly replied, “No, you shouldn’t!”

I love her, is all I can say.

Anyway, I hope you guys all had nice holiday weekends, as well!