Nicci

My dear friend Nicci came to visit me this week.  I met Nicci back when our family went on that 5 month hiatus to Virginia Beach.  Remember that?  We instantly became extra-super-duper close friends. That Nicci. She made those stressful five months some of the best months of my life!  Like - when she surprised me for my 30th birthday with a handmade quilt (pictured at the bottom of this post) made with fabrics she secret-squirreled from my friends in VB and from back in San Diego.  Probably the most thoughtful gift of all time!  I haven't seen her since we moved back to San Diego almost two years ago. We left Virginia Beach on Thanksgiving day. The day she gave birth to her baby girl. I had to say goodbye to her on the edge of a hospital bed - my face filled with tears. So, naturally, I was ecstatic that I'd finally got to see her and her babies and show them all around San Diego...

Or so I thought. 

The day before Nicci arrived, I had an ugly fall while running on the beach in Coronado.  This not so graceful face-plant left me with a bum knee, on crutches, and for the most part useless. I was crushed because I knew it would hinder our fun, but Nicci, being her awesome self, just took care of me and my family instead of having a grand vacation. She fed us food, bathed my kids and cleaned my house. She's basically a unicorn. I mean, friends this good just don't exist. Sean was away for work for most of her visit, but we still managed to squeeze in some fun in spite of me hobbling around slow everywhere we went.

Don't tell my doctor, because he told me to try and sit down and put my leg up all week (which I mostly did) but we snuck out here and there for a few fun outings. I just couldn't stand the thought of her coming all this way and not experiencing some of my San Diego faves. Sooooo, we went to the gym and did upper body, we practiced handstands, and we did abs in my living room. There's no way a bum leg can stop us from getting our fitness on.

One day we had lunch at Casa Guadalajara out on the patio (a San Diego must) followed by me driving Nicci and the kids on a tour of downtown San Diego, Point Loma, Balboa Park and Old Town. On another day we went to Balboa Park for a few hours in the evening. I even snapped a few shots of her cute family for fun. When in Rome. 

The last day she was here my knee was starting to feel better, so I wrapped it up and we went to the San Diego Zoo for a few hours. I felt bad that they only got to see a few animals, but the kidlets had a blast none the less. 

Nicci is a big fan of my cooking (I got skills, yo) so she was really looking forward to me making her some yummy food on this trip.  I think I felt most bad about that.  That's how I show my love after all!  I did manage to hobble around and make one yummy meal of flatbread pizzas with fig butter, caramelized onions & pears, Gorgonzola, almonds, balsamic drizzle and arugula.  If anything, now she needs to come back for another visit so I can make her food and so we can do all the other fun things we missed out on.  It was all a scheme...bust my knee and get them to have to come back.  The things we do to see the ones we love :)  Hurry back Buschie Bears!!! Love your faces!