Monday, September 25, 2006

Back from Philly!

I got back from Philly on Sunday evening and then I was up at the crack of dawn to head back into the office for a big dose of reality. I was dog tired and it was definitely a Monday in every sense of the word!!

I am SO glad I faced my fear of flying and got on that plane to Philly because I had an absolute BLAST with my Precious Panda "sisters"!!! I can't tell you the last time I laughed that much and felt that comfortable with a group of women. Even though we are from all over and have different stories of how we came to adopt, there is definitely a very special bond that we all share and an unspoken connection between all of us. I think we all felt the connection and will carry that with us during the rest of this wait and beyond.

Susan and I arrived on Thursday evening and stayed at Stephe's place in Deleware. On Friday afternoon, Cheryl (our 4th roomie) came in and the rest of the group trickled in later that day. Friday night we all got together at Stephe's place and Susan made baked ziti and meatballs (double click photos to enlarge).




Saturday morning we all met up and headed to Philly for our China town tour. It was raining at the beginning, but you can see that we made the best of it...plus, the weather cleared up pretty quick.





We had a great time on the tour and then headed to Reading Terminal Market for lunch, and then back to China town for some shopping. After we had our fill of shopping, we headed to Independence Hall to see the Liberty Bell...



...then onto South Street to hang out and relax a bit over drinks and appetizers. Our night ended back at the hotel hanging out and letting our hair down...what happened in Philly, stays in Philly...right, ladies?



Stephe, thank you so much for organizing this wonderful trip and being our hostess with the mostess for the weekend! To the entire Philly group, it was a pleasure meeting and getting to know each and every one of you! Thank you all so much for a fantastic weekend.

14 comments:

C's Mom said...

Looks like a fantastic time! Pirate is a little cutie :0)

Colleen said...

I'm so jealous! Great pics. Glad you had fun. Spread some of those "guts" this way so I can go to Philly someday!

Lisa~~ said...

I wish I was an east coast panda as your trip looked like a blast!! Makes flying worth the trip!!

Lisa and Tate said...

Wow!!! Sounds like you guys had a blasts!!! Can you imagine what fun you all will have picking up your little girls???!!!

Lisa
(who is still in Norway)

Anonymous said...

So glad you had the opportunity to go on this trip! It looks like all of you had a great time! How nice to meet before China.

Kim

Joannah said...

Wow! You really get around, Donna. You're gonna know EVERYBODY before you get your referral! When are you coming to California? ;-)

Dawn and Dale said...

Those are the best pictures!!! It looks like you guys had sooo much fun!!!

I'm jealous too!!

Sugar Cookies And Hope said...

How fun!! It looks like everyone had a great time!

Anonymous said...

Donna, The weekend is one i'll never forget. I am so glad we met and bonded over the Ziti LOL.

OK now up load thse pictures to Snapfish so I can print them.

Love Ya
Your Panda Sister
Susan Rizzo

Middle-Aged Moi said...

You look like you had such a blast! What fun!

Janet T.

Nancy & Brian said...

What a great trip! China town looks like it would be really fun to go and spend the day. Glad you put your fear aside and had so much fun.
Nancy

Kim said...

I'm so glad that you all had a great time! Looks like a blast!

Lindsey said...

Im glad you had a great weekend =)

Kim M. said...

Donna
The photos look awesome! I love how you can put things like that together.

I miss everyone still! I'm so glad I was able to meet you and feel blessed we all had that amazing time together. Next time we will have our girls with us! I'm glad I can call you my friend!