So...

I've been in Michigan for the past week. A quick rundown on my trip, for old trip-recapping-times sake:

Sunday - got in to Michigan at around 5 p.m. Slept the entire way, and drooled all over my neck pillow thing. Seriously hope those things are washable. Lala and Marco (Max's sister and brother-in-law) picked us up and took us to a fun sports bar to catch the last half of yet another depressing Lions game. On the way there, Lynn (Max's mom) called Marco on the cell to find out where we were going. She was suspiciously overeagerly interested - turns out Lynn, Randy (Max's dad) and Forrest (Max's brother) had decided to surprise us at the bar and had driven all the way down from Grayling. Must say, Lynn would make an awfully bad spy as overheard Marco comment "Wow, you really seem to want to know where we're going!!!"

Monday - Mom came and picked up Max and me for lunch at the Beverly Grill. Lovely lunch - had delicious brunch and then headed to Somerset Mall. I was in desperate need of a cute-but-not-trying-too-hard-cute -but-also-trendy-but-also-not-too-expensive-and-appropriate-for-michigan-weather-
indoor-and-outdoor-and-will-make-me-look-carelessly-hot-and-not-fat outfit. Said outfit was not to be found during the first two and half of shopping but luckily spotted a newly opened Urban Outfitters (seriously heard heaven angel music when I found it) and ran in and bought the first top and bottom I saw that remotely looked cute. Am ashamed to admit that I bought it straight off the mannequin and without looking at price tags. Was duly punished for this sort of fasion cheating and reckless spending when I discovered later that the pants were total "butt crack" jeans (super low riders - melissa, you would have had a field day) and had to keep hoisting the pants up during the reunion (more on that later)which surely looked SO sexy. sigh. After shopping, we had an excellent Chinese dinner at Hong Hua, and Max declared the steamed oysters with black beans there to be practically the best food he's ever had.

Tuesday - Max wanted to hang out with Forrest in Lansing, so I drove him there. Met up with Forrest and his gal pal Millie, ran some errands with them, and then went to grab a bite to eat. After dropping them off, I met up with my friend Michelle. It was so great to see her - it's been probably two years - way too long.

Wednesday - Shoe shopping. Had to find some pumps to go with my new skinny jeans (cannot believe I bought two pairs of skinny jeans - they really do look ridiculous and I feel like I'm back in middle school). Pumps mission was a total failure. Really, those things just look stupid with the skinny jeans. Afterwards, we had lunch at a great bbq place called Famous Dave's. Loved the food there, and the super kitschy chain restaurant decor, which included serving the food on an upside down CLEAN garbage can lid. That night, my sister and I picked up my brother from the airport and then hung out with dad, who is now obsessed with the computer game World of Warcraft. Actually, everyone in my family is into WOW and...I bought the game as well. We'll see if I develop the same obsession that everyone else has with it! I had a fun time testing it out and created a character that is a Night Elf/Hunter. Yup, Sareet the Night Elf.

Thursday - Thanksgiving!! First Thanksgiving meal was at Dad's - turkey and all the trimmings including stuffing (I tried out Lypstykgirl's recipe - it was a hit). After that it was time for the second Thanksgiving meal at Mom's - honey baked ham and all the trimmings. Have I mentioned that I've gained yet another five pounds or so since I've been back???

Friday - Drove up to see Elliotpreciouspants Precious Baby!!! He is adorable!!! Even cuter in person!!! And a very sweet baby. Elliot is so in love with the baby and it made me cry watching her with him - she is seriously in the running for Best Mom of The Year already. After visiting with them for a bit, I drove to Grayling to hang out with Max and his family. There was a recent sad loss in the family, but everyone seemed to be taking it in stride. Max made some awesome burgers for dinner and afterwards we headed up to Gaylord where one of Lala's friends was throwing a party.

Saturday - Had breakfast with Max at the Grayling Restaurant while contemplating what life would be like if I moved into a small little town and opened up a diner, much like the Grayling Restaurant. I decided it would be so much fun, and even funner if I got to solve local mysteries... :) After breakfast, I drove back home to get ready for my 10 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. First I met up with Jessie and Erin (another fellow alum from high school), and we hit a local bar while perusing our yearbook. Man, that was weird. Generally a word comes to mind when I first see a pic of someone I've totally forgotten about. Like "Smart." "Mean." "Gossipy." "Always wore a pony tail" "Drank too much and had to get stomach pumped." I shudder to think what words come to the minds of my former classmates when they see my pic!! The reunion itself was so anti-climatic. I didn't see any of my friends from high school and only about 50 some people showed up. The food was terrible - really really overpriced for the $50 that we had to pay for it. I don't think I'm going to the next one. The funniest part is that Jessie and I called a bunch of our friends from LA who are originally from Michigan to see if they wanted to hang out. No one was in town except Benjamin, who rose to the challenge and crashed our reunion. So funny.

Sunday - Met back up with my dad in the afternoon and caught Casino Royale. Now, okay, I'm the first to say that Daniel Craig is not what you would call traditionally handsome, but man, he's super sexy in that movie. Wow. My mom, who had seen the movie earlier, complained about his "weird ears" during the scene when he comes out of the ocean on the beach. Um, she's probably the only woman in the world who was looking at his EARS during that scene. Anyway, I loved the movie and thought it was terrific. Afterwards, we picked up Boston Market and got all my favorite sides (green beans, corn, mashed sweet potatos, if anyone's curious) and just hung out.

Monday - Dad had to go to work so my mom met me up for lunch at a nice seafood restaurant. Over-ate, as usual. Afterwards, we went shopping. That's one of my favorite ways to spend a day. Over-eating, and then shopping. In that order. Met up with Dad for dinner at a cool New Orleans type place. And over-ate as well. So technically one of my favorite ways to spend a day is to over-eat, shop, over-eat again, and then watch four hours of tv. High-five!

Tuesday - Took mom to see Borat!! She seemed to like it but kept saying "oh no, oh no, oh no" every time Borat sat down with a new person. I loved the movie and thought it was hysterical. Went to the airport afterwards and after having the flight get delayed by hours, we had to get off the plane and rebook a flight for the next morning. Argh. Hate traveling. Was super stressed too because I had to work out plans for Pig since I was due back a day later. Luckily Kate (with the help of Erin, my friend who was dogsitting) came to the rescue and took Pig in for the night. And then moved my car for me the next morning. She is awesome. :)

Wednesday - got back home!! Pig was so excited she pissed on the couch!! Yay!!!