Trip to NJ + NYC in Instagrams

I would have called this my weekend in Instagrams...but then I realized that it is already next weekend. How did this week fly by? And how have I only gotten about 3 out of 300 things done? Ok, it's been more than 3. But I feel behind. Always. 

Maybe because I had a week off of work (last week) where I was able to visit home again. The idea of "home" is a melange now. I don't feel homeless. I feel homefull...full of homes. All over the place. In different towns and cities and states...and even countries to a degree. It's nice to have homes in many places. But it's also overwhelming sometimes. You stay at one home for a few days and soon enough the homes you've left behind begin to haunt you. And no matter how far ahead you are in one place, you feel behind in the other. 

My home in Michigan is all about my work. When I'm not inside my house, I'm at the office. When I'm out of the office, I'm on my blogs -- or client's blogs. When I leave Michigan, I leave work behind. My home in NJ is all about family and friends. I don't think there will ever be a moment when I feel fully caught up with my NJ home ever since leaving it. Every time I see my sisters, they're a little bit taller. Every time I see Watson the puppy he looks less and less like a puppy. Every time  I see my best friends from high school they look a little different than when I last saw them and a lot more like real adults. New hair. New job. New piercing. New handbag. Something's always new. And every time I see my parents they they seem a little older and I miss them a little more. Everytime I leave my NJ home, I leave all of them. There's freedom that comes with moving out of your parents' house. There's another kind of freedom that comes from spending time with them...while time is plentiful. 

I spent a couple of days in the city, too. NYC isn't really a home to me anymore...more a memory of one. But it was a childhood home -- and those may be the most special of all. And I was able to see my cousin who I haven't seen in forever and college friends who I used to see everyday. All. The. Time. Who I never see any more. So while NYC was a bit overwhelming (I actually murdered my feet walking) it was so refreshing and fun at the same time. 

I had my favorite ice cream from all of my favorite ice cream parlors in the infamous Princeton. This was a highlight for sure. Leaving home -- whether NJ, NYC, MI...anywhere -- means leaving good food. And we got coconut beef from my favorite Thai-Indian fusion restaurant in NJ, Aroma. And I dyed my hair blonde! Which actually turned out to be a bit of a disappointment -- will blog about this later. But it's growing on me. 

If you have multiple homes. Or if you live far away from a home you left behind...go back all that you can. :)