Sunsets, Good Conversation And Hypnotic Moon Rises, OH MY!

Part of divorce, is splitting the holidays and missing some of them with your child altogether. This year Thanksgiving happened to be one that my son spent with his father. Which means he was also gone for his birthday. The last time this happened, post life explosion, I ran away to Kentucky for the holiday. I followed that boyfriend, who was there for work, and had an amazing trip. I loved that state, because HORSE COUNTRY!! Also? Cute boyfriend. ;) But escaping during holidays that I don't have my son, seems to be an excellent coping mechanism. 

This year, I wasn't able to fly off. But I had a fantastic holiday anyway. I worked out the morning of thanksgiving, went to coffee with friends. Thanksgiving dinner  with my parents at an inn on a nearby island. There was exactly ZERO prep and clean up, and the food was delicious. After dinner, we drove down to the beach for a quick view of the water, because it was a such a beautiful, crisp, sparkling day. I was home by 5pm, tucked into flannel PJ's and fluffy socks. I had my FireTV, an apple cider mimosa, a cozy blanket and the evening to myself. I have truly learned to embrace time to myself now, and I do enjoy it. I'm pretty sure I was asleep before midnight, lol!

Friday, I headed to Seattle for the afternoon, to have lunch at a new restaurant where my dear friend is a server. I hung out at her counter and enjoyed a lovely lunch, just because I could. After that, I picked another dear friend up from work. We stopped for a cocktail and then headed home. Again with the PJ's and movie time. Even worse? I was in bed by 9:30pm on a Friday night. LOL! It was raaaaad! 

Saturday morning was spent getting my nails done, and having a long overdue pedicure. I popped in to the boutique I used to manage for new gloves and boot socks. And there was coffee. There is always coffee involved in my *me time*. 

Saturday afternoon was special. I got to spend it with my new friend, J. Aside from advising me to wear warm clothes and have my phone charged up, our plan was a mystery to me. Our adventure began with my first eggnog latte of the season, and we mini-road-tripped North. J planned a 'Photo Challenge', so we needed to decide categories on the way to Deception Pass. We chose sentimental, black and white, silhouette and silly. Oh!! And the catch was that we needed to take the photos using a selfie stick, whether we were shooting in selfie mode or not. I looooved that addition to the challenge! 

 These were J's contest entries.

Black and white 

Silly

And silhouette 

We didn't get around to photographing the sentimental category, because LOOK at that SUNSET. AH-MAZE-BALLZ. 

Wait. It gets better. Really.

Absolutely stunning. The company, the views, the entire experience. We stopped for a delicious dinner and some revealing conversation on the way home. And THEN....THEN!!!! The MOON. It was huge, the richest golden buttery yellow color I've ever seen. It was mesmerizing. 

Sunday, I woke up and decided that I needed to go back to that new restaurant and enjoy some brunch, a mimosa, my friend and the Seahawks game. Because I could. :) And I coerced J to join me. 

I loved my holiday weekend. Just because life isn't going the way I envisioned it would, doesn't mean it isn't amazing. A month ago I said I hated how things were going for me. Now I appreciate that I was able to make some changes to alter the trajectory, as a result of being unhappy. I made some very big strides in letting go of toxic people during the last month. Perhaps this weekend was my reward. It sure felt like a win! 

I don't put a lot of merit into horoscope stuff. But part of the conversation on Sunday made me wonder. This is what I found. I hope it's true.