Fly Away Home

Having spent most of my childhood growing up in Pennsylvania, each time I visit the East Coast my bearings get a little tangled. I love California, but I love Pennsylvania. I love my friends in San Francisco, but I love my core group of high school pals who live all along the East Coast. When my husband and I hopped our flight from Philly to SF last night, I swore up and down that I didn't want to leave my family and friends, but the second I stepped in my house again, the comfort of a home base settled my mind. The eight years I've spent living in the glorious city of SF have muddied my concept of what home really means. Is it possible to feel like you belong in two places at once? Life certainly seems that way to me a lot of the time.

The Ocean City, NJ boardwalk.

Our last few days back on the East Coast were spent in Ocean City, NJ. A group of high school pals, my husband and I got together at the same shore house we've been hanging out at since well before college. It feels good to have that kind of familiarity with a tight group of people after all these years. We basically grew up together and we're now adults together. Now instead of bonding over high school crushes, we bond over beer, cigars and the complications of "grown-up" life. It's so strange, but the saying is true: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In addition to finishing off all the alcohol in the shore house, we had one other duty on our final day in Ocean City: to hit up the boardwalk. There, nothing has changed. It's still loud, crowded, bright and annoying. But it's full of nostalgia too: the good kind. The kind you can only really grab when you're shoulder to shoulder with people you really like. We filled up on Manco & Manco's pizza, Kohr Brothers custard and crab fries while taking in the sights and sounds of the Ocean City boardwalk.

Now I'm back in SF and back to the grind. Back to loving this fair city and back to waiting patiently for another visit back East. There are lots of exciting things on the horizon for me and Honey Cooler Handmade and I can't wait to share them all with you!

The trip back to SF