A Big Surprise

Weeks of planning finally led up to this weekend’s big surprise. With the help of my mom and brother, I flew home to Boston from Los Angeles on Friday to surprise my dad. My dad is the master of surprises and he loves nothing more than when our whole family is together, so it was great to be able to turn the tables and surprise him for once.

I took a red eye from LA on Thursday night and landed in Boston very early Friday morning. My mom picked me up from the airport and drove me into the city where we had plans to surprise my dad. His coworker was in on our surprise, which was very helpful because we never would have known his schedule or whereabouts without her assistance.

My dad was scheduled to be in a meeting for a little while, so my mom took me to my beloved Dunkin’ Donuts to grab a small bite to eat. After not sleeping well on my flight, this large coffee was very needed.

When we received a text message from my dad’s coworker that his meeting was wrapping up, we hurried over to the building, rode the elevator up to correct floor and snuck up behind my dad.

He was stunned! He said he had no suspicions about my visit, which meant our stealthy planning was a big success. After lots of hugs and laughter, my dad (unfortunately) had to go back to work for the day and my mom drove me home.

Boston readers, I feel for you. There is SO. MUCH. SNOW.

Because of the weather, a majority of the weekend was spent inside by the fire trying to stay warm. I loved eating lots of cold-weather foods such as this root vegetable gratin and balsamic-glazed turkey meatloaf.

I was so happy I got to see my BFF, Amanda, for brunch at one of my favorite local breakfast spots, Johnny’s. Leaving Amanda always makes me so sad. If we lived in the same city, I know we would be attached at the hip.

I also got to spend some time with two of my favorite four-legged friends.

Diesel, my parents’ yorkie-poo…

…and Cooper, my brother and sister-in-law’s black lab.

My flight back to LA was cancelled because of all the snow, so I got to spend an extra two days at home with everyone. Many people were probably frustrated with the cancellations, but I didn’t mind because two days (the original duration of my trip) would have been way too short!

We were seriously snowed in. Even after you plow the snow, there is no where to put it! Oy.

I finally flew back to Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

After even more flight delays (waaah!) I was thrilled to see Travis AND Bessie in the car to pick me up from LAX. Bessie was so excited to see me, her tail didn’t stop wagging the whole way home. The 70+ degree weather when I landed was also a very welcome surprise!

 

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