wednesday i bought my plane ticket to go to d.c. in june. hurrah! i have a group of friends from my hometown who have kept in touch over the years - they are the kind of friends you can be yourself with, and be so comfortable that even if you're just sitting on a couch together, it is good. so, we call ourselves the "couch lovefest." anyway, last year we started trying to have a yearly reunion since we're spread around the country now. i missed last year in chicago, but i'm ready for d.c.! nathalie and her husband, rod, just bought a house there, and i can't wait to sleep on their floor, see an amazing city and just be on the couch with my oldest friends. in addition to the friend side of the weekend, i'm also super-excited to be in d.c. ever since my senior year of college, i've had a little love affair with the city. alice, my college friend, grew up there, and we used to take road trips for the weekend to hang out in dupont circle. then, i made a friend who did medical volunteer work with the mennonites, and the road trips expanded to include the glorious neighborhoods of adams-morgan and columbia heights. after that friend left, nathalie took over their volunteer position, and now she's back, doing her medical residency. i love that i have a friend there again, and an excellent reason to make the trip. also, flying is one of my favorite things to do, and i can't wait to use my new luggage with wheels for the first time, and to figure out how to use public transit to get from baltimore to downtown washington. God bless southwest airlines for cheap flights! and, God bless my dear husband, who encourages me to go places and explore and reconnect with good people.