Boston, MA, USA: Meeting the Brand-New Niece!

Taking a quick hiatus from the travel part of my life, there were actually real-life things happening at home while I was gone (life apparently goes on, WHAT)!  Namely, my sister just had a baby, and she is our family's first grandchild/child, and she's probably only the world's most adorable baby.

So from Lima, I made a quick week-long pit stop in Boston to visit the newest member of the fam!  I made sure my return flight back to South America afterwards was booked ahead of time, because I was afraid that home (my first time back in the States in 6 months!) would lure me in with its cushy, clean, bedbug-free enticing-ness.  This post will be super quick; just a quick photo highlight reel of my week in Boston.  Travel posts will resume right afterwards. Though if you care about me or my life or about families or life in general, read on!

Photo Cliffnotes of the Day:

• Wait, before I start the photo portion - can I just tell you the second I knew I was back in the States?  RULES. RULES STARTED APPEARING. They wouldn't let me bring my adorable tiny water bottle aboard the airplane in Panama (a layover), even though I'd purchased it IN the terminal. And I noticed that it was ONLY for the U.S.-bound flights that they had this rule (people in other gates heading to other countries were throwing back water and having a grand ol' time, no problem).  Rude. Give me back my mini-Dasani!  And then I waited an hour in customs because something didn't match on my customs form. Cries.
• All this was instantly forgotten after a night on my own personal cloud that my sister calls a guest bed, and an extended amount of time in the hot, TEMP-ADJUSTABLE, amazing, high-pressured shower. And doing a load of wash in the laundry machine. I miss you, laundry machine (my favorite chore!).  Wait, they're not called laundry machines, are they..?
• Besides these photos, all the essential stops were made, including Target and Nordstrom Rack.
• Photo cliffnotes, commence!

Boston, I even kind of missed you!  The focal point of this photo is not supposed to be the MetroCab, FYI.  It's just getting to be spring, and I MISS THAT FEELING of the cusp of Spring!  That first day you hesitantly don a thin windbreaker for the first time and don't consequently die of hypothermia is the BEST. 

We made homemade pizzas. This chill, at-home kind of stuff is the stuff I absolutely miss the most. To not be able to run to Trader Joe's, pick up some kale (and by kale I mean frozen dumplings), make dinner and plop down in front of the TV....that's the stuff I miss.  (P.S. Trader Joe's has amazing frozen dumplings)

AND HERE IS THE MOST ADORABLE BABY EVER, Baby Linden!

And completely unbeknownst to us, the Monday I was in town was the famous Boston Marathon!

My mom also came to town for the last couple of days, and we all went marathon-watching! Baby Linds is enthralled, clearly.

Watching people run is hypnotizing. We were at Mile 26, so people know they're almost done, and it's kind of amazing to see them push through.  Though not gonna lie, a lot of them look like they're on the struggle bus.

This looks completely unappetizing, but it was a completely appetizing Mexican dinner. Because I HAVE MISSED YOU, MEXI FOOD

• Ok, perhaps get ready for a zillion photos of the niece.

Linden went to sleep. So we took selfies with her, obvs

Her sleepiness was infectious

I purchased Linds a new strawberry-themed outfit (dream outfit!), and we did her 1-month photoshoot in it

This baby is suspicious of everything and I love it

......"who are you"

Big stretch!

On a side note, Sherm's sister purchased the best gift of all time: Taylor Swift's greatest hits in lullaby form.  I may or may not have spent an entire playtime with Linden making her sing and dance to Tay Swift Lullabies. You have to start them on the classics young.

• Overall, was so beyond happy to spend so much time with my family - especially after missing Christmas with them, it was truly, truly a blessing (though - Hi Dad! I haven't forgotten about you!)  Ah, on that note, it was also a blessing to get my taxes done so the IRS doesn't hunt me down.  Last of all, Delta Air Lines not being able to close the plane door (not sure what kind of racket they're running here) caused me to miss my flight and have to be re-booked for the next day = an extra day with the fam!  So that I am counting as a blessing as well.

So next, I'm headed back to South America - to Ecuador!  I had this ticket booked way in advance, and no, it's not near the earthquake sites - though it is incredibly sad, and I will obviously see if I can be of use somewhere along the way.  XO and see you all on the flip side!



Moment of the Day (just because it was insane):

On my second attempt to get to Ecuador a day late, I had a couple hours of layover in Atlanta - and all I wanted was some Wendy's. Their chili is amazing, even though someone once told me it was made with old burger meat they couldn't sell (who cares, I eat old burgers all the time) and yeah, there was once that finger-in-chili issue a long time ago but SO WHAT. Anyhow, they don't seem to have a Wendy's in the Delta terminal. Just a PSA for all you people so you don't waste your time. I DIGRESS.

So I was chilling in the food court, without a cup of Wendy's chili, when I saw a familiar face walk by me.

It's Karim!

Karim is a friend of mine from NYC - in the spirit of honesty, we dated for a hot second until he tried to ghost me, but that was a long time ago and I've obvi semi-forgiven him bc now we're buddies. He was on his way to Colombia for a quick vacay, but it was SO CRAZY to run into him at the airport, WHAT are the chances?!  However, it was really good to see him and share an airport meal with him!  Oh, and sorry I called you out on the internet, K. Kind of.

Ok for reals, see you all in Ecuador!