This post is a little late, but I wanted to recap on our trip back east for my sister’s college graduation. We went last weekend and I tried to get this up last week, but it just didn’t happen. It is crazy to think my younger sister is now graduated from college. When you get older time really does go by faster. I feel like I just gradated college, but that was back in 2010!

This trip was super short and I wish we would of had more time. But with work and everything, we couldn’t take too much time off. We flew out on Thursday around 1 and got in at 5. Hooray for direct flights. My parents picked us up along with my aunt and uncle that flew in from Iowa. All of us headed back home and my mom made homemade eggplant parmesan per my Uncle Mike’s request. It was Cinco de Mayo but Italian food it was haha!

The next day we got up early to get ready to head into Philly. My sister graduated from Temple University which is about 45 minutes away from our house. The weather was shitty. Cold and rainy. We barely got any good pics since we couldn’t take them outside and everything inside was so crowded.

We had to go to the commencement ceremony per my sister’s request. That thing was so long. I didn’t even go to my own commencement since we just had a speaker and we walked at our individual colleges. We then went to a free lunch put on by the alumni. I passed on eating there…it was just sandwiches, chips, and cookies. Then we had my sister’s individual college grad which was long, but not as boring. The guest speaker was awesome. Super entertaining, knowledgeable, and funny. Once that was finally over we headed into Chinatown for the best part, to eat and celebrate!

We went to Shiao Lan Kung Restaurant, which was one of the first places we ate at when my sister started school. They are known for their salt baked squid which is the bomb. We got a plethora of stuff including hot and sour soup (veggie and meat based), pork dumplings, salt baked squid, salt baked scallops, beef lo mein, black bean shrimp, clam hot pot, snow peas and broccoli, and sautéed garlic spinach. Everything was ah-mazing!! Some of my favorites were pork dumplings, hot and sour soup, salt baked squid and scallops, black bean shrimp, and the snow peas and broccoli. So pretty much everything.

Even after everything my sister and I still wanted a bubble tea. I mean we were in Chinatown so why not. We got a taro flavored one from across the street. Chinatown is seriously the shit.

That night we had to prep a lot of things since Michelle was having her grad party the next day. Saturday morning I made it into CrossFit West Chester, my old CrossFit box. So fun seeing some people I used to workout with everyday and get in a good workout. I think I got up to 110# on my hand cleans and then did 5 rounds plus 3 T2B. It could of been 6 though, I can’t remember!

Once I got home it was all business. Setting up for the party, making food, and getting ready myself. It was fun to see old friends and family that I haven’t seen in awhile. Some people that I hadn’t seen in a few years didn’t even recognize me. Which is crazy since I am pretty sure I look that same since high school. There was also so much food!! Some of my favorites were tomato pie (a Philly thing and so good – think cold pizza with a sweet tomato sauce and sans the cheese), marinated shrimp, guac, salsa, and the cake. There was also roast pork, meatballs, asparagus, broccoli rabe, cheese and crackers, hummus and veggies, cheesesteak stromboli, cannolis, and probably more I can’t remember. It was a philly themed party.

There was also a campfire at night and we made s’mores. Best ending to the night!

The next day was Mother’s Day. We went to brunch at Wyebrook Farm, a local farm down the road from my parents house. Talk about farm to table, you are legit eating at the farm. Everything we have ever had there is so good. I got an omelet with cheese and mushrooms and potatoes on the side. My dad, sister, and Michael all went for the meat options since you can’t really pass up that kind of freshness. Don’t worry, I had some of theirs too. Everything was so good!

Later that day we headed to the airport to head home. Thank god that we had a direct flight again. Talk about a packed weekend! So many funtivities! It was so nice to see my family and celebrate with them. I was officially exhausted and needed a mini vacation to recover haha.

PS – note my hair in this pic haha! It was soo windy out!