The Blessing of Spending Time With Friends

The best way to go back to "our normal" is to spend time with friends again. And that's what we started doing two weeks ago. One week of recuperation from flu and one week of getting on top of work at the office, I'm back at socializing again.

I feel very grateful that since we came back from holiday, we've gotten "Welcome back!", "I miss you!" and "Let's catch up!" messages from our dear Sydney friends. It sure is nice to come home to a place where friends welcome you back with open arms. So after working out our schedules, it's about time we start seeing our friends here--because we miss them too! 

Annie and her delicious macaroons. We haven't seen each other for a long time so I'm very glad we had the chance to re-connect. We met up for tea after work and caught up on what's keeping us busy. A sweet bonus was being gifted with two boxes of delicious macaroons. She baked them herself and it tastes as good as the ones we buy from Manila (pang Goldilocks levels!)

My Sweet Memory (Cafe) moments with Jackie. She's my ever-dependable coffee-date-in-the-city-after-work kind of girlfriend. Every chance we get, we try to squeeze in an hour just to sit down and catch up. That's why the moment I was physically well, we blocked our scheds for a quick coffee klatch. Update galore kami ng aming Manila vaycay (she also vaycayed in Manila recently).

Tintin, Jamie and Me. Since Tintin moved to Sydney, we've been foodie mates ever since. Two weeks ago, we had a date with Jamie Oliver--well, not the person, just his food. We had a lovely pasta dinner and a fresh fruit dessert on a rainy Thursday night. It was nice to know that Tin is enjoying her new-found life in Sydney. It's refreshing to see Sydney thru her eyes.

Fun Thursday with Friends (a.k.a. Gala Galore). Last week, I took half a day off work just to spend time with girlfriends who were also on a day-off that day. Ganyan ang true friends--nagda-day-off para maglakwatsa LOL. We started off with lunch at Chef's Gallery, went around the shops at Westfield, had tea at Laduree, dinner at Lamesa and ended the night at Badde Manors. It was so much fun! We spent the whole time just talking about girly stuff, wifey and mommy stuff, relationships, etc. Lahat na! 

As we get older, moments with friends are a luxury. I'm glad I have girlfriends who message me from time to time just to know how I am. I'm grateful we have friends who also believe in the importance of nurturing friendships by spending time with us.

Not only do I feel normal now after two weeks of seeing friends but my "homesick-from-travel" heart feels healed. Now I can't wait to see all our other friends soon.