Plenty to be THANKful for Challenge, Day 3: Hometown

Ahhh my good 'ol Hometown. (I am not going to actually reveal it's exact location or name because in the event one of you is a total creeper/stalker, I don't want you to know where you may find me next week......) It's actually funny that while growing up I swore I would never come back to Northern Virginia after college, yet here I am about 45 minutes from the town where I grew up.

I grew up in Northern Virginia in mainstream suburbia. In this house. It is one of my favorite places to go and I dread the day my parents move out of it- I spent almost my entire childhood there.

Where I am from, there are a bunch of single family homes that pretty much all look the same. Some are McMansions and some are just your typical cookie-cutter houses. There are also LOTS of SUVs. Back in the day, my family had 3 of them (and there was a brief stint with a bright-blue mini-van also.....)

And yes, when my parents bought it in 1992, they let me pick out the Cherry tree, which naturally I picked out because it was pink.

...and what Suburban town doesn't have a plethora of shopping centers?!?!? There are 4 shopping centers, a mall and about 30 chain restaurants within 10 minutes of my parents house.

(I really miss new, sprawling shopping centers with unlimited amounts of FREE parking...there ARE benefits to the suburbs)

..and I can't forget my high school...conveniently located 1.2 miles from the house I grew up in. I know this because it was considered "too far" to walk, so my options were to a) date a guy with a car, b) beg my dad to drop me off on his way to work or c) take the bus. I quickly implemented a "only date guys who have a car" policy, and that worked out pretty well. (It's too bad my current policy of 'No douchebags/immature assholes' isn't working out as well.....)

One of the best parts of my hometown (that I definitely took advantage of...) is its proximity to Washington DC. Both of my parents worked downtown, so I often met them after school for dinner, plays, events, etc. but it wasn't until I moved back as an adult did I realize how much DC has to offer to people of all ages. As much as I talk about ditching this place for New York City, I know deep down in my heart I am DC girl and it will take a force of nature to get me out of here. In a city mainly of transplants/young people kicking off their careers, I am proud to be a native!

What I am most Thankful for are the childhood friends I made in my Hometown. I still am very close with a good number of my high school girlfriends-slowly and surely they are starting to move back home, too :)

It's really fun to get together and go back to some of our favorite places.....which usually leads to a discussion about why we thought this place was cool back in the day.

The girl in the middle (Felice) I have known since 2nd grade! On the right we have Torey, my BFF, who just moved back to the area with her husband and adorable Puppy! There is nothing that makes me happier than having her close :)

Highschool friends at Torey's wedding :)

So that's where I come from...hope you enjoyed. See everyone tomorrow!