Best Weekend Yet!

It was sooo nice to have girl friends from school come visit this weekend. Em came over from Moses Lake Friday night and the moment she pulled up I was grinning ear to ear. After sitting next to her 5 days a week, 8 hours a day for an entire year, not to mention late night freak out phone calls before a test, cram quizzing the morning of the test and margaritas after it, sharing stories of frustration with school, boyfriends, husbands, roommates and parents, tears of sadness leaving for break, tears of shear joy from laughing so hard you nearly pee your pants, she's hands down one of my two closest friends from school. And I can hardly describe how good it was to spend some quality time with her.
We headed to downtown Coeur d'Alene and strolled up and down the main street, Sherman Ave, which was teaming with activity. With the Coeur d'Alene resort only blocks away the ave had your mix of middle aged tourists with fanny packs and "Coeur d'Alene" T-shirts, young sex-pot women and men dressed to the nines scoping each other out, teens out on summer break in their freshly washed/waxed cars cruising the strip cat calling as they roll by at 2mph.
We popped in and out of art galleries with wine tasting, eclectic little shops with a variety of huckleberry flavored everything, and boutiques with jewelry, clothing and crafts from local artist's. By the time we decided on dinner at "Scratch" I already had a buzz from all the free wine. We sat outside on the patio/sidewalk and enjoyed the warm evening air, the food was fantastic the wine was delicious the entertainment was... entertaining? We were "treated" with a performance by a street musician playing the guitar and singing across the street. Unfortunately he seemed to know only one melody and simply adapted every song to it. Imagine the creativity it takes to conform the lyrics of "Hey ya" by OutKast to the melody of "jumper" by Third Eye Blind... it's impossible yet he somehow found a way.
The next day we took a hike around Tubb's Hill a short mellow hike with a nice view and a cool breeze coming off the lake. Followed by a stroll down the boardwalk type area adjacent to Independence Point park. That evening we were joined by another awesome friend from PA school, one of the most genuinely nice people I've met in my entire lifetime. Blair, who's working in Spokane stopped in for dinner, some wine and a little shop talk. She's an amazing girl, I don't know how she deals with some of the situations she's been confronted with and what's even more inspiring... she does it with a smile (although I've learned she can definitely be a hard ass when she needs to!!)
Today Em and I went on another hike near Wolf Lodge Bay the "Mineral Ridge" trail which was more wooded but the view from the top was impressive. It gives a pretty good perspective of just how big Lake Coeur d'Alene really is. We stopped at Crickets bar/restaurant in downtown on our way home for some lunch. We should have split something cause the portions where HUGE and the drinks were tasty!
Finally the time came to say goodbye for Em has a long drive ahead of her. Saying goodbye to her this time around wasn't as bad because I know I'll be seeing her again in a few weeks for Professional Practice Seminar (PPS week) in August. It was just so nice to have someone to talk to who really and truly understands what your going through and share your new experiences with. That's really the best thing about school, all the wonderful friends I've made. So THANK YOU Em! THANK YOU Blair! I had the BEST weekend yet and it's all because of you!