Two Humans, One Hippo: Chicago!

This past weekend I had one of the most wonderful experiences. I was able to meet with 11 of my friends in Chicago. I know. What's the big deal. Girls' weekend in Chicago. The big deal was that I had never met any of these women in person. Yep, they are my "internet friends". I have been lucky enough to be part of a community women on a message board for nearly 4 years. We all met while planning our September 2008 weddings and have remained in contact on our message board, through email, and through Facebook. We have become close through sharing a common event and continued to remain by sharing our lives with each. There have been mini get togethers over the past couple of years, and some of the ladies live close enough that they can get together regularly (yes, I'm jealous of them!). But, for the most part, our friendships have existed through the computer. Isn't the internet wonderful?

Back to the weekend. Most of the ladies got to Chicago on Friday, hung out, and had dinner and drinks. I was able to take the train up early on Saturday morning (I watched the sun come up from the train) and join them for some sightseeing, dinner, and drinks. Of course, there was tons of chatting, laughing, and being silly thrown in there. Meeting these ladies was so exciting and really reaffirmed that we aren't just internet friends. We are real friends. I look forward to more get togethers in the future and hope that eventually I will be able to meet each and every member of the S08 clan.