And they're off!

This past weekend was a very special one for us (that's the Harvey-and-Gillian us). We celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary, it was Memorial Day and thus a long weekend, and it was also the 50th Anniversary of the Young Artists Philharmonic, the youth symphony that I played in growing up. So, contrary to what logic, our budget and all common sense would dictate, we decided to leave R and L with Grandma and Granddaddy (thank you Wards!) and go up to CT for the weekend. We're so glad we did! It was the longest non-work-related trip away we've taken since before we had children and we were pretty excited about the mini-vacation.

Here we are, already giddy right out the front door!

Harvey was pretty psyched by the Gator chairs in the Gainesville airport, so we knew we were off to a good start...

We had an amazingly uneventful and successful flight experience up to NY, got in our rental car, 

and headed to Stamford, where we met up with Melissa (that's Aunt Melissa to you blog fans, also known as the mother of cousin Atticus) and my mom, also known locally as Nana.

Meliss and I spent most of the weekend (literally) in rehearsals, and Harvey and Mom explored NYC and Stamford. I had an absolute blast getting the dust bunnies and the rust of my violin and remembering how to play in a big orchestra, and having flashbacks to high school and Mr. Princiotti's funny analogies ("music is like an orange... you squeeze everything you can out of it"). I got to spend more time with Meliss than I have since I can remember, and don't know when I've giggled that much.

  

We made some new friends and caught up with lots of old ones, including our friend Kristin, who used to play viola in the quartet we had in high school. Our cellist, Reka, couldn't make the reunion, and we thought of her often...

Because we were celebrating our anniversary, Harvey and I got to go out to a nice fancy dinner one night too. 

On Sunday there was a lovely picnic for the alumni and their families, and the weather cooperated beautifully.

It was also a nice chance to catch up a little more with Mr. Princiotti, who looks fabulous and doesn't seem to have aged a bit in the last twenty or so years.

The concert went really well, there were over 100 alumni there playing and showing our appreciation for Mr. P. and the organization.

It was awesome to share a stand with Meliss, something we never did growing up. And it meant the world to me to have Harvey and my Mom there in the audience too. All in all a wonderful weekend!