Mom showed up on Friday and it felt like a treat getting to see her twice in a matter of a week’s span. We cheered Kaitlyn on at her soccer game and got dinner at Fresh Chef afterwards (locals can confirm their kale salad is quite addicting… legendary around these parts).

Saturday morning we left the soccer schedule, the girls, and a rowdy puppy in mom’s very capable hands while David and I packed up and headed south to Atlanta. At the beginning of the year we made it an intention to get more involved and connected in organizations we care about. One of these is David’s fraternity. So when we heard their Sigma Chi chapter was throwing a celebration for 100 years of existence at Georgia Tech, we committed to going. Then I set off to gather the college crew and hope to pull together a reunion… and it worked!

We arrived at The Georgia Tech Hotel, which is conveniently located across the street from campus around 2:30. Mark and Carrie were also early arrivals, so we wasted no time dropping our things and heading out for a self-guided tour around campus. I forgot how much I love the energy of college life! We stumbled upon a philanthropic amateur boxing match at a fraternity and minutes later peeked in on a hack-a-thon in the mechanical engineer building and watched students controlling 3d printers to create… honestly I have no idea, but it was fun to watch!

We had to visit the house of course and found it very much so in true college condition. Ha! The brothers out front were wonderful though and came right over to introduce themselves and chat with the alumni. I swear y’all, we were just those college kids a few years back and now somehow we’re the old alum in the yard telling stories from our glory days.

We headed back to the hotel in the late afternoon to get gussies up for the main event, which was being held at the hotel. I had two dress options from my monthly Rent the Runway subscription I’ve been doing for two months now and ended up committing to the bright pink Saylor Amari dress. Funny enough, this picture I took to send my mom was the only decent one of the dress that I took, so please enjoy option B and what looks like a roll of toilet paper chilling in the background closet. It was so much fun to wear though!

We headed down to the club room in the lobby where I swear my excitement almost overtook me as our college friend crew all started to arrive. I will go on with the evening but first I just have to gush over these sweet friends. We don’t see each other nearly as much as we’d like to (such is this phase of life with work commitments and busy kid schedules) but we pick up right where we left off like no time has passed at all. We’ve seen each other through so many of life’s phases and to get to reconnect for an evening out was such thrill. I love these people so much!

We headed up to the ballroom around 6:00 for a buffet dinner and more chatting, then the band started. We spent the next couple hours chatting and dancing some, but mostly catching up with all the familiar faces that instantly transported me back 15 years. It was a great turn out and the whole evening made me feel like I was 23 again.

As the event wound down, we moved to the hotel sports bar to watch the UNC/Duke game (WOW) and continue to catch up and celebration. Determined to squeeze every drop of fun out of the evening as possible, we headed back to Sigma Chi house to walk down memory lane (it is where David and I met after all). We ended up getting a full tour of the house, finding David’s composite picture, and chatting the college kids, who were on a whole quite delightful, though the sweet guy that called me ma’am the whole time did a number on my ego…

The evening ended with picking up Waffle House to go and eating it in our hotel room at 1:40 IN THE MORNING. Who are we? Apparently that night we were college Brittany and David again… and it was awesome.

The next morning, running on much too little sleep, David and I packed our things and searched for a breakfast spot (would that count as second breakfast?) to patronize before heading back to reality. I found a place online that looked promising and we headed the half mile down the road to Joy Cafe, that serves southern fare with a creative twist.

It is an adorable corner cafe that was bustling on this Sunday morning. Most people were poppin’ champagne bottles for brunch; we opted for a spot at the bar (first come first serve) and coffee and tea instead. The food was outstanding and hit the spot.

We arrived home 4 hours later to happy kids and big hugs. Mom, being the rock star Nana that she is, provided me with a dish of Suzie’s Chicken so I wouldn’t have to worry about making dinner (I mean… she’s the best). I was grateful for the gesture because by 6:00 I was headed for bath and was tucked into bed by 9:15. I might rock it for one evening, but it’s clear I’m no longer a college kid anymore. Still, it was quite enjoyable getting to play the part for a night!