Take me down to Panama City

Mary is one of my best friends in the world, and she had the audacity to fall in love and move away from me to Alabama where she now lives with her husband and son. (She has a son! It's crazy! But it's not because she's an adult woman! It is actually normal! Which makes it even crazier to me!)

So I thought when Robert and I came to visit, we would all be hanging out together in Alabama, but we ended up all hanging out together in Florida (which is right next to Alabama and yet somehow worlds away in my mind) at her mom's beach condo. I wore that outfit all the time. It is my new gingham bathing suit. It is gingham-licious.

Don't I look like a picnic blanket? But in a good way?

Here's a little closeup of my thrifted cat-eye sunglasses. I've wanted cat-eye sunglasses for-evah, and now I have some, but I think I still want some even cattier cat-eye sunglasses so the hunt continues.

It was a great visit. The beach shifted from sunny to cloudy to sunny again. I have to admit I dig a cloudy beach the most. I know most people like to bake in the sun, but I like a little cloud cover, and I love that shade of blue-gray the sky gets before it rains especially when the ocean is mimicking the color. So very pretty. (In the above photo, Robert, Mary and Michael are off to have some fun in the (not very sunny) sun.)

 The condo was in Panama City, and I had "Paradise City" in my head for the entire trip because that almost makes sense. I visited the Gulf of Mexico about 10 years ago, and it was beautiful then and beautiful now. The sand is powder soft and the waves are really relaxed. Once a day, the sun sets, which is a pretty magnificent thing to watch. (I also hear it rises once a day, but I wasn't up for that!)

Mary's mom and her husband's parents took care of their little one during our beach trip. It was Mary's first time away from Wesley (10 months), and she missed him, but both baby and mama survived and had fun. Aren't they so sweet together? I call this photo "Mary and child" for obvious reasons.

The above fortune really sums up our trip (and came after a delicious Thai meal with old friends which was agreeable indeed). It was so sad to leave Mary (and child and Michael, Mary's husband) and drive the seven hours back home. I have really wonderful friends who live nearby, but my three favorites (I'm including my sister) all live far away. I'm glad I was able to visit them all this summer (in California, Virginia and Alabama/Florida respectively). When you find a really awesome friend, I think you should hold on to them no matter what. That's what phones and Facebook and seven-hour-long road trips are for!