Surprise! This past weekend I snuck home to PA for some much needed family time and some much, much needed time away from DC.



Don't get me wrong, I love DC to pieces, but sometimes I need to get away from the rat race and the endless loads of bullcrap that come with living in a big city.

So on Wednesday morning, I made the spur of the moment decision to take Friday off, and flee the city for some sanity in PA.

My exodus from DC actually started on Thursday night when I fled the 4th of July insanity in the city and opted to watch the fireworks from a friend's rooftop deck in Baltimore instead.

[caption id="attachment_2901" align="alignnone" width="500"] Borrowed from a friend's FB page[/caption]

Baltimore isn't far from DC, but it's got an entirely different vibe, and it was beyond refreshing to be around a bunch of not superficial people who can actually have a real conversation that doesn't start with the immediate "so what do you do, who do you work for, just how high-powered is your job" crap that starts literally every conversation with a new person in DC. (By the end of this post, I'm sure all my DC pet peeves will be entirely clear.)

The party was fantastic, the after party was even better and by the time I finally collapsed into bed that night, I was fairly confident Thursday was the best day/night I'd had in a long, long time.

I hit the road Friday morning to head home to PA. Other than my mom and dad, I had told literally one person from home that I was making the surprise trip. I had every intention of laying low and doing nothing but spending time with my family.

I got to spend tons of time with my parents, watching Phillies games and my dad's delicious grilled dinner, and surprised the rest of my family when I showed up to my cousin's BBQ on Saturday. It was great to see my cousins and aunts and uncles and spend time catching up.

Going home this weekend was what I needed to get my feet back on the ground. I think being in DC makes it very easy to forget how people outside the city live and function. It's way too easy to get caught up in the rat race in DC, where things that aren't that important suddenly become insanely important (based on how the political winds are blowing) and the really important things in life get pushed aside.

Sometimes it takes escaping for a few days to remind me that there's more to life than my little insulated DC bubble. Being home in PA was just what the doctor ordered.