I’ve originally intended to drive up to see everyone last month, but due to snow and my Michelin Pilot SuperSports…that wasn’t happening.

Promising myself that I wouldn’t miss this trip, I’ve rented a car the morning of the drive (a 2017 Nissan Versa SV) and fought through random patches of snow to make the drive up.

Seeing Chris, Anna and other familiar faces were great, but seeing Claire made the trip all worth it.

We all just relaxed and caught up with my favorite people after some amazing Thai food dinner from “Red Orchid” down the street. Anna’s younger brother Mark came to visit followed by Chris’ sister Evanne and her boyfriend Zack. We pounded a few beers late into the night and eventually Anna’s sister Katie stopped by with her husband Zack. The mini reunion is always a good time and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world that evening.

The following morning, we drove to Chris’ parents house for the Giuliano annual Christmas Cookies bake-off. Every year, I miss this event by a week too early or too late.

But not this time.

This time I’m eating them straight out of the oven. No Ziploc bag leftovers this time.

I have to give credit to Jay for doing a great job on baking the cookies (her husband Dan couldn’t make it due to work). They were fantastic despite Evanne being away that day, the certified family baker.

We all ended the evening grabbing dinner at a local place in Harmony with a family friend. I wish I had some good pictures but the place was so dark that everything came out grainy so it wasn’t worth it.

Not much else happened that evening since we were all exhausted and I really looked forward to sleeping since I had a long drive home the following morning.

It was a fantastic weekend and if I had to choose a place to go on a free weekend, it would be to see my family in Pittsburgh, my home away from home.