From the Plains to the Prairie

This weekend I adventured upward into the glorious wilds of Kansas, through the Flint Hills (so lovely!), to my cousins Clara and Abby's lovely homes in Emporia! We had a fantastic weekend of adventures.

I arrived Friday afternoon, pulling up to Clara's gorgeous cerulean blue bungalow, squealing at the thrill of spending the whole weekend with my two nearest and dearest friends. We all walked toward downtown, showing me the sights of the city. Emporia is an adorable small town that has the ability to rejuvenate you even in 101* heat.That evening we had a midnight tea party on her front porch until nearly 4am. It was lovely. Just us, Russian rose tea, candle light, porch swing conversation, and the occasional strum and hum from Jetta the Autoharp.

On Saturday we shared coffees and cheese danish muffins at the gorgeous Granada Theater. Then Abby met us for lunch at J's Burgers. Seriously, this place is the best place to get burgers in Emporia. With your meal you can order a root beer float, and what is so great about it, is that you get free refills! On the float! Ice cream and everything! Totally awesome. After lunch we went to a local antique store where Clara found a 140+ year old electric shock machine that she hopes to put in her office. Abby found some fantastic felt Canada banners, and I found a green milk glass mug and a manual beater which I am crazy about. I love green milk glass and have coveted the mug that Giles always used in Buffy the Vampire Slayer since roughly 2002. Well, now I have my own and I feel lovely!


Maybe it will be my new good luck charm! Photo from Buffyconfessions.com

Saturday evening was especially nice because I finally got to spend some quality time with Lera, my new Russian cousin! Not really my cousin, but a friend of my cousins that is staying with them for the summer. We all made dinner together and had a really nice time just hanging out. Clara, Lera and I had fun singing along to Jetta and Abby kept us laughing with her humorous commentary. Late that night we took a walk to the old school house on the ESU campus. I took a swing on the swing set before we all collapsed under the stars, telling each other stories. We eventually wandered back to our beds in the early morning.

Since I was leaving on Sunday, we decided to cook a lovely breakfast together. Waffles with blueberry and maple syrup, plums, sausage, a fresh baguette with butter, eggs, and delicious hot tea. It was divine and we all made ourselves sick with the goodness of breakfast food. We relaxed at the house until I had to leave.

I was so sad to go, but more glad that I made the trip and finally got to visit my cousins in their natural habitat!