So I just got back from my nice long weekend with my family in Minnesota! It was awesome, my mom cried, and everyone was so excited!
(us, on the plane to Minneapolis!)
BF and I left NY at 9PM on Wednesday, and my aunt picked us up from the airport with my uncle and cousin when we landed. They drove us back to the hotel, which was right in the middle of the city and it was awesome and our room rate was crazy cheap (I forgot because I booked six months ago lol), except there was no free wifi and I refused to spend $10 a day to have it. It was right in the middle of the skyway system which meant that we were able to leave the hotel to get coffee and breakfast without even having to go outside! I remembered the skyway from when I was little but they've expanded it a lot since then so there was a lot more shopping!
(us, hiding in the car before the surprise!)
It snowed on Thanksgiving day and was 20 degrees the entire time we were there but we were prepared! My sister told me that they would be at my aunt's house around noon, so that's when my other aunt picked us up from the hotel and drove us over (I wound up using Uber a few times throughout our trip anyway, but it was nice to not have to for this!). Luckily, my grandparents rolled up a few minutes before us so the surprise wasn't ruined for them! The plan was for everyone to arrive and put their things away and mingle for a minute, while BF and I hid in the car, and then they'd send us a text when everyone was cool and collected and we'd go up and knock on the door. They would suggest my mom answer the door and then BOOM surprise!!! It all went as planned (BF couldn't film the surprise because his phone ran out of memory, go figure!) except someone else went to open the door and my sister ran to shut it and slammed the door in our faces before my mom saw! On take 2 she opened the door and we yelled SURPRISE and she started to cry!!! It was so cute.
(reunion pics! Me and my sister, me and my dad, me and BF on arrival, and us with my mom and 12 year old brother right after she cried!)
Dinner went smoothly, considering there were 20 of my relatives there, more than half were kids! BF wasn't an awkward wallflower and my grandmother was comfortable enough to ask me when she can expect wedding bells... I laughed but was also mortified so I explained that his brother just got engaged so we had to let them shine. It seemed to satisfy her. We humored my aunt who made a giant turkey out of paper and had us all write what we are thankful for on it and read it aloud. BF and I were thankful for our Bio and Accounting professors (respectively), I was thankful for credit cards and Taylor Swift, and neither of us mentioned each other lol. We also played Bananagrams and Farkle, which are weirdly fun. Then we endured a bunch of family photos. Enjoy.
(this one is obvs my favorite
)
Friday was my sister's Sweet 16! I wasn't going to get her a gift since we were there, but Macy's was across the street from the hotel and the skyway meant I didn't have to bundle up to go out so I went while BF worked out at the gym and took advantage of their Black Friday designer bags deal, and bought her a nice little black Coach clutch. That was the extent of my Black Friday shopping. She got a new iPhone, some longboard hardware, and various other fun things. We went to their house for cake and presents, watched Elf, and then BF and I took them out to dinner. After dinner my mom took us on a wild adventure to Santaland which was fun and vaguely creepy. My sister didn't want to do anything wild and crazy because of Black Friday crowds so it was a perfect day.
(just some creepy santaland singing trees)
(us, looking the most fashionable we have ever been)
Yesterday was Mall of America day!! My parents met us at our hotel and we managed to walk all the way to the lightrail station via skyway all the way across the city and only stepped outside to get on the train. I loved those skyways lol New York should get some. Anyway, we went to the mall and I found the perfect Christmas gifts for my roommate and BF found some things for his family. I didn't really buy much but I dropped some heavy hints to BF at the Kate Spade store lol. I bought my mom some stuff from Sephora and my sister wanted makeup brushes so we went to the Sigma store and I spoiled her. She's my only sister and she deserved it. She and BF shared a fun inside joke moment when she secretly filmed my butt while I was ordering coffee and sent out a snapchat story of it, captioned "StarButts" and they just had a grand old time giggling about that for HOURS before I caught on. BF also bonded with my youngest brother who is 10 and adorable and hilarious, he wouldn't leave BF's side. It was so cute. Then we went back to my parents house where I had to school BF on how to eat my mom's signature dish, Picadillo, because he was doing it wrong. And then we all took ugly selfies before we said goodbye because BF and I had to fly out at 7AM this morning.
Tl;dr it was a great trip and I am gonna miss them SO much but Minnesota is TOO COLD for me!!