We survived our first ROADTRIP!! YAY!

[aliceinwonderland]

Erik did beautifully. Drove down to Philadelphia from Boston, spent the night and drove back. There was a LOT of driving involved, as we wanted to get to know Phila since we're moving there this August. He even maintained his recent self-imposed schedule of sleeping about 4 hrs straight between 10 and 3 am!!
I am not excited about leaving Boston... Didn't like Phila all that much but I'll be happy to be back in school.

Stopped at IKEA in NJ on the way back. That was our first time there and I LOVED LOVED it!!

Andrea, thanks so much for your emails, I wrote you back :)

eri

[JLiebCamm]

Congrats on your successful trip! Give Philly time; it will grow on you. I was reluctant to go to grad school there and now all I do is sing its praises. You just need to learn where all of its special charms lie.

I love IKEA too but I would caution against getting furniture that needs to serve a heavy duty purpose from there. We bought bookcases from there and the shelves are really sagging under the weight of our books. I think some pieces are solid wood and some aren't, so keep your eyes open for that.

[houseof3boys]

Glad the trip went well! It is nerve wracking the first time you do it since you never know what will happen. :)

Doesn't IKEA rock? We don't have one here either, but we are getting one next year and I can't wait.

[lukkykatt]

I know Boston holds a special place in your heart, but give Phila a chance. You went through alot of areas in one short weekend. Once you know which areas are great, and which are not, things will sort themselves out. There were whole sections of the city that I never went to at all - neither will you, once you know where they are.

There is a ton of fun places/scenic places/historical places, and great restaurants and shopping. Just give yourself a chance to get the lay of the land.