Good morning and happy Monday!

Today’s the day. Today’s the day we pile into a car and trek across country to the land of deep fried food, country music, and whiskey. Granted we won’t reach Tennessee until Friday, but our journey begins today. I’m really looking forward to this adventure. But I woke up feeling incredibly homesick. Already. And I haven’t even walked out of the front door yet!

Feel free to follow our road trip journey on Snapchat (@eatteachblog). I’m trying to be on top of my Snapchat game right now. Because this is one of the few ways I’m going to have ‘human interaction’ considering we’re moving to the middle of nowhere. Follow us! (And by us, I mean me. Because Ankur doesn’t understand what Snapchat is).

Let’s do a quick recap of my birthday weekend before we hit the road!

Friday:

We started the birthday festivities in Northern California with Mama and Papa Mathur. I opened up my gifts and laughed at how appropriate they were for me. Like the “Keep Calm and Blog On” tumbler. Or the essential oil car diffuser (which we will DEFINITELY be using on our road trip!)

And another coffee mug to add to the collection. Customized coffee mugs might be one of my favorite things ever. You can never have enough!

After our morning celebration, we made our way down to Southern California so we could celebrate with the Budhraja clan as well.

But first, we stopped in Pasadena to see the babiest Mathur (but also the brightest) at CalTech where he is interning for the summer.

Showing off Nikhil’s accomplishments just never gets old!

His ability to study gravitational waves coupled with his artistic ability (including his doodles on this gift card!) make me a proud big sister.

We got a tour of his campus and his lab and then drove over to Old Town Pasadena for some birthday celebrations! Some garlic fries were involved. Which makes for the best kind of birthday celebration in my book.

Once we got to Orange County, we were greeted with even more celebrations.

Princess balloons. Oreo cookie cake. Sour candy. And the cutest faces ever.

We passed out shortly after cutting the cake. Driving is quite exhausting. (I say this as we are about to embark on a 5-day road trip).

Saturday:

We slept in a bit and I was still on a birthday high. Either that or the caffeine kicked in quicker than usual.

We spent all day running errands that needed to get done before our trip. And then had a relaxing evening sitting outside next to the fire pit since the weather was so perfect.

I am a happy camper when I’m outside. And when there’s food involved.

And my favorite humans. Obviously.

After dinner, we cozied up in the living room and karaoke-d our faces off. Ankur and I hit the hay before the parents. We are so cool.

Sunday:

We went to Rutabegorz for lunch! The last time I was here was two years ago when I visited Greggy and Natalie as they were studying for the BAR exam. I love this place the most.

I mainly just love the big salads. And the fact that they have $5 mimosas.

On our way into the restaurant, a little monkey popped up behind a tree with her arms wide open.

The little monkey was Gina.

It was SUCH a fun surprise and I’m so impressed that they were able to keep it a secret. We only got to hang out for a few minutes but she gave us this beautiful wedding/birthday gift and I can’t wait to hang it up in our new apartment!

After we got home from lunch, we decided to go for a walk with the dads.

We ended up walking to my old elementary school!

Sister and I visited Andersen two years ago during Christmas. But it’s always fun to visit the old stomping grounds. Or, rather, four-square and handball grounds.

Papa and Ankur and Aurps had a great time playing around on the giant map. They walked our entire route for the week, pausing at each rest stop. And then they hopped around all over the map – naming each state they jumped on.

And then we all posed for a picture on our new home.

Tennessee.

We’re coming for you.

Questions of the Day:

• What’s a yummy place to eat in Albuquerque, one of our many stops on the way?
  
• What are your favorite road trip games? Books on tape? Podcasts to listen to?