easter blessings

i bought an easter dress.
olga knit me an easter shrug.
the only thing missing was an easter basket, an easter egg hunt, confetti eggs.

not true. what was missing was my family. my parents and my brother all convened in watsonville to spend easter weekend with my sister and her new husband in their new house.

here in austin, my roommate and i made our way to the morning easter service at our lady of guadalupe. there was an amazing energy in the sanctuary that day. sun streaming through the stained glass windows, musicians and choir members warming up, families squeezing into pews, the small roar of easter morning conversations.

lent was over. and somehow, it really did feel like a celebration.

after mass, olga and i made a quick coffee/pastry pit stop and then headed home to cook. we had invited some of our close friends to our apartment for easter brunch. olga made veggie/sausage frittata; i made waffles with fresh strawberries. along with the side dishes, we had champagne and orange juice for mimosas.

after everyone had their fill, we watched two wallace and gromit adventure short films. i'm not much for cartoons or animation, but these were great--very funny and smart! we all really enjoyed them.

dutiful academics that we all are, we spent the afternoon studying at a local coffeeshop. ok. mostly i just read blogs.
then olga took me to freebirds, where finally, after forty days, i was able to partake of a steak burrito. red meat! i missed you!

we winded down the evening watching some like it hot over our steak burritos.

talked to my family in california during the evening.
realized how lucky i am to have family in both places.

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