College Girls

I met Elaine in the Fall of 2000. We were both freshman Hokies, we were both from Maryland, we were both residing in the same suite; we became fast friends! Elaine and I are part of the amazing Hokie Four connection: Brandi, Shalu, Elaine, and myself. We all shared many great moments throughout college - classes (History of Architecture!? and Elaine Kwan by Elaine Kwan), parties (Delta Chi), spring breaks (Muuuurrrddeerrr in Mesopotaaamia! and, "That is my British accent!") - just to name a few! We've also shared many great moments after college. We all headed back north to the homeland (read: Maryland), except Brandi and I were just across the border in Northern Virginia. Brandi, Shalu, Elaine, and I were all in close proximity where we could all get together for dinner for our girls nights. They were nights we all looked forward to, and we will all continue to look forward to those nights!

At one of those special girls nights, we all kind of had ... news. Elaine was headed out west to Los Angeles, California; Shalu was going back to school which required a move south to Miami, FL and a couple semesters in Dominica; Brandi was moving north to Maryland; and I was headed west to Columbus, Ohio. Our Hokie Four was dividing, our girls nights would become a bit fewer and farther in between, but we decided that no distance would ever come between us. And, to this day, no distance has!

This past week, Elaine had a business trip to Fairborn, Ohio. Now, Fairborn, OH is just over an hour away from Columbus, OH. (For the record, Los Angeles, CA is just over 36 hours from Columbus, OH.) I was not going to miss this opportunity to meet up with Elaine! We met half way for dinner at The Red Brick Tavern in Lafayette, OH! It was a quiet, dark, small town, and The Red Brick Tavern was very old - over 150 years old! We both agreed that the building and interior was kind of creepy, BUT they did serve warm cinnamon rolls which [somewhat] made up for the eerie interior.

Can you see the "ambience" caught by the antique decorating?!

This was one of the few lights in downtown Lafayette, OH.

We even signed the guest book at the RBT!

It was such a special treat to meet up with Elaine...in Ohio...on a work night! As usual, it was amazing to catch up, it was amazing to laugh together, it was amazing to be in each other's presence. Her company is truly top notch! And now we have yet another experience to add to our list together! ♥ you, Lainey!!