cous-in

cousin: (n) the son or daughter of an uncle or aunt.

Unfortunately my timing leaving Washington D.C. lined up perfectly with Monday evening rush hour. So the drive to Quinton, Virginia got off to a slower start than hoped for. Regardless, I made it to Diana's house in the woods relatively smoothly. Diana is my first cousin on my mother's side of the family and is also my God-Sister. My parents are Diana's God-Parents and Diana's parents are my God-Parents, so we call ourselves God-Sisters. Jay, Diana's boyfriend, treated the three of us to burgers and beer in downtown Richmond shortly after my arrival. Both were absolutely delicious and just what I needed to end the day.

Diana is a full time Pharmacy student in Richmond, Virginia. Between her classes on Tuesday we spent the mid-day exploring Carrytown, a historic shopping district outside of the city. It was a cutesy sort of place with quirky shops that lined the main street. Without any actual shopping agendas of our own we set off to explore anything that caught our eyes. An antique clothing store was the first to draw us in. This store may very well have been the most incredible store I had ever stepped foot in. Filled with hundreds of original and replica pieces of clothing, jewelry, and accessories from the 1920s through the 1970s, the two of us could have spent every penny we own in that place. Reluctantly we resisted, but did spend a majority of our afternoon there trying on hats and rings and shoes and dresses from decades we were never fortunate enough to live in. When hunger set in we left our antique and vintage fantasy store in search of food. But of course we were distracted once and again by other quirky boutiques. Out of time, we elected for lunch at home before Diana had to return to campus. When she left, I had the rest of the day at the house to read, relax, nap... At that point in my travels I had hit a wall of fatigue. Up until then I had been go-go-go, get up and run in the morning, go on adventures all day, stay out late all night, and do it again tomorrow, then drive a hundred miles or so the next day. After Carrytown browsing, I slept until 8 at night and only woke because had Diana returned home from school. We made dinner together before she retired for the night. I, on the other hand, had doomed myself to be awake for at least another 6 hours.

This of course offset my sleeping pattern for the next few days. Luckily my cousin's class schedule had her away from the house until late afternoon anyway. It was nearly noon before I opened my eyes on Wednesday but not a single bone in my body was at all motivated to leave the comfort of bed. Fortunately my conscious reminded me that it had been a week and a half since my last run, which was completely unacceptable. Diana's house sits on a lake in a densely wooded neighborhood with dirt roads and cottage-like houses, which made for a wonderfully scenic afternoon run. Aside from the run, I moved at a snail-like pace the rest of the day accomplishing very little outside of relaxation. In the evening my cousin returned and we headed out for pizza and girl talk. Our chatter continued at home over cookies and re-runs of Grey's Anatomy before bed.

Thursday was much like Wednesday for me; a slow start to the morning before my run, followed by an afternoon of rest and relaxation. Around 4 Diana had returned home to pick me up for our evening winery tour. Just up the road from her house is a winery, only a few years old, which offers tours and wine tasting. The building itself, more than the actual winery, was of particular interest to me. The builder, based in Richmond, specializes in using recycled materials from dismantled older buildings in his construction. The bricks, the wooden beams, floors, and ceilings, the doors, were all salvaged and used in the winery. Of course, the wine was good too. Diana and I each purchased a bottle at the end of our tour then watched the sun go down over the vineyard from the porch. Jay, who had been gone since Tuesday morning for work, was expecting us to pick him up in the evening, so we left the porch for the city. Not that it was entirely our fault, but finding the rendezvous point was nearly impossible for the two of us. We drove around for ages before we finally found the place which we must have passed a half a dozen times. Jay tired from work, and we girls tired from the drive, we all agreed on take-out and Tigers at home for dinner. All three of us had an early morning ahead, but I could not rest until the game was over.