My Littlest's Sister's Graduation

E3 is almost six years younger than me so she just finished up her undergraduate career this week.

I joined in the festivities last Friday. My mom flew into Manchester, New Hampshire. I drove down to spend the night with her before driving to Boston Logan the following morning to pick up E2 before going down to New Jersey. We went to dinner at an Japanese steak house that seemed unique in that there were no Japanese decorations or anything (I minored in East Asian Studies and studied Japanese to do so). I spilled ginger salad dressing on my polo shirt--I had planned on wearing that polo shirt back to Maine. Opps.

A sign in the hallway of the hotel. It was still so noisy in
that hotel even though none was playing hockey inside.

Saturday morning we left for Boston! I left my fancy soap for my sensitive skin behind in the shower (my mom said she checked the bathroom to see if anything got left behind but I guess she didn't look in the shower). I told my mom and my sister about the anxiety I feel driving through Boston and all the tunnels in Boston. (One of my law school exams involved who to sue after a disaster in the big dig.)

We stopped in New Jersey to pick up my step-grandma who grew up in New York and then we headed to our hotel. After checking in we found my little sister on campus and took her to P. F. Chang's, her favorite restaurant, for dinner.¹After taking my sister back to campus we went to Friendly's for some ice cream.

Flowers outside P.F. Chang's

The next day was the Baccalaureate.² Here, like at my graduation, there was only enough space for the graduates in the chapel so we watched video from inside from the green. It was long and boring and we were in the hot sun. (It would only get hotter as the week progressed.)

E3 in the Procession to the Chapel.
E2 Taking a picture of it.

After it was over we went to pick up our former Nanny at the train station! It was so good to see her and I know she was so excited to E3 graduate since she help raise her since she was a baby! I remember her giving us updates about how big E3 was before my parents brought her home from the hospital.

We got Indian food all together in town at Masala Grill! It was delicious. After getting stuck in horrible traffic on our way to pick up our Nanny and after my credit card got declined at the gas station. (FYI there are no self service gas stations in New Jersey so it was extra awkward except the attendant was talking on his cellphone the whole time so it really wasn't.)  Then we had ice cream at the Bent Spoon--the honey ice cream was the best thing I have ever had!

My OOTD. I loved the mirror in the hotel room.
I bought this dress in 2010 and this was the first
time I wore it. It used to be just a little too big.

E2 and I took Mom, Step-Grandma, and Nanny back to the hotel and then we went back to hang out with our Dad, Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. We had planned on going to the step sing with them but they were tired out and went back to the hotel after we said hello and caught up. (I had to let my cousin who goes to my dad's and my alma mater know about my fancy white mule³ dress for my reunion the following weekend.)

E2 and I went to E3's dorm and helped her pack up a bit. OMFG her room was so messy! I was happy to be able to help her because I remembered when Hubs and I moved out of our dorm after we graduated. I got a mockingjay pin for my efforts because she had a million of them for some reason. We packed nonstop until 11 PM and then drove all our stuff to his parents house. We were supposed to be moved out by 7 PM. Oops.

The Seniors on the Steps. I have video, too.
Maybe I will figure out how to put those on the blog.

We went with E3 to the step sing and grabbed a seat in the back. They had kettle corn but we didn't have any. We got exhausted about halfway through so we left and went back to the hotel. The seniors got up on the steps and sang a bunch of song. New popular songs--most of them mentioned Tigers and I supposed that wasn't coincidence since that is their mascot--and old school songs. I found it amusing that the seniors didn't know all of their old school songs. But I am jealous that their alma mater isn't to the tune of Oh Canada.

So! The commencement related festivities lasted until Tuesday. I've only gotten through describing Friday and Saturday. So I'll give it a rest and post the rest on Thursday.

¹ My parents are finally getting a divorce. My little sister was so worried my mom was going to ruin her graduation by picking a fight with my dad. And they got into a fight about it at dinner. :( E3 just left because she was so upset. But I think the kerfuffle at dinner was the only trouble the situation caused E3 this week. I have no idea what the fight started over. All I remember is my mom saying she feels like a failure of a mom because we leave when she starts crying instead of giving her a hug. But honestly it's almost scary and so stressful when she just bursts out in to tears and it's hard to figure out what to do.

E2 and I left a note for the waiter so he didn't think E3
fled and my mom started crying because the service was bad.

² Dinner was not the last trouble I had with Mom. There were only two tickets to the prefered Baccalaureate seating. Mom threw a fit after E3 gave us the tickets about how it was unfair that my paternal Aunt and Uncle would be able to go and that she couldn't go with both me and E2 to the preferred seating. There were only two tickets total. My dad, his sister, and brother-in-law ended up not going. (Mom likes to make crazy assumptions when she's upset.) I felt to bad for my dad since he missed out on events this weekend in order to avoid my mom so that she wouldn't be upset and she still managed to find things to be upset about. There ended up being plenty of space at the Baccalaureate for my dad & co. to go if they didn't mind sitting far away from the screen, as the tickets were just for the seats with the best view.

³ Okay they're really white horses since it's a classic Lilly shift in Hot to Trot but I can pretend. Too bad it's pink and green instead of blue and grey.