galena, illinois

White Floral Mesh Jumper - American Apparel

Vintage Accordion Pleats Skirt, Purse - Thrifted

Kork Ease Suede Wedges - Urban Outfitters

We're back! After 24 hours of total driving and five days of touring northern Illinois, visiting friends and relatives from Galena to Chicago, we're ready to call Nashville home again. And it feels so good to be home. Do you ever feel like you need a vacation from a vacation when you're home again?

After a good long drive, our first stop on the trip was to Galena in northwestern Illinois to visit my grandparents for a couple of nights. I have so many memories in that little historic town, from listening to my grandpa's stories about growing up during World War II to walking downtown to visit the Kandy Kitchen.

Every time we visit, my grandpa tells us about the days when he could buy an ice cream cone for a nickel, memories of listening to the news of Pearl Harbor's bombing over the radio, the year of the great flood when he lost his father at a painfully young age. I spent my preteen years visiting Galena's local library and grabbing the latest Redwall book. Every summer, my parents would let me bring a friend to Galena to visit, introducing them to this magical town I had fallen in love with when I was little, where there was a story and a mystery behind every old stone church or brick storehouse. And in a full-circle sort of way, this was my first visit to Galena with Neil, who loves it now like I do.

I meant to take more photos of Galena, but the weather was so horrible that this is all we could manage. While we were there, the temperature was near freezing and when it wasn't raining, it was snowing.. fortunately, the Kandy Kitchen entrance was covered and we grabbed a couple of outfit photos.

Being home means settling back into 70 degree weather and blooming trees and life with our little terrier again, and it couldn't feel better. And I've missed writing! What have your days been like this past week?