When two worlds collide...

Yesterday we had Heidi, my guest blogger who post's on the blog every Wednesday over with her two adorable kiddos and her hubby. I was a bit excited, see Heidi and I met somehow online. I don't even remember how I believe on Instagram through the AppleCheeks hashtag or even through posts by AC on the official IG...

Anyway, she and I had known each other online for a while, then we started texting, and in the summer they came over for a quick visit when they were in the city... It was so awesome to finally meet her. But very out of the ordinary for me. I don't like meeting new people, and I'm not sure if it all stems from the self esteem issues I've posted about previously on here, or what. But it just never happened until I got involved with AppleCheeks.

We had a great first meeting and became even closer as friends since! I really wanted to get our kids together again as they seemed to really hit it off during our quick meet so we set it up for yesterday about a month ago! I got a little too excited and may have went a bit nuts in the snacks and food department but -- back home when I'd have people over I didn't get to really go all out and it bothered me, so now that I'm able to financially it was a lot of fun. We had veggies and dip, fruit and yogurt dip, smart food, party mix, a cheese/pickles/crescent platter, juice boxes, bottles of water, pop, breadsticks... it was super yummy and as you can see from the photo it was a bit holiday themed!

We sat around had lots of laughs, and our hubby's got chatting about some stuff... Which was nice. I'm glad they get along because we need more "couple" friends to hang out with and do this with..

For our main course we decided since I'd been so sick and didn't feel up to cooking, we'd order in. Swiss Chalet was the closest and we could order 3 of the family meals to feed everyone. We did, and it was pretty good. Heidi and her hubby stopped at a bakery on their way and got some cake.

OH MY GOSH -- BOSTON CREME CAKE. It was beyond delicious, I had never had it before. Let me tell you though - I'll be having it again. I will be now on the hunt for it closer to us. Everyone loved it and I remember at least two kids asking for seconds, but of course they didn't need it so there was some left over.

After we had dinner, and cake we sat around chit chatting some more.. Then it was picture time. Can you believe the whole time we didn't even think to get many pictures until the very end? Silly for us, I know. Considering we are obsessed with instagram you'd think we would have been taking photos of every little thing going on. But we were too busy gossiping and talking about everything from births, to food, to movies! It was really, really fun!

But yes - photo time came. I of course was nervous about photos, I'm not sure why I get like that but it's something I'm working on. Not very well, but I am. I thought this was an adorable photo! Heidi, my daughter Ava and I - of course, I had to be silly!

Cute right? I thought so! My kids absolutely adore Heidi, her hubby and their kids. Which means a lot to me because they don't have very many GOOD kids for friends. Around here they don't have many friends. School they've got a few. But it's nice for them to have friends away from school and be able to have these nights to look forward to. So it was a lot of fun!

The title of this post is "When two worlds collide" because - I never used to let my internet life which I've been online for 12+ years with blogs, livejournal, xanga, geocities.. ALL OF it. I never, ever let it collide with my real life offline. But let me tell you I am so glad I did. Not only is Heidi an amazing person, so is her hubby and kids. They are real, genuine and it's something I've always looked for in real friends - but since moving to Toronto have lacked finding because I'm a homebody, and lets be honest - this city can be scary. I'm glad I let my guard down, and I'm glad we met. I think we've become really great friends, and although she lives in a different city.. I look forward to having more of these nights. As does my hubby and super excited kids!

After they left of course my kids NEEDED to have a photo with me like the one above, of course I couldn't say no. So here we were able to squeeze 3 of them in with me! It's a silly one. It's adorable. We all had so much fun... My kids are still talking about it, telling me all the fun they had playing downstairs and eating all the food - which by the way, my kids basically ate all the snacks. They are gluttons and I have no idea where they put it. I'm in real danger come the teenage years....

I've met a few other people from the AC world as well, they are also amazing people but sadly don't live as close to me so we can't get together more often. I think it would be amazing when the weather turns nicer to invite everyone over for a huge BBQ... I think I may put it together. We shall see!

I am so thankful for everyone in my life, especially my AC mama's. They all know who they are. I've changed so much in the past few years since moving to this big city, and coming out of my shell - slowly but surely. It's amazing, and I'm so glad I am able to really enjoy all these things now with my kids and not have to worry about them being excluded or having to go out - they are my whole entire life, so having friends with kids is one of the most rewarding gifts. Especially such great friends like Heidi! We're lucky!