I looked at the window of the airplane as we flew over New York City and into Newark International Airport. Greeted at customs by a man who spoke poor English, I was grilled about the reasons I was out of the country and why I have been to so many countries in the last couple of years. Apparently that raises suspicions? As I walked outside, I was met with fat raindrops and fog that forced us to drive all the way to Connecticut at 40MPH. Back to reality. 4 hours later I got to my parents house, anxious to drive home to my cozy bed, only to find that my front tire was flat as a pancake. I frowned and decided that I was too tired to do anything about it right then so I would have to spend the night at my parents place. I cozied my jet lagged body up on their couch and slept the night away, making sure I got plenty of sleep to be up at the crack of dawn in order to be at the tire shop when they opened. $424 later I have new tires. Back to reality.

I drove home as I fought the tears that were welling up in my eyes. Because, well, that is how I deal with any sort of stress. After an awesome vacation, I couldn’t help but thinking “welcome back to reality.” Nothing like $424 down the drain to break the momentum and high after a European vacation.

I sat down at my desk and opened my email for the first time in 2 weeks to find hundreds of emails demanding immediate response. Back to reality. Amongst the junk mail, and correspondence with clients, I read one email that made me smile.

“Alicia, we can’t thank you enough for being there for our big day. Of all the vendors we worked with, you were by far our favorite. You and Adam are amazing together and you worked seamlessly throughout the entire day – it seems like you both were everywhere all at once! Without question, you were the best investment we made for our wedding! We could not be happier with the photos, and we can’t thank you enough.”

And just like that, I realized that maybe “back to reality” isn’t so bad after afterall.