I’m currently sitting in my office with newly acquired memories and sunburn. I spent the past weekend with three wonderful girl-friends on a mini-road trip/beach vacation. My heart is full, my skin is red and my mind keeps replaying all of the happy moments from the past few days. Beach Trip 2012 was definitely a success.

Highlights:

• Rapping and attempting to be gangster (and failing miserably) on the drive-up.

• Dance parties and karaoke in our hotel room.
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• Splashing, giggling, drinking and laying out at the beach.
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• Sneaking into a random Catholic church’s lobby. Proceeding to then sneakily open the door to the actual church service, silently ooh and ahh over the pretty architecture, and then run out.  The priest may or may not have been staring right at Priscilla and I, so the “sneakily” part is debatable.
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• Getting dressed up and going out on the town. We choose ‘Tavern on the Bay’, a beach-side restaurant with beautiful views, a sweet staff and delicious drinks.
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• Looking at the moon and Uranus (Why can’t I write that planet out without almost snickering? My sense of humor resembles a fifth grade boy’s)  through some cool dude’s fancy telescope.
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• Searching for a place to eat and coming across an adorable and healthy gem of a place. (If you’re ever in Corpus Christi,you’ve gotta try Urban Fare Cafe. The owner and staff are fun and friendly, the decor is adorable and I had the best soy latte of my life for dessert.)
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• Long conversations. Late night cranberry and vodkas and Flaming Hot Cheetos. Shrieking over scary crime shows. Guffawing over everything and nothing. Exchanging encouraging words. Secrets. Sharing a bed with the best friend. Slumber parties in your 20′s are the greatest.

•  Clam chowder and endless garlic bread at Landry’s. My mouth is watering thinking about it.
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• Maybe kind-of drinking Beeritas in our hotel at 10am? And having so much fun doing so that we stayed an hour and a half past check-out and somehow didn’t get caught? The question marks mean we’re innocent until proven guilty! I’ve confessed nothing!

• Constantly laughing like maniacs, often not over anything actually humorous. On the way back home, perhaps somewhat delirious from lack of sleep and too much sun, Priscilla and I began prank-texting friend Patrick. I just sent him a bunch of things that made absolutely no sense and probably weren’t funny at all. This does not stop us from breaking into hysterics. Luckily, friend Patrick is a good sport and played along.
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There are few things that make me giddier than the girls in my life. So a weekend beach trip filled with adventures and laughter and three of the lady-loves of my life? Perfection. Minus the sunburn.

This week’s adventures:

Floating, drinking and giggling at Lake Travis. A couple of my favorite girls and I
spent the day relaxing, sunbathing and chit-chatting. It felt and looked a little like paradise.

Water-Biking! A bike! For the water! Such a neat, scenic and exciting new experience. So glad to have lots of fun people like Shannon in my life who are just as adventure-hungry as me.

Wine-Down Wednesday. Live band,good wine, pretty views and a great friend. Good combination. I, being me, spilled wine on my white skirt and Amanda’s jeans before leaving. Feeling innovative and a bit desperate to hide the purple stains, I turned my shirt into a mini-dress. (Though I am known to occasionally do this even without wine spills.) We giggled and eventually made our way to the bathroom, where I realized that I also had wine in my shoe. Still laughing, Amanda mentioned that she couldn’t wait to read my blog on our fun-filled,wine-spilt evening. Thus came the inspiration for the blog title. We proceeded to explore downtown Austin and find a random swing, which we then,obviously, proceeded to swing on.

Isn’t my city beautiful? I often find myself feeling super lucky to live here. Even luckier that amazing friends are all part of my Austin package. And even a little bit luckier to take friends with me when leaving my lovely city for a bit. This brings me to my final adventure of the week….

Beach trip with girl friends tomorrow! (The bold font does not even begin to explain how excited I am.)

I think the best way to describe life right now would simply be, really good. I have amazing people in my life. A beach trip planned on Friday with a few of my favorite girls. Last night an impromptu night swim came to be. I sipped on a margarita in a can and giggled with friends and my not-so-little little brother as we shivered/swam. Saturday morning I had volunteer orientation at my local animal shelter. I am now authorized to go play with cute animals whenever my heart desires. The hardest part is going to be not bringing them all home with me. Last week in the mail, I was surprised and giddy to receive, “Rebootizer”, a package of antioxidant pouches. They’re supposed to taste like sweet tea. (I’ll have to let y’all know. I’m bordering on being a hoarder and enjoy looking at things in their package for a few weeks…or months.. before using them.) One of the many perks of being an ambassador for Fit Approach, I’m learning, is receiving random boxes of neat, new things to sample. My husband and I are currently in a phase of acting a little like lovey-dovey teenagers. I love my job. I have a new bathing suit and little black dress ready for previously mentioned weekend beach trip. On all accounts, life is just..really good. I feel accomplished and loved and healthy and adventurous. I feel happy. Summer 2012 is already proving to be one of those summers that, if I was magically given a freeze frame time button, I’d probably have to push it. And then un-push it. And then push it again. Repeat. (Now the Salt-N-Pepa lyrics are running through my head. Push it real good!)

My (fun/adventurous/lovely) trip in pictures and (elaborate) captions:

A little bit of gambling was done on my part (More gambling was done on all other parts.) I’m not much of a literal gambler (I prefer metaphorically gambling on life stuff, as long as it doesn’t involve me losing money. I’m sort of a cheap-ass.), but I did have fun playing my first ever table game (Casino War!) and a few slots. Oh. And drinking for free. Definitely enjoyed that.

The Louisiana Boardwalk:

Exploring Shreveport: I road-tripped it up with friend Jessica, her hubby and his buddy Erick. Erick and I became fast friends (He thought I was “chill” and “awesome.” I thought he was pretty cool too, not to mention the perfect picture-taker.) and we explored together one evening while Jess and her hubby napped. I adored the historic beauty and feel of downtown Shreveport and couldn’t help but walk around with childlike excitement and wonder. I love the feeling of investigating my surroundings and seeking out this world’s treasures.

The Louisiana Walk of Fame! Terry Bradshaw had his feet where I’m standing once.

Boys pillow fighting:

Favorite Eats:

Bottomless tacos & margaritas from Smokey Joe’s and strong coffee & the best donuts of my life from Sportsman’s Cafe.

Elevator Group Shot:

I still have the afterglow from such a fun trip. I love traveling. I love road-trips. I love friends and exploring and new places. To get all of this together and all at once? Well, it’s pretty much like a non-sexual orgasm. I’m currently reminiscing, sipping on a screwdriver and glad to be home and able to cuddle (etc) with the hubby. It’s nice to be able to relax just a bit before a beach trip with girl-friends next weekend. Life is good, I am happy and the adventures continue.

If you don’t already know, I really love trying new things. All sorts of different, new and fun things. A little of this and a little of that. I guess you could call me a dabbler. A dabbler of all things life-related. It teaches me a lot. As a small example, I’ve learned from being a dabbler, (Isn’t that a fun word?) that I love acting and traveling, am good at writing, hate gardening, suck at dancing (but have fun trying anyway), am not a very consistent video blogger and have an odd talent for hula-hooping. As far as jobs go, I’ve done everything from waitressing to nannying to working retail to being a lunch lady. (Not exactly one of my proudest moments. But I always choose a hat over a hair-net. A little dignity was spared.) I’m learning who I am by trying a little bit of everything, and am having a whole lot of fun along the way. One of the things I’ve dabbled in a bit over the years is modeling. In 2006, I runway modeled for Toni and Guy at my local mall and this year I was paid to promotional model for Army. Both times, I loved it and gained confidence and a little wisdom from the experience. My newest endeavor was last Sunday, with a professional photographer I found online. She was hoping to add to her portfolio, and I figured, why the hell not? Sounds fun. I’ll give this a shot. So I messaged her, she emailed back, I sent her my blog link, and (much to my excitement) we proceeded to set up a date and a place. This was my first photographed modeling experience, and I had an absolute blast. Pinktography was fun, talented and knowledgeable. I guess she liked me too because she wants to do another shoot soon at a different location!

A few of my favorites:

This was an exciting,new adventure to put under my belt of dabbling, and I even have some neat pictures to show for it. Now I’m off to finish up packing for my latest adventure…..Road-trip to Louisiana in the morning!

• Inspired
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This morning I was walking the two-year old twins I nanny to the park. The sky was overcast, the air was cool and I could smell the chlorine of pool water in the air. It hit me then. The world. It’s beautiful. I needed to write. I usually feel the most inspired by life when I’m at my most busy. A couple of months back whilst rehearsing for a university play, I remember feeling the desire to blog almost daily. I’d squeeze in posts in-between the few rare moments of solitude I could find, always rushing to put into words all the feelings I’d stored up that day. It’s nice now to be busy and inspired, but not so busy that I can’t bask in the silent wonder that said inspiration brings.

• Accomplished

I’ve been accomplishing a lot of new years resolutions and trying out lots of new things. My horizons are constantly expanding, and I love that feeling. I’m more physically active than I’ve ever been, and very proud to be a Sweat Pink Ambassador for Fit Approach. I’m about to start volunteering at an animal shelter, and just thinking about that makes me smile. I like my grades and GPA and what my future resume will look like. If all goes as planned, I’ll be graduating in a year. I always sort of thought I’d graduate at 80, and it’s kind of surreal to actually be this close. At the same time, I’m enjoying the heck out of my last bits of college life. Having a dad who has been a high-up manager at Dell for as long as I can remember (Okay,yeah, I like to openly brag about him), I’m very blessed (cough,spoiled,cough) to have a good job arranged before I even graduate from school. As I know this is an amazing time of my life and also a chapter I can never get back, I’m more than happy to revel in these moments of being young and doing the school thing.

• Grateful
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I am constantly heart-warmed by the people in my life. I mentioned recently that I’m a pretty guarded person and it takes a lot for me to get close to people. I think I should mention here that this is my own fault and on one else’s. It really wouldn’t hurt if I could learn to be a little more trusting and open. Both people who have recently come into my life and those who have been around for years never fail to keep me a happy,smiling girl. New friend Jessica inviting me on a really inexpensive road trip. (Last year around this time my friend Katie invited me to New Mexico and I barely spent a dime.) Really sweet compliments from buddy Patrick. Texting memories with best dude friend Bryant. Dancing with best girl friend Tessa. Amanda blog-commenting to say that, “I think some of my best Austin memories have been made in the short few months we have known each other. In love with our friendship!”, and setting a picture of us on her phone’s lock screen. (We have a full-blown chick-mance going on now. You know, like a bro-mance. But for girls.) The family I’ve just started nannying for giving me a welcome goody-bag full of drinks and treats. Eating out with my Little (of Big Brothers Big Sisters) and feeling so proud that she’s about to start her junior year of high-school. My grandpa leaving adorably sweet voice-mails on my phone. Falling asleep in my husband’s arms. Etc, etc, etc. I am just so thankful to have the people that I do surrounding me. I don’t know if I always deserve them, but man, I sure do love ‘em.

 Excited:

Oh, where to start? Everything excites me, y’all. It’s storming outside. I love storms. I’m already in love with my two summer nanny jobs, and happy to still keep in touch with (and have great references from) past nanny jobs. I love the childlike fun and the flexibility of being a nanny. I’ve met a lot of amazing people this year and have gone on so many fun adventures. There’s so much to do in my own city and I can’t wait to grab Austin by the balls this summer. Of course, my wanderlust means other exploring is also necessary. I leave on Monday for a road-trip to Louisiana. And then the beach soon after that. And then Florida soon after that. And then Maryland. And then New York. And maybe Oklahoma. And maybe New Mexico too. And….etc. That’s what makes life so exciting to me. The endless “And,et ceteras.” There’s always something more to do. To explore. More people to meet and love. More food to eat. More books to read. More lessons to learn. The never ending possibilities of this world. I can never get enough.

 I’m feeling really good. & Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Sometimes you lead, Sometimes you follow.

Don’t worry ’bout what you don’t know,

Life’s a dance, you learn as you go”

• Two of my best girl friends and I took our first ever tango class this past weekend. Above you can see me beaming at our sexy dance instructor who possessed an even sexier accent. Being a horrible dancer proved to be a good thing, as every time he caught you moving wrong (which was me every 60 seconds or so) instructor dude would pull you away from your partner (which were mostly adorable older gentlemen) and teach you the dance move himself. When you started to finally get it (or he was just tired of trying to teach you) ,sexy instructor dude would smile and say,“Ah,Muy Bien!” or something equally encouraging and not in English. Oh, how I love new experiences.
• I’m road tripping to Louisiana in a week and the week after that I’m going to the beach with the best girl friends. May is already proving itself to be a great and eventful month.
• Party and Potluck at my place this weekend consisted of lots of laughs, drinks, more dancing (Tessa, Priscilla and I attempted the drunken tango a few times) ,beer pong and plenty of hugs and good conversation.It was a little bittersweet, as a few of my close university friends won’t be in the Austin area for the summer. T.J., a good dude friend I made whilst rehearsing for the school play, is transferring to an Arkansas school next semester. Needless to say,we made this slightly bittersweet party a memorable one.
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• Tidbit about me: I make friends pretty easily. However, because I’m a pretty guarded individual, I don’t let myself make close friends very easily. That usually takes years. But new friend Amanda seems to be somebody worth making an exception for. Do you ever get vibes about people? I sometimes do. As a twelve year old, I met my best friend Meg and instantly got the vibe that she was this good-hearted, trustworthy, amazing person. She was and still is, and we’ve been best friends for 11 years now. I got the same vibe from best friend Tessa when I met her seven years ago at the jewelry store we both worked at. And now I get that same vibe from Amanda. Tessa and I were talking about how much we liked her the other day,and she asked me if I’d had any sense that she was, like many girls, catty. Fragile, delicate little souls that we are, we don’t really do well with girls who constantly use words as weapons and turn jealousies into venom. Thus, we try to steer away from this as much as possible. I thought about it for a moment and shook my head no. Amanda is more like the anti-bitch. I think I may have found another kindred spirit. As long as she doesn’t read this mushy paragraph dedicated to her and run away screaming. My vibes tell me she won’t.
• Speaking of best friends. Tessa and I were dancing the other night and a picture was taken of this moment. It looked strangely  familiar. Upon research, I found another picture taken three years previous. Lookit this:

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• Thank goodness that some things never change.
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• Husband and I have been working through some of our kinks lately, and thus butting heads a little more than usual. Cuddling with him last night, I realized I find myself loving him even more after conquering one of our little battles. We’ve grown up together and we’re still growing up. But we’re both also willing to work at things, to compromise and to work through these kinks hand-in-hand. I know our marriage has bettered me, and I think it’s safe to say the same for him. He’s good for me. I’m good for him. We’re good together. And there’s no on else I’d rather battle through the kinks with.
• Life and learning to tango really aren’t all that different. Both involve plenty of mistakes,missteps and lots of practice. Both require sometimes taking chances and stepping outside of your comfort zone. And both become just a little bit easier when there happens to be encouraging,fun and good-looking people to help guide you along the way.

Wednesday afternoon, three friends and I headed out to Pace Bend Park. We rock-climbed and swam and enjoyed the gorgeous, hilly views of Austin, Texas. Friend Amanda took words right out of my mouth when she repeatedly announced, “I am just so high on life right now.”  Despite the fact that I was rock-climbing in flip-flops, (I wore flats whilst climbing in Colorado this past summer. I’m not the best at thinking logically.) it was an exciting, breathtaking, bonding and all-around wonderful experience. And yeah, I’m pretty high on life right now too.

Pictures:

T.J. was squishing me with his seat. Look at that evil, devious smile.

We ended the day with drinks,games, and a delicious dinner made by Amanda herself. You know that happy feeling you get after spending a flawless afternoon outdoors in the hot weather with wonderful friends? And then that bubbly feeling you get afterwards while spending an evening indoors drinking and laughing and reminiscing with those same friends? It was one of those. The day was a perfect,adventurous and magical way to ring in the summer of 2012. Cheers to many more of those perfect days and contented feelings.

Being twenty-three and alive and happy and summer is really a  great combination. It means friends and laughter and long talks on balconies. It means going on lots of adventures and making plans. It means so many new things and places and the thrill of summer heat and what’s to come next. It means good books and taking chances. It means promises of new experiences, tanner skin, the smell of chlorine and the taste of salt-water, endless possibilities and exploring the world. Or that’s what it means for me anyway.

• Here’s a catch up on my life lately:
• I’m going on a road-trip to Shreveport, Louisiana in two weeks! A friend from school invited me to come with her, her husband and his good friend. I’m excited. I love road-trips and I’ve only been to the border cities of Louisiana thus far. I can’t wait to explore. Shortly after this and near the end of May,I’m going on a beach trip with the best girly friends. Then in June I’m going to Florida. Then  in July or early August I’m visiting my best friend in Maryland. We’re also planning to visit her wonderful uncles in New York. I may or may not sneak one or two other vacations/road-trips into this whole mix. My summer is booked full of vacations and this makes me super happy.

• I mentioned I was feeling spontaneous lately. So,a couple of day ago, I went blonde for the summer! I did this last year too and loved it. It feels fun and refreshing and slightly satisfied my spontaneity bone. At least for a day or so.

• This past weekend (Pre-hair highlights, as you can see), Hubby and I went to a small cocktail party at Hannah and Rachel’s new apartment. We drank cocktails and talked on their balcony. At one point of the night, Hannah looked at me and randomly announced, “You have a hot body.” Later, she informed me that my husband and I both have perfect teeth and that were going to make supermodel babies one day. Have I mentioned that I love her? (Who says flattery isn’t the way to a girl’s heart?!)
• And really, I do feel happy and healthy in my own skin. It’s amazing what cutting out fast food and soda and consistent exercise can do for a body. I haven’t felt this good in a bikini since….ever. I’ve never felt this good in a bikini, y’all.
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• Yesterday, I faxed in my volunteer form to help out at my local animal shelter. Animals have the biggest soft spot in my heart. I’m so giddy to start helping and cuddling them that it’s taking a lot of patient effort to not call the shelter up today and ask how soon I can.
• Colorful daisies from the husband make me smile.
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• Husband and I had a fabulous date day in honor of our four years of togetherness. We started with a brunch buffet at Trudy’s which was reminiscent of and brought back happy memories of our San Diego brunch in March. We then proceeded onward to a new adventure. Pinballz Arcade. A BYOB old-school pinball arcade! Despite the fact that I almost immediately dropped my beer and it went spewing all over the arcade games and I deeply contemplated hiding under a pinball machine for an hour, the date was a lot of fun. Husband and I played pinball and air hockey, at which he beat me quite badly. He shared his beer with me. I won tickets and picked out some pretend glasses for my prize. I love things like this. New places and adventures in my hometown always makes me feel like I’m vacationing in my own city. And if you treat life like a constant vacation, how can you not be constantly happy?

Then:

Now: