Vacation Part Two and Three

Day: 323

Goal: Make the vacation feeling last

Similar (although not as intense) to the feeling of coming home from camp, coming home from vacation always makes me feel a little renewed. Soul cleansing… check. R&R… check. Over consumption of carbs and alcohols… double check. The problem always becomes how to make these great feeling last once you come home. I want to jump right into life refreshed and willing when I get home, but instead I always find myself just a little bit behind. Like I left half of me on vacation still. Suitcase… half unpacked. Makeup… nah. Work… not-so-much. Mentally I want to be in the right place, but I think I’m still physically lying on a the beach in South Carolina.

Part two of my vacation was so awesome! I absolutely love the new tradition of traveling to our Myrtle Beach condo with my cousins and just being completely worthless! Best. Feeling. Ever. I didn’t bring my computer… big step for me, although I do have an iPhone, so it’s kind of the same… but I was able to feel somewhat released from work and Facebook. We spent everyday at the beach for hours… just soaking up the beautiful sun. I needed the Vitamin D sooo bad! It felt so good to just get completely roasted and sandy and salty and sweat… and just not care at all. And nothing is more therapeutic than building a sand castle. Slightly more physically involved than I remember it being when I was 8, but still mindless and organic in the best way.

One night we went out to a dueling piano bar… so awesome! We had such a blast, and Sarah and Matt definitely got to celebrate their anniversary in a “special” way. We also went back and visited our friend at Margaritaville… sadly he fell in love with a different girl last summer and is not moving to NY. But who knows, maybe we’ll run into him up there someday. We also did a repeat performance at the Myrtle Beach Pelican game. Classic fun as always! The best part was definitely the sweet suite that we got hooked up with again! So much fun to act like high-rollers! All-in-all it was another fantastic trip with the gang. It really has become a tradition that will last for a long time! Good news is, none of us are expecting any rug-rats anytime soon to ruin the fun!

Part three of my vacation was the perfect ending to a great trip! I got to go up and spend a little time with pops. The trip was super short, but great none-the-less. We took in some Yankees (first time at the new stadium) and just enjoyed each others company!

So while I’m glad to be home (because it always feels good to come home from a trip), I can’t seem to get the vacation feeling to last in the right way. I think I’m a little backwards right now… I need to be in the mind at the beach, body working hard mode… sadly not the case right now.

Just want to end with a big huge shout out to all the amazing family that shared my vacation with me!! Love you all sooo much!

Vacation part 1

Day: 32?

Goal: try to figure out why I don't visit family more...


So i left for vacation on Friday and I can not tell you how much it came "just in time". Work hasn't been inspiring in a while, I'm burnt out from shows, and the weather at home was getting to be ridiculous.... Cloudy all day everyday. It even rained a couple of mornings last week! Anyway, I'd been planning the second half of this vacation since last years same trip. My Maisonet cousins and I all went to my dad's condo in Myrtle beach just to spend some time together sans parentals. We had an amazing time and knew right away, we had to make it an annual event. The first part of my trip was planned just recently when my Inky cousins decided to throw an anniversary party for my aunt and uncle. I was on board knowing that I was already planning to take the time off work, plus my mom and my grandparents were making the trek too, so that made it even more of a total family affair!
Well I only got to spend 48 hours in Sioux Falls, but it was so much fun! Getting to see so many family members that I haven't seen in years and years that I have convinced myself that I "see" because I know the ins and outs of their daily lives via facebook was so great! There is nothing better in the world then some good family love!
I think some people take for granted that they are near their families all the time... It's easy to get used to seeing everyones faces and that unconditional love that is shared between family members probably becomes a little.... Common. I love the feeling of being with family because there is no pressure to look a certain way, be impressive for some reason, or hold anything back because the time spent is so short and few and far between. I wish it weren't the case, but it's hard to get together sometimes... But when we do, I think we make the most of our time!

To my Inky family and the rest of the crazy midwest crew...
Thank you for patios and beautiful landscaping.
Thank you for pooches young and old.
Thank you for Losers.
Thank you for perfect surprises.
Thank you for Uncle Corys.
Thank you for grandpa-bunny-bunny sunsets.
Thank you for real weather.
Thank you for lemon drop shots shots shots shots-shots shots shots shots shots-shots.
Thank you for grandma and grandpa airport.
Thank you for speaking whale.
Thank you for wedding videos.
Thank you for future plans to see each other again in October.
Thank you for the newlywed game.
Thank you for 40 years of love.
Thank you for 11.
Thank you for just married signs.
Thank you for Gilly.
Thank you for always making us California Maisonets feel at home when we come... As few and far between as it is.

Location:Unnamed Rd,Grapevine,United States

Stagecoach 2010

Day: 350, 349, and 348

Goal: Just relax and let it go… country!

So one of my camp besties, Amy, bought me and some other camp peeps tickets to Stagecoach, the two day country music festival in Indio. Now those of you that know me may be thinking, “Tiffany likes country music?” And that is a valid question. But those of you that really KNOW me, know that I’m not apposed to a good time… I love music you can dance to, I love people with the gift of song, I love BBQ’d meat (although having to type that just grossed me out a little bit), I love beer, and who DOESN’T love a good old-fashioned polite country-lovin’ cowboy?? (Especially when you throw in the California desert and force them to take their shirts off… yum)

Anyway, we got out to Palm Desert on Friday night and just chilled in the hotel room (that was the bane of my existence for an entire week… don’t ask, it’s over, that’s all that matters). We got some good sleep and the next morning got out to Stagecoach around noon. As we were locking up the car in the parking lot, I suggested that we crash one the tailgates going on. The group was hesitant, but as we strolled towards the venue past one of the friendlier looking parties, I said, “Hell yay! You guys know how to do it right!”…. and a friendship was born. We met Cory, Amber, Amy, Cole, Michelle, and a bunch of other people whose names I can’t remember right now, and they were awesome! They were so sweet and really did have a great set-up… does it compare to a Maisonet family New York tailgate at Giants stadium?… No, but I have to give them credit… it was really good.

The festival was really cool. Way beyond my expectations. I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but it was way nicer. I guess I thought people would be more rowdy and crazy, and while there were some crazies out there, it was mostly a mixed bag of families, young adults, and hardcore cowboys. The venue itself was enormous. It felt like a day at Disneyland each day… a ton of walking around, eating too much and too often, and not drinking nearly enough water… especially relative to the temperature and what else we were drinking *wink*

One thing I love about hanging out with the people I was with is that I really don’t feel at all insecure the way I do sometimes around other people. Not that my other friends make me insecure necessarily, and not that these friends necessarily make me feel super confident, but it’s just a feeling of comfort that’s different I guess. Maybe because the majority of time I spend with these guys is camping on an island with hundreds of kids acting crazy and focusing on the mission of our charity and not on ourselves at all. It does make a difference I think. When I stop trying to impress anyone, and just hang out for the sake of being with beautiful people loving life, I find that the insecurities melt away. It’s not a perfect science though… even when I’m in the best of places mentally like I was this weekend, I find time to get in my own head and dwell on that fact that I’m behind on life… and I hate being alone.

So in addition to a lot of really great entertainment, I discovered that I love Sugarland. They were awesome!! I also discovered that running into people you weren’t expecting to never gets less awkward, hot guys look hotter when they’re dressed like cowboys, nice people do exist (and they tailgate!!), no matter how many times you roll your eyes some people just… are who they are, no more than two fish tacos should be consumed in a 24 hour period, people who love country music also love America… a lot, port-o-potties are cleaned out by a man with a really long hose that’s hooked up to a huge truck that sucks it out of the hole and carries it off to who-knows-where, Keith Urban is just as hot in person as he is in pictures, the California State lottery is suppose to go towards education, but has been redirected to “other places” for years, power half-hour is proven to be the best buzz two times over, I enjoy wearing a cowboy hat, boys play words with friends when they have to go #2, and nothing feels better after a long weekend then coming home to your own bed… ok that’s not something I discovered this trip, I’ve known that forever, but it’s worth rediscovering every time.