Holiday in the Sun

Tomorrow morning I'm headed for a whirlwind beach trip. First, a stop to help the boyfriend, Britt, move into his new apartment for his second year of grad school (I'm hoping to swing a little beach time after we're done since the beach is only about an hour from there). On Sunday, Britt is sweetly accompanying me to my best friend from home’s beach wedding in South Florida. In order to properly celebrate and send these two off into wedded bliss, he and I will leave the wedding location the day after the wedding and go to…

 Photo courtesy of i2ko.com

Yes! The happiest place on Earth. We’re very excited to escape our adult lives for a day and relive our childhood a little bit.

From there we’ll go to join my parents on their beach vacation, where we will do nothing but sleep, tan, swim, and eat a lot of good seafood (no oil, don’t worry). A lot of driving will be happening in the next week, but I’d rather spend long hours in a car with Britt than with anyone else.:) And I can definitely use this break- can’t wait to escape reality and responsibility for a week!

Britt and I at the beach last year

“It's just a little crush (crush)”

I read this hilarious article on CNN.com today about girl crushes. We’re talking about girls crushing on girls. Now let’s clarify what I’m talking about here—like the article says, “a girl crush is by no means a physical or sexual attraction. It's part jealousy, part admiration.” I found this funny because when reading it, I had one of those “I’m glad I’m not the only one” moments I referred to in my post yesterday. But the truth is, I already knew I wasn’t the only one. Confession time: two of my best girlfriends and I all discovered we had a girl crush on the same girl probably about our sophomore year of college. We’ll call her *Charlotte. Charlotte was seemingly perfect. Perfect hair every single day (I have no doubt she wakes up that way every morning); the best clothes (I mean, my wardrobe would be that great if I had the money to spend on it, too…); cute, quirky boyfriend; perfect group of friends; and of course, the kicker—a complete lack of even one tagged Facebook photo worth untagging (okay, seriously, HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE??). Let the jealousy set in. Before I let myself divulge embarrassing secrets about just how much we admired Charlotte’s entire perfect life, I’ll stop. And I’ll highlight the point this CNN article is making—we should be happy with who we are. And sure, as women, we’re strangely wired to compare ourselves to other women and always think that in some way we could be better than we are. And no matter what, we’ll always do that. But in order to live happy, fulfilled lives, we can’t let ourselves get caught up in the game of comparisons and we need to learn to appreciate the frizzy-haired, circa. 2005-wardrobe-wearing, Facebook-picture-untagging extraordinaires that we are.:) But don’t count yourself out. You do shine, and you shine for exactly who you are. And with practically every girl in the world being guilty of having a girl crush or two, you never know who’s watching. So here’s to relishing in the fact that surely there’s someone out there Facebook stalking us today, and wishing so much that she had the sparkling personality we do (or at least the really cute dress we splurged on for our friend’s wedding).

*name changed to protect identity

The small stuff

Today I’m thinking about the small things. In a good way, though, not in a “don’t sweat the small stuff” kind of way. I’m thinking about those small, seemingly insignificant moments that can change your mood or brighten your day. 

I’m thinking of the excitement of checking your mailbox when you’re expecting something good. 

An impending summer thunderstorm when you just really need to stay in and relax. 

A lunch break that seems a lot longer than an hour (but actually isn’t). 

Setting up and organizing a new living space (despite the groans of moving). 

A cherry slushy on a ridiculously hot day. 

Holding the hand of the one you love. 

A coupon on the bottom of your receipt (seriously, check your receipts- restaurants do this all the time!) Going to see a movie with your girlfriends that you’d only see with your girlfriends (i.e. Sex & the City, the new Zac Efron movie, etc.). 

One of those “I’m glad I’m not the only one” realizations. 

Searching for airfare for a really exciting trip you may or may not actually take. 

Finally having an empty laundry basket.

As small and simple as they may be, these moments help us live. What are some of these moments for you?

A little laugh to help fight the Monday blues

Warning: I was a journalism major in college, so I tend to find things like this pretty hilarious. I hope this brightens your Monday a little bit.

P.S. Don't worry- this is not where I work. We're classier than that ;)