That Time I Crossed Something Off of My Bucket List

I'm pretty sure everyone out there has a bucket list. Whether you call it that or not, everyone has a list of things that they want to do before they die...or "kick the bucket" as the film of the same name so gloriously proclaimed. Mine is pretty normal I think...go to Greece, touch all 7 continents at least once, parasail...oh wait...I JUST DID THAT! Feeling rather adventurous the other day, I packed up and hit Tahoe for a day trip and decided that parasailing was something I just HAD to try.

Lake Tahoe is only about two hours from where I live, making it the closest water to us. Anyway, one of my friends (who you may recognize from my wine tasting pictures) and I drove up to the lake for the day to hang out and enjoy our day off. We were planning to hang out, have lunch, drink a little and lounge around on the beach...maybe rent a stand up paddle board if we were feeling a little adventurous. Just a pretty lowkey day. 

Except about 10 minutes into our lunch at The Beacon in Camp Richardson (SO good!), we see a parasail float by. We decided maybe we would like to try that. So to our phones we went and found a $55 parasail ride (which is a pretty solid price compared to other parasail options I've seen) and called. Somehow on the crazy busy week of the 4th of July, they had an opening at 1:30. And that was it. We were off to Ski Run to sign paperwork and meet the boat. 

Now here's the funny part of the story, we assumed, being people who have never parasailed before, that you land in the water when you're done and the boat picks you up. So we show up at the boat in bathing suits and just bathing suits. Granted, we already had them on under our clothes, but still, compared to the rest of the group on the boat...we were a little underdressed. 

The process itself is pretty simple. You get strapped into a harness and a life vest and then you head to the back of the boat and get strapped into the parachute. You sit on the back and once it catches the wind, you're off. We went up at 200 feet and it was honestly one of the most peaceful experiences I've had in my life. You're just up there, floating watching the water underneath you. 

Luckily, one of the guys on the boat was nice enough to take a TON of pictures for us. So we have plenty of documentation of being in the air. 

Once you're done, you just hang out on the boat while the rest of the group goes up. It was super relaxing and the guys had great taste in music so even sitting around watching other people go was fun. We're going back this week actually to go again. So there may be even more pictures. Or I'll do a week in the life of my phone post and you'll see them there. For now, here are the pictures from the first time I went :)

The before, sitting on the boat. 

Pretty sure he's telling us to keep our legs bent and not stand up so we don't get a para-wedgie. 

Ready for takeoff!

 And then you're up!

 

 Meet our captain, haha!

 

 Oh yeah, they dunked our feet. I thought Connie was going to freak out. 

As you can tell by her legs (on the left), she wasn't happy about it. 

Obviously, I had to take a picture with the mermaid fountain. 

Reading in the Sunshine

I've really never been one for the outdoors. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the idea of the outdoors. Pretty plants, soothing nature sounds, hiking. Most of my favorite pictures are photographs of rustic landscapes. 

But when I get out there and there's bugs crawling all over me and my mom is trying to force me to picnic, I'm over it. I mean, my food is on the ground. Or a dirty picnic table. Clearly she doesn't understand how I feel about food. 

Lately, however, I have LOVED taking my Kindle outside on my lunch break at work and sitting in the shade reading my book. 

Maybe it's because I'm reading Tarzan of the Apes or maybe it's because ever since I graduated I feel a whole lot more happy, free and more willing to try more new things than I ever have been. 

Either way, I'm fully digging the feeling of being outside and relaxing with my book. It's been a great few days of summer :) 

In honor of summer eve...

  I've always been a summer kid. Don't get me wrong, I love most times of year because I always have things I want to wear. But summer has always had a special place in my heart. Maybe it is the longer days or the feeling of not having to be anywhere or do anything on my day off on a summer afternoon. All I know is, the second it starts getting warm and sunny, I start wanting to eat anywhere that there is a patio and feel an overwhelming urge to wear white clothing and drink Corona. 

 Summer is a time of freedom and a time of bright energy. I love driving around with the windows down and some country music blasting, or spending the day by the pool with my friends, fresh fruit and some beers. 

  Today was my day off so I met up with my girlfriend, Lauren on her lunch break so we could get pedicures together. It was so nice to hang out and have girl time. Of course, I got teal mermaid nails to match my mermaid car. 

  I just love summertime!

100 Happy Days: The First Seven

Geez, guys! Where has this week gone?! I've been so busy that it has just flown by. Even on my days off, I'm all booked up, scheduling to do everything I don't get a chance to during the week. I've been working, house sitting and helping my girlfriend plan her wedding this Fall.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to just show you the week in Instagram pictures as part of my #100happydays project that I started on the first. I'll probably do this every Sunday or Monday, depending on when I get time to post for you.

Here goes:

Day One: My mom and I hit up Tuesday Morning because they were having some kind of major sale. I picked up both of these pillows for my couch and three car air freshners for $12! SCORE! I LOVE the vintage Cadillac print and the colors are so bright and I fun that I couldn't resist the second pillow either. 

Day Two: I got up on Monday morning feeling a little blah. SO, I went and cut myself some fresh hydrangeas from the front yard. Stupid things only lasted a few days, but they brightened my mood for the day and inspired a rearrange in my room to boot!

Day Three: Got to meet up with one of my best girlfriends for dinner and had a really solid attempt at strawberry shortcake. Won't lie, it wasn't amazing, but dinner and catching up was fantastic. 

Day Four: My mom and I, once again, went on a crazy errand spree. You know those days where you are HELLA productive and you end up exhausted but feeling super accomplished? That was Wednesday. I didn't actually remember to take a picture during the day but one of the things I got to do was exchange my janky key ring out for one that has my favorite Vera Bradley pattern on it!

Day Five: Long story short, one of my friends was having a bad day so I picked her up some Starbucks. 

Day Six: I am literally OBSESSED with these pants. I picked them up at Nordstrom on my errand day with my mom and they are SO comfortable it isn't even funny. They're perfect for work because you can dress them up but I foresee a lot of time spent in these in those awkward transitional fall days that Northern California offers up in September and October. 

Day Seven: Yeah....this seems off to me, too but I'm just counting pictures...I had a terrible day at work on Saturday. Like stressful, people yelling at me on the phone type of day. So, I needed a margarita. And it was fantastic. 

Day Eight: Today I got to run around Auburn with my folks. I picked up my Father's Day gift, AND some marzipan which is pretty much my favorite dessert in the whole world.

There's the first week down. I hope you guys had a good one. Now I'm in bed, freshly showered and watching Game of Thrones. It's been a good week. Cheers to 93 more days of Happy! 

#100HappyDays

So I have a confession to make. The amount of girly, fashion blogs that I follow is a little obscene. I have my favorite blogs of course, but I follow a number of them and check them ALL on my Bloglovin app every morning when I wake up. 

Recently, I've been reading Kaylee-Daily.com and seeing her #100HappyDays posts on Instagram. Well, being the curious human I am, I decided I wanted to know what all the fuss was about and I googled. 

Wellp, I was sold when I read the challenge description and decided that I'll start tomorrow with the first of the month. I've already invited all my girlfriends to try it too. You can join me by clicking the link here:

http://100happydays.com/#go 

I'm really excited to seek out happiness in each and every day and can't wait to document those little moments that made me smile. 

Cheers to ONE HUNDRED days of Happiness. And hopefully many more. 

That Time I Decided to Become a Wine-O

Well, not really. Although I do have a newfound appreciation for wine. 

ANYWAY, last Sunday, my mom got some tickets to a local wine tasting event up in the Pleasant Valley and I got to bring a few of my girlfriends with me. We had a great time trying different wines and spending time together which happens very rarely since we're spread all over the state right now. 

We hit five different wineries and tried endless glasses but in the end, I came home with a new bottle of Chardonnay (which I didn't think I liked at all) and some of the most delicious olive oil I've ever tasted in my life. Once I move later this summer, I will most certainly be breaking that out to cook with :)

Long story short, I really haven't had a day that good in a long time and I think the girls and I decided that we're going to try to get together to hit up one of the events that our favorite winery does during the summer. If we do, trust me, there will be pictures. 

Here are a few of the pictures from Sunday. Obviously, they're from someone else's phone because mine just hates me. 

Finally Graduating from College

Does anyone else remember the scene in Stuart Little when George (who was Jonathan Lipnicki back when he was little and cute) comes running downstairs yelling, "It's today! It's today!", excited by the prospect of his new sibling? That was my exact feeling on graduation day last week. After five years of school, which had a good measure of drama and nonsense squeezed in there amid work and school obligations, the phrase, "I'm done" has never felt quite as real as it did on the day I graduated from school.

Mind you, I was never a school kind of person, anyway. I love knowing things, I love learning, but I hate doing it in a classroom. I will read till the cows come home and camp out in front of the History Channel for an entire afternoon (anyone else psyched about the World War special they've had on all weekend? You know I was watching it!), but the second it becomes about a class, I'm over it. I've always been that way. My mother, my professors and my friends have been bemoaning my "laziness" for years. "You have so much potential, you just don't apply yourself." Blah ,blah, blah. Whatever man, I'm a graduate now!

My best friend came up from the Bay Area to watch me graduate, and then left immediately after because he had a wedding to be at...old people responsibilities. And the rest of us went to happy hour at a local sushi restaurant, which is pictured below after my aunts/uncles had a bit too much.

The ceremony itself was awful. I hate crowds, I hate being hot, and I hate sitting for long periods of time listening to other people talk. Or, in a word, commencement. But, me, and my family actually, all knew that it was something we had to do, so we made it through it. Either way, I never have to go back to school again!

Here are some pictures from the day, because of course, I had my phone with me to take pictures while I was sitting, being bored.

Glad I could share the experience with my family and friends. It was a great weekend and I'm ready to start the rest of my life now ;)

Slight Hiatus and Some Changes

Well guys, I finally did it. I graduate from college in TWO DAYS! Just TWO. I'm decorating my cap as we speak in finishing up some online activities for literally the worst class ever right now. And then it is all over. I start a big girl job and a big girl schedule...although where that job will be is a bit up in the air right now since I had a great first interview on Monday with a followup for next Wednesday and a whole lot of other lines out there, trying to get a bite. HOPEFULLY within the next month, I'll be posting great news that I have a new job and be over the moon about it.

Anyway, as far as graduation is concerned, I will most likely have one big super post up on Monday night. Unfortunately, I don't get Monday off at my job so after a weekend of graduation-related debauchery, I will be headed straight back to my job :/

Also, I'm planning to change a bunch of things about this blog now that I have less stress without school in the picture. This blog was originally intended to be about my last year in college, but unfortunately, my last year in college got in the way of the blog instead. So, now that school is over, I will definitely be posting more, creating new content and changing the name as well. Look forward to it, it's gonna be GREAT!

Dreaming of Punta Cana

Hey guys, I know I promised to have this up days ago...but I just started a new job, I'm still at my internship and school is wrapping up which means I have an unbelievable amount of stuff going on right now. 

In fact, I'm literally tapping this out on my iphone in my car on my lunch break at work. That's how sad my life is right now, compared to literally a week ago when I was in the Dominican Republic. How the mighty have fallen. 

Anyway, on to tales of far off lands. So I'm not sure if I told you guys that I was even going to the Dominican and if so, for why. So we shall start there. My mom is a Pampered Chef consultant. Each year they earn incentive trips based on points earned for sales and recruiting. This year's trip was to the Dominican Republic. 

As we all know, and I am growing painfully more aware of as the days tick by, I graduate in a little over a month. And as my mom (who doesn't really travel well) is hemming and hawing over whether or not she wants to go, I chime in with, "Uh, maybe take the kid who is graduating from college this year and hasn't gotten to go on one of these trips yet."

And just like that, I was in. So we left two weeks ago today and flew to Miami where we spent the night before flying into Punta Cana on Saturday morning. 

As usual, the flights sucked, I got stuck in the middle seat, blah blah blah. But once we landed, I was in love.

The airport is thatched. Yes, thatched. Or at least the roof is. And even though it's hotter than anything California kids like me are used to, there are fans everywhere and music and friendly ass people greeting you. 

See, wasn't lying. THATCHED ROOF! How awesomely tropical is that?!

The bus trip to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Resort (where we stayed) is about a half hour through Punta Cana. Not too bad, not too much to see, really skinny roads and a lot of people on Vespas. 

The resort itself is absolutely gorgeous. I think it's 121 acres or so of gorgeously manicured grounds and beautiful, airy buildings. Plus 7 pools and direct beach access. 

Needless to say, because it was all inclusive, we didn't leave. But then again, I can't see why you would anyway with a property that gorgeous. 

What I actually did on the trip wasn't all that fascinating. I was on vacation, I didn't do much. I slept in, ate whenever I felt compelled to do so, lounged by the pool, went to the beach, and went out every night to the two bars they have in the hotel. 

I think what really struck me the most was just how relaxed and happy I was there. If you know me, you definitely know that those are not words that I toss around lightly. I'm a stress case and spend a good deal of time pretty irritated at school or work. While I'm workin on having a life, it's not really likely with a 40 hour work week and a full school schedule. 

Anyway, I'm just going to shut up and let you look at the pictures. Don't mind my makeuplessness. Let's be real, it was too damn hot there to bother. Enjoy! 

I'm pretty sure that no one reads this blog...

...but I will be putting up a travel post about my trip to Punta Cana tomorrow at some point. If you're a human and actually read this, be sure to check it out.