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Hey there! I'm Holly. A 40+ year old insurance-nerd wife, mom, beauty lover, and about a million other things in between.
This is the place where I share about our lives, what I'm currently loving, books I'm reading, plus-size style, beauty recommendations, health + fitness endeavors and anything else I'm finding interesting at the moment.
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Monthly Archives: June 2013
August And Everything After
In August of 1996 I moved down to a small college town after look at 3 bedroom apartments for rent on the Central Coast of California in what was sure to be The Next Great Chapter in the tale of my epic life. Clearly I was full of that specific kind of arrogance that one only has right as their college years begin and I had waited so long on this precipice of independence that when I was finally able, I took a running swan dive off a cliff into the sparkling abyss below.
Unfortunately college, for me, was very shallow water the first time around.
While I loved the town I was in, at 17 I was just not ready to be on my own and responsible in the ways that were demanded. Looking back the demands were so few, but at the time they felt like the weight of the world, and after only a couple of years I knew it was time to go back home. I needed to regroup. I needed a new goal. I certainly needed a new boyfriend and frankly, I needed a new life. Be careful what you wish for.
In hindsight, this was also the first time in my semi-adult life that I absolutely led with my gut. Somewhere in my mind I just KNEW that packing up and leaving was the right decision, and as I’ve gotten older I have remembered this particular moment when I’ve needed to trust myself. But at the time, when you added up the facts it was a disastrous choice — Cal Poly was an amazing education and I was just throwing in the towel. San Luis Obispo was a safe and small town (uh…for the most part) with so many amenities that I was trading in. But at the time I didn’t care what the facts said, my heart said “Go back home. Now.” And as August of 1998 unfolded, I realized why.
A year later, in August of course, I found myself heading south again. I would spend a few years in Los Angeles losing myself and finding myself (over and over and over — it kept me quite busy actually) and after a while I knew it was time to head back home again. Home looked a little different this time — it was a new city, Sacramento — and my mom was living there alone without my dad. But I was ready to finish college, it was a slower pace of life than LA and I needed the change. This time I wasn’t so bold to think I needed a new life — I was still scarred from the result of that wish the last time — but I was open. Open to whatever and whoever was coming next.
I enrolled at Sac State and rented a bedroom in a (what would end up being a CRAZY) 5 bedroom house that would ultimately be occupied by 4 other female students. I didn’t know a soul in town and I wasn’t quite ready to live alone. This seemed like a somewhat less scary option and I packed up my car and started my new life on August 13 of 2002. It was over 100 degrees that day, and if you have ever packed and unpacked your life on a day that hot, I tip my hat to you. It was a rude awakening and I will not lie, there were many times that day I thought that The Universe must be telling me that I had made the absolute wrong decision. I was coming from an apartment 11 blocks from the beach. From a job where I was successful. From a town where I had made friends close enough to call family. And now I was here. In the fiery furnace of hell, living out of boxes and not knowing a soul.
Shortly after I unpacked — sweaty, alone in the house, and super disheveled — Sarah walked in. I’m sure she thought I was a hot mess. She and her brother were carrying her mattress up the stairs and somehow or another it got away from them, went sliding down the stairs, and crashed through the glass partition near our newly installed Entryway Doors. It was just the perfect icing on such a craptactular moving day that the only thing anyone could do was laugh hysterically.
After that day, Sarah and I spent the next 6 years as roommates. We both finished college, had many fun days and long crazy nights, and after graduating we even both moved on to our Real World Jobs with the same company (that 8 years later we both still work for!) I used to always joke that no one lives with a person that long unless they are married, and most people seem to agree, but something about our friendship has just defied the odds, you know?
A few years ago, Sarah moved back home. What is coincidental is that Sarah’s “home” is the Central Coast, so she has an intimate knowledge of this gem of our state that I had to leave all of those years ago to come back to my home. We didn’t know each other then, of course, but the geographic overlap of our coming of age created a common bond. Garrett + I love to visit her whenever we have the chance, not only because it is a beautiful place and always sort of nostalgic, but because there are only handful of people in life for which you can go months and months without communicating, but then pick right back up where we left off — and Sarah is one of those people for both of us. Years of shared history does that in the best way.
All of this is on my mind because this weekend we are heading down to San Luis Obispo to celebrate Sarah and her awesome fiance’s wedding. On Saturday night they will be married, and I was thinking about it all last night the only way to describe how I am feeling about the whole situation is joyous. I am not a super mushy wedding person, but something about the way this wedding has weaved together so many threads of my life just feels a little special. I can’t wait to be in this town, with my love, watching these two have this particular moment. It feels like a little wink from The Universe. But more importantly, it feels like another wonderful reminder that everything is unfolding just as it should.
The Great Iowa Adventure (Part Two)
So when I woke up Thursday morning all of my work was done, and now it was time to focus on Vacation Iowa. I grabbed a coffee at Starbucks and said goodbye to the our Iowa corporate office and then headed back to the hotel.
That picture was from the day before, on Thursday, however, the weather was SUPER CRAPTASTIC. But then, like an hour later — all of a sudden the weather was great. Here was the view out of my hotel room (scenic, I know) before and after I showered and got ready.
Crazy, right? Midwest weather vexes me. The difference a few minutes can make absolutely blows my mind. Luckily, the weather turned in my favor because I was about to embark on a 3 hour road trip to see AndreAnna and I was trying to decide whether to use a rental car or drop by a dealer of used cars or brand new cars that offer New Hyundai Cars and New Kias for Sale.
It was a mostly scenic drive and I made it out there singing 80s tunes at the top of my lungs, so all in all…not a bad trip. And I was so happy to see AndreAnna! It was SO. DANG. GOOD. to catch up with a good friend over some beverages on the patio in the sun. We had a million things to talk about, she is an awesome hostess and almost immediately we decided we should go and get manicures and pedicures.
The thing I miss so much about friends far away are days like this where you just get to HANG OUT! We took full advantage and also added in some pampering! I decided right then and there, sitting in that salon chair, that I am going to do much more pampering this summer. We had a relaxing Thursday night and AndreAnna’s husband made some awesome gluten free pizzas for us to sample (WHICH WERE AMAZEBALLS) and then we turned in pretty early because we had a big Friday ahead.
Friday we were up early to get in a workout at Quad Cities CrossFit. It was a partner workout with a combo of my most favorite (Squat Cleans) and my least favorite (Toes to Bar) movements. Ha! We powered through it though, and then of course we had to get some serious breakfast. I mean OBVIOUSLY.
We headed over to The Machine Shed for breakfast, and they are not at all kidding when they say they serve cinnamon rolls THE SIZE OF YOUR HEAD. It was a super cute restaurant, and we chowed down and headed out to our next adventure.
Sadly, our next adventure was not a tractor ride — but it was even better — MASSAGES! I mean, I literally was shouting out AndreAnna’s car window “I’M NEVER LEAVING IOWA.” Manis and pedis! Tough Workouts! Delicious Food! FREAKING RIDICULOUS MASSAGES! I mean, what else does one need? (Ok, ok — maybe my dude and my dog but luckily Garrett was sending me silly photos and texts the whole week to let me know they were doing just fine back at home.)
After massages we grabbed some groceries for that evening because AndreAnna had invites some friends over and the ladies were having a Ladies Night while the gents stayed at home. We hit up Sam’s Club and managed to pick the loudest, most unruly cart in the store as well as drop an entire 6 pack of beer on the ground. We were like Laverne & Shirley, but we got out of there with some good eats and an in tact 6 pack. 🙂
When we headed home it was time for some patio drinking again (the weather was AWESOME on Friday) and then it was time to shower and put our party pants on because it was Ladies Night On The Town. We headed out to Front Street Brewery and I got to try their amazing BBQ Pork Nachos. They might LITERALLY be the best nachos I’ve ever had, and despite the fact that I try not to consume corn chips on a regular basis, I consider myself a bit of a nacho conossieur. Don’t worry, I’ve put that on my resume.
We rounded out the evening with…well, quite a few “Vodka Sodas with a Shit-ton of Lime” — which I highly recommend. They go down easy on a hot summer night and you are practically hydrating while drinking. 🙂 They may, however, make you force the driver of your vehicle to pull over while you are passing the Mississippi River. I mean you guys: IT WAS A FULL MOON OVER THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER! This just seemed so novel to me. I’m a California Girl…so looking at the freaking Mississippi River just made me realize I was soooooo far from home! Far enough from home that I had to bust out the spirit fingers.
All in all, it was a very fun night with some very fun ladies:
I don’t have a lot of pictures from our adventures on Saturday, but that is probably for the best since the weather got SUPER yucky and we mostly lounged around working off our vodka sodas by playing cards and drinking more. 🙂 No one needs pictures of me and my greasy ponytail playing cards, I promise. Sunday, the weather was equally icky and unfortunately Sunday was my big travel day back home — which involved another 3 hour road trip. Iowa, you are no fun to drive in when there are crazy thunderstorms! I guess it was fitting though, because had it been another beautiful day I really may never have left.
I was up and on the road early. It was so sad to leave — I wish AndreAnna and her awesome family were my next door neighbors because seriously, we had SUCH A GOOD TIME — but I had also been away from my life for 7 days and you know how that goes, right? I knew it would be good to get back home. I had to drive 3 hours back to Des Moines and then get on a little puddle jumper plane to get up to Minneapolis — eep! I don’t love tiny planes — and then from Minneapolis back to Sacramento.
When I got to Minneapolis I was pretty exhausted, but then out of nowhere they called my name at the gate upgraded me to First Class for the rest of my flight home. You guys, that like actually happens in real life! After that flight experience, I seriously I NEVER WANT TO FLY COACH AGAIN….HAHAHAHAHAHAHA uh, you know, unless I’m actually paying for it! 🙂 I rolled into the Sacramento airport at about 7pm Sunday night and despite it already being a long day I was super energized when I got there. It was still light out and super hot and it just felt like home! I was so, so happy to be back reunited with Buster, then Garrett cooked me a nice dinner, and I slept soundly in my own bed for the first time in a week.
Sometimes it takes some time away to make you realize all the silly little things that you love about your life, right? I couldn’t have asked for a better time in Iowa, but I have enjoyed being back home and back to my routines over the last week and a half. It’s starting to feel like summer around here and I am marinating on some things I want to make sure I do over the next few months. A bucket list of sorts — but with much less productivity and more superficial fun!
More on that soon…
