make it work

Finally, we're home.
After more than 20 hours in the car, traveling up the East Coast and back, we're back in Georgia, almost unpacked and hot.
We knew we would be hot, because it's the ATL; "Hotlanta", as they say. But our air conditioner (central air) broke upstairs, and it's not doing so great in the rest of the house either. So while it's in the 90s outside, it's about 85 in here. It's not the most pleasant of feelings to be sweaty and gross, but it sort of reminded me of Costa Rica and what our rooms felt like.
But when things like this happen, you just have to, as Tim Gunn (you know, the guy from Project Runway) would say, make it work. You might not have everything you need to succeed in that moment, but you can use what you have to make it work.
And in the meantime, it makes us think about what really matters. Not like we can't live without AC, but we take it for granted. We assume that places are air-conditioned in restaurants, houses, and other buildings because we're accustomed to it. But if we take it away, we realize how much it impacts us. It's like that song, when they say "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". It's true; we need to experience life without one of our amenities to realize how much it really matters to us.

deeper thoughts (car blog 3)

Hello folks. Sorry for the delay, it was crazy yesterday. We had a late start and left MA later, but we still got to the hotel, albeit late.
It was a sad morning, leaving a place I love to go home to summer reading and the impending stresses of school. But if I lived here, I wouldn't probably love it as much. It would be normal rather than magical to wake up to the ocean everyday. I'm just glad that I can get to see it and enjoy it like we did these last two weeks.
While I was in the car, I was doing some thinking. After all, we're in there for 12 hours both days, so we have a lot of time on our hands. And I was thinking about my blog post for today. And I was thinking about what I'm writing and what I'm writing for. And I realized that happiness is not a feeling as much as it is a lifestyle and an attitude. You don't have to wait for a happy moment to come along, you can go make one. You can change the way you live so that every moment is a happy one. You can make sure nothing rains on your parade and that you look at things in light and not darkness.

goodbyes

Today was a great way to spend the last day.
We went to Burlington and shopped at their enormous mall and we went everywhere - Anthropologie, Lego, Vera Bradley, Brookstone, Lucky - the list goes on (better at the list goes on to my page of phrases!). I got some great deals - $20 for 2 shirts (original prices: $40 and $60!) and we had great pizza in the food court.
After a great day at the mall, we came home and had my cousins, my nana, and my best friend for dinner and a small birthday party-ish thing for me. My mom and dad originally said that my birthday present was my Costa Rica trip, but my mom also got me some special things at the mall.
She got me a special book all about beach / ocean memories (it was sort of a memoir) and reading it reminded me so much of our life here at our beach house. It's such a great lifestyle.
She also got me something that I've wanted for a while: a Pandora bracelet. It's a pink one, more of a muted rose color, in honor of the Susan G. Komen breast cancer research foundation. And on it was a rose bead charm, my favorite one from the catalogue. It was a such a special present since my mom picked it out and it was exactly the kind I imagined I would have. It's so special and I just love it. Presents like that are so sentimental and that's what life is all about. My aunt and cousins also gave me some money for my camera purchase and they got me a musical Phineas and Ferb card, which makes everything that much better. What's better than P&F? Maybe milkshakes, but that's it.
My nana gave me money too, and my best friend got me a gift card to one of my favorite stores and some special things she got on her vacation to St. Thomas. They were all so thoughtful, I truly loved them.
But now comes the time when we say goodbye. I remember in my Oxford blogs I wrote about how in The Parent Trap, that depressing monotone song that goes "every time we say goodbye I die a little . . ." comes on, and it's raining and depressing and everyone is sad and crying. That's what tomorrow is going to be. It's the same, the car gets packed and we drive away, tears in our eyes - well, mine at least - back home, where we get jolted back into reality and realize school's in 2 weeks and summer reading isn't even close to being started. Let alone done.
But things are more special when you have to say goodbye to them. Can't wait for tomorrow.

everyone's a winner

I've been keeping a bucket list while I'm here so that I can do all the fun things we do when we're here and not forget anything. So tonight we went mini golfing at this place in Salem. We've been here countless times with cousins, by ourselves, for our birthdays and for other people's birthdays. It's even better now because they have go carts and what not. It's a party.
So the first best part is that we got another round of carts for free (it was an accident) and some fool's cart was broken, and we got extra laps because of the delay. It was great. I'm actually a pretty good driver on those things. If only real driving had 3 different straps holding you in and tires and cushions lining the roads. Then maybe I'd consider driving.
Afterwards we all went golfing, including my parents who usually hold the sweatshirts and the hats and the pencils and the scorecards, messily scribbling illegible scrawl on the cards as we frolic about and prance nonchalantly from hole to hole. My mom and dad traded off and each did nine holes. So we started off pretty good, but it was hard because of the wind, so we all did pretty bad. I was pretty sure I lost. But the ironic, twist of fate, rare, only-in-movies moment happened: me, my brother, and my sister all tied. We all got 61 strokes, and my mom and dad's team effort got them 67. Can you believe that? It's pretty rare. But tonight, everyone was a winner. You know, like in elementary school talent shows when we are all waiting to see the kid who jumped rope and pogo sticked simultaneously win, and then the principal comes out and praises everyone and says everyone's a winner? Yeah, kind of like that. But sometimes it's fun to have everyone win, and have everyone feel special.
And before all of these shenanigans, we went to downtown Marblehead and went to the little shops and looked around. It's almost like Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard - tons of places to look around, street vendors, tiny stores with fun trinkets - all only 15 minutes away. I was shocked - I had never seen anything this nice around here. I never knew that you could find amazing little streets like this if you just looked right outside where you are living. You don't need to go far to find treasures.

old ones, new ones

One of my favorite things to do is reminisce. A lot of times I revive myself with the energy from memories of the past. I almost live vicariously through a past version of my own self. I always say "remember when we all went to that place and we--" and then I get cut off because someone finishes the story, usually because I have already told it.
My best friend's birthday was a few days ago, and since she was away, we had her over at the beach today for fun and games and then we went to dinner and ice cream. It was most wonderful, but one of the best parts was when we went back to her house and walked around the familiar rooms, laughing at things we did before and laughing at things from our childhood. I pretty much lived in her house a lot of the time, and she lived at mine for a lot of the time too, and we share so many memories from those times. I've known her for almost 13 years; we met when I was 4. We've had countless sleepovers and parties, days spent together at the beach, on vacation, in the snow, at my house, at her house.
And when I moved, we changed, but not in a bad way. We have even better stories to remember and memories to cherish. Life's about remembering the small things, but at the same time seizing the moment to make even more memories. Hold onto the past, but don't let it take over right now. Because it's the "right now" moments that make memories.

give it a chance

Greetings from the beach!
Sometimes, we think we are sort of invincible. Like I think that I can't get sunburned. But sometimes we're wrong, and we get sunburned. Sometimes I think I should put sunscreen on, but then I just decide not to. Sometimes some people never learn.
This morning it was cold and cloudy, which was disappointing because me and 4 of our cousins were here, as well as my aunt and uncle, and we wouldn't be able to enjoy the beach.
But the thing is, even though we were the only ones on the beach, we stayed. And we waited it out, and eventually the sun came out and no clouds were in the sky. It turned into an amazing beach day. A lot of times if things aren't going as planned, we are too quick to judge them and we don't give anything a chance. Like last night at the baseball game when it rained - we could have left, but we all stayed and it turned out to be great. You just have to wait a little, and things can turn themselves around. Sometimes that's the best thing to do.
And after the beach we went out to one of my favorite restaurants, Bertucci's, and had a great time. Everyday here just seems to get better than the one before, which seems hard to do. And I have a hard time picking out the best parts of the day because every part is so great to me. Everything leaves me feeling content and eager for the next day. But arrivederci until tomorrow!

crazy games and kid menus

Sometimes people think there is an exception to my blogging, like if I'm tired I won't do it, or if I'm at a hotel I won't do it. The only exception is if there is no Internet coverage, in which case I can't post anything. But I do post every night.
Including tonight, even though it's 1:30 in the morning and I'd much rather be asleep right now. The reason for my tardiness is because we went to the Red Sox game tonight at Fenway, one of my favorite places on earth. Baseball - actually the Red Sox and Fenway - sum up the epitome of happiness. The organ music, the action, the overpriced food, the yelling and laughing - it's all part of the wonderful experience.
Right now, the game is still going on - they're in the 14th inning as I blog - and we left at the 10th. Who knows how much longer it will continue . .
But every part of the game was fun, especially the people there - such dedicated fans who waited 2 extra hours in the cold rain waiting for their team to play, despite a rain delay. Fans who came from all over, clad in Red Sox spirit wear, cheering on everyone on the team even if they didn't play well.
Like they say, there's nothing like a Boston sports fan. Especially the Sox.
In addition, we went bowling today, and I won one of the games, which is incredibly surprising because I never win any games that involve throwing, pitching, hitting or catching a ball. I got 86 points. With bumpers. I play training wheels bowling. But I was still satisfied with my win.
And before that, we went to Friendly's - what an adventure that was! They thought I was a kid - surprise, surprise - and I got a 12 and under menu. Which also means I got a cool straw that changes colors - yes, changes colors - when you drink through it. What other place can change the color of plastic with liquid? It's amazing. I even got a Fribble - a real throwback, I hadn't had one since I was 3 - and it was just as good as I remember.