A Very Lucky Girl

Switzerland was everything Gibby and I needed at that point in our euro trip. As soon as we crossed the border I think I breathed a sigh of utter relief. The terrors of Milan and Naples were behind us and the Swiss alps were before us. We chose to stay at a hostel in Interlaken, a small town situated next to lake Thun (pronounced toon as in cartoon, not thun as in thunder up). I learned this from my super awesome paragliding guide who looked scarily similar to Sean Bean from National Treasure . Did I mention I went paragliding? Yeah, I did.  We originally were only going to stay one night in Switzerland and then head to Paris, but we loved it so much (and the trains were so messed up) that we decided to stay for two. I'm so glad we had an entire full day!  Switzerland is on the Swiss franc and we honestly could only afford McDonald's. So we ate it for dinner two nights in a row.  We spent our time aimle ssly turning corners and reveling in actual beds and hot sho...

I played hostess over the past two weeks and, let me tell you, I slept like a rock on the first night that my room was empty. Not because they were gone, but because I ran them (and myself) into the ground with a rigid itinerary. I wasn't about to let them come visit me and then us sit around looking at each other wondering what to do. Nope, every single day had a schedule. We may have strayed a time or two, but for the most part we stayed true to the plan. Plans are bliss, y'all. Hannah arrived on Tuesday evening, March 11th. We dragged her suitcase from the bus station back to my flat before heading to Dr. Noodles, a delicious Asian food joint, for some pasta in a box. Then, after scavenging for appropriate Carnival costumes in my closet, I brought her to the flat party of the evening. This particular Tuesday was also the start of the Dundee Hunger Games so I was armed with a blue water gun to match my Kevin Durant Thunder get up. I also lent Vanessa, my flatmate, one of my...

I encountered at least two angels during my trip to Los Angeles over the weekend. I was so excited to embark on this adventure as I had never been further west in America than Las Vegas. Before Saturday night, I had never dipped a toe in the Pacific Ocean. I made so many mental plans for this getaway. My friend (and first angel), Olivia, attends the University of Southern California and we talked of hiking to the Hollywood sign, going to Venice Beach, and venturing to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, among other touristy activities. Unfortunately, Addison's Disease had other, less fun plans, for my first 24 hours in Los Angeles.  I started feeling uncomfortable during my original flight to Phoenix on Friday morning. I typically do not have any sort of motion sickness on airplanes so I was surprised when a few waves of nausea overcame me on the plane ride. I attributed them to an inadequate breakfast and fueled up on my layover with a chicken Caesar salad, hoping to combat my ill fee...

"Can y'all stop making all this noise? I think I'm hungover. I want y'all to be happy, but..."   I spent 4 days in Vegas in the beginning of August. They were INCREDIBLE. Megan turned 25 on August 4th and invited Tracy, Hannah, and I to Sin City to celebrate. Hannah was the only one of us who had been before so the entire trip was an adventure! We stayed in a skysuite at the Aria hotel, one of the biggest buildings I've ever seen, just completed three years ago. The highlights of our room included electric curtains, opening and closing at the push of a button, and a giant tub, perfect for soaking our tired feet in after a long day of walking the strip and dancing our dressed-up behinds off.  Vegas is not for the faint of heart, nor is it a relaxing getaway, especially not for four high-energy girls in their twenties. The film The Hangover  was all Megan, Tracy, and I knew of Vegas and so we named each member of our party after a character. Megan was Alan, ...

I undertook a 40 hour roundtrip roadtrip at the end of my summer. From Oklahoma City to Nashville to Wilmington to Carolina Beach to Raleigh and back through Nashville! It was an 8 day whirlwind of the best kind.  40 hours in a car gave me a lot of time to think. And eat lemonheads. And listen to audiobooks. And sing songs at the top of my lungs. I actually didn't think all that much. But I did take note of several things during my cross-country journey. photo by E. Bell Thank God for Google Maps. I would be at a loss without the calm and collected automated voice telling me which exits to take. She didn't even yell at me when I took a wrong exit and had to backtrack. A human navigator probably would have.  This was the first summer I visited every single state I lived in. In late May I first took to the highway to surprise Moriah Jo, and my overnights in Nashville and Raleigh fulfilled the other state requirements. What a treat to reconnect with so many friends in t...

For the first of our last two days at sea, Tyler and I quietly met in the library in order to hike to Deck 12 for the 6:29 AM sunrise where we watched pink and yellow streak across the sky as a fiery orange ball inched its way from the depths of the deep blue of the ocean.  We attempted a few sunrise selfies, but Tyler suffers from "squinty eye disorder" when it comes to pictures with flash so most of them were immediately deleted, and judged others for their obvious sunrise selfie taking in a truly hypocritical way. However, we were following the  rule of having another person in your selfie, transforming the image into a groupie.  We graced the Windjammer for an early breakfast and made the exciting discovery that the sourdough rolls we'd been devouring at every dinner also were available for breakfast. I stocked up.  After an invigorating nap, I recovered from such an early morning by laying out and soaking sun into my already slightly sun-blistered skin....

I'm in love with Jamaica. I would absolutely go back there for a week or more. It was a perfect mix of lovely beach with regal hills in the background that reminded me of Roatan, Honduras, another of my favorite places. My first view of Jamaica was from the treadmill where I spent the beginning of my morning, but only for a mere 10 minutes as I had completely forgotten that I had Addison's Disease and totally skipped every pill necessary to expend energy. What.Was.I.Thinking!? After fueling up on legal drugs, I found my way onto the dock and we located a cab to take us to the prettiest beach I've ever seen. Along the way we passed several resorts, coexisting next to huts, and Usain Bolt's high school. The beach was utter perfection. I could set up a tent in the sand and live there forever. This was my last legal day of drinking before July 1 so I made the most of it. I partook in two Sex on the Beach's (the drink, not the activity), a Long Island Iced Tea (holymol...

If you've missed Day One and Day Two , you can catch up! We docked in Cozumel, Mexico at 8 AM on Tuesday morning, stopping at the first bar we saw in order to partake in a melon ball and strawberry colada before deciding they were best mixed together. Before swimming with the dolphins at Dolphinaris, Tyler and I documented our first international kiss in order to keep our reputation as "cutest couple ever" alive. At Dolphinaris we interacted with a female dolphin either named Marci or Maci. The accent of our dolphin trainer was imperceptibly thick. We accepted cheek kisses from the M named dolphin while the paparazzi photographers shouted commands to kiss her back. So I can check making out with a female dolphin off of my bucket list. There was a boy in our group that couldn't have been older than 5 that got his first kiss from a dolphin. We also got "belly rides" which Tyler likened to a jet ski ride...Only the real deal, on a dolphin. We were both t...

Going to take a week off from blogging. It's vacation time for A Very Lucky Girl. I already watched two gentlemen in front of me on the flight to Houston drink themselves silly in a 45 minute period. I'd almost be impressed if I wasn't judging them (just being honest). I'm languishing in memory lane in Beaumont, Texas for a few days. Woke up to a delicious thunderstorm, and Moriah only 3 feet away. What more could I want? 2 years in a city (can Beaumont be called a city...?) doesn't sound like much, but it revealed some true friendships. The kind that can be maintained with minimal effort, the kind that only change for the better everytime you're together. It's been 2 years since I've last experienced this town. I'm thrilled to see familiar faces and eat Nevrosky's. I'm sure to learn a few lessons on this adventure, and A Very Lucky Girl won't be selfish with new insights. But you'll have to wait a week. XO