Maui

B and B. Doing our best mermaid impression. 

This year I'm living out a version of The Endless Summer and loving it. Getting my fill of sunshine and good vibes in the Northern hemisphere, then heading South just when it starts to fade. What more could a girl want?
The season really kicked off on a spontaneous trip to Maui with a best friend. Waking up and crossing the street to pick up a fresh juice for breakfast, swimming with sea turtles on the reef right in front of our condos, drinking a pirate's ration of rum all day, every day. It was perfect.

Good, silly fun.

Besides all the fun to be had in living on one of the most beautiful beaches you can imagine, there was also this great group of girls. Being thrown into this gang really opened me up. Why not jump into that conversation? Invite yourself along? When all was said and done, I was sad to get back to "normal" in San Diego. 

Not to mention how much closer I grew with one of my best friends. I will always be incredibly grateful for the amazing week we spent together. Talking and laughing and crawling into our little twin beds each night, already anxious for what the next day would bring.

One of the frequent visitors to our reef. 

Mouth-watering coconuts at one of the farmer's markets we sniffed out.

At this point in the year, my Australia plans were already well underway. And as much as I thought I was ready for that grand adventure, this vacation really opened my eyes. Suddenly I was comfortable being forced out of my comfort zone, if that's even a credible thing to say. It now seemed completely feasible that I could pick up and start somewhere new on my own. Yes, there was the reassurance of familiar faces, but never the old hesitation. That nagging, over-analyzing itch about anything and everything. 

"Who, exactly, am I with?"

"What was I supposed to say there?"

"When is it appropriate to speak/laugh/hug/cry/stand up/sit down/walk away/etc.?"

All these grinding gears that had become second nature to my mind were suddenly gone. They weren't greased up and running smoothly, not hiding in the wings. Just gone. 

It became, joyfully, my nature to say and do and think whatever came at that moment. And that's the way things have stayed since. 

Next goal: self-actualization. Or just being happy that I can recall the concept a mere six years after first being educated on it. 

New friend. New love. New happiness. 

a condensed library

Woman Walking in an Exotic Landscape - Henri Rousseau

There has been no question in my mind that I would be taking books along with me. They do add an ample bit of weight to my bag, but sometimes frivolity is just what you need. Back me up on this one, Al.
One Hundred Years of Solitude was perhaps the first book I ever determined to read solely at the recommendation of somebody else. People tend to be generous with their words, but when someone you love and admire actually hands you their beloved copy, you take note and get down to business. This one was not easy to get into. Every other character has the same name (or so it seems), lives and relationships quickly become too complicated and intertwined to follow without resorting to Cornell notes, and nothing seems to move linearly. Just when I had about given up, something hooked itself deep in my mind, and the story was alive. Forgetting the big picture of a multi-generational family, my focus shifted to each individual's tale. For me, this was almost a book of short stories with quick flashes of recognition. Fernanda! That troublemaker. I'd peel the walls and eat dirt with you anytime Rebeca. Poor, poor Pietro Crespi. Always in love with the wrong girl. And my eternal favorite, Melquíades.
I'll freely admit to crying when I closed the back cover on this one. For the fact that it was over, and the perfectly heartbreaking ending. Knowing where I'm headed, and that it might at times be trying, this is just the thing to hide away in. A world where a deluge of yellow flowers isn't strange, its just one more thing to sweep off the front steps.