California!

California was amazing. It was the longest vacation I can remember taking... 10 days! We had some definite plans and a lot of "we'll do it if we can" plans. I am still shocked by everything we were able to do. Let's see if I can remember everything we did in a quick (but actually kinda long) wrap-up.

Friday
We left NYC for San Diego. Picked up our rental car (a Fiat!) and drove to Aunt Ruth's house where we ended our traveling day with great company and a hot tub!
(not Aunt Ruth's house below, but this was incredible parking we got in Pacific Beach we were very proud of. The Fiat could fit anywhere!)

Saturday
Went down to Pacific Beach near San Diego and walked the boardwalk, grabbed a treat with an amazing view of the ocean, saw some dolphins, and then went to meet Zach's friend. We all went on a bus to this huge pool party out in the desert! It was so much fun. Think lazy river with tubes, three different pools, free lounge chairs and towels, and a DJ. Luckily, I didn't get burned. When we got back to our car at PB we could barely keep our eyes open, and it was only like 9pm. I think we were still super jet lagged and went straight home to Aunt Ruth's and passed out.

Sunday
Spent the morning having brunch at incredible cafe ( I think thats the name?), then went up to Orange County. We were supposed to meet some of my high school friends, but ended up only meeting up with one of my buddies from college. We went to the Sawdust Arts Festival at Laguna Beach. It was awesome and even cooler than expected because we got in free with my friend's military ID! After the festival we got lunch at this amazing mexican restaurant called Las Brisas, over looking the ocean. I'm pretty sure we paid for the view because it was probably the most expensive meal I'll eat all year. We spent the rest of the time on the beach after throwing a frisbee and avoiding seaweed. That night Zach wanted to see downtown San Diego so we went down to Ghiradelly's and split a banana split. Mmm!

Monday
Monday was our LA day. Zach had an audition at 1:30 so we left San Diego by 9:30 just to be safe. It's a good thing we did because it took us 3 hours to get to studio city where his audition was taking place. While Zach auditioned I walked Santa Monica Blvd and got a manicure and an underwater camera. After the audition we drove to the Hollywood Sign took some pics, then went and grabbed some dinner at Unami Burger near Hollywood Blvd. It was delicious! We walked the strip for a little bit and looked at all the stars names on the walk of fame then went out to Venice beach. Venice was crazy! We had so much walking around and looking at all the crazies. We decided since it was a nice night we were going to walk up to the Santa Monica Pier instead of drive. At the pier we rode the Pacific Wheel and it was AMAZING! We were able to see out over the ocean and over the beach it was incredible! One of my favorite memories of the trip was riding the Ferris Wheel, by far. We walked down the pier a bit and grabbed a bite to eat. When we went to pay the bill Zach realized he had left his debit card at the restaurant near Hollywood Blvd and had to BOOK IT to get there by when they closed. We ended up having to pull a New Yorker on LA and hail a cab back to our car in Venice. It all worked out and we got his card with no problem. Then we drove back to San Diego and passed out from a fun full day yet again.

Tuesday
We slept in hard on Tuesday. We were so delirious by the time we got back to San Diego we knew our bodies needed the sleep. We were able to get out of Aunt Ruth's house around 12:30/1pm though and head down to La Jolla. It was probably one of my favorite days of the trip. We saw the "Children's Pool" where all the sea lions and seals swim. That was really pretty. Then we walked up into the town and went in their shops for probably close to two hours! We definitely weren't planning on that, but we kept seeing cool stores we wanted to stop in and have a look. Mr. Dobson bought me a super warm hoodie that says La Jolla on it, which was very useful later on in our trip when we headed toward San Francisco. After shopping we made our way down to the water where people can swim. There was still a lot of sea lions and seals around, which was pretty incredible. There were pelicans and other huge birds too. Also, people were snorkeling because the fish in the cover were huge and super colorful. We didn't have goggles but every once in a while we would see a huge fish swim past our legs. After La Jolla I picked up a cake and some ice cream for Zach's birthday and headed back to Aunt Ruth's. Aunt Ruth and Jamie took us out to an amazing dinner at a Brew Pub kinda place called Karl Strauss, it was so nice to spend time with the fam. After dinner we sang and had cake and ice cream. Yet another night ended with the pool and hot tub. Seriously the best day of the trip.

Wednesday
Wednesday was Mr. Dobson's birthday! We woke up super early since this was the day we were planning on driving most of the coast. We left San Diego around 8am and headed north. Our first stop was Ventura where we walked on the beach for a little bit before grabbing some Mexican food. They were having their Ventura Fair and I wish we had more time to stop, but had to keep heading north. The drive was beautiful. We drove through Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, a funny little town called Guadalupe, before making it to our next stop at Pismo Beach. This was where Zach's birthday started to be really fun. We rented ATV's for an hour and went crazy on some sand dunes! It was unbelievable! I couldn't stop laughing! I did get stuck a couple times and my super strong handsome boyfriend had to lift the ATV out of the powdery sand. Seriously something I will highly recommend to anyone who is going to drive the coast. Just be sure to bring a change of clothes because you will have sand EVERYWHERE! After Pismo it was a race to see Big Sur before sunset. Big Sur was breathtaking. I was so happy I wasn't driving because even from the passenger seat I was getting nervous about some of the turns on this road. You literally just go up and down these incredible mountains right on the cliff of the ocean! We pulled over just before the sun went down and took some pictures. I decided that this was the perfect spot to give Zach his present. As the sun went down and the ocean was crashing on the cliffs below us we were able to relax and enjoy where we were. We had stopped where we had wanted, traveled to where we were aiming for, and had a moment to soak it all in. Even though Zach's birthday had been mostly spent behind the wheel it was all worth it. We had seen so many amazing things in one day. It didn't stop there though. We pushed our way north for an hour or two more and decided to stop in Monterey. Having it be Zach's birthday we stopped at an Italian restaurant for a hearty meal. Bizarre experience there, but not worth sharing in the blog. Just a funny story, you can ask us about it if you care. We ended up staying in Monterey for the night and were very happy to get out of the Fiat.

Thursday
Free breakfast! I love staying in hotels for that reason and probably for that reason alone haha. When we left Monterey we were San Francisco bound. We had a few pit stops around Santa Cruz, once for a bagel and some juice, and then later for a farmer's market for fresh Kale and pie. When we arrived in San Francisco we couldn't believe what we saw. SF is unlike anything I had ever seen before. It felt like I was in a different country! It was metropolis for sure, but a city of houses! No yards just home after home after home stacked right on top of each other. I couldn't help but sing this song as we drove on the highway. We couldn't check into our apartment we found on airbnb so we did some sightseeing. We started with the Golden Gate bridge obviously. We then hit up Lombard St and the Painted Ladies before safely checking into our apartment in The Mission neighborhood. We didn't stop there though of course we just kept going. Luckily, our apartment had a kitchen so we planned on eating home for most of the time in SF so we stopped up at Safeway before heading out for the evening. (Did you know SF charges 10 cents for every bag you have to use when you go to a store? It reminded me SO much of this Portlandia clip. The funny thing is that we actually ended up carrying most of our stuff out to the car like that guy because we didn't want to pay for a bag.) Ok so back to our night, we spent our evening at the California Academy of Sciences. We were able to see music and spend some time in the aquarium. It was another amazing night!

Friday
The first day of Outside lands! We got there pretty early since Zach wanted to see his friends who are in the band Houndmouth. They are from his hometown and are kinda blowin up. The festival was pretty cool. The stages were close enough that you could easily walk to see two bands who have the same set time, but far enough apart where you couldn't really hear them over the band you were seeing. Friday we saw: Houndmouth, Band of Horses, The National, Paul McCartney, and Pretty Lights. We were walking by all the other stages all day long too so we saw a few more. Paul McCartney is just wow.

Saturday
Did I mention there is a place in Outside Lands called Chocolands?! That's right.. all chocolate. Zach got one of the best hot chocolates I've ever had. Oh and did you know Golden Gate Park is FREEEZING in August? I wore two sweaters everyday and was still cold every night.
Saturday we saw: Atlas Genius, James McCartney, Young The Giant, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Tallest Man On Earth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Head and the Heart, and Phoenix! I don't think I've ever danced so hard in my life. Phoenix was the biggest dance party I have ever experienced. Just imagine so many people in one area that you can't see the stage, only the lights because everyone is standing and dancing, hard. So much dancing! I was in heaven! The happy kind of dancing too, where everyone is smiling and jumping and singing (probably a lot of them were on drugs honestly), but overall a feel good vibe was felt throughout. Tallest Man on Earth was the best show of the entire weekend. I don't think I have been so happy watching a concert before in my life (well maybe Taylor Swift). Definitely the best day of the festival was Saturday. I wish I could relive this day over and over and over again. Not many pictures from this day because I knew I still had Sunday for that and I was focused on living in the now and soaking it all in. I am so guilty of pulling out my phone and camera whenever I want to capture a special moment, but then I find myself not enjoying and living in it 100% so on this day I tried to put my devices away and live it. I'm so glad I did.

Sunday
Sunday morning was very sad. We had to pack up and check out of our apartment. Oh and some crazy miscommunication with our tickets had us on the phone with the airlines for about an hour before we left for the day, thankfully I love JetBlue and they continued to be good to me. We decided to check out Haight-Ashbury before the festival this day since right after the last band we were going to have to bolt it to the airport to make our flight. The Haight was awesome! We walked up and down the street for about an hour and saw some amazing stores. My favorite was Amoeba music. I could walk around there forever! After The Haight we went to the festival and saw: Daryl Hall & John Oats, Dawes, A-Trak, Vampire Weekend, Willie Nelson, Matt & Kim, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. We got to SFO with plenty of time to return our car and find out that our flight was an hour delayed. We slept most of the way back to NYC with a quick layover in Florida where we scored a good breakfast just to keep sleeping on the plane to JFK. Back to real life.

Thanks so much to family and friends who made this trip incredible. Especially to Mr. Dobson and for all of his planning and saving for the trip. There is NO way that this would have happened without him.  I don't think I planned any of it! I am so lucky to have a guy I can trust will make awesome plans and will take care of me everywhere we go. He kept me so happy and safe the entire time and ALWAYS put me and my feelings first. Gosh I love that man.

Let It Be and Coney Island

Let It Be

Summer in the city continues to be hot and fabulous. This week we were lucky enough to get free tickets through Zach's mom, who works on Broadway, to Let It Be! It is the new Broadway show, which is "a celebration of music of The Beatles". It was amazing! We met in Times Square on Monday night grabbed a quick dinner and went to the show. It was different than I had expected though. Most Broadway shows I've seen have a plot and story line. I was actually kinda excited to learn more about The Beatles through a story, but they didn't provide one. It was pretty much a 2 hour Beatles concert, which really wasn't a disappointment! They had the audience literally standing up, clapping, and singing along! It was so much fun! If anyone is a big Beatles fan I highly recommend it.

Coney Island

On Friday, we was able to go to Coney Island for my first time ever! I still can't believe I've lived in NYC for over a year and a half and had never been until now. It definitely helps having a car because taking the subway there would be a lengthy trip. About 15 minutes after being on the boardwalk Zach was buying credits to ride a roller-coaster called the Soarin' Eagle. I wasn't prepared for this and was definitely nervous to say the least. I'm pretty sure my heart pounding was shaking the entire cab as it ticked its way up the ride to start. Once it started though and I let out some good screams I LOVED it. I'm so happy I went. While at Coney Island I had to try the famous Nathan's Hot Dog, so for almost $5 I was a typical tourist in Brooklyn and helped myself to one. I guess it was good and all, but I don't think I would spend $5 on one again. Sorry Nathan's. We spent the rest of the time there walking the boardwalk and lounging on the beach. There was a DJ at one end playing dance music and people were definitely dancing. There was also a couple walking around with huge snakes around their necks letting people take pictures with them, for a price of course. It was fun to go to a different beach, than our regular Rockaway Beach and see what all the hype is about. I must say though that I prefer Rockaway. Coney island is tucked in behind the peninsula of Rockaway so there are pretty much 0 waves. I personally like the big waves that come with being on the true coast of the ocean so I think we will stick with going to Rockaway for our beach days. Still, I'm happy I went.

My Job
If you were to follow me on instagram or facebook you would know by now that I was recently laid off from my nannying job. I was given, no warning, no explanation, and no time to plan to look for another job. As scary of a time as this is for me right now I am not as scared as I thought I would be. The family had recently started treating me very poorly with disrespect and a new tone of voice. I didn't know where it was coming from, and I am still left wondering. I'm left wondering if it was something I did or if something happened with their jobs that doesn't allow them to keep me on. Anyway, I have some very good leads with future jobs so things are looking up. I'm very excited to start school at the beginning of September and now, start a new job as well! I can't wait to get it all squared away.

California
This Friday, Zach and I are leaving for a 10 day trip to California! The timing is kinda perfect and the worse timing all at the same time. It's perfect because it will be great to relax and clear my mind before starting school, but it's kinda terrible because I don't have a job yet to come back to and every penny I spend there will be terrifying. Good thing most of it is paid for already and there are lots of free things to do in Cali, like stay with relatives :)

As for now, I am trying to keep my head up and look forward to the future and what that will bring. I know I will be ok and I couldn't thank my family and friends enough for being there for me.

Coney Island Pics:

Taylor Freaking Swift

TAYLOR SWIFT

I have had the most amazing past two Saturdays. One was definitely better than the other, but let me explain. I bought tickets to Taylor Swift back in, I don't know, maybe... February? I knew I HAD to see her this year (as one of my new year's resolutions actually), so when my tax returns came back BOOM they were bought. I didn't know who was going to join me, but I had two tickets to see Taylor Swift at the Giant's stadium in NJ just outside of the city. I had invited a friend from upstate, my boyfriend, and my mom and of course mom pulled through, well, so I thought. 

The morning of the concert she called me when she was sitting in her driveway upstate all packed up and ready to go, but she was feeling super uneasy in her stomach and was worried about pushing it (she had been sick all week prior to the show). I told her that health trumps and she should stay home as I was sure I would find someone else... I mean who wouldn't want to go to a Taylor Swift concert for free with me!? Well, turns out finding someone last minute is not as easy as I thought. I made the trek alone. I was super excited and didn't think anything could stop me from having a good night. That was until I went to meet a friend after Ed Sheeran played an opening set just before Taylor took the stage. I met her, grabbed a drink, and went back to my seat. I took my backpack off and opened the flap to grab my camera and well, it wasn't there. I went back to where I purchased the drink, back to the restroom I used while I was up, and went by guest services but found nothing. Somehow in that 10-15 minutes someone must have grabbed it out of my bag, it had fallen out of my bag, I set it on the counter while I was getting my wallet out and never put it back, or SOMETHING, but it's gone... forever. I didn't want it to ruin the show but I couldn't let it go. This was also the first concert I have been to alone and everyone else was with their moms or friends and I think it just sunk me to a new level of low because I called Mom and ended up crying because I was just so upset and lonely and wanted someone to share the experience with. (She might have been playing a slow song too) Talking to mom helped a lot and I was able to cheer up and enjoy the rest of the show and make friends with the girls sitting next to me. I don't have many pictures from that night obviously and my phone is a P.O.S. sooo I only have a few things to look back on from that show.

I went along my week trying to get over the show not being as much as a success as I had envisioned, but was still super bummed all week by not having enjoyed it with my mom. I was really looking forward to sharing that memory with her and seeing her and catching up. Well, the more I talked to mom during the week and realized Taylor was playing again in Philadelphia the more my dream became a reality... we were going to see Taylor Swift, AGAIN! 

We met at my brothers house in Phili and took off from there. On the way to the venue we couldn't find on mom's stub hub account our tickets. We checked her bank account and email and realized um... she never bought the tickets. WHAT?! It was about 5:45 and we were on our way to the 6:30 show with NO tickets! I got on stub hub on our smartphones and hah well, purchased tickets on the floor for cheaper than our original tickets! We scooped in and picked them up and by 6:30 we were seating on the floor of the stadium. It was incredible. 

We watched Ed Sheeran open and he was amazing of course. It was minutes before Taylor was supposed to take the stage and an announcement came over the loud speaker telling everyone to leave their seats and take cover because of severe weather in the area. WHAT!? I thought I was cursed from ever enjoying a T Swift concert. I was so nervous we wouldn't see her and it would get rained out. We spent about an hour under cover and ate a hot dog, had girl talk, watched some killer lighting, cooled off with some rain, then returned to our seats just in time for Taylor to start at 10:30. 

The rest was history. She was and is incredible. She walked right next to where we were standing! What a show. She played everything I wanted. I will never miss another Taylor Swift tour, and hopefully I can catch her twice from now on. 

I'm still floating.

Summer upstate and in the city

Since getting back from Utah I have tried to live up summer in NY as much as possible. It is pretty miserable outside considering it is about 90 degrees plus humidity but I've been trying to make the most of it. I went upstate and saw mom for a long weekend before the forth, which was amazing. It rained I think everyday I was there and I honestly didn't mind. I spent the majority of the time going through my room and reorganizing and getting rid of things I no longer need. Also, mom's garden is exploding because of all of the rain, which made for some pretty BOMB salads and snacks while I was home. MMM!

Me and mom also went and got our necessary mani-pedi at our favorite spot. We decided to go with gel nails in a french mani and I went with red toes, while mom went with purple. 

Worth every penny. 

The only other thing to do in NYC when it is this hot is to bike, run, and go to the beach! (Oh and go on one or two dates with my main man, of course) We are THRILLED they have a huge bike lane connecting Queens and Brooklyn. We have friends in Brooklyn so it makes is very convenient and safe(isn) to get there and back in only 30 minutes. 

 <- My favorite restaurant/date place right now. La Lanterina in Manhattan. Indoor patio which is adorable with divine italian food. As close to the real thing as I've found in NYC.

 <- The family I nanny is in Malaysia for 10 days, hence all  the play and little work I've been doing. I sure do miss this little nugget though. 

 <- There is an awesome and huge cemetary right down the road from the apartment where Zach and I go running. It has been super hot but it still feels cooler running through grass with trees then running on concrete through buildings. 

 <- Rockaway Beach is my new ultimate favorite spot this summer. Oh and Rockaway Tacos is a MUST for anyone that goes. $3.50 fish tacos, and at least a 30 minute wait but are well worth it. (picture to come with next visit, I ate it too fast and realized I missed the photo op)

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Oh I almost forgot, JULY 4th! We kinda celebrated on July 3rd and went to the Mets game. They had student tickets for $9 and had a firework show after! It was AWESOME. The fireworks went all around the top of the stadium, down in the field, and had a crazy light show included all synced to music! I was very pleased with the fireworks we got this year, even though it was a day early. 

On July 4th Zach had to work so I was left home organizing and unpacking from my trip upstate. I texted my friend from elementary school who I've recently gotten in touch with and went and met her on 2nd ave at her friend's apartment. Her friend just happens to dance with ABT (American Ballet Theater), no big deal slash really big deal. I think I talked his ear off about dance and was so excited to meet an actual NYC ABT male ballerina, who happens to be from Mobile, AL (shout out to Mom's birth place) I may have embarrassed myself a little by all the Q&A. Anyway, we spent the evening hanging out on his back porch and made our way to a southern BBQ restaurant where Zach was able to meet us and share some Southern BBQ nachos. Mmm. Three of the friends there were Auburn alumni where Allison and I are Alabama fans so there was the obvious rival of "war eagle" "roll tide" comments all night. They even had a bottle opener that played the Alabama fight song when it was used. Awesome. Oh how I miss the south. 

July 3rd fireworks at Citi Field - July 3rd

Me and Allison (Rollll Tide!) - July 4th

Zach and I at Rockaway Beach - July 5th

Until next time,

Vj

And by next time I mean AFTER the Taylor Swift concert this coming Saturday!
6 Days away! 

Summer so far

I am SO happy to live only 5 hours away from my mom. She came down a few weeks ago to go to a free concert in Brooklyn with me and it was INCREDIBLE. It is safe to say I am a HUGE fan of Patty Griffin now and look forward to choreographing dances to her songs in the future. 

Here is me and mom in Prospect Park at the concert:

It has been a crazy week! My vacation started a little earlier than expected by the passing of my Grandpa Smith. I drove down to Kentucky to attend his funeral on Thursday- Sunday. I was fortunate to be a part of the service and read a poem I wrote for and about him. Although it was hard to say goodbye it is so comforting to know he is back with Heavenly Father and my Grandma.

Back row: Brandon, Ashley, Step-Dave

Front row: Uncle David, Nancy, Uncle Gary, Mom, and me

I drove back from KY on Sunday and pulled back into Queens around 9pm. I woke up Monday morning and caught a flight to SLC then hoped in my Dad's jeep with Seth and Raegan and drove 4 hours to Moab. We camped at Slickrock park, hiked in Arches park, jeeped all over, ate yummy pasta and pizza, and barely slept. No thanks to Dad not knowing how to use his new alarm on his car and waking us all up at 6:30am when he was trying to get his book. We started our day early when that happened. Note to self: When going to Moab buy THE BEST eye drops and allergy medicine around. I was literally in tears after the first night. Ouch.

 

We drove back from Moab on Wednesday afternoon and headed up to Uncle Steve's Cabin in Weber Canyon. Seth and I went for a run my first day and I could barely breathe because of the altitude. We still ran 6.5 miles though, no big deal. We spent time going on nature walks with the kids, playing on the neighbors trampoline, catching snakes with Aunt Jessica, coloring, watching movies, watching Game 7 (Go San Antonio), eat burgers with friends, tandem riding, swimming in Kamas, etc. Seth was also able to bless Kate and Brigham bless Sam, which is always a beautiful thing. On my last night in Utah I decided I should go into town and see some friends. I went to Park City for a few hours and met some friends on Main Street. Although I was at the cabin with no internet, cell phone reception, or even a land line I felt like I had everyone I needed to talk to right there with me. Well, except for mom and Zach. They were worth driving to the gate for reception to make a phone call. Going to Kentucky and seeing family then going to Utah to see even more made it was one of the best vacations I've ever had. 

I love my family and I am one super lucky girl.