Tennessee and Jamaica

The final photo from Europe taken in Trieste, Italy. Trying really hard to look like a world traveler:

Since my last post I have ventured out of my senior citizen lifestyle twice more. I'm not going to lie, while it's been extremely difficult to be home where everything has my mother all over it, it's also been quite comforting and (relatively) relaxing. My life once consisted of waking up at 7:00 a.m. and walking fifteen minutes to the subway, cramming myself into two different subway cars for 30 minutes, spending the day in my cubicle and then crawling into my bed around midnight. Now I wake up each morning at 8:00 a.m. without an alarm, roll out of bed and make some tea, edit photos or drive to a photo shoot, have a glass of wine around 5:00 p.m. with my grandparents down the road, make some dinner for my dad, watch an episode of Modern Family with him, edit some more, and tuck myself in around 10:30 p.m. It's glorious. I mean, I have a pretty large chunk of work to still do before I one-way ticket myself out of here December 30th, but I love what I'm working on. I love what I get to do each day, so it doesn't really feel like work.

The first venture away from my safe haven was to Tennessee. My uncle got married a few weeks ago and my two sisters, my brother, and I got a great deal on a rental house near where the wedding took place. The house was beautiful and overlooking a lake, complete with plenty of rooms and even a pool table. My sisters and I arrived Friday evening just in time for dinner. The first thing I learned about Harriman, Tennessee was that people are not big drinkers. In that they don't really drink at all. We found a pizza place near the house and immediately ordered some beers upon sitting down. A few moments later the waitress came back to alert us it might take a few extra minutes because they have to find beer mugs in the back. This was the first sign. Then I looked around the restaurant. That was the second sign. Almost every person had an extra-large soda or Gatorade with their dinner. The room was dry. So much for blending in.

We stocked up on some essentials (brownie mix and mixers for our adorable bottle of vodka - please see photos below) at Target and headed back to the house for a night of Mad Libs, brownies and cocktails. The next morning our brother had arrived and my sister made a delicious breakfast of mimosas and eggs. Shortly after, I learned my second lesson of the trip. If you are out of shape, don't take a long walk in Harriman. The hills will kill you. Specifically, your derrière. I did not realize this lesson until the following morning when I couldn't move my lower body out of the bed. 

The trip was a nice break. It felt a little like a movie.  Four siblings come together for a family wedding in Tennessee. I need to work on the title, but you get the idea.

My second venture was to Jamaica with my best friend. Even though it poured pretty much the entire first day, the rest of our trip was quite fantastic. We met some girls from London and from Washington DC that we would have dinner with each night. I read an entire book, something I haven't done in five years. I highly recommend Gone Girl. Go get it and read it right now if you haven't. Also, go on Cheap Caribbean's website and book yourself a cheap trip somewhere warm for you and your best friend. You only live once, right? 

The rental house:

The view from the other side:

 First night activities:

More in-shape sisters walking ahead of me:

Adorable bottle of vodka I told you about:

Scene of my uncle's wedding that I photographed:

Me and my siblings at set wedding:

and then Jamaica...

Nicole's brilliant gift for the trip:

and her beautiful artwork:

Love me some infinity pool time:

Cheers!