50 lb weight limit? Who are they kidding.

In an attempt to actually be organized ahead of time for a trip, I woke up at 5:15 a.m. to complete my dreaded task of packing. I am, without a doubt, the worst packer in the world. In fact, I’m probably the reason why there is now a 50lb weight limit and a ridiculous fee to check baggage. I am terrible at making decisions and even worse at only taking one of something. With one of my very best friend’s bacherlorette parties this weekend, I am obviously going to need everything in my closet that I might possibly even consider wearing. Plus two back-up possibilities for each day and night. Oh, and extras in case anyone hates what they brought themselves. Needless to say, this is why I’m up so early.


Anyways, as I start packing I thought back to a conversation I had yesterday where I realized that the title of my blog “A Perfect Ride” may be a little presumptuous and misleading. My life isn’t necessarily perfect. Not by any means. There are days when I want to scream and pull my hair out, and there are times when I wish I could just sleep the day away to not deal with things. I have worries and sadness, arguments and bad days- we all do. Even millionaire celebrities hate their lives sometimes (and it’s way worse for them because their bad days end up in front of us in line at the grocery store). But I’ve learned through my life that I have to find and focus on the positives, because we all have SO much to be thankful for. I am thankful for my loving family around the world. I am blessed to have a truly great boyfriend (who seems to love me even when I accidentally turn all of his white shirts pink. Oops.) and his wonderful family that has started to feel like part of my own. I am beyond grateful for the friends in my life; those that saw me in my roller figure skating days and are still friends with me (I really love them) and those that I’ve met along the way. Some days I really just feel lucky to be living “The American Dream,” with a good job, sunny blue skies and my two lovable (one fat and one fluffy) cats.

Could it get better? Absolutely. Would I change a thing? Absolutely not.

I equate my “perfect ride” to a roller coaster (and I LOVE roller coasters). Who would want to ride a roller coaster that was always on its way up? There would be no thrill, no excitement, no momentary panic when you’re convinced that your head is going to smash into the ground. It’s the ups and downs during the ride that make it so exhilarating and so much fun. I’m living my own personal roller coaster. I have days when I feel on top of the world and days when I’m pretty sure I should be wearing a helmet. Things speed up and I find myself trying to catch my breath, and other times things slow down and I spend a quiet night on the couch with my best friend. I laugh on the ups, I want to scream on the downs, and sometimes life just sucks all the breath (and sometimes the spit- ew, gross) out of me.

But to me, that is perfect. I’m not perfect, life isn’t perfect, but the ride is.

I hope that everyone is able to realize that no matter who you are, where you are, what you’re doing or who you’re doing it with, your ride is perfect too. Without making it through the drops, enjoying the rises and sometimes losing your sunglasses, life just wouldn’t make sense. So find happiness in something every day. We are all surrounded by it, but sometimes we just need to look for it in new places. Eat a cookie (or 12), read a good book (I totally recommend Chelsea Handler if you need a good laugh), watch your favorite movie (Elf is great any time of year), call your parents- there is happiness ALL AROUND YOU!

Even tomorrow when I’m standing at the airport at 5 a.m. and the man tells me my bag is overweight, I’m still going to smile and try to be happy because a) my bag is full of very cute and important things- of course they weigh a lot! (oh, and I have an extra emergency carry-on to shove things in) b) I’m on my way to see some of my best friends in the world for what is sure to be an epic and unforgettable weekend, and c) frowns are ugly and in the infamous words of Jimmy Buffett, “wrinkles only go where the smiles have been.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.