Snapshots

Recent events have made me more aware of the life guidelines I sometimes forget:

The standard advice; love hard, laugh long, and live fully.

My favorite protocol; eat more foods that are plants instead of manufactured in plants, do yoga, and be quick to pour a glass of wine in times of bonding, venting, or on a random Tuesday night. (I might of made the last one up...)

The cliche sayings; "dance like no one is watching," "dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today," etc...

But most importantly, I think, is revisiting, retelling, and reliving the best times you've had in life.

I have an array of my life's sweetest snapshots to reminisce.....

Long trips to Capitola for nothing but coffee and a memory. 

The way Train songs always take me back to jager bombs and bagels at 10 in the morning. And a Bart ride and muni trip ($50 ticket for neglecting to pay included...) to Golden Gate Park for a free concert on a hot day with close friends.

A pitcher of beer, a salad split for two, and cookies to follow, is my  favorite moment from a vacation to San Diego with my boyfriend.

Walks in the rain to get Mexican hot chocolate and Sex and the City reruns was the norm with a favorite friend.

Every Friday night sleepovers Senior year in high school. "Omg. I'm sooo over high school." (Were we really "over it" or is that just what watching Laguna Beach taught us to say?)

Sipping cup after cup of  Trader Joe's earl gray tea, laughing at the quote printed on the teabag, "as long as it's hot and wet and goes down the right way, that's all that matters." -The Dutchess of York 

Sipping Irish coffees in a New York City bar with my mom and friend who recently moved there, chatting, laughing, crying, over life and love.

Learning to ballroom dance in my grandparents living room as a little girl.

Endless summer hours of Truth, Dare, Double Dog Dare, Promise to Repeat (we were intense), Girl Talk and Crash Banicoot, with friends that became sisters.

Sharing a bottle of wine, baguettes, and conversation with my boyfriend's mom on my first day of my first trip overseas.

Later that same day, where the combination of jet lag, vino, and beer, seduced me into a tipsy slumber at a table of a local London pub.

Camping for my first time, in the rain, with braver than average raccoons. And driving 30 minutes into "town" for coffee in the morning, because really, if you can, why not?

Reading my favorite book, Heart of the Matter, every Fall.

My only college field trip to The Pinnacles, with my passionate geology teacher and best friend. (If only we could all have the passion for anything the way she has for rocks..)

A night in Berkeley that continued into a day in San Francisco, wearing the same dresses the whole time because the moment and the adventure was more important than our double day outfits, with another best friend.

Every second of New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. with the same best friend.

And so on, and so on, and so on...

Occasionally, my mind wonders to the highlights of my existence while I'm driving, but it should happen more. I  should let songs take me back to different, simpler, times. I  should go on  memory lane binges with close friends as often as possible. I want to frequently indulge in past vacation memories and the untainted experiences you can only have during childhood.

I want my favorite snapshots to be a constant reminder of how lucky in life and love I am. Shouldn't we all?

Stay tuned.. -a.