St. Thomas: Last Sail Before the Veil

After Miami, we headed to St. Thomas to meet up with Amanda and her ladies for the incredible weekend her maid of honor, Becca, had put together for us all.  There were so many quintessential bachelorette party moments, and some of them I'll tell you about here. 

Our villa for the weekend (casual) was incredible.  Up in the hills, it had at least 180 degree views  over the ocean, facing west.  The photo above is sunset from our deck!  Most of the rooms had balconies facing the water, and each had its own bathroom.  Most notably, there was an infinity pool!

Becca secured us transportation for the whole weekend with our main man Dawoop.  Dawoop drives a pickup truck that has both a backseat in the cab and three rows of covered benches in the bed.  We had never seen anything like this vehicle before, but they run rampant in the Virgin Islands!  Dawoop dropped lots of knowledge on us about the island's history, vegetation, and more, and in return we sang his name like a line from "Drop It Like It's Hot": DawooOOOooop!

Dawoop, his crazy tourist taxi truck, and the ladies


You can fit 12 people not just into Dawoop's truck,
but also into this selfie!

That first night, we went to get burgers and to check out the local scene. 

Amanda's second proposal

UCSD Freshman Suite 108!

After dinner, we headed to a bar by the water where there were some truth or dare shenanigans, and then the DJ came on and it started to get hyphy.  Before we knew it, there was a group of quite older people (I'm talking 65, not 40) that were integrating themselves into our dance group.  Getting down to trap music with the cruise ship circuit was definitely an unexpected turn of events!

The next day, Boat Day, was the peak of the weekend.  We had a boat, we had a captain, and we had one bottle of champagne per girl.  I made a playlist for the occasion, and we cruised around the British V.I. blasting Beyonce and twerking, making a ruckus everywhere we went.  You really couldn't miss us.  It was a blast.

Mimosa toasts in sippy goblets

Oh, Captain!  My Captain!

Monkeying around

A big highlight of the day was Sandy Spit, which is famous for being where the Corona commercials were filmed.  It's the tiniest island I've ever seen, and when you're swimming up to it you literally feel like Castaway, or an explorer coming upon the New World.  There's only one palm tree.  You can run around it in about a minute. 

Which we did.

"Corona Island"

Boat cam

We docked for lunch and spent a while filling our bellies and chilling in the sand.

Paradise lunch selfie

Rolling around like children in the sand

 Lovin' up on the bride

Next stop was Willie T's, which is a bar/restaurant on a two-story ship docked in a small, uninhabited bay.  Other boats basically pull up and attach themselves to it.  We came in hot, as usual, blasting music, dancing, and basically taking over the whole place.  And get this: there was a drone flying around filming our arrival.  This is the point where the bachelorette party started to feel like Girls Gone Wild. 

The big thing to do at Willy T's is jump off the top story into the water (preferably, we were told, in various levels of undress).  I'll leave it up to your imagination who in the group did what throughout the multiple jumps.

There are seriously about 1,000 more photos taken at this point in the afternoon, but I'm not at liberty to post them here under the strict non-disclosure agreement we all signed in blood.  I'm not even going to write about it.  These moments will stay burned into my memory!

However, the following three photos will give you a good look into the devolvement of the afternoon:

On the ride back, music still blasting, we had to more or less sit on some of the girls to keep them in the boat.  But to compensate for the challenge of securing wild ladies down for half of us, and the impending loss of dignity for the other half, at least this was our view on the way back to the harbor:

Back at the dock, there were various challenges ranging from tracking down passports to creative bathroom solutions, staying upright to actual flesh wounds.  It was a pretty surreal, hilarious push to get us all back home.  Don't worry, we made it!

In fact, here we all are the next morning, relatively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, having taken the ferry to St. John and filled our bellies with brunch!

Next up for our day in St. John, we hiked 20 minutes to Solomon Bay.

This spot was gorgeous and we just hung out in the water chatting most of the time we were there.  Here's Kristen, contemplating life, beauty, and probably how much she's enjoying her Chex Mix. 

One last group photo, for good measure:

  

The whole weekend was like an out of body experience.  It was a pleasure to celebrate Amanda, get to spend time with the wonderful ladies she's surrounded herself with, and to do all this in such a naturally stunning and relaxed place.

HUGE thanks to Becca, who has the pleasure of calling St. Thomas home, and who tirelessly planned this incredible getaway for us all.

And to Amanda, we wish you the best and can't wait to continue the wedding celebrations with you (and the boys this time) in Costa Rica!

Bienvenido a Miami

Over MLK weekend, Brittany, Kristen, and I stopped over in Miami on our way to St. Thomas for Amanda's Last Sail Before the Veil bachelorette party.  You can rest assured that all lyrics within Will Smith's ode to the city were quoted at some point during our 14-hour stay.

We dropped our bags at the Freehand, located on the isle that is Miami Beach, got a few solicited and a few unsolicited recommendations from people at the hostel, and headed straight to the boardwalk, a place, as you can see below, we were very excited to visit.

Now, when one usually thinks of Miami, a few particular things come to mind:

1. Cubanos (the people yes, but I mean the sandwich)
2. Will Smith (we've covered this already)
3. The Birdcage (ok maybe not everyone)
4. Beautiful weather

Now, this last one really did not come through for us.  There we were, walking around in our Miami threads, the wind whipping piercing rain drops at our exposed skin.  So, we bucked up, decided to cab everywhere, and made the most of it by just hopping from bar to restaurant to bar.  We had a handful of uber drivers while we were there and learned a lot about the city and its inhabitants from their experiences.

To be fair, that means what few pictures I have from those locales are dark and less than optimal, so I'll just summarize for you here what we did:

1. Tapas at Bolivar- They were filming something while we were here which sounds cool, but was actually pretty awkward!
2. Drinks at Ball and Chain- The hostel recommended this place and we loved it.  Great drinks, cool vibe.  Unfortunately, though, because of the rain, the salsa dancing lessons in the back were cancelled.
3. Cuban food at Versailles- This place was a crack-up.   I saw recommendations up the wazoo, and a lot of actual Cubans eat here, but it still feels like a cheesy tourist cafeteria.  Great people watching, though!
4. More drinks, at Bodega- Highlight!  This place fronts as a taqueria, but once you go through the freezer door in the back, the space opens up into a large speak-easy type tequila hipster bar.  It was seriously awesome.
5. Exploring the bar at Freehand, Broken Shaker- turns out this is one of the best bars in Miami, complete with specialty cocktails, a pool, and Jesus candles.  Who would've thought?!

 The Broken Shaker

While driving through Little Havana, we turned onto the street Calle Ocho.  Now, I'm as big a Pitbull fan as the next person, and I was very excited to finally understand what the hell Mr. 305 has been talking about when he yells "Calle Ocho!!!" at least a dozen times in each song.

We went to bed at a pretty reasonable hour as we had early flights and a whole bachelorette weekend ahead of us.  In my uber to the airport at 5 the next morning, I shared with a French girl who had gone straight from the club to pick up her bag, shower, and head to the airport.  #goalsfornexttime (Not really, just the idea makes me groan.)

Next stop: St. Thomas!

Shine On Twenty-nine

 

I turned 29 on December 29th, and to celebrate, Brittany planned the most beautiful golden birthday party for me.  She chose the Cookhouse in North Beach, which is a very unique venue with huge windows and lots of space, featuring a gourmet, open concept kitchen.  I had seen events up there before from the street and had always wanted to be a part of one!  Brittany makes dreams she didn't even know about come true!

I had known there would be a party, but the location and RSVPs were a surprise.  It was wonderful to walk in and see so many of my favorite faces.  Lots of little elves (my friends) were in the kitchen helping Faith put together appetizers, Brittany had beautifully decorated the space in gold accents, and my brother was the DJ! 

 

A few thoughtful speeches were given, I got sung "Happy Birthday" twice (once in Italian!), and everyone mingled together while we played the "Guess Who" game (you have a famous person's name taped to your back and you have to ask yes or no questions until you figure out who you are).  One of my favorite things in the world is when my friends make friends with my other friends, and that was happening up a storm.  It was also incredibly special to have my family there.  I was so overwhelmed with love that I barely slept a wink once I got back home that night!

 

At many Italian birthday parties, they do rounds in front of the birthday cake where the person of honor takes a photo with each of their guests.  What follows is my version of that!

 

The D'Innocenti Clan

 

Half of our Freshman dorm representing!

#sweetsuite

Current roommates!

UCSD! 

(I think we made up half the party)
 

 Maryana brought the Box love

Melissa and I rocking the gold

The fam!

Some of my favorite highlights from the night:

• Catching Nikhil in the corner furrowing his brow as he tried to figure out who he was in the game "Guess Who".  Pree said, "This game is really getting to Nik."  Cracked me up!
• James teaching the group how to sing Happy Birthday in Italian, after admitting I had just retaught him the words
• Brittany freaking having personalized headbands made for the party.  Half said "Kelly's Golden", the other half said "Twenty-nine shine".  That girl thought of everything and made the night so special!
• Amanda whacking Pree with the golden Squizzles to convince them to come to the after party at 15 Romolo (it worked)

 

Thank you to everyone who came and gave me hugs, to my loves who had to miss it but were there in spirit, and to everyone who helped Brittany to make an incredible, unforgettable event happen, especially our moms!  And most of all, thank you to Brittany, my BFF and all-time-favorite.  Your love, support, and generosity are an inspiration and means the world to me.  You constantly outdo yourself.  THANK YOU! ♥

2015: Year in Review

The end of the year marks a natural opportunity for reflection, with thoughts of the year's memories and accomplishments (or lack thereof), and an opportunity to look ahead and make plans and goals for the new year to come.

This process sounds great in theory, but oftentimes we find ourselves focusing on what we didn't accomplish: resolutions left cold after one week of vigilance, timelines we expected to stay on track with but didn't, great intentions swallowed up by laziness or lack of free time.  But within 365 days, we really do accomplish and experience a lot.   We get up every morning and give it the good ol' college try.  We learn new things, go new places, meet new people.  We give hugs to those we love and smiles to those who need it.

So in an effort to be kind to myself and acknowledge all the greatness in my year, I have done one of my favorite things: made some lists.  So I present, more or less chronologically: My Year in Review.

In 2015, I...

Celebrated Box IPO day

Said good-bye to my first car

 

Met Channing Tatum and touched his abs

Visited the set of Friends

Went to the SF Game of Thrones premiere

 

Watched the third championship banner hung on Giants Opening Day
Had our new roommate, Kasey, move in
Celebrated 2 years at Box
Saw Book of Mormon and Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum Theater
Had almost too much fun at Kristen's Bachelorette in Guerneville

Was somehow convinced to play Bubble Soccer (yes, of course I'm the one falling)

 

 Spent a wonderful Mother's Day in SF with my mom, aunt, and grandmother

Met the new addition to our family, baby Kendall

Toasted to Kristen and Daniel's marriage in Mt. Shasta

Got a new job at Box, in which I get to think more globally
Said goodbye to my old team with our last hoorah together, the snack fair

 

Realized it's been ten years since I graduated high school

 Drank PBR while floating on the Russian River

Went to both Italian and Portuguese heritage nights at AT&T Park
Swam in the Mediterranean

Experienced my first Turkish Bath, with Goo
Went yachting, twice

 

Drove a jet ski for the first time

Got to dance in a mirrored box with a floor fan, so basically lived the dream

Read lots of great books
Went on a stunning sunset cruise around the bay, for free

 

Became a mentor to Tiffany, a 7th grader in SF

Experienced a traditional Iraqi Henna

 Went on stage to play Family Feud at a Second City improv show

Got to see inside one of the Painted Ladies on the Victorian House Tour

 

Donned fashionable head-wear at Box's RWC office construction site

Made my own sparkly tutu

 

Had countless Emma cuddles and Kendall cuddles, sometimes at the same time!

 

Smoked my first cigarette.  Just kidding!  It's gum.

 

Organized Box SF's gift drive to donate 60 gifts to ECS

And danced to Bieber while soaking my feet in a floor-length gown

Trips

1. Anaheim and LA
2. Guerneville
3. Mount Shasta 
4. Cazadero
5. Croatia and Turkey
6. Chicago, IL
7. Austin, TX

According to Spotify, I listened to 30 days worth of music so far this year.  Living in SF, I was lucky enough to see many of this year's favorite artists live.

Concerts:

1. Sam Smith (with George Ezra) @ Bill Graham
2. Seinabo Sey @ the Chapel
3. Kiesza (with Betty Who) @ Mezzanine
4. James Bay (with Elle King) @ The Independent
5. Seinabo Sey @ Great American Music Hall
6. Lauryn Hill @ Mountain Winery (for 27 whole minutes-shout out to refunds)
7. Jess Glynne (with Avery Wilson) @ The Independent 
8. One Republic @ Bill Graham (BoxWorks afterparty)
9. Florence and the Machine @ The Greek in Berkeley
10. Hozier @ The Greek in Berkeley
11. Muse @ Oracle Arena

So many of these shows were incredible, but if I were going to award my favorite, it would have to be Florence.  Quite simply, she's a gifted, ethereal fairy that was pure magic to watch live.

Became obsessed with:
Peaky Blinders and Cillian Murphy's eyes
Quiet by Susan Cain 
Veggetti, the spiral vegetable cutter
James Bay (apparently my most-listened-to artist this year)
Eating burrata and then regretting it