MLL #23 Skinny Dip

I added “Go Skinny Dipping” to my life list because I thought it would be fun. And I was right.
It was June 2007 when it happened. I was at the Jersey shore with my boyfriend’s family. We were staying in a motel room with two of our friends, Amber and Nique. Our motel happened to be only a block away from the beach. It was late, our first night there. My boyfriend’s parents and little sisters were in their motel room. I had been talking about going skinny dipping all day but they all thought I was joking. But I finally talked them into it. So we put on our bathing suits and headed out. It was dark, except for a few street lights. On the beach though there were no lights, it was pitch dark. When we got a few feet away from the ocean we all stripped off our suits and waded into the water. There was no one in sight but the moon. We squealed at the coldness of the water and the realization of what we were doing. We couldn’t stop laughing.

After almost 15 minutes Nique, who was the most skeptical about our adventure, swore she heard voices other than our own. Being completely paranoid she dashed from the water, onto the beach, grabbed her things, wrapped herself in a towel and sprinted for the motel… where my boyfriend’s parents were now sitting outside on their balcony. They watched Nique run, butt naked, wrapped in a towel, down the street to our motel and into our room.

Back on the beach, the three of us emerged from the water. When we reached our pile of things I realized that in Nique’s hastiness she grabbed my swim suit.
Good times.

MLL #5 See John Mayer Live

I’ve been a fan of his since I was 17 years old. I remember the initial attraction was his voice, I thought it was the sexiest sound on Earth. I used to listen to his records without really understanding what he was saying, just getting lost in the sound. For my 19^th birthday my boyfriend at the time had gotten me tickets to John Mayer’s Continuum tour. We broke up before the concert and since he had the tickets I never got to go. I had been dying to see him live ever since.

Everyone has someone. Someone who makes you smile even when you don’t want to. Someone who makes all the bad day’s worth it. Someone who just makes you feel like everything is going to be ok. For me, John Mayer is that someone. I want to justify what most people call an ‘obsession’. I love John Mayer, not only because his music is good but because as I got older and I actually started listening to his lyrics and grasping what he was saying, I found someone who understood. But at the end of the day, I guess I am obsessed.
I added “See John Mayer Live” to my Life List because I needed to see him with my own eyes, in the flesh. I didn’t know why. I needed to know that he was as good as he seemed. I needed to know that he was real. Also, I just needed to be near him, in the same space, breathing the same air.

I remember cutting my Anthropology class the morning ‘Battle Studies’ came out so I could download it off iTunes. Not long after, the tour dates were released. And February 21^st 2010, my friend, Hinga and I went to the Wachovia Center in south Philly to see John Mayer. It felt like a first date. I felt as though I knew this man, inside and out, and we were finally taking that next step in our relationship. And I knew the moment I walked into the arena that this show was going to be a hit or miss. Like when you cross the line with someone who’s always been just a friend, you think, this will either be the best decision of my life or it’s gonna go up in smoke and either way there is no turning back. I was nervous. What if he sucked live? Would I be able to still love him the same? We were on the right side of the stage, kind of in the nose bleed area. Then the lights went out. Strobe lights came on and I could make him out walking on the stage & for a moment I couldn’t breathe. He was real. In a zip-up hoody, guitar in hand, ‘Heartbreak Warfare’ started to play and I knew in an instant, it was the best decision of my life. It was an amazing show. And the first of many Mayer shows I would attend.

MLL#26 See A Shooting Star

When I was a kid, for about 6 consecutive years my family would spend the last week of August, right before school started, at the Jersey shore. Wildwood to be exact, at a motel called The Brittany. It was the highlight of my year, every single year. Even to this day, it’s one of my favorite places on the planet.

Then one year we stopped going, just like that. Then a couple of years later, we tried it again. It wasn’t the whole family like it used to be, but just a few of us. Even worse, we weren’t at The Brittany. We were at a smaller, less quaint motel called The Lollipop. I was devastated because (1) this motel was further from the boardwalk than The Brittany, (2) they had no pinball machine in their lobby, (3) the slide to the pool that was in the brochure didn’t actually exist and (4) I found a spider in the bathroom. Most of all, I didn’t like the fact that things had changed.

Late one night I expressed my displeasure aloud while we all sat on the front balcony of our room. My mom yelled at me, said I was being ungrateful, and other things. Then she and my dad retired to our room to watch TV. My sister escaped to the boardwalk to go-cart with a cute Puerto Rican boy who was staying on the third floor. My aunt and uncle took my cousin to an ice cream parlor. I was left alone on the front balcony (not so much a balcony as we were on the first floor) with the sting of humiliation from a public scolding. I looked up at the sky and started to cry. There were stars up there, stars you don’t see in the city. After only a few seconds I saw something very bright streak across the darkness and vanish. It was so abrupt I jumped, and so quick I had to think whether I actually saw it or not. I had never seen a shooting star before but I knew that that’s what it must’ve been. I don’t remember if I made a wish on it or not. I think I was so surprised to see it that making a wish didn’t cross my mind.

I just starred at the spot it had appeared, eyes still wet. “This vacation isn’t all that bad,” I thought.