It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow,
I can't believe that I stayed till today.
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow,
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise.
...
No matter how many notes I write, how many alarm reminders I set, or how many times I subconsciously tell myself not to forget it.. I never, ever remember my toothbrush when I go on vacation.
Just when I thought my life couldn't get any more strange, random and any more unpredictable, I was proved wrong. Again.
I got a call from my best friend Thursday night.
"Dude, we got the promotion job, we're going to Vegas on Sunday!"
Free flight, hotel, accommodations and unlimited room service. Lemme tell you, that's pretty hard to turn down! Its kinda funny actually, me and my best friend met on a plane when she was heading to Las Vegas and I was on my way to New York a while ago. It only seemed suiting that we'd have our first major trip together to Sin City itself.
I'm at the airport waiting for our connecting flight home. The pay phone beside me keeps ringing. I'm super curious as to who's on the other line. It's obviously a wrong number, but I wonder who the person on the other line is trying to get a hold of. They must be trying to get a hold of their friend to make plans. A loved one to tell them they won't be home for dinner tonight. Their boss to inform them they can't come to work tomorrow. Or maybe it's my soulmate, calling me to tell me not to get on my flight home because I need to meet him at gate G5 so he can whisk me away to the sunny beaches of California. I'm curious about who's on the other line, but I'm also smart. There's always that small chance that it's some crazy killer on the other line that will tell me it's my turn to die once I answer it. It's still ringing and since I'm not dumb, I'm not taking that chance and I'm not answering it. This is why I don't watch horror movies. I'm definitely still curious though. Maybe I'll try to get Brittney to answer it.
I always get so anxious before going on vacation. There's so much uncertainty. So many unanswered questions. Will there be bad turbulence? Turbulence always makes me so nervous. Should I make small talk and be nice to the person sitting next to me? You know, just in case the cabin pressure drops and I need help putting my oxygen mask on. Will I remember my toothbrush this time? Should I actually pay attention to the flight attendant for once to find out what I should do in case of an emergency? I don't know how to swim and I still have no clue how to inflate the life vest. Will I be stuck in the middle seat? I'm claustrophobic. Should I bring my own pillow? I have a terrible back. Will there be a baby screaming beside me the whole flight? In that case I'll need to bring Advil. A container of it. A full one. Will my luggage get sent to Shanghai, China… again? That shit took forever to get back.
There's so much to do before you can get any of these questions answered. Pack, unpack, repack, get bigger suitcase, unpack and repack again. Sit around at airport trying to figure out why the heck it's necessary to be here so early. Why I always get chosen as the random person to get a full body pat down. Why they never believe my customs claims and end up tearing my suitcase apart. Why I always beep when I go through the metal detector even though I'm never wearing any metal.
I'm almost home. The turbulence wasn't unbearable. I didn't bring my own pillow and I've already booked an appointment with my chiropractor to crack my body back into place. I sat on the isle seat. I paid attention to the flight attendant and I think she appreciated it - she complimented me on my shoes afterwards. I know how to inflate my life vest and I still don't know to swim. I decided to talk to the girl beside me on the way to Vegas. I found out she was going to Vegas for a court date. She got caught prostituting on the Vegas strip the week before. I also learnt that she likes tuna sandwiches, that her boyfriends a rapper, and that you can make a shitload of money stripping in Texas. I acted supportive and smiled a lot… just in case I really did need help with that oxygen mask.
And of course I forgot my toothbrush.
But I think deep down I already knew the answer to that one.
These past few days are the kind of days that when I wake up in my own bed again I'm going to look out my window and have to figure out if all this was real or just a really descriptive dream. If I didn't have the pictures to prove it I'd be easily convinced it was just a daydream that lasted a few hours longer then usual.
A limo was waiting for us when we got to Vegas. We got to our hotel and found ourselves in a gorgeous and massive suite at the Palazzo. The room had a window across the wall that looked out onto the entire strip. We were told that anything we wanted would be charged to the room the next couple of days.
(click on pictures to make em' bigger!)
The next morning we were woken up early to have brunch with our promotions manager at a little Italian restaurant in the Vienitian. He told us we could spend the next few hours at the Spa doing whatever we wanted before we had to work that night. Anything we wanted. We decided on a pedicure and paraffin wax and a snazzy couples massage. I was laying in the massage bed at one point just thinking. Thinking about where I was three months ago. Thinking where I'd be three months from now. Thinking about how the heck I was laying next to my best friend getting this ridiculously expensive massage that I will never be able to afford to do again in my life.
After our massage was done I looked in the mirror. My extensions were hanging out of the side of my head. My foundation was blotchy and my eyeliner was completely smudged across my face. I was glowing though. Smiling and glowing for the first time since me and Aaron broke up. When I look back on pictures of us I look so different then I do now. I am so unbelievably, utterly and completely happy in those pictures. Glowing. I had lost that glow the past couple of months and for the first time.. it was back. My eyes started to water up just a tiny bit but I quickly stopped that from happening. My mascara was still in tact and I wasn't going to allow it to smear - it was the only thing kept me from looking like a complete trainwreck. If you only look like half of one, you're still allowed out in public, and I had stuff to get done.
There's no question that the past couple of months have been rough. It was a period where I questioned everything that I thought I knew the answers to, everything that I thought would last forever, and everything that I did each day that seemed to make sense at the time.
I work hard. I've worked my ass off for the past four years to get to where I am today and I plan on working my ass off for as long as I need to until I get to the point that I want to be at. I'm not sure if I'll ever have a chance to do this again. Im not sure I'll ever actually live a life like this - where random Vegas trips happen more often then not. As amazing and awesome as the past three days have been and as mind blowing it would be to be able to do this on a day basis, there are so many more things that are so much more important to me then a life where all I need to worry about is if my hairs big enough, if my purse matches my shoes, and how long room service will take to arrive. That being said - it sure was nice to live like the girls on "The Hills" do for a couple of days.
It was the perfect time to make new memories in my old clothes. The trip consisted of a few dinners that cost more then my monthly rent, working a sweet promotional event, being the last two people on the plane for every single flight, almost missing every single flight, being told we had no chance of making our flight and proving them wrong, making new friends, being reminded why my best friend is my best friend, and getting yelled at by security for taking video's in the customs area.
I'm beyond thankful for the past three days. For the first time in a very long time I woke up late. I woke up with nothing on my mind. I woke up to earl grey tea and honey. I woke up next to the person that has been there for me through everything the past couple of months. I woke up to the sun shining. I woke up knowing that I could go back to bed and sleep the day away if I wanted. I woke up knowing that whatever happens, it's all going to be alright when I get back home. And waking up knowing that, is worth more then any amount of money that can be spent.
If you haven't seen the video me and Marley made - go watch.
Now. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment