Family Vacation

My brother got engaged over the summer in Disney World. He and his fiance, Flavia, traveled there for a little getaway and it made me think of family vacations.

My last family vacation with my mom, dad, and brother was to Universal Studios after I'd graduated from my master's program all the way back in 2011. It was the last time the 4 of us (my mom, dad, brother, and myself) spent a serious amount of time all together. We had a great time and it makes me sad to think that the magic of my nuclear family only exists in my memories now.

This past spring, Alex's first cousin, David, graduated from Swarthmore College and accepted a job in Hong Kong. So when we were given the opportunity to spend some time with him and his immediate family before he took off for the other side of the world, we immediately said yes.

It felt great to spend time with Alex's family. His uncle lives in Peru and his cousin Pauline lives in New Jersey, which might as well be Peru since we don't have a car. The weekend was jam-packed with family activities. A tour of the campus followed by a small ceremony and dinner upon arrival. A full morning of commencement followed by a family lunch that lasted well into the afternoon.

We did still manage to fit in a bit of time to ourselves with a special dinner for just us two. And before we drove back to NYC, we spent a morning at the Longwood Gardens. Plus we stayed at the most adorable inn!

I've come to realize how important family vacations are. They're the one time you get to enjoy each other's unfettered attention. You learn to adapt to changing weather, schedules, and unknown surprises together. And best of all, you create beautiful memories that you take with you for many years to come.

I can only hope family vacations go as smoothly as the one we had with Alex's uncle and cousins. I loved that (for the most part) we left our phones at home and just enjoyed each other's company. Because a family vacation that looks like the one below would be my absolute worst nightmare.

The Power is Yours

MY MINDFUL YEAR - OCTOBER

For October, I decided to "be greener" in 13 ways. Why 13? Because 13 is a spooky number and it feels right to do something spooky around Halloween. Plus, this year we went to a 90's themed Halloween party and while we chose to dress as characters from Twin Peaks, the thought of dressing up like Planeteers from the beloved Captain Planet cartoon was on our short list of costume options.



Here's what I did:

1. Bought a bar soap for our bathroom sink instead of another plastic tub of liquid soap.
2. Invested in a natural body cream from Lush. 
3. When I ran out of my hair styling cream, I chose a natural one from Lush.
4. Donated a second bag of clothes, shoes, and costume jewelry to ThredUp.
5. Donated a bag of shoes to GoodWill.
6. Donated a bag of clothes to GoodWill.
7. Replaced my highlighter with a natural option from RMS.
8. Replaced my blush with a natural option from Ilia.
9. Swapped my tried and true tinted moisturizer with one that's a bit more natural from Glossier.
10. Put two bags next to our kitchen garbage bin to encourage our recycling of plastic and paper.
11. Took my favorite pairs of boots to the cobbler for repairs to get another season out of them.
12. Took a dress with a rip on its seam to the tailor.
13. After a bit of a hiatus, I re-subscribed to Lola for all of my feminine care products. 

It felt good doing nice things for the environment and I learned a bit in the process:

• My instinct to toss things that are broken instead of look for ways to mend them surprised me. It also forced me to do some research. I learned used bras and undies can be recycled and that worn out shoes can still be donated, even the ones with holes in the soles.
• A deep look into my makeup bag caused me to be totally disgusted by the amount of chemicals I pack onto my face everyday. As items run out, I'll most certainly be looking for environmentally friendly, more natural options.
• For the most part, natural makeup works just as well as the chemical-filled kind. I'm still on the hunt for a good tinted moisturizer as the color match isn't spot on with Glossier. But it will do for now.
• I also realized I needed to up my recycling game - those boxes the soap comes in, toilet paper cardboard, rinsed out food containers...all things I'd embarrassingly never before recycled!

13 tasks in October to go green are now complete! And there was nothing spooky about it.

Bleeding Love

MY MINDFUL YEAR - SEPTEMBER
I donated blood.

The Jewish holidays always have me thinking about the good I could be doing in the world. And this year, I decided to do a very tangible good deed, donate some blood.

It was super easy to sign up to give. I had given before so I was already in the system. I just logged on to the New York Blood Center's website, chose a date, time, and location, and boom. Done. Good deed booked.

I wasn't nervous as I'd given in the past and remembered the process: first paperwork, then pin prick on the finger to check iron levels, then blood pressure test, then give a pint blood. And then the best part: cookies and juice.

It only took about an hour from the time I entered the facility to the time I departed with a neat blue bandage. And luckily, there was a blood drive right in my neighborhood so I only had 2 blocks to walk home where I binge watched Downton Abbey and drank some tea.

I'm type A+, a very common blood type, so it's likely my donation will be put to good use soon. I think about some of the people I love who have had to receive blood transfusions: my dad, my grandmother, my friend's son. And it makes me feel proud to be able to help someone else's dad, grandmother, or baby.

So if you can, donate some blood. It's a small time commitment. It costs zero dollars. One donation can save up to 3 lives. And you will feel fantastic afterwards. But not right afterwards. Usually after I give blood I feel queasy and sore. But after that, there's no better feeling than knowing I made a difference.