August marks the month I'm not in one place for more than a few days at a time because I planned all of my vacations within 3 weeks of each other. See, when I was working at the restaurant, I specifically planned my trips so they wouldn't interfere with anybody else's, because I'm selfless and awesome like that. Also (read more so) because there was little to no chance of getting my vacation approved if I tried to take it at the same time as someone who had already put in their request. When I switched jobs, I felt infinitely bad that I had all this vacation planned during the campus' busy season. No one takes vacation in August. Woops. Thankfully, new boss was super understanding since I already had everything planned, so I'm still good to go (yay).
Anyhoo.
Last week was vacation numero uno (one). My family packed up Thursday afternoon and left for five days of lazy relaxing awesomeness at this place:
I got a new camera. Can you tell? Infinite excitement! I'm playing with perspectives and focus and whatnot, so you'll probably see a ton more pictures with a ton more awesomeness.
As per usual, the first thing we talked about was what we wanted to do. My response was the same as it has been every.single.time. we've gone to the beach for the last oh, 15 years or so: I want to eat crabs! Seriously, I don't know why they bother asking what I want to do. I'm so predictable. I want to lay around and be lazy, I want to be outside and get a tan, I want to catch up on my sleep and puzzles, and I want to eat crabs. And maybe do some shopping at the outlets. Fantastic.
Since we all got in at different times Thursday night, there were no plans (the Boyfriend and I arrived around 10pm, my brother and the Girlfriend arrived around 1am). Friday morning my parents and brother played golf, so the Boyfriend was kind enough to drive with the Girlfriend and me down to the outlets for a bit of retail therapy. In my defense, I actually had a couple stores picked out that I needed to go to specifically. We ladies branched out a little (we're girls, it's what we do) and the Boyfriend went to stores better suiting him. I tried not to go overboard (I usually do the bulk of the year's shopping at the beach) since I know I'm going to do some damage in London, but I got a few great things, like this (which I'm so flippin' excited about):
A tiny bright green Kate Spade wallet! I'm totally in love with it. It's tan on the inside and the pockets are polka-dotted! My old wallet still has a special place in my heart, but it needs a break (and a trip to a repair shop). I've actually been eying this thing for about a year now.
After shopping we met up with the golfers for a poolside lunch.
Brohim and Girlfriend
Mama and Papa Bear
Yours Truly and Boyfriend
Sir Puppy Chester. Oh wait. He didn't go to lunch. Can you see how sad he is? It's all in the eye(s)...
Friday night we made a delicious dinner of a warm corn salad (corn, red onion, cherry tomatoes, piquillo peppers, butter and love) and seared ahi tuna. Nom!
I love these coasters! I also love out of focus backgrounds! They make me feel artsy.
Tuna marinading in Soy Vey. If you have never tried Soy Vey, go pick some up. Seriously.
While dinner was cooking (or rather, before we started cooking dinner) we snacked on an antipasto platter the Bro put together. Sun-dried tomatoes, two cheeses, two salamis, and gherkins.
Then it was time to start making dinner! For the corn salad we used roughly this much onion:
Why yes, this *is* a lame excuse for me to show off my camera skills.
The final corn dish. Seriously, so good. Make it now.
Saturday was awesome, and kind of set the precedent for the remaining three days. I woke up at my leisure (read: when Chester decided it was time to wake up), putzed around the house for a bit (I probably read outside on the porch for a bit), and then went to the fitness center with the Boyfriend. Until this trip to the Beach House, I had never actually used the fitness center. Exercise on vacation? What's that? Well actually, it was pretty nice. The building is right next to the pool, which meant we could get in a really great workout and then spend the afternoon poolside. Perfection! I ended up doing this all four days from Saturday to Tuesday, and it's a good thing, too! We ate so much food over the course of the trip. Sure, most of it was healthy, but there was just so much of it. Also, chicken quesadillas and french fries from the club restaurant may not actually be considered healthy.
Saturday night we just grilled a ton of veggies and ate leftover fried chicken (I didn't personally have any chicken with dinner), which was fantastic. Did I mention I ate french fries every day we were there? And still pulled off a loss at yesterday's WI? Booyah.
Sunday the family went to the beach, but I had little to no interest so the Boyfriend and I stayed around the house. We did the gym/pool thing, and went back to the house when everyone was home, in preparation for CRABS!!
Wait, this is tomato mozzarella caprese!
Ahhh that's better. CRABS!!!
Crabs are a wonder food. There's barely any meat in each one, but you have to put so much effort into opening them up and finding the meat that you don't end up eating nearly as much as you would if it was already picked and sitting in front of you (possibly in the form of a crab cake). It's like built-in portion control! I'm not sure what it is about crabs, but it's one of my favorite dinners at the beach. I think it just reminds me so much of the first trips we used to take way back when. It's like, serious childhood throwback. I don't care how much work they are. They're totally worth it.
Monday was more of the same, with more delicious vegetate and seafood to feast on. I almost feel like it's blasphemous to eat any meat other than seafood while at the beach. I mean hello, the water is right there.
Tuesday was home day. Sadface. As we were taking trips out to the car with our bags, Sasha decided it was time to leave. Sure, we weren't leaving for another 20 to 30 minutes, but she was ready. And when she sets her mind to something, she's really hard to dissuade. Clearly, she's a part of our family. Sasha took one of the open-door-opportunities to run out of the house and stand next to the car. And this is where she waited until we finally decided to listen to her and leave.
Oh you know, I'm just helping load the car! Can we get going please??
Overall the trip was fantastic. And I'm not saying "overall" in the way some people do when they mean there were some bad bits thrown in there but generally it was a good time. I mean we had a great time the whole time, in my humble (but not really) opinion.
Because you probably haven't seen enough pictures, I'll leave you with one more, taken on the drive back. I was sitting in the backseat of my parents' car with the dogs (the Boyfriend had left the night before so he could work the next day. Boo.), and it was just too good to pass up:
Chester decided the most comfortable position for him to sleep in would be resting his head on Sasha's head. I guess all that hair makes for a comfy pillow!
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