The Earth I Get To Walk On Each Day

What better day to say a couple words of thanks for this beautiful planet that we live on? Happy Earth Day! I've been a bit more aware of this upcoming "holiday" this year because I've been so consumed with the sea and beach. Living in San Diego and constantly reading about other surf brands' campaigns will do that to ya.

I remember Earth Day back in elementary school. It always made me think of trees. You know - saving the trees. This year, it's different for me because of my love for the sea and being able to live in a beach city.

I have spent a lot of time near the ocean lately. A lot. And not once have I forgotten to take it all in and be grateful for the natural beauty that surrounds me. I see the gorgeous palm trees as they sway in the bay breeze every week on the way to my work meeting. I get sand all over me and smile every time I see it made its way into my car. I touch the salty ocean and I'm immediately taken back to my first love. The place where life makes sense.

Driving through San Diego, I am constantly reminded of how beautiful and special Mother Nature can be. I am in constant awe of this city of mine. No city is perfect but San Diego sure is close. I fall deeper in love everyday. And I mean it.

To be able to lay on warm, soft sand in April [and back in March too!], feel the breeze brush through my hair, and stare out at the pretty Pacific waves, I am reminded of Earth. Of all the places throughout this planet that speak to people simply because of their natural beauty.

Also, I'm not sure if you've seen it yet, but Roxy featured Devon [a fellow SD girl!] on their post about Earth Day! Devon shares some awesome beach sprint exercises incorporating a beach clean-up AND some of Roxy's awesome workout gear. Check it out and then go say "hi" to Devon over at The Mermaid Chronicles :) She is awesome!

So, Earth, I think you're pretty amazing. Aside from all the crime and poverty and hurt that goes on, the gifts of nature that we have been given are "out of this world." Good thing we get to keep them, huh? As long as we are good to Mother Nature in return.

For me it's the ocean and the sand and the palm trees. What about Earth do you love the most?

As an added bonus today, head on over to Join the Gossip for a pretty sweet After Sunset giveaway! :)

Same View, Different Perspective

So, this is what it feels like to blog Monday thru Friday again. I didn't even skip a day! I guess I've just been that inspired lately ;) On Wednesday, I took some time out of my day to go to the beach. I know. Tough life. But seriously, this base tan is not going to work on itself. I headed over to a spot in Mission Beach that I first visited over eight years ago in the Winter during my first-ever San Diego visit.

I remember it being pretty much the coolest thing since going to my very first Backstreet Boys concert in sixth grade. It was the beach of San Diego. CALIFORNIA! And now here I am, eight years later, a San Diego resident just enjoying part of my day at that very same beach.

However, I grew up as a Virginia Beach Bunny. I'd be down on the beach not long after the beach combers drove by in the morning and left the beach when the hotels started casting their shadows on the sand. I was used to the way the sun moved in the sky. The way I'd position and re-position my towel. And then I moved to San Diego and got all thrown-off.

I was so accustomed to positioning my towel so that my feet were facing the ocean. But here on the West Coast, it's reversed. This time, I placed my towel so that my feet were facing the boardwalk. My feet were facing the exact same spot where I had a picture taken of me eight years ago. 

[Good thing Hamel's was renovated, huh?]

Little 19-year-old Chelsea. My very first day in San Diego. With my sweet mom and my brother who was living in SD at the time. I had absolutely no idea [although I sure dreamt it] that I'd be laying out on this beach as a resident less than a decade later. And I had no idea just how much these two pictures would mean to me until now.

In one picture, I'm a girl six months out of high school with years of ups and downs and heartbreaks and jobs and losses and dreams ahead. A girl who had absolutely no idea at the time that one person in that picture would be 3,000 miles away again and the other would be in Heaven.

And in the other picture, I'm a girl who's seen a lot of life and still made it out here, alone, to find the truest happiness I ever could have wished for. A girl who's laying out on a beach she once only dreamt about after touching its sand years ago, studying the new movement of the sun in the sky.

But really... it's not the movement of the sun that has changed. It's just my position in this world. I get to see everything through this new perspective. It's as if I get to re-learn all the many things I already knew about - but this time, they all mean so much more.

Feeling Life All Around You

Whether I was in the car during the drive to Virginia Beach, sitting on the balcony people watching, going for a run, or in the warm ocean water staring out at the horizon, I was thinking. I put Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen" on repeat and just let the elements hit me.

I let the salt water brush along my toes at the shore. I felt the force of the waves rip just over my head as I was duck diving. I watched them form ever so gradually until they reached me then felt them pick me up and carry me all the way to where the ocean met the land - a feeling that makes me all dizzy in the head and happy in the heart.

I listened to the piercing engines of F-18's soar over the hotels and out to sea hour after hour. I let the gleaming sun soak into my skin and watched all day as the sun moved from one end of the sky to the other. It gave me a new appreciation for this world. Away from the computer and work desk and traffic and social media, this was life. Days full of moments of life felt in every aspect.

While I was in Virginia Beach, I had a lot of time to just clear my mind and think. I remember the first night I was there, I was sitting out on the balcony listening to my iPod. Not much time passed before thoughts started flooding my mind. These thoughts were so vivid; so clear.

On life being too short

I thought about my mom a lot. It was the first time in our old family vacation spot without her here on Earth. There were so many moments I just wanted to pick up the phone and share with her. It was a reminder that life is so short. A reminder that you just need to get out there and do the things that are worthwhile.

Life is too short to spend 40 hours of your week doing something that doesn't make you come alive. It's too short to surround yourself with people who dull your sparkle, don't show respect, or don't lift your heart when it's at its heaviest. Life is too short to settle. For anything.

I can't say that enough and I refuse to ever back down from that belief. Sometimes it really scares me to look back and see how quickly the years of my life have passed by. How it felt as though it was just yesterday when I was building sandcastles in that sand and dancing to the puppet show on the boardwalk. Life flies by... This belief and this constant reminder kind of leads in to the other thoughts I had throughout my trip. Thoughts about dreams, relationships, careers, etc. I will be sharing those here soon. 

Find life. Feel it. Through all the big moments and all the little ones. Just push yourself to really see it all around you and never take it for granted. Each moment that passes is a moment gone.

Sometimes You Need to Get Away

"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea." -

Isak Dinesen

I've always believed that quote to be true and this past Thursday thru Sunday certainly proved that. My mini-vacation to Virginia Beach was a success! As I mentioned before, VA Beach is kind of like a second home to me. It is the place I spent every single Summer growing up - all the way through my early twenties. The drive down to the beach was full of nostalgia. From the way it felt to drive through the tunnel to where we stopped for lunch. I was so excited for this much-needed trip.

I got a lot of time on this trip to just think. Away from the computer and work desk and traffic and social media, this was life. Days full of moments of life felt in every aspect.

My mind was clear. I felt alive. I was happy. I was me.

My heart is bursting at the seams to write about those things. So, while I prepare those thoughts, here's a little of what my Virginia Beach journey looked like:

Let me start off by saying that I've been to a lot of different U.S. beaches/vacationing spots and Virginia Beach will always [minus California] be my favorite beach to visit. It has everything I could want in a beach: hotels, an amazing boardwalk, nightlife, tons of restaurants, history, attractions!

Upon arriving in VA Beach Thursday afternoon, we checked in to the Marriott Courtyard on 37th and Atlantic, then headed to the beach to put our toes in the water.

After showering, getting ready, and doing a little more balcony people watching, we walked a few blocks to dinner at Doughboy's! Doughboy's is a VB "must" in my opinion if you like delicious pizza! I ended up going with the Mediterranean pizza and it was literally one of the best pizzas I have ever had. [Note: Be sure to pick up the little Sunny Day Guide in your hotel or on the street. It is full of coupons!]

The rest of the night was spent on the balcony, enjoying the ocean breeze and doing a lot of people watching on the boardwalk.

On Friday, after enjoying a light, yummy breakfast in our hotel, I walked a little bit of "The Strip" and looked in some shops. I don't care how cliche and gimmicky those beach stores are - I still love them. Then, we headed out to the beach for a day of fun in the sun. The weather was perfect!

That night, we decided to walk the boardwalk to one of the newer VB spots, Neptune's Park on 31st Street. At that point, we didn't have a good plan so we aimlessly walked around trying to decide where to go for dinner and settled on a buffet. My family never went to the buffets growing up, so why we went this weekend, I'll never know, ha.

Let me just say that I am a seafood junkie so eating anything other than seafood or Doughboy's at the beach, just wasn't an option. Although the food at King of the Sea [the buffet we went to] wasn't the greatest, I got my seafood :)

After stuffing our tummies, we headed back to Neptune's Park for a live band! They played tons of fun cover songs and lots of dancing was involved. There was a nice breeze off the coast and the weather was so perfect for the last evening of the Summer! I ended the night with a killer run. Killer. I actually beat my best mile time which I set back in 10th grade and hadn't been able to beat until now! I was so ecstatic and feeling good so I sat on the boardwalk to stare out at the ocean of blackness as I cooled off. Another great night it was.

Mind-clearing can work wonders, friends!

The final day, Saturday, was full of decent waves for the East Coast. I woke up that morning to watch the sunrise [again.] Seriously, who AM I? As the sun rose into the sky, surfboards filled the water :) First, we spent some time by the pool/waterfalls. The rest of the day we were out in the salty Atlantic challenging those waves and, boy, was it a rush! I've always felt so alive and at peace in the ocean.

For dinner that night, we went to the far South end of "The Strip" toward Rudee Inlet to a place called "Big Sam's." It was definitely one of those "hole in the wall, local" spots but aren't those always the best? This one sure was! Get this - it was the only place we went to that actually had a wait! It was right on the water and the smell of seafood was in the air! I got the Oysters Rockefeller! So yum! If you're like me and love everything about surfing, sit in the first booth and you'll be with Kelly Slater ;)

We left and enjoyed a tasty ice cream treat because you have to get ice cream at the beach, right? I couldn't believe how exhausted I was [and how sunburned my lips were!] so I was about ready for bed once we got back to the hotel and I packed up. I enjoyed one last sunrise the next morning before driving back to Northern Virginia...

So, there you have it - some of the happenings of my reunion with Virginia Beach. I'll never get enough of that place. It comforts me, rejuvenates me, and brings me back to what is important.

Working at the Beach

Two weeks ago, I was starting off my work day in Ocean City. There are few things [if any] I love more than waking up to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. While I was at the beach for work and not for relaxation, I absolutely LOVE working events, which is what I was there for. 

While I won't get into the specifics of my company and what I do [email me if you want specifics] be prepared for a bunch of firetruck pictures during this recap of my week! Just be prepared for a pretty picture-heavy post in general.

We got there in just over three hours. Luckily, I had a driving buddy with me because the Bay Bridge is NOT a fun bridge to drive over. Those of you who have driven over it know what I'm talking about!

There were lots and lots of trucks and lots and lots of firemen.

The weather was so-so for the first 24 hours and the nights got a little chilly since there wasn't much humidity and we were right on the water. I made hundreds of slushies for people walking through the show and they were a hit! 

But, don't worry - it wasn't all work. What would a trip to the beach be without some fun and some crabs? You have to eat crabs at the beach and you better believe I did - every day. Sadly, no pictures of the food, which might be a good thing because I'm sure your mouths would be watering :)

The view from our hotel & the view from Seacrets at night! It's a fun little place where the floors are all sand and during the day, people can go out and hang out at the booths/tables/floats in the water!

And there is a glimpse into my wardrobe throughout the week. Work polo during the day and lightweight, airy fabrics at night - perfect for the beach!

Between an amazing brunch with the most delicious fresh-squeezed orange juice I've ever had, and a special tribute to all the firemen under a neon-lit ladder truck right on the boardwalk, followed by fireworks - the week ended well!

Well, then a surprise was thrown at me. Instead of driving back WITH my driving buddy, I would drive his truck back while he drove an ambulance. 

I was quite terrified to drive over the Bay Bridge by myself but with him in front of me as well as a firetruck another one of our colleagues was driving, our caravan back to Virginia stayed safe :)


It was an amazing trip. I had a wonderful time and grew to love my company even more. It was humbling to see so many firemen and women so passionate about what they do everyday. 


And to all my fellow Americans - Happy Independence Day tomorrow!