family vacations

Well, I just got back from a weekend in Hilton Head. It was just another vacation with the family, but as my mom described it, its one of our 'last' family vacations with just the four of us. She explained that now that my brother and I are getting older, we both will have extra appendages coming on vacations with us, its just the way of life. She said, 'well, you will want your boyfriend to come sometimes and your brother will want his girlfriend (whoever it may be) to come with us- so its one of the last ones, just us.' She explained to me that our family dynamic will change, it will shift from the small unit of us, to extras.

But here's the thing, the 'extras' she is referring to, in my mind- is just the expansion and continuation of life. Its cool to watch us grow and evolve. The main dynamic that will change is that we will need 3 rooms in the hotel/condo instead of just 2. And with dinner reservations, just need a few extra chairs. In my opinion, the growth of numbers is good- better than a decrease. At least we all still like each other enough to want to go on a vacation- just the 5 of us (plus the dog of course) for 4 and a half days, just us and actually have a great time. Out little family unit will never break apart, but just expand.

But other than the title of the 'last' family vacation- this trip was much needed. I though about it, and since I moved back to Atlanta from New York, I have not skipped a beat- jumped straight into a new job and a new life. This was my first time to breathe, take everything in.

But of course- our family vacation wouldn't be a family vacation without a few hiccups- it is an Unger vacation of course. Not one meal went smoothly- horrible service, horrible seafood (we were at the beach!! you would at least think the seafood would be good), undercooked food, over salted food (fingers swelled into balloons)- needless to say, we got a few free meals. We went to the nicest restaurant on the island, apparently. Well, the 'nicest' restaurant experience went like this: it started with my brother taking an 'oyster slider shot' (basically bloody mary mix with an oyster in a shot glass) and spitting the entire shot back in the glass after trying to swallow it. Then the salads came- those were fine, how bad can some lettuce and dressing be messed up anyways? But then came the main course.

My dad, brother and myself were served first. The presentation was nice, but then it all went down hill from there. My mom was not served for about 10 minutes after the rest of us. She told us to start without her. My meal was fine, just a stuffed portabella mushroom, not much to screw up there. My brother had shrimp gumbo, again, pretty standard. My dad had mahi mahi- raw mahi mahi. Yes- with sushi, mahi mahi can be raw, but this was not sushi. Once my dad discovered his meal was raw, then out came my mom's meal (finally) she had fish as well....

But when she ordered the fish, she didn't think it would come out basically the way they get it straight out of the ocean, still breathing... (no, it was not really breathing, but it might as well been.. the fish was raw, straight from the ocean). After her fish was brought out raw, we were done. The meal had already lasted for 2 hours and this was the last straw. My dad asked the waiter to send the manager over. My dad retold our entire dining experience to the manager and all he had to say was, 'I am so sorry, we have had a few tables tonight walk out- the meal is on us. I am truly sorry.' This was not the reaction we were expecting from him. Clearly he knows that his restaurant sucked- so much for being the best restaurant on the island.

The only meal that we could count on being delicious and editable was breakfast- we ate at a little local breakfast spot with the BEST omelets and friendliest staff. The waiters were genuinely happy to be working there. I think the staff loved their jobs because the manager of the restaurant actually did the same work as the waiters, she brought out food and helped out wherever needed, seeing that kind of work dynamic was really nice. If I were ever to open a restaurant, thats how I'd do it: everyone takes part to make the business run.

Even the manager from the 'best restaurant on the island' from the night before agrees with me. How do I know? We spotted him at breakfast this morning before we headed back home.... Clearly he cannot even eat breakfast at his own place.

Overall, despite the bad food, our family vacation was great. My mom and I shopped up a storm and my brother and dad played plenty of golf. We all baked in the sun on the beach and went for long walks in the mornings. Never would I replace any of our family vacations, because really- they rock. If I wasn't in my family and saw us on vacation, I would want to be apart of us. Everyone loves their families, but for some reason, I love mine a lot- and we have a good time- makings of a great vacation. Who ever gets to be added to those 'expanded' vacations, aka my boyfriend and my brothers girlfriend are pretty lucky- the vacations never see a dull moment.

Peace, love and so many more vacations,

b

9 years, 7 months.

I know I have told you all about my personal relationship with the Senator of Georgia since the age of 12. Our relationship started with the September 11th attacks on the United States. I wanted to make a difference and he helped me get the money I raised to the President of the United States. Seeing as our country has finally succeeded in finding and killing Bin Laden- I decided to write a note to my favorite State Senator and though I would share with you guys....

"Dear Johnny (Yes, I call our State Senator by his first name... He told me I can call him whatever I want, and to me- hes just Johnny),

Considering the reason we met was because of Osama Bin Laden and his attacks on the United States- he was the reason I wanted to help and raised what I could as a 12 year old in 8th grader- I felt it fitting and proper that I say thank you.

Not only do I want to say thank you to you for all your hard work- and for helping the 12 year old version of me to get the money I raised to where it could help and instilling the idea in my mind that if I tried hard enough and pushed as much as possible, I can do anything; but because you have the direct line of communication to everyone in Washington as well as- I want you to pass my thank you and gratitude along.

In the past 10 years- I have gone to high school, graduated from college, moved to New York City for 6 months and now moved back to Georgia. I have held 2 corporate jobs and continue to strive for more. In the past 10 years, I have received my drivers license, turned 18 and gained the ability to vote in the 2008 presidential elections. I turned 21 and gained the ability to drink legally. I have worked for and raised money for camp Kesem (a camp for kids who parents have had or have cancer), and I have continued to try and make this world a better place. In the past 10 years, I have broken 4 bones, gotten my tonsils and wisdom teeth removed, my dad had cancer, my brother graduated from elementary school, middle school, high school and now onto college, and my mom has never given up on trying to make a better life and never has once stopped working. My brother has now survived 2 natural disasters: the floods in Georgia and the recent tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. My grandfather passed away and there have been 8 additions to our extended family. In the past almost 10 years, my life has taken shape. In the almost past 10 years, I went from a 12 year old 8th grader, to a now 22 year old (almost 23 in June) semi-adult, still searching for a purpose and a right way.

Today, I now know that I can still search for that purpose, with public enemy #1 gone- a little bit of me knows I can keep going, if the United States as a whole can see a little shining light of victory, so can I. Even though I will never know a world without security at the airport or medal detectors, I do know a world where there are always people striving for a better place.

In the past almost 10 years (9 years, 7 months to be exact), my life has changed and progressed- but none of this would have been possible without you. And now, today, the man hunt is over. The number one public enemy has been taken out- one step closer to justice and maybe finally putting some issues to rest.

No one knows what will happen in the future- but for today, I wanted to say an extra special thank you- for everything that you do. And if you can pass on my thanks to the president and everyone else who works hard to protect our country, that would be be great. Just like when I was 12 years old, I know that the way to get my message heard is to start with the people who believe in me. And Johnny, since I was 12 years old, I have taken you as someone who believed in me and made some of my aspirations possible. So thank you.

As always, I will continue to do what I can to make this world a better place and do my part, because as today has shown me, you guys are still doing your part.

Thank you always, and God Bless America.

-Brandi"

Lesson Learned:

Can't forget that if I push hard enough- things will get done.

Peace, love and 9 years, 7 months- justice,

B

riding out storms

Finally my boyfriend has moved to Atlanta for the summer. After all the waiting and anticipation- its happened. And him being here has far exceeded my expectations. Instead of having to plan an entire jammed packed weekend, knowing that in 2 days I wouldn't see him for a few weeks- we can now take our time. Do things as they come and finally just be. I can have the though process of us now just being together, adding him into the mix of my crazy life and its so great.

All the things we can do now are endless and this is what we waited 4 months for: we waited for the 'see you later tonight'- or the 'want to meet for lunch'- or the 'lets do nothing and watch movies.' I honestly could go on and on with lists of things that we can do now, and right now- its just right.

But of course his move was not easy- seeing as he is apart of my life, of course nothing could go smoothly. The day he had planned on driving all of his stuff down happened to be the day that the huge storms that had been tearing apart the middle section of the country was moving through the south. He reassured me that he would drive safe and use his best judgement- which he did- but the original 8 hour drive, turned into a 14 hour extravaganza.

Of course he was calm, cool and collective- he told me he was fine. In my mind, all I saw was his car being picked up by one of the tornado and thrown across the Tennessee mountains. That day had already been hectic for me, my younger brother goes to the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa- where if you have seen the news, you would know that the entire city was torn apart. My mom had called me asking if I had heard from my brother- she explained that a tornado had hit there and she wanted to make sure he was ok. For a good 3 hours, we all were unsure if my brother had safely survived the horrific tornado. His cell phone service was out and he wasn't responding to text messages, which is unlike him- setting off a small panic in my mind. Thank the heavens, he was fine- but after that 3 hour wait to hear from my brother- the only thing I though about was my boyfriend-he was driving right down the route the storms were taking.

In his 14 hour trek- he stopped a few times to wait out tornado warnings, and he was pretty much free and clear once he got out of Tennessee- but the second he got inside the state lines of Georgia- the stand still traffic started- all due to the debris from the storms. He was stuck on the highway, with his car off, for 4 hours- literally, stand still traffic. He had told me he pulled together all his food and drinks he could find in his car and tried to figure out how long he could survive. In those 4 hours, I did nothing but stare at the TV- not really understanding what show I was watching, only thinking about him, stuck on the high way, in the middle of no where- with his car full of all his belongings- just sitting.

14 hours later- 4am on Thursday morning- he made it safely. Tired and a bit worn down by the weather, but he was safe.

Of course there is no smooth transition in my life and it seems that my roller coaster style spills over to the people I surround myself with- but then again, thats what makes life an adventure- and now he has been introduced to the crazy ups and downs of my life. Its quite a ride.

But, all in all, the 4 month wait and the 14 hours I waited for him to get here was totally worth it.

Lesson Learned:

If you are patient and ride out the storms, good things will always come in the end.

Peace, love and Georgia welcomes its new resident,

b

Decoration Station

Now that all my belongings are in my apartment- it is time to get furniture, make my room my own. My style has a tendency to be sort of a hodge podge. If left to my own devices, the living space would be a rainbow of bright colors with no rhyme and reason of why they are matched together. When I go shopping for decorations, I do not have a common theme with colors, I like them a. Sky blues, lime greens, chocolate brown, highlighter yellow and daisy yellow- the list of random colors I would want in my room and space is endless.

But as a some sort of emerging 20-something, I at least want my room to sort of match now, have a common theme. In high school and college, my walls were filled with notebook paper splattered with markers, along with rip outs from magazines and pictures of my friends at the time. Same goes for college, with additions like sorority composites and paddles. But now, what do I do? I still want to have my friends pictures around and the pictures that I have drawn hung up- so what is there a 20-something to do?

frames, frames, frames. For me, frames are the new tape. Just stick whatever picture I want into a brown colored frame, and it matches.

A good friend went furniture/decoration shopping with me yesterday. She has always had a knack of finding a theme and sticking to it. Everything she touches and arranges just looks nice and put together- no effort involved. Me, this is a different story- so I decided to bring her along for my adventure, hoping her talents would rub off on me.

Now, her talents didn't rub off on me, but she was there to tell me no. I would pick up a picture and say, "Oh my gosh, I love this, its so me." and all she would do was look at me, like I was a bit insane and say, "its cool, but it doesn't match." That was the indicator to put the picture down and move on to the next one.

Of course, I am still me- and purchased some things that are out there, but those items are what make the room mine. But for the most part, I have to say that slowly, the room is coming together and at some point, it will be finished.

Lesson Learned:

decorating takes time- and for me, I need help.

peace, love and progress,

b

Live and Learn

Yesterday, I learned a VERY important lesson. This is not a lesson that you can learn young or prepare for. This is a lesson that just comes along with time.

The lesson: moving just down right sucks and is a pain in the butt.

Apparently, my parents were watching me coordinate my move into the new apartment (which is AMAZING) and silently laughing. They knew that the way I was packing my boxes was not using up the right amount of space. They knew that I should not have waited until the night before to really packed up my stuff. They also knew that doing morning delivery for furniture is the better option that the afternoon delivery.

All of these facts they knew, I learned yesterday.

For starters, since my roommate and I could not even sign our lease until 10, I could not really schedule any delivery for the mornings. Don't moving companies know that not everyone is wide open and available from 7am to 12pm or 1pm to 6pm? Honesty day- people have other things to do-like my mom who was the one who waited around at my house for the movers to come, pick up my stuff and bring it to me at the apartment.

And then there was the mattress company. You would think that having something as simple as a mattress delivered would be simple. I give them my address and they say- ok great, its one queen mattress to move, no big deal. Wrong. Originally, they were suppose to deliver the mattress between 9 and 12. I had explained to them that I was unable to get into the apartment until 10 and that they would have to wait. The manager assured me that he would put my delivery in a later time slot for the morning and it would all work out great and he guaranteed me an easy move. Yea, he lied. The delivery guys showed up at the complex right at 9:00am. not 8:55, not 9:03- 9:00 on the nose. I tried to stall them, make them wait around until 10. I told them I was coming and be there soon- every excuse in the book, my car needed gas, I got pulled over, there were baby ducks in the road- but it was no use, the man told me that they would come back later. He told me that I was not the only one on the delivery route. Clearly, I knew that- its not like I think I am the only person in the entire world that bought a mattress and had it delivered yesterday- but what I am big on is customer service and satisfaction, which got a HUGE thumbs down. When he said later, I assumed noon or 3pm, not 9:45pm. Thats right, they showed up 13 hours later. And once they did show up, it took them 30 more minutes to get the bed upstairs. The most frustrating part of the entire thing: all I wanted to do was take a nap, the entire day, and for the entire day- I was bed-less

Now that I am done complaining....

Its over and done with, I moved in. And now that the moving part is done, the living part is SO great. Getting up this morning was a little weird though, something that will take time to get use to, but here it is- after almost a year of being out of school- I finally have my own space that is all mine. Not a space that was someone else's room (who still had their clothes in there) or a space that I knew was temporary.

For a whole year, I am here. Its an interesting sensation- knowing I have to stay put for awhile, but the feeling of relaxation that I am in my own spot that no one can take away from me is comforting, relaxing and just- happiness.

Lesson: Even though moving is painful and I hated it- Having my own place is amazing.

peace, love and time to decorate,

b

long distances.

Now that I am really moving into an apartment- lease signed for a year- I am realizing that my friendships I made in college, for the most part, are all going to be long distance. Like in real relationships, friendships need to be worked at. When we all graduated, I never thought in a million years that I would go a few months without talking to some of my closest friends. I never though that friendships needed to be nurtured- like any relationship. With no clear end to the distance between me and my friends- its hard to define the new friendship. The hardest part is the frustration that we can never go back to the way things were- its a part of life- progression- but the changing of friends (who are all amazing people and amazing friends)- just in all honesty, sucks.

The friends I had in college- best friends and semi friends- are the best people I have ever met and while living in Bloomington, we all were entangled in each others lives: from school, boys to clothes. We all shared everything- the drama and laughs. But now- without that web of life, every day interactions- or even weekly dinners, the bonds we all had on a day to day basis have loosened a little bit. There is a gap between the dream life of college and real life of what ever city we all live in. For me, most of my friends are all up in Chicago. By choice, I do not live there (I am so over the cold... thats the only reason)- but how am I suppose to keep up with their lives when they are all together and I am apart? Visa versa is the same- my stories do not quite make sense, because they don't know any of my new friends or the new places I am going.

The hardest part of it all is knowing, most likely, we will all never be living the same lives again. But whats even harder is finding how to make the friendships last. One thing I do know- they are friendships worth keeping, and figuring out how to evolve the friendships is worth it.

I just feel like a big theme of my life at the moment is long distance- long distance friends and long distance boyfriend. The long distance will end soon, and hopefully just be considered a plane ride- just a distance, get rid of the 'long' part. Find a way to feel closer, even with the distance.

Lesson learning:

all relationships are work.

peace, love, and procrastinating on packing,

B

Where do I fit in

I am having an issue.

The issue is not something huge- or life altering- just an issue. I cannot figure out my niche at work.

When I worked in New York, my role was easy: The bright eyed kid right out of college who just moved into the big city. I asked a lot of questions and experienced everything for the first time.

But now- My role is evolving in the work place and finding where I fit in and what personality role I need to take is kind of difficult. My personality has always been loud- I ask a lot of questions, I always want to know why something is and I tend to be very personable. When I was an intern, that role was easy to play- Everyone saw me as the kid in the office- and that was that. It was ok for me to be a little on the unprofessional side, because I was the intern. What I noticed as an intern though- my superiors responded to that, in my eyes, they saw someone ready to learn, someone who would listen to what they had to say and possibly, their words would make a difference in my life.

But now-I feel like I am lost a little in limbo. My e-mails (in my mind) are a little awkward- just not the way I typically communicate to people. I know that I need to be more professional, but the issue I am having is where can I draw the line between 'professional' and 'me'?

When is it ok to relate to others with my own spunk? Yes, I want to be taken seriously- and gain the respect of my peers and superiors, but how can I show them who I am if I am awkward communicating with them?

This is one problem that they did not teach us how to solve in college: how to hold one's identity when moving through the working world. I do not want to lose my spunk- my 'brandi-ness', but HOW do I actually do that?

Lesson learning right now:

How to evolve my self- not change (just because I do not believe people can actually change... they can evolve- but you are who you are)- into the working person- How to relate to others in the work place. If only they taught this in college....

Its funny, I can be friends with almost everyone- because for the most part, I like everyone i meet- but how can I work with them too?

peace, love, and keeping that spunk always,

b