Hilton Head

What am I loving today??? The fact that my vacation is sososososooooo close. Thank. The. Lord. I realized that I have had approximately 2 days off since December. This is absolutely not normal for me. I LIVE to go on trips. I definitely inherited my love for traveling from Jan aka My Momma. Jan could seriously be considered a jet-setter. Within the last year, the woman went to Hawaii, Florida, the Bahamas, Napa (ok, that one was with me, but still..), a cruise along the East Coast to Canada, and those are only the trips that I actually remember. She lives the good life, let me tell ya. I pray to god that I have Jan's life when I am 56 (along with her looks. & her figure. & her optimism. Oh hell, if I'm .8% as fabulous as Jan is at her age, I'll be doing just fine. She plain rocks.) Anywho, Kevin & I (along with some of our friends) will soon be Hilton Head bound!!

My love for that Island is unreal, which is crazy because I had never been there before I was about 20 years old. Since then, I think I counted that I have been about 14 times? (Excessive much, right? Honestly though, if you haven't been, don't knock it until you try it. I have yet to meet a person who doesn't love HHI once they go.) I was recently asked if I had a favorite trip out of those 14, and I honestly don't. I don't discriminate against vacations- I love them all equally! However, there are a few HHI trips that have been a bit more ummmm, memorable than others though. Let me detail a few of these for yall.
Memorable Hilton Head Trip #1- 2006 SAE Fall Formal. Words cannot describe how much fun I had that weekend, and I definitely refer to that trip as one of my favorite weekends in college. When we got down there, it became obvious the formal should have been referred to as 2006 SAE/Chi Omega Fall Formal because there were between 30-40 Chi O's who were there as dates. LOVE!

So, in the Greek world, its the norm for fraternity guys utilize formal weekends to make a move on a girl they had been interested in... However, one of my best guy friends, J. Hendrix (AKA Hendrix, Hank, etc), asked me to go with him. We had been friends since Freshman year, so our comfort level with each other is through the roof. To preface this- while most couples were having "romantic moments" on the beach, Josh & I were bickering like an 80 year old couple who were on a mission to have a damn good time. A few highlights from the trip: 1) On the first beach day, Hendrix yelling things like "CAROLLLLL- BRING ME A BEER." or "CAROLLLLL, lets do some shot-gunning." every 5 seconds. It is crucial to point out that the whole beach heard our interactions because he was yelling at me from the Ocean. Thus began the birth of my (sometimes lush) alter-ego Carol. Side Note: Carol has seriously caught on like wild fire since that trip. This past weekend, I was at a bridal shower, where some of the girls just call me Carol for kicks. One of the girls that didn't know me seriously thought that 'Carol" was my real name, and apparently was talking to my friend Allie (aka the fabulous Pink Lou-Lou) about how odd it is that Im in my twenties with a name like Carol. Bahahahahahahahaha. Pat & Jan might be a tad crazy, but they do have taste. Come on now. 2) Walking in on Hendrix dancing by himself to Sexy Back, completely unaware that we are watching him. 3) At the actual formal dinner, Hendrix warning me at the top of his lungs, "CAROL! Don't eat the grape jelly. Its NOT what you think it is." So I then took it upon myself to skip the pseudo grape jelly, but fill my plate to the point where it was over-flowing- as if I wasn't going to be fed again. And I ate every bite. So classy. 4) Then, there was me ordering a freshman Chi O to go back to her condo & change because she had the audacity to wear the same formal dress as me. (Not a proud moment, I'll admit, but that was definitely the meanest I ever was to a younger Chi O Sista.) 5) Hendrix getting kicked out of the actual dance because of using profane language over the microphone. (Completely inappropriate, yet absolutely hilarious.) Needless to say, I'm confident that if there had been a vote for Formal King & Queen, Hendrix & I would have been a lock, based upon our mature behavior alone.
Memorable HHI Trip #2: Less than a year later, Kevin & I had been dating for about 9 months, and he invited me to go to HHI with him & his family to their condo for the 4th of July Holiday. Until this point, I had never been on a long vacay with a boyfriend & their family. I had done long weekends with some ex's, but never a 10 day trip, so to say I was nervous was an understatement. When you go on a trip with my family, it takes an act of congress to get everyone ready & in agreement to go somewhere. Its a hot mess. In contrast- Because they had been doing this trip for 20+ years, the Gray's have honestly perfected the art of a beach trip. They have it down to a science, right down to how many adult beverages can fit in a cooler, what bands are playing at the quarter deck, & how much food to make for their 4th of July party.

Needless to say, not only way I ridiculously impressed, but once my nerves settled, I had an amazing time.
Memorable HHI Trip #3: Last May, we invited 4 of our best couple friends down to stay at Kevin's family's condo. Sounds very mature & adult-like, right? Or it turned out to be highly comparable to an adult spring break. A few highlights include: 1) Us purchasing around 10 (maybe more) frozen pizzas, and managing to eat them ALL in about 4.5 days- Nevermind the fact that we went out to dinner every single night & weren't at the condo for lunch either. Fat kids. 2) The boys daring Kevin to jump in the Marriott's pond & act like a frog... and him actually going through with it. 3) The 10 of us feeling like VIPs at every bar because the summer crowd hadn't made their way down to the island just yet. One night we literally had the whole bar to ourselves, along with our own personal 1 man band...& a whole lot of soco & lime shots, which led to a beautiful new door :) 4) Watching the guys construct a beach baseball field like 5th grade little boys, & pitching (haha, thats a pun) a fit if any family laid down their chairs within 100 feet of their field. Talk about quality entertainment. I just realized that some of the pictures on the right side of my blog are actually from that trip (clearly taken during some of our more mature moments.)
So now, only a few days left stand between myself & the infamous HHI. Can't wait to see what this trip holds for us :) Thats it for now. XOXO- Caroline