Alrighty, here’s my annual summer post detailing all the shenanigans I got up to this summer! You’re in for a ride, as I was traveling the whole summer and had a lot of excitement. Also, this is going to be a long post, so get comfortable—you know what that means: extra fluffy socks, a hot drink, something sweet, and T. Swizzle blasting. I mean, that’s my idea of being comfortable, but you do you.
I finished school during the first two weeks of June and then had about a week or so to relax and hang out with the family in the Caribbean. Stella flew in and stayed on the boat with us, then Cleo left to work in LA, and then, drama started happening.
So, hurricane season in the Caribbean was starting, and around the 20th of June, a tropical storm began to brew kind of near where we were at the time, which was St. Vincent. We were worried because we weren’t covered by insurance in St. Vincent, or anywhere other than Grenada. So, we made some quick plans and I packed extra speedily, then went to a hotel with Stella’s friend who had been visiting to wait out the storm on St. Vincent, while my parents and Stella sailed up to Grenada.
We had about two days to wait out the storm and then, thankfully, our flights were still on. It was a long tough haul, but we made it to our final destinations. I swear, after spending a night camping in an airport and then landing in LAX (aka the worst destination on the planet), I wasn’t in the best mood. But, I sucked it up and luckily had a day to relax before I headed over to camp at UCLA.
A few months before, I had been applying to camps and decided I wanted to apply to the UCLA Theater Summer Institute, which would give me college credit over three weeks of camp on the UCLA campus. For three weeks, we spent about nine hours a day in classes (two of which were college credit, and the rest were ensemble and workshops of different theatrical aspects), and had two days off. Yeah, I was dead the first day in. Keep in mind, I just spent five days traveling, not getting nearly enough sleep, and having to stay chipper while being filled with stress. So, yeah, I was definitely feeling run over by a train by the time I got to camp. Though, that didn’t make it any less fun. It was amazing to go to such cool classes, and I made some awesome friends that I’m still keeping in touch with. Plus, I found those Swiftie friends I talked about in “Speak Now (Tay’s Version)”.
Anyway, at the end of those three weeks, we got graded (ofc, ur gurl got an A+), got college credit for two of our classes, and put on a devised piece (that just means we made tf it up)! After all that, I spent another three weeks with family friends still in LA, recuperating, sleeeeeeping, doing summer school to prepare for the fall, and taking advantage of being in LA.
Then, on Aug. 3, ur gurl’s life changed FOREVER:
That’s right!!! I went to THE ERAS TOUR?!?!?!??!? I still literally can’t believe I can say those words, and I’m so incredibly thankful to our Lord and Savior, Taylor Swift, that this tour was created (and that I didn’t experience any amnesia). It was the most magical 3.5 hours of my life—it was actually way more than that, cause we were waiting in line, wayyyy too early, and saw the openers, too. Anyway, I have an instant smile anytime I think about it, and I feel so lucky that my parents did this for me. (Side note: the TET movie that’s set to release [!!!] was partially filmed on the night I attended, I think.) Here are some pics from that wonderful night:
I know, I know, she looks so gorgeous, right? Plus, just look at that smile—so cute! Safe to say, I think I’ve been blessed by God/Taylor that the movie was partly filmed on my tour night—it’s going to be so fun to try to figure out which clips were filmed at my show and if I can spot Cleo and me in the crowd. OMG, what if they do that thing they did in the reputation stadium tour where they zoomed in on people’s faces? What if they did that to Cleo and me??!?! OMG, I would dieeee!
Anyway, enough of getting sidetracked by Taylor, it happens too often. Back to my summer. After the concert, and getting lots of sleep, my parents and more family friends arrived for a fun weekend together in LA. Then, I flew to Nashville to meet up with a close friend who had invited me to spend time with her and her extended family, who lived about an hour outside of the city. We had such a fun time and I’m really thankful I was invited to explore Tennessee, which I’ve never visited before! Also, shoutout to the lovely extended Hornsby tribe!! Y’all are so welcoming!
After that, we all flew to Philly, where I spent about two weeks with my grandparents, hanging out, seeing family, and going up to their lake house for a while. While I was there, my parents, who were still in LA, moved Cleo into her dorm at Pomona College for her first year there!! Finally, I got on a train and I came up here to Connecticut, where I am now, to spend the last part of my trip with my other grandparents. My parents were here for a little bit but then flew to Bolognia, Italy, where Stella’s spending her semester abroad to move her in.
Now, I’m still in CT, spending time with family, but, most importantly, preparing for the coming school year. I’m getting in touch with all my teachers, setting up meeting times, getting all the physical materials I need here in the US, and one of my classes has even started (my history class). Also, my b-day is coming up, which always sneaks up on me, but I’ve planned a super fun weekend with two friends here in CT before we head back to the US! I’m literally so excited, cause they’re arriving today, so wish me lots of fun birthday wishes and I’ll post pics from the weekend soon. Love y’all and hope you had as exciting a summer as I did!