When I Grow Up I Want to Be…

As I child, I had a lot of aspirations to be something great. My mind was forever changing, one day I wanted to be a police officer, the next the President of the United States. No matter what profession I dreamed of becoming a part of, there was always a pattern. Every single job; firefighter, baseball player, princess, president, nurse, vet, police officer, designer, etc, every… single… job, has one MAJOR thing in common. Can you guess it? Every single one of them, to me, was a possibility. I never looked at something and thought to myself, “Well I could never be that, that’s not possible for me.” For that I have my parents to thank.

I grew up in a home where I was very fortunate to have two loving caring parents who from the day I was born told me to follow my dreams and be whomever I wanted to be. Sounds like the start to a Disney movie, I know. They instilled the idea of hope and possibility. My first job aspiration was to be the first female president. Now that I’m older I realize how un-fit for the presidency I would be, but as a kid, I wanted to be her. I wanted to be Madam President. I wanted to live in the White House with my First Husband (the male equivalent of the First Lady, not that I planned on divorcing and re-marrying). I was going to run around the grand hallways naked all day long, a weird yet equally important aspiration to my 4 year old self, and paint everything pink, also a phase that I am glad to have grown out of. I was going to create world peace and spread love and laughter. I was going to be amazing.

I was going to be a baseball player. As a kid I would throw around the ball with my dad and feel as though I was ripping my arm right out of its socket. Proud was just the beginning of how I felt every time the ball left my fingertips. I was the best baseball player there was. I felt as though my 90 mile and hour fastball was my sure fire ticket onto the SF Giants. There was no way I wouldn’t be the first female MLB player… I just had one problem… I couldn’t hit… or catch.

I was going to be a princess. Dresses? Pink? (again, just a phase! phew!) Sparkles? Ponies? (Remember I’m in my dreams.) A castle? Sign me up! However, I realized that princesses are supposed to be proper, whereas I giggled anytime someone passed gas or burped. Princesses are supposed to be clean, and yet I enjoyed running through puddles and mud. Princesses are supposed to marry the prince, and I always rooted for the common man, the peasant, the baker, the everyman, the underdog. 

I was going to be a witch. Yes there was a time in my life, around the age of 6 when I found a huge obsession with the ideas of spells, black cats, and cloaks. My love for halloween and the realization that my super curly crazy hair was that out of a storybook led me to feel like the part was made for me. I wanted to be a witch. However, for the first time, I stopped and thought about it. Witches are not real. I can not be a witch. That was the day I realized there were limitations to my aspirations… or so I thought.

Years go by and I loose interest in discovering what and who I want to be. I live in the moment and work on school, soccer, friendships, earning money (chore money), etc. I was happy. Then as I start middle school a P.E. teacher of mine asked if I wanted to help record the school play. Agreeing out of interest in not having to run another mile, I signed up. That was the day my faith was restored. I just didn’t know it at the time.

I met with my teacher after school along with another girl from my P.E. class. My teacher taught us all about how to work the video cameras and how to reset the tapes. He told us that we cant talk while recording because the microphones will pick up our every movement and murmur. It all just came naturally to me, and since my older brother was in the band for the play, I felt as thought this was finally my opportunity to get involved with something greater than just me. I was going to be working alongside my brother, my idol. 

The show passed and so did many more to come, each and every one I volunteered to record and edited the videos together. I was slowly but surely fell in love. Let me be perfectly clear, this love was not what I thought I would have to show for a first love, and yet it was just that. I was in love with film. I loved the idea that every single story and moment was captured forever on some tiny tape, yes tape, that’s how old I was. That’s when I realized something I never had before. Memories of my 6 year old self wanting to be, but realizing I could never be a witch came screaming back to me. I could be a witch. I could be president. I could be a police office, a baseball player, a princess, and a restaurant owner. I could be anything I wanted to be. Art, film, storytelling, it’s all a way to capture the best, worst, most creative, most inspiring, or insightful parts of life. It opened my eyes and allowed me to express myself and be anything and anyone I wished to be. I could be that firefighter. I could play the damsel in distress, or the warrior. I could be and do anything I wanted. Once again I was free. 

As I child, I had a lot of aspirations to be something great.

As an adult, I have a lot of aspirations to be something greater. 

When I grow up, I want to be . . . simply me.

ROAD-TRIP | FROM CALIFORNIA TO TEXAS

Road-Trip Essentials | Games | Tips | & More

I recently arrived in Texas after a two day, 25+ hour, four state long drive and realized, I am pretty much the queen of car drives. Anywhere from three to ten times a year I take the (what I consider, short) drive to Los Angeles (Southern) California from my home in Northern California. To me, the six to seven hour drive is nothing, however; I have had a lot of people surprised that I am always eager and excited to take the drive whenever at all possible.

Now I do usually have a pretty big incentive for driving over 300 miles to the LA area. I used to have a Disneyland Annual Passport of which I used anywhere from 4-11 times a year, easily paying for the price of the ticket and saving me big bucks on food and souvenirs via their annual pass holder discounts. However since I am now an adult (collective crying) and I need to pay for things like car payments, taxes, food, housing, and everything else that makes me that much more understanding to Peter Pan and his plight of aging. I realized that at this time in my life I can’t afford to spend the money I used to on trips to the happiest place on earth (crying continues). No matter how much I want to spend every dime I own going to the parks and buying every Mickey Pretzel and Bangle BBQ skewer in sight.

Even though my road-trips to LA have decreased significantly over the past year, I have been on a few longer road-trips to visit my grandma in Texas.

About 2 years ago my grandmother moved to Texas to help take care of and be around my uncle who was diagnosed with ALS. However, the distance between California and Texas causes a lot less visits, and a lot more time in the car in order to see one another. I am happy to take the trip, however, over the 6+ days I’ve gone back and forth to and from Texas here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.

Griffith Observatory | December 30th, 2014

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DRIVE

The Night before you leave for your road-trip, whether it be short or long, you need to do a few things to help have a smooth and painless time the next morning.

1. I ALWAYS create a checklist of everything I may need to pack for my trip. It can be on a post-it note or in your phone, or maybe you go above and beyond and actually print out a checklist from the internet. I like this one. No matter what you do, a checklist is an easy way to see everything you will be packing in one spot and be able to identify any missing items. Plus! It’s a great way to have a list of everything you brought with you, just in case something gets lost or misplaced, you can see what is needed.
2.  I suggest you double check that you are all packed! I usually pack at least 24hours ahead of any trip I take. This way I can practice living off of only what I pack and it helps me figure out if I’m forgetting something I may need. I have a few friends on the other hand that pack last minute, aka: the morning of the drive, and just throw things in grocery bags or pillow cases. They usually end up forgetting something or saying, “I wish I brought _____” or “I should have packed ______”. Don’t be that person. Plan it out and make time to pack the night before, it saves you energy in the morning and money when you don’t have to go buy socks and a toothbrush.
3. If you plan on leaving before 4am try to get into bed by around 7pm. On my long road-trips I usually get up around 3 - 3:30am and depart home around 4am. So I try and hop in bed by 7pm (this rarely actually happens, but I plan it to work out that way). If it takes you a little longer to get into bed, or a few hours to fall asleep at night, like it takes me, than 7pm isn’t actually as early as it may seem. When I get in bed by 7pm, on average I don’t actually start to nod off until around 9pm. 9pm to 3am only gives me 6 hours of sleep for my 10+ hours of driving. Not a lot, but sufficient for me, when I average 4 hours of sleep normally (yes I know that is bad).

Carlsbad | May 5th, 2014

ESSENTIALS TO HAVE DURING THE DRIVE 
(WITHIN REACH PREFERABLY)

This is a list of things that I have learned are a must have for any road-trip I embark on. It’s especially helpful to have these items within reach (if possible) during the drive so you don’t have to stop and pull over to retrieve them.

• FOOD - snacks and drinks are super helpful during a long car drive. I usually pack about 4 water bottles, a coffee drink of sorts, crackers, an apple or two, a few breakfast bars, and some gum. I try not to pack to many sweets because in a car drive sometimes it’s easy to fall into the trap of fast and easy food and you end up eating junk food the entire trip. I know I will be stopping at drive-thru’s so I don’t want to add too much other junk foods. Anything that doesn’t need to be refrigerated and can be easily eaten in a car (ie; no crumbs, no sauces, no pungent smells) is a great option.
• CLOTHES - clothes sound like an obvious thing for any venture into the world, however I’ve learned a few things about what often is the best items to wear during a long road-trip. Think comfort! Nobody cares if you are wearing makeup or if your hair is a mess, or even if you are wearing your middle school band shirt, just be comfortable. I usually lean towards a loose v-neck t-shirt and some loose pants (ie; my velour track pants, yes I own a pair and I am not sorry about it). Make sure nothing is tight or uncomfortable for long periods of time. I don’t know about you, but I tend to bloat a bit during long car drives, anything over a eight hour drive, and I would hate to find out my shirt isn’t as comfy as I may have thought. Make sure you have sunglasses easily accessible. They save you a lot when driving. You may want to put a jacket within reach. I always leave one out of my suitcase and laying on the back seat so I can grab one if need be. This leads me to my next point… make sure your clothes are weather adapting. For example, as I drove from California to Texas, I had to stop and get out at gas stations along the way. In the matter of one day I went from 76 degree heat to 32 degree snow. No joke! make sure your clothes can easy change with the weather you plan on having during the drive. Also, bring slippers in the car! You don’t have to wear them the entire time, but have them and a pair of slip on shoes accessible and easily interchangeable. I usually wear slippers during road-trips, they are soft, comfy, and if need be, I can wear them to pump gas or get out at a rest stop. Now, even though I say dress comfy, think about what you are wearing in case something happens. 

STORY TIME:

January 1st, 2015

I was driving home from LA with my friend Lisa back on January 1st, 2015 and I knew it would be about a 7 hour drive and I wanted to be comfy and lazy at the same time, so I decided to wear my pajama top and leggings with no bra and slippers. As luck would have it, as we were about to go over the Grapevine I blew a tire. It went rolling across 5 lanes of traffic, lucky hitting nobody else on the road, and we pulled into the center divide. I am very fortunate that there was a huge center shoulder and that we were in the fast lane, so it was a smooth (lol) transition off the freeway. Although it wasn’t until I had to get out of my car, in the middle of the freeway, on New Years Day, with people whizzing by that I realized I would rather be wearing something else.

LESSON: Be comfortable, not lazy. Wear clothes you don’t mind if people see you in.

• CREDIT (DEBIT) CARDS / MONEY - I learned this one the hard way… times have changed and credit card companies are all about your protection, which is great, except when they cut you off because they think your card has been stollen. My suggestion, if you don’t travel often, and you decide to take a long road-trip, especially across multiple states, call your card company a day or two before your trip and let them know of your plans and when you estimate to be back home. I didn’t know what would happen, but because I don’t take as many road-trips as I used to, my credit card companies thought that someone buying stuff in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas within two days was enough strange activity on my account to shut them down on fraud suspicions. Due to the fact that none of my cards were working, I was turned away at multiple gas stations. I started to worry that someone had in fact stollen my number, but when I called the companies, they informed me that they assumed it had been fraud because of the fast travel times, distance, and charges. It was easy enough to sort out, but it’s easier to call ahead and not have to worry about your cards being cut off. I suggest bringing enough money for at least a half a tank of gas and some food just incase something like what happened to me happens to you. Just in case your cards stop working, make sure you have enough cash with you to get some food and gas.
• PILLOW - I think this one is easy to understand and needs very little explanation. If you are a passenger, bring a pillow. Even if you don’t sleep during car rides, sometimes it’s nice to have a comfortable surface to lean on during long drives.
• CHARGERS - make sure you have a car charger for your phone within reach. I tend to use my GPS on my iPhone whenever I’m taking trips as well as play music off my phone, so the battery is something I cannot afford to lose. If you and your passengers all share the same type of device, you don’t all need an individual charger, just one or two depending on the number of people in the car should be sufficient. Just take turns charging and pack the rest of the chargers away.
• MUSIC / AUDIO PLAYERS - I can not take a drive without music, even if it’s down the street to the grocery store or to my friends house 5 blocks away. I live and breath off music. I suggest for a good time creating a playlist of your music before you leave home, or creating a Pandora playlist for the drive. My favorite Pandora stations are: “Angus and Julia Stone Radio”, “Michael Buble Radio”, “Today’s Hits Radio”, and “Arctic Monkeys Radio”. I also highly suggest breaking up the music on the trip with a few laughs. I listen to “Comedy Is Not Pretty Radio” on Pandora. It brings lots of laughs but does have some explicit language, so be aware of the age of your passengers.
• CHAPSTICK / LOTION / MOISTURIZER - I tend to get very dry skin naturally, but it becomes even more dry in cars. I usually apply moisturizer, lotion, and my Burt’s Bees Lip-Balm before any long drive. I DO NOT apply makeup. This way my skin has time to rest and breath and moisturize while I travel. It helps me have healthier skin when I arrive at my final destination. Plus, chapstick is a total lifesaver. I usually apply chapstick every two to three hours on a road-trip due to chapped lips. Don’t get dry skin or chapped lips. Drives are an easy time to refresh.
• BACK WARMER / ICY HOT - I have a pretty bad back, thank you scoliosis and back spasms. If you are prone to sore muscles or back pains, may I suggest bringing along a back warmer and/or some icy-hot for the drive. Also, a hint for the females out there, if you are on your period during a long road-trip, yes I know, it sucks, the back warmers can be shifted onto your stomach and relieve menstrual cramps and pains.
• HAND SANITIZER / TIDE-TO-GO - sometimes, when you dont want to stop driving, like I do, you end up eating in the car and when you finish you realize you can’t wash your hands… there’s no sink in your vehicle. A moment like that is where hand sanitizer is a life saver. Bath & Body Works often has a deal on hand sanitizers. And don’t forget that you can easily clean any stains that may mystically appear on your clothes or even the car if you bring with you a Tide-To-Go Pen . No longer will your food stains or coffee spots be a huge worry. Tide-To-Go pens are a necessity for any bag I carry, but especially for long car drives. (I swear I was not paid to say any of this, I just love the stuff and need it with me on my road-trips!)
• BOOK / NOTEBOOK - Even if you don’t plan on reading in the car or writing anything down, bringing a notebook or reading book can save you from boredom and if you have a great idea for your next book, movie, blogpost, or just general notes, you can jot them down. I never realized how many things I actually wanted to take note of before I started bringing a tiny notebook in my purses. I always have one in the car now. And if you are stumped on reading materials might I suggest a few good books? 

Wild - Cheryl Strayed

Me Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews

Room - Emma Donoghue

Me Before You - Jojo Moyes

Just Kids - Patti Smith

• ADVIL / EXCEDRIN / MEDICATION - for those pesky headaches or neck-aches, I always like to be prepared. I tend to get migraines, but if you don’t normally have a problem with headaches or any other aches, you can skip packing this and putting it within reach. If you have any medication that you take, then make sure these are within your reach during the car ride.

Las Vegas, NV | August 1st, 2014

TIPS & TRICKS

1. DONT OVER PACK - I still do this to this day, but if you are going somewhere with a washer/dryer than you really dont need more than just the bare essentials, you can wash your clothes at your final destination. A heavy suitcase is never fun and only takes up more space in the car that could be used for other things (see Tip #3).
2. FIGURE OUT WHAT “THEY” HAVE - if you are a serial over-packer, figure out what your final destination already has. For example; my grandma has a hair dryer so I don’t need to pack one and clutter up my bag, it would just be a waste of space. My grandmother also has an umbrella so even though I looked at the weather before hand, and it says rain, I really dont need to bring my Mary Poppins umbrella, even though I love it so. Figuring out what your final destination has, helps cut down on the amount of stuff you bring and leaves room for other things that may accumulate during your trip, leading to my next tip…
3. LEAVE SPACE FOR NEW THINGS - I have a major problem with buying things on trips. It doesn’t matter if its to Disney World or just to Texas, I always buy at least one or two things, and lets face it by one or two things, I mean maybe a couple of hundred things (get it? Bieber reference... no? okay moving on!) I always end up buying things and run out of space to bring them back home. If you are driving, usually you have more room than if you’re flying which allows some leeway for trinkets and things. Just try to plan as accordingly as you can if you know you like to buy souvenirs. 

Catalina Island | December 31st, 2014

GAMES

1. KID FRIENDLY GAMES

• Eye Spy : One person spies something and recites the line, “Eye spy with my little eye, something _______”, ending in a clue (ie; red, blue, round, bright, etc.). Everyone else takes turns trying to guess the mystery item.
• License Plate Game : See how many different license plates you can find on your trip and check them off your list. You can shoot for all 50 states, or just a select few, you choose. Work as a team in the car, or individually. Bonus points for Canada, Mexico, or US Territory plates.
• Punch Buggy / Slug Bug (same thing) : Look out the window and find a Volkswagen Beetle or New Beetle. Punch (lightly NOT HARD) the person closest to you on the arm or leg while calling out "Slug bug!" or "Punch buggy!". It helps to call out the color of the Punch Buggy, so it will make it easier for the other person to see it too. Whomever has the most at the end of the drive, wins.
• 20 Questions : Guess what noun (person/place/thing) someone in the car is thinking of in 20 questions or under. Rules: someone in the car thinks of something, the car begins to ask yes or no questions trying to narrow down the possible answers, a question can not be repeated, whom ever guesses the right answer gets to start the next round.
• Hangman : The first player thinks of… anything, really. Instead of writing out the saying, you leave an underscore for each letter in each word. The second player guesses one letter at a time. If the mystery saying contains the letter, it is written in the correct place. If not, the first player draws a head on the hangman scaffold. When enough incorrect letters have been guessed, the dead body is complete and the second player loses. If the guesser solves the puzzle before the body is complete, they win.
• Bingo : This game combines bingo with a scavenger hunt. Give each player a small white board. Each player writes out the possible bingo sightings on a 5 square by 5 square chart, (ie; tree, bike, stop sign, dog in car, fence, church, horse, airplane, cow, traffic cone, police car, railroad sign, bus, free space, bird, fire hydrant, construction vehicle, etc.) and an expo marker. When a player spies an item on his/her card, s/he puts and X through the word. Just like in regular bingo, the first player to cover all the squares in a straight line wins.
• M.A.S.H. : Ask any 90s kid, they can help you figure this out. If you need help, you can look up the rules here.

2.  ADULT ONLY GAMES (just to be safe)

• Never Have I Ever : This is usually a drinking game, but since safety and not getting arrested comes first, leave the alcohol out of the equation until you arrive at your destination. Instead, play the game as you usually would (and take a drink), but with water, juice, soda, or whatever your appropriate drink of choice is. First one to take a drink 10 times, or the first to need to use the bathroom, loses. 
• Swear Jar : Decide on a common word that will be off limits for the duration of the car trip. It doesn’t have to be a swear word, just a common word that everyone will use at least once during normal conversation. Try words like bathroom, cow, phone, etc. to try and trip people up. You can use real money, or have the offending passenger write their name on a scrap of paper and put it in the jar. The person with the most money or names in the jar has to buy the car a round of drinks at your destination, fill up the gas tank, or do something else of your choosing.
• Would You Rather : We all know this game. Everyone takes turns asking whether the others would do something or another. Feel free to make it as gross, weird, and unique as possible. Here are a few suggestions: “Would you rather never be able to speak again or always have to say everything that is on your mind?” , “Would you rather never listen to music again or live without TV forever?” , “Would you rather have no eyebrows or no lips?” , “Would you rather have the best house in a shitty neighborhood or the worst house in a fancy neighborhood?” , etc. You get the point.
• Pop Culture : If your car is full of film buffs, music idolizers, or just pop culture know-it-alls, play “Pop Culture”. (I don’t know if there is another name for this game, because I made it up with my dad on a trip from California to Seattle, Washington) Game: Connect actors, singers, musicians, through movies, tv shows, and relationships they have been in. Rules: The game starts with an actor, actress, or singer. Then choose someone you want to try and connect them to. Then you take the first name and you try to say a movie, or relationship they have been in or are in. The following person has to state another actor/actress from that movie or someone else they dated. It continues on until you can reach your goal person.  

Example: lets say you want to connect Bruce Willis to Lady Gaga. The game might go something like this:

• Bruce Willis 
• (whose ex-wife is) Demi Moore
• (who was married to) Ashton Kutcher
• (who starred in) Valentine’s Day
• (with) Jessica Alba
• (who was also in) Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
• (with) Lady Gaga

DONE!!!

* Note: I just did this Pop Culture run on my own while writing this blog post, so it wasn’t until I finished the link that I remembered that Bruce Willis was in fact in Sin City as well… so this link could have been completed a lot faster, however; you get the gist and how to play the game.

[Pike Place Market] Seattle, WA | October 3rd, 2015

Now go forth and have an AMAZING road trip!!! I hope some of these tips, tricks, and games help you have a smooth and fun drive. Don’t be afraid to leave me a comment on your thoughts of my list or what you think can be added to it. If you have suggestions or things that you do on a road-trip, do let me know. I love to learn new things and ideas for a more successful and entertaining trip. 

If you would like to follow my adventures, where I often post photos of my road trips, feel free to follow me on my instagram.

If you would like to see a short video I made of my drive to Texas, you can play the video below. That's another thing, if you like playing around with apps (I used iMovie on my iPhone) or any other video makers, you can make a short film/video of your drive to remember it and keep busy during the road-trip. :)

Love

Always

kirsten nicole huxtable

STORY: A Patient Man

              I would like to tell you a short story about a very patient man, my dad. THE BEST DAD EVER!

        
       At 2am I sauntered downstairs with a killer migraine and asked my dad if he could massage my head and neck to get rid of the pain. Without hesitation he agrees, even though he was just about to head off to bed. We talked for a few minutes about infomercials (the current focus of the muted tv in front of us) before moving on to the topic of real estate and house flipping only to somehow end up in a conversation about the stock market.

        [Keep in mind, I know close to nothing when it comes to the stock market other than what I've learned from a little Scorsese film titled "The Wolf of Wall Street"... great film, but that's not pertinent to this story.]

        Now it's 2:35am and at this point I'm asking a hundred questions a minute and my dad is patient enough to help me understand and grasp the general concepts of the market and how the New York Stock Exchange functions. I've never really showed an interest in things like the stock market before, and yet; whether it be the time of morning, or the migraine that I am now unknowingly numb to, I was beyond entranced by the ethics and intricacies of the NYSE. 

        It's now 3:30am, and my father and I have been discussing the stock market for a little over an hour. All the while he has been massaging my migraine away and teaching me more than he probably realizes.

        I want to say THANK YOU to my dad for not only staying up past your bedtime to help your grown daughter get rid of her migraine, but for being willing and excited to share your knowledge and wisdom with the same ears that as an adolescent tuned you out. Thank you for not giving up on teaching me new things. I know as a kid I was hard to understand and rarely wanted to be taught a lesson from my parents, but you always are eager and ready to share life with me. Thank you for being such an amazing father and role model. I love you dad!

        (Side note, I NEVER thought I would be able to say that I diluted a migraine by partaking in an hour and a half discussion about the stock market... But it worked!)

        Now I'm off to bed to dream about DiCaprio scamming his way to the top of the financial world only to be mauled by a bear and a giant iceberg.... wait...

        Love Always,

        kirsten nicole huxtable