Harbor – The Bouncy Kitty

It’s always a good time when my LA friends decide to uproot themselves for the weekend to take our antics to a new location; and this weekend – we ventured down to San Diego for some dancing, sunshine and what my friends and I now like to call ‘Mansioning’

(verb: when you go on a nice vacation and simply marinate in the moment + your happiness!).

I spent the long, Valentine’s Day weekend with my boyfriend and a dozen of my closest friends. We frolicked, we drank, we ate (a partial liquid diet) – but mostly, we geeked out on how much we mean to each other and both our individual and combined potential. Out of the group, I’m one of the only people that holds a ‘traditional’ (e.g. non-freelance, non-contracted) job with a Monday through Friday, 9-5 schedule. One friend is a location scout, a few are musicians, then there’s a real estate agent, a makeup artist, a business consultant, a farmer, etc etc – and I can’t discount myself, because I’m still in the process of converting my hobbies and passions into my persuasions like the rest of the group. Every time we get together, I walk away inspired and reminded of who I am and who my support system is. And I couldn’t think of a better way to spend Valentine’s weekend than with a group of people that simply radiate love.

Seal of Approval

Postin’

My boo + I

Sunset on the SD Harbor

Punch Bowls @ Craft + Commerce
It’s What’s for Dinner

Besides the times I sing along to ‘The Lonely Island’ – I rarely step foot on any type of boat. When I was in preschool, one of my teachers had a little 15′ boat he’d take us little tykes out on; it was honestly one of the highlights of my childhood. A group of 15 kids would go out in the middle of the Bay and have story time; but the older I got, the more seasick I became and started to avoid smaller boats like the plague.

My body has a weird habit of internalizing my movements during the day and replaying them at night, and even if I was on a Ferry – I would wake up in the morning, feeling like my body was rocking to and fro. Last summer for the 4th of July, I went out in Santa Barbara on a friends boat and had to jump ship 30 minutes in because being in the cold water was preferable to feeling sea sick. Long story short, I’ve essentially sworn off boats of all shapes and sizes.

TWel, that all changed last weekend when I cruised down to Newport with some of my good friends for some fun in the summer sun. Harmonic Productions, the promotional team that runs HEAR, BASK,and Damaged Goods, has been throwing Overboard boat parties on the famed Tiki Boat in Newport Harbor for the past few summers.

Los Angeles was in the midst of a 100+ week long heat wave and being outside wasn’t exactly fun. Down in Newport the weather was a gorgeous 85 and sunny, a few clouds but overall amazing weather to sail around the harbor. The timing could not have been better.

The Tiki Boat has a fully stoked bar on the bottom level, a DJ booth, dance floor and there were a few booths to sit and relax in if you’re into that type of thing. But between the deep house jams, lively conversation and run ins with friends both new and old – that wasn’t a very likely scenario. The upper deck had a large observation area and ample space outside for us to mingle and enjoy some sunshine. The cruise lasted for five crazy fun hours and we were making friends up and down the harbor; there were a few little kid moments that reminded me of being on the school bus and making faces at the people passing by. But instead of faces, it was peace signs, good vibes and fresh dance moves.

I was lucky enough to have several different groups of friends in attendance, which FYI was kept to a very low number so we could get everyone on the boat. Maybe 250 tickets were sold for the event, and that’s being generous. But even if you didn’t know anyone when you got on the boat, when you left you had some brand spanking new friendships to show for yourself. Everyone that was involved, from the promotional team, to the DJs, to the bartenders and back to the fun loving, trouble making crowd in attendance – helped make that event as fabulous as it was. I can’t wait to go back for the party next year!