My Blue Crush Dream

If you know me at all, you might be aware of the fact that I am mildly obsessed with a dorky surfer-girl movie called Blue Crush. The first time I saw it I just knew I would one day be an amazing surfer. I could feel the saltwater running through my veins. This past weekend, I got the chance to reach for my Blue Crush dream.

While on vacation in North Carolina with two of my dear pals Alison and Cary, we took a little side trip to the beach. Cary surprised us with surfing lessons! Alison said she'd take pictures because she would rather have her fingernails pulled out than have to be in saltwater for an extended period of time.

So Cary and I got suited up and met the coolest surf instructor named Jo.

Don't we look like two legit surfer gals?

We started off learning the basics. I could feel my inner surfer girl just itching to burst out.We checked the line up. Yup, I know the lingo.

One of several iconic photos to follow. (Isn't Alison a great photographer?!)

 Then we headed out.

Looking for some sweet waves.

Right off the bat Jo told me to go for a wave I was in perfect position for. I started paddling and rode that bad boy all the way to shore. On my stomach. Oh, you meant try to actually surf? I got caught up in the pure joy of the moment and was perfectly fine to just boogie board.

Cary, on the other hand, was not. This girl was not messing around. She wanted to stand up some kind of awful. The learning curve is a bit high though and she did ingest a bit of saltwater.

What happened?

Cary's first time to get up on the board. Do you see the absolute elation on her face?!

Don't I look cool and serene out there waiting for a wave? Well, that wasn't quite the case. You see, it was about this time 20 minutes into our lesson that I started to realize my dream was about to end. Every time the sea would move under my board, my stomach would lurch and my throat would tingle. My head started pounding and I felt like the breakfast bar I had eaten was about to become fish food. I was SEA SICK! I have had this problem since I was little. Car rides, carny rides, air plane rides- they have all wreaked havoc on my inner ear for years. Whenever I fly, I always check for that little bag in the front pocket because I know I will probably need it during landing. My tolerance for boat rides out on choppy water is nil. I get greener than a tree frog and feel as miserable as a drunk monkey.

So I sat on my board, torn by my desire to conquer the board and my lurching insides. I hung my head low and sadly admitted to Jo and Cary that I was a lightweight and needed to get out of the water before I lost my cookies. As I paddled back in dejected and sick, I gave it one last go.

And that's as close as I got to being Kate Bosworth. Lame.

But Cary was a natural! She had so much fun and I think it was more fun to watch her and cheer her on with Ali than actually being in the water. She was cracking us up being such a ham for the camera. I don't think she came off her surfing high all day.

Jo offered to come with us on a surfing trip to Costa Rica with all of our families some day and teach the whole fam-damly. Wouldn't that be a blast? I would just need to be sure to bring a small truckload of anti-nausea medicine. I will keep the dream alive. Thank you Cary for such a fun experience and many thanks Alison for being there to get it all on film.