Stories from Quarantine | Oh the Places I Didn’t Get to Go
So it’s day 62 of quarantine and because of who I am as a person, it’s been a while since I’ve traveled. And not only that, I’ve had to cancel a few trips (and other outings) due to this pandemic. Am I totally behind my social responsibility to stay home, not get on planes, and not spend time in groups? Yes I am. But am I still sad that these trips I’d been looking so forward to had to get canceled? Absolutely.
“But Chellie, can’t you reschedule your trips?” Sure, yeah. Some of them anyway. But some not. So where was I going? What was I supposed to be doing? This is just a post of me mourning the things I’ve missed. If that’s not for you, that’s cool!
March
I’m INCREDIBLY grateful that the one trip I had scheduled for March was able to happen. I was going to Las Vegas to celebrate my girl Ashley’s bachelorette party and was able to snag a deal on flights that allowed me to spend a day and a half in Denver with my sweet cousins on my way. I never get enough time with them because coordinating all of our schedules is definitely a challenge. But I did get to see them twice in six months because we were able to meet briefly during our overlapping trips to Seattle over thanksgiving. We celebrated my little cousin Alex’s birthday, hiked at Garden of the Gods, and had two great family dinners before heading off to Vegas.
Most of what I wasn’t able to do in March were one off events. St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays and I always look forward to celebrating in Chicago. My friends, my mom, and I were supposed to go to a bar crawl the Saturday before but as a group, we made the decision that being out at a huge event like that wasn’t wise. So we decided we’d skip it. The organizer wouldn’t issue refunds and while that makes sense as ticket policy, it was a bummer given the way this situation has continued to escalate. Sad, yes. Will I happily celebrate when life resumes, yes.
Midway through the bar crawl, mom and I would be parting ways and heading to Bachelor Live on Stage. I was REALLY looking forward to enjoying the matinee with mom. I’d bought the VIP tickets even though I’ve already met Ben. We love Becca and Ben so obviously mom would want to meet them. Friday we got an email that the show would be rescheduled. So I went from having an insanely busy day that would likely include an outfit change in my car in a parking garage downtown, to laying on my couch doing nothing. The matinee and evening shows were rescheduled for October but then I got an email a few weeks ago stating that the matinee had been outright canceled. After a quick google search, I saw that the evening show had been rescheduled for February of next year. Did I cry? Yeah. I was really looking forward to taking my mom.
Another thing I’m grateful for that happened in March was that I brought my sister home to surprise my parents. Initially only a few of our friends knew because a, it was a surprise and b, many would have considered that non-essential. I get that. I have MANY friends who are quarantined hundreds or thousands of miles from their families and my heart truly goes out to them every day. I just know my mom and she’d have lost her mind if Colleen hadn’t been here. I told them I accidentally shipped an amazon package to my friend’s house, which did check out since we had just had the bachelorette party so it was believable. But instead of driving to her house, I went to the airport, grabbed my sister, and gave my parents the best surprise of their life. With Disney remaining closed indefinitely, her one week visit has also become indefinite. I’m glad I pulled the metaphorical trigger and brought her home when I did because it would have been worse to leave her there with Florida’s current situation.
Later that week, mom, Ashley, and I were supposed to go see Wine & Crime, one of our favorite true crime podcasts. Their ad for tour at the beginning of each episode advertising their midwest tour made me make a joke with them on Twitter about making and bringing a mozzarella stick casserole. (If you know, you know.) Well the joke took off and I was making it! I was looking forward to working from home that day and making it for them to eat on stage. We’re now scheduled to see them on a Friday in October but my hopes aren’t high.
April
I was so looking forward to the trips I had in April. Not any more than the trips I had scheduled for May, but differently. They weren’t scheduled in chronological order so I’ll tell you about them in the order in which they were booked.
Flights to Orlando had been ASTRONOMICAL all year. While I was lucky enough to see my sister twice in December, I was really missing her. I found a deal on flights that would allow me to spend a day with her. So I’d fly down Wednesday morning, we’d spend the day at a park (probably Epcot because it’s my favorite), and I’d go home that night. Colleen had asked if I wanted to come down the night before but Tuesdays during real life, dad is in a bowling league and mom and I enjoy our takeout Tuesdays. I don’t like to miss those nights. So Colleen was like “Just have mom come!” Around this time, dad had mentioned taking a family trip over mom’s spring break but mom wasn’t down because she had an appointment she didn’t want to reschedule.
While mom and I were deciding if she wanted to tag along with me the following week, I’d been talking to my sweet friend Rebecca down in Austin. We’d been trying to coordinate a visit over the winter but it just didn’t work out and now that the outdoor season was opening back up her weekends were Monday and Tuesday. So I decided I’d bite the bullet. I snagged $49 flights to see her for 36 hours. I was excited to go to Alfred’s (my favorite coffee shop in LA) Austin location and of course spend time with my girl.
Shortly after booking, dad decided that at least he and Mom would be heading to Florida to visit Colleen. They wanted to leave Tuesday morning so I decided I’d switch my flight home from Austin to Orlando instead, we’d spend a few days at the parks and I’d spend at least one day working by the pool. This was supposed to be an amazing week. Mom decided to tag along the following week and we changed our flights. With these trips, I’d be well on my way to re-earning my A-List status with Southwest much earlier than I had the last two years. Remember when I threw a bunch of trips together last minute in 2018. I don’t regret it but it was stressful.
But with no end in sight and Colleen still here, we cancelled the Disney trips. As I check my flights every day to see if fares have gone down so I can reprice, two weeks before I was supposed to leave, Southwest alerted me to the Texas governor’s mandates for traveling into Texas from one of the hotspots, Chicago included. I’d have to quarantine in Texas for 14 days which simply wasn’t feasible. Rebecca and I made the heartbreaking decision to cancel my flights. We still don’t know when I’ll be able to visit. But rest assured that Austin is top three on my list of cities to visit when it’s safe.
Another cancelation? The Hot Chelle Rae concert. The Ashleys and I have LOVED them since we saw them open for Emily Osment back in 2010. They were so nice when we hung out with them after the show. We’d grown to love them even more when we saw them again, this time headlining, in 2012l It’s been a long hiatus so we were so excited, that I know I could have exploded. But as of right now, the show at the venue they were supposed to perform at is canceled and we’ve been refunded. They plan to go back on tour when it’s safe. I hope that’s sooner rather than later but my hopes aren’t high.
May
This month is sad in far different ways.I was going to be away from home every weekend this month. I had three weddings for high school friends, Mother’s Day at Disney, a few events, and staying at my Uncle’s.
The first weekend: Indianapolis/Chicago. My best friend Michelle was getting married. I was planning to drive down Friday with my best friend Nina who I was bringing as my plus one as festivities began that night. We’d attend their ceremony and reception Saturday and then leave first thing Sunday morning. Sunday was Ashley’s birthday and we’d planned to go to a boozy brunch in Chicago AND my cousin Peter might have been in town for baseball which I wouldn’t have missed for the world. Michelle and Dean were still married that weekend in a very small ceremony and we’ll hopefully be celebrating them with a vow renewal and reception in October.
Second weekend: Orlando. The last few years we’ve been celebrating Mother’s Day weekend at Disney so mom can be with both of her girls. I look forward to it every year. For me, that’s the start of my summer. We had dining reservations at Tepan Edo, one of our favorite restaurants on property. Colleen and I had bought a Mother’s Day gift we were really excited about. Getting the email from Disney that they had to cancel our resort reservations as they wouldn’t be reopening in time. We rescheduled our reservation for when we plan to go down to celebrate my birthday and go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party but we’re still majorly bummed. The knife in the wound was that the gift we’d bought mom had sold out and our order had been canceled. She’s getting a new gift that’s supposed to come today but we’ll see.
Third weekend: Valparaiso, Indiana. This weekend we were supposed to get Ashley married to Sam. I’ve been so excited about this weekend since Ashley asked me to be her bridesmaid. I have my dress–that needs to be altered. I have a few different pairs of shoes. I had a hotel reservation. I was ready to cry as she married her person and dance into the reception with a groomsman I hope was more fun than this one that escorted me at a wedding that shall remain nameless. We were planning to do bestie pictures, both Ashleys and me. My makeup was going to be airbrushed. We were gonna look amazing. And now we’ve had to reschedule for July. I’m not saying hopefully because MOH Ashley and I are prepared to throw a socially distanced ceremony in bride Ashely’s backyard so she can still get married this year.
Fourth weekend: Michigan. Brittani would be marrying Drew at arguably the best wedding venue Michigan has to offer. Drew is the only boyfriend of Brittani’s I’ve ever liked so I am VERY glad he’s her person. When I dropped off an Easter basket at her house on a Monday, we talked through her window for a bit. She was the last friend that hadn’t rescheduled her wedding yet. She told me she had a call with her venue that week. Fast forward to that Friday. I asked how the call went and she said she’d FaceTime me shortly. Since she’s supposed to have her ceremony outdoors, there are very few weekends left this year she could reschedule for. My heart broke when she told me the only date they could get was the Sunday of my birthday weekend when I’m supposed to be in Miami. Which means she can’t come to my birthday and I can’t currently go to her wedding. I’m devastated. Neither of us ever expected. I was proud of myself that I waited to cry until we hung up, but then I sobbed.
That’s when I got angry. Yeah, it stinks all the things I’ve been looking forward to are canceled. But now you’re hurting the people I love. It breaks my heart that Michelle, Ashley, and Brittani, and countless other brides aren’t getting the day they’ve dreamed of.
I have trips booked in June, July, August, and September. I’ve got plans for October, November, and December. Am I expecting more trips to be canceled? Unfortunately yes. I just hope my life, and yours, start to feel like they’re ours again. I know I have a lot to be grateful for in quarantine, but it is possible to be both grateful and sad. That said, here is this post. Please share in the comments the places, trips, events, etc. you’re mourning in quarantine. There’s more hope in togetherness.
xo.
