Vacation, All I Ever Hunted: Friends Without Benefits

When I first read about Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation on Ivy's Closet, I knew it was my kind of novel.  Ivy's Closet, by the way, is a fun and creative blog featuring original fiction, book and movie reviews, music playlists, and more.  If you enjoy pop culture and engaging writing (and who doesn't?), then I highly recommend it, along with its sister blogs Ellie and Caitlin & Megan.  So, People We Meet on Vacation.  I was instantly into it because it's about the kind of romance that everyone wants: the kind that begins as friendship.  Alex and Poppy have enough inside jokes to fill a book, accept each other's flaws (an acceptance, that is, accompanied by good-natured ribbing), and are protective of each other.  After meeting at the University of Chicago, they go on a summer vacation every year.  Henry describes these trips as flashbacks, letting us get to know Alex and Poppy slowly and through the bittersweet lens of nostalgia.  And although their living situations, jobs, and romantic statuses change, they keep at it for a decade.

Poppy is a free spirit who showers three times a week and lives in vintage jumpsuits whereas Alex is a planner who runs at dawn and prefers brand-new button-downs.  Maybe that's why they stay in the friend zone.  Yet although much is made of their Odd Couple ways, they're at their most comfortable -- and happiest -- together.  Which tracks, because they have three key things in common: 1) They're both writers, 2) They both have a stellar sense of humor (so much more important than on-the-same-page hygiene), and 3) They both come from the same small town in Ohio.  Interestingly, it's the town of their origin stories that keeps them from becoming even closer.  Haunted by being taunted in high school, Poppy dropped out of college and fled to New York City, eager to begin her globe-trotting life as a travel writer.  But Alex put down roots, building a career as an English teacher-slash-short story writer to be near his dad, who's still grieving the death of his mom.  And that works.  Because Alex and Poppy have their summer vacations, or as Poppy puts it, their "world for two."  

But sooner or later, vacations must end, even for Alex and Poppy.  As they enter their thirties, they can no longer pretend that they don't have to decide what to do with their lives -- and each other.  Can they move on from the carefree, no-strings-attached vibe of the Go-Go's "Vacation" to the let's-be-each-other's-north-star romance of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' "Home"?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But one thing's for sure.  Sometimes, the people we meet on vacation aren't strangers, but the best versions of ourselves.

Then again, sometimes they are strangers.  But that's a different kind of book for a different kind of blog. 

P.S. Don't talk to strangers.

Mad About Modcloth

 Traveling Cupcake Dress

Dew You Wanna Dance Dress

 The Zest is Yet to Come Dress

 Opening Night Gala Dress

Simmer it Up Dress

 Boldest of the Bunch Dress

 Dining Cheerfully Dress

As I was typing this post title, Belinda Carlisle's "Mad About You" began playing in my head.  And I thought, "Not too off the mark to hum an 80s tune when singing the praises of retro-style dresses."  Even if the "retro" in question has at least one pump planted firmly in 1950.  

I didn't happen upon these feisty frocks in a big box store.  I got them from Modcloth, a web site specializing in vintage-inspired fashion.  The burgeoning business is owned by high school sweethearts Susan Gregg Koger and Eric Koger (aw!), and it began as a way for Susan to unload her ever-growing collection of vintage treasures.  Clearly, I'm hooked, having purchased these lucky seven (and, if I may add, marvelously monikered) dresses in recent months.  I haven't worn any of them yet (I'm saving most of them for my honeymoon this summer), but I can say this: there's something about a Modcloth dress.  When you put one on, you feel like you're about to take part in an exquisite and delicious slice of theater.  As in, when you walk down the street, cartoon birds will appear and hearts will explode and strangers will smile and tip their hats.  

That's not to say that these confections can't be a little costly (although Modcloth does run some pretty stellar sales).  But they're worth it, and adding them to your wardrobe will give you the kind of sartorial satisfaction that just can't be found in a department store.  No disrespect, by the way, to department stores, as they are the frugal fashionista's best friend.  But their brand of retail rhapsody is more of the look-at-all-the-cool-components-I-got-for-one-low-price variety; now I can go home and style something awesome, whereas the Modcloth wow factor hinges on a knee-jerk reaction of, now, that's something stunning; let me not muck it up with too many other pieces.  

And to think some say shopping is mindless.