The sound of the waves as I stare at the moon from the top deck of Luckie Lady is one of my favorite memories. That’s how calmly we wrapped up summer in the Outer Banks, North Carolina … exactly what we needed after juggling so much.

Though I have said this before and will continue to say it for as long as I can, the six-hour road trip from Philadelphia to North Carolina is one of the things I look forward to the most about this annual vacation. It reminds me of when Nate and I started getting to know each other and we’d take long drives and just talk … for hours. We started taking turns in the most recent years, so now I get to see him enjoy the ride and view from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

We got lucky and were able to enjoy some beautiful beach days despite it being late in the summer. Think homemade piña coladas and happy hour on the deck at sunset, grilled dinners, breathtaking sunsets and, of course, a meal from John’s Drive In to top it off. We got home with our hearts full and … well, a decent amount of sand in my hair, haha! The transition to fall was smooth, but things picked up in October with a lot of work, life events, holiday planning and more. I’m used to being super busy during the last quarter of the year; however, this year has felt like I’m preparing for a 5K run … every day. So much so, in between planning for our annual event on the West Coast, Thanksgiving dinner, a big birthday trip and all the holidays that follow, life forced me to take a break, which made me think of new, more efficient and less overwhelming ways to stay ahead of the game.

After a recent health scare, I canceled our end-of-year travel plans and decided to stay close to home — which proved to be the right decision to make for more than one reason. This year we gathered in my mother’s home in New York City for Thanksgiving; I was more appreciative and thankful than ever to be able to enjoy a holiday meal made with love with those I love. To my surprise, this night also turned out to be a small engagement party … our engagement party. Talk about life events, huh?!

While the wedding won’t be for another year or so, knowing we have such a big event coming up made me rethink some of my future travel plans, so I made adjustments to my travel list and turned some solo and girls’ trips into venue walkthroughs and bridal party trips. I got to practice walking down the aisle … of the jet bridge, of course, on my recent trip to Los Angeles, where I joined the team to celebrate the winners of the 19th annual GT Tested Reader Survey awards with a lovely reception at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles.

I’ll tell you more about it next week!

— Yasser Ogando, advertising & production manager