We decided on It is definitely a party town, and I wanted to have both, like relaxing time, but since I was going with like a group of friends, I wanted to have some fun. So I'm very happy to say that despite that there were so many of us, the trip was drama free, psich. We had like quiet time. We had our little teas in the morning, we were chilling. It was like perfect because we had party, we had friend time, we had alone time.
It was nice.
What up y'all and happy Monday. I hope you all are having a great summer so far, especially my fellow cancers. Speaking of cancers, I'm a cancer. I'm actually a jum cancer. So my birthday was just a couple of weeks ago, and guys, I spent it in Greece.
I had the best.
Time, and I can't wait to tell you guys all about it on today's episode. So let's get to it. This is cheek and chill. Every year I try to take a really memorable birthday trip. Last year I went to the Dominican Republic with some friends. And this year I wanted to spend my thirty eighth birthday, Yes thirty eight, you guys, I know, you can't believe it in Greece.
I had been to Greece before, but to Athens, and I wanted to do, you know, either Santorini or Mykonos, and I wanted to do both, but I didn't have enough time because I had to come back because I got to work, you know. So we decided on Miconos because it's almost like Vegas, Las Vegas of like Greece.
And it is definitely a party town.
And I wanted to have both like relaxing time, but also since I was going with like a group of friends, I wanted to have some fun, you know. And then I had taken like a rest from alcohol and you know, marijuana, you guys, it is as you know, I'm from California, so it is legoing can So I was taking a huge break, and I did it for my birthday so I could just like really enjoy myself. So I really wanted to like kind of party a little bit. So
I was already like mentally prepared to have fun. And let me tell you, guys, I had so much fun. Maybe a little bit too much fun, because now I'm feeling it. The jet lag is real, y'all. It is freaking real. So anyways, I am a procrastinator when it comes to packing.
I pack last minute travel vacation.
I either pack of the day i'm leaving, like early in the morning.
Yeah, that's what I do.
Because I was about to say maybe the night before, I like maybe pre pack or prepare a little bit, but no, I'm a packer like the day of.
And I'm a heavy packer.
I guess you could say I'm high maintenance because I take you know, I need my hair stuff, I need my skincare, I need my body stuff. I need like extra stuff just in case you never know what will happen.
I don't know.
You know, if I'm going to be there for eight days, you better believe I'm gonna take fourteen pairs of underwear because you just know you can poop on yourself or maybe your friend needs an underwear. So I always take extra everything. And I told myself this time, I'm not going to overpack. I'm only gonna take what I need. I'm gonna try on all my clothes and my outfits, and I'm only going to take the amount of clothes
that I would need per day. And then I was packing and all the outfits were so cute that I was like, oh, I take this one too, this one just in case, you guys, Just for myself, I took Oh my god, I took two large suitcases and a carry on and a big ass bag and I even got some space on Emilios. I was like, can you take an extra like suitcase? So yeah, I am definitely like a heavy packer. And I was only there for okay.
We left the twenty fourth of June and we didn't get to Greece until the twenty fifth, because I mean, it's a long ass flat, you guys. So I was there the twenty fifth, the twenty sixth, twenty seventh or twenty six is my birthday, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine. We came back on the thirtieth and then landed in La on the first. It was crazy, and my friend, one of my really good friends, who had just gone
to Greece. I asked her for some tips because I was like, you know, I don't want to be jet lagged. I have a show on the second July second it's my mom's birthday. I was like, can I have a show? And I cannot be tired? And the crazy thing is I was totally fine. We landed pretty early on July first, and it was like around one. By the time we got home, it was four and all I did was sleep. I got home and I was like, I need a sleep because I have a show the next day.
Or tomorrow, and I was fine.
I think it just I'm barely feeling it now, like they say that jet lag like takes like two or three days for you to fill it when you're back home, and definitely I'm feeling it, but I'm happy because I got home. We celebrated my mom's birthday on the second. All my siblings were there at my concert. It was so awesome. And then on the third, my siblings did like this little like surprise birthday party. Well not really surprised. I knew that they were going to do something. I
just didn't know what. But when I got home, because Emilio was like polted, like take me away for the day. So we left the house and then when we got back, everything was like decorated and Jenica was cooking because I love when she cooks for me, like it's my favorite. She made me some like green and chila las with you know aros Rojo, red Rice and my siblings were here and the kids were here and they got in the pool and it was just so beautiful.
And then the next day it was July fourth, and we.
Partied and I partied really hard, so I think that's why now my body's filling it. But anyways, back to Greece and Mikonos okay, so I went with It was a total of ten of us. So it was Vanessa, Michael Madre, and business partner Rose, who used to be my manager back in the days when I first kind of started my career. One of our really good friends, his name is Antonio. I don't know if you guys have ever heard of the Estrato twins, but they are
amazing designers. So one of the brothers, Antonio, went with us. Helen, my friend Helen, who was also a singer we've had here on the podcast before. Her husband Brianna and her husband, they were actually celebrating ten years of marriage, you guys, so it was their first time in Greece as well. So they went for their wedding anniversary which was on June twenty ninth, so they were celebrating ten years. So we were celebrating a lot, and then Helen and JP
they stayed and went to like I think Madrid. I don't know where else they went. So a few of them stayed, Vanessa stayed, a bunch of people stayed behind.
I had to come back and work. Oh in Oscar from nilos por la muska.
If you guys don't know, it's like an organization in Riverside and yeah, so I think that was it. I was not expecting you guys to completely disconnect. I had told even my manager, mister Bowle. Richard Bull was like, don't worry, go ahead and send me a message, email me. I'll be on my phone here and there. I'm not going to be on as much, but I will be on. But no, it didn't work out like that. The time zone was so different obviously, so I think we're like,
what ten hours ahead over there? We were ten hours ahead. I just said fit. I was like, you know what, my phone went black. I was like, I'm going to leave it alone. By the end of the trip, you guys, I had over three hundred messages and like a thousand emails. It was insane. I was so overwhelmed. But I needed to just be I just needed to be. We got an airbnb and it was a beautiful big house. What I love about Mikonos, you guys, is that everything is
so close. I mean, you're on an island. Everything is pretty much walking distance. But I mean, of course we took like shuttles everywhere. But it was so cool. The food was amazing. The sunsets and the sunrises were great. I meditated every day when I was out there. It was just so nice and everyone had their own room and we had our own.
Space, and the pool was really nice.
And I loved it because I even, you guys, I'm not a huge runner, Like I don't really like to run like at all actually or like jog but Emilio and I took two jogs out there. I was like, okay, I was like, I feel like I want to go run. So it's like I feel like Mykonos made me want to become like a jogger.
It's really weird, but I really enjoyed it.
I was like in my little sports bra the sun, like I got a little bit of a tan. You can't really tell because I'm really like fair, but I got a little tan, and I don't know. It was really nice and Gomtandrico. You guys, like the food is Mediterranean, so there's like a lot of yogurts and tomato and goat cheese and it was just so delicious and the chicken. Everything was just so good. When I went to the American Republic, we had like a chef and that was awesome.
The service was great. But this time we only had like a chef. I think the day of my birthday, on the twenty six, we had them make like a little bit of breakfast and then after that we would just go out on the town and you know, have lunch and have dinner and it was chill. We went to the grocery store. Of course, I went crazy and got all kinds of things and I cooked a little bit out there.
I did.
I felt like for me in order to feel like on vacation. It's weird because like Vanessa said, what are you doing, Like why are you cooking? I'm like, it makes me feel good, like I want to feel like I'm at home. Like the only thing was I didn't have all my spices. I just I had to work with pepper and salt. But I made it work and I made everyone like you know, pasta and then I made burgers and what else did I make? I made eggs one day, like you know, with turkey, some like
you know, eggs, sangwiches. I don't know, it just I'm on vacation and I want to cook, like I just I don't know. I feel it made me feel good this time because in Dominican Republic, I was like, okay, yeah, I want you know, they come and they would bring us out like little fruit plates while we were at the pool, and we didn't have that. But I didn't miss it either. It was like it was different. It
was just this vacation was just different. And I don't know if it was because like I said, we were ten hours ahead over there that it was just so weird for me to get on Instagram and do my god mornings. I just felt like very I guess out of my element in a way, you know, And I was like I couldn't like I couldn't find myself. So I was like, you know, I'm just going to stay off. But then you stay off and it's great while you're there, and then you come and you're like, oh my god.
I felt so like backed up with everything, but then I had to remind myself.
I was like, just breathe.
I had to tell myself a lot of times out there, you guys, well, I was meditating and it helped me so much that I was meditating and taking that time in the morning before I went and partied to just like breathe and remind myself everything can wait. If I don't have my phone right now, it's okay. If it's an emergency, God forbid. I just would pray for my siblings,
for their children, for everyone. I was like, I put them in your hands God, And I was like, if they need me, they'll reach out to either to any of us, to Emilio, you know. Like I had to really work on just completely disconnecting, and I'm glad I did.
And I had fun.
For my birthday. We went to this really cool, like low key bar. There was no one in there. We were like looking through like the whole little town, like where are we gonna go? And we found this really small, chill ass bar. No one was in there. We got some hookah and that's how I burned my finger with the hookah. Oh my god, I don't know what I was doing. I don't know how my finger. Oh it was like half a second and it burned. It hurts so bad. It still hurts. But anyways, that night was
so freaking fun. We danced all damn night. I don't Emilio dance. We were all having a great time. The music was fabulous. I even tipped the DJ. He was so damn good. But it was like the crazy part is like it wasn't like a place that was super packed or like super happening. It was just the place that we needed to be. It was so magical. That was one of my favorite nights. And you know, despite the fact that there were so many of us, I can proudly and happily say that it was.
Drama free psych.
When there are so many people, of course they're gonna be like little disagreement or little things, and especially when there's alcohol involved. You guys, and I'm not gonna say names, but there was a little bit of maybe discomfort between two people. It was fine when we first got there, and then one of the people, I'm gonna say a guy or a girl had too much to drink and they were being a little bit too touchy and someone
else didn't like it. So it you know, but two days later the other person apologized and everything's fine now. But I was just I'm like, okay, what is happening here? But everything I think was pretty chill for the most part. And then Emilio and I, I'm trying to think, did we argue? Oh my god, yes, okay, you guys, so I'm gonna be honest. Okay, Emilio and I argued once
the entire trip. Okay, we argued because my crazy little buzzedass felt that he was too nice to the waitress at the hookah bar, you know, because she was really sweet and she was very pretty. The girls there, Oh my god, let me tell you, guys, the people that are very beautiful, respectfully, the women and the men muypatasilo,
mui wappos mu moherez like very beautiful people. So the girl that was helping us at the hookah bar, she was cute, she was very nice, very friendly, you know, she was sert like being really really like attentive with everyone. So we were leaving and Emilio I felt like Emilia went like way at his way to say bye, like he turned around and everything.
We were already leaving, and I was.
Like, okay, like he was like bye, like I'm like, okay, okay, I'm like and I'm not gonna lie. I was like was that necessary? Was that really necessary? And we kind of got in like a little you know argument.
He's like, what are you talking about?
I was just and he's just very nice and polite, you guys, and usually I don't get like that. But I think it was just I hadn't drank in a while, okay, in my defense, and you know, I was like, hmm, and she's cute, you know, but it's okay.
He just you know, he apologized, although.
You know, between you and I, I don't feel like he needed to really apologize because I think I was just being silly, you know, and I think it was just the alcohol because then after I was like the next morning, I'm like, Emelia, I'm so sorry, Like that's just so dumb, like I don't know why, you know what happened. And he's like, no, it's okay. I understand. He was really understanding and let me just have my moment.
I don't like to be like a jealous girl. I don't want to be that type of girl, Like, even if there are beautiful girls like, I don't want to be that girl where I'm just like se Losa and like I don't want him to feel like he's walking on eggshells. Like and I don't want to feel that way either, you know, because I'm friendly, you know, and I say hello and like, you know, but I just I don't know, Like now that I think about it, like it was just kind of like a little bit too much, you.
Know, I'm like, okay, we're already leaving. But anyways, I got over it. We were fine.
It was a little just a little argument, nothing crazy, but that was it didn't last too long.
We were just we got over it. We're like, okay, let's talk it out. And that was that.
The good thing is that we were all kind of like on the same page. Like the couples. We had a day where we were like, okay, let's just go do a couple things and go eat and just have more of like a chill time because I didn't want to party every single day too hard.
I needed a break in between.
And everyone just kind of did their thing, and it was like That's what I like about my friendships.
We're very mature and.
We're transparent and we're like, look, I don't feel like doing that y'all go ahead and no one gets hurt, you know, And that's what I liked. You have to be really careful with the people that you travel with, like you have to know who you're traveling with. And I feel like everyone everything was cool, like there was no pressure, no one felt left out, no one felt like. I think it was good, you know what I mean.
And I think the amount of days together was enough, you know, because maybe a few more days we probably would have just choked each other out or something.
I don't know.
AnyWho, the night life in Mikono's amazing. You guys so much fun. The bars are so cool. Like I didn't stay out till five in the morning. Some of my friends did, I did it. I honestly can't hang I think I probably the latest I stayed up was like three o'clock. Max, I was already kind of like by or two. I'm like, I want to go lay down. I'm not trying to like not wake up early tomorrow because I want to see I wanted.
To like lay out in tan and enjoy.
And one of the mornings, Emilio and I everyone was asleep because they stayed up till like really late. I think him and I were by the pool. We woke up around I don't know, like nine am, and we were out by the pool alone, just him and I till like two pm, till everyone woke up. And it was nice because we had like quiet time. We had our little teas in the morning, we were chilling, took a nap. It was like perfect because we had party, we had friend time, we had alone time.
It was nice. It was just something.
I hadn't really like. I didn't know what it was going to be like, but it was perfect. It was a little bit of everything. Oh and then we went on a yacht the day of Brianna and Rob's anniversary, which was the twenty ninth. I got a yacht for us, and I was like, you know what, she had never been on a yacht, and I wanted her to like enjoy It was like my birthday trip, but I wanted her to enjoy her anniversary because I feel like ten years of marriage, that's a huge accomplishment, you guys. And
they're young, they're a young couple. They have three young, beautiful little boys, one of them is my godson. And I was like, I just want her to enjoy, you know and oh my god to see her just so happy and so free. She kept saying, She's like, oh my god, I never want to leave. She's like, I missed my boys. I love them. But she felt like I think like herself again, you know, like she's been in mom mode and wife mode, which is great, but
I think she came back to like herself. And we were on the yacht and we got in the ocean and it was freaking The water was so clear. I thought the most beautiful water I've ever seen was in Boro Kai when we went to the Philippines, but I think this, like it was just so much nicer. El Maristaa Ramoso. It was so nice and cold. It was like a cold plunge and it was nice. I only
got in it once. I was like, I'm going to get in because then I start thinking of like what's under me, and I just I get in my head. So I'm like, Okay, I'm going to get in for a little bit. I want to touch the waters here in great and then I'm gonna get back on the damn yacht.
But it was fun.
We had a great time and she was like so happy. So we did a little bit of everything, I'm telling you, like, the only thing that I was thinking was I feel like we didn't enjoy the house as much as I wish we would have, you know what I mean, because we paid I feel like a lot of money to stay there, although it worked out because we split it amongst all of us. But I felt like maybe one or two more days I would have been it would have been perfect, but I had to come back and work,
which is fine. I wanted to celebrate my mother. But that's the only thing other than that it was. It was freaking It was freaking amazing. So one of my favorite memories of the entire trip was it was our last night and I told everyone else, like, I don't necessarily want to go out and like freaking get like plastered, because again I have to go do a show. But I was like, let's do a nice dinner. I want
us all to wear white. I wanted to take them out to dinner because I was so grateful that everyone took the time to go so far to celebrate my birthday, you know. So I was like, now I want to give back to you guys. So I think what we did the yacht, that's the day of the yacht. We did the yacht during the day and then got back to the house and rested a little bit, and then I was like, okay, let's do a nice dinner. And after dinner, everyone's like, okay, should we go out. I'm like, honestly,
like I really don't feel like going out. Let's just go back to the house. And we all sat like by the pool and we were just talking and just it was so cool because I was like, okay, guys, I started off the questions. You know, I was like, Okay, if God were to come down right now and tell you X, Y or Z, and I don't necessarily want to get into the details of like the questions I asked.
We all were going around the table and just asking questions, just random questions, you know, just getting to know each other a little bit more. And that's how you kind of start like picking at each other's brain and like you get to know people you know. And I'm glad that we did that because we were there I think till like maybe I don't know, two in the morning, just talking and being silly and laughing, and it was like the perfect way to like close out the trip
because some of them, like rose Antonio Vanessa. They left to like Abisa, I think, or they were going to a Madrid, so they were going to leave early in the morning. I wasn't going to see them in the morning. Then the next day we were able to wake up a little bit later and get ready because our checkout time was like at twelve, and then we had our
last lunch there. The rest of us did a little bit of shopping, which, you guys, what I love the most was that I was able to buy brand name stuff over there because I haven't in a long time. I had told myself, I was like, I'm not going to spend my money on all this brand name stuff because it's just you know, I'm like, I'm not there.
But it was like tax free, you guys.
So I was like, Okay, I felt a little bit better about my purchase because then I went to the airport and then you give them like this form and then they give you money back. So I was like, oh my god, okay, it was a good It was like my birthday gift to myself, so that was cool. And then we went to the airport and yeah, that was I feel like the way back, I wasn't able to sleep on the way there because it was like a fourteen hour trip total. On the way back, we
had like a thirteen hour layover in London. I had never been to London and we were there for thirteen hours. We just got there at night, went to go eat, went to a hotel, fell asleep, and.
It was a little bit like, I don't know.
I think that's what I think messed me up because I wasn't able to sleep on the longer flight, which is ten hours from London to la I wasn't able to sleep, and I was like, Okay, I'm going to keep myself up and then when I get home, hopefully I can like really sleep throughout the night and get a good night's rest.
So I don't know.
I thought I was going to be completely fine, but now I'm feeling it. Like I said, the jetlag is real. AnyWho, I would definitely go back. I want to go back. Actually I thought we were going to be able to go on the ferry to Santorini, but people that had been said, you know what, it's not really worth it. Just maybe when we go back to Greece, take a few more days to be there. It's more of like more mellow. I guess in Santorini and Mikons is more party.
But I definitely loved it. I would go back for sure. Emilia was showing me a picture the other day. He's like, look, don't you wish we can go back there. It was like a picture of our balcony, like from our balcony, like it was I think, I don't know if it was the moon. I'm assuming yeah it was the moon. It must have been the moon because it wasn't the sun. So yeah, it was like a picture of just like the outside of the home, like from the balcony, and it was I'm like, oh my god, like.
I kind of I don't know it was.
You guys, if you ever have the chance, I think that definitely Greece's is a good place. And while we were in Greece, we were talking about where else do we want to go? And I really want to go to Bali, you guys, I want to go to Bali. I want to go to Jamaica. I want to go to Egypt, Thailand, like I love anywhere Asia. And also
we talked about the Maldives. We talked about Bora, Bora, like there are so many places in the world that I want to see, and I just pray that God gives me work so I can continue to do these things and health because when I was sitting on the balcony meditating every single morning, and I would open up my eyes because like I was like in such deep state of meditation that when I would open my eyes, it's almost like, oh shoot, I forgot where I was at.
And then it just takes you back into this moment of like thank you God, thank you that I'm able to take these trips, that I'm able to see the sunset here, to smell and feel the air, you know what I mean.
Like it's just you can't.
I don't like to take those moments and those things for granted because and that's what we kept saying, like how grateful we need to be while we were there at dinner and stuff. It's like, you guys, like we have to stop and really just think and live and be in the present because there are people that aren't able to do that, you know what I mean, aren't able to travel or you know what I mean. So it's just like a part of me wishes that I could have because I didn't take a lot of pictures
or video at all. There were times that I would just leave my phone at the house or I wouldn't take it out of my purse. It was crazy. It's the first time I do that, like really do that, Like mind you. I've taken trips with the media to like Zion or to Yosemite or whatever, and I don't really am not on my phone, but when I'm on.
Vacation and with my friends, I like to like.
Capture and take videos and take a bunch of pictures, Like I have very few pictures, and I just had them send me stuff. I'm like, you, guys, send me whatever it is that you took, because I just feel like I didn't capture enough of it.
And I wish I would have been.
Able to like show a little bit more through social media and what we were eating and stuff, because I didn't, and I don't know how to explain it.
I don't know why.
So a part of me is kind of like, damn, I wish I would have been able to show you guys a little more through through social media, through like Instagram, but I was just in the moment. I don't even know how to explain it, and it was so unexpected. All right, well, guys, that was my trip. I wanted to just share it with you guys and apologize as well, because I was just completely disconnected and didn't share enough.
I feel I wish I would have shown you guys a little bit more like the water and the sky and the nighttime and the bars out there, because it was just so magical. But I think I'm going back to Miko nos and Santrini. I don't know when, but very soon, god willing, and I will show you guys more. So. I am just grateful for a new year of life, and I came back ready to kick some mass and work because the rest of the year is going to
be very busy, and I am grateful. I'm grateful for those days that I had to rest and now at ravaja and yeah, I'm really looking forward to this next chapter in my life and I'm happy. So let's go ahead and cue the music for this week's quote before we close out this episode. The quote is trust the weight, Embrace the uncertainty, Enjoy the beauty of becoming when nothing is certain, anything is possible. That is a quote, you, guys,
Thank you for listening to my damn Brant. I feel like I went back and forth, but I just had so much to tell you and I wanted to share my experience. And I love you guys, and I will see you on the next episode here of Cheeky's and Chill. Okay, do you need advice on love, relationships, health emails? I'm so excited to share with you that my Cheekys and Chill podcast will have an extra episode drop each week. I'll be answering all your questions.
Just leave me a voice message person an day. All you have to do is go to speak pipe dot com, slash Cheeks and Chill podcast and record your questions.
I can't wait to hear from you.
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