1 OZ Squad
The OZ Squad... Who are we?
Well we are the 5 ladies that lived in a camper van and traveled through the south island of New Zealand. We are also the most random, loud and crazy brunch of people that you will ever meet. More important, we are also intelligent, when we are sober, and we can be very responsible when put into precarious situations. So who are the 5 lucky ladies that make up the OZ Squad...
Megan Belcaster-Murphy: Megs is from beautiful sunny LA and is now residing in the Windy City of Chicago. This girl is responsible, crazy intelligent and very in touch with the spirits. She is a 2016 graduate of Yale University with a BS in Biology (yeah realllllyyyyy smart). She's also hot, she's got that half asian thaanggg going for her, oh and she fenced at Yale so she is also Athletic... Talk about a triple threat. But sorry boys she has already been snatched up by the wonderful Jack Belcaster, and is going to have a beautiful baby in November!!!!
Anna-Stina Koivula: She is the Mom of our group in the sense that she is very sweet and is the best with crafts. May I also add the she is also the Beast of group as in she is super jacked and muscular! For example, I went to the gym with her and after working out I proceeded to throw up in the bushes. Anyhoo, Anna is from Finland and our honorary foodie who HATES spicy food. She also is our BOHO fashionista who always is looking sharp in her rounded sunglasses and top bun pig tails. And, she is also studying to be a doctor! ... damn we girls are smarttt
Samantha Lee: Oh goodness me, Samantha Lee. She is a great example of how Canadians are not just quiet and polite... Don't get me wrong she is extremely polite and probably one of the nicest people I have ever met but... This girl is also one of the funnest people I have ever met as well. She is always down to go out and have a good time and she is another one who is extremely intelligent. May I add, if you ever need to know anything about Asian food Sam is the girl to ask because she knows all about Asian food culture! ( once again boys sorry this girl is also taken by hour beautiful Norwegian Anton Abilov who has a beautiful bum ) I'm personally hoping that the next OZ squad wedding will be theirs, no pressure... haha
Laura Moreno-Vasquez: First generation Columbian, 100% fun and a fabulous dancer. In addition to that, she is fluent in Spanish, extremely loud, and has the coolest hair! This girl is also crazy smart and graduated from UT with a degree in Civil Engineering!!! What!!! DAMNNNN! May I also say this girl has an insanely good memory... like if you tell her something about your family or anything else she will remember it years later even if you haven't spoken about it for months. On top of all of that Laura has some beautiful legs, and is probably the best person to go out with because she is not the type to shy away from a boy. I would say if Laura had a spirit animal it would definitely be a Lion. Sleeps a lot but when they find some prey they pounce and grab it haha
Keekee Winslow (aka meee!): So I am the narrator ( for now ) of our group hahah and I would like to think I am the Artsy and whimsical one. I live in the clouds and without borders, but I am lucky to have great friends that grounded...ish... I definitely do a lot of impulsive things, that usually are good ideas. However, even if they are one of the bad ideas the aftermath is usually very funny. On a serious note, I am so blessed to have met these 4 ladies, because they are all unique and special in their own ways and have all touched my heart and soul so many real and odd of ways, and for that I am eternally grateful.
2 LOVERS
After a year of being separated, our beautiful OZ squad got back together to celebrate Mrs. Megan Murphy-Belcaster's wedding. It was held at the beautiful Northfork farm in Oswego Illinois, just outside of Chicago. The whole wedding was absolutely beautiful. The ceremony was perfect and reflected the bride and grooms personalities perfectly; traditional with a twist of unique individuality.
My favorite part of the wedding was when Jack Belcaster (groom) saw Megan walking down the aisle. It felt like the whole world stopped and you could see a magnetic attraction and love between them.
Before the wedding none of the OZ squad new Jack, Megan did say that we would understand how amazing he is when we met him. Well, she was right, after seeing the look on his face and the tears rolling down his face we all knew that this was something that was real, and would last. If there is true love in the world we all had the opportunity to witness it, in a small moment, inimately with the Belcaster and Murphy families at that moment.
Continuing on this journey of love with Megan and Jack we all went to the reception and had a wonderful time meeting people from Jack and Megan's past lives. All the people that we met reflected how amazing Jack and Megan are and how these two, have always had this energy since they first met, freshman year, at Yale University.
WOW.. a great love story.
Megan and Jack !! Photo Credit - Shane Strs
A FIN Taking on Chicago + NYC + DC
The OZ squad was broken up after the wedding and Laura had to go back to Austin, TX to start her first post-grad job and Sam had to go home after traveling for a month with her boyfriend Anton. So it was just me and Anna left, taking on some of America's biggest cities. We were lucky and got to stay with my lovely friend Kelsey in Chicago for 2 extra days.
Kelsey and I grew up together playing soft ball, and then went to high school together. I would say we were the weirdos of our school but we were the coolest weirdos out there. Kelsey is also a dope ass person who is basically super chill, has her shit together, and is extremely motivated to make a difference in the world (I find this very refreshing considering most people are so mundane and stuck in their own bubbles that they don't care about the world).
So Anna and I got very lucky because it just so happen that Kelsey was house sitting for one of her mom's co-workers and the apartment that she was staying at was AMAZING!!!!! It was right downtown on the 12 floor and had the most beautiful balcony view (check out the photos!). May I add that there were 3 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms... like whattttt??? So staying with Kelsey was a breath of fresh air... Literally... considering we stayed at a motel 6 (which wasn't bad at all) and then a questionable motel that smelled like a bathroom and had a smoke detector going off when we got into the room. So yes. Anna and I slept like babies our first night at Kelsey's.
After sleeping like babies, Anna and I were able to explore Chicago's Bean, Lakeview trail, and beach. I was also able to see one of my greatest friend Jake who recently moved to Chicago for med school at Northwestern... Yupp he is soooo smart and nice and super adorable. May I also add that he is a marathon runner, a bunch of fun and has the dopest apartment in downtown Chicago with a awesome roof deck that has a grill on it. OH AND he is single so you bachelors out there .. y'all should catch him while you can. (he is probably going to murder me for saying that hahah)
In the end Chicago was amazing and we both had a ton of fun. We did want to see a few other sights before heading back to DC so we made a pit stop at Niagara Falls before heading to the big apple!
When we got to NYC we stayed with my lovely cousins!! They are also totally awesome and I would definitely say they are probably the chillest cousins/aunt/uncle out there. We got into NYC at night so we checked out Time Square at night (this is when it's the brightest and busiest). Then the following day we got to walk all over the Island. Starting in Brooklyn we took the Subway to Grand Central Park, then walked to Time Square (to see it during the day), then to the Flatiron building, Chinatown, and then we walked back to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge and watched the sun set over the city (strongly recommend doing this if you ever go to NYC!). Then at 8:30pm we headed to my home Washington, DC.
So now we have finally caught up to the present where we are in DC, getting ready for a Moonrise (music festival in Baltimore) and who knows what will happen next! Stay tuned!
Just keep smiling :) Photo Credit : Zurab Instagram: @zurab_kei_photography