I have to admit, there’s been way too many times where I find myself doing something that I don’t want to do… I said yes to be nice, I caved in so someone ELSE would be happy, I decided no on my original plan so I wouldn’t feel guilty about letting a person down…

Whatever the case may be, I’ve recently realized that I need to put an end to this!

I need to start doing anything and everything that I want to do! Right now, I am in my prime – when I look back on my life in thirty years, I will be happy by the decisions I made rather than the ones I didn’t…

Let’s see… For instance, a few years back, my twin sister Erin and I embarked on a journey to Israel to officially kick our 2011 summer off. We found ourselves amongst a bunch of strangers at the JFK airport who were all traveling with us to this supposedly “magical” land. We were a little skeptical to go at first, considering we were going to be so far from home, in a place where headline stories stating “Suicide Bomber Kills 20” makes the news on a more than often basis. Long story short, we had the time of our lives in Israel! We were consumed every day, from sunrise to sunset, jam packed with activities and things to do from our tour guides, not letting one second go to waste. We wound up extending our trip by a few days because Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the other magical places we saw had stolen our hearts. ❤

When Erin and I got back to the US, we were on Cloud 9… we were so appreciative of the unfamiliar places we visited, the unknown we had stepped into, the new friends we bonded with for hours on end, and the life-long memories we had created. What was going to be our next high? What was going to be our next buzz? Oh, I know… Phish Tour! A few weeks later, we would be heading west, the mid-west to be precise, 16 hours away from home – oh the places you’ll go! We love nothing more than a solid road trip, blasting our ultimate tunes, devouring our delicious slim jims, and smoking our favorite butts to top it all off (sorry mom!) Deer Creek was the first stop for a two night run, then next was Alpine Valley, baby! Gosh, I love me so good amphitheaters in the summer time, oh yeah – and some good campsites. Tents, stories, whiskey, maybe some skinny dipping, late night guitar jams (there seems to always be someone who can play guitar – thanks for being that dude, Mr. dude, cuz yeah we really are enjoying you playing right now – we can’t sleep.) Man, that’s when life feels so easy and good!

“And the music never stopped”, well it actually did, because we found ourselves heading back to NY and dropping off Cloud 9 into a dumpster (not really, but that’s how we felt.) TREY – WE LOVE YOU!!! Anywhoo, it was back to reality for the Law twins, and boy, were we not happy. It’s hard, as most of you music heads are familiar, to get back to your routine after an amazing weekend filled of tunes and partying. Summer was coming to an end, and you know, most normal people would say that we had done more than enough to make it one for the books… Well… we aren’t normal people.

Our dearest, dearest friend, Woody Zalman was hyping up his road trip to California to go see Phish in Long Beach, San Francisco, then head to Yosemite for some hiking & camping action. Remember I said that the twins love their solid road trips, well… I wasn’t kidding. How convenient it was that Woody had two extra spots in the car for his favorite set of twins. Woody, Erin, Steph, and Stan were about to hit the pavement, in what would become our most fond memory of Woody, and the most badass road trip known to man. Did I mention this was still the summer of 2011?

We let Woody take the wheel for the first half, considering he had made this trip to Cali from NY multiple times. THIRTY SOMETHING HOURS LATER, not one stop besides to get gas, food, and use the bathroom, we were pulling into Sin City. I’ll never forget, we pulled out Woody’s iPod so that we could find the perfect song to play while rolling up to the infamous strip. After contemplating and arguing like the little brothers and sisters that we were, we all agreed on “Slow Ride” by Foghat – how Vegas appropriate, right?! It was like a scene out of a movie – two men in the front seat, their beautiful girlfriends in the back (we would never date you Stan and Woody – take a hint), heads looking up at the casino lights, windows down, hair blowing, feet dangling out of the windows, a butt between our fingers (sorry again mom.) We really felt like rockstars. The next morning, after spending the night wilding out and gambling, one shoed Woody and the rest of us hopped into the car to go see some Phish.

The first stop to go see our favorite jam band was Long Beach. After almost taking a picture with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the parking lot, then being mesmerized by Trey’s piercing guitar riffs, we were on our way to San Fran for a three night run… Nothing like making a quickie to Six Flags to beat a hangover! You know when you’re relying on your best friend’s sister’s cousin’s friend of a friend for a place to crash during a weekend in a city you don’t live in (or a couch / even a tiny nook of floor space in a closet) … well, that’s exactly what we were banking on. Woody called up an old friend who he met thru blah blah blah, whose name was Grant. Thanks Grant, for letting us clowns invade your entire apartment for 3 straight days, you rock!

Night one was upon us now, and we realized that we weren’t getting into the show since it was too hot of a ticket….BUZZ KILL. Luckily, night two was a success… And I’m just going to forward to night three because this is where it gets mind boggling. Erin and I were searching high and low outside the Bill Graham to find two tickets. We were directed by a fellow Phish fan to park ourselves on the corner where cabs were dropping people off, that way, we would be the first humans these cab riders would see when stepping out of their car. If they had an extra ticket, it would be ours! Well, what do ya know, Curly Q steps out of the cab, has an extra ticket and we call DIBBS. To the punk who tried to offer more money than us to snatch our ticket – you lost to two twins dude! (The bro didn’t stand a chance!) Hehe okay, one ticket down, one to go. Show time was in 2o minutes, and we had to hustle and bustle.

From a distance, Erin and I see a man walking towards us who looks extremely familiar – it was Dan, the Dan we had met on a hostel rooftop in Tel Aviv a few months prior. We were so happy to see this kid in a city where we all didn’t reside, but had traveled to, to see the same exact band. This is where you realize that music truly brings people together for all sorts of reasons! Music unites us all and there is absolutely no denying that. As Dan headed into the show, we told him our situation and to keep his eyes peeled for any extra tickets. Five minutes before Phish went on, we received a phone call from Dan, telling us that he had found us an extra INSIDE the venue… which normally, that doesn’t happen. Dan overheard some random dude next to him on his cell phone, screaming at a friend who ditched last minute – talk about good timing! We met the random dude outside, and did the exchange through clouds of cigarette smoke and a fence. Thank you again, Mr dude, for hooking it up to two total strangers – we owe ya a beer…. or probably six.

Woody, Erin, Stan and I had the time of our lives that night. We danced, we laughed, we cried, we jumped up and down like little kids, living life to the fullest in that very moment of Tweezer Reprise (most rockin’ song ever.) The moral of this long blog post (and I hope at the very least interesting) is that you can’t take life for granted… you can’t pass up opportunities with friends like this… These are the type of experiences that make you and shape you, the type of experiences that you remember forever and giggle to yourself about, the type of experiences that create stories for you to tell your grandkids. Because of Woody, I’m not afraid to be independent, I’m not afraid to do things that I want to do, I’m not afraid to go out on a limb and fly across the country for a weekend to see my favorite band. Before this road trip, I was debating about going because I didn’t want my parents to think that I was some degenerate who didn’t take life seriously. There’s been so many times where I don’t do something because I am scared of what other people will think… Well I’m done being scared of what other people think. I’m done not grabbing life by its horns. I’m ready to do everything that I want to do… I’m ready to reveal my comfortability in my own skin, show it off to the world, and follow what makes me happy!!! I already can’t wait for the next adventure!